38 Distress
◎Stop the little mouth that can never be closed◎
Wei Ziyan originally planned to go to the small house in the suburbs of Beijing to see if Wu Guanyi had taken Liu Yuer away.
If they could make it in time, she could give them some of the valuables she had brought with her on their journey. After that, she would go to Yuping Mountain to live for a few days alone.
She said she wanted to go back to her parents' home, but she didn't dare. Her parents would surely tell her not to be so willful, not to do this or that. She felt a little annoyed and just wanted to find a place to be, where she could be alone and have a few days of peace and quiet without being disturbed by anyone.
But once they arrived at the small residence, Liu Yu'er still refused to leave the capital. She was heartbroken, saying she couldn't escape what was coming. Wu Guanyi had no choice but to compromise, letting her retreat while he went to explain things to the Crown Prince.
This house in the suburbs of Beijing wasn't far from the city; if the soldiers came to search, they would find it in a few hours. When Wu Guanyi heard that she was planning to go to the mountains, he thought it would be safer to hide there, so he asked Liu Yu'er to go with her.
Wu Guanyi personally escorted them up the mountain with a few guards, but it wasn't Yuping Mountain, but Qixialing. Yuping Mountain had many resorts, while Qixialing was less crowded and less likely to attract attention.
Since I decided to go there on impulse, I didn't have time to choose which villa was better. I came across an empty villa halfway up the mountain and went in.
The village's manager was a genial middle-aged woman, and the servants who performed odd jobs seemed to be doing their jobs well. After settling everything in, Wu Guanyi left behind a few guards and headed down the mountain alone.
With guards watching over her, Wei Ziyan felt more at ease. She hadn't slept well the previous night due to the argument, so she caught up on a good nap in the afternoon. She woke feeling more energetic and went on a trip to the nearby mountains with Liu Yu'er and Qiu Luo. As it was getting dark, they slowly returned to the villa to rest.
The guards helped them catch some fish on the way. Wei Ziyan asked the manager of the manor to build a charcoal fire beside the lotus pond, and they grilled the fish while enjoying the night view.
The steward also served homemade plum wine, which was light and sweet but not intoxicating.
The mountains are truly comfortable, especially at night when the air is still and the cool breeze is incredibly pleasant. It's a shame the lotus flowers in the pond have already withered, otherwise it would have been even more beautiful.
Qiu Luo hadn't slept well last night and went back to his room early to catch up on some sleep. Wei Ziyan couldn't bear to leave the starry sky and the moon. After grilling the fish, she started roasting potatoes, then wanted to roast peanuts...
Liu Yuer laughed at her: "You don't plan to roast it until dawn, do you?"
"I do want to, but I'm afraid my stomach won't be able to hold it."
Maybe it was the effect of the plum wine, or maybe it was because she had a good sleep in the afternoon, but she was not sleepy at all at the moment.
"Let's roast it. At worst, we can give it to the guards outside!"
As if she had come up with a wonderful excuse, Wei Ziyan curled her lips, grabbed a handful of peanuts and placed them one by one on the grill, but heard Liu Yuer calling her softly.
"Zi Yan..."
"You quarreled with Master Yan because of me?"
Wei Ziyan's eyes darkened slightly.
There were a few more peanuts on the grill; Liu Yu'er was adding them. A pair of bright, large eyes looked over at her tenderly, as if seeing through her pretense of indifference and wanting to share her sleepless night's worries.
"No, it's a problem between me and him..." Wei Ziyan lowered her eyelids, and the plum wine slightly smoked her cheeks.
The incident with Sister Liu was just the beginning. The reason why she and Yan Qizhen had such a quarrel was due to the conflicts that had accumulated between them over time.
"I don't know what to do..."
If you fight with others, you will hurt them by a thousand and yourself by eight hundred.
If she didn't let Yan Qizheng live a good life, would she feel better? Was this a life of mutual torture that she really had to endure for the rest of her life?
"You are angry that he lied to you, but think about it carefully..." After listening to the content of her quarrel with Yan Qizhen, Liu Yuer thought quietly for a moment.
"What you find unacceptable is that he refuses to let you go, or that... he's just pretending to be nice to you?"
