10. Song of the Clouds (Part 9)



Yun Ge, who had just returned to the Central Plains from Southern Xinjiang, was in a good mood. She had never traveled so happily since she was a child. During this trip to Southern Xinjiang, she not only saw many medicinal materials unique to Southern Xinjiang, but Xu Qingchen also took her to visit several famous doctors in Southern Xinjiang. The medical skills and concepts that were very different from those in the Central Plains gave Yun Ge a lot more insights on the road to studying medicine.

After the two of them entered the Broken Snow Pass and returned to the Central Plains, they slowly headed westwards towards Xiling. Although Xiling and Prince Ding's Mansion had a lot of grievances, the two sides had now reached an agreement to stop fighting and were resting, and the people of Xiling did not dare to attack Master Qingchen easily.

However, no one expected that something bad would happen before the two of them arrived at Ancheng, the current capital of Xiling.

On this day, Yun Ge and Xu Qingchen stayed in a guesthouse in a small town near Ancheng. Their destination was indeed the capital of Xiling. Although Xu Qingchen, the right prime minister of Ding Wangfu, ran to the capital of Xiling so casually without even saying hello, it was somewhat provocative, but Ancheng was the most prosperous and lively place in Xiling now, and it would be a pity not to go there after coming to Xiling. More importantly, the two planned to borrow a passage from Xiling to the Western Regions to play, so they had to pass through Ancheng.

Because she was tired from the journey the day before, Yun Ge did not see Xu Qingchen when she got up the next morning. He usually got up earlier than her. Although it was a bit strange, she did not think much about it. Xu Qingchen did not know martial arts, which was different from people like her who practiced martial arts. Maybe he was tired and slept through it. Yun Ge went downstairs to the lobby, ordered some simple breakfast, and ate slowly. But after Yun Ge finished breakfast and waited for a while, she found something wrong. Not only did Xu Qingchen not show up, but even the guards who had been following them for protection did not show up. It was impossible that they all slept through it, right?

Thinking of this, Yun Ge's heart suddenly jumped, and he stood up and rushed upstairs without caring about anything else. He pushed open Xu Qingchen's room, but saw that it was clean and tidy inside, as if no one had ever lived there. He then went to see the rooms where the guards lived, but found that several guards had fainted in the room and were unconscious.

"Xu...Xu Qingchen?!" Yun Ge suddenly became anxious and quickly detoxified several guards. He asked anxiously, "What happened? Where is Xu Qingchen?"

The guards were confused at first, and were shocked when they heard Yun Ge's words. They rushed into Xu Qingchen's room and found that he was missing.

"How could this happen? This... Young Master Qingchen was taken away..." A guard looked at the half-open window and said in a deep voice, "Quick, immediately notify the secret guards in all places to look for Young Master Qingchen!"

"Okay!" A secret guard responded and rushed out quickly.

Yun Ge just felt panic in her heart. At this moment, she was with Xu Qingchen and didn't have to worry about anything. Now Xu Qingchen suddenly disappeared, and she felt at a loss, "Xu Qingchen...wuwu...how could this happen? Who...who would kidnap him? He has no enemies." Seeing the little girl sobbing, the dark guard suddenly became a little flustered and said hurriedly: "Miss Shen, don't worry, Master Qingchen is a lucky person, nothing will happen to him. By the way...the owner of Xiling Yanwang Pavilion is a good friend of Master Qingchen, maybe we can go and ask him for news. As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Although we have some people in Xiling, we are definitely not as good as Yanwang Pavilion."

After hearing what the secret guard said, Yun Ge quickly wiped her tears, stood up and walked out the door, "Let's go! Xu Qingchen doesn't know martial arts, what if he gets bullied?"

The secret guard following behind her sighed helplessly, and a rare look of guilt flashed across his resolute face.

Outside the Yanwang Pavilion

The sick scholar looked at the yellow-dressed girl in front of him with a sinister look, frowned and said, "My elder brother is in seclusion and will not see guests."

