cooperate
The winter night becomes a little more bleak with the falling snow, but the brightly lit Furong Tower is filled with a fiery passion.
The gorgeous and charming beauty swayed her waist, flirted and laughed coquettishly, and her fairy-like bun was adorned with peonies and glass beads. There was no trace of vulgarity, but instead her beautiful face with clear outlines was made more delicate, like a blooming flower.
"Niang Huan, when can we have a drink?"
The beauty glanced at him sideways, full of charm, "After Ruhua has served the master, Huanniang will come and give him a drink."
The drunken man hugged the beauty and laughed heartily. Huan Niang walked through the pavilions and towers, and passed through the winding corridors where the men roared and the women moaned in pleasure and pain. She left behind all the extravagant sounds and turned into the backyard.
As the voices faded, Huan Niang's steps became faster and faster, her floor-length red skirt fluttering gracefully on the ground. She quickly opened the door to the dormitory, without turning on the light, and expertly walked around the round table to the second floor.
Silently, she groped her way to the scroll on the wall, her fair hand reaching inside. Suddenly, a subtle sound echoed in the darkness, as if something had changed.
Huan Niang didn't light the candles, but walked straight into the inner room, avoiding the armchair. A niche had been inconspicuously carved into the smooth wall, and Huan Niang quickly took out the items inside.
Suddenly, the candle on the inner room wall ignited. Huan Niang's face changed drastically and she turned around quickly.
Under the exquisite candlestick, the delicate beauty leaned on the short couch. The phoenix flowers on her clothes seemed to be burning brightly in the flickering candlelight, and she looked at her with a smile.
"Ruxian?" Huan Niang frowned slightly and said unhappily, "Aren't you entertaining Lord Lin from the Dali Temple? How did you break into my bedroom?"
Everyone in Furong Building knows that the boss lady's bedroom is the only forbidden area that cannot be trespassed without permission. No matter how favored a girl is, she cannot act unruly here.
"I haven't been here often, so I haven't discovered the secrets of this bedroom." Ruxianjiao smiled as she watched her guarded face with her hands behind her back. "I didn't expect Huan Niang to have hidden so many secrets from the Marquis..."
Huan Niang's expression turned cold, a hint of disdain flashing across her beautiful face. "Secret? What secret could I have that the Marquis doesn't know? If you don't know... then of course you're not qualified to know."
Frustration flashed in her eyes as Ruxian stood up, fanning herself with her round fan. "The Marquis said that your things...will be taken over by me."
"Who the hell are you? How dare you interfere with my business?" Huan Niang sneered, her eyes haughty. "It's just something the Marquis didn't want. Do you really think you're his wife incarnated in this world?"
"Shut up!" Ruxian was furious. What she hated most in her life was that she looked the most like Shen Nan, but she was the only one who was kept far away by Luo Ziran. Picking up the porcelain bottle at hand, she smashed it hard at Huanniang.
The inner room wasn't large, and the porcelain vase fell onto the carpeted floor without breaking. Huan Niang scoffed, not bothering to pay attention to her tantrum. She turned to leave, but Ruxian caught her off guard and grabbed her arm.
"Hand over the things!" Ruxian reached out to grab the things she had hidden behind her regardless of anything.
Huan Niang had not expected that such a weak person could be so difficult to deal with when she got angry. In a rage, she pushed her away fiercely. Her slender body hit the edge of the armchair and she fell to the ground in a mess.
"This is... the language of the Rong and Qiang people..." Ruxian half-stood up with pain, inadvertently glancing at the scattered documents on the ground, and suddenly her eyes widened. "You... you are a Rong and Qiang person?"
For a moment, the famous fragrance of Furong Tower came to her, and she suddenly remembered the tail end of the fragrance, which was the fragrance of ylang-ylang that was only found outside the Great Wall... Isn't the fragrance that Yanhong often carries on her body the fragrance of ylang-ylang?
Huan Niang's expression changed drastically, her delicate and charming expression suddenly turning cold and fierce. She quickly pinched Ruxian's neck and said softly, "Didn't I tell you that you can't enter this dormitory? Why are you so disobedient?"