"Isn't it different?" Wei Ziyan looked confused.
Both of them make people angry!
Liu Yu'er smiled faintly and asked, "Think about it, if he still refuses to let you go but treats you well sincerely, will you still be as angry as you are now?"
......
Will it? Wei Ziyan frowned.
"Think carefully again," Liu Yu'er continued, "when was there a time when he was nice to you that made you feel like he was being insincere?"
......
Wei Ziyan's eyebrows furrowed even deeper.
My head felt hot and swollen, and I felt dizzy. When I tried to think, it felt like all my thoughts were tangled up in a ball...
"It's okay if you can't figure it out now," Liu Yu'er said with a reassuring smile, watching her worryingly holding her forehead. "Wait a couple of days before we go back and talk to him face to face, and then you'll know what to do next."
"In two days?" Wei Ziyan quickly shook her head. "I'll have to stay here for ten days or half a month!"
"Wouldn't it be chaos out there? Even if you don't care about Young Master Yan being worried about not being able to find anyone, aren't you afraid that your parents will be worried about you?"
Her parents would worry about her, but he wouldn't be anxious.
Wei Ziyan was thinking gloomily about his hateful appearance last night. He should have wished to avoid seeing it, so why would he look for her?
The pot of wine was empty, the peanuts on the baking tray had been roasted to a blackened color, and the charcoal stove had long since gone out.
Ignoring the dissuasion, Wei Ziyan asked the steward for another pot of plum wine. Although the wine was not strong, after finishing the second pot, Wei Ziyan was already drunk and leaned against Liu Yuer in a daze, like a spoiled child.
"I told you not to drink too much." Liu Yu'er stretched out her finger and poked her forehead lightly, and Wei Ziyan giggled.
"Sister Liu... Tell me, am I too willful?"
"I'm glad you know."
"I actually knew it when I was very young, so I've never been very popular..." She smiled bitterly, "The third sister of the Yan family has always hated me and Yan Qizheng..."
"My brother died very early, so I have no brothers or sisters. When I was little, I wanted to play with them when I went to the Yan family, but unfortunately, they didn't like to play with me..."
"I really envied Qizhu back then! Not only did she have two brothers, but her eldest brother would also jump out to help her when she was at a disadvantage..."
"Qizhu is younger than you, can't you give in to her?"
"Just because you're young, you have to listen to her in everything? I'm younger than you too, so why don't you listen to me? Why don't you play with me?"
"You're so stubborn and willful, who wants to play with you?"
So, he didn't want to play with her when he was a child, and he hated her even more when he grew up...
"He likes well-educated and well-mannered ladies, and he won't like a spoiled and willful girl like me..." Wei Ziyan's eyes were dim and she murmured.
"Didn't my sister ask me how good that person is?"
"Maybe it's not that great, but... besides saving me twice, he's the first brother who doesn't hate me, who patiently teaches me horsemanship, and who is willing to accompany me in horseback riding practice..."
"Zi Yan..." Liu Yuer's handkerchief touched her face, and Wei Zi Yan was suddenly awakened.
I wasn't crying, so why am I shedding tears?
She quickly wiped it with her hands, and her fingers, dirty from roasted peanuts, left several black marks on her face.
"You've become a little cat." Liu Yuer couldn't help laughing, but her eyes were also red.
Wei Ziyan wasn't drunk enough yet, so she asked naively, "Sister Liu, are you thinking about your two brothers?"
Liu Yuer nodded lightly.
"Do you still want to avenge your brother? If so, I'll help you."
If Yan Qizhen is unwilling to help, she can ask her father to find a solution.
There is also Wu Guanyi.
He would rather give up everything and take Sister Liu away, and would definitely not stand idly by.
Liu Yu'er shook her head sadly: "I missed the best opportunity. I'm afraid I will never be able to take revenge again..."
"Is it... in the cherry forest?"
"yes."
The Crown Prince was inside the carriage at the time, unattended. She had already picked up the knife from the ground, but she saw the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess carefully carry Zi Yan, who had fainted in the front of the carriage, into the carriage...
"So..." Wei Ziyan lowered her voice, "You knew someone would attempt an assassination that day, right?"
