50 Chapter 50
◎ Dominate. ◎
"I know."
Ci Ying repeated the words, and without a pause, she dragged Zhu Guang along to search for him. The south wind blew their temples, and in a trance, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds again.
When the few people met in the cabin, Mo Yu looked very bad and very different from usual.
Zhu Guang hid behind Ci Ying and whispered, "Ci Ying, tell Mo Yu that if the young master gets lost, he'll scold me."
Ci Ying agreed softly. Even though she knew Zhu Guang wasn't afraid of a scolding from Mo Yu, her concern for rescuing him prevented her from delving into the strange atmosphere between them. She placed a map she had drawn in front of Mo Yu and said, "Mo Yu, I think it was someone from Mobei who did this. Have your people in Mobei sent back any unusual news these days?"
Mo Yu shook his head, his reaction was completely different from what Ci Ying expected.
She thought Mo Yu would be anxious, worried, and cause trouble, or even question and blame her after knowing what happened, but Mo Yu did not. When he reached out to take the thing from Ci Ying's hand, he did not look at it at the first time, but looked at Ci Ying.
"Madam, the young master once instructed that if anything were to happen to him one day, you would be in charge of all the arrangements."
This sentence stunned both Ci Ying and Zhu Guang. Ci Ying's fingers trembled, and she subconsciously asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhu Guang seemed to understand it first and stared at Mo Yu intently.
Mo Yu, dressed in a black brocade robe, clenched the geological map in his hand and said in a cold voice, "From the moment the young master got into trouble, the Xie family will do whatever Madam arranges. Saving him or giving up is up to Madam to weigh the pros and cons."
Meaning.
To save or not to save, all it takes is a word from Ciying.
"Save him, why not save him." Ci Ying's mind was confused, but also very clear. She didn't know when Xie Huaijin gave the order and why he gave such an order, but she couldn't let Xie Huaijin die.
She took the map from Mo Yu and said quickly, "I'm basically sure that Xie Huaijin was captured by the people of Yuwen Shu, the King of Mobei. I don't quite understand the relationship between Yuwen Shu, Yuwen Fu, and the Xie family. I need you to tell me. If we are desperate in the future, we can also go and negotiate with these two people, but you need to tell me something first."
"Excuse me, madam." Mo Yu said.
Ci Ying asked quickly, "What is the relationship between Yu Wenfu and the Xie family?"
She wasn't asking about Xie Huaijin but the Xie family, which made Mo Yu hesitate for a moment: "It's not a cooperative relationship."
Ci Ying said softly, "Tell me in more detail."
Mo Yu looked at the worry and preparation on Ci Ying's face, and felt relieved. He spoke more honestly. "Yuwen Fu came to Chang'an as a hostage and suffered humiliation. The young master occasionally helped Yuwen Fu, and Yuwen Fu came to the young master for help. Before Yuwen Fu had her own power, the young master briefly protected Yuwen Fu. Later, Yuwen Fu returned the favor and did some things for the Xie family. But after that... and this is what the madam knows, the young master was furious at Yuwen Fu's usurpation, and because of the changing situation in Mobei, he sent him back to Mobei."
"Could the person who did it be Yuwen Fu?" Ci Ying looked into Mo Yu's eyes.
Mo Yu shook his head: "Yuwen Fu can barely protect himself, so he definitely doesn't have the energy to plan something like this."
Ci Ying recalled, "Unlikely... The masked man was probably in his thirties, with no accent. He made no secret of the fact that he had someone above him when he spoke to me, but the relationship between the masked man and the person above him didn't seem like they were of the same generation. It wasn't Yuwen Fu, it was Yuwen Shu."
Ci Ying turned around and flipped through the things Mo Yu brought, flipping through them bit by bit, and finally looked towards Chang'an.
She asked Mo Yu, "Has Xie Huaijin ever told you about Yu Wenshu?"
Mo Yu shook his head.
Ci Ying sat down as the boat sailed towards Mobei. She was thinking.
Xie Huaijin only mentioned Yuwen Shu to her casually. He was not talking about Yuwen Shu, but mentioned him in passing when mentioning the Northwest Army.
Military Tokens......
As the boat moved forward, Ci Ying supported her head with her hands. She thought it would be best to rescue Xie Huaijin secretly.
