49 Chapter Forty-Nine
◎Choose one of the two.◎
Seeing Ci Ying coming, the young man suddenly raised his eyes, and his consciousness seemed to be a little unclear. His phoenix eyes were slightly red, his face was as pale as paper, his hand bones were full of bruises, and blood was dripping from his fingertips.
Compared to him, Li Sheng and Xie Ran just had their clothes a little messy, and they didn't suffer any major discomfort.
At first glance, Ci Ying's eyes were almost fixed on Xie Huaijin, but Xie Huaijin did not look at her. From her and Zhu Guang's positions, they could only see the young man's drooping eyelids. The candlelight cast the shadow of his thin eyelashes on his pale face. Ci Ying's heart almost stopped beating.
The masked man's smiling but sharp gaze could not be ignored. After Ci Ying realized it, she tried hard to suppress her emotions and looked up at the masked man. She was sure that she did not know him.
The masked man saw Ciying looking over and shouted with a smile, "We have no intention of causing trouble for Miss Ciying, but I was asked to do so by someone else, and I'm also born face-blind. I simply can't tell which one of these people is Mr. Xie. I have no choice but to have my men capture them all."
However, the masked man held a dagger in his hand and stood between Xie Huaijin and Li Sheng. "However, when my men went to arrest them, they said there were two men with Miss Ciying. They couldn't tell them apart and arrested them both. I really can't tell them apart either. Please help me, Miss Ciying, identify them."
The black dagger pointed at Xie Huaijin's face. Ci Ying's eyes trembled for a moment. The masked man smiled and said, "Is this Mr. Xie, or..."
The masked man pointed the dagger at Li Sheng again. Li Sheng held back his words. Xie Ran's body was trembling. The black dagger was pressed against Li Sheng's neck. "It's this one again. Your faces are paler than the other. I'm sorry, I can't tell them apart. Miss Ci Ying, please tell me which one you want."
Words are full but not spoken.
The masked man didn't care. There was a panic outside, and the candlelight inside was particularly bright, illuminating the sea outside the window. There was only a superficial relaxation in the house, and the smell of impending storm lingered in the whole room.
"What do you want?" Ci Ying asked. Her eyes were no longer on Xie Huaijin or Li Sheng, but fixed on the masked man: "We can talk. I can give you more than Xie Huaijin's life."
"Miss Ciying is quite forthright," the masked man said, fiddling with the dagger in his hand. "Ten thousand taels of gold? That's a bit vulgar, isn't it? We pirates usually just rob whatever we can and then kill everyone after we're done. We're not bandits who can negotiate terms with others... Let me think about it, waiter, what do you want?"
A man next to the masked man lowered his head but did not speak.
"Boring." The masked man snorted and put the dagger directly to Xie Huaijin's neck: "Miss, you have no right to negotiate with me now. Do as I say, otherwise..."
Ci Ying clenched her fists.
The masked man said coldly: "I will kill all three of them."
Ci Ying's fingers were trembling, and Zhu Guang shook his head silently at her in the corner of his eyes. Even as powerful as Zhu Guang was, there was no way he could fight a one-on-many battle and save the lives of four people. With the three daggers lying there, no matter how fast Zhu Guang acted, he could not save the three people.
The masked man had lost his patience. "Miss, hurry up! Once the boat sinks, there's no need to choose. We'll all be fed to the fish." As he spoke, Li Sheng began to cough. The masked man raised his dagger in frustration, leaving a bloody mark on Li Sheng's neck. Ci Ying spoke almost instinctively, "It's not him."
After these three words were spoken, the room fell silent for a moment.
Ci Ying's fingers trembled as she met Xie Huaijin's slightly raised eyes.
The young man's eyes were calm, not at all like he was being held hostage by a dagger and about to die at any moment. She even thought it was just another act by Xie Huaijin, until the masked man kicked Li Sheng down, picked up a long sword from the side, pointed it at Li Sheng, and said to Ci Ying, "Really? He just said he was, but I don't believe it."
Ciying didn't understand and was even a little dazed.
Amidst Zhu Guang's harsh rebukes, the masked man plunged the dagger into Xie Huaijin's heart, but didn't quite get it all the way in. He twisted it inwards, bit by bit, with force. The young man's face was pale, and beads of sweat covered his forehead, but no sound came out. Ci Ying almost lost her voice. Zhu Guang was about to advance when the masked man stopped him with a word: "You can try and see which is faster, your hidden weapon or his death."
