That’s right!
Xu Donglin had selfish motives at heart! He was the one who insisted on writing the letter that told His Highness Duke of Qin everything. This was the greatest obligation of a subordinate to his master. But Boss Chu had taken care of him since his youth, so he couldn’t steel his heart to see the man die at the foot of His Highness Duke of Qin’s rage. Boss Chu carried the burdens of his ancestors’ hatred on his shoulders, so his mistakes could be excused to some extent.
If His Highness Duke of Qin had found out that esteemed w.a.n.gfei was not only kidnapped, but a.s.saulted, then Boss Chu might had died an extremely nasty death. Thus, Xu Donglin only waited until Chu Xifeng was brought away before falteringly presenting the torn robe in his hands.
“Your Highness, this is…”
Before he could finish, Long Feiye had already grabbed the robes. Han Yunxi didn’t have many articles of clothings, but there were a few she frequently wore. He could recognize this one on sight, especially since it was in his favorite shade of purple. But once he saw the outer robes torn into pieces, he couldn’t began to imagine what had happened. Had it been torn after she took it off? Or was it done while she was still wearing it?
It was impossible to tell how much its owner had suffered.
Long Feiye’s exhausted face instantly paled to ashen white. His hands shook, even his lips shook. “What...what’s the meaning of this?”
Xu Donglin stood frozen, unable to say a word.
He had followed His Highness Duke of Qin for ages, but he had never seen him like this. He thought the man would rage to the skies, or stomp him like he stomped Boss Chu, or even punish all of the shadow guards. But he never thought His Highness Duke of Qin would be...afraid!
Even if all of Cloud Realm fell into chaos or the sky broke apart, the earth split, and something monumental happened, His Highness Duke of Qin would never show fear! Yet now, his entire body was shaking. Even his breathing had turned labored as he heaved for air.
“Just what happened?!” Long Feiye roared.
Xu Donglin jumped to his feet in fright. “Your Highness...Your Highness… ...esteemed w.a.n.gfei, she...she…” He was too scared to string his words straight.
“Just what happened? Speak!” Long Feiye’s rage resounded throughout the entire courtyard. If not for the fact that the place had been labeled off-limits, he would have attracted a crowd by now. For the sake of East Qin’s factions and her safety, he could suppress his rage and force himself to be coolheaded while dealing with Chu Xifeng. Handling things well would not only mislead the public and make the Tang Clan and Baili military question what they heard, but also halt their efforts to move against Han Yunxi. Moreover, it’d cast suspicion on the person who spread the rumors and make the public doubt their veracity while letting Han Yunxi know that he wasn’t as Chu Xifeng described, someone who long knew her ident.i.ty. Although it was a small lie, it’d at least stop her from hating and misunderstanding him for the present.
In addition to this, he understood Chu Xifeng’s hatred towards West Qin well enough. Because of that, he’d destroyed his martial arts and sent him back to Celestial Mountain instead of killing him. This not only served as a warning to the rest of the East Qin adherents, but also prevented him from getting a bad reputation amongst his subordinates as someone who was merciless. This was already the sum of his greatest efforts to preserve his own sanity.
And yet, this single purple muslin robe had shattered the last traces of his rationality.
Yes, if he had seen this robe any earlier, Chu Xifeng would have died beneath his rage!
The skies were intact, the earth hadn’t split--even all of Cloud Realm Continent was alive and well. Yet his world had already collapsed.
Han Yunxi, what happened to you? Just what have you gone through? Where are you?
Han Yunxi, are you afraid?
Han Yunxi, do you know? Your lords.h.i.+p is scared!
Xu Donglin finally sensed something amiss with His Highness Duke of Qin and regretted what he’d done. He shouldn’t have taken out the robe. If His Highness Duke of Qin lost all self-control, who would oversee the big picture in the end?
“Your Highness, esteemed w.a.n.gfei is perfectly fine!” Xu Donglin shouted with eyes squeezed shut. “Your Highness, calm your senses, esteemed w.a.n.gfei is perfectly well and waiting for you!”
Perhaps this could count as something forced to set the mind at ease. When Xu Donglin heard no response from His Highness Duke of Qin, he carefully opened his eyes. But when he saw the man’s bloodshot, persistent gaze, his heart gave a lurch and filled with pain.
Is this still His Highness Duke of Qin?
Here he was, stubbornly waiting for a final sign of hope, vague and uncertain as it was. Xu Donglin had followed His Highness Duke of Qin since his youth. In his eyes, his master was forever high and lofty, a man who planned strategies from within a command tent and faced death fearlessly. He never thought a day would come when this G.o.dly figure became so frail and weak. Xu Donglin wished he could find an excuse to save His Highness Duke of Qin, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he found no words to explain or coax to the man.
Even he himself didn’t believe that esteemed w.a.n.gfei was perfectly fine, so how was he supposed to convince His Highness Duke of Qin?
When a woman was kidnapped with her outer robes torn like this, it was clear the kidnapper was a bad seed. Wouldn’t they go further after tearing off her outer robes? Even if they didn’t, then what would they do after taking her away…
Actually, His Highness Duke of Qin should have realized this too, so there was no reason for the man to be tricked by his words. Looking at him now, Xu Donglin only grew more terrified. He found himself at a loss and almost on the verge of tears. At this moment, a figure landed from the skies in front of Long Feiye.
