Chapter 50 A Farewell in Blood: Still Dare to Run Away?
Shen Jingshi's worries did not last long. In the end, the Emperor still valued Shen Yun and did not abandon him because he had voluntarily resigned from his post as the Director of the Ministry of Revenue.
As the year drew to a close, he was given an important task: to go to various border towns in Yizhou to conduct military exercises and boost morale.
It seems that the Western Yue are really going to attack.
On the day Shen Yun left, Yujing was blanketed in snow again.
In the vast expanse of white, Shen Yan stood in the snow, the swirling snowflakes falling on him as if to bury him.
From a distance, it looks like a small snowman, or rather, you can't see the little radish head at all.
Lin Shutang's nose was also red from the cold. Shen Yun stared at her, "I'm going to Yizhou, what do you have..."
“No.” Lin Shutang interrupted without hesitation.
Yizhou was once the place she knew best, but now, for five whole years, she has been confined to a single house.
If we can't get out, what's the use of those things?
It's just that seeing things makes me feel sad.
She looked up at Shen Yun again. In the snow falling like cotton wool, a thin layer of snow also clung to his eyelashes. The shadow cast by his long, thick eyelashes flickered, and in the end, he only said in a hoarse voice, "Okay. Wait for me to come back."
Lin Shutang did not answer.
He stubbornly stood there watching her. The snow fell heavier and heavier. Lin Shutang glanced at him and responded softly.
Shen Yun then rode away.
Lin Shutang turned around and led Shen Yan back to the Duke's mansion. He walked slowly, and Lin Shutang let him walk slowly as well. The footprints of the two people, one big and one small, left a long trail in the snow, which was soon covered by new snow.
Green Willow held an umbrella behind the two of them, but snowflakes still drifted in with the cold wind.
Lin Shutang couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
This is her sixth year in Yujing.
...
Shen Yun was unable to return on New Year's Eve, and news came from Jingyuan Residence that Lin Shutang had caught a cold and would not be dining with everyone in the dining hall today.
The old lady knew that Lin Shutang's health had been poor ever since she fell into the lake that winter, and she was naturally worried when she heard this. Since she would inevitably be exposed to the wind on her way between the dining hall and Jingyuan Residence, she agreed and told her to take good care of herself and not to worry about anything else.
The dining hall was peaceful and harmonious, but inside Jingyuan Residence, chaos reigned.
Little did the old lady know that Lin Shutang hadn't caught a cold; he had simply vanished!
Yingxiao dared not let the Duke's mansion know, so she quickly sent a message by carrier pigeon to Yizhou to inform Shenyun.
They also dispatched men to search all over Yujing City, and ordered the records of the gatekeepers to be turned over one by one to see if any suspicious people were coming or going.
Yingxiao was so anxious that, despite it being the dead of winter, her forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
If they can't find the lady, they're all doomed.
-
Lin Shutang had already left the city and was currently sitting in an inn in the suburbs.
It was freezing cold outside, but fortunately, the inn had a heated floor. Lin Shutang drank a bowl of hot tea, washed up briefly, and then lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
During this time, she pretended to be well-behaved, creating the illusion that she wanted to live a good life with Shen Jun.
Perhaps it was because he had been too harsh on her in the past, but now that he was being so gentle with her, Shen Yun was willing to lower her guard.
For example, she will no longer be forbidden from leaving the mansion, and knowing that she dislikes being watched, the number of guards will be reduced.
Lin Shu-tang has been frequently leaving the residence in the past few months, and the amount of time he spends outside is mostly the same.
At first, the servants who followed her were trembling with fear, watching her intently as if she were a prisoner.
Later on, Lin Shutang would always return to his residence after finishing his business and never cause any unnecessary trouble, so his subordinates gradually became complacent.
Therefore, no one expected that the Crown Prince's wife, who was already showing signs of a harmonious relationship with the Crown Prince and was very caring towards the young grandson, would take advantage of the Crown Prince's absence from Yujing to escape once again.
The people below were as busy as ants on a hot pan, and Yingxi couldn't help but secretly resent that she had been so easily dumped by the madam.
That silk and satin shop is definitely suspicious!
...
When Lin Shutang woke up, it was still dark outside. Only the oil paper on the window shone brightly; when he opened it, he saw it was the reflection of the snow on the road.
Lin Shutang felt uneasy, knowing that this place was too close to the capital.
After thinking it over, I decided to pack my bags and set off for the next city while it was still early.
Unexpectedly, when he opened the door, there was a figure standing in front of him.
Hearing the sound, the man slowly opened his eyes, his bloodshot eyes staring at Lin Shutang with a half-smile. "Awake?"
Lin Shutang's legs went weak, and she fell backward, staring at the person in front of her with a look of fear on her face.
He was surrounded by a chilling aura, and the stiff hem of his clothes rustled as he moved, as if his robes were frozen solid.
Shen Jun slowly walked into the room, squatted down in front of her, and the cold air that greeted her carried a faint smell of blood.