Zhu Guang stopped, and the dagger also stopped.
The masked man wandered hesitantly between Xie Huaijin and Li Sheng, feeling that he had been deceived. The reason was that when his men brought the man back, the man he was holding with the dagger had a much paler face than the man lying on the ground coughing. He had never heard that the son of the Xie family was a patient before.
The masked man looked at Ci Ying, who was already stunned, and whispered, "Are you sure he is your husband?" As he spoke, the blade in the masked man's hand had already begun to move downward, as if he would drop the dagger immediately if Ci Ying admitted one more word.
Ci Ying swallowed, her hands trembling beneath her sleeves. The masked man's eyes were once again sizing up Li Sheng, who lay on the ground. A nearby younger brother immediately pressed a dagger against Li Sheng's neck.
The masked man's eyes moved between the two people, and finally settled on Ci Ying's face.
"Miss, you make the choice. According to the orders from above, I must take one life today. The order is for Master Xie, but as you can see, I really can't recognize him. So whoever you say is Master Xie is Master Xie. I will disfigure the person and take him back so no one can tell."
Ciying's lips were trembling and she couldn't speak for a long time.
The masked man twirled his dagger. "If the young lady can't choose, I'll just kill them both. One of them will be right, and I'll have an explanation. Sigh... being too principled isn't good either. I really don't want to hurt innocent people. Otherwise, how can I wait for the young lady to make a choice?"
Ci Ying said softly, "There are many corpses outside, and each one could be my husband."
The masked man was stunned and laughed: "Miss, you are very funny, but no." His face suddenly turned cold: "It's getting late, choose."
Ci Ying was delaying time. She didn't believe that Xie Huaijin would go out without anyone. There must be at least one Zhu Yi and Zhu Er. She was hesitant, and her heart beat fast when her eyes passed through Xie Huaijin's eyes. The blood under the young man seemed to have flowed all over the ground, but those eyes just looked at her indifferently.
Seeing that Ci Ying remained silent, the masked man lost all patience and stood up, pointing the dagger at Li Sheng's chest. He raised his hand and was about to strike, but Ci Ying shook her head: "No."
The masked man looked at Ci Ying fiercely: "Isn't he?"
The dagger was standing upright on Li Sheng's chest, as if as long as Ci Ying said "yes", he would kill Li Sheng directly. This was indeed the case. The masked man was waiting for Ci Ying's answer.
Ci Ying glanced between Xie Huaijin and Li Sheng. The young man was looking at her steadily. Li Sheng was lying on the ground coughing constantly. The masked man raised the dagger and was about to fall in an instant.
"Really?" As the masked man swung the dagger high in the air, the sharp wind blurred Ci Ying's eyes. She cried, "No, I said he's not!"
Zhu Guang's face also turned completely cold. He looked around. When he heard Ci Ying's words, Zhu Guang's heart hesitated for some reason. She was considering the possibility of saving everyone in one move. The risk was too great...
"Really?" The masked man was still doubtful, thinking that Ci Ying was probably lying. The choice between the life of others and the life of her husband seemed obvious. He kept turning his dagger, wondering whether he should just kill Li Sheng to get the job done, but he was unwilling to waste so much effort to kill the wrong person.
Ci Ying's body was trembling, her lips were pale, and her fingers were digging into her flesh.
Xie Huaijin looked at Ci Ying and saw that she was staring at the dagger that the masked man had pointed at Li Sheng's chest. He coughed, and a little blood flowed from the corner of his lips. He said in a calm voice, "It is me. There is a token in Su Yi that you didn't find. It is enough to prove my identity."
The masked man looked at Xie Huaijin suspiciously, squatted down to search, and actually found a token, but the token was very light and thin hidden in the inner clothes, making it difficult to find.
The token didn't prove anything, but it was enough for him to get the job done. The masked man glanced at Xie Huaijin, then squatted down, grabbed Li Sheng, and shoved him into Ci Ying's arms.
Ci Ying subconsciously supported the man, but she was not very strong. Even though Li Sheng was weak, he was still a tall man and not light. The masked man pushed the man over. After Ci Ying stretched out her hand, Li Sheng naturally covered Ci Ying with a hug, and his head fell weakly on Ci Ying's shoulder.
Ci Ying subconsciously raised her eyes and looked at Xie Huaijin behind them while hugging Li Sheng.
