Qin Yunuan and Mu Qingyu looked at each other. Qin Yunuan knew that she had had so many enemies all the way here. However, she didn’t think that even in West Xia, there was someone who dared to attack so obviously. Having thought for several times, nobody was suspicious except for that man.
“It’s Jing Yuanchu.” Qin Yunuan said in a half-guessing tone to seek Mu Qingyu’s reaction.
Mu Qingyu smiled a little and said naturally, “Or what? Who will be the one except for him?”
“There’s one thing that I don’t understand. Why can Thirteenth Prince do whatever he wants in the palace? With so many unforgivable things he does, why is the emperor still so indulgent to him?”
“Indulgent?” Mu Qingyu found it a little funny. But she understood it. Those who didn’t know about the real Jing Yuanchu, like those folks, all gave Thirteenth Prince extremely good comments, “You only need to understand Jing Yuanchu with the mind of Prince Ray of Qi. What’s different from Sima Ray, however, is that Jing Yuanchu is much more arrogant, rascal, and disgusting than he is.”
While Mu Qingyu was speaking, she looked very unhappy, with her teeth trembling. Attracted by Mu Qingyu’s unusual reaction, Qin Yunuan observed Mu Qingyu’s facial expression. She didn’t speak softly until Mu Qingyu took a deep breath herself and tried her best to calm down, “Your Royal Highness, with all due respect, is there any enmity between you and Thirteenth Prince?”
“Not only enmity,” Mu Qingyu stared at the emptiness in front of her fiercely. The warriors of Prince Shun’s Mansion ahead were dealing with the bodies of the assassins ambushing around. Despite the deserted path, if the bodies were found by someone, it would cause much bigger trouble.
“I could not wait to pick his skin and pull out his tendon.” Just when Mu Qingyu, who had always been kind, finished saying the cruel words, her most intimate chief servant girl knocked the carriage outside, also three times but and in different frequency and length.
Then the servant girl outside sent a scrip through the seam of the window. Mu Qingyu didn’t take precautions against Qin Yunuan. She opened it, glanced at it and murmured, “My father and younger female cousin also entered the palace?”
“What happened?” Qin Yunuan asked with concern.
“No big issue. Madam Leng, I’m glad you were able to persuade my uncle to cooperate with you today. However, this action is too risky. Are you sure that you don’t need me to send people to protect you on the feast two days later?”
“Changxi will be with me. I’m not afraid.” Qin Yunuan said confidently. Yes. Mu Qingyu sighed in her heart. Now Qin Yunuan was Leng Changxi’s beloved. Leng Changxi would rather sacrifice his own life than letting others hurt Qin Yunuan. Why should she worry about her?
When the obstacles were cleared out ahead, Mu Qingyu sent Qin Yunuan back to the courier. Qin Yunuan entered through the back door of a lane behind the courier so as not to draw attention to her. But when she entered the lane, she found a tall man in a sheepskin lurking in front of her, who seemed to be looking for something.
At this very moment, Qin Yunuan was all alone without helpers. What was more, this lane was utterly straight, so she couldn’t call others for help. Qin Yunuan hunkered down slowly with the tip of her finger buckling into the soft sand. The man was moving towards Qin Yunuan. She saw clearly that the man had a machete around his waist, which was commonly used in North Di. This man was from North Di!
Just when the man was several steps away from Qin Yunuan, he found that there was someone around him sensitively.
“Who is it?”
Actually, Qin Yunuan had hidden herself well. She was hiding beside an abandoned oil drum at the entrance of the lane. However, she was still found out by the man. It seemed that the man was good at martial arts. Qin Yunuan tried to calm down. She knew that the man didn’t come with a kind intention, not to mention that he was from North Di. Seeing that the man’s shadow stretched by the sun approaching her slowly, just when Qin Yunuan estimated that the man was only a step from her, she quickly showed up and prepared to sprinkle the sand in her hand directly on the man’s eyes. However, the action stopped suddenly.
“Leng Wu?” Qin Yunuan looked at Leng Wu, who stuck with a big beard with a haggard expression and the hair that hadn’t been combed for several days, and called out his name at the first glance.
“Madam.” Leng Wu opposite her was also surprised. After the incident happened in North Di, he had followed all the way from the capital of North Di. He only knew that his master, Leng Changxi, would definitely come to West Xia, but he didn’t know when he would come and where he would go after he came. Hearing people on the street said that there was a weird person wearing a mask every day in the courier, he came here to look for Leng Changxi. Luckily, he met Qin Yunuan.
Snow began to fall. Snowflakes as large as goose feather swirled down. It was cold outside. A charcoal fire was lit inside the room so as to drive the coldness in winter away slowly.
The display of the room was very simple. There were a screen and a square table in the east corner. A teapot and teacups were put on the square table made of rosewood. There were several brocade boxes put causally on another case covered with rice paper, which were sent by Xinger just now, saying that Thirteenth Prince’s servants had mistaken Leng Changxi as the assassin in the palace, and he hoped that Elder Princess and Leng Changxi could forgive the mistake.