Yun Ge bit her lips, but still stood in front of the sick scholar stubbornly, refusing to retreat. "Aren't Pavilion Master Ling and Xu Qingchen good friends? Xu Qingchen is missing, I want to ask Pavilion Master Ling if he has any news." She also knew that it was very rude to come to the Pavilion Master's house and insist on seeing him, but for the news of Xu Qingchen, she had no choice. Xu Qingchen had been missing for almost two days, and neither the secret guards of Ding Wangfu nor the Xiling Zhennan Wangfu had any news, which made Yun Ge more and more scared.

The sick scholar sneered and said nonchalantly: "Yanwang Pavilion has been disbanded a long time ago. Even if the eldest brother came out to see you, he would not tell you any news. What's more... Isn't Xu Qingchen from Dingwang Mansion? Dingwang Mansion has spies all over the world. Does Yanwang Pavilion still need to take action?" At that time, Yanwang Pavilion agreed to help Lei Zhenting kill Ye Li, and paid most of the masters of Yanwang Pavilion. After returning, Ling Tiehan ordered the disbandment of Yanwang Pavilion. Although Ling Tiehan said that he was tired of the life in the martial arts world and wanted to concentrate on studying martial arts, how could the sick scholar, as a sworn brother, not know that Ling Tiehan did this to prevent Dingwang Mansion from ambition and wanted to protect the remaining people in Yanwang Pavilion. For a master like Ling Tiehan, unless Mo Xiuyao personally led people to encircle and suppress him, no one in the world could hurt him. But the other people in Yanwang Pavilion were different. Some of the second- and third-rate masters were like serving food to the Iron Cavalry of Dingwang Mansion.

Although it was the Yanwang Pavilion that took action first, now that the Yanwang Pavilion that once shook the world is gone, it is impossible to say that there is no resentment in his heart. Moreover, the sick scholar was not a magnanimous person to begin with, and he was too happy to be missing Xu Qingchen.

"Go away. I want to see the Master of Ling Pavilion. I don't want to talk to you." After being held here for so long, Yun Ge could tell that this person was deliberately making things difficult for her, even if she was ignorant of the world. She was already upset because of Xu Qingchen's safety, and now she was even more upset. She glared at the sick scholar and said angrily.

The sick scholar's face changed, and he sneered, "You want to see my brother? Sure, I'll let you in after you beat me up."

Yun Ge didn't say anything more. She pulled out a short sword and stabbed at the sick scholar. The sick scholar's usual weapon was a short sword. The two of them immediately fought each other. The sick scholar was proficient in poison techniques, which made it difficult for people to defend themselves. Most people in the martial arts world were unwilling to fight him. But Yun Ge was different. She was proficient in medicine. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that medicine and poison are inseparable. This time, after returning from southern Xinjiang, her knowledge of poison techniques has reached a higher level. So the sick scholar's poison had no effect on her. The two had to fight with their real abilities.

Although the sick scholar was ten years older than Yun Ge, he was no match for Yun Ge in terms of martial arts. Originally, he had the worst qualifications and martial arts among the three leaders of Yan Wang Pavilion, and he was plagued by illness in his early years. If it weren't for his poison skills, his martial arts skills would only be second-rate. But Yun Ge was a martial arts genius that even Mo Xiu Yao had to praise. In less than half an hour, only Yun Ge was left to suppress the sick scholar.

"Third brother, stop." A deep male voice came from inside, and a man in blue cloth came out. Upon hearing his voice, the sick scholar immediately withdrew his hand and dodged to the side. Yun Ge also stopped attacking at the same time, because as soon as the man appeared, she felt a mighty momentum coming from him, just like when she faced Prince Ding. Yun Ge knew very well that it was absolutely impossible to defeat this man with her martial arts.

"You...are you the Master of Ling Pavilion?" Although facing a powerful man whom he could not defeat, Yun Ge did not retreat.

Ling Tiehan looked at the little girl in front of him with interest. At his age, she was too young to be his daughter. Even Ling Tiehan was very tolerant of such a cute little girl. "I am Ling Tiehan. Little girl, you are good at kung fu. What's your name?"

