Chapter 50. Chapter 50. They still haven't found her.
Upon entering Shamao Street and seeing the sign for Shenwu Escort Agency.
Like a weary traveler, Yunxi finally arrived at her destination after a long journey.
At this moment, even the wind and frost that were hitting my body turned into a gentle breeze and drizzle.
"Uncle Zhang, Uncle Zhang." She eagerly led the horse into the courtyard.
Zhang Huailin was drinking tea in the main room when he heard this voice, and his hands trembled.
Just as he was about to discern the details, a voice called out from outside the house, "Uncle Zhang, Uncle Zhang, I'm back!"
"Yunxi, it's Xi'er." Zhang Huailin was immediately certain and excitedly stood up from his chair and ran out.
Just as they passed through the corridor and entered the outer courtyard, they saw Yunxi, dressed in men's clothing, striding towards them.
"Xi-ya-tou!" Zhang Huailin called out with a beaming smile.
“Where is the maid? Uncle Zhang, you’ve misjudged me. There’s only me, Young Master Wu Yun, here.” Yun Xi brushed the damp hair from his ear, corrected him with a smile, and strode towards Zhang Huailin.
When she reached the eaves and saw the familiar face, she couldn't help but reach out to give him a big bear hug. "Uncle Zhang! I've missed you so much!"
As if he had expected it, Uncle Zhang nimbly dodged to the side, saying, "How old are you? Be careful."
"No!" Yunxi retorted, insisting on grabbing Uncle Zhang's shoulder, and the two of them started fighting back and forth.
"Wow." After a few rounds, Uncle Zhang praised, "Xi'er's skills are improving."
Yunxi chuckled and threw another punch at Uncle Zhang's face. "That's for sure, I've never slacked off."
His tone was warm, but his actions showed no mercy.
After several rounds, Uncle Zhang waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, let's stop fighting."
Yunxi laughed loudly twice, then put one hand on Uncle Zhang's shoulder and said, "Uncle, do you know how much I miss you?"
Uncle Zhang, panting, tried to shake her off, but she clung to him like a leech. His old arms and legs were too weak to move her, so he could only say, "You, you are a woman, you can't behave like this to outsiders."
“Outsiders don’t have this honor.” Yunxi smiled, her eyes narrowing.
Zhang Huailin also laughed.
In fact, he knew perfectly well that Yunxi regarded him as her father, and that she used to joke and play around with her adoptive father in the same way.
He had been with Yunxi's adoptive father, Yun Yantian, since he was a child, and could be said to have watched her grow up.
Since Yun Yantian chose to end her own life not long after her wife's death, she had thought that her family in the capital was her relatives, but it turned out that they were not related at all.
Now, he and her godmother, who holds a red hat, are the only elders she has left in this world.
Seeing the two enter the main house, Xiao Bei consciously waited under the porch.
Yunxi had just stepped one foot across the threshold when she pointed at Xiaobei and said to Zhang Huailin, "Uncle, that's my friend. Have one of your brothers take him down to rest, and prepare some good food and drinks for us. I've been on the go all the way to see you."
"Alright, alright." Zhang Huailin gave a few instructions to his apprentice who was guarding the door.
Yunxi couldn't help but complain, "Uncle, you have no idea how difficult and dangerous the journey has been. I've encountered several groups of bandits, and those people are incredibly fierce fighters."
"But you can't beat any of them, right?" Zhang Huailin asked.
"Hahaha, don't you even know who I am?" Entering the house, finally finding no one around, Yunxi's expression turned serious as she asked, "Uncle, has anyone come looking for me? Where is he?"
Zhang Huailin was quite surprised to see her so eager.
"Who is he that makes you, heartless little girl Xi, so nervous?"
“He is my husband,” Yunxi said with a smile, looking happy.
"Husband, you married him? When did you get married?" Zhang Huailin's expression changed.
"How is it?" Yunxi asked smugly. "Isn't he very handsome? Isn't he tall and dashing? My judgment in people is extremely high."
