33 Chapter Thirty Three
◎I have become more capable.◎
Ci Ying made up a few more sentences and whispered, "I really didn't mean to disturb you all. I was just passing through here out of helplessness. I hope you can be accommodating. I sympathize with you and need to leave early so that my husband won't catch up..."
Mr. Li coughed: "Yes, cough..."
The bandits exchanged glances, and the leader laughed heartily. "Very well, very well. Young lady, return to our stronghold with this handsome scholar, and your husband won't catch up with you!"
The younger brothers behind him immediately started laughing louder, with malicious intent in their laughter. Li Sheng hurriedly protected Ci Ying behind him.
The bandit saw him cough again after taking two steps, and he didn't take him seriously at all. He was even in the mood to make fun of him: "Young lady, your taste is really not good. This lover is so stupid that he will faint after walking two miles."
Li Sheng pretended to be angry. At this moment, he even hoped that there really were people from the Xie family who had not been gotten rid of in secret. However, the people under his control had gone to wipe out their traces, and the people in the mountains and forests had been secretly dealt with. Now it seemed like a dead end.
If they were really forced to return to the bandit camp with this bandit...
Li Sheng's expression grew solemn. Behind him, Ci Ying glanced calmly at the area nearby before pushing it aside. The young woman pulled a purse from her sleeve, her eyes filled with fear and flattery. "Brothers, we understand the rules, but my husband... I'm really afraid of getting in trouble, brothers. I hope you'll consider this a good deed. These are the last of Li Lang and I's savings."
One of the younger brothers snatched it away and, at the bandit leader's signal, opened it. His eyes lit up instantly. "Brother, there's quite a bit here. Small change and banknotes, probably hundreds of taels in total. I'm afraid these two really eloped from a wealthy family. This much silver is enough for us to rob several merchants."
Ci Ying's body was trembling, her hands were clenched lightly under her sleeves, and she was observing her surroundings.
The bandit leader narrowed his eyes when he heard his younger brother's words, then walked forward with a smile, pushed away Li Sheng who was trying to stop him, approached Ci Ying and said, "The young lady is sensible, but you said this is your last savings, why shouldn't I believe it?" As he spoke, the bandit narrowed his eyes and swept over Ci Ying.
Ci Ying trembled as she stared at the bandit's outstretched hand. Li Sheng was being pinned down by a younger brother. The others laughed as they watched their eldest brother tease the insolent young woman. They didn't step forward and even shouted, "Search, search!"
Li Sheng roared, "Do you know who she is? If you really touch her, all your ancestors will die! Ahem...you, you!"
The bandit leader didn't care what Li Sheng said at all. He thought, "If you are a bandit now, where do you think your ancestors came from? Even if his ancestors rose from the ground today, this young lady would have to go back with him."
He looked at the young lady's tears as if she wanted to say something but couldn't, and her trembling body, and subconsciously touched her in an intimate posture.
Suddenly, a black sharp dagger pierced his waist and went up along his waist before he could react. The girl who had just been panting with tears in her eyes raised her slightly red eyes, and the dagger was pulled out in an instant and inserted into her chest again.
Before the younger brothers behind him could react to this sudden change, dozens of people who looked like Deadpool emerged from the woods. The darts in their hands were like summer rain, and all of them fell down in an instant.
Li Shengxin breathed a sigh of relief. He thought it was someone from the Xie family. With a complicated look in his eyes, he looked in Ci Ying's direction, only to see the girl wiping the blood off the dagger with a handkerchief. She then instructed the surrounding dead servants, "Go down first. Divide into three groups and explore the roads to the east, west, and north. If there's someone guarding the exit, you don't need to come back. If not, one of you will guard the exit and the rest will come back to report."
After the Deadpools had dispersed, Ci Ying reached out and pulled Li Sheng up.
Li Sheng coughed and apologized, "I didn't think it through. I thought even if there were bandits... I'm sorry."
Mr. Li really felt a little guilty. If it weren't for Ciying's backup plan, his decision today would have completely implicated Ciying.
