Chu Wang Fei

Chapter 44: Cold-blooded family

Yun Ruo Xue had suffered a night of terror, and was now being treated severely by the old madam. Her mind momentarily broke down, as she sat paralyzed on the floor like a spineless catkin and stared lifelessly at the floor, her face shockingly pale!

When Yun Qian Meng saw that her expression was so poor, a tender expression emerged in her eyes. Immediately stepping over, she received a lined jacket from Mu Chun and draped it over Yun Ruo Xue’s shoulders, then raised her head towards the old madam, pleading, “zumu, meimei is still a girl. No matter what happened, zumu should let meimei put on some outer clothes and not let other people see anything to mock in our xiangfu! Everything can be decided by father after we return to the xiangfu!”

Yun Qian Meng was reminding the old madam, regardless of how much resentment towards Yun Ruo Xue the old madam had hidden in her heart, this matter was already seen by Yuan Qing Zhou. Even if Yun Ruo Xue had really suffered the greatest grievance, now was really not the right time to blame her. If the entire family was unable to pretend that everything was going well, then they didn’t need to mingle in the capital after today!

The old madam was indeed angry over the events over the night. Especially after she saw the intimate contact between Yuan Qing Zhou and Yun Ruo Xue, she, who stuck to the conservative feudal customs, really felt that she had lost all her face!

But Yun Qian Meng’s words had reminded her just in time that they shouldn’t air their dirty linen in public, it really wasn’t a good time for her to punish Yun Ruo Xue!

Holding down her anger, the old madam shot a fierce flare at Yun Ruo Xue, only then did she ease off her tense expression, turning towards Yun Yi Heng and the others, “Just what exactly happened?”

Since the two Yun brothers weren’t clear on the earlier happenings, Captain Liu stepped forward and restated the events that had occurred several days ago in an extremely small voice, then took a few steps back before quietly saying, “nucai and the others chased the shadow out of the tavern, but didn’t expect to lose track of him. Hence, we had no choice but to spread out and search in every direction. In the end, we found er xiaojie at the bottom of a cliff! And the person who had snatched xiaojie away was Zhao Ming who had shown up several days before; he already fell to his death on that very cliff!”

When the old madam heard this, her expression became ashen due to her anger. She shot a sharp knife-like gaze towards Yun Ruo Xue on the bed, inwardly lamenting that their family was really too unlucky!

Thumbing the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand once again, the old madam softly recited the phrase ‘Amit?bha’ before she continued with her questioning, “Then what about that Han Guo gongfu’s xiao gongzi!”

After Captain Liu heard this question, his expression also turned ugly. His gaze somewhat oddly swept over the Yun brothers beside him as he spoke somewhat ashamedly, “We nucai just rushed out of the tavern, and saw that Yuan gongzi who had received the news was going to force his way inside. He delayed nucai and kept asking about xiaojie’s situation. When he found out that xiaojie was kidnapped, he unexpectedly helped look for her. In the end it’s the two shaoye and Yuan gongzi who first found er xiaojie!”

When Yun Qian Meng heard this, she immediately understood the strange expression Captain Liu showed just now!

Yun Yi Heng and Yun Yi Jie had clearly been together with Yuan Qing Zhou when they first found Yun Ruo Xue. But the both of them, as elder brothers, didn’t go to help her, instead it was Yuan Qing Zhou who was the first to lend a hand!

Perhaps, the first decision in both of their hearts was to have this matter cause Yun Ruo Xue’s reputation to be destroyed!

While Yun Qian Meng was able to read between the lines, the old madam had an even clearer picture. Although Yun Ruo Xue was not comparable to her two grandsons, she was still her eldest son’s daughter. If she sided with her grandsons too much in front of a trusted aide of Yun Xuan Zhi, she feared that her eldest son would be half-hearted towards her grandsons in the future. Putting down the prayer beads, her expression sunk as she somewhat resentfully criticized the two of them, “Are you two useless blockheads? How can you let an outsider embrace Ruo Xue?!”

Yun Yi Heng and Yun Yi Jie heard the old madam’s reproachful voice, and put on ashamed appearances. However, the expression in their eyes remained the same as they simultaneously stooped their backs in apology towards the old madam, saying, “zumu is right to scold us, everything is sun’er’s mistake!”

