119 Chapter 119
◎The princess is cruel and ruthless.◎
On the twenty-first day of the winter month, the sun is shining brightly and the sky is clear.
A cool breeze blew across the yard, bringing with it the fragrance of snow and soil not far away.
Today is Wei Che's birthday, and everyone gathered in the hall to have a simple reunion dinner.
Except for Wei Fu who went to the temple to pray and only sent someone to bring back a birthday gift, all the Wei family members showed up, even Aunt Jin was no exception.
Everyone at the banquet was in high spirits. Several of the younger generations said a few auspicious words to Wei Che one after another, and the wife of the Duke of Fuguo praised her son for finally not being so ridiculous anymore.
Wei Yiqun would scold his son at the right time to prevent him from becoming more arrogant.
Speaking of which, it was indeed a wise decision for him to follow the advice of the master and send his son to the Buddhist temple to practice.
After practicing cultivation, my son is no longer as arrogant and spoiled as before. Although he always likes to hang out in brothels and hang out with concubines in the backyard, these are not a big deal for a man.
In his heart, the most important thing is that his son is scheming and strategic, and can carry forward the reputation of the Duke of Fuguo's Mansion.
As for the incident where he exposed his military power in the competition arena last time and the emperor took away his military power, he did give himself a reasonable explanation.
"Rather than continuing to control the Southern Border Army and making His Majesty secretly wary of my Prince of the State Mansion, Father, it would be better for you to pretend to be forced to relinquish power and reassure His Majesty. When war breaks out again and there are no generals available at court, won't His Majesty still have to ask you to lead the expedition?"
"In this case, we are only temporarily hiding our strength and biding our time."
Hearing this, Wei Yiqun couldn't help but feel relieved: "In the past, you only cared about your own happiness, but now you have changed your nature and are willing to make plans for the mansion."
Although his son smiled and said nothing at the time, Wei Yiqun knew that his son's ambitions of self-cultivation, family harmony, governance of the country, and peace in the world had finally become clearer after he got married and had his wife to take care of him.
Thinking of this, he began to subtly glance at his daughter-in-law who was eating with her head down, and at the same time felt a secret sense of pride in his heart.
In the past, King Nannan relied on Wei Yiqun and ignored himself, which resulted in not only his tragic death, but also his only daughter became an orphan. Now, his daughter-in-law has become very respectful to him. How can this not be considered the so-called karma?
There was also Xie Huaiyuan. The southern border sent people to cooperate with him and even promised him the title of King of Nannan, but he ignored them and was very arrogant.
But what happened later? Only the family was broken up and everyone died.
He, Wei Yiqun, is the real winner.
**
Xu Qinghe listened quietly to the conversations of everyone at the table, and inadvertently noticed the pride that was hard to hide between Wei Yiqun's eyebrows.
At first she thought he was just proud of his son, but later she slowly discovered that every time he looked at her, the pride on his face would deepen a little.
Why is this?
She suppressed her doubts for the moment, glanced at Wei Yun who was eating obediently, and then glanced at Nanzhi behind her while lowering her head to drink her soup.
Nanzhi understood, nodded, and quietly left when no one was paying attention.
After dinner, Wei Che and his wife wanted to sit with the two elders for a while, but Xu Qinghe said that he had not slept well the previous day and was not feeling well today, so he wanted to leave first.
"Then go back and take good care of yourself, and then send the court doctor to take a look." Wei Yiqun said with a soothing smile.
Xu Qinghe replied "yes", and out of the corner of his eye he saw that the smug look in the man's eyes had not diminished.
Her doubts grew even more intense.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Wei Che subconsciously wanted to follow her.
Maybe it was her period. He had to give her some hot water bottles and make her lie on the couch to rest and stop running around.
Zhao Wan quickly stopped him, "Stay here and stay with your mother. You've become more mature since you got married, but you've become less and less concerned about me and your father. Is it true that you've forgotten your parents just because you got married? How can this be tolerated?"
