Lan Jinqin was taken aback. Then she handed the teapot to Xiao Rencheng and took the painting to have a look.
The painting depicted the young man Song Yinghuai had met on Qilian Mountain that day.
Lan Jinqin only glanced at it before getting excited. "It's Fan'er... Fan'er. He's grown so much! Your Highness, have you found Fan'er?"
The last time she saw Lan Guifan was six years ago.
The young man was just a child back then. Like Lan Jinxiang, her impression of Lan Guifan remained that of six years ago.
Song Yinghuai tried hard to suppress the excitement in his heart. "Does the eldest miss confirm it?"
"I confirm it!" Lan Jinqin's knuckles were so tight that they almost crushed the scroll. "He has a mole on his left cheek near his chin. The position is exactly the same as the person in the painting!"
"Your Highness, where on earth is Fan'er?"
Shuer was dead. They couldn't even tell if her elder brother and parents' corpses were in the fire.
Only Fan'er was missing, neither seen alive nor found dead...
Lan Jinqin had always suppressed her worry and dared not voice it.
Suddenly seeing someone who resembled her grown - up younger brother today, she was so excited that she could hardly stand steadily.
Xiao Rencheng quickly stepped forward to support her unsteady body and looked at Song Yinghuai. "Your Highness?"
Song Yinghuai took a deep breath to calm the surging emotions in his heart and briefly told them about his encounter on Qilian Mountain.
This news excited both Xiao Rencheng and Lan Jinqin.
"It's Fan'er..." Lan Jinqin tightly grasped Xiao Rencheng's forearm, and tears streamed down her face. "It's Shuer, A Li, and Fan'er, right?"
Xiao Rencheng remained relatively calm. He nodded seriously. "It's very likely, Madam. They're together. They're not dead."
Suddenly, Lan Jinqin broke down and cried loudly.
"They're not dead!"
"If they're not dead, why didn't they come to find us!"
"Why?"
"Don't they know how sad we were because of her death?"
"This..." Xiao Rencheng shifted his gaze to Song Yinghuai with a troubled look. He knew the reason well but didn't dare to say it.
Song Yinghuai, who had been extremely excited, turned pale as Lan Jinqin's questions hit him one by one.
Some truths seemed to be torn apart by her questions.
Caiyu was not dead.
She was with Sheng Jiangli and Lan Guifan.
Lan Guifan had said he had an elder sister and a brother - in - law...
There was a "crack" sound.
The teacup in Song Yinghuai's hand shattered.
The scalding tea splashed on his leg, but he didn't even notice.
Was Yu'er...
Leaving him on purpose?
When this realization became clear, the focus in Song Yinghuai's pupils gradually faded. Even the voices of Xiao Rencheng and Lan Jinqin calling him seemed to become distant.
His vision went black, his fingertips trembled, and the blood in his palm slowly flowed down along the palm lines, dropping to the ground one by one.
His heart felt like it was being stabbed by a blunt knife, and he could hardly catch his breath.
Yu'er... faked her death.
To escape from him.
A fishy taste suddenly welled up in his chest. Song Yinghuai couldn't hold it back and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The bright red blood left a dazzling stain on his pale lips.
"Your Highness!" Xiao Rencheng quickly reached out and grabbed Song Yinghuai's arm.
He couldn't bear to say any reproachful words.
Since he became the governor of the five provinces in Shaanxi and Gansu, he had had a lot of contact with Song Yinghuai, who was fighting in Shanxi and Shaanxi, and they had met from time to time.
After Song Yinghuai lost Caiyu, he still seemed brave and good at fighting, but Xiao Rencheng knew that this man was almost fighting recklessly.
He didn't care about his own life at all.
Miss Lan San had become a taboo in his heart that couldn't be mentioned.
However, no one had expected that Miss Lan San had faked her death...
Xiao Rencheng thought for a while and then said the key point.
"Your Highness... at least, she's still alive."
"Isn't her being alive exactly what you've been wishing for?"
Song Yinghuai's body suddenly trembled. He slowly raised his eyes and stared blankly at Xiao Rencheng.
Xiao Rencheng nodded heavily at him. "Your Highness, as long as she's alive, you still have hope."
Song Yinghuai's mouth was so bitter that he could hardly open it.
Did he still have hope?
What hope did he have left?
Lan Guifan had already recognized his brother - in - law.
