Chapter 56: Ways to Save the Prince
Xie Shouzheng shouted, "Da Mi, come and report on the situation at the Gu family."
Da Mi immediately dug out the information related to the Gu family from a pile of documents:
"The Gu family is an imperial merchant family, the largest tea merchant in Da Qi. The head of the Gu family, Gu Huai, whose real name was Sun Huai, was born into a humble family. At the age of twenty, he married into the aristocratic Gu family and changed his surname to Gu. He was later granted the title of 'Marquis Wenshang' and joined the ranks of the aristocratic family."
"The deceased, Gu Nianxue, was Gu Huai's eldest daughter. At the age of 16, she married into the residence of the former Shangshu Ling as a concubine. At the age of 26, she was divorced and returned to her parents' home."
"He has been crazy ever since. At the worst point of his madness, he even raised a knife and wanted to kill his entire family."
At the end, Da Mi sighed and said, "What a pity! I heard she was the most beautiful woman in the capital back then!"
Xie Shouzheng said solemnly, "This might be a bit tricky. I'll have to go there myself!"
As he said this, he grabbed his black hat and hurried to leave, but suddenly he thought of Lin Qingyue and turned around to ask:
"Deputy Envoy Lin, you just said you had something to tell me? Why don't you wait until I finish dealing with the Gu family's affairs?"
Lin Qingyue sighed and said, "Forget it. Let's talk about it after you're done. I'm going to go back and change into my regular clothes. This auspicious attire won't be convenient for me to work in."
Xie Shouzheng didn't think much about it, responded and ran away in a hurry.
Lin Qingyue returned to the palace first.
When Xiaohua saw her come back, she immediately came up to her and meowed.
Bi'er smiled and said, "Little Flower is a very proud cat. When we tease it, it just ignores us. But when you come, Princess, it becomes completely different."
As she spoke, she squatted down and poked Xiaohua on the forehead: "Stinky Xiaohua, don't forget that it's me, Bi'er, who feeds you every day!"
Xiaohua had no choice but to turn her head and yell at the maid.
Bi'er felt her heart melt at the cuteness, and immediately turned into a cat slave again: "Okay, okay, I was just teasing you! How could Sister Bi'er be so reluctant not to give you food and drink? After I help the princess change her clothes, I will go to the kitchen to make you something delicious!"
Although Xiaohua was worried about the things in the palace, when she heard that Lin Qingyue was going to change clothes, she immediately wisely avoided her.
Bi'er smiled and said to Lin Qingyue, "This cat actually knows how to avoid suspicion. How clever! The other day I specifically asked Manager Zhao how to distinguish between male and female kittens. Manager Zhao told me..."
She covered her lips and smiled: "I just checked, Xiaohua is a little male cat!"
Xiaohua was about to jump out of the threshold of Qiwu Palace, but was suddenly startled when she heard these words: "You looked? Where did you look? It can't be..."
Just because of this distraction, he tripped over the threshold and fell flat on his face.
Bier, you really are bullying the cat too much!
After Lin Qingyue changed her clothes, Xiaohua was still hiding in the bushes in the yard with her head down, feeling too embarrassed to see anyone.
I heard Lin Qingyue calling, "Xiaohua, Xiaohua!"
Xiaohua sighed, then pretended nothing had happened and walked into the hall gracefully.
Bi'er had been sent away, and there were no other servants in Qiwu Palace.
Xiaohua relaxed a little, but suddenly she felt Lin Qingyue's gaze looking at her intentionally or unintentionally.
He quickly tucked his tail between his legs and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Lin Qingyue said: "I am looking at the soul in you, and it is indeed only the earth soul."
Hearing this, Xiaohua finally untied the knot in her stomach and jumped onto the chair next to Lin Qingyue. "How was your visit to the palace today?"
Lin Qingyue said, "I've said everything I need to say. Your father wants to see you. If you're willing, go in through the West Palace Gate tonight. He'll arrange for someone to take you into the palace."
Xiaohua thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll go see Father."
My father has always been cautious, and he might not believe everything in a letter just based on oral narration.
Lin Qingyue continued, "Now there's good news and bad news: The good news is that your body is intact, and your soul residing in the cat's body can return to its original form. The bad news is that you're still missing a piece of your Heavenly Soul. If you can't find it, you can only live for three months."
When Xiaohua hears good news, his ears stand up and his tail flies high. But when he hears bad news, his tail drops instantly.
"That Heavenly Soul...is there any trace?"
When Xiao Hua was a human, he had also dabbled in many of these mystical things. However, now that he was in a state of confusion, he could not see his own situation, and therefore he had never known that he was only a remnant of a soul.
I originally thought that as long as the body was there, the soul would return and I would be able to recover. Now I know that recovery is possible, but it will be very quick.
Lin Qingyue played with her long hair and said, "Your father is quite concerned about you. Over the past year, he has sent many extraordinary people to search for your soul. When they couldn't find it within the country, they also went to the Red Shadow Land, but all those people disappeared."
Xiaohua said, "That day, I went to Chixia County to inspect the border troops. Beyond Chixia is the land of Red Shadow, where evil winds are rampant year-round. Sometimes, they blow foul things to the border of Qi State, so a protective formation must be set up on the border to prevent evil spirits from invading."
"The border troops guarding Chixia actually had a very difficult life. I stayed in Chixia for two days and was about to return. When I was about to leave Chixia, I was suddenly attacked."
"I've always thought there might be a spy in my team. After all, there are still many people in Qi who want to kill me."
"But now it seems that this matter may be related to the strangeness in the Red Shadow Land."
Lin Qingyue nodded. "So, if you want to find your lost soul, you should look to Chixia and Chiying. It's a pity that the person your father sent was probably a good-for-nothing. He didn't get the job done and ended up getting himself into trouble."
Xiaohua raised her glass-like eyes and looked at Lin Qingyue: "So, my father asked you to go to the border to help search my soul?"
Lin Qingyue raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Don't you want me to save you?"
"I want to." He is a prince, trapped in this cat body. Of course he feels suffocated and wants to return to his original body!
"but……"
He paused before continuing, "But you may not know what kind of existence that red shadow is. It is the place where the yin and yang realms meet, a place of extreme yin and evil. Ordinary people cannot even approach it."
"I heard that in ancient times, this was a place where extremely evil monsters and evil spirits were exiled. Later, it gradually became a country of its own."
"Fortunately, although the evil creatures there are powerful, they have adapted to the most yin and evil realms, and cannot adapt to the yang energy of the normal world. Therefore, they dare not offend the outside world casually. However, if a stranger breaks in, the consequences will be disastrous."
"So, unless you are absolutely sure, don't take any risks. After all, there are many dangers there, unlike in the capital. Even if there are evil spirits, they are not powerful. You never owe me anything, and you even saved my life. I don't want you to die innocently."
Lin Qingyue hadn't expected that at this moment, Xiaohua wouldn't immediately ask her to save her, but would analyze the pros and cons and even advise her not to take risks.
Lin Qingyue asked him, "But you don't have much longer to wait. Once your Heavenly Soul is gone, your body can't hold out for much longer. Do you want to be a cat forever?"
Xiaohua smiled bitterly, "If my soul really fell into the Red Shadow Land, there would be no chance of returning. Since there is no hope of survival, why should I burden you with my life?"
"You're quite open-minded."
"In that case, instead of feeling disappointed, I might as well accept reality. I'm used to being a cat anyway."
Habit?
Just now, because of Bi'er's words, he hid himself and dared not see anyone. Did he think Lin Qingyue didn't know?
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