Post station disaster
Wu Qi's father, Wu Shanyun, and his wife, Qi Kongyun, have been traveling the world for half a year and have not returned home. Yi Shen's mother, Wen Ru, heard today that the Emperor had asked the two children to assist in investigating the case of the corpse in Peach Blossom Forest. She was worried and waited at the door to receive the two children.
To everyone's surprise, only Yi Shen got off the carriage.
Wen Ru looked left and right but didn't see Wu Qi, so she asked Yi Shen, "Where did you take Xiao Qi?"
"The Witch's Mansion".
Upon learning that Yi Shen had already sent Wu Qi home, Wen Ru glanced at Yi Shen with a hint of reproach, flicked her sleeve, and said, "If Xiao Qi isn't coming today, don't come back either."
Helpless, Yi Shen went to the Witch's Mansion again.
The two residences were not far apart. Yi Shen did not take a carriage. He stopped at a pastry shop and bought some rice cakes. He carried the pastries to the Witch's Mansion.
The witch's mansion was surrounded by a ring of trees to isolate it from the street. Upon entering, one could see pavilions, bridges, and flowing water. Lush green trees surrounded the artificial hill, and butterflies swirled around the flowers.
Bluestone slabs are laid on tender grass, and at the end you can see a crystal-clear lake.
The people in the mansion were already used to seeing Yi Shen, so they didn't ask any questions. They simply bowed and pointed out the way, saying, "Miss is in the flower garden."
"Flower and Grass Garden" is Wu Qi's courtyard.
The courtyard is not small, but once you go deeper into it, you will find it quiet and secluded. The bamboo branches are neatly trimmed, and several kinds of flowers are blooming in competition. Everywhere you look, there are flowers and plants, which can be described as the "flower garden" on the stone.
Yi Shen stopped beside the rock, carrying a piece of rice cake, and stared at the three words "Flower and Grass Garden".
The brushstrokes are not sharp, and the structure is somewhat lacking. If it were placed in a calligraphy and painting shop, probably no one would give it a second glance, but it was carved on stone.
Not to be forgotten.
These are the words Yi Shen wrote when he was six years old.
Five-year-old Wu Qi picked up the calligraphy and praised it highly. He then carefully put the calligraphy away. When he saw it again, Wu Qi had already had it carved into a stone.
She can always do these things with a smile.
Bang!
A sound suddenly came from inside the house, like the sound of an explosion.
Yi Shen was startled and hurriedly walked towards that place, disregarding all propriety and shame, and directly opened the door.
A flash of light, and the tables and chairs were on fire!
Wu Qi picked up a basin of water and poured it over the burning table and chairs with a "whoosh." The flames were extinguished, leaving only a few wisps of white steam. She reacted quickly by covering the model and the halberd on the table, and then looked at Yi Shen standing in the doorway.
"Why is Young Master Yi here? What are you carrying? It's not my favorite tiao tou gao (a type of rice cake), is it? Thank you so much, Young Master Yi!" Wu Qi said, making up a bunch of nonsense. Seeing that Yi Shen didn't make any move, she felt uneasy.
Studying halberds was a major taboo for aristocratic families.
Her parents were away traveling and hadn't returned home yet, so she dared to examine the halberd. But to her surprise, it exploded!
Unfortunately, Yi Shen discovered it!
Wu Qi had some ash on her nose, perhaps because she hadn't had time to dodge the sudden explosion. A piece of her skirt was burned off, but she just stood there looking like she didn't know she had done anything wrong, blinking her eyes and trying to cover it up.
"Yi Shen, I was wrong, please listen to me, I..."
Yi Shen walked to her side and asked, with a hint of a sigh, "Are you injured?"
"Um?"
He asked again, "Are you injured?"
Wu Qi shook his head, afraid that Yi Shen wouldn't believe him, and circled around in front of him before saying, "No, I'm fine, it's just that my dress was burned."
She sighed, somewhat sadly, and said, "It seems like this was given to me by my aunt."
This dress was a gift from Yi Shen's mother.
pity.