Ci Ying didn't blame me, but simply explained, "Madam Wang's mother's family owns an escort agency. When I went to say goodbye a few days ago, Madam Wang was worried about me traveling alone, so she prepared ten deadly guards for me. Afraid of being discovered by Xie Huaijin's men, I had them guard the front of the cruise ship the entire time. They only left after we left a quarter of an hour later."
Of course, things are not that simple.
Without a thorough and thorough plan, Ciying couldn't keep any plans in mind, as she didn't know what would happen next. Wang Chuyu had accidentally mentioned to her that her grandparents ran a security company, and Ciying had been planning it since then.
She was afraid that Xie Huaijin's people would notice any clues, so she kept it to herself until Wang Chuyu gave her the small jade Buddha. Then she went to find Mrs. Wang in the name of the jade Buddha.
Of course it’s not that simple.
Even though she was Wang Chuyu's wife and had a good relationship with the governor and his wife, Ci Ying had almost used up all the money Ru Zhen had given her because of the generous purchase of ten deadpools. What she had just said to the bandit was true. She stood up and took the bag of money from the bandit.
Well, now all these have to support both her and Mr. Li.
The purse was stained with blood. Ci Ying wiped it with the handkerchief she had just used to wipe the dagger. She didn't mind the bloody smell and put it back into her sleeve.
Li Sheng smiled flatteringly: "It's better to follow the girl."
Ci Ying said nothing. After taking a look at the bandits, she said in a deep voice, "Let's go. We can't delay any longer."
Li Sheng was mumbling and coughing beside her: "I never thought that the girl was so skilled."
Ci Ying lowered her eyes: "Zhu Guang taught me."
These four words instantly quieted Li Sheng, leaving only the young man's faint coughs along the way. After exiting the forest, they came to a desolate pier. A deadpool pulled a carriage over. Ci Ying said to Li Sheng, "I have somewhere to go, and I can give you a ride. I don't know why you're trying to avoid Xie Huaijin, but going with me... probably isn't a good choice. Your people died in the forest because of me. Deadpool, I can give you two of the money..."
Li Sheng coughed, stopping Ci Ying from reaching for her purse from her sleeve. He said gently, "Let me stay with you, young lady. If... cough cough cough, cough we encounter a situation like today again, although I am weak, I can still accompany you."
Mr. Li didn't say the rest of the words. Ci Ying looked at him for a long time. In the end, she didn't say "good" or "no". She just pulled him upstream as if she was pulling him in the water and took him to Wuxiang.
Behind them, in the forest, Zhu San, or Zhu Guang, suddenly appeared.
She squatted down and tore open the bandit's collar, looking at the wound on his chest with satisfaction. The last time she taught Ciying the self-defense skills, Ciying must have practiced them a lot during this period, so she could attack so quickly, accurately and ruthlessly.
But... Zhu Guang used a dagger to dig out a small hidden weapon from the bandit's shoulder and put it away.
Even without her, Ci Ying could still seriously injure this person, but she would be hurt herself.
Yes, it was a serious injury.
Zhuguang casually picked up a nearby branch and thrust it into the bandit's right chest. He glanced at the struggling figure calmly and said, "I'm afraid you'll betray Ciying. Or maybe a corpse can't speak. Be good."
When the last word fell, the bandit's eyes widened and he stopped breathing.
Zhu Guang concealed his tracks and followed Ci Ying.
The girl lowered her head, there were tears on her ears, and there was no expression on her face.
*
It was two days later that the news reached Xie Huaijin's ears.
Incense was burning in the study, with light smoke rising from the incense burner. The screen outlined the tall and graceful figure of a young man.
With a "click", Xie Huaijin's white, slender, and bony fingers clasped the window frame, and he turned around to look at Mo Yu who had been kneeling for a long time.
"You mean, Ciying ran away right under your noses?"
Mo Yu's head dropped without changing its position: "Yes."
"Disappeared without a trace?" The young man's tone was light, and one could not tell whether he was happy or angry. His hand gently stroked the white jade ring.
Mo Yu: "...Yes." After saying this, Mo Yu crouched down completely and whispered, "Mr. Li also disappeared. The detained secret guards were left by the patriarch to the Li family. Our people, following the information we obtained through interrogation, headed for the forest west of the cruise ship, but found no trace of him."
