Fengmou in troubled times

Chapter 38

It was also the same night when Xianlin Village was in flames and the entrance of Shaohua Valley collapsed. The Chu family mansion in Xuzhou City, a hundred miles away, was still brightly lit, singing and dancing.In the quiet night, the radiant lights look like a dream, revealing enviable wealth and glory.

Su Qianqian brought a Jade Rabbit lantern to the Chu family's garden, and from a distance, she could only see Chu Ligui sitting in the gazebo with a heavy heart.The dim candlelight cast a melancholy shadow on his handsome face. Even Qianqian, who had only known him for a few days, somehow felt that something had quietly changed in Chu Ligui, the playboy who walked the bird with a cage in the past. The sunny sky was suddenly covered in haze. "Chu Ligui, why are you alone?"

Because it was against the light, it took Chu Ligui a while to realize that it was Su Qianqian in a warm light yellow dress.The Jade Rabbit lantern in her hand made Su Qianqian as caring and friendly as a little girl next door. In this thick darkness, Jiao Chu Ligui felt a little more warm in her heart.He reluctantly twitched the corners of his mouth, kind of returning her a smile, and beckoned her to sit down in the gazebo together. "Someone just sent the news that the injured Xinsu and Disu were found in Jiaxiang Mountain outside the city. Ziyi and Qinghan were worried, and dragged Junxian to pick them up."

"Oh." Su Qianqian responded, leaning on the table and fiddling with her exquisite jade rabbit lantern, "What's wrong with you? You have been unhappy these two days."

Chu Ligui was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect his emotions to be so obvious, and he didn't expect Su Qianqian to ask so directly.He stared blankly at the girl who buried her head in admiring the lantern and smiled like a child with crooked eyebrows and eyes. Seeing her focused expression as if there was no one beside him, he hesitated for a moment and finally said: "Miss Su, if you have always believed in something , suddenly found out that it was just a lie, what would you do?" After he stammered, seeing Qianqian tilting his head and looking at him in doubt, he couldn't help smiling bitterly: "Forget it, this metaphor is really bad. How do you understand this? What kind of feeling..."

Slightly lowering her head to hide the sarcasm that flashed in her eyes, Su Qianqian slowly brushed the four walls of the Jade Rabbit lantern with her index finger. The heat of the flame spread to her fingertips through the paper, but it couldn't warm her heart.Chu Ligui was wrong, how could she not understand this kind of loss of belief? "Then find another belief." She raised her head with a bright smile, got up and pulled the dazed Chu Ligui away. "Okay, okay, it's useless for you to struggle alone. Why don't you accompany me to make paper boats and put river lanterns?"

Chu Ligui instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing Su Qianqian's excited expression, he couldn't say anything about the rejection. He couldn't do such a thing as making a beautiful lady sad, no matter when and where.Su Qianqian said that she was going to make lanterns and set off river lanterns, but she dragged Chu Ligui to look at the scenery in the garden. She was amused by her witty words and finally laughed. Chu Ligui's depression gradually disappeared. Su Qianqian was even more grateful.Seeing that Chu Li returned to thank him and bowed very solemnly, Su Qianqian couldn't help laughing and said, "Master Chu, if you insist on 'repaying your kindness', then give me the jade pendant on your waist."

Hearing her joke, Chu Ligui stretched out his hand and took off the sapphire ring around his waist without hesitation. "Miss Qianqian also likes jade?"

Seeing Chu Ligui's serious expression, Su Qianqian stopped being polite to him and immediately took the jade pendant over. "Yes," she held the jade pendant with her hand to appreciate it carefully, "as long as Ranran likes it, I like it."

