Chapter 14
In the candlelit secret room, stood a dense row of secret guards. Shen Zongwu and Sun Cheng had long swords across their necks, unable to move.
Behind everyone, Zhao Congyun, dressed in white clothes as white as snow, spotless, calmly fiddling with the incense burner in his hand.
"All the fish are caught in the net, and it's time to invite the man at the city gate back." He ordered lightly.
...He actually knew everything!
Yue Mingming's brain froze for two seconds. After coming to his senses, he looked anxiously at Shen Zongwu.
Now that the truth has been revealed, what will Su Dingrou do?!
Shen Zongwu's face changed drastically. He struggled forward, the sword cutting his skin and blood dripping down. However, he didn't care at all. With a scorching gaze, he said, "Let her go! I'm forcing her to do this. If you want to kill me, come at me!"
Zhao Congyun remained motionless and sarcastically said, "General Shen is such a joke. You colluded with assassins and murdered the royal family. This is a capital crime. What are you doing here to plead for others?"
"Okay... I'm not qualified to beg you... Then could you please, for the sake of the old tutor, not punish her?" Shen Zongwu's voice was hoarse, and at the end, it was a pleading tone.
Zhao Congyun smiled but said nothing.
It's more like a naked joke than a consideration.
Yue Mingming couldn't stand it anymore - he already had three wives and four concubines, so how could he have the nerve to blame Su Dingrou for cheating on him?
She moved secretly towards Shen Zongwu. Zhao Congyun looked at her coldly with a sharp gaze, staring at her nightgown that could not be ignored. The smile on his face suddenly disappeared.
"I advise you not to move! This isn't the place for you to mess around... I'll settle that score with you later!"
Yue Mingming pretended not to hear and continued walking towards the cluster of swords.
The secret guards were well-trained and could not retreat their swords without their master's orders, even if the emperor himself came.
Seeing the girl's slender body about to collide with the sword tip, Zhao Congyun couldn't help but shout, "Stop her!"
He couldn't suppress his anger. "What benefits did they give you to make you so crazy that you don't even want to live!"
"I'm not attacking them, I'm attacking Sister Su! Your Highness, do you remember... If it weren't for Sister Su that day, I would have been drowned in the pond by you and your concubine." Yue Mingming said calmly.
Zhao Congyun's throat churned. "So you're planning to sacrifice your life and die with them? You're truly sentimental...but also incredibly foolish!"
"No, you can't bear to see me die."
“…”
Zhao Congyun didn't expect her to say such a thing. He paused for a moment, then sneered again: "You seem to have some misunderstanding about our relationship... I don't know where you get the confidence to think you're so important..."
"It's not me that's important, it's the secret behind me. Haven't you always wanted to know?"
Yue Mingming smiled faintly: "Where did I get that grain transport record from? How did I know Xing'er's life experience? And why did I go to such great lengths to stay in the palace? What on earth was I trying to do... If I tell you the truth, can you release Sister Su?"
Zhao Congyun was silent, his face gloomier than ever before.
At this critical juncture, Yue Mingming threw out a sufficiently heavy chip.
Even he himself found it hard to understand why he was so obsessed with knowing all this?
He should have refused, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Seeing that he was interested, Yue Mingming continued to press the issue: "You've been secretly investigating the canal corruption, but there has been no progress. I guess the investigation isn't going well... Since I can give you the records, I can also help you continue your investigation!"
"Your Majesty, do you think the people affected by the disaster in Jiangzhou are more important, or your face?"
Zhao Congyun suddenly felt like someone had hit him in the vital spot, and he couldn't say a word of rebuttal.
Everyone looked sideways when they heard this, even Shen Zongwu and Sun Cheng looked at her in shock.
At this moment, Sun Cheng, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke up: "How do you know about the corruption in the canal transport system? Who are you?"
"My father is Yue Zhaofeng, the magistrate in charge of the grain transport," Yue Mingming said, "so I know a lot of secrets that you can't find out."
Sun Cheng's dark face immediately flushed with anger: "I can't believe... you are the daughter of that bastard official!"
Yue Mingming's mind was working frantically at the moment, thinking about how to continue fooling Zhao Congyun, and he didn't notice that the hostage's face suddenly changed.
She casually replied, "Yeah...you know my father?"
"Good, good, good! God has eyes! It's worth it for my father and I to come to Beijing!" Sun Cheng suddenly shouted, and his neck barely avoided the sword. He swung his arms and launched a tiger-heart-piercing attack, but the target was the defenseless Yue Mingming!
Yue Mingming was originally in the crowd of swords, only two or three steps away from him. He never thought that before he, the coward, could turn against them, this black-faced "Zhang Fei" would rebel first!
Before she could even scream, Sun Cheng punched her in the chest.
"Sun Cheng, what are you doing!" Shen Zongwu yelled.
Uncle Dong was the first to react. His body moved like lightning and he flashed in front of Sun Cheng in the blink of an eye. He raised his hands and quickly blocked his three blood vessels, preventing him from continuing to attack.
Yue Mingming fell heavily to the ground, his face pale and blue, blood oozing from the corners of his lips, his eyes filled with shock and fear, tears flowing uncontrollably.
Oh my god! It hurts so much!
The pain in her chest was like being pierced by thousands of arrows. She had no choice but to take deep breaths, but she still felt that the vision was getting darker and darker.
