The two maids had witnessed yesterday how everyone doted on Yun Xi. Seeing her get angry, they were so frightened that they "thumped" to their knees and quickly begged for mercy:
"Miss, please spare our lives. It was Miss Jiang. After she woke up and heard that you were in danger and on the verge of death, she was so worried that she didn't care about anything and wanted to come and see you. We really couldn't stop her..."
"Yes, miss. But we didn't dare let Miss Jiang walk here. We called for a sedan chair. It was just those few steps near the door. Miss Jiang happened to see the medicine for you being carried over from the small kitchen. She wanted to deliver it to you personally, so she got out of the sedan chair and walked a few steps. Please check into this clearly, miss..."
Jiang Ning also nodded in agreement and simply testified for the two maids. Then she couldn't wait to ask about Hun Yuan:
"Is he... Yuan. Will Yuan be punished so severely just for protecting me?"
With teary eyes, Jiang Ning looked innocent and confused:
"But... Why?"
"Can't Yuan protect me? Am I...?" Jiang Ning's voice was desolate and sad. "Am I not worthy?"
"How could that be!"
Yun Xi felt extremely heart - broken and flatly denied it. Then she quickly comforted the two maids a few words and told Sai Xing to take them down and reward them with something as compensation.
She carefully helped Jiang Ning lie down on the small couch.
Seeing that Jiang Ning had misunderstood what she had said before and that she had already heard about the consequences of Hun Yuan protecting her, if she tried to deceive her with words like "it won't happen" or "you heard wrong", it would only make her more anxious and uneasy. It would not only be bad for her recovery but might also make her do something unexpected out of worry.
Yun Xi thought for a while and softened her voice. First, she explained that the "protecting you" she had mentioned before meant that the royal family would eliminate all those who might distract Hun Yuan in order to keep his loyalty, not that Jiang Ning was not worthy of Hun Yuan's rescue when she was in danger. Then she comforted her:
"But you don't have to be too anxious. What A Yuan said just now would only happen if it was certain that senior brother had feelings for you."
"Now it's not difficult to get out of this dilemma. As long as we can prove that there is no private relationship between you two and that senior brother just saved you out of his usual kindness to help the people in trouble, there is still a glimmer of hope for a win - win situation."
"No wonder..."
Feeling a little relieved, Jiang Ning murmured. She lowered her eyes and was silent for a while. Then she suddenly pulled the corner of her mouth in an extremely ugly way and looked at Yun Xi:
"No wonder when I came of age, Yuan, who had promised me so well, left without saying a word. No wonder when I came to the capital, Yuan refused to recognize me. It turns out that he has been protecting me all the time."
"But I... I kept pestering him and chased after him..."
Jiang Ning suddenly got excited, and big tears welled up in her eyes:
"I'm so stupid, Xiao Xi! Ignorant, naive and terribly innocent!"
"A Ning..."
Yun Xi felt both heart - broken and worried. She was about to refute when Jiang Ning continued on her own:
"Yuan is no longer my Yuan. The moment he accepted the mantle from our master and guarded the imperial palace, he ceased to be my Yuan."
"He is the most powerful Taoist master in the Great Yin Dynasty. He is the reassurance for the royal family. He is the faith of all the people in the world. But he can no longer be my Yuan. I'm so stupid and delusional. I always thought he was still the Hun Yuan who stole me out and gave me a second life when we were kids. Relying on a bit of childhood friendship, I came to the capital alone, gambling that he couldn't let me go."
"I'm really stupid. I couldn't see the situation clearly. I had no understanding with Yuan at all. I didn't know that every time he pushed me away, it was all for my own good. In fact, from the very beginning, I shouldn't have come to the capital. I should have stayed at home and married peacefully. I..."
"A Ning."
Hun Yuan's voice suddenly rang out. It made Jiang Ning tremble when she heard it, instantly interrupting her words.
"Senior brother!"
Yun Xi was overjoyed.
Since Hun Yuan was here, it meant that the person in the palace might be more tolerant of this matter than she had thought.
Yun Xi got up and took two steps back. She sat down beside Yi Yuan, giving the seat to Hun Yuan who was walking slowly over.
Although they were in private, Hun Yuan no longer looked as slovenly as before, nor as serious as he did in front of outsiders. There was rare earnestness and affection in his eyes as he said:
"It was my selfishness. I thought that as long as I saw you less, nothing bad would happen. I didn't tell you that it was so dangerous to stay by my side."
"It was my luck - seeking. I thought I could get away with it. Day after day, things have come to this situation."
"My Taoist heart is not firm. I've let down our master and the Great Yin Dynasty. Also, because of my own selfishness, when I knew you came to the capital unmarried, I was only happy. I kept delaying and didn't have the heart to cut off my thoughts and send you back."
"A Ning..."
Hun Yuan smiled faintly, bitterly but calmly:
"All the punishments are my own doing. It has nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself."
Jiang Ning couldn't stop the tears in her eyes. She shook her head and couldn't say a word for a long time.
Yun Xi wanted to say something to comfort them, but she opened her mouth and didn't know what to say.
This was a dead end.
There was no way to solve it or break it.
Just then, a maid outside came to report that Xie Huaiyue was here to visit.
Yun Xi and Yi Yuan looked at each other. If Xie Huaiyue was here, it must be about the mural.
Knowing that they had important matters to attend to, Jiang Ning immediately turned her head, wiped away her tears and said:
"You go and do your business. Don't worry about me. I just want to be alone for a while."
Hun Yuan looked deeply at Jiang Ning. Hesitating, he stepped forward and touched Jiang Ning's head as he did when they were kids. He softly replied:
"Okay."
After saying that, he turned around. There was a hint of determination in his action.
Yun Xi sighed. She told the servants to take good care of Jiang Ning and then walked out with Yi Yuan.
The group came to the side hall. Besides Xie Huaiyue, Yun Weisheng, Liu Jingyue and Yun Qi, who had got the news, also rushed over. They were all looking forward to getting some good news.
After a simple greeting, Xie Huaiyue carefully opened the scroll in her hand and said:
"The details of the rubbing might be blurred, and I was afraid there would be omissions in the copy. So I asked people to prepare one of each. Maybe we can get more clues by comparing them."
Yun Xi and the others sincerely praised Xie Huaiyue for her thoughtfulness. When they took a closer look, they saw several messy marks on the rubbing scroll, obviously the traces left after someone had deliberately destroyed it.
Yun Xi couldn't help but praise Xie Huaiyue again in her heart. She began to carefully examine the details inside. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yi Yuan suddenly point and say:
"What's this?"
Everyone was stunned. They looked in the direction he pointed. They saw a bare - chested man with an unclear face. One hand was in a strange posture, and the other was stretching forward to the side.
And the place Yi Yuan's fingertip pointed to was the man's wrist.
Even though it was a very small area, Yun Xi immediately recognized what was on the wrist -
A bright red and cyan snake's head on the forehead!
Yun Xi held her breath. She looked up and met Hun Yuan's eyes directly.
They were silent for a moment and then said in unison:
"Debris."
"Stained."