The young man still just looked at her indifferently, but it seemed a little different.
Xie Ran was also released and Zhu Guang supported him.
Ci Ying's hands were trembling. She was praying for Xie Huaijin's next move. She didn't believe that Xie Huaijin would be without someone to protect him. She hoped very much that this was just a move by Xie Huaijin. She even hoped that Xie Huaijin would stand up and say that this was a test for her, but no, nothing happened.
The night outside poured in, and after the sound of splashing water, silence returned to the house.
After Zhu Guang sensed something, he whispered a few words to Ci Ying, turned around and followed. The night was as dark as ink. Ci Ying was holding the unconscious Li Sheng, and Xie Ran was sitting there in a daze. Amidst the bloodstains on the ground, Ci Ying's eyes were fixed on the place where Xie Huaijin had just been.
She crawled forward and touched the blood on the ground. It was only a moment ago, but it was already cold.
Ci Ying burst into tears, but this time there was no sound. She covered her mouth with her hands, and the strong smell of blood entered her nose.
After a while, Mr. Li also woke up. He looked at Ciying. Ciying was no longer crying at this time. She was just staring blankly at the window not far away.
Mr. Li sat up and wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
There were three people in the room, and none of them made a sound.
Zhu Guang's forte was not the water, and those people must have planned it long ago, even setting traps in the water. Although Zhu Guang immediately followed them, after dodging two traps, he could no longer see those people when he looked up.
In the vast ocean, Zhu Guang floated in the water, not knowing how to go back.
She thought that both she and the young master were too arrogant.
Believing that he had no rivals in the world, he made a mistake and ended up capsizing on a merchant ship.
Zhu Guang swam back, the cold sea water soaked all her clothes. When she came ashore, she found a familiar person - Zhu Er.
Zhu Guang stepped forward and grabbed Zhu Er's collar: "Where's Mo Yu?"
Zhu Er's face also looked bad: "In Chang'an."
Zhu Guang was a little upset: "It would be fine if he didn't come with us, but why would he be held hostage when you are with the young master?"
"...There was a smoke screen." Zhu Er recounted today's events in detail, but Zhu Guang still noticed something unusual: "The smoke screen could have knocked you out, but where are the others? How could the young master be traveling with only one person?"
Zhu Er said nothing.
Zhu Guang grabbed Zhu Er's neck with one hand and said, "Speak. I'm not in the mood to beat around the bush with you right now."
Zhu Er remained silent, and when he was about to be strangled to death, he finally spoke: "...Young Master, let them follow behind Madam."
Zhu Guang recalled the harmless breaths she had sensed earlier. She kicked Zhu Er down and said, "Waste, all waste." She looked at Zhu Er and whispered, "If you die, you will have to keep what you said to me today to yourself for the rest of your life. Do you understand?"
Zhu Er nodded.
Zhu Guang took out a whistle from her waist and whistled more than ten times while standing on the deck. A quarter of an hour later, a wild goose flew over from a distance. She stuffed the simple letter into it, turned around and said to Zhu Er, "I will accompany Ciying to Jiangnan, and you go back to Chang'an to find Mo Yu."
When Zhu Guang returned, Ci Ying had already taken Ru Zhen to a room.
Ci Ying saw Zhu Guang coming back and looked behind him. There was nothing behind him. A trace of confusion appeared in her eyes, and then tears fell. Zhu Guang couldn't help but lower his head: "I'm sorry, Ci Ying..."
Ci Ying wanted to say that it was okay and that it had nothing to do with Zhu Guang, but she was a little speechless and couldn't say anything.
Zhu Guang didn't know how to comfort Ciying. When she subconsciously said, "Ciying, you are free," even Ruzhen looked at her.
Yeah, they all know it.
After Xie Huaijin died, Ciying was free.
But it seems...it shouldn't be like this.
Zhu Guang and Ru Zhen, Xie Ran and Li Sheng, everyone in the room looked at Ci Ying. Ci Ying looked at the empty sea outside the window, sat down, and supported her palms on the cold and sticky blood. In a trance, she saw the snow when she was a teenager and the wind blowing through the treetops.
She is free.
In an unexpected, sudden and speechless way, she even felt as if this should be a dream, and it was time to wake up... wake up quickly, why wasn't she awake yet.
*
The masked men boarded another ship. Xie Huaijin's face was pale and he was almost dead. The younger brother said, "They've all gotten rid of them. The Xie family is nothing more than that."