"You... the Marquis will not let you go!" Ruxian grabbed her hands with both hands, but could not exert any strength. She stared at the man in front of her with horror, and his aura became unfamiliar. "The Marquis..."
Huan Niang raised her eyebrows as if she had heard something funny. "Fool, your Lord has made a great contribution to my being able to live safely in the capital until now."
Ruxian's eyes widened in fear as she watched that beautiful face approach. Her heartbeat thundered, yet her entire body felt weak and powerless. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, and she stared at Huanniang intently, her pale face looking pitiful.
"Tsk tsk," Huan Niang looked lovingly at the grayish yet still stunningly beautiful face and murmured softly, "What a pity for such a face, but since you know something you shouldn't know..."
The air was squeezed, and a cold chill spread from her heart to her whole body. She felt like she was in the shadow of death. Two lines of tears flowed unconsciously from the corners of her eyes, and she called out the man's name in despair in her heart.
Lord...
Suddenly, an icy breath struck Huan Niang's neck, causing her entire body to stiffen instantly, her eyes widening in disbelief. A long sword, gleaming with a cold light, rested silently on her shoulder, and a streak of red slowly flowed down her slender, fair neck.
Her pupils trembled, and Huan Niang tilted her head, feeling another pain in her neck. In the night, under the dim candlelight, she only saw a pair of eyes like deep pools, their gaze extremely cold, like ice piercing her bones.
"Su...Su Zirui?" Huan Niang said in a hoarse voice.
The man was dressed in black, almost blending into the darkness. His arm holding the sword was strong and powerful, as if he was suppressing something, and he looked very dangerous.
The next moment, there was a noise outside, vaguely coming towards this side. Huan Niang was suddenly shocked and raised her hand quickly.
Before the powder in her hand could disperse, a flash of cold light pierced her arm, and her eyes, usually narrowed in seductive hues, suddenly widened as she watched helplessly as half of her arm fell to the ground. The powder, which hadn't yet dispersed, mixed with blood and quietly flowed onto the ground.
"Ah——" The scream of terror stopped abruptly.
Ruxian shrank back as she watched the man expressionlessly swing his sword to chop off Huan Niang's arm, and then without mercy, he stepped on the person who was pampered by the entire capital's entertainment scene, stopping all her struggles.
Her heart pounded like a thunder drum, and she suddenly remembered what he had said before: "The Ministry of Justice has no bad habit of not beating women." A chill ran down her spine, and Ruxian quickly grabbed the letter from the edge of her skirt, hiding it under her skirt, and stepped back as if frightened.
"The Ministry of Justice is handling a case, please stay away." Su Zirui didn't even glance at her, but just looked at Huan Niang quietly.
"What crime have I committed to deserve this treatment from you, sir?" Huan Niang cried miserably, her fingers resting on her hair moving slightly.
"I have been ordered to arrest the Rong Qiang spy, Lu Huan." Su Zirui said coldly.
Huan Niang paused, then slowly raised her head and broke into a smile. The next moment, her entire lower body curled up and launched a strange kick. At the same time, with a flick of her wrist, the golden hairpin in her hand transformed into a streak of light, shooting towards Ruxian, who was cowering to the side.
Su Zirui did a backflip to block the attack, but before Ruxian could scream, the golden hairpin had already pierced her shoulder, and blood immediately gushed out.
Huan Niang seized the opportunity and suddenly rushed towards the window. Su Zirui reacted extremely quickly and swung his sword with his right hand. As he landed, he turned and slapped out with his left palm without hesitation, sending a huge and powerful force crashing towards her back.
There was a burning pain in her back, and Huan Niang suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. She was knocked out of the window by the palm wind and fell into the lotus pond outside.
A group of men armed with swords and lanterns quickly gathered towards the lotus pond. Su Zirui stood by the window, his expression difficult to discern.
Here, he had thrown a noisy and bold girl into the lake, leaving her furious for a long time. His eyes, once sparkling with anger, were like living water, full of life, completely different from his dark eyes now, which were as calm as a cold spring.
A sarcastic smile appeared on his lips, and a fierce light flashed in his black eyes.