Lin Shutang looked down and noticed that his cuffs were stained with a vibrant, bright red.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
It smashed into the ground, leaving bright red bloodstains.
Shen Yun followed her gaze, then suddenly burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking and his back trembling.
Lin Shutang couldn't help but back away, but a pair of cold, stiff hands suddenly grabbed her ankle. Shen Yun looked up at her with unwavering eyes, which were dark and devoid of warmth.
She saw him open his lips, but a drop of red blood suddenly slid down her forehead and hit her eye socket. Through the bloodstains, Lin Shutang looked up and saw two stiff corpses hanging from the roof beam. She saw their pale and stiff faces, and they were none other than Lvwu and Yingxi!
Because the door was wide open and the room was well-ventilated, people's feet were constantly swinging back and forth in the air.
The instant her heart leaped out of her throat, she finally heard Shen Yun's soft, smiling voice, asking patiently, "Still dare to run?"
Lin Shutang sat up abruptly, panting heavily.
She stared at the snow reflecting off the window for a long time before her gaze gradually focused.
It's a dream, it's a dream...
She let out a long breath, feeling her throat was dry and hoarse, and got up to pour herself a cup of tea.
The cold tea poured into her throat, causing her to shiver involuntarily. In that instant, she caught a glimpse of a figure behind the swaying curtain opposite her.
With a "thud," the teacup slipped from her hand, rolling several times on the carpet. The cold, damp tea soaked a large area under Lin Shutang's feet, seeping into her bare feet with an icy chill.
As if someone had poured a bucket of snow water over her head, Lin Shutang watched in fear as the figure behind the curtain slowly rose from the armchair.
The figure reflected on the curtain was once extremely familiar to her, and even the air seemed to faintly carry the scent of cold pine.
She watched helplessly as the shadow loomed over her like a giant demon, lunging at her. When the outstretched, pale hand parted the curtain, it seemed to grasp her neck, and Lin Shutang's breath caught in her throat.
Shen Yun stepped out from behind the curtain, her bloodshot eyes smiling as if in a dream, and asked, "Awake?"
Lin Shutang's body suddenly went limp, and he fell backward.
She braced herself with her hands behind her back, her whole body trembling uncontrollably. As the figure drew closer and closer, she suddenly felt a surge of courage from somewhere, and desperately scrambled to her feet and ran toward the door.
She pulled the latch, but the door wouldn't open no matter what she did.
No matter how hard she pounded on or pushed the door, even making the windows creak, it remained completely still.
She ran in the opposite direction to push open the window, desperately trying to jump off the windowsill.
But the hand that pushed her away suddenly became heavy, and Lin Shutang was pulled around by the wrist and forced to fall against the window.
Shen Yun held her hand tightly, and Lin Shutang felt a sticky wetness on her wrist, which made her skin tremble involuntarily.
Shen Yun tilted his head slightly to look at her, a faint smile on his lips, yet it inexplicably sent a chill down one's spine. "You want to come back to the manor with me?"
Lin Shutang looked back in fear, her teeth chattering, but surprisingly, she calmed down at this moment. She couldn't help but sneer, "Chen Yun, stop deceiving yourself, okay?"
"You know I'm leaving, leaving Yujing, leaving you!" She clenched her fist tightly, but Shen Yun was very strong, pressing her wrist against the window frame.
She was completely held in his arms. Shen Yun pressed closer to her, cupping her chin in his large hand, taking a deep breath, and speaking with a touch of tenderness, as if coaxing her, "Do you want to come back to the manor with me?"
He stared at her intently, and Lin Shutang strangely detected a hint of expectation in his eyes, as if he would believe her if she spoke.
She met his gaze, slowly but firmly shook her head, a triumphant smile playing on her lips. "I don't want to, Shen Yun, I don't want to at all."
The glimmer of hope in Shen Yun's eyes, like a faint flame, gradually dimmed.
A thin layer of ice gradually settled over his dark eyes. He curled his lips, the fingers gripping her chin tightening their hold. His tone was clear and gentle, seemingly regretful, yet also containing a hint of ruthless grit, "Why can't you ever learn to be a little smarter?"
Lin Shutang's expression changed drastically in an instant.
"Since you want to leave, how can you leave without them?"
As soon as Shen Yun's soft voice fell, Lu Wu's sobbing voice came from outside the door, "Young Master, please spare me! I really don't know anything, I don't know anything at all!"
"Please, Your Highness, have mercy!" Yingxi knelt on the ground, her voice trembling, a rare occurrence for her.
“Chen Yun…” Lin Shutang stared at him in shock, the blurry, blood-stained images from her memory flooding back. She swayed involuntarily. Even though she knew what he was going to do, she still clung to that last glimmer of hope and asked, “What are you going to do?”
“They couldn’t protect you and deserve to be punished. But I think that since you have no attachment to the Duke’s mansion, you probably don’t care about these people’s lives either.” Shen Yun’s fingertips, cupping her face, gently caressed her lips, a smile spreading across his eyes. “Since you’re leaving, I’ll treat it as a farewell with their blood, shall I?”
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