The masked man kicked him and said, "Don't you see how long we've been planning this? It took me ten years to find this opportunity, and you're so proud of yourself, aren't you? If the two secret guards around him weren't here, what good would the incense do?"
The masked man knelt down, pinched the corner of Xie Huaijin's mouth open, and fed something into it.
The younger brother stepped forward and tied the man up. He looked at Xie Huaijin's face from left to right and muttered, "Is it really true? What if that person is Xie Huaijin?"
The masked man kicked again: "Get out."
I didn't dare to say anything. After a few days of boat travel, we changed to a carriage and arrived at the deepest part of a dungeon half a month later.
Xie Huaijin was pushed in, hit the wall and fell down. There was a long scratch on his neck, with blood and flesh rolling around in a hideous manner. The plain clothes on his body had been tattered after many days, revealing his inner clothes.
The younger brother looked at the people inside with an unspeakable feeling. He had interrogated countless secret guards, but this young man was even more difficult to interrogate than the secret guards. He had also used all kinds of torture. In the past few days, the boss had not even left a piece of good meat for this young man, but he just couldn't get a single word out of him.
Xie Huaijin lay in the prison with his eyes half closed and his long hair loose.
The prison was pitch black, without any light. I met Xie Huaijin's eyes and had no idea what the young man was thinking. I just felt creepy.
Xie Huaijin didn't think anything of it.
He just thought of his mother after a long time.
*
After Xie Huaijin was taken away and his life or death was unknown, Ci Ying was confused for a few days. After arriving in Jiangnan, she quietly arranged Ru Zhen's affairs.
Zhu Guang told Ci Ying, "Don't worry," that she had already sent a message back, and that everything would be fine once Mo Yu arrived. When he said this, Zhu Guang wasn't really sure, because Xie Huaijin had been seriously injured that day... If the young master was already dead, what would Mo Yu do if he found him?
Ciying didn't speak, as if she were trapped in that day. When Zhu Guang spoke to her, she didn't even have the energy to nod. When Li Sheng came to find her, he gently comforted Ciying: "Ciying, this has nothing to do with you."
Ci Ying looked at Li Sheng and said softly, "I know."
She spoke slowly what Li Sheng wanted to say to her: "I wanted to send Ruzhen to Jiangnan. I said I would come back and I would keep my promise. But he insisted on going and was ambushed. He and you were taken hostage. Those people were originally targeting Xie Huaijin. How could they involve you? Once again, how many times..."
Ci Ying whispered, "In this situation, I would always say he is Xie Huaijin."
Mr. Li wanted to stop Ciying from saying such things, but it was too late.
"That's what he taught me." Ci Ying said.
Mr. Li was completely speechless.
He saw hatred in Ci Ying's eyes, not towards him, but towards Xie Huaijin.
Li Sheng knelt down, opened the geography book in his arms, and said softly, "Ciying, Master Xie may not be dead. We can see which force may have planned this incident. It is so meticulous, it must have taken more than a short time. You know more about it than I do."
Ci Ying didn't sit down. She said, "It has nothing to do with me."
Li Sheng was speechless. He looked at Ci Ying worriedly and heard Ci Ying say with a cold face, "I only promised him to stay by his side. I didn't promise anything else. He treated me like this, so I won't save him."
"Ciying, don't say anything that you will regret." Li Sheng said in a gentle voice.
But Ci Ying wouldn't listen. Her emotions, which had been suppressed for a long time, burst out at this moment. She swept the things aside and said, "I don't regret it. Why should I regret it? He has always taught me this. According to what he taught me, I should go back now to announce his death and take all the power of the Xie family into my hands. I wouldn't be so stupid as to travel without even a secret guard. He was very powerful, wasn't he? No matter where I escaped, he could guess it, catch me, and force me back. Why not this time?"
Mr. Li naturally couldn't answer.
"I won't save him." Ci Ying didn't shed any tears, but Li Sheng felt his palms wet.
The frail young man coughed, and when he leaned over, he found that they were his own tears. Not far away, Ci Ying straightened her body, picked up her pen and began to write an article. This was the next masterpiece of "Li Ci", and it was also the next scene in which the story was about to come to an end and all the "truth" would be revealed.
At midnight, Ciying stopped writing.
In the candlelight, the girl stood up stiffly, walked to the geographical book left by Li Sheng, and opened it with trembling hands.
