Xiao Zisheng was Su Yuanyuan's cousin. They used to be on such good terms. If not for what happened later, Su Yuanyuan would have married him and become the Princess of Jin, and the relationship between the two families would have been even closer. So the Marquis of Pingyang didn't think there was anything inappropriate about Xiao Zisheng's request and readily agreed.
Xiao Zisheng followed the Marquis of Pingyang to Qianqiu Courtyard, where Su Yuanyuan used to live.
After seeing Su Qingyu's true colors and driving her out of the marquis's mansion, Su Yuanyuan's courtyard saw the light of day again. All the overgrown weeds in the courtyard were cleared, and the servants cleaned the rooms every day. The tables and cabinets were spotless. Everything seemed to be the same as before.
Xiao Zisheng sat in the middle of the room, looking around with nostalgia in his eyes.
He didn't often visit the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion. The only time he entered Su Yuanyuan's boudoir was when he waited for a month but didn't see her come. He felt something was wrong and sent someone to inquire, only to learn that she was ill.
At that time, without thinking much, he immediately had a carriage prepared and came to the marquis's mansion to see her.
When she saw him appear, she was extremely happy. Her bright smile also infected him. After he returned, he had someone send her a priceless jade disc because he thought there seemed to be something missing on the cabinet in her room.
However... Xiao Zisheng looked at the cabinet. The jade disc he had given her was long gone.
"Uncle, where is Yuan'er's Jiaowei Qin?" Xiao Zisheng asked the Marquis of Pingyang behind him.
The Marquis of Pingyang was taken aback and thought to himself why the Prince of Jin was also so interested in that Jiaowei Qin.
He told the truth: "The Jiaowei Qin is not in our hands. At that time, in order to retrieve Yuan'er's bones, we asked the Prince of Cangjun. The Prince of Cangjun said that to make Yuan'er appear, we needed to place an object that Yuan'er liked most during her lifetime. So we sent the Jiaowei Qin to the Prince of Cangjun's mansion. When we left, we didn't take the Qin away."
That meant the Qin was now in the Prince of Cangjun's mansion?
Xiao Zisheng's mind was filled with the picture of Su Yuanyuan being very close to Cang Xuan. He felt his emotions surging.
Cang Xuan was good at observing the stars and divination. He could communicate with heaven and earth and even see ghosts and gods. All those excuses about the severance of kinship and helplessness were probably just pretexts. And the reason why the girl was so close to Cang Xuan might be related to the Jiaowei Qin.
Clenching his fists tightly, Xiao Zisheng pretended to be calm and said, "Since the Qin is no longer here, I can take other objects."
He asked his attendant to pick up Su Yuanyuan's former jewelry box and then left Qianqiu Courtyard.
After walking a short distance, Xiao Zisheng said, "Thank you, Uncle, for answering my questions today. Uncle, you can stop here. Zisheng will take his leave."
Although Xiao Zisheng said so, after all, he was a prince, so the marquis still escorted him out of the mansion.
Watching the carriage of the Prince of Jin's mansion drive away, the Marquis of Pingyang turned around and returned to the mansion.
When the carriage of the Prince of Jin's mansion was halfway there, Xiao Zisheng suddenly said, "Jin Shui."
The guard standing outside the carriage answered and got into the carriage.
"Tomorrow, you lead a team of men to the mass grave to look for the bones of a girl about sixteen years old. Whether you find them or not, report to this king in time."
The guard bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness!"
Xiao Zisheng returned to the Prince of Jin's mansion. Soon, with the help of the maids, he took off his luxurious clothes and lay on the bed.
Only a dim lamp was left in the room. Xiao Zisheng folded his hands on his abdomen and stared at the canopy of the bed. His mind was filled with all kinds of chaotic pictures.
There were all the interesting and trivial things that happened when Su Yuanyuan used to accompany him in the past.
There were also the smiles and frowns of the little girl from the Duke of Yong's mansion.
Gradually, their faces overlapped and finally became the same person. And on the side of her fair neck, a red mole was faintly visible.