Xie Huaijin didn't say anything, just looked outside calmly.
The courtyard of the Governor's Mansion was very square, so when looking from inside the house, the walls were straight and tall on all four sides. The young man looked into the distance, and the sky was so foggy that it seemed as if it was about to fall.
He looked for a while before turning to look at Mo Yu. Blaming him was the most useless thing.
He tapped his fingertips lightly, chuckled, and asked, "I haven't seen Zhu San in a few days. Where is she?"
Mo Yu was hoarse.
Xie Huaijin raised his eyes: "Go and check it yourself."
Mo Yu understood that even though he didn't say a word, the young master understood everything.
"I apologize to you on behalf of Zhu San. I am her master. I am willing to take full responsibility for Zhu San's crime." Mo Yu trembled, hoping that the young man in front of him would be more merciful because of their friendship of more than ten years. He knew better than the young master what the crime of "betraying the master" was.
The house was quiet for a long time.
After a while, the young man sighed and said, "So disobedient."
Mo Yu didn't know whether he was talking about the lady or Zhu San.
But he actually didn't feel the young master's anger too much. Mo Yu looked towards Xie Huaijin.
The young man fell into the shadows, looked up at the raindrops already dripping down the corridor, and said with a hint of doting, "You've become quite capable."
The last words left for Mo Yu were: "Go check, she must be no longer in Jiangnan. As for the rest..." The young man looked at the rain in the corridor for a long time, slowly looking in one direction, his voice disappearing in the sound of rain: "Mo Yu, Zhu San will only follow behind Ci Ying. I hope more than you do that she can protect Ci Ying."
Mo Yu recognized the young master's voice-over.
If something happens to the Madam, Zhu San...
Mo Yu whispered, "It's from the Zhu Sanhui."
When Mo Yu was about to leave, he suddenly heard the young man's voice behind him: "Mr. Li is missing too."
Mo Yu couldn't see Xie Huaijin's expression clearly, so he repeated in a low voice what he had just said: "Mr. Li and his wife disappeared on the cruise ship together, and the secret guards haven't found any trace of them yet."
Xie Huaijin chuckled, but there was no smile in his voice. He stroked the white jade ring on his finger: "What is this usually called in the storybooks?"
Mo Yu had never read the storybook, but two words suddenly popped up in his mind, but he didn't dare to say them.
Xie Huaijin didn't mean to ask him to answer. The wind rustled the window, and the young man said gently, "It seems like 'elopement'. How romantic."
It was so romantic that it seemed as if the sky and the earth had darkened.
The young man stood by the window, gently watching the rain falling south of the Yangtze River. He said calmly, "Let's start from the mountains and forests. Since there are no traces left, this is the only way."
The young man raised his eyes and looked into the distance.
In the heavy rain, the trees were rustling, dusk had passed, and the dark sky was howling.
Xie Huaijin thought about it, the smile on his face gradually faded, and he only sighed two words in his heart.
Ci Ying.
......
Ciying is very good.
Passing through the south of the Yangtze River, there were endless mountains. She took Li Sheng with her, hired a horseman, and had secret guards lead the way. They walked along the remote mountain roads.
Mr. Li was in poor health, so she was a little concerned and would occasionally stop in one place to rest for a few days.
She always asked Li Sheng for directions, then she would look for the opposite direction, and finally draw lots and go to the direction of whoever she drew. In this way, her thoughts and Li Sheng's thoughts were intertwined. Even if Xie Huaijin was very smart and found some trace of her somewhere, it would be difficult for him to guess her destination directly.
During this period of time, the sentence that Li Sheng said most often to Ci Ying was: "I am sorry for causing trouble for you, young lady."
After hearing it again, Ciying was really tired.
She didn't like to try to understand someone too well. Many things would be boring if explained clearly. She whispered, "As long as you don't tell Xie Huaijin about my whereabouts in a letter, you won't be implicating me."
Li Sheng hurriedly shook his head: "Ahem... Of course I wouldn't. It's just that I took up a lot of the girl's time, delayed her trip, and..."
Ci Ying smiled and said, "Then it won't be a burden."
As Li Sheng stared at her in a daze, the girl narrowed her eyes and said, "Traveling alone is boring. Even though you're frail and bothersome, and you're spending my money, I still prefer being with friends to being alone."
