Chapter 68: Meng Lanxi's Orchid
Ling Tianshui's body was stiff, his neck turning stiffly inch by inch, and he looked at Jin Baoyi and Meng Lanxi behind him in disbelief.
The old servant of the Jin family wiped his tears and squeezed out of the crowd, choking with sobs, "The county lady is right! After the Seventh Master passed away, the Third Young Master was still young, but he remembered the Seventh Master's last words and asked me to go see his beloved. After discovering that they were left alone, the Third Young Master asked me to take a portion of his monthly salary and send it to them on time every month in the name of the Seventh Master..."
His family was the richest in Chang'an, and he was the most favored youngest. Money had flowed freely through his hands since he was a child. Actually, he had forgotten about the small amount of money after giving it away, and he didn't care about it at all. So, for ten years, he hadn't even visited the people he had helped. He was just doing his accounting as a matter of routine, and since he hadn't told him to stop, he just kept sending it.
"It wasn't until Madam Meng passed away last year that the accounting office stopped this practice. All the accounts before that are still there, and we can check them over the years. It's absolutely true!"
"Okay! Okay! My Sanlang has good intentions, and in the end, in the end..." Jin Baoyi burst into tears and wanted to slap Meng Lanxi a few times, but his trembling hands were weak and could only leave a few half-dried blood marks on his face.
Ling Tianshui did not try to stop him, but just stared at Meng Lanxi's dying eyes.
Some weak tears welled up in his already distracted eyes, and it was unclear whether they were regret or pain.
Finally, Ling Tianshui walked up to them step by step, slowly pulled away the collapsed and exhausted Jin Baoyi, and half-lifted Meng Lanxi.
The blood still flowing on his hands mixed with Meng Lanxi's blood, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other.
They had very different lives and destinies, but only at this moment did they feel like brothers with the same blood for the first time.
"County...County Lady..."
He heard Meng Lanxi's low murmurs, the pain had dissipated from her dying mutterings, leaving only a demonic and confused attachment.
Ling Tianshui raised his head and looked at Qiandeng, his lips moving slightly but he couldn't say anything.
Qiandeng's gaze slowly shifted from his face to Meng Lanxi's face in his arms.
His distracted eyes should have made him unable to see the world, but he still looked towards her stubbornly, murmuring in hope.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally walked over and called him hesitantly, "Meng Lanxi?"
A glimmer of trance appeared in Meng Lanxi's vague eyes, and her voice was difficult and stagnant: "County Princess, you...you will remember me..."
Qian Deng was silent for a long time before he said softly, "Yes."
After all, who could forget such a gentle, pure, yet cruel and stubborn person?
Finally hearing her words, his panting throat seemed to calm down a little, and his usual dimples appeared faintly at the corners of his lips.
However, the sweet, round dimples on his blood-stained cheeks no longer had any intoxicating charm, but instead looked distorted and weird.
She turned her head away, unwilling to look at him again.
But he didn't swallow the last breath in his throat. With his last strength, he murmured as if blaming, or sighing, "But County Master, you... you have always ignored me. I saw the traces of Su Yunzhong's body, and later when Shi Jingning died, I realized... you had been searching for the well curb for so long, didn't you... never think that it was an orchid, my... Meng Lanxi's orchid..."
Well curb——
Orchid from Menglanxi.
In an instant, thousands of lights were struck by lightning.
It turned out that the two words that Shi Jingning spat out with blood foam before he died were referring to this.
She felt suffocated in her throat and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Subconsciously, she spread out her palms and looked over there, as if she could still see the word "rabbit" written by Shi Jingning with his last bit of strength, stroke by stroke.
The lonely white rabbit looks around east and west, the clothes are not as good as the new ones, and the person is not as good as the old ones!
But only now did she feel as if she had been pulled out of a dark abyss, and suddenly realized the absurdity and horror of the past.
Meng Lanxi's hands fell in Ling Tianshui's arms, and she took her last breath.
She stood motionless in front of Ling Tianshui, who was holding the corpse. She could only hear the endless roar in her chest and head, and she couldn't even move her fingertips.
