Chapter 59: Leaving the twilight of dawn still tinged with mist, Tang Su...
The morning light was still a bit misty when Tang Suzi was gently awakened by Xiaoying. Actually, it wasn't really an awakening; he had to return to Tanshan Temple the next day. Tang Suzi had so much on his mind that he tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
Xiaoying told her that Lin Xiangli's maid Yan'er was waiting outside the mansion, saying that she wanted to see her, and it seemed that she had something urgent to do.
Upon hearing this, Tang Suzi quickly got up and put on his clothes.
When she reached the door, Yan'er saw her and fell to her knees on the ground with tears streaming down her face. She said tearfully, "Ms. Tang, please go and see my young lady. She hasn't eaten or drunk anything for three days. If this continues, how will her body hold up?"
"Yan'er, get up quickly," Tang Suzi hurried forward to support her. "What on earth is going on?"
Yan Zi refused to get up, remaining kneeling on the ground, crying even more bitterly. "I don't know what happened. After Master Ling left that day, he never came back. Since then, the young lady has been like a lost soul, completely ill, lying in bed all day, refusing to eat or drink. I've looked everywhere and asked so many people, but there's no trace of Master Ling. I'm at my wit's end, so I can only come to you for help."
As she spoke, she knelt down and took a few steps forward, holding Tang Suzi's elbow tightly with both hands and begging, "Please, Miss Tang, you are a kind-hearted person, can you go see my young lady and persuade her to eat something? If she continues like this, she really won't be able to hold on..."
Listening to Yan'er's sobbing, Tang Suzi also felt something was amiss. What had happened? She had been surprised when Ling An said he wanted to go back with her yesterday. Did they have a fight?
There is no time to lose, it is important to find out the situation now. Tang Suzi hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, get up quickly, I will go with you to take a look."
＊
"Miss, look who's here to see you."
Lin Xiangli was lying flat on the bed, staring at the bed curtains with empty eyes. When she heard Yan'er's voice, her eyes suddenly lit up and she stared towards the door with hope.
When she saw that the person coming was Tang Suzi, the light in her eyes dimmed, "Miss Tang, it's you..."
Although she felt lost, she still managed to sit up slowly and with great effort.
With the light coming in from the open door, Tang Suzi saw Lin Xiangli's pale face. She was wearing a thin white nightgown with a large gap between the shoulders and sleeves, hanging loosely on her body. She looked much thinner than the last time he saw her.
Tang Suzi walked over quickly and helped put a pillow between her back and the headboard. He helped her sit up and tucked the quilt up. After doing all this, he asked, "What's going on?"
Lin Xiangli watched her series of actions, lowered her head slightly, and said, "Miss Tang, I'm sorry..."
"Hmm" Tang Suzi looked confused, not understanding why she suddenly apologized.
"I... did a lot of wrong things to you... When you came to see Ling An before, I told the guard to stop you and not let you see him. And I'm sorry for threatening you to leave with the letter before..."
Tang Suzi listened silently as Lin Xiangli continued to speak,
"You helped me so much before, I remember it all, and I know I shouldn't have treated you like this..." Lin Xiangli's voice became increasingly low, "It's just that I was too afraid of losing Ling An at the time. That fear made me desperate and do things that even I almost didn't recognize myself..."
As she spoke, she smiled sadly, "It's all good now. Maybe it's God's punishment for me. My lies have finally been exposed. I'm not the one Ling An was looking for. He left me..."
Tang Suzi frowned slightly and asked, "What do you mean, aren't you the savior Ling An is looking for?"
Lin Xiangli shook her head slowly. "I'm not him. The person he's looking for seems to have some scars on his feet, but... I don't. I was the one who lied to him before."
Tang Suzi frowned even more tightly. The scar on his foot?
Lin Xiangli grabbed Tang Suzi's hand and squeezed it tightly, begging,
"I don't have the face to see him anymore... Miss Tang, if you see Ling An, please tell him for me that I'm sorry and that I didn't mean to deceive him..."
Tang Suzi patted her hand gently and replied, "Okay, I'll tell him. But you have to cheer up too. Your maid Yan'er is very worried about you. Look, she's standing by the door, her eyes never leaving you."
"Yan'er..." Lin Xiangli slowly looked at the figure guarding the door, "This silly girl, she has been with me since she was a child, just like my own sister. Even after so many things happened in my family, she never left me..."
She retracted her gaze, her eyes flashing, as if she had made up her mind, and said, "Miss Tang, don't worry, I will live a good life in the future and will not let those who love me worry anymore..."
＊
After leaving Lin Xiangli, Tang Suzi did not leave in a hurry.
She walked slowly, crouched down, and lifted her skirt slightly. It was still early, just beginning to dawn, and as she leaned forward, her shadow stretched long and fell on her feet. The scar on her ankle was not very clear in the dim light.
Tang Suzi unconsciously touched the raised scar with his hand, but his thoughts were tangled like a tangled thread. In his mind, several voices echoed repeatedly -
Ling An said that as she walked away, a scent of camellia gradually spread...
