Helian rushed all the way back. He was going to head straight for the manor but then thought perhaps Jia Rong might return to the house after the chaos. Frowning when he confirmed that Jia Rong didn’t come home, Helian left one of his guards behind in the house and headed for the manor with his Third Brave. Right after they left, a shadow came around the street corner. The person wiped the sweat from his face and asked breathlessly “Where’s your king?” Hearing that Helian had gone to the manor to search for Jia Rong, the man slapped his thigh and exclaimed “Shoot!” Before Helian’s guard could ask why the person quickly explained “I am one of the people Prince Chu had left to stay in the city. I was ordered by His Highness to come to tell King Helian that he had taken Jia Rong with him but when I left the manor I got delayed by some guards. So what do we do now?”
“Follow them!”
Helian is not aware of what happened after he left. He headed straight for the manor. He had assumed the manor should’ve settled down by now but it was still a mess. Turns out, even though Jin Siyu wasn’t in mortal danger but he was hurt by Zong Chen’s dagger and is coughing blood continuously. The physicians are fawning all over him aimlessly since Jin Siyu is not only coughing up scary looking purple colored blood but his mind is also a bit muddled.
The whole situation of course just made things easier for Helian. Wearing Capitan Liu’s face (not his actual face, but a mask that allowed Helian to look like him), Helian searched around in futile for Jia Rong in the outer courtyard. Feeling anxious, Helian wondered silently if Jia Rong had hidden inside the sewing room. Telling his men to wait in the outer manor for him, Helian head into the inner manor by himself.
Coming out of the sewing room, in order to avoid some guards, Helian crossed into the courtyard Shao Yao Er (Zhi Wei) had stayed in before Jin Siyu moved her. The place has been empty for a while so no one goes there and naturally Helian has no interest in revisiting it either now that Zhi Wei is not there anymore. Leaping over the wall, Helian abruptly stopped. In the darkness, his nose twitched, and his eyes gleamed thoughtfully in the darkness before he begin to search around like a hunting dog. Just when he jumped over a certain section of the wall he had smelled something faintly familiar. The Royal Palace of the Wild Grassland always has sorcerers who are experts in Gu witchcraft. Back when he went to the Capital in Tian Sheng, he even took a sorcerer with him. He himself is not interested in Gu witchcraft but he is very familiar with the stink that comes with the sorcerers’ clay pots that they always carry with them. The more poisonous a Gu is, the stronger is the stench. The clay pot that has housed a poisonous Gu for very long periods of time will have the smell permeated through the clay and into the soil. Most people wouldn’t be able to smell it but those who are familiar with the smell would be able to find a small clay pot buried deep in a blooming flower field. Even though Helian possesses no such ability but the smell is too strong and concentrated. In a manor where a prince of Da Yue lives, a courtyard where Feng Zhi Wei had lived, to discover such a thing, then it indeed raises some questions.
King Helian is a man of action, if he has any questions then he will go find the answer. Helian immediately followed the scent and finds the exact location. Digging three feet down, Helian discovers an iron plate. Underneath the iron plate is a small clay pot. Helian took a sharp intake of breath. He was already amazed by the smell right from the beginning, wondering how powerful the Gu must be that even a layman like him would be able to smell it. Who would’ve thought there was even an iron plate covering it, then how powerful that Gu must be?!