Liu Yuer smiled lightly: "If I say it's just a coincidence, would you believe it?"
"I believe it." Wei Ziyan nodded.
"What if it's not a coincidence?" Liu Yuer asked again with a smile.
Wei Ziyan pursed her lips and said, "A gentleman judges actions, not intentions. The fact is that you saved the prince."
"But you almost lost your life... After all, I deliberately approached you that day at the flower market, hoping to establish a good relationship with you so I could get closer to the Crown Prince." Liu Yu'er confessed, "Master Yan was right. I did intend to use you."
"Sister Liu..."
There's no need to be so frank.
"Including the Second Young Master Wu, I once had my eyes on him," Liu Yu'er continued frankly. "Knowing he was the Shangshu's son, I wanted to use him, but I didn't expect... you two were so naive."
Liu Yu'er sighed softly, and Wei Ziyan smiled again.
At this moment, there was a commotion outside, with faint sounds of fighting. Liu Yu'er heard it clearly and was about to go out to take a look when two guards suddenly rushed in and shouted at them at the top of their lungs -
"There's an assassin!"
Just now, dozens of men in black gathered at the gate of Guanyun Villa, and the two in front climbed over the wall quietly.
The housekeeper and servants had all gone to bed in the side courtyard, leaving only two servants on guard in the front yard. It was past midnight, and the two men were dozing off under the eaves when they were suddenly grabbed by the neck.
The servant opened his eyes and was startled awake by the masked man holding a large knife in front of him. He subconsciously wanted to scream, but his neck was stuck and he could only make a low humming sound.
One of the big men swung his knife and mercilessly cut the neck of the servant he was holding. The servant opened his eyes wide and collapsed to the ground silently, frightening the other servant who was still breathing to death.
"Speak..." The burly man in front of him also put the knife to his neck, "Where are those two young ladies?"
The servant hurriedly pointed backwards and squeezed out two words from his throat with difficulty: "Back...yard..."
"lead the way."
The burly man in black escorted the weak-legged servant to the backyard, while another one quickly ran to open the gate and let in the rest of the accomplices.
The backyard is the residents' residence, and there is a large lotus pond behind the southeast corner of the wing.
The servant knew that the two female guests were grilling fish tonight, but he wasn't sure if they had returned to their rooms to rest. But when he led his men into the backyard, he saw no guards on horseback, standing guard outside the wing rooms, so he turned onto the path leading to the lotus pond.
The burly man in black felt suspicious. After walking through a short corridor, he saw several guards lined up in front of a doorway.
The order they received was to eliminate the two young women named Liu and Wei, and they also received news that they were accompanied by seven or eight guards.
The burly man in black winked at his companions behind him, and everyone behind him immediately filed out.
"Who is it?" The guard captain Wu Kun noticed someone attacking and drew his sword to meet the enemy.
One after another, men in black rushed forward fiercely, trying to break through the doorway, obviously heading for the people inside. And they were so numerous that they were impossible to stop.
Wu Kun saw the situation clearly and decisively grabbed one of his men and retreated straight to the lotus pond.
"There's an assassin—" he shouted as he ran.
Wei Ziyan was startled when she heard the shouting and sobered up a lot. She was grabbed by Liu Yuer and ran away.
Wu Kun shouted again: "Back door, go out the back door quickly!"
Another exit of the lotus pond is the back door of Guanyun Villa.
Liu Yu'er pulled Wei Ziyan along, and the two guards quickly ran along the pond to the back door. When Wu Kun lifted the latch on the door, Wei Ziyan suddenly remembered Qiu Luo who was still sleeping in the room, and her heart tightened.
"Qiu Luo..."
Before she could think about it, the assassin the guard had mentioned suddenly appeared on the other side of the pond.
One by one, men in black chased towards them. Wu Kun quickly opened the door and took them out.
It was pitch black outside, and the only way to tell where they were was by the faint moonlight. Wu Kun led the way, followed closely by Wei Ziyan and Liu Yu'er, with another guard at the rear.
However, the villa was surrounded by dense bushes and jungle a few feet away. How could two ordinary women outrun the burly men? The men in black quickly caught up with them.
