A day of rest pa.s.sed quickly as all kinds of supplies were properly prepared!
On the third day, Yun Yi Heng and Yun Yi Jie kowtowed towards Yun Xuan Mo and Li s.h.i.+ in farewell. Under Yun Xuan Mo’s lead, everyone in Yun fu personally sent the old madam onto the carriage!
Throughout the journey, Yun Qian Meng and the old madam sat in the same carriage. When the old madam saw that Yun Qian Meng always thought about her in every matter, thinking that her two grandsons would not lack support from Fu Guo gongfu, her att.i.tude towards Yun Qian Meng was even better than usual. After interacting for a few days, the relations.h.i.+p between grandmother and granddaughter had become even more harmonious; to an outsider, it would seem that Yun Qian Meng had grown up under the loving care of the old madam!
By the fourth day of the journey, they were only one day away from returning to the xiangfu. This time, Captain Liu was even more cautious. He especially selected a different tavern and bought out the entire place. Only then did he invite the old madam and the young misses and young masters to stay!
After the previous incident, w.a.n.g mama stuck close to Yun Ruo Xue for the entire day, afraid that the escaped Zhao Ming would find the opportunity to take revenge on them!
And at the moment, there wasn’t even the slightest trace of the a.s.sa.s.sins from Su fu’s second master that should have been ready to ambush them along the road. This caused w.a.n.g mama to feel ill-at-ease for the entire period, constantly feeling as if something big was about to happen!
But turning around and thinking, with Captain Liu’s security measures being so strict, surely Zhao Ming wouldn’t be so stupid as to walk right into a trap. Besides, with the old madam here, surely the eldest miss wouldn’t be so daring as to openly entrap her blood-related younger sister!
With these thoughts, w.a.n.g mama’s heart which had been heavy throughout the journey finally loosened up a bit. But just in case, she still had the servants prepare some simple bedding besides Yun Ruo Xue’s bed, so that she could guard directly by Yun Ruo Xue’s side!
However, as everyone winded down in the middle of the night, a sharp call for help suddenly came from Yun Ruo Xue’s room, “Help! Help… Someone come quickly……”
Everyone was suddenly roused from their dreams, and only heard the sound of doors being forcefully pushed disturbing the quiet night. The sound of the door frame smas.h.i.+ng into the wall created a loud noise, startling everyone until they just hastily threw on their outer clothing, and without properly doing their hair, rushed into Yun Ruo Xue’s room……
“Captain Liu, quick! er xiaojie has been kidnapped! Quickly give chase!” Everyone was just shocked by w.a.n.g mama’s panicked expression, heard her alarmed cry, and immediately went to work in a fl.u.s.ter!
Captain Liu immediately led the guards by his side and chased towards the direction w.a.n.g mama had pointed towards. When Yi Heng and his brother saw this, they too followed to give chase!
The old madam was currently frightened until her body was covered in cold sweat. Regardless of how much she didn’t like Yun Ruo Xue, that girl was still a proper young miss of the xiangfu. If anything happened here and now, not only would Yi Heng and Yi Jie’s careers be obstructed, she was afraid that Yun Xuan Zhi would even bear a grudge against herself, his own mother!
While everyone was equally terrified, the old madam didn’t feel at ease to let Yun Qian Meng and Yun Yan return to their own rooms. Having them stay obediently by her side, she finally managed to calm her nerves, then sternly shouted towards w.a.n.g mama who was planning to join the search party, “Old crone, still don’t quickly come back? Tell us clearly, what just happened?!”
w.a.n.g mama jumped at the old madam’s loud shout, and immediately retrieved her feet that were about to step outside. She unwillingly kneeled before the old madam and cried, “laotaitai, nubi was only half-conscious and suddenly saw a shadow carrying a wrapped bundle over his shoulders! nubi unconsciously looked towards xiaojie’s bed, then realized that the shadow had jumped out of the window with xiaojie wrapped in the sheets! laotaitai, you have to back up our xiaojie! xiaojie has always stayed at home, absolutely cannot have incurred hatred from anyone. This is certainly a deliberate trap by someone! laotaitai, please uncover the culprit behind the curtains to return justice to our xiaojie!”
Finis.h.i.+ng, w.a.n.g mama crawled towards the old madam’s feet and hugged her legs while weeping loudly. Her appearance caused the old madam who was already in a poor mood to get really angry!
