“You're here!” Rong Yun He seemed really happy to see Yun Qian Meng, but under the cover of happiness in his eyes hid deep worry.
Yun Qian Meng raised her head and saw Rong Yun He standing two or three steps above the ground in a dark silver silk coat and a Hetian jade pendant hung on his waist. Along with his dazzling white hair, he immediately caught the attention of all customers in the lobby. Fortunately, Yun Qian Meng had donned a gauze hat before going down her carriage a while ago. Although it was quite hot and suffocating, it effectively blocked the curious gazes of the people, lessening a lot of trouble for her.
Looking through the gray gauze, Rong Yun He saw Yun Qian Meng's light smile and suddenly felt sorry for her. While the others were still enjoying their lives at this age, she, on the other hand, already bore too much responsibilities. That light smile on her face was just her mask. Her real self also had different emotions, but her emotions were all hidden deeply under her smile. But for the people who really mattered to her, she would try her best to protect them. Just like on the night of Qi Qiao Festival when she stood out to protect the da xiaojie of Fu Guo Gong Fu. He's afraid that not even men had this kind of spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice.
Perceiving the investigative looks from the people around, Yun Qian Meng only lightly nodded toward Rong Yun He, then went up the third floor along with Mu Chun.
Rong Yun He naturally knew that the looks from the people were mostly for the purpose of starting rumors; thus, he also acted ordinarily and went past Yun Qian Meng. Between the two of them, one went up the stairs, one went down, and thus they did not encounter each other again.
“Xiaojie!” walking up to the third floor, they saw Jiao Da steadily standing beside the door of the room. His black and bright eyes showed a sense of fortitude and carefulness that only soldiers possessed, which made Yun Qian Meng think that she did not make the wrong choice.
“Thank you for your hard work!” seeing Jiao Da standing absolutely still, Yun Qian Meng was very touched, but before Ying Qiu fully recovered, they still needed to trouble him.
Jiao Da unexpectedly blushed. He tightened his lips, looked straight to the front, and stood more upright, making him look more like he was on sentry duty, causing Mu Chun to secretly laugh at him. Yun Qian Meng turned back and glanced at Mu Chun, who immediately stopped laughing and walked into the room after Yun Qian Meng with a serious face.
“Xiaojie!” now was exactly the time for Ying Qiu to drink her medicine. Seeing the arrival of Yun Qian Meng, Ying Qiu struggled to get up, but was quickly pushed back down to rest by Yun Qian Meng. Then Yun Qian Meng took off her hat and gave it to Mu Chun while she examined Ying Qiu's state.
She saw that although Ying Qiu's face was still pale, compared to her greyish pale face on the day she was injured, she already looked a lot better. She also looked quite energetic after taking the medicine, which made Yun Qian Meng feel somewhat relieved.
“I am to blame for everything. I didn't even get a few guards to protect you and mama, which caused you to be so severely injured.” Yun Qian Meng helped Ying Qiu lie down on the bed again and carefully tucked in the corner of the quilt for her as she blamed herself.
Ying Qiu was always an honest and serious-minded person; moreover, for her, this incident was had just been an accident. Seeing Yun Qian Meng's reaction now, Ying Qiu felt that her heart suddenly became warm. She did not mind her wound which had finally healed. She wanted to stand up and began to explain, “Xiaojie, this was just an accident.”
But Yun Qian Meng helped her lie down again. The softness in Yun Qian Meng's eyes suddenly disappeared, and coldness appeared in them. She coldly smiled and said, “Accident? Even if they were really thieves who plundered the house, they won't go as far as threatening someone's life. Moreover, they even brought weapons with them. This already proves that what they wanted was life rather than money. I originally thought that because mama's identity was special and Su Qing had too much influence in xiangfu, it would be safer to temporarily keep you outside. I didn't consider that it actually gave others a chance to harm you.”
“Does xiaojie know who did it?” Xia mama, who was sitting on the summer cot, had immediately asked anxiously.
All these days, Ying Qiu had taken care of her as a daughter would. For Xia mama, she had already considered this careful and gentle child as her own daughter. Now that Ying Qiu was injured because of her, Xia mama was naturally agitated. If it was not because she was physically incapable, she might already be searching for the assailant herself.
“Mama, there is no need to worry.” Hearing Xia mama speak out of anger, Yun Qian Meng felt really happy. But the most important thing now was to ask Ying Qiu about the make of the boots she had seen before had become unconscious to be able to verify her guess.
“Ying Qiu, what did you see at that time? Tell me carefully and don't miss a single detail.” Yun Qian Meng fixated on her. Ying Qiu felt somewhat nervous, but immediately thought of the chaos that night.
“At that time, it was already late. Nubi cleared away the herbs and planned to go back and rest. It was really late and seemed very quiet outside, as if even a piece of leaf falling to the ground can be heard. Nubi originally wanted to lock the door of the Medicine Room, but suddenly heard sounds of light footsteps from the yard. Peeking through the window, nubi saw men in black jumping from yard to yard. Each of them had gleaming blades in their hands. Nubi was so scared at that time, and thus ran directly into Xia mama's room and hid her under the bed without even locking the door. Maybe nubi's footsteps caught the thieves' attention; thus, they followed it into the room and stabbed a sword into nubi's stomach without saying anything. Incidentally, the weather that day was rather hot and Xia mama slept with the windows open. With the help of moonlight, nubi saw that one of the thieves wore a pair of black cloth boots. Yes, I remember it was a pair of black cloth boots. Right after that, nubi fainted; thus, nubi is not clear about what happened afterwards.” Ying Qiu tried her best to remember, specially when she mentioned the boots. She had thought for quite a while before spoke with certainty.
