Chapter 37 Yunzhu... she's dead.
A fire in the Jeju countryside didn't attract much attention from outsiders.
Because Jeju and Cheongju have been suffering from water shortages for months, there have been quite a few fires like this this year. As long as they don't cause an unusually large number of deaths or are not intentional, once the fires are extinguished, the matter is over.
Especially since the fire occurred on the border of Jeju and Nakju, a place so remote that almost no one paid any attention to it.
Yunzhu and Ayan survived on the mountain for two days on the food they had brought with them. Finally, on the third day, someone came up the mountain.
Upon seeing that it was the homeowner's mother-in-law, Yunzhu felt a sense of certainty, but she was still worried, wondering whether the news she brought was good or bad.
"It's alright, it's all over now." Only after hearing the old woman say these words did Yunzhu finally feel a weight lifted from her heart.
“Girl, you’re right. After the fire, someone did come looking for your bodies. They found the two fake corpses and left. I waited all day, but they didn’t come back, so I came up the mountain.” The old woman handed Yunzhu and Ayan fresh food while telling them what had happened down the mountain in the past two days.
Yunzhu nodded repeatedly.
That day, sitting on the haystack by the door, Yunzhu was thinking about faking her death to escape. If she didn't fake her death, Yunzhu thought that if the people from the Huan Prince's Mansion could find them once, they would definitely find them again. She and Ayan would have to live on thin ice in the future. But if she and Ayan died, it would be different. As long as the people from the Huan Prince's Mansion saw the bodies and confirmed their deaths, they would not continue to track down two dead people no matter what.
It's just a pity about those few rooms.
“Oh, right, Ayan, the hairpin…” Yunzhu turned around and told Ayan to take out the hairpin that had been prepared earlier from her purse and hand it to the old woman. “It was really wrong of us to ruin the old woman’s house. Please keep this hairpin…”
The old woman hurriedly waved her hands: "No, no, no, you've already given me more than enough, I really can't accept this..."
She took in Yunzhu and the others out of kindness, never expecting anything in return. When Yunzhu initially offered to exchange three ingots of gold for her old houses, the old woman hesitated, but after thinking it over carefully overnight, she accepted it.
What's so precious about these old houses in the countryside compared to gold? Yunzhu is willing to exchange three ingots of gold for these houses. With those three ingots of gold, she could buy a very, very nice house in Luozhou City.
It just so happens that Jeju is currently experiencing a drought, and my son and daughter-in-law are making a living in Nakju. If they really can't bear to leave this place, they can rebuild the old house after the drought is over. It won't cost them a single ingot of gold anyway.
So she agreed.
Now that Yunzhu wanted to give her the gold hairpin, the old woman refused to accept it no matter what.
“I know in my heart how much my house is worth. Three ingots of gold are more than enough. I am not greedy. If you really feel bad, then please hold a memorial service for the two female corpses that I carried back from the mass grave and set up a memorial tablet for them in the temple to pray for their well-being.”
“Of course!” Yunzhu replied hastily.
She told Ayan that it was unfortunate, but also fortunate. The village was near a mass grave in Jeju, and the two female corpses thrown into the fire were carried back by Ayan after she went to the mass grave that night.
"Sigh." The old woman still didn't know what had happened to the young couple in front of her that required them to use the trick of faking their death to escape.
She didn't ask any more questions, but simply said to Yunzhu, "Nothing is insurmountable. If a house burns down, it can be rebuilt. If people are desperate, they can find another way. As long as you're alive, you can start over. I'm going to Luozhou to find my son tomorrow, and I hope you can all be free to go wherever you want."
"Okay." Yunzhu was so grateful to the old woman that she couldn't express her gratitude. Seeing that the old woman was about to go down the mountain, she and Ayan helped her to the foot of the mountain.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they dared not proceed any further, fearing that the people from Prince Huan's residence were still nearby. If they were to run into them, all their previous efforts would be in vain.
They hid in the woods at the foot of the mountain, watching the old woman walk away. Her own house had been burned down, and she had to stay with her neighbors for the next few days.
Finally, they saw that staggering figure completely disappear into the grassy field. Yunzhu and Ayan exchanged a glance and then headed back up the mountain.
Their horses were abandoned in the village to cover up the fact that people had died, and were destined to no longer follow them. From now on, the only thing that could truly follow them was their own two legs.
They had to climb the mountain on foot to get to a new place;
They had to wade across the difficult river on their own two legs to reach the new shore;
They have to walk a path that no one has ever walked before, and then they will get everything that truly belongs to them.
As for what lies ahead, no one can tell them. They can only use their own two legs to measure it out and knock on one new door after another.
—
It was three days later when news of Yunzhu's affair reached Xiao Mingzhang's ears.
After telling Xiao Shao that he was going to find Yunzhu, Xiao Mingzhang was placed under house arrest.
Xiao Shao locked him in the courtyard, forbidding him to step out. He took over the affairs of the yamen himself, and Xiao Mingzhang was confined to this small space, only allowed to read some books and eat some meals.
This was an experience Xiao Mingzhang had never had before. The once all-powerful heir of the royal family was nothing in front of the real Prince Huan.