Yun Qian Meng’s face was full of concern, but her glistening eyes streaked with chilliness; her eyes that looked towards w.a.n.g mama flashed with cold intent!
She really was worthy of being Su Qing’s wet nurse, with so much experience in the matters between large households, even her reactions couldn’t be compared to ordinary people. Her words did not even slightly touch upon Yun Ruo Xue’s disgraced reputation, instead quickly diverting everyone’s attention, causing everyone’s gaze to be fixed upon the a.s.sa.s.sin!
w.a.n.g mama saw that the old madam was sinking into deep thought, and just wanted to continue, but only felt a cold glare behind her back. Her body couldn’t help but tremble, as a cold chill rose in her heart. Turning her head, she only saw Yun Qian Meng quietly look her in the eye, then spoke in concern, “zumu, there’s no use in blaming w.a.n.g mama now! Captain Liu will definitely find meimei. We should instead think of a way to explain this to father! As jiejie, I didn’t properly take care of my meimei, and let meimei’s reputation suffer such a huge dishonor, I can hardly absolve myself from blame!”
As she spoke, Yun Qian Meng’s eyes immediately reddened, and a single tear streaked down her cheeks. The pained expression in her eyes made it difficult for others to condemn her!
w.a.n.g mama saw this, and only felt anger surging up in her chest. This was clearly all an elaborate trick by the eldest miss, but now she actually put on an act in front of the old madam! Especially with these words that seemed to be full of concern, each sentence was sandwiched with knives, each word was drawing blood, the second miss’s reputation had immediately been ruined by these veiled jabs from the eldest miss!
Yet the old madam dearly pulled Yun Qian Meng over, and spoke with sincere and earnest wishes, “zumu knows that you worry for Ruo Xue, but you must also pay attention to your own health! For something like this to happen to Ruo Xue, isn’t it just because the servants didn’t serve her well? It has nothing to do with you, so why should you be sad because of a little girl with a ruined reputation?”
w.a.n.g mama had planned to retort, but suddenly heard the old madam say this. Her thick face momentarily paled and she lost control of her body as she fell backwards, having suddenly fainted……
“Mi mama, quickly help w.a.n.g mama back to her room to rest. The elderly can’t withstand too many shocks!” Yun Qian Meng gave Mi mama a meaningful look. Mi mama immediately understood, and with Mu Chun, supported w.a.n.g mama out of the room!
After that, Yun Qian Meng personally offered a cup of hot tea to the old madam, then together with Yun Yan, the both of them quietly accompanied her in the room.
The night pa.s.sed without sleep. It was only at the moment of daybreak when movements were finally heard from outside the tavern. The old madam didn’t even twitch her eyelids and immediately started thumbing the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand!
Within a short moment, noises were heard at the doorway. They only saw Yuan Qing Zhou holding a pale-faced, purple-lipped and s.h.i.+vering Yun Ruo Xue in his arms while they walked inside. As he entered the room, he shouted towards the servants within, “Quickly pour some hot tea for Xue’er meimei to warm up her body!””
“Who dares!” But at this moment, the old madam who had endured for the whole night spoke up. Her words were seven parts fierce and three parts cold. Especially when she saw the male stranger hugging Yun Ruo Xue in his arms, she slammed her hand with the prayer beads onto the table, creating a loud sound, frightening all the servants until no one dared to make even the slightest noise!
“Mi mama, quickly help er xiaojie to her bed. meimei has been cold for the whole night, Mu Chun, quickly go and prepare a bowl of ginger soup!” Yet at this moment, Yun Qian Meng was lovingly looking towards Yun Ruo Xue who was shrinking in Yuan Qing Zhou’s embrace while plainly giving orders to her people!
When she heard Yun Qian Meng speak up, and saw Mi mama quickly take Yun Ruo Xue out of Yuan Qing Zhou’s embrace, the old madam’s expression finally improved slightly. However, her eyes were still glaring scathingly at Yun Ruo Xue as she continued saying in a stern voice, “Yi Heng, Yi Jie and Captain Liu can stay. The rest of you, get out!”
Yuan Qing Zhou was just absorbed by Yun Qian Meng’s beauty, but heard the old madam expelling the guests, and could only unwillingly get pushed out by the xiangfu’s guards!
After everyone had left, the old madam’s sever gaze swept towards Yun Ruo Xue who was tottering towards her bed, suddenly shouting, “Kneel!”