Chapter 147 I Saved My Own Husband
"Thank you for saving me, brave warrior." The man, recovering from his shock, immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude.
Lu Yuan gave a faint "hmm" and walked back to Jiang Zhi's side.
"Honey, are you alright? You scared me to death!" A familiar voice rang out from not far away.
Jiang Zhi looked closely and discovered that it was actually the old woman, Li E, who had taken them in.
Upon learning that it was Lu Yuan who had saved her husband, Li E's gratitude was palpable.
Back home, he took out his homemade fruit wine and dried fish and meat, intending to treat them well that evening.
“This fruit wine has a low alcohol content, so it’s fine for pregnant women to drink a few sips,” Li E said with a smile. “If you like it, you can take some with you when you leave.”
Jiang Zhi declined repeatedly.
Wang Miao remained shy, glancing at them repeatedly while eating.
Uncle Wang, on the other hand, was a very cheerful person. After clinking glasses with Lu Yuan a few times, he immediately started clamoring to become sworn brothers with him.
Lu Yuan naturally made an excuse to decline.
It was completely dark outside. Li E made up clean bedding for the room where they slept and then left.
Only Jiang Zhi and Lu Yuan remained in the room.
Jiang Zhi felt a little embarrassed, regretting that she hadn't lied and said they were husband and wife.
“I asked Uncle Wang about the place where the corpses are kept in the village during the meal,” Lu Yuan said as he put on his sleeves, his slender waist and long arms appearing even more upright and agile in the darkness. “I’ll go take a look while it’s dark. You can go to sleep first.”
Jiang Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "Then be careful."
Lu Yuan nodded, and in a flash, he leaped out of the window.
Just as Jiang Zhi was drifting off to sleep, there was a knock on the door, and Uncle Wang's voice came from outside, "Brother Lu, I suddenly remembered something you asked me earlier. If you haven't rested yet, come out and I'll tell you in detail."
Jiang Zhi was startled and said repeatedly, "Uncle Wang, we're already asleep. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
As she spoke, she touched the ring on her finger.
Although Uncle Wang's family seems to be good people, she is now all alone, so it's best to be careful.
"It's about outsiders and villagers, but since you're all asleep, we can talk about it tomorrow," Uncle Wang said.
Jiang Zhi bit her lip, torn between going out or not, when a familiar dark shadow flashed past the window and landed on the ground.
Lu Yuan has returned.
"Did you find anything, Lord Lu?" Jiang Zhi asked him eagerly.
Lu Yuan shook his head. "I have examined every corpse inside. Although some have begun to decompose and their faces are no longer recognizable, none of them match Lord Shen."
Lu Yuan had long been in charge of the imperial prison and was extremely familiar with identifying corpses and people; he would never make a mistake.
Although Jiang Zhi was disappointed, she knew that this matter could not be rushed. "No news is the best news. Thank you for your hard work, Lord Lu."
He told Jiang Zhi to go to sleep first, then went over and opened the door.
"Uncle Wang, what's on your mind?"
Uncle Wang and he went to the outer courtyard. "Brother Lu, you asked during the day if any outsiders had come to the village a few days ago. I just remembered this before going to bed. The village is indeed very resistant to outsiders."
He paused, then said, "But about ten days ago, I heard that someone found a seriously injured person on the riverbank. It seemed like he couldn't be saved. I don't know if he died or if he was the person you're looking for."
Lu Yuan's mind raced, and he subtly raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I wonder where the family that picked up the stranger is?"
Uncle Wang thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I didn't take it to heart at the time. I'll ask for you first thing tomorrow morning."
Lu Yuan bowed in thanks and went back to tell Jiang Zhi about it.
The next day, Uncle Wang quickly found out that the person who found the body was a woman named Song Sanya who lived at the end of the village.
The village at the end was hit hardest by the flood, with almost all the houses destroyed. Song Sanya lived alone; her parents had passed away long ago.
Knocking on the rickety door, a burly woman, twice the width of Jiang Zhi, opened it.
"Hello, I'm Uncle Wang's friend. Are you Miss Song Sanya?" Jiang Zhi asked politely.
Song Sanya merely glared at her coldly, "What are you doing?"
"I heard you found someone a few days ago, I wanted to see if it was him..."
Before she could finish speaking, Song Sanya slammed the door shut with a "bang," saying, "Get out, you're not welcome here."
Jiang Zhi wanted to knock on the door again, but Lu Yuan was too lazy to waste words and simply kicked the door open.
"Are you all looking to die? Believe me or not, I'll..."
Song Sanya was furious, but a cold blade was quickly pressed against her neck, making her shut up immediately.
Jiang Zhi no longer cared whether what she was doing was inappropriate, and stepped inside to find someone.
However, after searching inside and out, they couldn't find a single person.
"Where did you hide them?" Jiang Zhi asked coldly.
Song Sanya snorted, "Even if you kill me, I won't tell you."
Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Alright, then I'll set this house on fire first."
After saying that, he went directly to the bottom of the stove and pulled out a half-burnt wooden stick.
Song Sanya couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "How can you be even more ruthless than bandits?!"
Lu Yuan had already placed the torch on the door panel. "I'll ask you one last time. If you don't answer, I'll have no choice but to take action."
Song Sanya gritted her teeth and said fiercely, "Fine, fine, let them watch, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."
As she muttered to herself, she bent down and opened a wooden plank on the floor of the inner room.
There was a cellar beneath the wooden planks.
Song Sanya glared at the two of them before stepping down into the cellar first.
Lu Yuan and Jiang Zhi exchanged a glance and followed.
The cellar was dark and damp, with many traces of mud from the flood, but it had clearly been cleaned.
The cellar wasn't large; after walking only a few steps, Jiang Zhi saw a bed made of wooden planks, and a person was lying on it.
By the light of the torch, Jiang Zhi could see the person's face clearly, and her eyes gradually widened.
"Alright, you've seen him, he's just a half-dead, unconscious cripple. Can you leave now?"
While Song Sanya was still chattering on and on, Jiang Zhi had already passed her and pounced on the bedside.
"Master!" Her voice trembled.
The man on the bed had his eyes closed, his face was pale, his black hair was messily scattered on the side of the pillow, he was still wearing a plain blue robe, his figure was thin, and his breathing was so light that it was almost inaudible.
Who else could it be but Shen Ci'an?
Jiang Zhi never expected that he would actually be in this small fishing village.
"Has he remained unconscious like this?" Jiang Zhi asked Song Sanya in a trembling voice.
Song Sanya snorted, "Yeah, he's been like this ever since I dragged him back from the river. Back then, he had an arrow stuck in his chest and a lot of wounds all over his body. He looked so pitiful."
“If I hadn’t gone up the mountain every day to gather herbs to heal his wounds, he would have died long ago,” Song Sanya said smugly.
Lu Yuan was filled with mixed emotions when he saw that Shen Ci'an was still alive.
Although finding Shen Ci'an would be a great achievement, allowing him to return to the capital and report back, the thought that if Shen Ci'an recovered after returning to the capital, he would surely marry Jiang Zhi...
He couldn't help but tighten his grip on the hilt of the knife.
Jiang Zhi suppressed her excitement and said, "Thank you for saving me, Miss Song."
Song Sanya waved her hand, "I saved my own husband, I don't need your thanks."
"What did you say? Husband?" Jiang Zhi almost thought she had misheard.
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