slave like jade

Chapter 67 Don't lie to me
That light yellow shirt was exactly what Yuan'er was wearing when the accident happened in Ziluoyuan that day!

An Lan's heart sank suddenly, and her hands trembled uncontrollably. She was afraid of being spotted, so she had to put her hands into her sleeves.There was no trace of panic on his face, he sighed and said softly, "Oh, my hands are a little numb after sitting for too long, and I can't even hold the teacup steadily."

However, the little girl Yuan'er was not as good as her. Although she lowered her head to hide the panic in her eyes by helping her wipe her clothes, her hands were shaking non-stop.An Lan frowned inaudibly, and said, "Forget it, don't wipe it, go back and replace it, we've been out for a long time."

"If Auntie doesn't want to help this servant, this servant has no choice but to ask His Highness for orders and find out the truth by herself!"

Before An Lan walked out of the pavilion, she froze when she heard Yu Ruyan's words. After a while, she turned her head slowly and said with a smile: "My sister wants to serve His Highness, so how can I investigate this kind of thing? Don't worry, now Leave it to me, and I promise to give my sister a satisfactory answer!"

She stared fixedly at the beautiful and moving woman in front of her, hating and fearing her in her heart!
She hated how she could easily get His Highness's favor from the same humble background, but she was smart and astute, and seemed to have noticed something, which made her tremble!
Yu Ruyan smiled in satisfaction, and bowed to thank her: "That's great, thank you, Auntie, for making it happen!"

Looking at the background of An Lan's departure, Yu Ruyan couldn't help frowning thoughtfully...

After walking a long way, Yuan'er was still afraid, she tremblingly said: "Master, does that lowly maid already know it's us..."

"Don't panic!" An Lan's face was expressionless, and a cold light flashed in her eyes: "She may have noticed something, but she has no evidence and is just testing us, so, at this time, keep calm and don't fall into her tricks. .”

"Then why did the master just promise her to investigate this matter?"

With a sneer, An Lan said disapprovingly, "Isn't she just trying to find out who hurt her that day? Don't worry, I have plenty of candidates for her!"

"Master, what should we do next? If people find out..." Yuan'er couldn't help but feel hairy when he thought of the way Yu Ruyan looked at her just now, and couldn't help moving closer to An Lan.

An Lan smiled lightly when she heard this, and didn't answer her.She took out a beautiful white jade seal in her bosom, her eyes became extremely hot, even a little crazy: "I originally only wanted to protect myself, but I didn't expect to get this seal by accident, only to find out that when people have power, they will It becomes completely different, this feeling is really great. Don't worry, I have worked hard to plan and finally got everything I want, how could it be possible for someone to take it away!"

Yuan'er thought about the secret between master and servant, and felt ecstasy in his heart, and said joyfully, "Master, why didn't you tell His Highness such good news?"

An Lan's eyes darkened, and she said coldly, "Now is not the time yet!"

Sending An Lan away, Yu Ruyan turned to look at the two people in the pavilion, and suddenly knelt down in front of them and sincerely thanked them: "Thank you two sisters for saving me last time, I couldn't come to thank you in person, please forgive me!"

Huaying was taken aback by her sudden action, she hurriedly stepped forward to help her up: "Why is this girl suddenly like this? We are all confused!"

Yu Ruyan said: "I saw it clearly that night. If the two sisters hadn't secretly brought me water and food, I'm afraid I would have starved to death in the firewood room. I will definitely remember this kindness in my heart and never forget it." !"

Seeing that she couldn't hide it, Hua Ying said with some embarrassment: "Young lady said it too seriously, it's just a bowl of rice!"

Yu Ruyan's heart warmed up, even though she couldn't see clearly in the woodshed that day, she still recognized the two of them who brought her water and food.She didn't dare to thank them in public because she was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble to the two of them and involving them in the struggle of the palace, but right now there is no one else here, so she must give her thanks!
Kuang Qinqin sat on the side coldly, turning a deaf ear to Yu Ruyan's gratitude, she frowned and said coldly, "Aunt An is not like Mrs An, she has a delicate mind, you can't just look down upon her, don't Relying on how many favors you have and forgetting about yourself... You are acting so recklessly, it is a trivial matter to hurt yourself, but don't hurt others!"

She has a beautiful face, but she is as cold as ice. Because she was given to Mu Lingzhi as a concubine by the prince, she has always disliked him. In addition, she has a cold temper and is not easy to get along with others, so she is not very popular in the palace!

Obviously reminding herself that An Lan is not easy to deal with, but what she said was ugly. Looking at Kuang Qinqin who was cold on the outside and hot on the inside, Yu Ruyan suddenly thought of another person——

Mask Assassin!

That day she was trapped in the woodshed, watching helplessly as the thin curtain led the people from Furongyuan to set fires around the woodshed.But in a short time, the firewood house became a sea of ​​flames. At that time, she cried out that the sky should not be answered, and the earth and the earth were not working. Seeing the increasingly fierce fire, she was completely hopeless, and she believed that she would not be able to survive.

What she didn't expect was that when she was waiting to die in despair, the door was kicked open, and in the raging fire, the silver mask on the visitor's face shone fiercely.

Without further ado, he picked her up and rushed out of the fire.The fire made her whole body hot, and the flames rushed to him.Seeing the silver mask so close to her, she was still in a dream, she couldn't believe that the masked assassin would suddenly appear and save her!
The masked assassin led her to jump out of the high courtyard wall and ran out. The cool night wind blew on her body and woke her up. She panicked: "Send me back, I can't leave the palace!"