“Xi’er, that person is not simple.” Zhang Huailin interrupted her.
Yunxi's upturned lips immediately fell, and she scratched her forehead. "You figured it out?"
"Nonsense, your uncle has traveled all over the country for decades, and I have a very discerning eye for people."
After he finished speaking, he pushed the teacup filled with tea in front of her.
Yunxi finished a cup of hot tea, rested her chin on her hand, and asked, "Where is he?"
Zhang Huailin picked up the teapot, filled her empty cup, and slowly said, "Let's go."
Although she knew this was the most likely outcome, Yunxi was still a little sad.
I was eager to see him all the way, but I couldn't find him.
However, she has already escaped the palace and is going to find him.
She perked up and asked, "Uncle, where did he go? How long ago did he leave? Did he tell you?"
“He arrived at the security agency one evening at the end of July,” Zhang Huailin recalled. “He was in a hurry and left a letter before he left.”
"What letter? Quick, let me see it," Yunxi said impatiently.
"Wait a minute, I'll go find it for you."
Yunxi couldn't wait to open the letter sealed with wax.
She thought Xu Yuansi would tell her where to meet or that he missed her.
She thought that no matter where the world was, she would go to find him, but she never expected to receive a suicide note.
"This time we are about to embark on a long journey home. We will meet again after being thousands of miles apart to resolve our grievances and let go of our hatred. Let us part ways peacefully and each find our own happiness."
Yunxi read those few dozen words over and over again.
I clearly understand what it means, but I just can't believe it.
"Xi'er, what's wrong?" Zhang Huailin asked when he saw that her expression was off.
Yunxi silently handed over the letter.
"This is outrageous!" Zhang Huailin was furious when he saw the contents of the letter. "What kind of person is he? If I had known this letter contained this, I would have burned it long ago."
"Did he say anything else at the time?" Yunxi asked, coming back to her senses.
“He asked about your situation, which I naturally didn’t tell him. Then he asked me to tell you that he was sorry for you and left under the cover of night.” Zhang Huailin paused. “About fifteen minutes later, his page brought the letter back and instructed me to make sure it was delivered to you.”
Seeing that Yunxi looked listless and didn't speak.
Unable to contain his anger, Zhang Huailin asked, "Didn't you say he was your husband? Has he ever bullied you?"
"No, no, he's very good to me," Yunxi said, perking up. "That's why I didn't expect him to do this."
Recalling her experiences in the capital, Yunxi roused herself and asked, "Was he injured when he came?"
"Why are you still worried about him? He had guards and servants protecting him when he came." He paused here. "Xi'er, this person is not from my Jing Kingdom, is he?"
"Uncle, how did you know?" Yunxi asked in surprise.
“They didn’t know how good my hearing was. When they got into the carriage and left, I heard one of them speaking a foreign language, which sounded a bit like Turkic.”
"Turks?" Yunxi recalled seeing many Turks invading the border and massacring villagers when she was serving Xiao Shenjing in reviewing memorials. Their methods were so cruel that they did not even spare women and children. Some of them would even cook and eat women and children like pigs and sheep.
Seeing that Yunxi remained silent, Zhang Huailin pondered for a moment and said, "The people around him are all martial artists, and they are respectful in their words and deeds. His background must not be ordinary."
Yunxi never expected this. She thought Xu Yuansi was just an outsider with no special background.
If his identity was truly extraordinary, then she would feel relieved. However, this relief was quickly replaced by anger at being deceived.
From the time they met until their marriage, he never told her his true identity.
Even after he was arrested, she risked her life to save him, still believing it was just a fabricated excuse by Xiao Shenjing.
Yunxi pinched the bridge of her nose.
What kind of mess is this?
Seeing her like this, Zhang Huailin, fearing she was upset, immediately comforted her, "It's alright, it's alright, Xi'er. Luckily we found out early. From now on, let's just pretend this person never existed and forget about him."
