Chapter 349 The Man in the Shadows 2
"It seems we need to be more careful in the future."
Gu Shuyan frowned; the feeling of having a sword hanging over her head made her very uncomfortable.
If Yun Yichen's guess is correct, this person not only knows everything about the Gu family, but also seems to know a lot about Yun Yichen's affairs.
With such a person lurking in the shadows, their situation is truly passive.
"Don't worry, since the other side is making frequent moves, we're not afraid that they won't surface."
Reaching out to stroke her forehead, Yun Yichen soothed her furrowed brows.
"Um."
Gu Shuyan nodded. Although she was still worried, she believed that as long as Yun Yichen was there, nothing was insurmountable.
Meanwhile, in a mansion somewhere in the capital, a man in black was kneeling on the ground, reporting on the situation outside the city.
"So you failed?"
The man in the main seat had a pair of slender, fair fingers that were gently rubbing the edge of the teacup, as if he were touching some rare treasure.
His voice, though faintly weak, was incredibly alluring, allowing one to immediately guess what a stunningly handsome man he was.
"Your subordinate is incompetent, please punish me, my lord."
The man lowered his head in remorse, not daring to look at the expression of the person in charge.
"Fine, if they were all so easy to deal with, there would be no need to send your people."
Contrary to expectations, the man did not fly into a rage. Instead, he personally stepped forward and helped the man up. Upon seeing this, the man's cold face showed a hint of emotion.
"Master, what do we do next?"
The man in black had messed things up, so naturally he had to take steps to salvage the situation.
"Since Yun Yichen has suffered a loss, we should seek revenge from another source. Isn't that concubine of the Marquis of Yi'an's mansion dead? It's time to find a new one."
The man's voice was still light and pleasant, but the content of his words sent chills down one's spine.
"Yes, Master."
Upon hearing this, the man in black immediately became excited. Thinking of all his dead brothers, someone had to pay the price for their deaths.
After the man in black left to carry out his orders, the man summoned his closest guard and said, "Investigate the whereabouts of this shipment. Find a way to get our hands on it. Even if we can't get it in the end, it must not fall into the hands of the third brother."
The flickering candlelight illuminated the man's profile; even just half of his face was breathtakingly beautiful.
The guard looked at his master's face, and a blush unconsciously crept across his cheeks. Even though he had served his master for over a decade, he couldn't help but be amazed by his appearance.
"I will send someone to investigate immediately."
The guard answered and turned to leave, at which point the man slightly curled the corners of his lips, "Yun Yichen, Gu Shuyan, you two really surprised me."
Compared to those who knew they had failed immediately, Lu Youming experienced a rollercoaster of emotions in a single day.
When Xu Yunzhi delivered the goods to the place arranged by Lu Youming, Lu Youming rushed over to greet him, his warm manner making it seem as if Xu Yunzhi were his own brother.
"Brother Xu, you must be tired from your journey. I have prepared a meal. We should have a good drink together once we unpack the food."
"Your Highness is too kind. It is my honor to be able to share Your Highness's burdens." As Xu Yunzhi spoke, he raised his hand, and immediately someone stepped forward to lift the carriage cloth.
Unfortunately, when the tarpaulin was lifted, everyone present was dumbfounded. Especially Lu Youming and Xu Yunzhi, whose smiles froze on their faces, because the cart was not loaded with what they wanted, but with loads of stones.
"This?" Lu Youming was speechless for a moment. "Brother Xu, what's going on?"
Faced with Lu Youming's questioning, Xu Yunzhi couldn't understand it either. He had been chasing after Ji Wenxuan all the way, so Ji Wenxuan shouldn't have had the opportunity to switch the body.
Could it be that this thing never left when we were on the frontier?
The thought had barely crossed Xu Yunzhi's mind when he quickly dismissed it. This batch of goods was received by his men, and Ji Wenxuan couldn't possibly be unaware of its importance. Therefore, Yun Yichen would never leave him on the frontier.
"Ji Wenxuan." Xu Yunzhi called out Ji Wenxuan's name through gritted teeth. He had been wondering how the people around Ji Wenxuan could be dealt with so easily; it turned out they were just putting on an act for him!
He had shown great mercy and let him go, but the man had secretly betrayed him.
"Gather together, return to the woods."
Xu Yunzhi immediately realized the key point, quickly gathered his men, and rode away at full speed.
Lu Youming was already angry with Shi Tou, and Xu Yunzhi's act of leaving without informing him made him even more furious.
"Return to the residence."
Lu Youming kicked the cart full of stones hard, and without caring whether Xu Yunzhi would retrieve the items, he led his men back to the city.
Today is New Year's Eve, and there will be a palace banquet tonight, so he doesn't have much time to play with Xu Yunzhi.
It was Xu Yunzhi who first mentioned this thing to me, and he only agreed to take this risk to give himself more security in his bid for the throne.
But now, Xu Yunzhi not only lost his things, but also didn't give him a single word of explanation, and even left without paying him any attention. Lu Youming felt regretful when he thought about it.
Lu Youming left in a rage, and Xu Yunzhi quickly returned to the grove with his men. But as soon as he entered the grove, he smelled a bloody stench.
Xu Yunzhi was no saint, so he immediately guessed what that tasted like. It seemed Ji Wenxuan and his group had been ambushed after their return; he wondered if Ji Wenxuan was still alive.
Thinking that Ji Wenxuan might have been murdered, Xu Yunzhi's face, which had just been filled with hatred and a desire to tear him to pieces, now showed a hint of worry.
"Search around, and remember to report immediately if there is any movement."
At a command, everyone immediately dispersed and began the search.
In the end, Xu Yunzhi found dozens of corpses in the woods. From their attire, Xu Yunzhi quickly distinguished them as belonging to Ji Wenxuan and two other groups of people.
Fortunately, he didn't see Ji Wenxuan among these people. Perhaps because he knew Ji Wenxuan was still alive, Xu Yunzhi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Bury them all!"
Originally, Xu Yunzhi came to settle scores, but ended up doing manual labor for others and also taking care of the cleanup.
When he finally returned to the city gate, he happened to run into Ji Wenxuan again.
It was very late when Ji Wenxuan returned. Standing under the city wall, Ji Wenxuan was about to leap up when someone grabbed his foot.
"Let's see where you run now."
Xu Yunzhi grabbed Ji Wenxuan and pulled him backward with force, causing Ji Wenxuan to lose his balance and tumble to the ground with a thud.
"Ouch, why are you hitting so hard? Couldn't you have been a little gentler?"
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