Yun Qian Meng's face grew colder. The cold rays from her eyes could freeze one to death. After a long while, she murmured, “I still involved you in this fight.”
Now, there was more than one person in Western Chu who wanted Qu Liang Ao's life. Those people with great powers never lacked people who were willing to sacrifice for them. Although by the style of the shoes, it seemed like a portion of the suspicious people could be eliminated, but it was still possible that the shoes were just a trap to lead them away from the truth.
Yun Qian Meng went towards Xia mama. Seeing that she was also thinking, Yun Qian Meng softly asked, “Is mama willing to go back to xiangfu with Meng'er?”
Although the xiangfu had many divisions, nevertheless, if someone was going to take action, they would still need to consider Yun Xuan Zhi's position as the Prime Minister.
But Yun Qian Meng would also be worried to let Xia ama and Ying Qiu stay outside the fu. Jiao Da still was a person from Chu wangfu. Chu wang was already being rather accommodating by lending him to her this time. How could she trouble others even more?
Seeing Yun Qian Meng's firm expression, Xia mama knew that little xiaojie had already made her decision. Knowing that it might be more dangerous for Ying Qiu and her to continue staying outside, she quickly nodded.
Ying Qiu already looked somewhat tired, so Yun Qian Meng instructed everyone to look after her carefully, then walked out of the room with Mu Chun.
“Did you hear all of the conversation a while ago?” Yun Qian Meng asked Jiao Da after Mu Chun had closed the door.
She knew that with Jiao Da's skill, it was not hard for him to hear the ongoing conversation in the room.
Jiao Da looked at Yun Qian Meng and asked, “Xiaojie wants beizhi to search for the owner of those boots?”
Yun Qian Meng calmly smiled, then nodded, but said with some uncertainty, “Yes! But this direction could also be wrong. I can only trouble you for this.”
Hearing her say so, Jiao Da also nodded, then answered, “Beizhi understands.”
Afterwards, Yun Qian Meng went down the stairs and exited Tian Fu Lou, only to see Rong Yun He waiting beside xiangfu's carriage.
Fortunately, the carriage was parked near the entrance of the alley and there were not many people passing through there, preventing Rong Yun He's white hair from catching as much attention as in Tian Fu Lou.
“Why are you waiting here?” Yun Qian Meng lightly laughed. She felt that Rong Yun He was really rather careful and sensitive. Knowing that his white hair easily caught people's attention, he waited here instead, which made Yun Qian Meng feel ashamed, since she did not know how long he had waited for her.
Seeing Yun Qian Meng's smile, Rong Yun He also lightly smiled. The stiff and expressionless face of this youngster suddenly brightened as if struck by a ray of sunlight, causing Yun Qian Meng to also become absent-minded for a moment.
Rong Yun He took the chance while Yun Qian Meng was absent-minded and to put a paper box in her hand, “I've always heard that the old madam of xiangfu favored the Jade Mung Bean cakes of Tian Fu Lou. Since you have come, then bring a box home.”
After saying that, he turned around and left with Si'er.
Yun Qian Meng looked suspiciously at Rong Yun He. He suddenly gave her the Mung Bean cakes, but he did not give her a chance to question him, as he quickly went up his horse and left the alley.
“Xiaojie, get in the carriage.” Mu Chun held the box of Mung Bean cakes for Yun Qian Meng and helped her get into the carriage.
But Yun Qian Meng was somewhat suspicious about Rong Yun He's actions today. She told Mu Chun to open the box. When they looked inside, they saw pieces of delicious Mung Bean cake orderly lined in the box. But they were shocked to see that there was another small wooden box in the middle of the cakes.
Yun Qian Meng took out the wooden box and slowly opened it. Her pupils dilated, “This…”
“Xiaojie, this is…” Mu Chun carefully observed Yun Qian Meng's expression. Seeing that although she was shocked, her expression was filled with unlimited joy. The wooden box looked like it was made from precious wood, but she knew that the thing inside was surely very precious. Thus, she made a wild guess, “Xiaojie, could this be Hu Ge?”
Only Ying Xia and Ying Qiu had been able to see the Hu Ge; thus, Mu Chun was only guessing. Unexpectedly, her guess was right. She saw Yun Qian Meng nod and knew that houye's life could be saved.
But after that moment of joy, Yun Qian Meng became curious.
How much Hu Ge was in Western Chu? Why did it seem like all the noble families had a box on hand? Where did this box from Rong Yun He come from? And how did he know that she was looking for this precious herb?
How could she ever repay such great favor and generosity?
Her hands unintentionally held the precious box of Hu Ge tight. Yun Qian Meng's heart was wavering. She was contemplating whether or not she should use it to save her jiujiu or give it back to Rong Yun He.
If she could not repay him for such great favor in the future, then she could really hurt his feelings.
“Huh?” when Yun Qian Meng opened the wooden box again, she saw that there was a piece of paper inside. She took it out, unfolded it and saw a line of beautiful calligraphy written on the paper. It read: 'A person's life is more important.'
Seeing these words, Yun Qian Meng understood that this box of Hu Ge from Rong Yun He was meant to be used to save Qu Ling Ao. Even if she gave it back, he most likely would not accept it.
“Mu Chun, we are going to Fu Guo Gong Fu.” Finally making up her mind, Yun Qian Meng immediately ordered Mu Chun to tell the driver to change the route.
Chapter 94 part 1: Hu Ge Falling from the Sky and into the Hand