Elder Princess didn’t even glance at those presents. The twenty years spent in Yeren Valley had turned her body to be afraid of coldness. She leaned against the braiser. Qin Yunuan put on a coat for Elder Princess and asked softly, “Are you still cold now?”
Elder Princess turned back. Her eyes expressed calmness after infiltrating by the water in the frozen lake, “Although I’m cold in the first place, I feel warm when I see you. It never occurs to me that I can see my child one day for the rest of my life. Now Changxi takes you to care for me. Even I die here immediately, I have no regret anymore.”
“Mother,” Leng Changxi said in a blaming tone, “You shouldn’t say ominous words.”
“I think that you have never believed in this,” Elder Princess looked at her grown-up son with much emotion, “I’ve heard much about you all the way here. How brave and decisive you are and how you managed to survive in a pickle. I think that someone like my son will never believe in superstition.”
“I don’t necessarily believe in superstition,” Leng Changxi, “It’s because I have people whom I love in my heart, and I can’t help but think more.” Finishing saying, Leng Changxi leaned towards Elder Princess and looked subconsciously at Qin Yunuan, who was putting away those presents by the table.
Qin Yunuan flicked causally through the so-called reparations that had been sent here.
“This time, Jing Yuanchu is willing to spend money,” Qin Yunuan said with a little surprise, “Ginseng grown on the Snowy Mountain, Tianshan snow lotus, and rosemary on the east mountain. All of them have the value of a whole city. However, he wants to cover what happened in the palace with simply those things. Is he too foolish? Or too confident?”
“He is too confident with his own arrangement,” while saying, Leng Changxi gave Qin Yunuan a cup of freshly brewed hot tea to warm her hands, “He asked Xinger to send those things not to apologize to us or to cover the fact that he had developed power inside the palace. He is telling us that he is afraid of nothing now.”
While they are talking, the reporting voice of Xinger came from outside. The three people in the house were vigilant immediately. After all, Xinger belonged to Jing Yuanchu, and she knew martial arts. They had to guard against her.
“Mr. Leng, the coachman you are looking for is here.” Xinger knocked on the door. Qin Yunuan opened the door and closed it quickly when she turned back so that Xinger had no chance to explore what happened inside.
“It’s windy outside. Today Elder Princess has sat on the edge of the bed to embroider and caught a cold. She is afraid of the wind coming into the room. We shall talk outside.” Xinger did not know that Elder Princess had been outside. Except in Jing Donghua’s palace, Elder Princess had always worn the mask made of human skin when she followed Mu Qingyu to enter the palace and followed Leng Changxi to leave it. Even Jing Yuanchu also believed that his speculation and tip before were false, and thought that Elder Princess didn’t leave the courier, and only Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan entered the palace to explore the road. Thus, Jing Yuanchu seemed to feel the work was less difficult to do.
Qin Yunuan looked at the coachman behind Xinger, who had big eyes and bushy eyebrows. She nodded and said, “This man looks good. He seems to be reliable. Elder Princess has always been very particular about her carriage. Bad coachman will only tolerate her body. Keep this one. His Royal Highness has said that he will take Elder Princess to see the emperor at the feast two days later. At that time, let the servant drive the carriage.”
“Oh…” Xinger felt awkward because everything on that day had been arranged by Jing Yuanchu. From the guest list to the servant driving the carriage, there should be no mistake.
“What? Does Thirteenth Prince want to take back his promise?”
“Of course not,” Xinger defended.
“That’s all right, then,” Qin Yunuan forestalled. Then she said to the coachman, “Follow me. I have something to tell you.”
Naturally the servant followed Qin Yunuan to enter the house obediently. As long as he was in the house, and Xinger had gone far away, the servant kneeled down towards Leng Changxi and said with a shaking voice, “General, Leng Wu is back.”
That was right. In order to let Leng Wu enter the courier successfully, Qin Yunuan had gone to great lengths. Looking at the comrade who had fought with him side by side, Leng Changxi took a deep breath before he supported Leng Wu, “You’ve had a hard journey.” Despite the short words, great feelings were hidden inside.
After greeting and comfort, Leng Wu curtseyed to Elder Princess before mentioning why he suddenly left North Di.
“General, what on earth had happened in Yeren Valley? Why did so many people die so easily? Are you and Madam all right?” Leng Wu was holding a cup of hot tea. For many days, he had not eaten any hot things.
“It’s hard to conclude,” Leng Changxi winced, “But, if I don’t get it wrong, all the people had died in Yeren Valley, including Wanyan Su.” He still remembered the way the whole mountain collapsed. It was hard to think anyone could even survive.
“No,” Leng Wu said resolutely, “Fourth Prince has come back to North Di. I’ve seen him with my bare eyes.”