If it really comes to the negotiation stage, Ci Ying looked towards Chang'an with trembling hands.
Xie Huaijin's words that day actually had only one meaning: Yuwen Shu was ambitious and had his sword aimed at the throne. From this perspective, it is very clear why Yuwen Shu wanted to arrest Xie Huaijin.
In order to threaten the Xie family.
Yuwen Shu should be about to seize power and usurp the throne.
Thinking of this, Ci Ying couldn't help but sit up. She pushed the door open and walked all the way to Mo Yu's room. Under the candlelight, she could only see that Mo Yu's face was a little pale. But she didn't have time to think about it. She asked directly, "How are the successive heads of the Xie family determined?"
Mo Yu said bluntly, "The eldest son of the Xie family."
Ci Ying frowned: "Hasn't there been any other way? How can we be sure that the eldest son of each generation can firmly hold the position of head of the family?"
Mo Yu paused and lowered his voice: "Anyone who lacks ability cannot be the eldest son of the Xie family."
Ci Ying was speechless. What secret was spreading like a bloody mist in Mo Yu's words? She had no time to explore what it was, so she could only ask, "If I have a child in my belly, will he be the future head of the Xie family?"
Mo Yu said, "If Madam wants, this child is it."
Ci Ying didn't understand what he meant at the time. She continued, "Mo Yu, I'm three months pregnant. You need to spread the news."
Mo Yu looked at Ci Ying's flat belly. Ci Ying whispered, "I'm pregnant. This child will be the future head of the Xie family. The news must reach Yu Wenshu before we leave for Mobei."
"Why?" Mo Yu, who had always been just an execution machine, asked a rare question.
Ci Ying touched her belly and whispered, "A hostage needs to be valuable. In the eyes of outsiders, Xie Huaijin's greatest value is his status as the head of the Xie family. Everything Yu Wenshu did was definitely not to pursue Xie Huaijin. If I get pregnant, Xie Huaijin's life or death is uncertain, and the child in my belly will be the head of the Xie family in the eyes of outsiders."
Mo Yu frowned. Ci Ying looked into Mo Yu's eyes and said, "Yes, the Xie family's patriarch did not come out like this, but people outside don't know. I grew up in the Xie family and I don't know the secrets. Most of the elders are dead and won't jump out now. The side branches are intimidated by Xie Huaijin's influence and will never cause trouble at this time."
Ci Ying continued talking about Yu Wenshu: "I'm pregnant, and Yu Wenshu's plans are messed up. He wants to use Xie Huaijin to threaten the Xie family or even force the Xie family to do something, but because I have a child, there will be variables, because the Xie family can give up Xie Huaijin."
Ci Ying seemed to be speaking to Mo Yu, but also to herself, as she completed her logic bit by bit: "Yuwen Shu would never allow his long-planned plan to fail, so he must... be more sympathetic. He must ensure that Xie Huaijin, this chess piece, remains useful in his hands. He must not destroy it, and he might even negotiate with Xie Huaijin in advance."
After the words fell, Zhu Guang pondered the logic behind it.
Mo Yu whispered, "So, on the surface, the Xie family has to give up the young master first?"
Ci Ying nodded.
There is a discrepancy between what outsiders know about Xie Huaijin and the real Xie Huaijin.
She needs these gaps to save people now.
Mo Yu watched Ci Ying pondering, his brow furrowed from time to time, as he repeatedly instructed him on the important matters to be aware of when spreading the news. It wasn't until dawn that Ci Ying finally finished explaining everything he needed to be aware of.
Zhu Guang could no longer say what she had said before. To be honest, she couldn't do what Ci Ying did.
She actually understood what Mo Yu meant, which was that as long as Ci Ying said a word, the Xie family would not care about Master Gu's death. So Zhu Guang remembered the day in the study when the master said to her, "Husband and wife are one. How can joining Ci Ying be considered betrayal of me?" For a moment, Zhu Guang couldn't describe what she felt in her heart.
She thought of Zhu Yi and Zhu Er. According to the Punishment Hall's rules, they had failed to properly watch over Ci Ying, allowing her to escape, a crime punishable by death. Even though Zhu Yi and Zhu Er were special secret guards, they would still be punished for their misdeeds, but that time... Gongzi and Mo Yu hadn't punished Zhu Yi and Zhu Er much, simply picking them up and putting them down.