"I always thought that the girl and Yin Ran were brothers and sisters, but I didn't expect you to call him so affectionate." Chu Ligui was stunned. Because he knew the old incident before, he was so absent-minded that he didn't even know when Yin Ran would leave. I know, I haven't seen her for a few days, and I don't know if his Feng Meier is eating well and sleeping well... He was thinking wildly, and couldn't help but look carefully at Su Qianqian's expression.Judging by her appearance, she was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and when she was holding his hand and chatting with him just now, she was warm and cordial, without any shyness or affectation.Thinking that he, Young Master Chu, has spent so many years roaming the entertainment scene in northern Xinjiang, and has never seen such a special woman as Su Qianqian, so he sighed that Yin Ran knows all extraordinary people.

The two of them were talking one after the other, when suddenly there was a shrill scream, from a distance only the exclamation of the Chu family's nursing home and the sound of weapons colliding, and the shouts of killing mixed with thick blood The smell immediately drifted over with the night wind.Chu Ligui and Su Qianqian looked at each other, subconsciously held back their panic, and hid behind a rockery in the garden.Looking out from the cracks in the rocks, several tall men with masks in black and holding weapons were climbing over the wall and walking towards the inner courtyard. No wrinkle.Seeing this sudden change, Su Qianqian covered her mouth and trembled, but tried not to scream.She couldn't help looking up at Chu Ligui's equally pale face, but she saw Chu Ligui gritted her teeth, grabbed her hand and ran towards the inner house under the cover of flowers, and said to her in a low voice: "My father There is a secret passage leading to the outside in his study, let's find him in the study and escape together."

Knowing that hiding there will sooner or later be found by those men in black who don't know where they came from, Su Qianqian is afraid, but she also knows that if she flees for her life with Chu Ligui who is familiar with the layout of the Chu family, the chance of surviving will be doubled, and she can't take care of it right now. Her legs were weak and her feet were weak and her whole body was trembling. She could only hold back the tears that swirled in her eyes, and she and Chu Ligui supported each other and ran towards Chu Xia's study dodgingly all the way.Fortunately, those men in black were still tripped by the servant's nursing yard at the junction of the inner and outer houses, giving them enough time to stumble to the study.

"Father!"

Chu Ligui rushed into the study with Su Qianqian out of breath, not forgetting to push the latch behind his back. "A lot of killers are coming outside! They are about to enter the inner courtyard!"

The writing brush in Chu Xia's hand fell to the ground with a clang, "What? Did she really send someone here?" He was a little lost in thought, whether it was disappointment or anticipation, "I thought there were Mr. Feng and others, so why not?" It can protect you well. Unexpectedly, they are not at the house at this time!" Chu Xia sighed, twisted the mechanism to open the secret way behind the bookshelf, "Quick! Take the little girl from the Su family and go first! Go directly to Feng Young Master or Duan Young Master, be careful!"

Chu Ligui, who was pushed into the secret passage by him, quickly grabbed Chu Xia's hand that was about to close the secret passage, "Father! Why don't you leave?"

Chu Xia shook her head, a doting smile floated on her slightly fat face, "They won't give up easily if they can't find someone. You and Miss Su go first, and I can delay it for a moment. Please take care of the token I gave you."

"No! I won't leave you behind!"

Chu Ligui wanted to speak, but was pushed into the secret way by Chu Xia involuntarily. "Miss Su, I'll leave Li'er to you."

Su Qianqian looked at the father and son suspiciously. Although she didn't understand how Chu Xia could rest assured that she, a "little girl", would take care of Chu Ligui, she nodded obediently and helped hold Chu Ligui.Chu Xia nodded reassuringly, the mechanism fell, and the secret passage was blocked by the bookshelf again, which also blocked Chu Ligui's shouting voice inside.Hearing the sound of footsteps getting closer, Chu Xia became more calm, straightened her clothes, walked back to the desk, and sat down firmly with a smile on her face.

……Dividing line……

As soon as Chu Xia sat down, several men in black with knives and swords kicked open the door and entered one after another, bringing in a burst of blood.They moved in unison, lined up in two rows with their heads bowed, and respectfully welcomed a woman in black dress and black gauze.

