Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Empty.
Having worked with Lin Yunfeng for several years, Kong Jinghe had also met Lin Zhen several times. Her appearance and temperament were unforgettable. He recognized Lin Zhen at first sight at the restaurant, and he recognized her the same way today.
Li Yuanhui was the grandson of a senior official in the imperial court, and Kong Jinghe had heard of his reputation and methods. He knew that his purpose in being here today was simply to get close to Ji Sui and seek opportunities, and that he shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs. However, when he saw Lin Zhen's thin and lonely figure, he still felt pity for him.
Just as Li Yuanhui was about to attack, he suddenly handed the bow and arrow behind him to Ji Sui, "I've heard that the general's archery skills are superb, and he can hit the target with a needle from a hundred paces away. I wonder if I can see it today?"
After he finished speaking, Kong Jinghe felt regretful. He actually expected the man who had sent the girl to the Jiaofangsi to save her.
At that time, Ji Bai's dark eyes were staring at Lin Zhen who was not far away. She was wearing a disheveled long dress, with a red ribbon tied behind her head, entangled with her black hair, and the silver chains between her hands and feet were dazzling. Anyone who saw her would inevitably have some charming thoughts.
Lin Zhen was aloof by nature, and such blasphemy was the best humiliation to her. And wasn't it with this intention that he sent her to the Jiaofangsi in the first place?
He just wanted to destroy what she cherished and cared about. Only in this way would he feel a little happy in his heart.
Li Yuanhui was a dandy young man. Although he was not good at riding and shooting, he was sure to shoot a young deer within ten meters. As the string loosened and the arrow was released, the smile on his fat mouth widened, and he was just waiting for the beauty to enter his arms.
Just as the arrow was about to hit the fawn, another arrow came out from nowhere at an astonishing speed. In a flash, it split the arrow shot by Li Yuanhui into two pieces and nailed it into the thick tree trunk nearby.
"Who is so blind as to dare to tell me—"
Li Yuanhui threw his bow in anger and was about to turn around to settle the score, but he saw Ji Bai's pair of dark eyes looking at him quietly not far away.
Although he looked down on Ji Bai's background, that man was now a rising star in the court and a popular general.
Li Yuanhui swallowed the rest of his words and smiled, "You are the great general. A gentleman should help others achieve their goals. Since you are favored by the general, I am willing to give you the opportunity."
Li Yuanhui didn't know that the woman in front of him was the girl from the Lin family who was sent to the Jiaofangsi by Ji Bai himself. She was just a prostitute in the Jiaofangsi. He gave her to that boy today and he would go to the Jiaofangsi to find someone else tomorrow.
How could he not get anything he set his eyes on?
Thinking so, Li Yuanhui soon left with his group of friends.
Shizhu reluctantly drove her horse to Lin Zhen, dismounted, drew the sword from her waist, and with a few "clang" sounds, the silver chains between Lin Zhen's hands and feet fell to the ground. Once freed, she immediately pulled off the red blindfold.
"Hurry up and go, the general is waiting for you." Seeing that Lin Zhen did not move, Shizhu became a little impatient.
Lin Zhen frowned and blinked, trying to adapt to the dazzling light in front of her. She raised her eyes and looked around before finally moving away.
However, Lin Zhen didn't go to Ji Sui, but instead walked towards Shi Zhu. He subconsciously took two steps back. Before he could ask his doubts, Lin Zhen spoke first, "Lend me your horse."
Lin Yunfeng had taught Lin Zhen how to ride a horse, so she was very skilled. Shi Zhu had never thought that she would dare to leave like this. By the time he reacted, Lin Zhen's figure had already been covered by the lush jungle shrubs.
Shi Zhu walked back to Ji Sui with a gloomy look on her face, and said in a low voice: "General...she, she..."
Perhaps it was the sight of Lin Zhen with his eyes covered that reminded him of Lin Zhen's low call in the side hall of Kangtai Palace, or perhaps it was that he knew the true purpose of Lin Zhen's bottle of medicine, and in the end, he still took action.
But Lin Zhen ignored him and turned around to save another lowly woman, which undoubtedly trampled on everything he had just done.
Ji Sui sat high on his horse and glanced at Shi Zhu. Despite the hot summer day, his tone was as cold as if it was mixed with ice. "She wants to die, right? Then grant her wish!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his horse around, and Shi Zhu hurriedly followed. A moment later, Ji Sui tightened his reins and turned back to shout at him, "Bring your horse back!"
“…Yes, General!”
Shi Zhu was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned around and chased in the direction Lin Zhen had left. Using the whistle, he quickly found his horse. As for Lin Zhen, he searched the forest for half an hour. When he was about to leave, he saw her coming down from a high place carrying a female musician from the Jiaofang Bureau on her back. Before he could go forward to meet her, Lin Zhen had fainted in front of him.
Shi Zhu did not dare to deal with Lin Zhen on his own initiative. He only sent someone to send the female musician back to the Jiaofangsi, and then brought Lin Zhen back to Ji Sui's tent.
A bucket of ice was placed in the middle of the spacious tent, which made the tent feel a rare coolness in the hot summer. Ji Sui sat on a pearwood chair, with his long legs wrapped in black boots casually resting on the low table.
Shizhu stood in the tent, looking down at Lin Zhen who was lying beside the chair. Her cheeks were flushed, but her lips were pale. The lines on her lips became deeper due to dryness. Beads of sweat were oozing from her forehead. She even began to mutter, and her hands unconsciously clutched Shizhu's robe.
He frowned and took a half step back, pulling the corner of his clothes out of Lin Zhen's hand, and reported to Ji Sui: "General, I have brought the person back, but he seems to have suffered from the heat. Now... what should we do with him?"