Mo Yu doesn’t care. Mo Yu is the sword in the young master’s hand, so it is the young master’s intention.
So... what exactly was the young master doing when he told Mo Yu that?
He had anticipated this day a long time ago, or... even if Yuwen Shu hadn't appeared, the young master had anticipated this day. Zhu Guang felt a chill inexplicably. She looked at Mo Yu, but Mo Yu didn't look at her.
So Zhu Guang looked at Ci Ying. There was no expression on Ci Ying's face, except that the fingers holding the pen suddenly trembled at a certain moment, which was a sign of fear. Ci Ying was afraid.
Zhu Guang stepped forward and hugged Ci Ying. Ci Ying whispered, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Guang shook his head and said that it was too cold on the boat. Ci Ying stood up and took a cloak to cover her, saying softly, "Go and rest first. You don't have to accompany us."
After saying that, Ci Ying discussed Yu Wenshu's affairs with Mo Yu again.
*
Deep in prison.
A young man in blood-red plain clothes lay on a straw mat, his body covered with scars. The originally moon-white clothes were dyed red by blood, and blood scabs had formed after a few days.
One of the slender white fingers had a nail missing, the fingertip was trembling unnaturally, and there was another bloodstain on the wrist compared to yesterday.
No one would think that this young man covered in scars and lying in the dirt in an extremely miserable state could be the once glorious eldest son of the Xie family, Xie Huaijin. He looked like a broken piece of jade, with only his eyes as dark as the night retaining some of his former charm, and the rest of him looked like a ruin.
Xie Huaijin said before that he just missed his mother after a long time.
He had never actually met his mother.
Even in a dream.
The elders left him with memories of his mother, saying that she died of an epidemic when he was seven months old. This was what the elders said at first, but when Xie Huaijin was six years old, he accidentally heard the truth.
Not only had he never seen his mother, his mother had never seen him either.
After ten months of pregnancy, when his mother, Lin Xiang, the eldest daughter of the Lin family, gave birth to him, she didn't even have the chance to take a look at him before he was taken to the ancestral hall by people sent by the elders.
After burning incense and taking a bath, the infant Xie Huaijin was held high by many hands. His crying sound served as proof of the continuation of the Xie family, and the auspicious clouds outside also celebrated it.
The elders were doing what had been passed down in the Xie family for a hundred years, separating their own flesh and blood.
The Xie family does not allow people to have sexual desire, not only between husband and wife, but also between mother and child.
The midwife cut the umbilical cord and respectfully handed the baby to the people sent by the elders. He was carried to the ancestral hall for a "celebration". His mother stared at the empty crib with her eyes open.
After this, he was never brought back until Lin Xiang died.
When those punishments came upon him, Xie Huaijin didn't actually feel much. He just kept thinking of his mother whom he had never met, and also of Ciying.
Ciying always asked him, Xie Huaijin, what do you want?
Ci Ying asked while crying, Ci Ying asked while crying loudly, Ci Ying asked tiredly, Ci Ying asked weakly, Ci Ying asked madly, Ci Ying asked after biting him until his flesh was bloody.
From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever asked Xie Huaijin such a question.
As the eldest son of the Xie family, what he wanted was just as Ci Ying said, as long as there was something he desired, thousands of people would fawn over him and offer it to him since he was a child.
So he didn't know.
So Xie Huaijin also asked himself, what do you want?
Then his gaze turned to Ciying again.
What does he want?
The wound was bleeding slowly. Xie Huaijin's eyelids did not move. The feeling of physical fatigue came over him, but his mind only recalled the scene in the cabin that day. Ci Ying looked at him and Li Sheng hesitantly, and finally called out "Li Sheng"'s name.
Xie Huaijin couldn't explain what he felt at that moment, a mixture of calmness and relief.
He never thought that Ci Ying would choose him between Li Sheng and him, but when Ci Ying really called "Li Sheng"'s name, he found it boring.
But disappointed?
In fact, not really. He always hoped that Ciying would not be so soft-hearted. With Ciying's intelligence, as long as she was not so soft-hearted, and with the power in her hands, few people in the world could really do anything to her.
He wanted to temper her temper, but he was never very successful. The only time he succeeded was on himself.
Xie Huaijin thought lightly.
So he asked himself again, Xie Huaijin, what do you want?