Seeing the woman in black walking into the room, Chu Xia froze and gave a bitter smile. "I didn't expect that the empress of labor came here with the guards in person. It's really my fault."

The woman in black frowned, waved her hand and said softly to the soldiers who brought her: "You guys go back and watch outside the door."

"Yes." The men in black obeyed her orders, and immediately retreated quietly, and closed the door for her, standing far away in front of the courtyard gate, with their backs straight and silent like a statue, really Standing out of an ordinary small courtyard of a wealthy family from the posture of a forbidden palace.

Slowly taking off the black veil that covered her face, the woman in black clothes revealed a delicate and charming face, and her extraordinary demeanor made her even more graceful and luxurious.I saw her, Shi Shiran, sat down opposite Chu Xia, and smiled warmly as if an old friend had reunited, "Brother Chu Xia, why are you and I so different? We haven't seen each other for more than 20 years. The northern border of Rongshao Kingdom, how are things going?"

"Don't bother, Empress Dowager, remember that you are the mother of the Wenyun Kingdom, and I am a commoner here, so I dare not marry you." After Chu Xia finished speaking, she lowered her head and sorted out the unfinished accounts on her own, as if she didn't want to anymore. Just look at that woman.

"Brother Chu Xia and Ru Ji grew up together since childhood, so why are you so unfeeling today?" Queen Zhou Ruji of the Wenyun Kingdom took out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe the corners of her eyes. It can be seen that she is already a young lady in her prime. "After so many years, why is that little bitch still so favored by you?"

Chu Xia smiled when she heard the words, as if she didn't see the hatred and jealousy in Zhou Ruji's eyes, "Since you were hailed as Wen Yun's number one beauty, you have never seen anyone more beautiful than you, younger than you Your Majesty loves you. In the past 20 years, how many beauties and flesh and blood have been killed by you!" Chu Xia looked at that still beautiful face, but no matter what, she couldn't get back the shyness that often appeared on this face when she was a child. Smiling, "Ru Ji, a title has turned you into this..."

Clapping her hands lightly, Zhou Ruji smiled instead of anger, and in an instant she was in front of Chu Xia, with the dagger in her hand resting on Chu Xia's neck, immediately drawing a bloodstain, "You said all this because you blamed me for being so cruel back then. Kill that little slut He Shining!" She leaned over and looked straight into Chu Xia's eyes, seeing her young and beautiful features reflected in his pupils, she pressed down on the blade with her plain fingers, letting the blood flow He came out, "When she was alive, you gave up everything for her. After she died, you gave up all your martial arts just to save the life of the evil species she gave birth to! Chu Xia! Haven't you regretted it?"

Seeing that Chu Xia only smiled but didn't answer, Zhou Ruji's eyes turned, and the gloomy look on her face disappeared.She pressed against Chu Xia's ear, breathing like blue, "Brother Chu Xia, why don't you tell me where that evil seed is hidden? Didn't you always want to know where I buried He Shining? Let's exchange it, shall we?" ?”

This familiar coquettish tone had been heard countless times by Chu Xia when she was a teenager.The cute girl in my memory, who is still small but has already shown her beauty, her soft voice is so sweet and waxy that her bones are numb, and she can no longer bear to refuse any request from her.At that time, Chu Xia once thought that he and the innocent and lovely Ru Ji would grow up carefree like this until Ru Ji put on the red wedding dress and became his beautiful wife.only later...

"It has been more than 20 years, and your status has long been unshakable, so why bother to kill them all." Sighing and closing her eyes, Chu Xia knew that the charming and sweet Ru Ji in her impression had long since ceased to exist, all fantasies were nothing more than his self-deception .He should have understood earlier that Zhou Ruji, who regards beauty and glory as her life, is jealous and jealous, even if she shows weakness or kindness, it is just an illusion.