She had been with Sheng Jiangli for two years...
There might even be a child.
Where was there any room for him between them?
His fingers trembled slightly. His heart felt like it was being torn apart. There was a cold sadness in his eyes, and his eyebrows were filled with a chilling hostility.
The pain went deep into his bones.
The cold aura around him even startled the grief - stricken Lan Jinqin, and she involuntarily tightened her grip on Xiao Rencheng's forearm.
"Your Highness, don't hate Shuer..." Lan Jinqin was worried that Song Yinghuai would take revenge on her third younger sister, and her eyebrows were filled with worry. "I know you two used to be in love, and there were also many unpleasant things. But in a relationship, no one is absolutely wrong, right?"
"Xiao and I missed many years. If he had intervened and confessed his love before I got engaged to Wen Zilong, we wouldn't have wasted so many years..."
"Your Highness, the trouble Shuer caused you back then. She paid for it with her life..." Lan Jinqin summoned up the courage to persuade him. "Why don't you just assume that Shuer is dead!"
Song Yinghuai's body was as stiff as a rock, cold and hard.
Lan Jinqin's consolation buzzed in his ears.
Assume she's dead...
Assume she's dead...
He also wanted to accept the fact that she was dead.
But he had tried, and he couldn't do it!
At first, he really thought Caiyu was dead. He had never been willing to give up since he couldn't find her body.
Now, he was almost certain that she was alive. How could he pretend not to know?
Suddenly.
Song Yinghuai stood up and bowed deeply to Xiao Rencheng. When he raised his eyes again, he said in a deep voice.
"On my way here, I saw that the city - guarding soldiers everywhere were on high alert. I also heard that the troops from Liaoning, Jiaodong, and the Southeast were gathering in Jiaodong. The young emperor and Li Muge are trying to wipe out my Yan Army."
"My life doesn't matter, but I will never allow them to kill the 200,000 brothers who have fought and lived with me."
A fierce look appeared on the man's face. "I guess that the Southern Army in Jiaodong will surely set off for the Yan region soon, planning to take Yanjing first."
Xiao Rencheng nodded. "You're right. In fact, the young emperor's imperial edict arrived just a few hours before you came to the mansion."
Song Yinghuai's eyes flashed slightly. He looked at the other person and raised his eyebrows slightly. "Oh?"
Xiao Rencheng said, "The young emperor's imperial edict was sent all over the country, ordering the whole nation to - abolish the fiefdoms!"
"Hehe!" Song Yinghuai's lips curled slightly. "Did the young emperor also issue an edict saying that I, Song Yinghuai, as the leader of the feudal lords, should take the lead and hand over the military, political power, and land of my fief first?"
Xiao Rencheng also curled his lips. "Exactly. The imperial edict said that if anyone disobeys, the whole nation can attack him. Those who make contributions in the abolition of fiefdoms can keep their fiefs."
Song Yinghuai sneered. "Li Muge's move is to make the feudal lords fight each other."
"The snipe and the clam fight while the fisherman catches both."
He paused for a moment and said, "The five provinces in Shaanxi and Gansu have an army of 50,000. I ask Brother Xiao to send troops and enter the Yan region through Tongguan to help me break the Southern Army's plot to attack Yanjing first!"
"This is not difficult." Xiao Rencheng said, "The young emperor is young but extremely vicious. He is even worse than the former crown prince... I will surely assist Your Highness."
Song Yinghuai bowed again. "Then I thank Brother Xiao. As long as the troops from the five provinces can hold out for ten or fifteen days, Lao Zhu and the others' troops will arrive after crossing Sichuan. By then, no matter how many Southern Army soldiers there are, I, Song Yinghuai, will kill gods if they block my way and Buddhas if they stand in my path!"
After saying that, he turned around and left without looking back.
Lan Jinqin watched the man walk out of the Xiao Mansion, remount his warhorse, and his tall back merge into the night. She asked blankly.
"Sir, where is he going?"
Xiao Rencheng put his arm around Lan Jinqin's waist and said softly.
"Madam, I guess he's going to Qilian Mountain again."
"He can't let go of Miss Lan San. He can't just assume she's dead."
Lan Jinqin let out an "ah" sound and then said worriedly, "But Shuer can't still be hiding there, right?"
"As long as there's a glimmer of hope, he will go to confirm it."