The moment he heard the voice calling his name from outside, he turned his head away and did not respond.
The girl's worried and urgent voice came from a distance. He lay in the darkness and did not use his remaining strength to respond.
A figure hurried past him. It was so dark that Xie Huaijin could only see a corner of Ciying's skirt.
He was not surprised that she could guess that it was Yuwen Shu's work, but he did not expect that she would come to look for it in person.
He didn't want to fulfill her soft-heartedness.
He silently watched Ciying's back as she ran away and closed his eyes.
Outer room.
Ci Ying held a torch, walking towards the deepest part of the prison. Blood stained the hem of her skirt. She looked at the empty cell in front of her in disbelief. Zhu Guang followed her, "No, that's where we found it. Has it been moved?"
Ci Ying clutched the torch tightly and whispered, "The blood in here is fresh..." Someone must have been in this cell before, but was it moved now? Or...
Is it Xie Huaijin, or is it not Xie Huaijin?
Ci Ying didn't know, her fingers were shaking constantly. Although she always told herself that even if she couldn't find the person, she would just go to negotiate, but if she really went to negotiate, she would definitely be exposed in her current state.
Logically speaking, according to her plan, nothing would happen to Xie Huaijin, then why... why is there so much fresh blood in this cell? No, something is wrong. Ci Ying's mind was racing. The information given by Mo Yu would not be a problem. She eliminated several places and finally only the Yuwen Mansion was left.
Is she wrong?
Ci Ying didn’t know, but when she opened the cell doors one by one, she didn’t recognize anyone inside.
She called out Xie Huaijin's name, and some prisoners in the prison responded by shouting, but it wasn't him, none of them. She looked at each room one by one, and Zhu Guang also looked over and shook his head at her.
Ci Ying was a little uneasy holding the torch. She wondered what she had done wrong and whispered to Zhu Guang, "Get out first."
Halfway through the walk, Ci Ying suddenly remembered something. She looked inside, but every pair of eyes illuminated in the darkness were not Xie Huaijin's. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Zhu Guang pulled Ci Ying to leave, and Ci Ying followed slowly, with memories running through her mind.
She asked Zhu Guang: "Have you seen everyone?"
Zhu Guang said, "Well, I even turned over the corpse and looked at it."
Zhu Guang was worried about the situation outside and pulled Ci Ying to leave: "They must have heard the news from somewhere and moved the young master away. Those people said that the young master was seriously injured."
Suddenly, Zhu Guang found that she could not pull Ci Ying. She looked at Ci Ying, but saw that Ci Ying ran back directly, holding a torch in her hand and suddenly stopped in front of a cell.
It was the cell they passed by at the beginning. The person inside still had willpower. If it was the young master, he would have responded when he heard her and Ciying talking.
Zhu Guang wanted to pull Ci Ying away, but saw Ci Ying standing in front of the cell with a trembling body, the torch in her hand rising little by little, and there was only a hunched figure inside.
Zhu Guang walked over to Ciying and asked softly, "What's wrong, Ciying?"
Ci Ying said nothing, but handed the torch to Zhu Guang, picked up a brick beside her and started to smash the lock. Zhu Guang was a little confused until Ci Ying went in. She followed Ci Ying in, saw Ci Ying kneeling down, and slapped her. A crisp sound came from inside the cell, and the moment the firelight illuminated the prisoner's face, Zhu Guang opened his eyes wide.
It’s the young master.
Then why didn’t you speak just now?
Ci Ying grabbed Xie Huaijin's sleeve. She naturally smelled the strong smell of blood on it. The young man's miserable appearance and his calm eyes reflected in Ci Ying's eyes. She didn't know why such great anger arose in her heart. The anger burned her bit by bit and almost swallowed everything.
"Xie Huaijin, it's fun to pretend to be dead, right?" The angrier Ci Ying got, the calmer her tone became.
She pinched the young man's bloody plain clothes and said, "Why didn't you say anything if you heard it? Speak, or do you have any other tricks up your sleeve? What plans did I interrupt?"
Zhu Guang realized what had happened and looked at Xie Huaijin in disbelief.
Ci Ying grew increasingly angry, feeling like she had wasted her days. She stood up to leave, tears streaming down her face. Zhu Guang silently stepped forward and carried Xie Huaijin on his back. As he bent down, he glanced at the young master, only to find he was only staring at Ci Ying's back.