“Big bro, you’re finally here!” It was Tang Li.
He had dropped by multiple times and knew what had happened, but couldn’t decide on what to do. Nor did he have the right to decide for Long Feiye. This was no small matter, but the biggest incident they’d ever faced. If Long Feiye didn’t deal with it properly, then the East Qin factions would fall into pieces. Leaving aside everyone else, just the senior members of the Tang Clan would be traveling and working nonstop to interrogate Long Feiye on his intentions.
“Big bro, I’ve almost gone mad with impatience. Just what’s going on here?” Tang Li was quite agitated, but Long Feiye didn’t even look at him. He was still staring stubbornly at Xu Donglin, waiting for him to keep talking. His piercing eyes were filled with a brutal frost and expectation obvious to all who looked.
Xu Donglin finally fell apart. “Your Highness, this subordinate...this subordinate doesn’t know what happened either, but Heaven helps the worthy like esteemed w.a.n.gfei, so she’ll definitely be alright!”
Long Feiye’s gaze chilled and Tang Li finally noticed the purple muslin robe in his hands. He immediately realized what was going on.
Could it be that Han Yunxi isn’t the West Qin imperial heir and everything pa.s.sing through Cloud Realm Continent these days were just hearsay? That’s why Long Feiye’s so anxious? If she was, then how could Long Feiye harbor no hatred towards her?
But when he recalled the imprisoned Mute Granny and Gu Beiyue, Tang Li wavered again. Perhaps Long Feiye long knew about Han Yunxi’s ident.i.ty and was just hiding the truth from everyone, himself included. Tang Li had been ignoring Ning Jing for the past few days, just because this question had been tangling him up.
Xu Donglin fell to his knees, afraid to move a muscle. Long Feiye didn’t trouble him, but simply clutched the familiar purple fabric in his hands as he turned to leave.
“Big bro!” Tang Li panicked and chased after him, but Long Feiye simply leaped onto the roof like a madman and fled at high speeds.
“Big bro, wait for me! Where are you going?!” Tang Li chased after him, flying and running with all his strength for fear of losing Long Feiye. Besides Consort Wan’s death, Long Feiye had never lost his self-control. Even when his mother had committed suicide, the most he did was chose to be silent instead of doing anything outrageous. But now it was obvious that Long Feiye had lost his mind. Tang Li was afraid that he might do something shocking in a fit of impulse and ruin all the hard work he’d put into preparing his revenge and reviving his country.
What did Long Feiye want to do?
Find the missing person, ah!
What else would he want? His only way to redeem himself was to find Han Yunxi!
Although he hadn’t slept or rested for days, he spent one day and one night scouring through all of Medical City, searching every possible corner for her traces. By early morning of the final day, he dragged his exhausted body to the Poison Sect’s forbidden grounds where Gu Beiyue had vanished over the cliff.
Tang Li followed behind him, finally exhaling a breath when he saw Long Feiye stop by the cliff’s edge. Huffing and puffing, he was about to sit down when a sudden thought made him break out in cold sweat. He rushed to Long Feiye’s side and grabbed him by the hand.
“Big bro, don’t take it too hard! If sister-in-law heard that you jumped off, she’ll cry herself to death.”
How could Long Feiye commit suicide? He didn’t know why he came here either. Perhaps it was to look for Gu Beiyue so he could ask him what to do.
He was too agitated to calm down and think anything through.
“Tang Li, find her. Help me find her, search outside the city,” Long Feiye finally looked at him.
“Big bro, how am I supposed to look? The shadow guards and Medical City’s guards have turned over the city multiple times over the past few days. How are they supposed to search outside the city? Are they supposed to search every mountain and hill?” Tang Li asked seriously.
“Even if they search the entire world, they have to look!” Long Feiye said coldly.
“Big bro, can’t you come to your senses?!” Tang Li grew incensed.
“I can’t!” Long Feiye was telling the truth.
“Big bro, I can tell you who kidnapped her, but you have to answer my question first!” Tang Li stared into Long Feiye’s eyes, absolutely serious.
Long Feiye stared back, but he answered before the man could ask his question. “It’s true, Han Yunxi is the descendant of West Qin! Are you helping me or not?”
Tang Li gave a start before he harshly shook Long Feiye’s hand free. “You used me! You’ve been using me this entire time! You don’t want me to help you, but the Tang Clan!”
He always thought that Long Feiye had helped him gain the seat of Tang Clan head just because he didn’t like his father and Aunt Ru being biased against Han Yunxi. Thus, he wanted Tang Li to wrest the power and authority away from those two. But he never thought that Long Feiye was actually worried that the Tang Clan would be beyond his control once Han Yunxi’s ident.i.ty leaked out! Long Feiye had simply been leaving a way out for himself. He had steeled his heart to stay with the West Qin princess!
Tang Li shook his head in disbelief. “Big bro, you’re insane! She’s the West Qin princess--the West Qin princess, ah! If you don’t explain yourself to the Baili military, Tang Clan, and shadow guards, no one will stay loyal to you anymore!”
Long Feiye remained aloof and indifferent to Tang Li’s fury. He had long steeled his heart after kidnapping Mute Granny. No matter what, he wanted this woman!
He had never truly wanted anything since his youth except for her!
“Tang Li, I’m only asking you once. Are you helping me or not?” Long Feiye asked firmly.