Chapter 63 Servant Girl Protects her Master
Li Qiqi saw people fighting in the pleasure quarters, so she was rather calm. However, Li Weijun, who stood behind the door, was so scared that her face was pale like white paper. Pulling the door frame, she wouldn’t stop crying, “Sister Qin, how… How could this happen? Was Shangguan’s young master dead for sure?”
This girl from a wealthy and influential family had never seen a dead chicken, let alone a dead man.
“Enough, shut up.” Although Qin Yunzhuang scolded Li Weijun quite sternly, there was fear in her calm voice. Qin Yunuan was not in the house, and Li Qiqi was drugged. Everything strayed from her expectation and scheme. Now that Shangguan Rang died tragically for no reason. With a wounded chest but not murderous weapon in the house, a shivering fear climbed on her backbone.
Qin Yunzhuang’s throat choked. Desperately slowing down her heartbeat, she tried to think about what her mother would have done if she had been present.
“Concubine Li, hurry up,” Qin Yunzhuang called Li Qiqi to get up briskly. She looked at Li Qiqi’s blood-stained shirt and ordered, ” Take off this piece of clothing, too, and dispose of it.” It was not bad to stay out of the way if she couldn’t think of a perfect resolution.
Shangguan Rang ’s body was turning stiff and cold, Qin Yunzhuang looked away and tried to remove the dead face of Shangguan Rang from her mind. Keeping the original appearance of the scene, Qin Yunzhuang was about to leave quickly with her skirt lifted. However, the servant girl Chenyue broke into the door and gasped.
“Grand Miss, outside… There were a lot of police officers outside, and Deputy Governor of the Qingshui County also came.”
This remote cottage is actually under the jurisdiction of Qingshui County. If a murder had happened here, it would be proper for Deputy Governor of the County, Yan Chengbing, to come and deal with it. What was strange was that it had been no more than the time of half a sip of tea since Qin Yunzhuang discovered Shangguan Rang’s body and decided to leave. Qin Yunzhuang brought her trusted servant girls and loyal servants this time. No one would be the whistleblower. Even if they had done it, the officials would not have come so fast. The team of more than a dozen people rushing down the hill must be prepared.
Qin Yunuan! It must be her again.
The police officers in the county government were mostly part-time, working in fields on weekdays and wearing a small vest when in duty. They wouldn’t be a threat to her. But this Yan Chengbing was impartial and had served in the penal department. Because of his stubborn temper that could not tolerate a grain of sand in his eyes, he was repeatedly demoted and finally became a seven-grade petty officer.
His father, Qin Zhi, admired his talents and had solicited his support but was mocked. Now the two enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road.
In the blink of an eye, Yan Chengbing led people to the bamboo fence. He saw the vague silhouette flashing in the hollow bamboo window. He then knocked twice on the door, cupping his one hand in the other in front of his chest, “Yan Chengbing, Deputy Governor of the Qingshui County, has come specially to send Third Miss Qin, and Second Miss Li back home.”
Yan Chengbing was in his early forties, obviously a civil servant, but with a kind of military cold and dusty on his face, dark skin, sharp and clear eyes, and a pair of somewhat rough hands. His hands not only had written countless mantras to advise the emperor to reform the government policy, and also fought the plague and drought with local farmers.
Yan Chengbing seemed unenthusiastic at the moment. Just a quarter of an hour ago, someone came to the county government office to report the missing of Grand Miss Qin Yunzhuang of the mansion of Grand Commandant and Second Miss of the Li Family on their way to the Guo’an Temple. His subordinates had always handled such small cases. But Master Zhou, his colleague, persuaded him to do this himself. After all, though the Lis were inconspicuous, the Qin family was a big one in the Royal City.
There was still no movement in the room a long time after Yan Chengbing’s shouting. Yan Chengbing was a little impatient, but he heard a loud and clear slap in the room. A woman was screaming in the dull sound of the falling furniture.
“Well, you Li Qiqi, it turns out that you went out early in the morning not to offer incense to Buddha but to have fun with some other men in the wilderness behind my father’s back. I’ll beat you to death! Let’s see who this tightly wrapped adulterer in the bed is.”
As an old saying goes, do not wash your dirty linen in public. The shouting of the woman inside reached the ears of those peasant policemen. Some of them looked interested, while others smirked. Cheating? This was exciting.
Yan Chengbing frowned deeply at the words, but the next sentence stimulated his eardrum.
“God, blood! It’s blood! He’s dead! Come on! Someone died!”
There was a murder! Yan Chengbing was refreshed. He didn’t expect such a situation.
Qin Yunuan, who was rushing in the mountains, didn’t expect her situations would be like this as well. Behind her, a burly man followed closely with a cold face. He was dressed in a black, martial arts costume. An unconscious servant girl was on his back. This woman is petite, and it wouldn’t be tiring to carry her on the flat ground. However, carrying her on the road across the steep mountain, sweat also oozed from his forehead.