Yun Ge bit her lip and whispered, "My name is Shen Yun Ge, I...I want to ask Master Ling to help me find out if there is any news about Xu Qingchen."

Seeing the anxiety that could not be concealed in Yun Ge's beautiful eyes, Ling Tiehan shook his head. Seeing Yun Ge's charming smile slowly dimming, Ling Tiehan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Xu Qingchen will be fine."

"How do you know?" Yun Ge asked.

Ling Tiehan smiled and said, "With Xu Qingchen's status, there are not many people in the world who are capable of kidnapping him, and almost none of them have a grudge against him. If you are really worried about him... you can go back to Licheng to have a look."

"Licheng?" Yun Ge bit her lip. Licheng was too far from here. When she returned to Licheng to find Sister Li'er to rescue Xu Qingchen, what if something happened to Xu Qingchen during this period? Seeing the tears in the eyes of the little girl in front of him, Ling Tiehan sighed helplessly and said, "If Miss Shen believes me, rescue him back to Licheng. Maybe Xu Qingchen will already be in Licheng when you go back? If he is really kidnapped, and even Yanwang Pavilion and Zhennan Palace can't get any news, it's useless for you to stay here. It's better to go back first."

Yun Ge nodded, quickly raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "I understand. I'm sorry to bother Master Ling. Thank you." After that, Yun Ge bowed to Ling Tiehan, then turned and left.

"Brother, are you just going to let this girl go like this?" The sick scholar said somewhat unhappily as he watched Yun Ge's figure gradually disappear.

Ling Tiehan laughed out loud, raised his hand and patted his brother on the shoulder and said with a smile: "She is just a little girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, how dare you bully her? And... Third brother, it's not that I underestimate you, but if it's really a one-on-one match, you are definitely not a match for this girl. I didn't expect... Xu Qingchen would actually find such a simple little girl."

"Who kidnapped Xu Qingchen?" The sick scholar asked with a frown. He had not rejected Yun Ge just out of spite, but because there was really no news about Xu Qingchen in Prince Yan's Pavilion.

Ling Tiehan laughed and said, "In this world today, who else besides Mo Xiuyao can kidnap Xu Qingchen and help him?"

“…”

In a quiet corner not far from Yun Ge, there was an inconspicuous carriage. The man sitting in the carriage was extremely handsome, dressed in white clothes as white as snow, and looked like a god. But at this moment, the expression on his face was not at all immortal, but made the person opposite him feel terrified.

On the other side, Xu Qingfeng, the third son of the Xu family, who had just been married for two months, looked at the person opposite helplessly, "Brother, don't look at me, I am just following orders. If you are angry, go find the person who gave the order." He finally got married and married a beautiful bride, doesn't he want to enjoy the happiness of the wedding at home? Why did he run thousands of miles to this hellhole and be hated by his elder brother?

"Mo Xiuyao." Master Qingchen lowered his eyes, and he knew who had come up with this bad idea without even thinking about it. When he woke up and found himself kidnapped, Master Qingchen was not panicked. Sure enough, he soon saw his third brother appear in front of him with a timid look on his face, and smiled at him with a guilty look. Needless to say, the only person who could come up with such a messed-up idea was someone in Licheng, at least Xu Qingfeng didn't have the courage to act on his own.

Xu Qingfeng nodded repeatedly. He was also complaining in his heart about being sent out to carry out such a nonsensical mission. As someone's subordinate, he had no choice but to obey orders, but in his heart he wished that his elder brother would go back and find trouble with someone.

"Tsk tsk...Brother, it seems that Miss Shen is very kind to you." Through the curtain of the car window, Xu Qingfeng laughed as he watched Miss Yun Ge, who had just left the Yanwang Pavilion, with her eyes drooping and her feet still moving forward. They had been secretly following Yun Ge for the past two days, so they naturally saw everything Yun Ge did. Unfortunately, although Yun Ge had great martial arts skills, she had almost no experience in the martial arts world, so she naturally could not discover someone like Xu Qingfeng who had received professional training.