The pool, still barely calm, suddenly erupted, splashing with force. A lithe figure leaped from it. In a flash, a figure leaped from the window and delivered a vicious kick to the chest, lashing out at the man attempting to climb onto the roof. In an instant, the figure spun around and slammed into the side of the winding corridor, sending the man crashing down before he could react.
The disturbed guests screamed and ran around, Huan Niang's hair fell to the ground in disarray, and several machetes were instantly placed on her neck.
Su Zirui stood quietly on the Nine-Curve Corridor, looking particularly out of place in the chaos.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Amidst the panic, a door opened casually. A man in a dark blue brocade robe with cloud-sleeved vine patterns lazily leaned against the door. He gently lifted the chin of the beautiful woman in his arms with a folding fan and said with a half-smile, "Look at how our Lord Su doesn't know how to be gentle with women. He kicked this graceful beauty at will."
The beauty in his arms was trembling with fear, her little face was pale, her amber eyes were filled with spring water, and her whole body was weak and powerless in his arms.
"You are indeed not as elegant as Lord Lin." Su Zirui raised his eyebrows slightly and said sarcastically.
"Sir..." Ruhua leaned in Lin Ziyan's arms, her small hands gently pulling at his collar, "I... uh!"
The boneless little hand was pinched and placed in front of her. The fingertips pinched an almost invisible silver needle, which trembled and shone with a black luster. Lin Ziyan smiled gently, his handsome face full of tenderness, "You are such a naughty girl. In such a scene, can't you just hide it well? My Dali Temple doesn't have a bad habit of not beating female prisoners."
The fair hands slowly clasped her neck, forcing Ruhua to raise her head. Without the obstruction of her hair accessories and forehead hair, her sharply defined facial lines were very obvious, slightly different from those of the women of Da Qi.
"They say Rong and Qiang women are very beautiful. It seems to be true. What a pity." Lin Ziyan smiled, opened his folding fan, and swung it fiercely at the girl in his hand. "Take it."
Su Zirui sneered, too lazy to pay attention to the man's inconsistency.
"Sir, Ruxian is missing." Beili hurriedly jumped down from the dormitory window and said in a deep voice.
His dark eyes turned cold, and Su Zirui looked up at the wide-open window. "Search."
"Oh, yes!" Beili quickly waved and called for help.
"Sir," Qi Qi said, jumping down from the eaves with a nervous expression, "Marquis Dingbei suddenly led a dozen personal guards out of the city."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Zirui's face turned cold, as if he had thought of something. "Inform the Left Inspector General to seal off this Furong Tower. Anyone who resists will be considered a traitor and will be killed."
"yes!"
"Beili, take your men to the Niujiazhuang Village Ancestral Hall and ambush, waiting for an opportunity."
"Then...what about the Marquis' Mansion?" Beili asked tentatively. He had seen the feud between his master and Marquis Dingbei from beginning to end. This was a good opportunity. Aruo should be in the Marquis' Mansion. Why didn't his master seem to plan to go?
Su Zirui raised his eyebrows slightly, his eyes narrowed like the cold night, his gaze cold. "Don't worry about it."
If no one is there, why would you care about the Marquis' Mansion?
The ancestral hall of Niujiazhuang Village was filled with darkness.
Ever since officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Inspectorate dug out a lot of baby sacrifices from the ground, this place has become a forbidden area for the entire village. After a few rituals were held here, no one is willing to hang out here anymore.
The rustling sound of footsteps came from afar, quick and hurried, and was particularly clear in the silence.
The door was pushed open lightly, and the visitor ran towards the ancestral hall in the center without hesitation. Only after he entered and closed the door did he blend into the darkness, breathing rapidly.
Suddenly, a big hand rested on her shoulder.
"Ah--Ah!" The horrified scream stopped abruptly. The bird outside the house, which was almost scared to fly away, poked its head out, but when it didn't notice any big noise, it shrank back and rested peacefully.
"What do you call yourself when you sneak in?" Yiyuan stared at the person whose mouth he covered, speechless and with contempt in his eyes.
Aruo pulled his hand down and patted her chest to calm her nervousness. "Please, if you come up to me like this all of a sudden, who knows if you are a human or a ghost?"