"Run!" Wu Kun shouted to them, then he and his companions rushed back with knives in hand, fighting with the men in black who were chasing them...
"Let's go!" Liu Yuer pulled her hand again.
Tears welled up involuntarily, blurring her eyes. Wei Ziyan couldn't see ahead, and couldn't even focus on where she was standing. She just clutched Liu Yu'er's hand tightly and ran forward recklessly...
Suddenly, one of her feet stepped on empty air, and her body suddenly lost balance, and she fell down with Liu Yuer.
Their clasped hands separated in the air, and instead of falling to the ground, she rolled down the slope.
"Zi Yan——"
Wei Ziyan heard Liu Yuer's cries, but no sound emanated from her. She continued to tumble downward like an uncontrolled spinning top. The violent jolt dislocated her internal organs. In her panic, she banged her forehead against something, and Wei Ziyan's vision went black...
Before long, the excruciating pain gradually brought back her briefly lost consciousness. Wei Ziyan opened her eyes and found herself lying under a large tree, surrounded by pitch black and eerily silent.
My whole body felt like it was falling apart, and every movement caused severe pain.
Big tears rolled down Wei Ziyan's eyes, and she didn't know what to do in this horrible place.
Not long after, a gruff male voice suddenly drifted through the silence: "The person should be nearby. Look carefully."
It’s those lingering men in black!
A chill ran up Wei Ziyan's back. She endured the pain all over her body, struggled to stand up, and slowly and carefully crawled into the bushes beside her and hid herself inside.
Several tall shadows were getting closer and closer, stepping on the dead branches and leaves, making a "crunching" sound. Each sound was like thunder, which made Wei Ziyan tremble with fear.
"It's fine if we can't find it, but if we fall from such a height, we'll probably die."
"The boss said, I want to see the person alive or the body."
As they spoke, one of them walked towards where she was hiding, picked up a knife and randomly pushed aside the bushes. The cold light of the blade passed under her eyelids, and Wei Ziyan held her breath and bit her lip tightly.
"Let's go and look for it somewhere else."
After hearing the order, the man put away the knife, turned around and left with his accomplices.
After they walked away, Wei Ziyan finally couldn't hold her breath anymore and let out a long sigh, then fell to the ground with her whole body limp.
Cold sweat soaked my clothes and my vision became blurry again.
She thought of her outnumbered guards, Qiu Luo who might have met with an accident, and Liu Yuer whose life or death was uncertain.
If... she hadn't come to the mountain...
Wei Ziyan didn't dare to make any noise, so she covered her mouth and sobbed softly. Suddenly, she felt something moving on her arm. She looked up and took a look. It would have been fine if she hadn't looked, but when she did, she was shocked!
It's a snake!
"ah--"
Wei Ziyan screamed, hurriedly shook it off, and rolled out of the bushes.
"There--" the voice of the man in black once again cut through the night sky.
Oops! She exposed herself!
Looking up, Wei Ziyan saw the man in black quickly turning back. She shuddered, and regardless of the pain in her body, she got up from the ground, turned around and ran desperately.
The wind whistled in her ears, and she could hear her own rapid breathing and heartbeat.
Not to mention now, even before she fell, she couldn't have outrun the men in black. In the blink of an eye, those villains caught up with her and surrounded her.
Wei Ziyan fell to the ground, her face ashen.
Each of them held a terrifying knife in his hand, and she was like a lamb to be slaughtered, with no way to escape.
No one came to rescue her.
"You're quite good at hiding!" One of the burly men stepped forward, stretched out his long knife, lifted her chin with the tip of the knife, and clicked his tongue twice. "What a pity..."
"It's a pity that he just went ahead, Fifth Brother!" Another person started to make a noise, causing a burst of evil laughter.
Wei Ziyan felt extremely cold.
She would rather lean forward and let the tip of the knife pierce her neck. Just as she suddenly raised her hand to grab the blade and moved forward——
"Looking for death!"
The man was enraged by her intention to commit suicide. He quickly drew back the knife and raised it high again: "I'll grant your wish first!"
As the knife came down, Wei Ziyan subconsciously closed her eyes...
