Meanwhile, a thousand li[1]a traditional unit of length away, Chu Changge was soon going crazy and just about to drown all the people of Li Clan deep down 3 chi[2]a Chinese foot into the ground.
âCould it be that she left on her own?â Chu Xiyue offered a guess.
Chu Changge shook his head, âShe wonât just leave without saying goodbye.â
âYouâre not her, how do you know she wonât? Maybe thereâs something urgent, or maybeâŠâ
âIf I say she wonât, then she wonât!â Chu Changge raised his voice.
Chu Xiyue was so frightened that she cringed her neck and stared at him with a fearful face for a long moment, before she stated in careful and discreet way[3]Chinese idiom : cautiously, âI heard from Huberg that he had seen her in the grasslands that day.â
âWhere is Huberg?â asked Chu Changge.
âIn an important discussion with the Clan Elder.â Although Chu Xiyueâs current body and identity was that of a Li Clan princess, she insisted on calling Halji as the Clan Leader. Halji also knew that her real daughter had already died of lung disease three years ago, and now, this person was just a stand-in, so she didnât force her to do anything.
*
âThis is a confidential and important place. You canât go in withoutâŠâ The guard received a solid slap before he could even finish his sentence.
Chu Changge barged into the hall with a cold face and his menacing eyes were looking directly at Huberg, âWhat did you say to her?â
Halji was very furious at his intrusion that she asked angrily, âDo you think my council chamber hall is a vegetable garden? Do you think Iâm already a dead elder that you just rushed in like that?!â
Chu Changge didnât look at her, nor did he hear any of her rambling. His murderous sight still closed in on Huberg, insisting an answer.
Huberg didnât have to think about who this âherâ that came from Chu Changgeâs mouth was referring to. After a few seconds, he indifferently said, âI advised her to leave the Li Clan as soon as possible.â
âPaâââ No one saw what happened. They could only hear a loud and clear sound, as five bloody red finger marks appeared on Hubergâs face, and blood had flowed down from the corners of his mouth.
Chu Changge looked at him coldly and urged, âGo on.â
Huberg wiped the blood from his mouth, and although his face was in a mess, his eyes were clouded with mild and gentle manners as he continued, âIf you two stay in the Li clan, it will only bring disaster to us. I wish you two can leave as soon as possible on the condition that I will present the antidote respectfully with both hands. However, although she had promised me, I havenât had the time to give her the antidote.â The implication was that she didnât leave on her own initiative.
If she didnât leave of her own accord, then she could only have been kidnapped.
Instantly, a murderous aura appeared in Chu Changgeâs features, and the antique vase, which was as tall as a person behind him, suddenly shattered with a bang.
Hubergâs heart sank, as the sense of foreboding became more and more heavier in his heart.
*
Murong Yunshu thought that the road journey to Shu would be a long way off, while she on the other hand was relying on the Murong House eyes and ears[4]spies that were all over the world. This would make it impossible for King Liangâs men to successfully kidnap her and take her to the Liang Residence. But she never expected that their whole journey would be this surprisingly peaceful and tranquil.
And that Wang Chao. It was unknown if he was being ignorant or intentional, had stopped the carriage at the door of Huifeng Private Bank that was situated in the small town below the mountain, saying that it was necessary for him to withdraw some money, and it was a large cash withdrawal, so they were invited to the inner hall by the bankâs sales clerk. Murong Yunshu silently followed after them, while kept on thinking about what he just said that it was necessary for him to withdraw money from Huifeng Private Bank. In the face of her astonished look, his eyes unintentionally revealed a kind of pride, which seemed to be saying, âEven when weâre in your territory, you wonât be able to escapeâ. Where did this kind of confidence in him come from?
Of course, no matter what, this was undoubtedly the sound of blessings for Murong Yunshu. Huifeng Private Banks were all over the country. At the end of each year, the heads from each bank would gather in Jinling to settle accounts. Although she had just taken over all the banks, her father had asked her to attend every account settlement in the past, so no matter which bank she walked into, the heads of those banks would have no problem recognising her. Today, however, something unexpected happened. The manager of this private bank looked at her eyes, giving her a look like he had taken a pity on her, and he also seemed to pretend like he did not know her, since he didnât even look uneasy for not welcoming her, nor did he greet her with a nod or a smile.
Murong Yunshu was amazed. Although this private bank was located in a remote area, where the mountains were high and the emperor was far away, other than settling the accounts at the end of the year, she rarely went to Jinling at ordinary times. So the number of times he would have seen her was actually minimal. Nevertheless, for a family servant who had been instructed to take in charge of one side of her family business, it was too unreasonable for him to not be able to recognise the Eldest Young Lady who had just taken in charge. Before going to the Li Clan, she was the one who had settled in this town and dropped by to check on the accounts. So for this manager unable to recognise herâŠ
Just when Murong Yunshu was being puzzled, a person who just walked in gave her a pleasant surpriseâââLu-er!â She screamed with great surprise. Once everything settled in, she noticed that her mouth moved, but no word came out.
She tried again, using all her strength, and yet, she still couldnât make any sound.
Now Murong Yunshu sort of understood that Wang Chao had actually made her mute, and as for whether it was through poison or acupuncture points, she didnât know and it didnât matter.
Now, she just hoped that Lu-er wouldnât be that blind enough, to not be able to identify her when Lu-er finally met this Master of hers whom she treated lovingly like a sister.
However, life was such a miracle full of tragedy. Lu-er unexpectedly had also turned a blind eye to her!
Murong Yunshu stared at Lu-er tenaciously, which had changed from her usual clouds were pale and a light breeze was blowing[5]Chinese idiom : nothing matters kind of gaze. Her eyes now were full of eager expectations, expecting Lu-er to remove the scales from her eyes[6]Chinese metaphor : pay closer attention and to actually recognise her.
Lu-er finally looked at her, but, just a glance, and then cast her gaze out the door again. She was staring at a distance, as if she was longingly waiting for someone.
Murong Yunshu was originally a clear minded person. After this series of blows, she suddenly remembered that when she was sleeping last night, at the time when she was between half dreaming and half waking up, she kept on feeling something was crawling on her face, but the feeling was too faint and seemingly non-existent, thus she thought it was only a dream, and she didnât pay much attention to it. Now that she thought about it, it must have been those two people who had tampered with her face.
Sure enough, when Murong Yunshu looked at Wang Chao, the smile on his face became much prouder.
At that moment, a sales clerk brought over teas, and the water reflected the light like a mirror.
Murong Yunshu looked down with full of doubts. Instantaneously, her blood could not help from condensing.
In the reflection of the water, she could see very clearly that her appearance had changed greatly. She used to be beautiful, but now half of her face was dark red, like a birthmark or a scar, which was frightening and very pressing.
In a split second, Murong Yunshuâs spirit quivered.
Although she didnât demand that her look to be truly capable of causing the downfall of a state[7]Chinese idiom : (of a woman) devastatingly beautiful, nevertheless, it was really hard for her to accept her current bland look, albeit it was only temporary.