Chapter 7 Prince Li
"Miss, did you see anything?" Bai Lu lifted the car curtain in confusion.
Su Yuheng lowered the brocade curtain and said, "You go buy some osmanthus cake. I'll go to Yipintang and wait for you in the carriage after I finish shopping." After saying that, she lifted her skirt and got off the carriage.
At this moment, the main gate was brightly lit, but there were only a few scattered lanterns on the bluestone road at the side gate.
As soon as Huo Xingzhi's carriage came to a stop, his personal guard Bai Ze reported in a low voice, "Master, we've arrived."
With bony fingers, he slowly opened the dark curtain. Huo Xingzhi glanced at the pavilion with a gilded plaque hanging before him. "Have they arrived?"
"I'm already waiting in the private room, just waiting for the master."
The door of the private room on the third floor opened slightly, and the fragrance of tea mixed with the sound of running water filled the room.
A young man in blue was sitting on a mahogany wheelchair carved with pear blossoms by the window. He was holding a black piece in his hand. When he heard Huo Xingzhi's voice, he placed the black piece on the chessboard.
The candlelight made his face pale as paper. Huo Xingzhi walked in and sat down across from him, then picked up the white chess piece and asked, "Do you have any news, Master Yu?"
"The prince has only been back from the frontier fortress for a day, and he's already concerned about Master Yu's whereabouts."
"This Young Master Yu has entered Dayan." The blue-robed young master stroked the warm chess piece with his fingertips. "Since he has already arrived in Dayan, when will Your Highness close the net?"
Hearing the warm and clear voice, Su Yuheng in the next room suddenly clenched his sleeves.
Isn’t this the voice of Su Mingzhe, the eldest son of the Su family?
Liu was the son of the former wife of Marquis Dingbei. After the former wife passed away, she was promoted from concubine to mistress of the house.
Su Mingzhe followed Prince Li in his early years and was a cavalry general with iron armor and red tassels. Later, he was injured during the march and his legs were disabled while he was recuperating at home. The position of the prince of Dingbei Marquis fell into the hands of Su Yanqiu.
How could he be here? Then, who was the man in black talking to him?
Could it be the famous Prince Li Huo Xingzhi of Dayan?
Huo Xingzhi has been fighting on the border this year. Could it be that he has returned?
Just as she was wondering, she heard Huo Xingzhi's magnetic and cold voice coming from the compartment again.
"It's too late to close the net. This person is extremely cunning and a rare talent. If he can be used by me, why not?"
"Have Kong Qing continue to inquire about Master Yu's whereabouts. If he enters Yanjing City, we can subdue him and use him to prevent him from falling into the hands of King Qi."
Huo Xingzhi raised his eyebrows slightly, his cold gaze falling on a dark shadow in the northwest of the private room, and a cold arc suddenly appeared at the corner of his lips.
"As for the eldest son of the Shen family, Shen Tingzhou..."
He paused and continued, "Chen Tingzhou is now insane, no one recognizes him, and he is barely surviving in the City God Temple in the western suburbs."
Huo Xingzhi's words made Su Yuheng next door freeze.
She sat in the chair, her eyes wide open in disbelief.
In the past few days, she had also heard rumors from Yanjing that a beggar named Shen had gone insane in the City God Temple on the outskirts of the city.
Could it be that he is really her biological brother?
At this moment, Su Yuheng no longer cared about the identity of the man in black. She only wanted to find her brother Chen Tingzhou.
She couldn't let the only male of the Shen family fall into the hands of others.
She carefully got up from the chair, turned around and left Yipinlou.
"Miss, I bought the osmanthus cake."
"It's getting late. If we don't go back, the Second Young Master will go crazy." said the maid Bai Lu.
"Let him go crazy." Su Yuheng's eyes were calm as he said, "I have something important to deal with right now. Coachman, turn around and we're heading to the City God Temple in the western suburbs."
"City God Temple?" Bai Lu was a little confused.
"Why go to the City God Temple?"
Yuheng: "Bai Lu, if you are afraid, go back first."
Bai Lu said, "Miss, I'm not afraid. I'm just worried that you might be in danger."
First-class building.
Bai Ze pushed open the door to the private room, walked up to Huo Xingzhi, and said with a bow, "Your Highness, this is Su Yuheng, the fourth young lady of the Su family. As Your Highness expected, Miss Su has boarded the carriage and is heading towards the City God Temple in the western suburbs."