Zhou Ruji stared at the few traces of frost on Chu Xia's temples, and was stunned for some reason. She slowly retracted the dagger, and sat down opposite him again. "No matter how I cultivate contacts in the past 20 years, in the final analysis, I still can't match the word blood. His Majesty suddenly died, and my Huier is still young. If the officials know that He Shining's child is still alive, then my Huier's Dragon Chair How can I sit still?!" The trance and confusion on her face were fleeting, and when she raised her eyes, she was the proud queen who looked down on the world and refused to give in, as if the black dress with gold trim on her body was her dragon robe , "I'm going to lie to the world and keep secret, just to remove all obstacles for my Huier, and let him ascend the throne as emperor with peace of mind!"

Hearing the news of the king's death suddenly, Chu Xia was stunned for a long time, and then smiled wryly: "I should congratulate the empress dowager, I finally got my wish to listen to the government behind the curtain, and control Wen Yun's life and death."

Not caring about the sarcasm in his tone, Zhou Ruji scratched her blood-stained knife with her red Danko nails, and said to herself, "I remember, He Shining named that scoundrel Chu Ligui, right?" She laughed disdainfully, "Li Gui, Li Gui. The soul of Li Ren, come back. Haha, even if she is a ghost, you will never forget to hope that she will come back to life in a dream, right?" She evoked a cruel smile. Yi, Youyou said to Chu Xia: "Aren't you curious about where He Shining is buried? Hahaha, I have already made her flesh and blood into soup and gave it to His Majesty to taste. Doesn't he want to live and die with her? I will fulfill them, Tell them to merge into one and never separate again!" Zhou Ruji laughed in a low voice, her eyes full of madness, "Her beautiful bones, which are said to be hard to find in the world, were ground into powder by my order, and mixed with a powder that can teach souls to separate. The talisman, scattered with the wind and sprinkled all over the Wenyun land, just guard your home country like this, and you will never be reborn forever!"

"You!..." Chu Xia felt a sudden blackness in front of his eyes, a mouthful of blood sprayed on the account book, and his chest was in pain. Looking at Zhou Ruji's wanton smile, he seemed to see He Shining's tragic death in a haze, "Ru Ji , you are so vicious..."

With a nonchalant smile, Zhou Ruji casually threw away the precious dagger inlaid with opals, and took care of her cloud temples and golden hairpins that had never been messed with, "Brother Chu Xia, my bottle of soul-locking incense, The most precious medicinal materials are used, do you still like it?" She smiled and took out her handkerchief, and wiped off the little spices behind her ears bit by bit in front of Chu Xia, "Don't be afraid , I am reluctant to let you go to see His Majesty right now." She put on her veil again, opened the door and called the black-clothed guards, tied up the sleeping Chu Xia, and carried them out.

"Chu Ligui..." She smiled and searched for ink, and left a note on Chu Xia's messy desk, "No one can shake my Huier's position..."

The night wind rolled up her dark clothes, leaving only a faint fragrance in the room...

……Dividing line……

When dawn broke, the three of Shao Surong, who were physically and mentally exhausted, finally returned to the front of Chu's house.Everything in Ice and Snow Shaohua Valley has come to an end. With the death of Wen Maochang, the unsolved case of missing martial arts figures in northern Xinjiang has also come to an end.Ling Yan and Qin Ke'er brought Wen Maochang's ashes back to Yi Ke'an Spirit Realm, Ning Xilou stayed alone in the cave outside Shaohua Valley for a few days, so the "homeless" Shao Suyun decided to go back to the imperial capital with Feng Yinran , officially took over the Jingyao Club that was once under the control of Liuyin.

Reluctantly cheering up, Shao Suhong got off his horse and came to Chu's house to call the door. Unexpectedly, he slapped the vermilion gate of Chu's house with his palm casually, and the wooden door slowly opened, revealing a lot of miserable dead bodies.Looking at the scene in front of him, Shao Suyun's mind flickered, thinking of Liu Yin who passed away suddenly, a great fear surged in his heart, "Ziyi!" He shouted and rushed into the yard, all the way to the backyard, ignoring the sticky feet under his feet. blood and dead bodies. "Ziyi! Ziyi! Come out!"