He has sinking feeling about this. Wrapping some fabric around his hand, Helian carefully takes out the clay pot, noticing that the exit hole for the Gu insect is open. In another word, this thing has already been used. Helian’s heart sunk to the pit of his stomach. Shaking the clay pot slightly, Helian could hear some noise, something seemed to still be inside but it doesn’t look to be a living thing. After thinking for a moment, Helian backed away as far as he could and used a branch to open the clay lid. He didn’t see anything crawl out of it but there was a green fume that came out when the lid was opened. Helian held his breath with all his might and finally carefully inched over after waiting for a long while. Seeing a small silk pouch in the clay pot, he carefully used the branch to open the pouch, and some white curved broken things fell out of it. It took Helian a good bit to finally figure out the white curved broken bits are fingernail clippings, but he couldn’t tell if they belong to a man or woman. It can’t be a good thing that these are found under a Gu clay pot. Helian knows that some Gu witchcrafts require some tokens from the person’s body as a link, this is vital. Without any hesitation, Helian ripped his inner robe and wrapped the contents layer upon layer before putting it into his waistband. Helian then chewed on his fingernails and gnawed off some broken pieces to put into the silk pouch. Placing the pouch back into the clay pot, Helian reburied the pot as he found it. Standing up after he finished, he suddenly heard some commotion from the front, he vaguely could hear voices saying Jin Siyu has woken already. Not daring to linger anymore, Helian disappeared into the night.
==========
Jin Siyu has indeed regained consciousness. Opening his eyes in the study, he was about to inquire what the situation is outside of the city when he suddenly hears that there are two soldiers from his personal army that are seeking a personal audience with him.
It was naturally Zong Chen and Feng Zhi Wei. Gu Nan Yi is not suitable for this sort of role so he stayed at the city gate to control that gate leader. According to Zong Chen’s intention, they might as well kill the two messengers and let the troops outside be paralyzed without any additional news, this will also give Tao Yangyu’s side more time to attack the main camp. However, Feng Zhi Wei disagreed. She said Jin Siyu’s troop’s indecisive state outside of the city is just temporary. Sooner or later, Jin Siyu’s side will relay some sort of news to them and at that time, they would end up getting trapped. With that being the case, they might as well solve the issue at its core. They will pretend to be the two messengers, think of a way to take Jin Siyu’s Tiger Seal, use it to move the troop away, and solve the whole thing for good. While this idea is quite risky but under the circumstance, it is the best one. Still feeling unsettled, Zong Chen nagged at Feng Zhi Wei “You must not think about going back.”
“How can I go back like this?” Feng Zhi Wei turned and smiled at him, “If I am still dressed like Shao Yao Er, then I could still attempt to trick him again. I could say I was kidnapped with the intention to threaten him. However, there is no way you guys would go along with that so I can only give up on the idea.”
Zong Chen thought Feng Zhi Wei’s words sounded logical, plus he really can’t figure out how Feng Zhi Wei could still gain Jin Siyu’s trust under the circumstance so he finally agreed to Feng Zhi Wei’s plan.
The two head straight for the manor and when they got close to it, Feng Zhi Wei suddenly said, “Sir, you see, to be one without memory, is rather convenient.”
Zong Chen couldn’t figure out what she meant by that but still instinctively smiled and said “In the end, it’s a deception. Unfortunately, you could deceive once but not twice. You could deceive for a while but you can’t deceive for life.”
“You speak the truth.” Feng Zhi Wei smiled but there seemed to be some deep meaning behind the smile, “Compared to amnesia, I would rather choose to selectively forget.”
Zong Chen kept feeling that there are hidden meanings behind her words, he wanted to prod some more but they have arrived at the manor.
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Am watching “The Wind Blows from Longxi”, which stars Chen Kun. In the latest episode, Chen Kun’s character infiltrates a sect, and the leader of the sect is …… Helian! (Ok, well, the actor who plays Helian). So cool to see those two together again, although so far they haven’t interacted all that much. I don’t know what is going to happen, but it was a lovely surprise to see him pop up.
Wow…. still trying to peace together why Jia Rong iis special in the story. Is she connected to Jin Si Yu???? Will Ningyi use her as barter? Movin on, is Helian connected to both Jin Si Yu and Feng Zhi Wei? I wonder if he knew the identity of the two finger nails.
I want to know how they’re going to weave the next lie and how Ning Yi will feel when he finds out she’s back at the manor. ‘sigh’. ALL that work for nothing.