"It's alright," Yi Shen said. "She prepared new clothes for you and asked you to stay overnight."
"Really? That's great! Just wait a moment!"
Wu Qi washed her face, changed her clothes, ate some rice cakes, and returned to the Yi residence with Yi Shen.
Yi Shen didn't mention the explosion at Liuge, and neither did she. It was fortunate Yi Shen didn't, otherwise she wouldn't know how to explain.
Upon seeing Wen Ru, Wu Qi took her arm affectionately and said in a spoiled tone, as if she were her own daughter, "Auntie, I missed you so much! Did you miss me?"
“Of course,” Wen Ru said. “I miss you very much too.”
Wenru had been eagerly anticipating the birth of a daughter, but fate was unkind, and she gave birth to three sons instead. Today, Yi Shen's father, Yi Chongge, is not home, and his two sons rarely visit after their marriages.
Tonight, only the three of them ate dinner.
After the meal, Wenru didn't ask any further questions, but simply held Wu Qi's hand and said, "The mind of a ruler is unpredictable, but you two can do as you please in this matter, without being bound by any etiquette. Don't be afraid of how much you investigate, how deep you investigate, or who you investigate."
They're not so afraid to investigate the truth, nor are they so incapable of protecting their two children.
If Wu Qi was still somewhat hesitant before, after hearing Wen Ru's words, she felt as if something in her heart was gradually hardening to protect the justice she upheld.
We cannot let Zhou Sizhu die in vain, nor can we let evil go unpunished.
There should be justice in this world.
There should also be fearless people.
Wu Qi figured some things out and had a dream that night.
In her dream, she returned to the peach blossom grove and saw the two people burying a corpse. Then, as dawn broke, the two masked men had nowhere to escape and could only kneel down and submit to the law.
The next day at 1:15 AM, the group rode at full speed towards Pingwu.
As dusk fell, the group arrived at Qingcui City, where a torrential downpour suddenly began. They stopped at the post station and rested there for the night.
The restaurant served the dishes, and Li Xi sat at the same table with Wu Qi and Yi Shen. She said, "I didn't expect that you two, young master and lady, could ride horses."
Especially Wu Qi.
I had thought she was a sheltered young lady from a noble family who never left her home, but once she mounted her horse, she was just as impressive as the generals on the battlefield.
She has a charming smile and a heroic bearing.
The etiquette of aristocratic families did not stipulate that their children could not ride horses, so Wu Qi said to Li Xi with peace of mind, "I learned it with Yi Shen."
Li Xi nodded slightly and did not ask any further questions.
Most people in the capital know that Young Master Yi and Lady Wu are very close, and some are even betting on when they will get married.
Some say this year, others say next year, and the slightly smarter ones say within five years.
However, in Li Xi's opinion, their every move was perfectly in sync, a tacit understanding that even couples married for over a decade probably had never achieved, and something that others couldn't learn.
After finishing their meal, the group returned to their rooms.
Wu Qi lived next door to Yi Shen.
The heavy rain had not yet stopped, and it was bitterly cold inside. Yi Shen knocked on Wu Qi's door and saw that Wu Qi was wrapped in a quilt when she opened the door. He did not show any unusual expression and placed the quilt he was holding on her bed after entering the room.
When Wu Qi was young, she was frail. If it rained heavily or she didn't put on warm clothes in time, she would definitely fall seriously ill. Yi Shen had seen her when she had a febrile disease. Her cheeks and the corners of her eyes were red, and she looked at him weakly, not even smiling at him.
After that, Yi Shen developed a habit.
If he were with Wu Qi, he would have draped a thick coat over her when it rained heavily. Unfortunately, there were no thick coats for women in the shop, so he could only bring a quilt to keep her warm.
"Thank you, Young Master Yi, for your thoughtfulness. Congratulations! I must commend you greatly." Wu Qi sat at the table, wrapped in a blanket, sipping hot tea. Once he felt warmer, he looked at Yi Shen. "Yi Shen, in the future, if I do anything outrageous or wrong, you..."