In Ji Sui's heart, Lin Zhen is as arrogant and self-righteous as her father. If she has the ability to save people, she should not make herself look like this in front of him.
"If you are so capable, why send it to me?"
A sneer escaped Ji Bai's lips, and after he finished speaking, a sense of revenge suddenly arose in his heart. He withdrew his gaze from Lin Zhen, picked up the bamboo slips of military strategy beside him and began to read them, no longer paying attention to Shi Zhu.
Shi Zhu originally didn't want his master to save this woman, so this was exactly what he wanted. He immediately had Lin Zhen thrown onto the carriage back to the Jiaofangsi.
*
The General's Mansion.
Shi Zhu was walking into the backyard carrying a pile of bamboo slips when he saw a kitchen boy, covered in dust, carrying some broken porcelain. He stepped forward to stop the boy and asked, "What's wrong? The general hasn't eaten yet?"
The servant was overjoyed to see Shi Zhu, as if he had seen a living Buddha. He hurriedly took him to the courtyard gate and whispered, "That's right. Yesterday, you said the food was too greasy, so today I specially asked the cooks to make something lighter. But you think it's too bland again. You've been throwing bowls for two days in a row, and the cooks don't dare to bring you food. If this continues, I can't bear it anymore. I beg Master Shi to think of a solution."
Shizhu was silent for a while, then said, "I understand. You can go down now."
While Shizhu was thinking about what to say to comfort his master later, he continued walking towards the study with the bamboo slips in his arms.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door, the bamboo slips that hit him in the face choked back all the words he had prepared.
This was not a big deal. Late at night, Ji Sui ordered Shi Zhu and his servants to catch insects all night long, saying that the grasshoppers in the yard were too noisy. They worked for most of the night before they could rest.
Shi Zhu was worried that his master was so irritable because he had suffered from the heat during hunting in the past two days. So, risking punishment from Ji Sui, he went outside at dawn to invite a doctor to come into the house for a consultation.
At noon, Shizhu led the doctor into the main courtyard. He tried his best to knock on the door softly, but was still met with a loud bang of the door being slammed.
"Come on in."
After getting the consent, Shizhu held his breath and slowly pushed the door open. He first stepped into the room with light steps, and then signaled the doctor to follow in.
In the bedroom, Ji Sui was wearing underwear, with half of his hair tied up in a ponytail with a hairband, sitting on the edge of the couch with a gloomy look on his face.
Shi Zhu was about to ask the doctor to take her pulse when she was suddenly asked, "What's going on in the Jiaofang Bureau these past two days?"
On weekdays, Shizhu would occasionally send people to keep an eye on the Jiaofangsi, but it was just a symbolic glance. The Lin Mansion had collapsed, Lin Yunfeng was a noble man, and he had never made any friends in his lifetime. In addition, the military defense of the capital was now in Ji Sui's hands. Therefore, they never worried that a woman like Lin Zhen would cause any trouble under their noses.
Two days ago, Ji Sui had said something like that again in Shanglin Garden. Naturally, Shi Zhu hadn't thought of sending anyone to the Jiaofangsi again. Suddenly, he was stunned by this question, and after a long while, he slowly replied, "... Your subordinate, I'm not sure..."
Unexpectedly, Ji Bai did not get angry and did not ask any more questions. He just stood up and walked towards the washbasin. Shi Zhu breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward to help Ji Bai wash and dress.
Shi Zhu stood on tiptoe to smooth out the wrinkles on Ji Rui's shoulders and asked cautiously, "Where are you going, General? I'll go get the carriage ready."
Ji Sui lowered his head and straightened his sleeves, saying expressionlessly, "The Jiaofang Division."
After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked out the door. The doctor standing beside him was overwhelmed by Ji Bai's aura and had already huddled at the door, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Ji Sui's black boots stopped in front of him. He felt a sharp gaze falling on his head. After a while, he heard Shi Zhu's voice: "General, he is... I have come here to check your pulse."
After a pause, Shi Zhu hurriedly added, "I will let him leave now."
Shi Zhu hurried out of the room and pushed the doctor out of the courtyard, but suddenly heard Ji Sui throw out a sentence: "Take him with you."
Ji Sui was sitting in the carriage, leaning against the carriage, holding his forehead with one hand and frowning slightly.
Lin Zhen was such an arrogant person that he never wanted to show his vulnerability in front of others. He admitted that at that moment, he did feel happy in his heart, but that happiness was fleeting, and in the end, all that was left was inexplicable boredom and irritability.
During these two days, the anger in Ji Bai's heart had almost dissipated. When he stood in front of the side room of the Jiaofangsi, he was calmer than ever before. He didn't even push the door open as usual, but gestured to Shizhu to knock on the door.
The doctor followed into the Music Bureau in a daze. He held his medicine box tightly and listened to the knocks on the door. There was silence inside. Even though he didn't know what was going on, he sensed a hint of danger in his heart.
Shizhu gradually frowned, and the sound of knocking on the door became more and more rapid.
After a while, when he was about to shout inside, Ji Sui strode forward and forced him to step aside.
With a "bang", Ji Sui slammed the door open neatly.
The house was empty.
Although the side house where Lin Zhen lived was small and shabby, it had always been very tidy. But now, the box near the door was wide open, with only a few clothes of the female musicians from the Music Bureau scattered around in a mess. Not a single piece of clothing that Lin Zhen had worn when he was in the Lin Mansion was left.
A shocking thought flashed through Ji Sui's mind. He clenched his fist until it turned white before he could retract it. He spoke in a cold voice, almost grinding out from between his teeth: "Where is the person?"
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