The maidservant checked Sun Baozhen by touching her underjaw but then frowned. Madam Sun felt confused too. She stepped forward to touch for a long time. Finally, she drew the conclusion, “Old Madam, the face is real.”
The Old Madam Sun was feeling uncertain, and Sun Baozhen had already knelt and started kowtowing, “Old Madam, I am your granddaughter. Please save me.”
Sun Baozhen looked very sincere. She got rid of the maidservant who was controlling her and then kowtowed heavily. After a while, she got her forehead swollen. Madam Sun thought Sun Baozhen was poor and helped her up. She hugged Sun Baozhen and looked at the Old Madam, saying, “Old Madam, Baozhen must get upset by some unkindness in the Prince’s Mansion. Or she would not become so impotent and even felt very frightened when she saw you.”
Old Madam Sun frowned and seemed to feel doubtful. She asked, “What have you experienced in the Prince’s Mansion? You’d better tell me all.” And then she raised her eyebrows, “Was it the old widow Ge Yunying who played some tricks on you and bullied you?”
“No,” Sun Baozhen said with tears, “The Old Madam in Prince Ning’s Mansion is so feeble and will die soon. Now the Third Young Madam Qin Yunuan has been in charge of all the affairs in Prince Ning’s Mansion, and I have found that the Old Madam in that mansion has already given the map of Leng Family to Qin Yunuan early. Qin Yunuan always has trouble with me in the mansion, and besides, she kicked out Xiuxin and Caidie who were my good assistants in the mansion. I always feel difficult in living in the mansion. Qin Yunuan kept a famous doctor, Sun Miaoyang, in her courtyard and let him develop a kind of medical powder which could make people impotent totally. She added the medical powder into my food secretly, but I found it too late. I would have died if I had not caught the chance to escape.”
“My guess is right.” Old Madam Sun pounded the corner of the table, “Qin Yunuan is just the daughter of a concubine in the Mansion of Grand Commandant. How dare she oppose our Sun Family! She must pay the price!”
At dusk, a large troop moved out of the Royal Capital slowly. Qin Yunuan stood at the top of the gate tower. At the same time, a marriage sedan started off from the Shang Mansion in the east of the city. It was the marriage day of Maner today as the Second Miss in Shang Family. Now Maner changed her name to Shang Chunman according to the name of the Grand Miss of Shang Family, Shang Chunxiu.
Leng Wu owned a house in Qingshui Alley. Leng Wu cleaned specially the mansion from inside to outside for marrying Maner. He dispatched some competent nannies and maidservants to serve Maner. Maner worked as a maidservant for a long time. Now she married Leng Wu, which was definitely her best ending.
Unconsciously, Qin Yunuan thought about Tong and nurse Liao.
Somehow Leng Changxi went upstairs gently. It was in spring, and the peach blossom bloomed all over the city. He picked a spray casually and hugged her from behind, and then passed the crystal peach flower to the hand of Qin Yunuan.
“What are you worrying about?” Leng Changxi hugged Qin Yunuan. Her hands were a little bit cold, which looked very poor.
Looking at the clouds in the sky, Qin Yunuan said, “I am happy to see Maner has such a good ending. But I am worried if her happiness will be short and uncertain in such a turbulent period.”
“Such an ending is better than nothing,” Leng Changxi hugged Qin Yunuan more tightly, “You always laughed me that I expressed my love to you just after we met for such a short time. I just thought that it was uneasy to like a person and tougher to love a person. Since I loved you, I did not want to waste time. The early I expressed my love to you, the longer we were in love, even just for one more second.”
Qin Yunuan moved closer to Leng Changxi. Leng Changxi was always cold in his body, but he did give unique warmth to her. She looked at the bloody sunset clouds in the west and a big dark cloud floating from the west, and then sighed, “It seems that a rainstorm will come soon.”
As expected, a big rainstorm at night came. The rain washed out each corner of the city. Leng Changxi still stayed in the study. Qin Yunuan was sitting alone in front of the embroidering shelter and was doing sowing work. The door was opened, and somebody came in with gentle steps. The person caused no noise under the noisy raining circumstance.
Qin Yunuan did not raise her head to check and thought it was Ting Xue who came in to serve tea.
“Just put the teacups on the table.”
The person did not leave, and Qin Yunuan stopped. A streak of lightning suddenly lightened the room. With the noise of a thunderclap, a cold shout burst out.
“B*tch! I come here to kill you.”
Qin Yunuan smiled without any panic. The person held a sword and poked quickly toward the face of Qin Yunuan with high power under the thunderstorm circumstance. At the same time, a subtle noise came from the room beam. A person in purple burst into the room thought the window. It was Leng Shuang, and she had been lurking for a long time for this moment.
Suddenly, before Leng Shuang acted, the assassin stopped and was controlled by a force. Qin Yunuan squinted and suddenly saw Dou Meishuang behind the assassin held the waist of the assassin so tightly. On the ground, there was a bowl of lotus-nuts sweet soup sent by Dou Meishuang, especially for Qin Yunuan.
