Upon hearing the news, Lin Xihe hurried to the main hall. As soon as she entered, she saw Chu Yunni pacing anxiously, waiting.
"Madam Ji, what brings you here?" Lin Xihe asked hurriedly.
"Xihe, something's happened..." Before Chu Yunni could finish speaking, tears welled up in her eyes, and she instantly lost control of her emotions.
Lin Xihe's heart sank suddenly, as if her heart had stopped beating for a moment. She forced herself to calm down and tried her best to stay calm. She must not panic.
"Who, who's in trouble?" she asked in a trembling voice.
"Zhuo'er..."
Lin Xihe felt dizzy and her vision went black. If Chu Yunni and Ling Xue hadn't been quick to catch her, she would have almost fallen to the ground.
"Lang Yue said they were investigating strange occurrences in Qingluan City. One day, Zhuo'er suddenly turned bloodshot and attacked those around her. They temporarily suppressed the matter, but two days later, everyone who went to Qingluan City was poisoned and foamed at the mouth. Zhuo'er lost control again and attacked others. Later, local soldiers surrounded and suppressed her, and Zhuo'er was knocked off a cliff." Chu Yunni choked up as she slowly recounted the story.
"Then...then there's still no news?" Lin Xihe asked, her voice trembling, with a hint of hope.
"No, Lang Yue rushed back immediately, saying the message hadn't reached the capital yet. Zhuo'er mentioned that if anyone wanted to harm him, they should be dealt with secretly first, without making a fuss," Chu Yunni replied.
Suppressing her grief, Lin Xihe asked, "Madam Ji, is there any way to save him?"
“I have already secretly sent a trusted confidant to investigate. However, before Zhuo’er left, he instructed me to arrange for you to leave if anything happened to him.”
Chu Yunni suppressed her heartache; this was her son's request, and she had to fulfill it no matter what.
"I'll leave? But where can I go?" Lin Xihe looked bewildered.
"I told you to go and seek refuge with General Gu, taking Tang Bao with you..." Chu Yunni could no longer hold back and burst into tears.
Lin Xihe instantly understood Ji Zhuo's meaning; he suspected that the emperor had targeted him.
The reason Ji Zhuo encountered all this was probably because he and Gu Qinghuai returned and learned about the emperor's actions.
The current situation in the Western Regions requires Gu Qinghuai, so the emperor spared him. However, he was not worried about the two forming an alliance later, so he chose to get rid of Ji Zhuo first. He even specially arranged a marriage between the two to lower Ji Zhuo's guard.
Although Ji Zhuo had some doubts about the emperor, he always respected him greatly. However, the emperor was so ruthless that he wanted to take his life without any mercy.
"Madam Ji, Lang Yue saw Ji Zhuo fall off the cliff with his own eyes. Did he go looking for him after that?" Lin Xihe tried to calm herself down and asked.
"We searched, there's a stream below the cliff... but we found nothing. Xihe, you should quietly prepare, I'll send someone to take you away..." Chu Yunni said, wiping away her tears.
She's leaving? If she leaves, Ji Zhuo will have no chance of survival.
Lin Xihe suddenly knelt down with a thud: "Madam Ji, I can't leave. Can I entrust Tangbao to your care for a while?"
The news of Ji Zhuo's matter has not been officially reported to the capital. If she were to leave suddenly now, it would inevitably arouse the emperor's suspicion that her actions had been exposed, and he might take action against her, Tang Bao, or even the Ji family.
She had carefully searched her own residence and found nothing unusual, but the Ji family was full of people and gossips, and it was hard to guarantee that there weren't any spies of the emperor. Therefore, Tang Bao had no choice but to continue staying at the Ji family residence.
“Madam Ji, with Ji Zhuo’s status and abilities, ordinary people can’t touch him at all. You must know the hidden reasons. Sending a few trusted confidants to search for him is simply not enough to contend with those forces. Let me try…” Lin Xihe spoke earnestly, her eyes full of determination.
Chu Yunni looked at her, tears welling up in her eyes.
How could she possibly bear the pain of losing her son?
After hesitating for a moment, Chu Yunni nodded gently.
"But what can a girl like you, who can't even kill a chicken, do?" Chu Yunni asked with a worried expression.
"I……"
Lin Xihe looked at Chu Yunni, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.
She couldn't help but wonder to herself, was she really not worthy of a stable and happy life?
Just when she was about to marry Ji Zhuo, and her future mother-in-law had finally accepted her and doted on Tang Bao, her granddaughter who was not her biological daughter, why did fate always have to tear everything she cherished apart?
Lin Xihe swallowed her bitterness and solemnly kowtowed to Chu Yunni. If she took this step, she would probably have no chance with Ji Zhuo anymore, and Chu Yunni would no longer treat her the way she used to.
“Mrs. Ji, thank you for liking Tang Bao, and thank you for accepting me. But, more important than anything is that A Zhuo can live.”
Lin Xihe didn't continue speaking. She asked Chu Yunni to sit down and rest for a while, and told her that she would be right back.
Then, she rushed off to find Xu Qi.
Lin Xihe had no time for beating around the bush. She knew in her heart that she really didn't have any ability, but Mu Ruoyan was in the capital right now. If anyone had the ability to contend with Emperor Xiao Yugan, it would be him.
"Where is Mu Ruoyan?" Lin Xihe asked bluntly.
"Young Master Yan instructed that you must not be told," Xu Qi replied respectfully.
"Did he know I would contact him?"
"Yes, if you didn't need something from Young Master Yan, you certainly wouldn't have come to him. Judging from your hurried appearance, you must have encountered another troublesome matter."
Lin Xihe felt somewhat ashamed, as nothing good had ever come of her taking the initiative to seek out Mu Ruoyan in the past.
“Miss, I know that Young Master Yan’s refusal to tell you his address is not genuine. But I simply do not wish to tell you!” Xu Qi said firmly.
Normally, Xu Qi always treated Lin Xihe with great respect, but today's words were clearly tinged with resentment.
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