Huo Xingzhi raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Su Mingzhe who was sitting opposite him, his thin lips slightly curled up.
"It is said that the fourth young lady of the Su family has always been abiding by the rules and is a gentle and sensible girl. I didn't expect that your fourth sister would be so interested in the affairs of the Shen family."
"I am very curious why she is so concerned about the affairs of Shen Tingzhou of the Shen family."
Su Mingzhe put down the black piece in his hand and frowned slightly: "Is it really Heng'er?"
"Your Highness, Heng'er has been well-behaved and sensible since childhood. I'm afraid there are reasons for what happened today. Please show mercy and spare Fourth Sister's life."
Huo Xingzhi raised his eyebrows lightly: "Behaved and sensible? If she was well-behaved and sensible, she wouldn't have gone to the West Suburb City God Temple after hearing about Shen Tingzhou's whereabouts."
"Your sister is not simple."
Su Mingzhe took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness is right. I will teach her well."
"But Your Highness has deceived her like this today. It is too dangerous for a girl like her to go to the City God Temple."
Huo Xingzhi frowned slightly, his expression meaningful: "She dared to go alone, which proves that she is not afraid."
"As for the whereabouts of Shen Tingzhou, he is in Yanjing City, but not in the City God Temple."
After he finished speaking, he stood up from the chair, straightened his black robe, and then lowered his eyes to look at Su Mingzhe.
"Let's stop here for today's affairs, Su Mingzhe. Aren't you curious about why your well-behaved and sensible sister went to the City God Temple?"
Su Mingzhe: "I'm not curious."
"But I am very curious." After Huo Xingzhi finished speaking, he turned around and took Bai Ze down the Yipin Building.
Su Mingzhe sat in a chair and looked at Huo Xingzhi's back as he left, chuckling softly.
"Sure enough, the prince really has other intentions than drinking. He is clearly thinking about my sister."
…
"Your Highness, are we going back home directly?" Bai Ze asked.
Huo Xingzhi's face was stern, and his voice was slow and steady: "Let's go to the City God Temple."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Under the dark night, Su Yuheng and Bai Lu sat in the carriage and headed towards the City God Temple.
"Miss, I heard that the City God Temple is haunted. How about we go there another day?"
"It's really too late tonight. If I don't go back to the Marquis' Mansion soon, I'm afraid there will be chaos."
Su Yuheng glanced at Bai Lu and said, "If you are afraid, don't go into the temple later. I can go in by myself."
"It's not the ghosts in this world that are scary, it's the human heart that is scary."
She has been a ghost for ten years and has been wandering in the human world for a full ten years. What scary places has she not been to?
In her previous life, after being pushed into a dry well, she had personally witnessed rats gnawing at her body.
She watched how the rats tore her flesh and blood into pieces and swallowed them bit by bit, turning her from a living being into a pile of bones.
How did she survive those ten years, through countless dark nights?
It was already late at night when the carriage arrived at the City God Temple.
The City God Temple was pitch black at this time.
In the carriage, Su Yuheng told Bai Lu: "Wait in the carriage, I will be there soon."
Bai Lu bit her lip and lifted the curtain of the carriage. It was a pitch-black night outside. She didn't understand why the young lady came to this place.
However, since the cousin came to the Su family, the young lady seemed to have changed.
"Miss, how about this servant accompany you?"
"No need." Su Yuheng said.
She got off the carriage on her own, took off a plum blossom hairpin from her head and held it in her hand.
Then he took out a tinderbox and walked step by step into the dark, dilapidated temple in front of him.
The half-closed temple door creaked open, and an old smell came from inside. The wind from outside the broken window blew in from all directions, making strange noises.
Su Yuheng could still vaguely hear a rustling sound. She still remembered the sound: it was a mouse.
She walked in with a tinder. There was a dilapidated Buddha statue inside. Bloodstains could be seen around the statue. There was some straw on the ground and some torn pieces of clothes.
Her heart sank.
Could it be that something happened?
She mustered up the courage to continue walking inside. After a few steps, the fire starter in her hand was suddenly blown out by a gust of cold wind.
The temple was suddenly plunged into darkness. She took a step back and felt a strange presence approaching her.
There was someone behind her.
As soon as she turned around, she saw a dark figure.
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