In fact, Ciying rarely uses the word "friend".
But she seemed to really need it.
Miss was her first friend, followed by Ruzhen, Xie Ran, and Xiaowan.
During these three months in Jiangnan, Ci Ying has been very confused. She is in a panic that she will be found at any time, and she is also at a loss about her future. As she stumbles and gropes around, there is always someone waving a broken fan and chattering in her ear.
Of course she knew that Mr. Li was not pure, but how many people in this world were pure?
Ci Ying didn't care.
She looked at Mr. Li, and seeing that the person opposite her was stunned by what she said, she immediately handed him a handkerchief. Sure enough, after Mr. Li reacted, he started coughing violently.
Ci Ying was worried and amused, and finally handed over a cup of tea.
"It's like I've never had any friends."
Li Sheng lowered his eyes: "...Yes."
His voice was too soft for Ci Ying to hear. When he looked at Ci Ying again, the girl was looking at the scenery outside with great interest, which was clearly just the same old mountains and rivers.
Li Sheng looked at Ci Ying and recalled the many news he had heard about Ci Ying before.
He thought that getting to know someone through rumors was too superficial.
Fortunately, he didn't believe it at first.
friend......
Mr. Li raised his lips slightly and started coughing again.
......
A lot of things have happened in Chang'an recently. The biggest one is probably that Su Xueruo, the former second lady of the Su family and now the Concubine Su, went crazy and was banished to the cold palace.
Xie Huaijin was not surprised when he met Su Xueruo, who was dressed as a man, in the temple.
"Yuhua is dead." Su Xueruo lowered her head and knelt in front of Xie Huaijin: "Shuhe, I beg you, help me..."
Xie Huaijin acted as if he hadn't seen it. He inserted the incense into the incense burner and said calmly, "Even if Yuhua wasn't dead, he couldn't help you. Yuhua gave you everything he could back then."
Su Xueruo screamed, "He didn't. He clearly left everything to you, gave it all to you. He didn't even tell me when he died... The room is full of prayer scriptures copied for you. What did he give me... Besides those people, what else did he give me? Clearly... He could have fought for it, fought for it. The Xie family is such a big piece of meat. If he liked me, he would have given me all these things."
Xie Huaijin looked at the frantic Su Xueruo with a frown: "He also copied scriptures for you, but you tore them all up at that time."
Su Xuerou fell to the ground, her tone becoming pleading again: "Please, Shuhe, since we grew up together, please help me..."
"How can I help you?" The young man stood up from the soft cushion, and his snow-white sleeves slowly dropped down.
Su Xuerou bit her lip and said, "Queen, the position of Queen...you let me take the position of Queen, and after I have dealt with those people, I will do whatever you want..."
Xie Huaijin looked at Su Xueruo coldly: "I won't help you."
Su Xueruo's eyes were filled with tears: "Shuhe, I beg you, aren't we friends? You promised Yuhua that you would help me if anything happened to me, Shuhe!"
The young man lowered his eyes and pointed out the truth: "That's why I never bothered with you about the rumors in Chang'an over the years."
Su Xueruo was stunned, and stepped forward to grab Xie Huaijin's clothes: "Help me one more time, after I become the queen and kill those people, I will never bother you again."
Xie Huaijin frowned and asked, "Su Xueruo, can you really kill all those people after you become the queen?"
The incense in the incense burner was burning. Xie Huaijin said, "Then swear to Yuhua. If you break your promise, Yuhua will never see you again in this life. You swear, and starting tomorrow you will be the queen."
"Do you hate me so much?" Su Xueruo said crying.
Xie Huaijin didn't say anything.
After a while, Su Xueruo swore an oath. Xie Huaijin chuckled softly, "The temple is small. From now on, it can no longer accommodate a figure like Empress Su. And Empress Su, please don't disturb Abbot Yuhua's peace anymore."
As Su Xueruo completely collapsed on the ground, a fine drizzle began to fall outside, just like the person in Su Xueruo's memory. At that time, Yuhua had not yet become a nun. She used Yuhua to pester Xie Huaijin, and was determined to become the young lady of the Xie family.