Wei Che looked at Xu Qinghe, only to see her also obeying, "I just didn't sleep well last night, it's nothing serious, you stay with your father and mother."
Those eyes were dark and bright, but he could see some indescribable emotions in them.
He didn't seem to want to follow her.
Wei Che had no choice but to do as he was told.
However, on his birthday, the Prince of Fuguo's Mansion was full of joy and happiness during the day, but something big happened at night.
Wei Yun, the second young lady from the Wei family, a little girl who was only six years old, had disappeared.
At first, Aunt Jin thought that the child was just playing around and didn't want to go back to his room for dinner. But when it was time to go to bed, the child still didn't come back, and her already uneasy heart became even more worried.
After reporting the matter to Wei Yiqun, everyone searched the mansion thoroughly, but to no avail.
Aunt Jin leaned nervously on Wei Yiqun's shoulder, a figure appearing in her mind.
"Duke...why don't we go look for her at the Princess' place?"
Wei Yiqun paused, thinking of the orphan girl's gentle and humble appearance today.
"She's an orphan raised in the deep palace, helpless and unattached. She wouldn't know what happened, and naturally, she wouldn't harm Yun'er. Don't worry. Tomorrow morning, as soon as it's light, I'll have people search the entire city. We'll definitely find her."
Aunt Jin had no choice but to nod nervously.
He has many sons and daughters, but she only has one Yun'er.
For the next three days, there was no news of Wei Yun in the mansion.
Aunt Jin couldn't eat or sleep at first, and later she became dazed. She could even often hear Yun'er's faint voice crying for help.
Just when Aunt Jin was on the verge of collapse, someone stuffed a letter into her room.
The letter also included the longevity lock that Wei Yun had worn since childhood.
**
As the year draws to a close, even though the weather is gloomy and there is a hint of snow, the streets are still bustling with activity.
A simple carriage came out quietly from the back door of the Prince of Fuguo's Mansion. There were no servants beside the carriage, which seemed a bit out of place in this bustling street.
Aunt Jin followed the instructions in the letter and did not tell anyone about the matter. She just asked a coachman to harness the carriage and horses and went to a villa twenty miles south of Kyoto.
Not long after leaving the city gate, snow finally began to fall from the dark sky. The snow then became heavier, forcing the coachman to slow down.
Thinking of the child who was kidnapped by the criminals, Aunt Jin was extremely anxious. In the end, she simply abandoned the coachman and rode alone on horseback.
About a quarter of an hour later, the fallen snow had already covered the ground, and a spacious courtyard finally appeared in Aunt Jin's sight.
There were two young men holding umbrellas standing in front of the courtyard. When they saw her coming, they covered her eyes with a black cloth and then took her into the woodshed in the courtyard.
The room was damp and filled with a chill. The black cloth in front of Aunt Jin's eyes was removed, revealing a gorgeously dressed little girl with her head covered with a black cloth and tied to a chair, who was struggling constantly.
That dress was exactly what Wei Yun changed into to celebrate Third Brother's birthday, and it was sewn stitch by Aunt Jin herself.
"Yun'er!"
Hearing her calling her, the little girl struggled even harder, making a "woooo" sound.
Aunt Jin rushed over and was about to untie the black cloth and rope for her daughter, but someone suddenly grabbed her collar and pulled her backwards.
She accidentally fell to the ground, and could only see a corner of her aqua blue dress from the corner of her eye.
She looked up in panic and saw a beautiful woman in a light blue jacket and skirt and a snow-white cloak standing in front of her, looking down at her.
It was Xu Qinghe, the person she least wanted to see.
Aunt Jin looked back into the room. In addition to Xu Qinghe and her maid, there were three or five strong warriors who were staring at her closely and not allowing her to get close to Yun'er.
"Yun'er has always respected the princess. Why did the princess kidnap her and bring her here?"
Hearing this, Xu Qinghe sneered.
She sat on a cushioned wooden chair and looked down at Aunt Jin: "Aunt Jin should know why I did this."
