Disaster afflicted the entire family
The sound of footsteps thumping incessantly filled the air.
Wen Ruo threw back the covers, stretched, and opened her eyes to look around. A simple dressing mirror, not even a cup of tea on the table—and it cost her fifty coins for the whole night.
The chaotic footsteps in the corridor had stopped sometime ago. Half asleep, I thought I heard someone knocking on the door.
"You woke up way too late!"
Wen Ruo pushed open the door. The dark gold robe from the banquet had been changed, and the sky-blue brocade robe gave him a more scholarly air. Zhao Heng leaned against the railing, complaining, "I've been waiting for so long."
"Young Master Zhao?"
Zhao Heng laughed and said, "We're already so familiar with each other, so don't call me 'Young Master' anymore."
Wen Ruo: "Did you need something from me?"
"Your attitude changed so quickly! Are you hungry? I'll treat you to dinner."
what the hell?
Wen Ruo retreated into the room and was about to close the door. Zhao Heng cried out in pain, one foot caught in the crack of the door, his face contorted in a grimace, as if he had really been pinched. "Stop pretending, or I'll really pull hard."
"Since you're going to the academy, I have to try to please you."
Wen Ruo was skeptical, but she figured she might as well eat it.
"Zhao Heng, what evil scheme are you plotting?" Qi Guanlan suddenly appeared, sat down aggressively, and glared at Zhao Heng.
Zhao Heng didn't even lift his eyelids, calmly ladled a bowl of soup and handed it to Wen Ruo, his smile undiminished, "What bad intentions could I possibly have while having a meal with Wen Ruo?"
"Do you know what people are saying outside? It's one thing for you to frequent brothels, but now you're even going after a homeless girl. Zhao Heng, I'm very disappointed in you."
Qi Guanlan shook his head.
Wen Ruo glanced at him furtively, thinking to herself: It's all thanks to you. This quiet, reserved guy has suddenly become a romantic. Fate is truly cruel.
"Wen Ruo, what do you mean?"
He noticed even the slightest rustling of wind. When did Qi Guanlan become so perceptive?
Wen Ruo put down her soup bowl. "I just wanted to eat for free before I left, and now that you've said that, I feel incredibly guilty."
Qi Guanlan immediately looked away in a panic, and said fiercely, "What are you looking at!"
The waiter immediately shrank behind the counter.
Zhao Heng: "How can you say I'm eating for free? I did it willingly, and I thank you for helping me yesterday."
"Since you're here, don't you have something to return to me?"
Qi Guanlan was taken aback. "What could I possibly lend you? Are you out of your mind?"
“You forgot?” Zhao Heng winked at him mischievously. “I can’t say it outright, but you understand.”
Qi Guanlan rolled his eyes at him. Wen Ruo roughly understood what was going on, dipped her finger in some tea, and wrote a few strokes on the table.
Erotic pictures!
Qi Guanlan stared for a moment, then slammed his hand on the table. "I didn't see it!"
"It's no big deal, but lying is wrong." Zhao Heng shook his head. "Isn't that right, Wen Ruo?"
"You guys chat, I have to go first."
Qi Guanlan: "Where are you going?"
At the entrance of the temple in Yan'an, several pigeons perched on the trees, cooing. Wen Ruo lowered her head and opened the cloth bag at her waist. Wrapped in silk was a peach-colored spiced cake, a corner of which had been broken off from the bumpy road.
She crushed them all and scattered them on the ground bit by bit. Pigeons flew down in droves, some even landing in her palm. "How audacious!"
"Amitabha." A young novice monk suddenly ran out from the side. Several pigeons still kept their heads down, pecking at her palms, showing no intention of running away.
"They've gotten used to it, and besides my senior brother, there's also a scholar named Zhang who feeds them."
Wen Ruo remained calm. "It's a pity he won't be coming."
The young novice exclaimed, his round head filled with worry, and frowned, "What about his pigeons?"
A hint of curiosity flashed in Wen Ruo's eyes, "Aren't they all wild?"