She hesitated, unsure how to continue, but then heard Yi Shen say, "No."
"Um?"
"You are kind by nature and will not do anything outrageous or wrong."
"But……"
“You study the halberd, hoping for halberd armor on the ground and halberd wings in the sky.” Yi Shen looked at her and continued, “This is not something outrageous or wrong.”
"And, Wu Qi, you always forget,"
"You are not alone."
These few words caused Wu Qi to lose sleep.
The room was pitch black. She stared blankly at the ceiling, and belatedly realized that what Yi Shen had said was almost a vow, too heavy a burden.
From these words, Wu Qi could sense a hint of being bound together by life and death.
However, among the ten children of noble families, she was the most unconventional. She secretly studied Liuge and Beikun, and the blueprints for Liuge armor were hidden in the box.
She likes these things and doesn't want to give them up.
She could walk alone and felt that the road was full of flowers. But if Yi Shen were to join her, the flowers on the road would probably turn into thorns. With every step she took, she would check to see if Yi Shen had been scratched by the thorns or if he was unhappy.
Wu Qi pulled the blanket over his head and said in annoyance, "Wu Qi, Wu Qi, you never know how to speak so recklessly."
She sighed, and suddenly heard footsteps on the roof.
In the dead of night, when everyone is fast asleep, why would there be footsteps on the roof?
Wu Qi listened quietly.
The footsteps on the roof were very light and could not be heard unless you listened carefully. The footsteps she had just heard must have been someone stepping heavily on the tiles and happened to be quite close to her.
The post station was remote, nestled against a wild mountain. Even with the sudden downpour today, there were hardly any people inside. The group on the roof must have come for them.
Why?
Was it because they were going to Pingwu City to investigate the tragic death of Chief Zhou?
But how could the people of Pingwu City know that they were resting at this post station?
Wu Qi quickly got up and opened the door after hearing the sound of swords clashing outside.
More than twenty men in black had poured into the inn, all wielding swords and knives. They swiftly severed the necks of those around them, claiming they were robbing them for money, but before anyone could even speak, they had already beheaded them.
The people in the post station were caught in an unexpected disaster and fled in panic.
They had just been awakened from their sleep when they were about to fight a masked man in black.
Tables and chairs collapsed completely, dishes were smashed all over the ground, and screams and bloodstains mingled together as the heavy rain fell.
Amidst the chaos of war, a pair of warm hands grabbed Wu Qi's wrist, pulled her into their embrace, spun her around, and helped her dodge a sword thrust at her.
Wu Qi reacted quickly, following Yi Shen's movements, turning around and then kicking the man in the chest, sending him staggering back two steps.
Wu Qi asked, "Who sent you?"
The man sneered, "Just a greedy and lustful fellow. Meeting such a beautiful woman is our good fortune today. Brothers, let's go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people poured into the rooftop, through the windows, and into the doorway.
The two men, unable to dodge and unarmed, retreated repeatedly, leaping from the second floor to the first, landing right next to Li Xi.
Wu Qi and Yi Shen each kicked away the man holding a sword next to Li Xi.
Li Xi said, "Thank you."
If the two of them hadn't arrived in time, the man would have already severed both of Li Xi's arms.
After killing one, another came; the men in black kept pouring in. Seeing that they were losing ground, Li Xi severed one man's arm and turned to Wu Qi and Yi Shen, saying, "Run! Don't worry about us!"
The two exchanged a glance and then climbed out of the window.
As soon as he landed, Wu Qi exclaimed in surprise after seeing the scene in the distance: "How come there are more?!"
Amidst the heavy rain, distant firelight blazed, and the sound of horses' hooves echoed through the air; judging by their appearance, it seemed that over a hundred more people had arrived.
Who sent them?
Pingwu's group numbered less than a hundred, but the people chasing them numbered probably three hundred.
Seeing that they couldn't go any further, Wu Qi decisively grabbed Yi Shen's wrist, stepped into the darkness, and ran towards the wild forest behind the post station.
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