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Marriage of the Di Daughter
Chapter 190: Sister
Late that night in Yanjing, a sudden downpour began.
Spring rain is usually fine and continuous, as if it is reluctant to damage the newly opened flowers. However, on this night, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a torrential downpour suddenly arrived, making the lanterns under the eaves sway precariously.
In the stable, Xiao Lan reared up uneasily, stamping its hooves on the ground in frustration. It didn’t even glance at the hay in the stone trough, which made the stable boy anxious. This precious horse was now General Ji’s treasure, and he had to keep a close eye on it. If anything went wrong, General Ji would definitely not go easy on anyone.
In the birdcage in the courtyard, Xiao Hong was also startled by the thunder, making a rustling sound. This time, it didn’t try to talk like a human; it just acted like an ordinary bird, frightened by the thunder. The servant immediately carried the birdcage inside, and the thunder outside subsided somewhat.
It was a dark, cold, rainy night, with not a single star in the sky, only thick, dark clouds. Just then, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the gate of the Duke’s mansion.
The gatekeeper was startled and went out to take a look. He saw a woman standing there, wearing a cloak, but completely drenched, her hair almost completely wet, looking like a drowned rat.
“This young lady?” The gatekeeper frowned. Who would come to the Duke’s mansion so late? He didn’t recognize the woman either.
The young woman raised her face and said, “I…. I am Bai Xue, the servant girl of the second young lady of the Jiang family. I want to see the Duke; I have something important to tell him!”
Only then did the gatekeeper see her clearly. It was indeed Bai Xue, Jiang Li’s servant girl. While others might not be familiar with her, everyone in the Duke’s mansion knew Jiang Li. Besides Situ Jiuyue, the only other person who could swagger into the Duke’s mansion and seemed to have a good relationship with Ji Heng was this second young lady of the Jiang family.
The gatekeeper pulled Bai Xue a little further inside, shielding her from the wind and rain, and said, “Miss Bai Xue, the master is not in the manor right now, and we don’t know when he will be back. You’re all soaked, why don’t you come inside and change into some clean clothes and have some hot water so you don’t catch a cold? It’s raining so hard outside, why did you come all this way by yourself?”
Bai Xue felt a sudden, indescribable feeling. Outsiders said that the Duke of Su was temperamental and even the servants in the Duke’s mansion were arrogant and never looked people in the eye. But in reality, they were not as cold-hearted as people said.
“No… because what I need to say is really important… young man, when will the Duke return?”
The gatekeeper hesitated, “Well… we don’t know where the Master is. If Miss Bai Xue wants to wait, please go inside and wait. The wind and rain are about to come in from outside.”
Along with this sentence, another gust of wind blew by, and Bai Xue had no choice but to walk further inside. Seeing her like this, the gatekeeper called another servant to take Bai Xue into the Duke’s mansion to change her clothes.
Bai Xue had run out on her own, at Tong’er’s request. She couldn’t let Jiang Yuan Bai know about Jiang Li’s close relationship with the Duke’s mansion, so she couldn’t use the mansion’s carriage. And where could she find a carriage at this hour? The streets were filled with soldiers searching for Jiang Li. To avoid attracting attention by walking slowly with an umbrella, Bai Xue had no choice but to run all the way. By the time she arrived, she was soaking wet and utterly disheveled.
After Bai Xue changed her clothes and came out, she stood in the long corridor outside the Duke’s mansion’s flower garden. The servant tried to persuade her to wait patiently, but Bai Xue couldn’t calm down no matter what. The worse the weather became, the more worried she became about Jiang Li, wondering where Jiang Li was.
Right at this moment, someone suddenly called her name. Bai Xue turned around and saw that it was Situ Jiuyue.
Situ Jiuyue stayed at the Duke’s mansion because the flower garden there always contained ingredients for making poison. Moreover, she had a good relationship with old General Ji, so there was no need to hide anything. Seeing Bai Xue, Situ Jiuyue asked curiously, “Why are you here? Are you alone? Where’s Jiang Li?”
“Miss Situ!” Bai Xue called out, as if grasping at a lifeline, and said, “You are close to the Duke, do you know when he will return?”
“Him?” Situ Jiuyue shook her head. “I’m not close to him. Besides, how would I know what business he’s doing outside. It seems your young lady isn’t here, you’re here by yourself.” She looked Bai Xue up and down. Although Bai Xue had changed into dry clothes, her hair was still damp. Situ Jiuyue said, “You rushed here so urgently to ask Ji Heng for help? What, has your young lady run into trouble again?”