The young novice shook his head and gestured, saying, "It's not this group, it's the one he lent me. His pigeons know their way around, and he has paper tubes tied to their legs. He sometimes secretly releases them when his senior brother isn't looking."
“After Master Qi left last time, he also released one of them, and now only this one is left in my hand.” The little novice’s brows suddenly relaxed, and he became happy again. “I’ll just keep taking care of it for him, and I’ll make sure it lives out its natural lifespan.”
Wen Ruo: "Can you take me to see it?"
"OK."
Passing by Zhang Tingjia's meditation room, Wen Ruo stopped and looked at the iron lock on the door, wondering if she could go in and take a look. "Is the scholar's luggage still there?"
"His wife took them before the New Year, along with the two pigeons!"
Wen Ruo suppressed her shock. Chen Man had gone to the capital? Could it be that she had heard rumors? But the journey was long, and who would tell her? Could it be that the scholar hadn't died?
She had always felt that the relationship between Zhang Tingjia and the scholar was not simple.
A scholar with a purple bamboo pen.
Fu Jingjiang happened to have a purple bamboo brush.
He met Zhang Tingjia at a poetry gathering. In just a few short meetings, he learned about his childhood sweetheart, Chen Man, and the jade pendant he bought. Everything he knew came from Zhang Tingjia's drunken revelry.
Wen Ruo looked at the bamboo cage in the young monk's hand, lowered her voice, and asked, "Could I borrow it?"
The young novice monk stared wide-eyed, looking pitiful, and asked, "Will you eat it?"
Wen Ruo smiled. "How could that be? I'm just helping it find some companions. You can have them all, how about that?"
He thought for a moment, then extended his little finger. "Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise!"
Inside the main hall, a dense array of candles were lit on the stone platform of the Buddha statue for the Lantern Festival. The monks were cleaning up the solidified wax. A young novice ran up to the monks and affectionately called out, "Brother!"
"Has something happened to Benefactor Zhang?"
Wen Ruo didn't hide anything either, "murder."
The monk frowned, clasped his hands together, and said, "Forgive me, forgive me."
"What did he do on a daily basis while he was at the temple? Who did he talk to?"
"When reading, we occasionally talk about Junior Brother Qi."
"Benefactor Wen, it's been a long time."
Wen Ruo: "Master Wu Hui, I have come to fulfill my vow."
“Amitabha, benefactor, your forehead is turning black; you should be careful in the coming days.”
Wen Ruo knelt on the prayer mat and slowly raised her head. "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Master Wu Hui grabbed the young novice by the collar, and Wen Ruo got up and lit three incense sticks, having gained something else today.
On the way back, a simple birdcage appeared in the ornately decorated carriage. Wen Ruo stared blankly at the white doves. "What are you thinking about?"
Wen Ruo snapped out of her daze, changed her position, and shouted, "The scholar who kidnapped Yu Niang might not be dead."
Two arrows whistled through the carriage with tremendous force, landing precisely where she had just been. Wen Ruo's pupils constricted slightly, and her hair stood on end. Had she been a fraction of a second slower, she feared even a god couldn't have saved her.
The master's prediction was incredibly accurate. She gritted her teeth, her face extremely pale.
The white doves fluttered wildly inside the cage, unable to escape. In a flash, countless thoughts flashed through her mind. Wen Ruo swayed and sat down in front of the car. "If this continues, we'll both die. It's better to go separately and leave our fate to fate."
Xiao Shun chuckled, "That won't do. The young master has given me a military order to bring you back safe and sound."
A flash of light appeared, and Xiao Shun drew a soft sword from his waist. He flicked it lightly with two fingers, and the sword hummed. "You go first, I'll cover your retreat."
The arrows were cut down one by one, and several men in black jumped down from the trees. Their swords flashed like lightning, and the clash of weapons produced a piercing sound. The men were evenly matched.