Qin Yunuan was opening a new path in the front. The dense branches blocked her way, and Qin Yunuan had to stretch out her hand to push the pricking vines aside. She didn’t mind that her fingertips and her wrists had been pierced with small blood holes. All she thought about was to fasten her pace, to hurry up. As long as she hurried, Maner would be saved.
She knew that Li Qiqi would do something, so she had already taken the antidote drug and quietly burned knockout incense in the room. She also knew that Qin Yunzhuang took Li Weijun with her, so she sent Maner earlier to report to the government office in Qingshui County.
But what she didn’t expect was that when she carried Shangguan Rang, who was also stunned, into bed, a dagger flew into the house like a strong wind from the backyard window. Because she was carrying Shangguan Rang and fell by coincidence, the first dagger stabbed directly into the heart of Shangguan Rang. The second time Maner, the silly girl used her body to protect her in the front. She stopped a blade for her, and the dagger poked into Maner’s shoulder. Maner passed out on the spot.
Whoever did this was very professional. The dagger was held by a thin iron chain. After stabbing the person, he could immediately pull the other end of the iron chain and retract the dagger without leaving a clue.
But when the man outside the window tried to stab for the third time, he was knocked down by a black shadow faster than him. The black shadow raised his hand and by the time that hand fell the dagger fell along with it. The shadow traveled in the green bamboo forest like a killing wolf. It was a pity that there were too many people were coming, and even if the shadow had great martial art skills, one person alone couldn’t defeat one hundred people. The assassin escaped at the end.
Qin Yunuan was very familiar with the black shadow. She had seen him at Wan’an Temple.
“You are General Leng’s man.” After Qin Yunuan found an open and flat area in the forest, she supported Maner to lean against a pine tree that could be surrounded by two people and then squinted at the man following her.
If Qin Yunuan had remembered correctly, his name was Leng Wu and he was the subordinate that Leng Changxi ordered to investigate with Hui An that day. Since he could use the surname of Leng, he must be a trusted family member of the Leng Family. Judging from what she saw his skills were far beyond those guards. His moves were neat and quick, and he quickly adapted to the steep bamboo forests. It was obvious that he had field experience of fighting.
He should be the first choice to protect Leng Changxi personally according to his level. But now, no, he had been around her for a while.
Leng Wu was a little stunned, but he just clenched his fists and saluted to her. According to Leng Changxi ‘s command, he confessed his identity directly, “I’m Leng Wu, General Leng’s personal guard.”
That was exactly what Qin Yunuan guessed. Qin Yunuan nodded slightly, not seemed to be surprised. She looked at Maner, who was constantly sweating due to debility and slightly unconscious and then looked at the orange sky penetrating through the branches and leaves.
The sun was about to set.
It was not advisable to hurry on the journey at night and even more dangerous in such steep mountains. Besides, moving rashly with Maner in a coma would be unsafe for the three. They didn’t have to worry about what would happen in the mansion of Grand Commandant. She had requested Concubine Chang to manage everything before she went out. People in the Fuxi Courtyard would proceed with their daily schedule as usual, and nobody would see that she was no longer in the house. But she didn’t know what was going on in the thatched cottage.
Leng Wu did not object to Qin Yunuan ‘s plan of staying for a night’s rest. He stood aside dully The Master asked him to protect Third Miss Qin. He was duly and habitually staying around Qin Yunuan.
“I want to look at Maner’s wound,” Qin Yunuan was going to pick up Maner’s shoulder covered with blood-stained clothes. Glancing at Leng Wu, she said without emotions, “Do you want to see it, too?”
Leng Wu froze for a moment and turned around quickly, “I’m going to pick up some firewood.”
Maner ‘s wound was not big but very deep. There was a black wound on her right shoulder and the blood was already semi-solidified. Maner seemed to still have some consciousness. When Qin Yunuan lifted her body, she hummed occasionally. Although she was just snorting, it proved that she was still alive and conscious.
Maner, you must live. You and I grew up together. You knew that our feelings had a friendship beyond what could happen between masters and servants. We are more like sisters. If you had died because of me in this life, the pain would be more than breaking my hands and feet or digging into my heart.
Tears had wet Qin Yunuan’s cheeks without noticing. She looked at Maner’s blackened wounds and put her lips on it without any hesitation, sucking out the poisonous blood inside. The dagger was poisoned, and it aimed at Qin Yunuan’s heart every time. Qin Yunuan knew it clearly that the assassin came for her.
When Leng Wu came back, he happened to see Qin Yunuan spit out the last mouthful of poisonous blood on the ground, and slowly put Maner’s clothes together.
Leng Wu dropped a bundle of firewood and reported his findings, “There is a bay of spring water not far down, and I can get some water back later.”
“Good,” Qin Yunuan touched Maner’s hot forehead and nodded, “Maner started to have a fever. The spring water is cold and could cover her forehead.” Raising her eyes slowly after her words, she looked at Leng Wu and said, “Leng Wu, I have something to ask you.”