Shao Suyun only felt that the house was eerily quiet, and his own call echoed, driving him almost crazy.Seeing him running around like a headless fly, Feng Yinran, who was following closely behind, quickly grabbed him, and took Shao Surong's hand that was trembling slightly because of fear, into his palm, "Ah Ron! Calm down!"

"How do you tell me to be calm?!" Vigorously shaking off Feng Yinran's hand, Shao Surong pointed at the dead bodies all over the floor with a haggard look, "Liuyin is dead, and something happened to the Shen family! Ziyi's life and death are uncertain now, How do you tell me to calm down, how to calm down?!"

Fang Linyuan frowned, and immediately held Feng Yinran in his arms the moment Shao Suyun pushed Feng Yinran away, "Suyun," he held Yinran's shoulder, knowing that everyone had disappeared collectively, Feng Yinran You must have felt uncomfortable in your heart, "You have searched the whole Chu family. Although Ziyi and the others were not found, it also means that they have not encountered any accidents. Instead of worrying about guessing here, we should immediately notify Xingxing Pavilion And the branch of Qixi Palace, ask them to help find someone."

Where did he not understand what Fang Linyuan said, Shao Suying tried hard to suppress his pessimistic fantasies that kept popping up, took a deep breath before he was about to speak, but heard a heavenly voice behind him: "Yin Ran, What happened?"

Shao Surong turned his head abruptly, and as soon as he saw the figure in the purple-clothed bamboo hat, his body had already reacted before his thoughts, and he rushed over and hugged Duan Ziyi. "Ziyi! Ziyi! You're still alive! It's really great!"

Duan Ziyi instinctively wanted to push him away, but hearing Shao Suhong's contented murmur in his ear, his heart was as soft as spring water for a moment, as if he could feel Shao Surong's treasure-like affection for him.Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Duan Ziyi forgot to be shy and angry in a trance, with Shao Suhong on his shoulder like this.There was a warm liquid running down the neck, as if scalding from Duan Ziyi's heart, inexplicably feeling a little sad. "Shao, Shao Surong, what's wrong with you?"

Burying her head on Duan Ziyi's shoulder and refusing to lift it up, Shao Suyun shook her head and said in a muffled voice: "I'm fine, Ziyi, just let me lean on for a while."

"Ziyi," Feng Yinran didn't want to disturb the "tenderness" of the two people in front of him if it wasn't for the special circumstances, "Why are you alone and the others?"

"Qinghan and I got the news about Xinsu and Disu, so we went to save people together with Junxian. Now Qinghan and Junxian are treating their injuries. I wanted to come back first and inform Chu Ligui and Qianqian, but I didn't." Thinking of..." Duan Ziyi pushed Shao Surong with his hands while speaking, although he didn't know what happened, he could see Shao Surong's grief, seeing that he still didn't want to wake up, he just sighed secretly and continued to let it go He hugged it, completely ignoring the pain in his heart.

Feng Yinran's face sank after hearing this, "We have looked around before, and all the servants and servants of the Chu family have been silenced. But we didn't find Qianqian and the father and son of the Chu family..." He paused Thinking of the army of demons who had returned home after being defeated, I couldn't help but feel chilled, "If it's just the enemies of the Chu family looking for revenge, that's all. If it's the demons who came..."

"Yin Ran, don't panic." Fang Linyuan, who looked around, came out of Chu Xia's study with a piece of paper. "We have also seen the methods of the demons tonight. I think the wounds of these people are weapons such as swords. They should not be done by the demons. And this," he said, handing the piece of paper to Feng Yinran, I saw a line of beautiful handwriting on the top: Wenyun Palace, pay for it with your life.

Why did she get involved with the neighboring country Wen Yun again... Feng Yinran couldn't figure it out, but suddenly heard a woman's scream from the door, and hurried over without thinking about any note.