Looking at the lonely figure of the little girl going away, Xu Qingchen's eyes flashed with pity and heartache. He said in a deep voice: "Have you made enough noise? Let me go."

Xu Qingfeng shook his head repeatedly and said, "That won't work. The order I received was to take you back. Besides, brother... don't you want to see how much Miss Shen cares about you?"

Xu Qingchen was silent. Master Qingchen had always been a perfectionist. But Miss Yunge was a little slow in feeling. Although now Yunge had completely accepted the fact that she was his fiancée, he himself didn't know how much of it was because of her feelings for him. But... Thinking of those crystal eyes soaked with tears, Master Qingchen felt a pain in his heart, "Let me out of the car!"

In the end, his heartache for Yun Ge outweighed his desire to know the answer, so Master Qingchen gave up this opportunity without hesitation.

Xu Qingfeng rolled his eyes helplessly, and gave Master Qingchen a flattering smile, saying, "In that case... Big Brother, I'm sorry for you." He raised his hand and chopped Master Qingchen unconscious in the carriage. With Master Qingchen's intelligence, it would be safest to knock him unconscious and bring him back to Licheng directly. Otherwise, even if he can't move, he might cause trouble on the way. Thinking of the earnest instructions of His Royal Highness Prince Ding before leaving, Xu Qingfeng was very disdainful, but he had to say... it made sense.

Yun Ge rushed to Licheng day and night, but because she encountered two groups of people blocking her on the way, she finally returned to Licheng two days later than expected. When she thought that Xu Qingchen was still alive or dead, Yun Ge couldn't help but hate her own uselessness. If she was as powerful as Sister Li'er, she would definitely be able to find Xu Qingchen, instead of returning to Sister Li'er in shame.

However, the scene after entering Licheng made Yun Ge a little confused. The Dingwang Mansion was peaceful and quiet, as if nothing had happened. She had clearly asked the secret guards who followed Xu Qingchen to return to Licheng to report the news. She captured another servant of Dingwang Mansion and asked him about it. He actually replied that the prince and the princess were not in the mansion, but went to the Xu family because the eldest son of the Xu family, Qingchen, was going to marry a wife, and the wedding was scheduled for today.

Yun Ge was stunned, and couldn't figure out what was going on for a long time. She just said in a daze: "So... so... Xu Qingchen is okay?"

The servant looked at her strangely and replied, "What can Master Qingchen do? Master Qingchen is very capable."

"Then...then when did Xu Qingchen come back?"

"Master Qingchen came back yesterday. Coincidentally, Miss Shen has also come back, so she can make it in time for Master Qingchen's wedding." The servant said with a smile, then bowed to Yun Ge and left.

Yun Ge sat at the gate of Prince Ding's mansion in a daze. The guards at the gate knew this girl and ignored her. Thinking about how she had been sleeping in the open air and rushing to get by in the past few days, and how she had been robbed, Yun Ge's eyes turned red with grievance. Even if Xu Qingchen didn't want her anymore, he didn't have to sneak back to get married. At least he should have left her a message. It was really... too much!

Yun Ge felt even sadder when she thought of Xu Qingchen secretly coming back to get married without telling her. Liar! Big liar... He clearly said he would accompany me to practice medicine and have fun. And he even talked about fiancée and fiancé... Xu Qingchen is a big liar!

Even the guard brother who was guarding the gate couldn't bear to look at the little girl's sad and aggrieved expression, and finally couldn't help asking: "Miss Shen, what's wrong with you? Who bullied you?" Could it be that the little girl was really bullied? Should he report it to the princess immediately? The princess seemed to like this little girl very much.

Yun Ge blinked and nodded silently, "What would you do if someone lied to you?"

"Beat him!" Guard A.

"Beat him!" Guard B.

"Kick him!" Guard Ding.

"Kill him!" Guard C.

Yun Ge's pretty face showed hesitation, and she said hesitantly, "No... He can't stand being beaten. What if he gets hurt?"

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment. She was so sad but still worried that something might have been broken. It seemed that she had a conflict with her lover.

"Miss Shen, maybe he didn't mean to deceive you. If you have any questions, you should ask them clearly. Otherwise, you will regret it for the rest of your life if you miss the one you love."