“Third Younger Female Cousin, go! Quick!” Dou Meishuang held the assassin tightly. The assassin was a master-hand, so Dou Meishuang, a weak miss, could not control the person longer. The assassin elbowed back and made her back several meters away. Her afterbrain was hit by the door frame, and then she fainted.
At the same time, Leng Shuang had used a crape myrtle soft sword to pierce the body of the assassin.
Under the thunder, the sound of piercing the silk and internal organs was so weeny. All happened silently.
Now, a person in black clenching the wall was observing the room clearly. Another streak of lightning flashed. With the noise of thunderclap, the screaming of a woman was very miserable. The man in black frowned and thought the assassin had finished the task. He leaped on the roof along the way he came. Just after the time for drinking a half cup of tea, the man in black went to a ruined temple outside the Royal City.
Though the temple was shabby, it could keep out the rain perfectly. The cold wind blew the window panes, which caused noises, and there was dim candlelight in the room. There were very gloomy eyes in the shadow.
“Old Madam, all were done there.”
Old Madam Sun stood up from the chair slowly, and said with gloomy eyes, “I want to see the head of the woman at dawn.”
“I am afraid that you have no chance to see that.” Suddenly, a powerful and resonant male sound came from the door of the temple, and then the intensive sound of footsteps came from the roof. The orderly but rapid sound of footsteps with pitter-patter seemed to be playing a march.
“Who’s that?” Old Madam Sun moved back unconsciously. The four maidservants aside stood front and held long swords.
“Old Madam, long time no see.” At the door, with the touches lightening some withered old locust tree, Leng Changxi appeared in front of Old Madam Sun like a ghost. He wore a long dark robe with golden trims and a dark-green cloak drooping down. He got his clothes half wet. Eighteen shadow guards jumped down from the roof and encircled those people from Sun Family.
“What are you doing?” Old Madam raised her head, but her slightly shuddering fingertips showered her uneasiness.
Leng Changxi stepped into the room, “Nothing. I just wonder why Old Madam Sun and Madam Sun appear in the ruined temple in the suburbs of the Royal City since Sun Family has left the Royal City at noon, and now you should have arrived at the border of Jinzhou?”
“Humph,” Old Madam Sun squinted at Leng Changxi, “The horse carriages did not work, and we had a rest here temporarily. So, General Leng, you are even in charge of this trivial thing?”
“I will not intervene in your reasonable relaxing.” General Leng looked at Leng Wu, and then Leng Wu took the assassin who tried to kill Qin Yunuan into the room. The assassin was a female, which was the convention of Sun Family.
Leng Changxi glimpsed at the kneeling assassin, “she…is your intimate person? Old Madam Sun.”
Old Madam Sun was staring at the face of Leng Changxi seriously. She seemed to ask him why he did this. She did not care if Leng Changxi wanted to fight against her.
Old Madam Sun became silent, so Leng Changxi thought she was timid and admitted that she was the boss behind.
“How dare this maidservant assassinated Yunuan. One life for one life. She should pay the price.” Leng Changxi kicked the heart of the maidservant, and then she spat out blood and fainted.
Old Madam Sun got stunned but felt confident immediately. The words from Leng Changxi “One life for one life” made her believe the news she had heard was real, namely, Qin Yunuan had died.
Old Madam Sun glimpsed at the fainted maidservant coldly. Since she had finished her task, she had no value in use. So it was nothing if the maidservant died.
“General Leng, you are such a decisive man as I expect,” Old Madam Sun looked at Leng Changxi gloomily, “You help me to dispose of this maidservant, General Leng.”
And Madam Sun asked timidly, “The Third Young Madam of your mansion has really?”
Leng Changxi glimpsed at Madam Sun coldly and said seriously, “No, she is safe and sound.”
“But you just…”
“All who hurt Yunuan should die.” Leng Changxi sneered, “And all who hurt Prince Ning’s Mansion could not leave the Royal City lively.”
“Humph, funny.” A sneer emerged on the wrinkled face of Old Madam Sun, “If I want to leave, are you able to stop me?”
“Old Madam Sun, you mean your 3000 supplying cavalrymen arranged in the border of Jinzhou?” Leng Changxi smiled and raised his head to look at the sky. The dark night became gloomier due to the heavy rain, “It is estimated that now all of those 3000 people have been caught alive already.”
Old Madam Sun was a little bit stunned. At this moment, Qin Yunuan appeared at the door. Sun Baozhen stood behind Qin Yunuan timidly, just like a prudent heeler.
“Baozhen?” Madam Sun stepped forward but stopped by Leng Shuang. She asked hurriedly, “Baozhen, are you OK?”
Old Madam Sun cursed Sun Baozhen immediately, “You are such a turncoat! Sun Family has raised you for many years for nothing!”
Qin Yunuan smiled, “Take it easy, Old Madam Sun. The Concubine Sun was loyal, so she can’t be a turncoat. As for this one, Old Madam Sun, do you remember Caidie?”