After Su Qianqian and Chu Ligui walked out along the secret path, they couldn't resist Chu Ligui's insistence, and secretly turned back to the Chu family's mansion. Unexpectedly, they saw the horrific corpses in front of a door, and Su Qianqian was horrified. Qianqian couldn't help screaming.The two were worried about attracting bandits, but when they looked up, they saw Feng Yinran and others coming out of it.

"Of course!" Surprised and delighted, Su Qianqian quickly got into Feng Yinran's arms, "I thought I was going to be separated from you again!" It took a while for soft words to stop the tears.

Chu Ligui also had an overly frightened and pale face, and he was calmer than Qianqian. He briefly explained to everyone, and then asked, "Have you ever seen my father?"

Feng Yinran remembered the note in his bosom, but did not hand it to Chu Ligui immediately, "I didn't see Uncle Chu in the house, maybe he escaped too." He looked at Chu Ligui's expression, paused for a moment before asking Said: "Li Gui, do you have any enemies in Wenyun?"

Wen Yun... Chu Ligui smiled wryly when he heard the words, looked at the people in front of him, and then at his house that had been blood-washed overnight, shook his head and said in a low voice: "My father, no, it was my adoptive father who died a few days ago. Tell me. In fact, my biological father is Wen Yun's monarch, and my biological mother was killed by Wen Yun's current queen." Looking at the disbelieving expressions of everyone, Chu Ligui couldn't help but think of the first time he heard Chu Xia talk about At a loss during these secrets, "My adoptive father hid the queen's eyeliner and secretly took me, who was still a baby, to escape from Wenyun and live in seclusion in Xuzhou city. He wanted to bring this secret into the coffin, but unexpectedly the last But Yue received the news that someone was inquiring about our whereabouts, so he told the truth of the matter and prepared to take my family to move, but unexpectedly..." He squatted down covering his face, and suddenly looked up and stared at us as if thinking of something. Feng Yinran, "It must be Wen Yun's queen! She must have kidnapped my adoptive father!"

"Li Gui!" Feng Yinran hurriedly grabbed Chu Ligui who was about to leave, "You are just guessing, where are you going to ask for someone from that queen?"

"I'm going to Wenyun, to their palace!" Chu Ligui replied hastily, but Feng Yinran sneered, "Are you going to beg someone, or to die?"

Chu Ligui stared at him blankly, his heart was in a mess, but his mind was extremely clear.I could only hear Feng Yinran's pleasant voice speaking slowly, with a hint of abduction. "Li Gui, since Wen Yun's queen didn't directly kill Uncle Chu, she must still want to use him to lure you into the bait. Not only can you not save him by appearing rashly now, but you will risk your own life. Isn't it true that you have failed Uncle Chu all these years?" Your efforts?" Feng Yinran rubbed the center of her brows as she spoke, the sky gradually brightened, but the faint morning light still couldn't illuminate the darkness left to them by this chaotic night. "You go back to the imperial capital with us. Next month, both Cangjue and Langfu sent envoys to Rongshao to sign an agreement to stop the war. Wen Yunguo was afraid that the alliance of the three kingdoms would be bad for him, so they also sent envoys..."

"You want me to hide in the envoy team and sneak into Wen Yun's palace?" Chu Ligui said as a matter of course.

Feng Yinran gritted her teeth, and almost couldn't help but slap Chu Ligui on the head, but thinking about it, if Linyuan or Ah Yun and Qianqian were kidnapped, he might be like Chu Ligui Gui rushed to save people regardless. "I will definitely help you rescue Uncle Chu, but you have to promise me, don't be impulsive, and think long-term!"

Seeing that Chu Ligui didn't seem to listen to what he said at all, but just nodded mechanically, Feng Yinran sighed, looked at the people with different expressions, and turned to look at Fang Linyuan, getting him to return a comforting smile, feeling depressed Immediately scattered more than half.The morning star in the eastern sky is shining brightly, no matter what, this night is finally coming to an end...

Volume Three