Situ Jiuyue spent all her time in the medicine room and naturally had no idea what was happening outside. Moreover, Jiang Yuan Bai, in order to protect Jiang Li’s reputation, had not yet announced Jiang Li’s disappearance. The soldiers wouldn’t spread rumors, and with Ji Heng absent, the Duke’s mansion wouldn’t specially go to investigate the matter.
Bai Xue said, “Not running into trouble, but missing.”
Situ Jiuyue’s previously nonchalant expression froze. She looked at Bai Xue and asked, “Missing?”
“Yes.” Bai Xue then recounted the events of the day in detail, before finally saying to Situ Jiuyue, “So this matter is really important. It was the same with the Third Miss last time. Although Master sent the soldiers to investigate, they could not find out her whereabouts. It was the Duke who found Princess Yongning’s private prison. This servant just thought with the Duke’s abilities, perhaps the young lady could be found sooner… Miss Situ, when exactly will the Duke return to the mansion?”
Situ Jiuyue’s expression turned serious. She said, “As far as I know, he should have left the city.”
Bai Xue was stunned.
“He has important matters to attend to this time and shouldn’t be back for a while. If you want Ji Heng to help you find someone, that’s not an option for now.”
Disappointment immediately appeared on Bai Xue’s face.
Situ Jiuyue pondered for a moment, then said, “There might be a solution. I’ll think of a way to tell Ji Heng about this and see how he handles it. Although he’s not in Yanjing, he might be able to help with the arrangements. Don’t worry, since the other party came prepared and specifically kidnapped your young lady, it wasn’t just to take her life. Otherwise, Jiang Li’s body would have appeared by now. Besides,” she said bluntly, “even if Jiang Li really did die, even just for the sake of the Duke’s mansion, Ji Heng will avenge her.”
It would have been better not to say that at all, Bai Xue became even more nervous after hearing it.
“Staying here won’t help much, you should go back,” Situ Jiuyue said. “Although I don’t know when Ji Heng will return, I know that Ji Heng will not return tonight.”
Bai Xue was silent for a moment, realizing that Situ Jiuyue was telling the truth. Her presence here would indeed be of no use. Moreover, Situ Jiuyue had said she would help to inform Ji Heng about this, and Ji Heng would likely take action after learning what had happened.
She didn’t make a wasted trip.
Bai Xue bowed to Situ Jiuyue, thanked her, and then left.
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After Bai Xue left, Situ Jiuyue returned to the small room next to the medicine room.
The young man called Ah Zhao can now sit up, leaning against the bed. Although he still could not move on his own, he was very clear-headed.
Ah Zhao was not asleep and was quite awake at the moment. He saw Situ Jiuyue come in, and immediately smiled and said, “I just heard Doctor Situ talking to someone outside, and the private prison of the princess’s residence was mentioned.”
“Yes,” Situ Jiuyue said, “a friend is missing. Speaking of which, she has some connection with you.”
Ah Zhao was puzzled.
“Back then, she wanted to save her sister, so she asked Ji Heng to help find her whereabouts. Ji Heng found her in the princess’s private prison. Originally, it was only for her sister, but he unexpectedly ran into you and brought you out. You could say that if it weren’t for her, you would still be in that prison now, and you would never see the light of day again.”
Upon hearing this, Ah Zhao was also surprised, and then asked, “That….. friend, is now missing?”
“Disappeared this morning, the whereabouts are still unknown.”
“Since it’s a friend of Doctor Situ, why doesn’t Doctor Situ seem to…..”
“Sad? Anxious?” Before Ah Zhao could finish speaking, Situ Jiuyue interrupted him. She laughed, but her laughter was cold as ice. “Friends or family, as far as I’m concerned, they are just names, without any special meaning. Instead of worrying about others, it’s better to worry about yourself.” She took out a needle. “That’s the kind of person I am. For example, I can save you, or I can kill you.”
Ah Zhao was not frightened by her words; he just smiled and shook his head.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing, I just thought of my older sister,” Ah Zhao said. “Before, my older sister also always taught me to worry about myself and not worry about others.”
“Your sister is quite clever,” Situ Jiuyue asked while administering acupuncture to Ah Zhao, “Where is she now?”
Not hearing a reply after a long time, Situ Jiuyue looked up.
The young man’s bright eyes dimmed, as if shrouded in a layer of haze. He softly said, “My older sister has passed away.”
A light-hearted completed modern novel with lots of food inside: Real Missy Relies on Food to Counterattack
Me too, have been binge-reading novels under stress ^^! Mostly listening during commute to and from work.
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