Zhu Guang said nothing as he carried the man on his back. Ci Ying glanced back and told the secret guards inside to take care of the rest. Zhu Guang carried the man out first. On the way out, Zhu Guang spoke for Ci Ying: "Ci Ying has been trying to find a solution these days and hasn't slept much. She has put in a lot of effort and even had to ask Yu Wenfu for help before she knew your exact location."
Zhu Guang went to check, only to discover that the person on his back had fainted.
There was something warm and sticky. As a secret guard, Zhu Guang had no idea what it was. But when she realized that the blood that stained her clothes belonged to the young master, she couldn't help but tremble. She called out, "Ci Ying, Ci, Ying."
Ci Ying stopped in anger and turned to look at Zhu Guang. Zhu Guang motioned her to look at Xie Huaijin. Ci Ying looked over. Although it was night, it was still brighter outside than inside. Ci Ying looked over and almost saw a scene that she would never forget in her life.
Blood was dripping from the young man's body. Ci Ying was startled and walked over. She found in disbelief that there was a new wound on the young man's wrist. At the same time, a blood-stained piece of broken porcelain slipped out from the young man's sleeve, dripping with blood.
Ci Ying gritted her teeth, cut off her clothes with a dagger, and bandaged Xie Huaijin with red eyes.
The moonlight shone on several people. Ci Ying tightened the belt, and her fingers trembled unconsciously. She walked to the carriage with Zhu Guang in a daze, and before she got in, she knelt down and vomited.
In the carriage, the doctor treated Xie Huaijin's wound. Zhu Guang held Ciying's shoulder and took the hose for her to rinse her mouth. Ciying was silent for a long time and asked Zhu Guang, "Why?"
"Why?" Ci Ying even hoped that she had seen it wrong, otherwise how could she explain to herself that Xie Huaijin committed suicide.
"What does he want to do?" Ci Ying whispered, "What does he want? Is there anything he can only obtain after he dies?"
Zhu Guang stroked the tears on Ci Ying's face, not knowing what to say.
Ci Ying felt like everything had gone mad. Xie Huaijin wanted to die. He'd told her earlier if he wanted to. What had she been working so hard for these days? Then tears fell again. She had seen the wounds on Xie Huaijin's body, the bloodstained plain clothes, the warm blood even on her hands. Ci Ying stared blankly at the carriage.
The wound is fresh, just now.
Why did Xie Huaijin want to die when he knew that she and Zhu Guang were coming?
Why do we all have to die?
The carriage opened and Mo Yu got out. His hands were also covered in blood. He washed them silently with water. Zhu Guang looked left and right, and finally could only stand aside quietly.
Ci Ying walked forward to get on the carriage but was stopped by Mo Yu. Ci Ying waved Mo Yu's hand away without saying a word and looked at Mo Yu with cold eyes. Mo Yu made way and Ci Ying got on the carriage.
The doctor was still treating Xie Huaijin as he went upstairs. The shredded plain clothes were all covered in blood, and some of them could not be cut off and were stuck to the skin and flesh. Ci Ying's eyes were full of blood.
She was trembling, her anger trembling in the blur in front of her eyes. She watched the doctor unwrap the wound on her wrist that was simply bandaged and wrap it with white gauze, but soon the gauze was stained red with blood.
And at the center of all this, Xie Huaijin was in a coma.
Ci Ying even wondered if Xie Huaijin had not lost his strength at that time, and if the wound on his hand was more serious, would Xie Huaijin have been dead when she and Zhu Guang found him? The corpse on Zhu Guang's back, carrying warm blood and a heart that had gradually stopped beating, would die bit by bit as she rushed forward in anger.
Ci Ying didn't even dare to think about such a scene. She closed her eyes and tears just flowed down.
Whenever she thought she understood Xie Huaijin well enough, Xie Huaijin would always make her understand, no, Ciying, you don’t understand, you don’t understand the person in front of you at all.
He dominates everything.
In an extremely ridiculous way.
When Ci Ying almost thought that this was a conspiracy, the blood flowed warmly down her face.
There was only the taste of blood in Ciying's eyes, nose and mouth.
She whispered his name.
It feels like a spell.
Every time she read it, her heart tightened a little.
【Author’s words】
[Spreading hands] Bad dog
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