The figures were swaying and the footsteps were noisy.
Just as Yue Mingming was gradually losing consciousness, his body suddenly felt lighter, as if someone was holding him in someone's arms, and he could faintly smell the crisp scent of pine snow.
She was very familiar with whose smell that was.
"Sister Su..." She tried to make a sound so that he could hear her.
"Take care of yourself first!" Zhao Congyun was angry and anxious. He paused, as if afraid that she would worry, and added: "I won't pursue it."
*
After waking up from a coma, Yue Mingming felt a glimmer of hope in his heart. Is it possible... to return to the real world?
The system appeared at the right time and poured a bucket of cold water on the situation: "Player, please note that your game time is less than an hour. If you die unexpectedly, it may cause irreparable danger. Please pay attention to safety!"
…Yue Mingming was so angry that his chest started to hurt again.
Did she not want to be careful? Who could have expected that the big brother would suddenly go berserk and beat his own accomplice like a punching bag!
She closed her eyes tightly, refusing to wake up in this disgusting game world.
Perhaps because she couldn't help but sigh, a soft rustling sound suddenly came from beside her. Someone came over and sat down silently beside her bed.
Yue Mingming easily sensed the identity of the visitor. She suddenly felt a little nervous and didn't dare to open her eyes.
Why is he here? What is he doing?
But Zhao Congyun did nothing. He just gently tucked the corners of the quilt for her, and then... just sat there and looked at her.
Yue Mingming even started to breathe in panic——
Brother, this habit of yours is scary!
After a long silence, Zhao Congyun finally couldn't help but chuckle, "Awake? Then stop pretending to be dead!"
"Did you do this on purpose?!" Yue Mingming said angrily.
She suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils still bright and round, sparkling with light.
As usual, she glared at him with great vigor.
A hint of tired satisfaction flashed in Zhao Congyun's eyes. Yue Mingming wanted to take a closer look, but he hid it and returned to his calm and reserved look.
"Uncle Dong has checked your pulse and believes you are lucky. You just need to rest for a while."
He stood up and sat by the window. Only then did Yue Mingming see that the half-closed window with osmanthus branches vaguely reflected a crescent moon.
"How long have I been lying here?"
"One day and one night." Zhao Congyun took a sip of herbal tea.
"...You didn't make things difficult for Sister Su, did you?" This was the question that Yue Mingming was most concerned about at the moment.
"The secret guards sent her back to Chenghuai Zhai last night."
"Where's General Shen? What did you do to him?"
Zhao Congyun looked displeased, but he said patiently, "Let him go."
Yue Mingming was shocked. How could a stingy person be so kind?!
Zhao Congyun glanced at her and said coldly, "If we keep holding him, it will be difficult to explain to the patrol camp. Besides, the princess is still in the palace."
That's right! As long as Su Dingrou is still in the palace, Shen Zongwu can do nothing and can only let him control him!
Yue Mingming thought of his promise to help Su Dingrou get a divorce, and cautiously probed, "Hey, you can see that... they are really in love, right?"
Zhao Congyun's eyes flashed: "I think it's better for you to be unconscious."
Yue Mingming sighed. It seemed that the love journey of the ill-fated couple, as well as his own path to advancement, were destined to be difficult.
She rubbed her stuffy chest and tried to get up from the bed. Zhao Congyun strode over, gave her a hand, and said in a deep voice, "I advise you to be quiet for the next few days. I don't have that many Lingxi pills to waste on you."
"Lingxi Pill?" Yue Mingming was curious.
Zhao Congyun said calmly, "Nothing."
Yue Mingming felt something was wrong and quietly asked the system: "Help me check, what is Lingxi Dan?"
"Lingxi Pills were the life's work of the Medicine Saint of the previous dynasty. Before his death, he left behind only six pills, each of which is priceless. It is said that it can heal the dead and turn flesh into bones. It is the best life-saving medicine."
Yue Mingming was stunned. Such a precious thing… and he just gave it to him for free? He even refused to mention it afterwards. What was he thinking?!
After receiving such a great favor from Zhao Congyun, she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable and thanked him silently.
Zhao Congyun noticed her strange attitude, glanced at her and said nothing.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two.
Yue Mingming tried hard to think about how to return the favor.
"What I said in the secret room before..."
In order to save people, she used a delaying tactic and said a lot of true and false things. Now Yue Mingming suddenly became serious.
The canal transportation was Zhao Congyun's biggest concern. If she could really help, she would not only be doing a good deed, but also repaying his kindness.
"Let's talk about it later." Zhao Congyun interrupted, his tone unquestionable: "You don't need to worry about my affairs, and other people...you'd better stay out of their business!"
"That's not what I meant... I really can help." Yue Mingming said anxiously: "And that Sun Cheng, is he also related to the canal transportation... Otherwise why would he be so angry?"
When he heard that name, Zhao Congyun's eyes turned cold.
"Hey, you won't kill him, will you? The matter hasn't been clarified yet!"
Zhao Congyun raised his eyebrows slightly: "He almost killed you, and you don't hate him?"
Yue Mingming chuckled. "It's all my father's fault... He's a corrupt official, and I'm your punching bag. You've always hated me because of my father, haven't you?"
She patted Zhao Congyun's shoulder generously: "It's okay, I forgive you!"
Zhao Congyun pursed his lips and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "If you compare me with him again, watch out for your life!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