Xiaoying said that this scar looks like an animal tooth scar...
Lin Xiangli said that the person Ling An was looking for seemed to have a scar on his foot...
The scent of camellia... Tang Suzi vaguely recalled that when she was a child, her grandmother always liked to make sachets for her with dried camellia flowers. The scent of camellia mixed with the scent of herbs lingered in every corner of her childhood.
But she had no recollection of the animal tooth scar and could not recall where the scar on her foot came from.
Could she be the one Ling An has been looking for? ...
As she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard a shout from the front. She looked up and saw Guo Yan running towards her.
"Miss Tang, I heard Xiaoying say you were here, so I rushed over to find you!" Guo Yan ran closer, breathing slightly.
Tang Suzi stood up and looked at him: "Master Guo, is there anything important?"
Seeing the unconcealable joy on Guo Yan's face, Tang Suzi's eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly, "Is it... that there is news about Pavilion Master Fang?"
"That's right!" Guo Yan nodded heavily, his voice filled with uncontrollable excitement. "I came here to tell you this good news. According to a secret report, the imperial guards presented the relevant evidence to His Majesty last night. Fang Buyu will probably be released today. If all goes well, he will be able to return to Weizhou the day after tomorrow."
"Really? That's great!"
Upon hearing the news that Fang Buyu was safe and sound, Tang Suzi felt relieved that the heavy weight in his heart had finally fallen to the ground.
Only... the day after tomorrow? But she's leaving tomorrow.
A small sadness crept through her joyful heart, and Tang Suzi hurriedly tried to suppress it. She comforted herself, and also advised herself that as long as Ah Yu was okay, that was all that mattered. As for whether or not they could see each other one last time, it didn't matter. Otherwise, she was really afraid that she wouldn't have the courage to say goodbye to him...
*
It was a brand new day. Xiaoying finished working in the flower garden, watering the camellia plants and weeding them. When she passed by Tang Suzi's house, she found that the door was still closed.
She began to wonder, normally Miss Tang should have woken up by now, but it was almost noon and there was still no movement, was she still sleeping?
Xiaoying walked to the front of the house and was about to knock on the door, but she found that it was only ajar and not locked from the inside. She gently pushed the door open and tentatively called out, "Miss Tang, are you awake?"
The room was silent, with no response. Xiaoying took a few steps closer and raised her voice, "Miss Tang?"
As soon as I entered the room, I saw the bedding neatly folded on the bed. Strange, had he gone out? Perhaps, perhaps I had been busy in the flower garden this morning and hadn't noticed.
Xiaoying was about to leave when she suddenly saw the sunlight reflected on the desk in the room, leaving a small shadow, and there seemed to be something on the desk.
She walked closer and saw that it was a letter, a farewell letter!
After reading these three words, Xiaoying grabbed the letter and ran out. She wanted to find Guo Yan and discuss what to do.
She hurried to the Tianyingge branch office anxiously. When she reached the street, she remembered that it was market day and the streets were packed with people, making it impossible to walk. Xiaoying stamped her foot, turned back, and chose a secluded path to take a detour.
As she ran, she was filled with worry. Miss Tang was gone, what would the Pavilion Master do? Anyone with a discerning eye could see the Pavilion Master's feelings for Miss Tang. Why did she suddenly leave when the Pavilion Master was about to return?
Xiaoying ran too fast and was distracted by other things. She was not paying attention and almost bumped into someone walking towards her.
It was just a close call, because when they were about to collide, the guard beside the man stepped forward quickly, grabbed her with his backhand and swung her, knocking her to the ground.
"How dare you!" the guard shouted sternly.
"Shi Ying!" Another rebuking voice sounded at the same time, directed at the guard.
Xiaoying's back hit the ground, and the pain made her see stars. Then, she saw a dark blue patterned hem appear in front of her. She recognized this pattern; it was the pattern of official uniforms.
She looked up and was shocked to see that the person in front of her was the prefect Zhou Jin. She didn't expect that she almost bumped into the prefect!
"Girl, are you okay?" Zhou Jin bent down and stretched out his hand to pull her up.
Xiaoying quickly waved her hands and said, "It's okay, it's okay!" The pain from the fall seemed to be scared away by the shock at this moment. She struggled to get up, nodding and apologizing repeatedly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Your Excellency, it's all my fault for not looking carefully at the road!"
"No problem."
Xiaoying finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. She hadn't forgotten the urgent matter at hand. "Thank you, Lord Zhizhou. Then I..."
She paused before she finished her words and her gaze stopped on the pendant on Zhou Jin's chest.
"Sir, how come you have our girl's safety lock on you?"
"What did you say?"
Xiaoying pointed at the pendant and repeated, "This peace lock... I've seen it on my daughter."
Zhou Jin's pupils shrank, "Who is your girl?"
"You've seen her before, Miss Tang, Tang Suzi."
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