The Qi Family in Yongning Alley, Shangyang Fang.
With a loud “bang”, the tightly closed door was kicked open. A group of black - armored soldiers in full armor rushed into the room. Ji Lingchuan, grasping his sword, strode in.
He looked up. The carpentry tools that had been in the yard were still piled in the corner. Two clothes were still hanging on the clothesline under the vine trellis. It looked as if someone still lived here.
The black - armored soldiers who had searched the house ran out and bowed to Ji Lingchuan. “My lord, there's no one in the house after the search.”
“My lord, this man's clothes are still in the cabinet. Maybe he hasn't left yet.”
But Ji Lingchuan didn't think so. Clothes and tools were just worldly possessions.
He looked up at the eaves. An old sachet that had hung there was gone.
Ji Lingchuan then led his men out of the city in a hurry and came to a cemetery in the mountains.
They found that the tombstone of Rou Shi that had been buried there was gone, and the soil looked as if it had been turned over.
Qi Lei had taken away what was most precious in his heart and the most important person in Ji Lingchuan's life.
The black - armored soldiers who were responsible for guarding Qi Lei knelt on the ground to plead guilty. “It's the subordinate's fault for not guarding the man well and letting him escape. Please punish the subordinate, General!”
Fu Zhou stepped forward and asked, “My lord, do you want the subordinate to order to block all the checkpoints in the capital area and intercept them? We found out early. They move slowly. Maybe they haven't left the capital area yet.”
Ji Lingchuan said, “It's too late. We've lost the initiative. It'll be even more difficult to find them.”
But his heart instead settled down.
It proved that his judgment was right. She wasn't dead after all. She was still alive in this world!
But she was so cruel. She could deceive him with the guise of death so resolutely, stabbing a knife into his heart.
She was right. He didn't know her well enough. If he had known earlier that she had the idea of leaving, he wouldn't have given her the chance to set all this up.
She was indeed the little friend who had come up with so many clever ideas for him and helped him solve many difficult problems back then. In this game, he had finally lost by one move.
Fu Zhou looked at Ji Lingchuan's calm and composed profile and murmured to himself. Before the confirmation, the lord was like a crazy man searching all over the world. Now that it was confirmed that Miss Song Si was still alive, why wasn't he in a hurry?
“Then, shall we still pursue them?” Fu Zhou asked.
Ji Lingchuan said, “Naturally, we have to pursue. But we need to plan more carefully.”
She would rather design all this to leave than stay. He had to know the reason.
Moreover, there were countless roads leading out of the capital, both on land and water, leading to different parts of the Yu State.
He had to know where she was going before he could look for her slowly.
Otherwise, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
In an empty wing - room of the former Marquis Ding'an's Mansion, Gu Yunzheng was locked in the room.
Although his personal freedom was restricted, his face was very calm, showing no panic of being locked up.
He knew that with Ji Lingchuan's intelligence, it was only a matter of time before he discovered all this.
He had successfully sent Song Yihuan away and fulfilled the promise he had made to her back then.
A sound of footsteps came towards this place. A moment later, the lock on the door made a “clattering” sound. Gu Yunzheng looked up at the closed door.
The door was pulled open, and the figure behind the door was Ji Lingchuan.
What surprised him a little was that Ji Lingchuan was still carrying two jars of wine in his hand. He didn't look like he was coming to blame him but more like he was coming to catch up.
Ji Lingchuan glanced at Gu Yunzheng. Although the other man was in this situation, he still looked gentle and elegant. That calm expression seemed even more annoying.
Just thinking that Song Yihuan would rather ask Gu Yunzheng for help and exclude him made him want to kill the man opposite.
Sitting down opposite Gu Yunzheng, Ji Lingchuan placed one of the jars of wine in front of the other man and said, “Lord Gu, let's have a chat.”
Gu Yunzheng knew that he must be unhappy, so he didn't want to provoke him. He readily took the wine and said, “What does the lord want to talk to the subordinate about?”
Ji Lingchuan opened the wine jar, and a strong aroma of wine overflowed.
“When did she start this plan?”
Gu Yunzheng also imitated him and opened the wine jar. He took a sip from the mouth of the jar and sighed. “It has to start from the accident in Xile Town.”
Xile Town? Ji Lingchuan was stunned. A sour feeling welled up in his throat. Sure enough... was it related to Song Yixuan?
“That night, my lord chased the clues all the way outside Xile Town, but Yihuan suddenly realized that this was a feint by the enemy. I found two fast horses and escorted her to the back mountain of Xile Town.”
“Sure enough, we found Song Yixuan in the mountain depression. When we found him, his body was cold and he had no breath.”
Ji Lingchuan subconsciously clenched his fists.
So, they had really found out Song Yixuan's whereabouts that day.
“My subordinate and she were just about to bring the child's body back when we met a... rather strange doctor. That doctor actually revived the child. It was also because of this that Yihuan learned that her biological mother, Rou Shi, had suffered a difficult labor because she had been poisoned by the 'Beiman Tuo' from the Northern Di tribe.”
The strange doctor must be the “Carefree Divine Doctor” they had been looking for.
Ji Lingchuan thought of something. “So, she entrusted the child to the divine doctor?”
Gu Yunzheng said, “Yes.”
After sending the child away, she had no more worries and no more weaknesses. So, when he came, she fell into his arms crying, arousing his pity. From that moment on, she had already been planning all this.
When she fell off that cliff, the news that she was pregnant was also false. The medicine that could make one seem pregnant was probably obtained from that divine doctor.
And he had been stupidly happy that she finally had their child.
Ji Lingchuan looked at Gu Yunzheng. “Did she ever tell you where she would go after leaving the capital?”
Gu Yunzheng gave a bitter smile. “She didn't mention it to me. Maybe she had already guessed that the lord would come to question me and that I would tell everything?”
It was something she would do.
Ji Lingchuan stood up and walked out. “Thank you, Lord Gu. You can leave now.”
...
The cold wind blew on the river. A cargo ship was slowly sailing south.
Song Yihuan was sitting on the deck, wrapped in a cloak, looking up at the moon in a daze.
There was only a crescent moon in the sky, like a hook. From time to time, clouds passed by and covered the moon completely.
Tomorrow was the first day of the lunar month. She didn't expect that a year had passed in a flash.
There was a sound behind her. Song Yihuan turned around and saw Qi Lei holding a lamp and carrying a thick cloak towards her.
“You girl, why are you sitting outside? The wind on the river is strong. Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Song Yihuan smiled. “It's okay, Uncle Qi. I'm holding a hot - water bottle in my hand.”
Qi Lei unfolded the cloak in his hand without a word and put it on her, tying the straps for her.
Sitting down beside her, Qi Lei also looked up at the moon and said, “You look unhappy. Why, are you still reluctant to part with that stinky brat surnamed Ji?”