And now...
After Yuhua died, she entered the palace, and Xie Huaijin married a maid who came from nowhere.
Su Xueruo's eyes could not see the future. Many years later, she realized that the answers to many things had been written by fate from the very beginning.
The rain is still falling outside.
The young man's gentle congratulatory voice reached her ears: "Su Xuerou, congratulations."
Su Xueruo stood up and looked at Xie Huaijin's back holding an umbrella in the rain and fog. She bit her lip and said, "I don't regret it, Xie Huaijin, I absolutely don't regret it."
"I just want to avenge my mother. Yuhua helped me willingly. I did nothing wrong, Xie Huaijin. I just told some lies... did some not-so-good things. I just want revenge."
"...Of course I'm not wrong."
The voice disappeared in the rain. Xie Huaijin's eyes were dim as he thought of Yuhua.
Yuhua's original name was Xie Qingyu. He was his third uncle and died at the age of 23.
Xie Huaijin thought of the boy who smiled even after being beaten when he was little. He stroked his head and said, "It's okay, Shuhe. Third Uncle will take you to the eldest sister-in-law's grave secretly. We can go out through the dog hole. I know which dog holes in the mansion can be used to get out. Those old men are just sick. They didn't even let you worship on the anniversary of the eldest sister-in-law's death..."
“…No dog holes.”
The young man stood up immediately: "Then Shuhe stepped on Uncle San's back to get out. I'll teach you, just like this -"
Then he was placed on the boy's shoulders. Although he was not much taller than him, he still had the strength to lift him up.
Xie Huaijin is a person who doesn't like to reminisce. When he walks alone in the rain and looks at the empty side of him, he always feels that there is someone else.
......
It was already November when Ci Ying and Li Sheng arrived in Wuxiang.
Wuxiang was indeed as Xie Ran had said. Even in November it was very warm, not much different from the spring in Chang'an.
Ciying and Li Sheng first stayed in an inn. Ciying was originally worried about the identity issue, but Li Sheng was very knowledgeable in this regard. He only spent two taels of silver to find someone to help him with a fake identity.
Seeing Ci Ying's surprised look, Li Sheng coughed twice: "In the past...in the past, I had to hide from people. I had no choice."
Ci Ying smiled and stuffed a bun into Li Sheng's hand: "Then eat more, you have worked hard today."
Li Sheng took the bun, and Ci Ying turned around to eat her own food, not noticing that the young man's ears suddenly turned red, like the burning red haze in the sky.
"Cough... cough, cough cough." Mr. Li hurriedly picked up the tea beside him, but was reluctant to drink it. He took a bite of the bun before taking a sip of tea.
He looked at Ci Ying. The girl lowered her head and ate a steamed bun. She had already eaten half of it.
Ciying doesn't eat fast. Most of the time she eats in small bites. She doesn't eat a lot and is almost full after one and a half steamed buns.
Mr. Li once asked Ciying, "Is there anything you like to eat?"
Ci Ying shook her head. After getting to know each other better, Ci Ying would talk about some things from the past: "When I was a kid and very hungry, I would eat anything as long as it filled my stomach."
Li Sheng frowned as he looked at Ci Ying. Ci Ying then recounted what she and Xie Huaijin had seen along the way to Anhuai. A rare worry flashed in the girl's eyes. "I can't forget those people who died on the roadside after eating tree bark. So I can eat anything. Maybe there are some I like, but I don't seem to have any particular favorites."
As Ciying spoke, she looked outside.
Wuxiang was indeed as Xie Ran had described in his letter, a simple town that didn't look wealthy. People were hurrying to and fro, some even wearing clothes stained with dirt, a stark contrast to the streets of Jiangnan.
Even though the world was not peaceful, Jiangnan was protected by the governor and was adjacent to the canal, so there were no disasters and it was much richer than other places.
And Wuxiang is what most places are like.
After arriving in Wuxiang, Ciying began to worry about Xie Ran's situation.
She had only been there for half a day when she realized that Wu Township was not the peaceful and peaceful place that Xie Ran had described in his letter.
It was a long time ago that Xie Ran wrote to her.
After that letter, she never received another letter from Xie Ran.
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