Xiao Mingzhang spent the entire night calming down in his study, and then began to think of a solution again. He was never one to sit idly by and wait for his fate. Although he couldn't go to Yunzhu for the time being, he at least needed to know what was happening outside, where Yunzhu was, and how she was doing lately.
Wuqi was diligent and capable. Whenever Prince Huan, Xiao Shao, received a certain message, he would ensure that Xiao Mingzhang would receive the same message soon after.
When Wuqi still hadn't returned by that day, Xiao Mingzhang sensed something was wrong. He waited and waited in his study until the next day, when he finally saw Xiao Shao come in person.
Xiao Shao looked more somber than usual, and Xiao Mingzhang did not bow to him when he came before him.
"What a pathetic sight," Xiao Shao snorted. "He's caused such a rift with his family over a woman."
“I can’t compare to my father, who has connections that reach the heavens,” Xiao Mingzhang said coldly.
Xiao Shao glanced at his son, wanting to lash out, but since he had come to deliver bad news, he didn't argue with Xiao Mingzhang.
"Father, you've come today because you have something to tell me, haven't you?" But before he could speak, Xiao Mingzhang had already asked first.
Xiao Shao was shocked. He used to always hope that Yunzhu would die soon, so that his great cause would be smooth sailing. But now that the time had come, he didn't know how to face his son.
Although he didn't directly kill Yunzhu, he was the one who sent people to push her to that point.
A princess consort, of all people, was fleeing for her life, traversing mountains and valleys to stay in farmers' homes, and Xiao Shao didn't even know if Xiao Mingzhang knew about Yunzhu's pregnancy...
Under Xiao Mingzhang's gaze, he remained silent for a long while before speaking again: "Wuqi will not be sending you any more news about Yunzhu."
"What did Father do to Wuqi?" Xiao Mingzhang subconsciously thought that something had happened to Wuqi.
But Xiao Shao said, "Wuqi is fine, it's Yunzhu..."
"Yunzhu?" Xiao Mingzhang asked suspiciously, his unease and anxiety growing stronger. He pressed for an answer, "Father, what happened to Yunzhu?"
"...A few days ago, Yunzhu and her maid arrived in Jizhou. Jizhou had been suffering from drought for many days, and it hadn't rained since the beginning of spring. As you know, she stayed at a farmer's house in Jizhou, but unfortunately, the farmer's house caught fire..."
This was the first time Xiao Shao had dared not look his son in the eye while speaking. He kept his hands behind his back, turned away from Xiao Mingzhang.
Xiao Mingzhang, however, did not have his wish.
He understood the unspoken meaning in Xiao Shao's words, but he couldn't believe what he had heard. In an instant, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he frantically circled around to stand in front of Xiao Shao.
"What are you saying, Father? Yunzhu is going back to the Western Regions from Luozhou. How could she possibly go to Jizhou?" He grabbed Xiao Shao, his eyes fixed on him, and asked.
Xiao Shao had never seen Xiao Mingzhang like this before. The room was filled with the oppressive atmosphere of books, so he had to turn his face away again and said, "Never mind how she got to Jizhou, anyway..."
He paused for a moment before finally saying, "Yunzhu is now gone, and the guards have brought her body back..."
"I don't believe it!" Xiao Mingzhang's three sharp words drowned out Xiao Shao's voice.
Xiao Shao finally lost his temper and turned around to stare at Xiao Mingzhang.
"You don't believe me? What good is it if you don't believe me? People are gone, that's it. Nobody could have predicted the fire in Jeju Island! If you had any ambition, you should be pulling yourself together right now and helping us accomplish our great cause!"
He was still thinking about his grand ambition.
Xiao Mingzhang was suddenly overcome with exhaustion. Ever since Wu Qi failed to appear yesterday, he had been holding on without rest.
But he never imagined that the news he had been waiting for all day and night would be like this.
"So it was Father who forced her to come to Jizhou, and it was Father who made her live in a farmer's house, right?" He ignored Xiao Shao's words and kept questioning him with his bloodshot eyes.
"..."
Xiao Shao moved his Adam's apple and finally stopped talking.
Xiao Mingzhang finally learned what had happened to Yunzhu during the days he had been out of contact with her.
Why!!!
This was the most complete roar he had ever let out since birth.
Xiao Mingzhang felt as if blood was about to spill from his throat.
“She has already left. It was you, Father, who said that once she left, we didn’t need to care about her. Why force her to go to Jeju?”
"Do you think this is what I wanted?" Xiao Shao could understand Xiao Mingzhang no matter how much he tried to understand him, but now, faced with his repeated questioning, he couldn't help but feel angry and embarrassed.
Xiao Mingzhang roared, and he roared back: "Isn't it all because you're indecisive! You can't let her go! If you could just let her go, why would I send people to chase after her?"
Yes, it was his indecisiveness that ruined Yunzhu; it was his indecisiveness that caused Yunzhu to hear those words and choose to leave the palace…
This was not the first time Xiao Mingzhang had realized this problem, but it was the clearest he had ever been of just how terrible his indecisiveness could be.
He stared at Xiao Shao with his bloodshot eyes wide open, clearly wanting to question him, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't say a word.
Because the price he paid for his indecisiveness this time was the permanent loss of his beloved.
In the end, all Xiao Mingzhang could do was shed two strings of tears in front of Xiao Shao, tears that he had never shed since he could remember.
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