"I've never done anything wrong in my life, so I wouldn't be startled by a knock on the door in the middle of the night." Yiyuan glanced at her coldly, "Did you get the thing?"
It’s because I usually do a lot of... cough cough, Aruo rubbed his nose with a strange look on his face, took something out of his arms and handed it over, thinking to himself that they are obviously righteous people, why do they act like an underground transaction.
In the moonlight, Yiyuan looked closely at the jade lock in his hand and blinked, "Is this the rumored...it doesn't look very reliable. Are you sure?"
Suddenly, a firelight lit up between them, and the light from below illuminated a gloomy face. "Yes, that's it."
Yiyuan and Aruo gasped at the same time, "Don't show up suddenly and scare people, you bastard!"
"I've been standing here, and you think you're right with your arrogant eyes?" Qi Shaozhen glanced at them with resentment in his fox eyes.
Aruo and the other man lowered their heads silently. They really didn't notice him.
Taking a closer look at the object in Yiyuan's hand, he saw an intricately carved jade lock, the kind a wealthy family might give their children for longevity. Qi Shaozhen suddenly chuckled, "I never thought the wish my master gave him would become a confinement for Nan'er."
"Is this the thing that makes Shen Nan inseparable?" Yiyuan looked at Aruo.
"This is the Soul Lock, a family heirloom of the Shen family." Aruo described the patterns on the jade lock. There were subtle cracks on the corners. That was when Shen Nan smashed it in anger after knowing that Old Shen wanted to use a corpse to revive the dead.
Shen Nan was born with a frail constitution and a peculiar fate, making her prone to nightmares. Elder Shen therefore gave her a Soul Lock as a longevity lock. After her death, her personal belongings were given to Luo Ziran, who could never have imagined that Luo Ziran, with the help of his advisors, had learned that this item could lock the soul and calm the spirit, and, wanting Shen Nan to be by his side, had accidentally imprisoned her within.
"Where is the soul-calling flag?" Yiyuan remembered Huiming mentioned the situation at that time. Chen Nan had refined the soul-calling flag, so why wasn't the soul there?
Qi Shaozhen's eyes darkened. "Originally, Luo Ziran used the Qiao family to refine the Soul Summoning Banner to foster Nan'er's soul. Unfortunately, he wanted Nan'er to be by his side all the time, so he activated the Soul Lock... Half of Nan'er's soul was trapped in the lock, leaving only half of her soul in the Soul Summoning Banner. This is why the formation failed."
The soul-calling flag is refined by a person with the same birthday as the deceased. It nurtures the soul of the deceased. When the flag dies, the soul will appear, and only then can the soul be resurrected. It is also at the moment when the soul appears that there is a chance... to let the soul rest in peace.
But Shen Nan did not show up that day, so he and Aruo knew that Luo Ziran had something that imprisoned Shen Nan's soul.
"Since such a huge price has been paid to find someone to refine the soul-summoning flag, why did Mr. Shen still give the soul lock to Luo Ziran?" Yiyuan didn't understand these people's minds. He learned a lesson in the mountain village: doing too much can easily lead to bad things.
Aruo sighed. Elder Shen's forbidden technique involved using Aruo's otherworldly soul to nourish a new body until the formation was activated to replace Shen Nan's soul. However, the harmony of body and soul was a matter of chance, and not everyone could achieve the same level of harmony as Aruo. Elder Shen's original intention was that Shen Nan's soul would be unstable after his return, so he used the Divine Soul Lock to calm it.
After listening to this, Yiyuan suddenly sighed and laughed, "I planned everything, but I didn't expect it to be ruined by Luo Ziran right from the start."
Isn't that right? Although Shen Nan originally didn't want to complete the formation, Shen Lao's last wish was to activate the formation and let Shen Nan be reborn. Qi Shaozhen could give up everything to complete this formation. However, both he and Aruo only hoped to use this formation to let Shen Nan rest in peace, because that was what Shen Nan truly wanted.
However, Luo Ziran imprisoned Shen Nan in the soul lock, and Shen Nan was not complete when the formation was activated. Neither what he wanted nor what Aruo and the others wanted was realized.