Both of them were not stupid. They naturally knew that the old madam did this in front of everyone only to put on a show for their uncle, so as not to let him have a hold on them later!

The old madam saw that her grandson’s reactions were so nimble, and was inwardly pleased. Her expression eased up a little bit as she somewhat tiredly waved to instruct Captain Liu, “We’ll discuss this again after we return to the xiangfu. Prepare the carriages now, before a new branch springs out from this knot!”

Captain Liu quickly turned to leave, but Yun Qian Meng suddenly reminded, “Captain Liu, make sure to find out the identity of that Zhao Ming. As for the body, while we wait for father to make the decision, temporarily send a few people to guard over it!”

Captain Liu heard this and couldn’t help but turn towards Yun Qian Meng. He only saw that, although her complexion was slightly pale after the sleepless night, her deep eyes were showing a convincing wisdom. In the face of these kinds of affairs, she was still able to remain calm and composed while she made decisions, causing a grown man like himself to only feel a certain admiration towards her!

Captain Liu only immediately replied, “nucai understands, daxiaojie can be reassured!” After he finished, he turned and left the room, then instructed the guards to perform their respective duties.

Yet it wasn’t only Captain Liu who was astonished. The old madam, Yun Yi Heng and Yun Yi Hie all looked towards Yun Qian Meng, trying to figure out the difference.

But Yun Qian Meng had already lowered her eyes; she only received the hot ginger soup from Mu Chun, then carefully fed it to Yun Ruo Xue with the help of the servants!

Yun Ruo Xue was already frozen stiff and was wrapping herself in the warm quilt unwilling to let go. She hadn’t yet snapped out of her stupor and even forgot to swallow the ginger soup that was delivered to her mouth. The old madam frowned as she watched, then pushed herself up with her palm on the table, speaking somewhat wearily, “Meng’er, help your meimei tidy up before we set off! Yi Heng, all of you should go out. This is a girl’s room, it isn’t convenient for you to stay!”

Yun Qian Meng quietly complied, then continued to patiently feed Yun Ruo Xue. Yun Yi Heng and his brother also amiably stepped forward, then supported the old madam on both sides to leave the room.

“Don’t… need… your… fake kindness……” After swallowing a few mouthfuls of ginger soup, Yun Ruo Xue’s body gradually warmed up; yet when she managed to clearly see the person before her, the hatred in her heart suddenly surged forth. Her eyes carried enormous resentment as she glared at Yun Qian Meng, as she spat her words out through clenched teeth!

But Yun Qian Meng only continued to stir the ginger soup, raising a spoonful that wasn’t too hot towards Yun Ruo Xue’s lips before she replied with a smile, “Isn’t this the surprise that meimei had prepared for jiejie? It’s just that our positions were switched, can meimei not bear it?”

Hearing this, Yun Ruo Xue felt her teeth tremble in hatred. She wanted to spit the ginger soup in her mouth at Yun Qian Meng’s face but was a step too late, Yun Qian Meng had quickly stuffed the silver spoon into her mouth! Passing the bowl back to Mu Chun, she looked at her coldly and said expressionlessly, “Since meimei has already recovered, Mi mama, help er xiaojie change her clothes. We will immediately set off!”

At Yun Qian Meng’s instructions, Mi mama immediately stepped forward and, ignoring Yun Ruo Xue’s menacing eyes, forcefully pulled the clothing over her body!

After everything was set in order, Yun Qian Meng finally walked beside Yun Ruo Xue, then supported her powerless body and said concernedly, “meimei’s body is weak, let jiejie help you!”

Yun Ruo Xue glared at Yun Qian Meng with an angry look, but noticed that although she had a face full of smiles, her deep and serene eyes were like a block of ice. She immediately felt her heart tighten, and couldn’t help but feel cold sweat on her back!

The old madam had disliked Yun Ruo Xue for a long time, so she just let her use the last carriage. After bringing Yun Qian Meng onto the leading carriage, the entire party set off towards the capital.

Around one o’clock in the afternoon, the carriages finally passed through the city gates and properly entered the capital. In a moment, the sounds of hawkers and peddlers selling their wares floated into their ears, causing everyone to experience the one-of-its-kind bustle of the capital!

After another hour and a half, the carriage gradually stopped. They soon heard Captain Liu’s voice reporting from outside, “lao furen, we have encountered Chu xiang’s carriage. He’s letting us pass first!”