Aunt Jin turned her head away: "I don't understand what the princess is saying."
"Oh, really?"
Xu Qinghe raised her eyebrows slightly, looking noncommittal, but she glanced at the big man beside her.
The big man understood and took out a dagger from behind his waist and pointed it directly at Wei Yun's neck.
"Can you understand now, Aunt Jin?" Xu Qinghe asked.
Aunt Jin thought that as long as she insisted that she knew nothing, Xu Qinghe was not such a cruel person and would not do anything to her Yun'er without evidence.
She was just scaring herself now.
So she said nothing.
Seeing this, Xu Qinghe sneered while holding the hand warmer: "It seems that Aunt Jin still doesn't understand what I mean."
The next moment, the cold dagger pierced the little girl's shoulder, and blood gushed out immediately.
Thinking of her daughter's shrill groans, which were still blocked, Aunt Jin panicked and wanted to pounce on her daughter, but was stopped by two strong men.
She cried and looked at Xu Qinghe, who was as calm as before and not moved at all, and scolded her, "She is just a child, how can you be so cruel!"
"So what?" Xu Qinghe's expression remained unchanged. When he looked at Aunt Jin, there was only coldness in his eyes: "When my parents died in the battle, I was just a child."
When talking about the past, Aunt Jin was stunned for a moment.
And just when she was stunned, at Xu Qinghe's instruction, Wei Yun took another stab at her right shoulder.
How could a little girl who has been spoiled since childhood be treated like this?
Aunt Jin was heartbroken. When she was about to speak, she thought of her sister who was far away in her homeland and had no one to rely on.
Then she swallowed the truth and continued to play deaf and dumb.
"Of course Aunt Jin can continue to remain silent and wait for the moment when my patience runs out."
Xu Qinghe lowered her eyes, stroking the delicate embroidery on the hand warmer cover, and said calmly, "I'm afraid that the daughter you finally found can't wait. If her injuries are not treated in time after an incense stick, even a god may find it difficult to save her. But since Aunt Jin wants to wait, then go ahead and wait."
She leaned back in her chair with a relaxed expression, and even took a sip of tea calmly.
The princess's sister-in-law, who used to be beautiful and amiable, now seemed like a cruel stranger, ignoring Wei Yun's cries of pain.
Aunt Jin had never realized before that she was such a cruel and ruthless person.
Gradually, Wei Yun on the chair stopped making any sound and just leaned back, as if she had lost all her strength and didn't even care about the pain in her body.
Aunt Jin watched as the blood on her body soaked her goose yellow clothes red, and then dripped onto the ground, quickly forming a pool of blood.
This is her daughter whom she raised with great difficulty and who has never suffered any pain since childhood.
She must be extremely desperate at this moment, and very confused as to why her mother was unwilling to save her?
In the end, Aunt Jin could no longer bear it and knelt down in front of Xu Qinghe, kowtowed and cried, "Please, Princess, please spare Yun'er. She is just a child. She knows nothing and is innocent!"
Xu Qinghe remained unmoved: "As long as Aunt Jin tells me everything she knows, I will naturally let her go."
"Words are not enough. Please sign a written agreement. No matter what the truth is, you must not harm us mother and daughter."
"Oh."
Xu Qinghe's lips curled slightly as he calmly took the hand warmer from Nanzhi's hand. He smiled and said, "If Aunt Jin doesn't want to tell you, I'll just send you and Wei Yun to meet in the afterlife. Why bother with so much trouble? You're not the only one in this world who knows the truth, but you only have Wei Yun as your daughter. Aunt Jin, you have to think carefully about what to do."
The people of the Xu family are so cruel at critical moments!
Aunt Jin closed her eyes and finally compromised: "Okay, I will tell you everything I know, but please keep your promise and heal my daughter as soon as possible."
Xu Qinghe waved her hand, and immediately two maids took the little girl on the chair away.
However, what Aunt Jin did not realize was that the black cloth on the little girl's head had never been removed from beginning to end.
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