So Aruo made a quick decision and pretended to be Shen Nan. Qi Shaozhen had doubts from the beginning, but he chose to remain silent and did not reveal any flaws. Aruo spent a month recovering from his injuries, during which time he searched the Marquis's mansion without leaving any trace, but found nothing.
"Luo Ziran couldn't have left the thing in Liangzhou, so it could only be in his bedroom or on him." This was the direction she least wanted to look. Luo Ziran was a suspicious person, and she had spent a lot of effort to make him believe that she was Shen Nan, even digging out the piano skills that had been abandoned for years and practicing hard. And this belief was thanks to Concubine Luo's banquet.
"You're really good. You can act like a gangster even though you look like one." Yiyuan was also shocked when he was captured by Su Zirui. Even he believed it, which shows how much Aruo looked like Chen Nan at that time.
"My piano playing and manners were all taught to me by my elder sister, and they are exactly the same as hers. That's why I had the opportunity to enter and exit his dormitory..." Thinking of what happened just now, Aruo stiffened in fear.
Keenly aware of her mood changes, Qi Shaozhen glanced at her in confusion.
"But why don't you ask Su Zirui for help?" They had little chance of winning against Luo Ziran, so they could only risk attacking him from his side. But Su Zirui had connections and skills, so if he could join them, things would definitely go much more smoothly.
Aruo and Qi Shaozhen looked at each other and shook their heads. "We will handle it ourselves. It's the Shen family's business. If Lord Su interferes, it will become the court's business."
The Shen family's forced summoning of the spirit had led to all of this. Only the descendants of the Shen family and Aruo could put an end to it. Even Qin Shuang was unaware of the true circumstances, and she had no reason to involve the Su family. Luo Ziran's obsession with Shen Nan had become unbearable. Even if it weren't for him, Aruo would have fought to free Shen Nan's spirit, and no one could stop her.
"What's more, he wanted to experiment on people, killed Xiaoman, and ruined Fang Jingsheng's life... Even if it's for them, I have to destroy him with my own hands." Luo Ziran is scheming and has all the means. If you want to destroy him, you must completely destroy his heart and his spiritual support.
New grudges and old hatreds, Aruo never intended to let Luo Ziran go. He might not die, but she would definitely make his life worse than death.
Yiyuan thought about the salt administration in Yangzhou that was still experiencing aftershocks. He paused and glanced at his senior brother and sister who had gloomy faces, with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
With all that high-sounding talk, wasn't it just that they felt that Qin Shuang, that crazy woman, and Su Zirui, that incredibly clever lunatic, would only make this bizarre situation even more chaotic and difficult to resolve? Unlike the senior and junior brothers, they didn't have such concerns. For these two, they would definitely cause more than just a scene; while eliminating Luo Ziran, they would undoubtedly accidentally take out Shen Nan as well. In their view, Shen Nan was the culprit causing Aruo and Qi Shaozhen's unhappiness.
It can be predicted that if these two people intervene, it is hard to say whether Luo Ziran will live or die, but Shen Nan will definitely be horrified.
Thinking about it this way, Yiyuan also understood the stubbornness of the two brothers and sisters. However, although he understood, he still had no sympathy for their subsequent experiences.
"Will Luo Ziran be so easy to deal with?" Yiyuan put these things aside and thought of the person who was paranoid about Shen Nan.
Aruo pursed her lips, a hint of pride flashing across her dark eyes before narrowing slightly in anticipation. "I gave Lord Su some of the things I found in the study, plus what you found in the northwest... Luo Ziran can't turn things around. Now, no one can stop us."
"This is basically a huge gift to the Su family." Qi Shao felt really bad. He had endured for over two months, and in the end, Su Zirui had taken all the benefits. Based on this evidence, it would be almost impossible to wipe out the entire Luo family, let alone Luo Ziran.
"It sounds like it's almost done. So what next? What should we do?" Yiyuan played with the jade lock in his hand, not realizing who was hiding inside.
Aruo smiled, took the jade lock and placed it under the moonlight. Looking at the crystal clear jade lock, he said softly, "Wait for the opportunity and start the formation."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com