The others stood a few steps away from them and did not hear Meng Lanxi's last mutterings. They only saw the great grief and anger on her face and were shocked and at a loss for a moment.
Only Ling Tianshui, who had heard Meng Lanxi's dying whispers with her, regained his sharp gaze. He shifted his gaze from Meng Lanxi's body to her face, "So it was him... not Ji Linyou!"
The letter found in the water pavilion and the carvings on the pillars originally pointed to Ji Linyou.
Qian Deng stared up at him intently, his voice trembling slightly. "He said the marks on Su Yunzhong's body... when you performed the autopsy, your expression changed, but you quickly covered it up, only pointing out the old marks on his wrist and metacarpal bones... So, what was it that you didn't tell us then?"
"There's a smooth bone fracture on his sternum. It wasn't caused by falling off a cliff." Ling Tianshui's voice was almost inaudible. "At that moment, I suspected someone, just like you do now—someone I couldn't trust!"
Her eyes widened in shock, her breath quickening. "So... the evidence found in Zhuangzi Water Pavilion wasn't fabricated by you to frame me?"
Meng Lanxi was able to forge Meng Yongshun's letter, and Ling Tianshui was able to pin Jin Tang's death on Ji Linyou, so it was natural for her to think that those were all means to convict Ji Linyou.
But when she saw Ling Tianshui's face in front of her, his expression was terrifying and cold, and the shadows in the backlight made his outline even darker. "I have verified that Ji Linyou is closely related to your mother's death, but with the current evidence, it is difficult to convict him. That's why I decided to use Jin Tang's death to control him first."
But they all overlooked that there was another person from the army who was familiar with Ji Linyou at the manor that night.
The sunlight shone on them, but despite the late spring and early summer weather, a chill penetrated deep into their bones.
It’s simply because what that person represents is indeed too terrifying a speculation and too horrible a fact.
At this moment, there was a sound of running at the door.
The footsteps were well-trained and the soles of the boots made a clattering sound. It was obvious that the army was coming.
Everyone in the courtyard, including Jin Baoyi, who seemed a little crazy, turned their heads and looked at the person who came.
The man who appeared at the door had a strong build, a mustache, and was quite majestic. He was Wei Fengyang, the commander of the Left Guard of the Eastern Palace.
He led his men straight into the courtyard and without further ado, signaled his soldiers to form a battle array, draw their bows, and aim at everyone in the courtyard: "According to the Crown Prince's order, capture the murderer and protect the Princess of Lingling. No one is allowed to move!"
Qiandeng's expression changed slightly, and he looked up at Ling Tianshui.
They were only a few feet apart, and they exchanged glances in an instant, understanding the consideration and suspicion in each other's eyes.
Qian Deng took a deep breath, put the Hundred Refining Blade back into his armlet, and looked at Wei Fengyang: "Wei Zuolu, what do you mean by this?"
Wei Fengyang glanced at the bloodstains on the ground and bowed to Qiandeng, "Princess Lingling, I know you want to protect your candidates for husband, but this matter has implications for the court and the military, and it's not something your Changhua Palace can cover up."
Without waiting for Qian Deng's response, he waved his hand to signal the soldiers, "Come here, take these gentlemen away and hand them over to the court for sentencing!"
How could Qian Deng allow him to take his people away so easily? He asked in a deep voice, "Is this also the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
Wei Fengyang avoided answering and only said, "Brothers are all following orders. I hope the county lady will retreat for the time being to avoid the soldiers being rude and bumping into you."
Obviously, the origin of this order is self-evident.
Her eyes swept across Wei Fengyang's face calmly, and then passed over the faces of the soldiers, but she had already seen where their attention was.
Although everyone was doing their own thing, some people's nervous eyes unconsciously swept towards Ling Tianshui. Obviously, they all knew what the focus of this arrest was.
This time, the others will probably just be supporting roles, and Ling Tianshui will definitely be in great danger.
In this regard, Ling Tianshui was naturally more perceptive than Qian Deng. Moreover, just now, they had discovered from a few words who the real person who framed Ji Linyou was.
Another person who stayed at the manor that night and was familiar with the military markings was Wei Fengyang.
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