"The one who loves..." Yun Ge's face turned red.

"Yes, he has deceived you and made you so sad, but you still can't bring yourself to hit him. Could it be that he is not your sweetheart?"

"This. This..." Yun Ge's face turned red and then pale, "Then...what if he doesn't want me anymore and goes with someone else?"

"Take it back and make him change his mind." Guard A.

"Bring him back, and beat him to death if he doesn't change his mind!" Guard B.

"Bring him back. If he doesn't change his mind, feed him poison and kill him!" Guard C.

"Rob..." Guard Bing just opened his mouth, Yun Ge turned around and said with a smile: "Got it, grab it back first!"

Yun Ge did not enter through the main gate of the Xu family, but used his Qinggong to jump over the wall and headed straight for Xu Qingchen's courtyard. The Xu mansion was indeed very lively, with lights and decorations everywhere, and the outer courtyard was even more bustling with people coming and going. In comparison, the inner courtyard was much quieter.

As soon as she walked to the door of Xu Qingchen's room, she faintly heard Xu Qingchen's voice coming from inside. Miss Yun Ge suddenly became angry and raised her foot to kick the door of Xu Qingchen's room.

"Hey, Yun Ge, why are you here? Come with me!" Murong Ting's voice suddenly came from behind. Yun Ge was stunned and before she could react, Murong Ting and Hua Tianxiang grabbed one hand each and dragged her away.

"Um... Sister Ting, Sister Tianxiang, what are you doing? I'm looking for Xu Qingchen!" Yun Ge said angrily. Qin Zheng followed beside her, covered her lips and smiled, "What nonsense are you talking about? Today is a big day, how can we meet the groom now? Come with us, we're looking for you everywhere."

"Looking for me?" Yun Ge, who had no idea what was going on, was dragged out of Xu Qingchen's courtyard by Murong Ting and Hua Tianxiang and into another courtyard. Then many people, both familiar and unfamiliar, came to help her change her clothes, put on makeup, and put her hair up. Finally, she was covered with a red veil and escorted out to the wedding ceremony.

From beginning to end, Yun Ge was in a state of confusion and had no idea what was going on.

By the time Yun Ge came to her senses, she had already finished worshipping heaven and earth and was sent to the bridal chamber. Under the red veil, Yun Ge blinked in confusion and raised her hand to remove the veil on her head. She heard a creaking sound from the door, which was pushed open and then closed, and a slow footstep walked towards her.

For some reason, Yun Ge suddenly became a little nervous, and her palms, which were originally tightly holding the bright red wedding dress, were now full of sweat.

Her eyes lit up as the red veil was gently lifted. Yun Ge looked up and saw a man in red clothes. He had a faint smile on his handsome face. The festive red color made him look even more noble and joyful.

"Xu...Xu Qingchen?"

Xu Qingchen smiled faintly, leaned down and placed a light kiss on her lips, and said with a smile: "It's me, Yun Ge, we are getting married today, are you happy?"

"Happy...happy?" Yun Ge couldn't help but want to glare at him fiercely, but her cheeks seemed to be burning in his gentle eyes. Her heart couldn't help but surge with joy and sweetness. It turned out that Xu Qingchen didn't want her anymore, didn't he want to secretly marry someone else?

"I'm glad you're happy." Master Qingchen smiled and said, "From now on, Yun Ge is my wife. Come, let's drink a glass of wedding wine first." Master Qingchen handed over a wine glass and looked at Yun Ge with a smile.

Facing his handsome face with a smile on her face, Yun Ge felt dizzy. She raised the wine glass in a daze and drank from it with her arms crossed.

A cup of wedding wine, from now on, they will be together forever...

Under the bright candles, a couple drank from their cups, with a faint smile and tenderness in their eyes. In the distance came the sound of firecrackers, the sound of bamboo, and the bustling voices, which made the place even more quiet...

At this time,

Flowers have fragrance and the moon has shadow...

(Song of the Clouds. End)

－－－－－－－A side note－－－－－－－