Just as Xiao Zisheng was about to take a closer look, for some reason, his eyelids suddenly became very heavy, and he fell into a deep sleep. After he fell asleep, a figure flashed into his room and quietly approached him on the couch...
The night was as cold as water. At first, the Prince of Jin's mansion was very quiet.
But as a column of thick smoke rose into the sky, a cry of alarm rang out in the quiet mansion:
"Fire! There's a fire in His Highness's room! Hurry, hurry to rescue His Highness!"
Xiao Zisheng was awakened by the thick smoke. When he opened his eyes, he saw his room ablaze with a raging fire. Watching the tongues of fire curling towards him on the couch, Xiao Zisheng's face changed suddenly. He immediately shouted:
"Someone! Cough, cough, cough. Someone, put out, put out the fire!"
His legs were weak, and he could only prop himself up with his hands, trying to save himself.
However, when he got close to the edge of the couch, he accidentally fell off and landed on the ground. His head hit the edge of the couch, and he gasped in pain.
Fortunately, at this time, his door was kicked open, and the guards rushed in from outside.
"Your Highness!"
Xiao Zisheng, who was lying on the ground, was rescued. Just as he was about to be carried out, Xiao Zisheng suddenly remembered something and reached out his hand towards a corner of the room: "Car, car!"
Realizing that he was referring to the wooden wheelchair he had been using, the guard immediately planned to go and save the wheelchair. However, just as he took a step forward, a burning beam fell down, blocking his way.
The guard could only grit his teeth and continue to protect Xiao Zisheng and leave.
Xiao Zisheng watched helplessly as the sparks splashed onto the wooden wheelchair. The fire instantly enveloped the wheelchair completely, turning it into a sea of fire.
Reflecting the fire in his pupils, Xiao Zisheng let out a roar from the depths of his soul:
"No—"
Thanks to the timely discovery, the fire in the Prince of Jin's mansion was quickly put out. But even though the fire was extinguished, Xiao Zisheng's bedroom was burned beyond recognition. Especially when the guard found the burned wooden wheelchair in the room, Xiao Zisheng's eyes turned red, and his fingernails dug deeply into his flesh.
The car, the wooden wheelchair that Yuan'er had made for him!
It was all destroyed!
He tightly hugged the burned wreckage into his arms. In his ears, he seemed to hear the words the girl had said when she pushed the wooden wheelchair that emitted the fragrance of wood and paint in front of him.
[Cousin Zisheng, look quickly. This is the wooden wheelchair I had several carpenters make! With it, from now on, you can go wherever you want. You don't have to rely on others anymore!]
[Cousin Zisheng, the lotus flowers outside are in bloom. Can I push you out to enjoy the flowers?]
[Cousin, Yuan'er made this wooden wheelchair for you. Don't you like it? Why don't you have a trace of a smile on your face?]
He used to dislike it. Sitting in this wooden wheelchair was like reminding himself and others that he was a useless cripple!
So he longed to stand up on his own legs and be like a normal person.
But when he learned that he had been poisoned by the "Broken Iron" poison, this wooden wheelchair became the only comfort that could make him move freely like a normal person.
And now, even this wooden wheelchair was destroyed.
Now he understood Tong's feelings. Tong could still find a set of bones that looked similar and pretend that Su Yuanyuan hadn't left. But once this wooden wheelchair was destroyed, it could never come back.
This wasn't the end. The next moment, another guard ran over in a panic and said to Xiao Zisheng, "Your Highness, there's also a fire in the study and the warming pavilion!"
The warming pavilion?! Inside it were the portraits he had drawn of Su Yuanyuan before!
Xiao Zisheng immediately struggled to get up: "Hurry, put out the fire!"
On a big tree in the Prince of Jin's mansion, a dark figure hiding on it fixed his eyes on Xiao Zisheng's embarrassed figure and the pile of burned waste wood on the ground. He let out a soft laugh, and his eyes were as cold as ice.
In this Prince of Jin's mansion, nothing that belonged to Su Yuanyuan should be left.