When Yi Yuan, Ye Xi and the others rushed over, Jiang Ning was already in floods of tears.
She was holding the blood - soaked Hun Yuan in her arms. Hun Yuan's face was deathly pale, with an arrow in his chest. He was too weak to speak.
"Save... save A Yuan..." Jiang Ning sobbed uncontrollably.
"He's lost so much blood... I didn't dare to move him. Save, save him..."
Yi Yuan rushed forward in a few strides and quickly sealed several major acupoints on Hun Yuan's body. Lin An beside him quickly took out the golden sore medicine from his body. They worked together to stop Hun Yuan's bleeding for the time being.
Ye Xi followed closely behind and put her arms around Jiang Ning's shoulders, trying her best to soothe her emotions.
"He's out of immediate danger," Yi Yuan frowned and reported the good news to the others. He quickly scanned the area, only to see a chaotic scene. The bandits had long since disappeared without a trace.
He waved to Mian Xiao, who was checking the tracks at the scene, and said coldly, "Back to the mansion."
Everyone left in a hurry and didn't notice Shen Zhou and Sheng Yu hiding in a corner in the distance.
"Master," Sheng Yu frowned and reminded,
"His Lordship was already angry that you left Miss Yun halfway and came here. Now that you've broken the rules, I'm afraid..."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Shen Zhou's voice was cold and emotionless.
"It's just a severe punishment. Haven't I endured enough of them?"
"But, the eldest young master's methods..." Sheng Yu was extremely worried. His master's health was already poor, and the eldest young master's torturous methods were extremely cruel. Just thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat. But now, for the sake of this girl, his master not only neglected his own health but also ignored his plans that he had been plotting for years.
It was really annoying.
"Humph—" Shen Zhou snorted. "Don't worry. Elder brother wouldn't be willing to kill me now. I'm still very useful to him."
"Enough of this. Did you find out who hired the Suiyu Department to assassinate Yingying?"
"All they said was that it was a woman," Sheng Yu knew he couldn't persuade Shen Zhou. Those things were not his place as a bodyguard to comment on.
He could only honestly answer his master's question: "You know the rules of Zai Shuang. They don't ask about the reasons or the people. They just take the money and do the job. If they fail, they pay with their lives."
"Then investigate," Shen Zhou's peach - blossom eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Include the Ye family. Why did Yingying say she was abducted? And what did that Cao Sheng do to Yingying?"
"Anyone who has harmed Yingying will have to pay the price."
Inside the Prince Yu'an's Mansion—
"I was planning to go back early today because there would be a banquet tonight," Jiang Ning finally managed to calm down and told the others what had just happened.
"But I've just taken over the cloth workshop, and the new brocade - weaving technique is extremely delicate and complex. So I thought I'd finish tidying up the last bit of thread before going back. Who would have thought that I was just a moment later than usual. As soon as I walked into the alley, I met those bandits with knives."
"At a critical moment, A Yuan suddenly appeared and saved me. He fought with them. But..." Jiang Ning's voice trembled.
"But those people were too powerful, and there were so many of them. A Yuan was worried about me and couldn't fight them off at all. It's all my fault. It's all my fault... That arrow was meant for me..."
"A Yuan, A Yuan he..." By the end, Jiang Ning's voice was out of tune. Leaning on Ye Xi's shoulder, she trembled and couldn't say another word.
"My Lord," Mian Xiao quickly took over Jiang Ning's words. "Judging from the traces at the scene, that group of people were well - trained and ruthless. If I'm not wrong, it was the Suiyu Department who did it."
"The Suiyu Department?" Ye Xi's face was as cold as ice, and her eyes were like frost. She said word by word, "Cao Wei."
No wonder Jiang Ning was attacked for no reason. It turned out that she had suffered for Ye Xi. At the beginning, Ye Xi had found Jiang Ning because Jiang Ning's figure was similar to hers, and few people had seen her true appearance. Yi Yuan had transferred the cloth workshop to Jiang Ning's name. The Suiyu Department saw that Jiang Ning was so dedicated every day and thought that Jiang Ning was Ye Xi.
It was her who had implicated Jiang Ning and Senior Brother, leading to today's disaster.
Cao Wei must pay the price for this.
Ye Xi rarely looked so cold and menacing. Everyone was a little startled. Yi Yuan gently held Ye Xi's other delicate hand that was hanging on her leg and softly soothed her emotions.
"Judging from the last time you confronted Cao Wei, it's not very likely to be her. Moreover, when the Suiyu Department takes action, they don't usually leave when they have the upper hand but haven't completed the task. There are many strange things about this."
"Xiaoxi, I know you're angry. But the angrier you are, the calmer you should be. Be careful not to fall into someone else's trap."
"Indeed," Hun Yuan's weak voice suddenly rang out. Jiang Ning was so happy that she immediately got up and rushed over.
"A Yuan." Jiang Ning carefully helped Hun Yuan lean against the head of the bed. Hun Yuan coughed lightly and then continued,
"Junior Sister, this is the work of a villain in the dark. It's not your fault. You don't have to blame yourself."
"Senior Brother..." This incident was caused by her. How could she not blame herself? If she hadn't kept Jiang Ning after the Ye family's incident, how could this have happened?
Ye Xi wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Jiang Ning.
"Xiaoxi, A Yuan is right. It's not your fault. Staying was my own decision back then. If someone mistakes you for me and attacks you, would you blame me?"
"Of course not," Ye Xi replied instinctively.
"That's all the fault of those villains. What does it have to do with you?"
After saying this, Ye Xi was stunned for a moment. She realized that she had been stuck in a dead end. Looking up and seeing the approving looks of the others, Ye Xi felt a mixture of sourness and warmth in her heart.
"However, those killers today were really strange," seeing Ye Xi's expression loosen, Hun Yuan smiled faintly.
"At first, they were launching deadly attacks without mercy. Later, I don't know if they realized that A Ning wasn't Junior Sister. After all, Junior Sister's appearance is... right..." Hun Yuan winked.
"After a few bird calls, they suddenly stopped their actions. They looked at each other, murmured a few words and then left. It was really strange."
Seeing that Hun Yuan still had the mood to joke, everyone was both annoyed and amused.
Glancing at Hun Yuan, whose complexion had improved and who was teasing Ye Xi, Yi Yuan said casually,
"It is really strange. You came from the palace. How did you end up near the cloth workshop? And you arrived just in time?"
Hun Yuan's smiling face froze, and he began to evade the topic.
"Didn't we say we were going to have a banquet to celebrate the official opening of the mansion? Oh, I'm hungry..."
"Why hasn't Xie Huaiyue come yet? Let's start eating first. The late bird catches no worm."
"Hey, I heard that," as if on cue, Xie Huaiyue climbed in through the window with a jar of wine in his hand.
"I'm late because of our good prince. That old fox Yan Yifan is so shrewd. He's really hard to deal with."
"I'm so smart. I managed to find out through many detours that the old guy is still very energetic. He secretly keeps a young and beautiful prostitute in the brothel. Tsk tsk ~ I wonder how many tonics he has to take every day."
Yi Yuan gave Xie Huaiyue a cold look.
"There are still ladies present. Watch your mouth."
After this bit of fun, the atmosphere finally relaxed and became lively.
They asked someone to move the feast into the room. Everyone ate, drank and chatted. They decided on a plan to secretly question Yan Yifan and also talked about the registration for the Qingyun Competition tomorrow.
"Although I don't have any connections to rely on, I still want to go there in person," Ye Xi said.
If she didn't go in person, how could she ask about Cao Wei's assassination attempt?