Yunxi is not the type of person who can't let go of things once they've taken them in.
But he was still hurt by Xu Yuansi, so that night he drank two jars of wine and was so unsteady on his feet when the maid took him away.
Zhang Huailin shook his head.
Yunxi has a high alcohol tolerance, and this is the first time he has seen her so drunk.
Indeed, even the greatest heroes cannot escape the power of love.
Yun Yanfei was like this, and so was Yun Xi.
Fortunately, Yunxi only wallowed in despair and drank heavily for seven or eight days before slowly recovering by enjoying the delicious food of Sichuan.
She gave Xiao Bei twenty taels of silver, but Xiao Bei refused to leave, saying he wanted to stay by her side forever.
Along the way, Yunxi also liked Xiaobei quite a bit, so she didn't say anything more.
What made her even happier was that Congtou had finally arrived in Chengdu.
His journey by water was naturally much slower than Yunxi's.
When she received Onion outside the city, the boy burst into tears.
One minute they call her "boss," the next they say she's a liar.
He said that it was clearly her that day, but she pretended to be Zi Shu to deceive him.
Yunxi could only shrug at such accusations.
Finally, a delicious meal silenced Onion's grumble.
Onion, his mouth glistening with oil, still managed to say, "Boss, from now on I'll follow you. You can't leave me behind again, hiccup."
"Okay, okay." Yunxi patted his head. She stared at the drizzling cold rain outside and said, "After the New Year, let's go to a place where it's spring all year round."
"Does such a place really exist?" Onion Head's eyes widened.
"Of course, when have I ever lied to you, your boss?" she said with exceptional confidence.
"You lied!" Onion accused him categorically.
"Alright, alright," Yunxi immediately picked up a pig's trotter with her chopsticks and put it into Congtou's bowl. "Eat up."
At 3:45 AM, the sun's shadow climbed onto the dragon head of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the snow covered the wave patterns on the Danbi stone, resembling frozen waves.
The eunuch of the Imperial Household Department tiptoed to hang the last ram's horn lantern, and the silk embroidery of "Abundant Harvest" on the lampshade was lifted by the cold north wind.
Gu Wenqian seemed startled by the cold wind, or perhaps he was a little apprehensive at the thought of facing the emperor's wrath.
Xing Zhao noticed his sighing expression, and a faint smile appeared on his serious face.
"Your Majesty will certainly not have time to punish you."
Gu Wenqian glanced at him and said, "You can hide from the first day of the month, but you can't hide from the fifteenth." He couldn't help but sigh. "The New Year is almost here. What method did this Miss Yunxi use to cover up her scars? How did she manage to escape His Majesty's eyes? I've been investigating for so long and I still haven't found anything."
The two walked side by side into the East Warm Pavilion. When Gu Wenqian saw the Emperor's expression behind the imperial desk, his heart trembled.
It's clear that Xiao Shenjing is in a bad mood.
"Gu Wenqian, is there anything you wish to say to me?"
Gu Wenqian immediately knelt down. "Your Majesty, I know my crime."
"He's just a criminal slave who can't even get a travel permit, and you've spent a full twenty-eight days and still haven't found his whereabouts?" Xiao Shenjing sneered, throwing the memorial in his hand heavily. "Are you not planning to keep your head for the New Year?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down." Gu Wenqian quickly said, "I have thoroughly investigated the martial arts world of the Central Plains but have not found any clues. I have sent people to search in the Eastern Yi, Northern Di, Southern Man, and Western Rong regions. I believe that we will find clues soon."
Xiao Shenjing stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at Gu Wenqian without saying a word.
In the eerie silence, Xing Zhao spoke up to help his superior out of the predicament.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report."
"explain."
Xing Zhao bowed his head respectfully and said, "At noon today, my spies planted among the Turks sent a secret report that a month ago, Ashina Duobi's second prince was found, and the portrait sent back is exactly the same as Xu Yuansi's."
Xiao Shenjing suddenly looked up.
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