"Fifth Brother——"
She heard a cry of surprise, but the expected sword did not fall on her. Wei Ziyan opened her eyes and was immediately stunned by the scene before her!
The man called Fifth Brother was kneeling in front of her, his eyes wide open, with a bloody knife tip exposed on his chest!
In a moment, he crawled forward on the ground, with a half-broken long knife stuck in his back.
Wei Ziyan looked up in disbelief, and saw a white figure standing in front of her, like a god descending from the sky to save her from the darkness.
Yan Qizheng......
She stared blankly at the face that was too far away to be clear, and almost thought that she had just died and that it was her soul that created this illusion.
How could it be him?
How did he get here?
He was angry with her, so why would he... come here to save her?
At the moment she lost consciousness, the black-clad men surrounding her rushed towards the white shadow. The white-clad man looked very skilled. He first snatched a man's knife with his bare hands, and then killed him with a single blow.
Then, he fiercely brandished his long sword and charged at the others, his decisive and ruthless attack reminiscent of the scene he had witnessed in the cherry blossom forest...
The men in black fell down one by one beside him. Finally, one of them tried to escape, but he didn't get far before the sharp knife he threw pierced his back. Like the fifth brother before, he first knelt on the ground and then fell forward.
After finishing everything, he turned and strode towards her. His blurry features gradually became clear. It was the man she had imagined.
"Yan Qizheng!"
Wei Ziyan escaped death and got up from the ground in shock and joy.
"How did you..."
"Who told you to run around without saying a word?"
The words that Wei Ziyan was about to say were scared back by Yan Qizhen's roar.
"Do you know how many people are chasing you? You dare to go up the mountain alone with just a few guards? Are you stupid, or are you tired of living and think it doesn't matter anyway?"
The anger that had been pent up for a long time came crashing down on him, and Yan Qizhen was almost going crazy!
Worried that something had happened to her, he was extremely anxious and kept on running, fearing that he would be too late. Fortunately, he finally arrived in time, only to hear that she had fallen off a cliff.
Just now, if he had been a little later...
He didn't even dare to think about the consequences!
"Speak up! Aren't you always the one who argues with me? There should be a limit to your willfulness. You ran away from home without a word just to get angry with me. Have you ever thought about those who are worried about you?"
"I'm sorry..." Wei Ziyan apologized timidly.
She already knew that she was wrong this time. Apart from admitting her mistake, what else could she say?
What's more, she almost went to hell and was still very scared. When Yan Qizhen yelled at her like that, her nose felt sore and tears started to fall.
"Don't cry!" Yan Qizhen said viciously.
"It's not that I want to cry..." She looked embarrassed, tears in her eyes. "It's just that it can't help but cry..."
Seeing this look that pierced his heart, no matter how angry Yan Qizhen was, he couldn't bear to continue to vent his anger on her.
He raised his hand and gently touched the large bump on her forehead, softening his tone: "Are there any other injuries?"
“Yes…” Wei Ziyan immediately sobbed in grievance, “My whole body… inside and out… it hurts everywhere…”
"It was such a high hill... I rolled down without even noticing..."
......
Yan Qizhen completely lost his temper this time and held the person in his arms with heartache.
At this moment, the shock she had endured that night seemed to finally find an outlet, and Wei Ziyan began to sob. The sound was truly heartbreaking and sorrowful, lamenting and complaining.
“Wow, I’m so scared…”
"Wow, I thought I was going to die..."
"Wow, I thought I would never see my parents again..."
"Okay, okay, don't cry, it's okay." Yan Qizhen kept comforting her softly, stroking her back and rubbing the back of her head.
I didn't dare to use any more force for fear of hurting her, but no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't make her stop crying.
"Woo woo woo, you were so fierce just now..."
"Wow, you're mad at me..."
"Woo woo woo, you're still yelling at me at this time..."
Yan Qi was feeling uneasy because of her accusations, and his chest felt like it was being pricked by needles.
It was as if a flood of emotions was bursting out. In an instant, his head was hot, and without thinking, he held up the face that had already turned into a cat's tear, lowered his head to cover the little mouth that could never be closed...
【Author’s words】
Kiss! Kiss! Throw flowers! [Come on!]
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