She tore off the pages one by one, and pieced them together into a complete map in the study bit by bit. She started from the east and crossed out the lines bit by bit. The ink almost stained her entire dress. She closed her eyes and recalled everything that happened that day. She remembered that one of the three masked men had a dry hand, and she remembered the faint smell of wind and sand. The ink in her hand crossed out many places bit by bit.
During this period, in addition to the affairs of the mansion, Xie Huaijin also entrusted her with many affairs outside the mansion, including some official affairs. Ci Ying recalled the situation in the court and some things that Xie Huaijin mentioned by chance. Everything slowly converged into a picture in her mind.
In the end, only one blank spot remained on the map that had not been filled with ink.
Ci Ying stared at that place intently. That place was none other than Mobei - the place Xie Huaijin had said they would go in a month.
Everything related to Mobei came to mind, and Ciying found that she was going back to the original Water Pavilion tragedy.
She was not wrong to think that Xie Huaijin was too aggressive at the time.
Even though he had immense power and no one in the world could match him, that kind of fame was still a bit too much.
Cut the grass at its roots, this is a principle that even a three-year-old child understands. Ci Ying doesn't understand why Xie Huaijin has never taken action against Mobei King Yuwen Shu.
Ciying thought about it, but couldn't think of an answer.
The Water Pavilion Massacre has offended Yuwen Shu, and they certainly cannot coexist peacefully. Why has Xie Huaijin delayed taking action against Yuwen Shu for several years? This time it is probably the work of Mobei. Ci Ying put herself in Yuwen Shu's shoes and thought about whether she would kill Xie Huaijin if she were the King of Mobei, Yuwen Shu.
After a while, Ci Ying opened her eyes and shook her head gently.
Xie Huaijin did offend Yuwen Shu, but even after Xie Huaijin's death, there was still the Xie family. Even if the Xie family's strength was greatly reduced without Xie Huaijin, the foundation of the Xie family was still there. If Xie Huaijin died, it would be harmful to Yuwen Shu and might even lead to his destruction. All the years of forbearance would be in vain.
The dead Xie Huaijin is worse than a living prisoner.
Late at night, Ci Ying was terrified. She pushed open the door and ran to Zhu Guang's yard. She pushed open door after door, and when she met Zhu Guang's eyes, she shouted, "I know where Xie Huaijin is."
Zhu Guang was stunned and asked hurriedly, "Where?"
Ci Ying took out the thing in her hand. In Zhu Guang's eyes, her face, body and hands were covered with ink. There were countless crosses on the pieced-together map, and the last place was circled.
Ci Ying said, "In Mobei."
Before Zhu Guang could ask why, Ci Ying had already explained, "The marks on the hands of the pirates behind us that day weren't from the sea. They were dry and cracked and smelled of yellow sand. They were from Mobei. The place where I grew up is somewhat similar to Mobei. I've been feeling familiar with it for the past two days. Yes, it's the Anhuai Mobei area. The only force in that area who could take action against Xie Huaijin is Yuwen Shu, the King of Mobei!"
Ci Ying held Zhu Guang's hand: "Take me to find Mo Yu."
Zhu Guang's eyes darkened for a moment, and he said softly, "Okay, let's go now."
"But Ciying, you need to think carefully. If the young master returns, things might go back to how they were before." Zhu Guang wasn't sure, and even felt a faint fear. The young master's previous attitude toward Mobei had been too ambiguous, he'd been watching but never taking action. She and Zhu Yi and Zhu Er had successively taken charge of Mobei's affairs, but the young master had always just told them to set the trap, setting it again and again, but never closing it. He even ordered them not to take action against Yuwen Shu or even Yuwen Fu. Even when Yuwen Fu was at a disadvantage in the confrontation between father and son, he still asked them to ensure Yuwen Fu's safety.
Zhu Guang looked at Ci Ying's back in front of him.
Ci Ying pulled Zhu Guang and wanted to leave, wanting to find Mo Yu as soon as possible to discuss how to find him and how to rescue him.
She hadn't even thought about what Zhu Guang said...
She didn't have time to think about these things. It wasn't that she chose Xie Huaijin over freedom, but when something happened to her, she could say some harsh words just like she did in front of Li Sheng, but...
Ci Ying's body stiffened for a moment after Zhu Guang finished speaking.
But soon she just said, "I know."
【Author’s words】
[Spreading hands]
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