Wen Ruo realized that Xiao Shun was actually quite skilled, and that Qi Guanlan had this reason for insisting on having him come. She made a quick decision, sat down on the carriage, grabbed the reins, and the carriage sped through the woods to the main road.
"Heaven is going to destroy me!"
Wen Ruo stared at the masked man in black standing motionless in the middle of the road, the sword in his hand gleaming coldly. She was willing to bet that if she took a step forward, the horse would surely be killed on the spot.
"I want to die knowing why. Who sent you?"
A puff of white smoke flashed before her eyes, and Wen Ruo, feeling dizzy, watched as the masked man walked towards her step by step.
Aphrodisiac.
Who wants to capture her alive?
"Sun Yueyou".
Sun Changfeng pointed at the woman on his bed and stammered, "How could you put her in my room? What's going on?"
"I happened to pass by and found her unconscious not far away. Although we had a falling out, I couldn't just leave her to die, so I put her in your room."
"I'm going to find a doctor." Sun Changfeng hurriedly ran outside.
"Brother, you seem so nervous. Do you really like her?" Sun Yueyou put down the brocade curtain, placed the food and wine from the food box on the table, and set out the bowls and chopsticks. "Mother specially made this meal for you. She said that the exam is coming soon and you should take good care of yourself."
"Don't worry, I've already sent someone to invite them. You should eat first. You've lost weight recently. You too, why didn't you study at home? Why did you have to suffer here?"
Sun Changfeng then sat back down with a sense of relief. "You don't understand."
Sun Yueyou nodded vigorously, "Okay, okay, I don't understand."
"All I know is the wedding night and the day I pass the imperial examination."
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, the doctor was still nowhere to be seen. Sun Yueyou glanced at the sky outside and said, "Brother, I have to go see Young Master Fu. I'll have to go now. I'll ask her family to come and pick her up."
She left as soon as she finished speaking, and Sun Changfeng shook his clothes and hurriedly followed behind her. Standing under the eaves, he craned his neck and shouted loudly, "Sister, hurry up!"
"Yueyou, did you hear that?"
Sun Yueyou glanced back from afar, gripped the food box tightly, and suddenly smiled, "Let's move the sedan chair!"
The sedan chair, which had been moving smoothly, suddenly swayed, and Sun Yueyou almost hit her head. "What happened?"
The sedan curtain was kicked open, and damp, cold air, carrying the sour smell of sweat from the earth, wafted in. The soldiers roughly dragged her out of the sedan. The surrounding soldiers were panting heavily, clearly having traveled at a rapid pace.
Sun Yueyou struggled for a moment, but to no avail. She glared at him and demanded, "Your Highness, what crime have I committed? Do you intend to abduct a woman from the countryside?"
Qi Guanlan gave her a deep look. Who would have thought that a delicate face could hide such a vicious heart? "Someone reported you for hiring someone to commit murder! There are witnesses and physical evidence."
Sun Yueyou's face twitched, her hands clenched tightly. Apart from her mother, she had only told one other person that it was just a slip of the tongue in a fit of rage, and no one would take it seriously.
Her face turned deathly pale, and she said in a trembling voice, "He truly has no feelings for me whatsoever."
Where is Wen Ruo?
Sun Yueyou wiped away her tears and said bitterly, "What's so good about her? She's a womanizer, and you all protect her so much. Even though she already has Zhao Heng, Fu Jingjiang still can't forget her. He even calls her name when he's drunk."
Qi Guanlan said impatiently, "I don't want to hear about your family affairs. If you don't want the entire Sun family to be executed, then you'd better tell me right now."
"The whole family?" Sun Yueyou chuckled a few times. "I'm afraid that now that things are fait accompli, I wonder if the Prince will treat everyone equally and kill Wen Ruo along with them."
Qi Guanlan roared, "Beat them!"
The maidservant immediately knelt down: "Your Highness, please spare me! Miss Wen is in Tingyu Pavilion, where the Fourth Young Master studies."
Sun Yueyou's eyes reddened, "You lowly slave!"
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