Under the mask, the man frowned tightly, and said in a cold voice, "Is this what you mean by revenge? Heh, what kind of revenge are you talking about if you can't even protect yourself!"

No matter what he said Yu Ruyan insisted on going back, he stared at her for a while, and finally returned silently, took her back to the palace, threw her under the wall, turned and left.

"Hey, do you know Knife?"

Looking at the sword on his waist that was similar to a knife, and the last time I heard Mu Lingzhi say that this person might be the person he had assassinated, and that he actually knew his true identity, contacted various people, and felt There seems to be a connection with the knife.

Moreover, his attitude towards himself was also very strange, he was unfriendly but rescued her! ?
All kinds of questions in her heart made her unable to help asking, but before he could answer, there were footsteps in the distance.He glanced back at her, through the mask she couldn't see his description clearly but felt the sharp cold air emanating from his body, only heard him reply coldly: "I advise you not to know my identity, because--know me Everyone with identity is dead!"

Her whole body shook, Yu Ruyan felt the cold air spread from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Before she recovered from her shock, the masked man jumped out of the high wall and disappeared. At this moment, Mu Ling and his group also came In the backyard, Yu Ruyan heard their voices looking for her, but she didn't dare to show up until she thought of a way to say it, and then she slowly walked out from the shadow of the courtyard wall, against her will. Li Rong, an enemy who wanted her own life, was grateful as a benefactor.

She has no evidence that An Lirong sent a thin curtain to set her on fire. With her eyes and mouth alone, who would believe it?Most importantly, she didn't dare to let Mu Lingzhi know that she had private contacts with the assassin who wanted to kill him...
After bidding farewell to Huaying Kuang Qinqin, Yu Ruyan was called to Mu Lingzhi's study as soon as she returned to Yunsong Courtyard.

Mu Lingzhi was sitting behind the red sandalwood desk, frowning and looking at a post in his hand. Seeing Yu Ruyan coming in, he looked her up and down as if he didn't know her. I couldn't help beating the drums, for fear that something might go wrong again.

"What is your Highness calling me for?" Seeing that he was silent for a long time, Yu Ruyan swallowed her saliva and asked bravely.

"You know my brother?" Mu Lingzhi said coldly, his deep eyes shone coldly, and his whole body seemed to be enveloped in a layer of chill.

Having been by his side for so long, she somehow knew that Mu Lingzhi didn't like people from the Prince's Mansion to get too close to those from the Prince's Mansion.Seeing him asking this suddenly, and her face returning to the cold-blooded and cruel look before, her heart sank with a 'thump', and she stammered: "My lord... Your servant has never... not even the gate of the house. How did you know the prince?"

He knew that the more she lied, the smoother her words would be, and her stammering meant her words were credible.

His brows could not help but relax, he raised the post in his hand, and said suspiciously: "The crown prince's birthday will be three days later, and he will ask you to attend the banquet in the East Palace by name!"

Hearing this, she widened her eyes in surprise, unable to believe what she heard.She and the prince have never met, never even met face to face, why should the majestic future king call her on his birthday?

What's more, her current status is just a small servant in the palace!

A bad intuition welled up in her heart, and she hesitated: "Your Highness, how can a lowly person like a servant and maidservant be able to attend the Prince's birthday banquet? Besides, the servant and maidservant have never seen a big scene, I'm afraid... I'm afraid that when the time comes... ..."

Mu Lingzhi threw the post into her hand, and said coldly, "He asked you to go by name and surname, can you say no?"

Hearing that Yu Ruyan was going to attend the prince's birthday banquet with His Royal Highness, everyone in the whole house was envious of her, and they ran to her to flatter and flatter her, treating her like a future princess.

An Lan personally led the embroiderer from Jinxiu Zhuang to come in and tailor clothes for her. There were hundreds of colorful silks and satins in the whole room for her to choose, and all kinds of precious gold and silver jewelry in the warehouse were also brought out for her to match. Immediately, the entire palace was busy around her alone.

Compared to the enthusiasm of everyone in the palace, Yu Ruyan felt as if she was going up the mountain of swords and down into the sea of ​​flames.

She picked out a few pairs of fabrics at random, and when she turned her head, she saw An Lan sitting on a chair beside her, her face pale, and her expression seemed to be uncomfortable, while Yuan'er was busy giving her back, with a very worried expression on her face.

Her eyes flickered slightly, she walked over and asked with concern: "Aunt Gu's complexion is not very good, is there something wrong?"

An Lan raised her head and was about to answer her words when her throat tightened, she quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief and vomited, her face was as pale as paper, and cold sweat broke out.

Yuan'er hurriedly served tea for her to drink, An Lan gasped and said, "Sister Lao is worried, I just have a cold stomach these two days, and I feel a little uncomfortable."

Looking at her description, Yu Ruyan's heart was clear, and the questions that had been puzzling her for so long were answered. She looked at An Lan and said softly: "It seems that Auntie's condition is not very good. Do you want me to ask Dr. Wu to look at it for you?" Look!"

Feeling stagnant, An Lan managed to pull out a smile and said, "It's all minor problems, there's no need to alarm the doctor, thank you sister for your kindness."

After finishing speaking, she got up and said goodbye: "Since my sister has picked out everything, I won't stay here soon. Later, the nurse Xijiao will come into the mansion to teach my sister the rules of the palace, so we won't delay you."

Yu Ruyan nodded in response, sent her to the door, and said slowly: "The weather has turned cold recently, and Auntie has to be careful, especially—don't get cold!"

Hearing the words, An Lan panicked, holding Yuan'er's hand and walking away without looking back.

For tomorrow's banquet, Yu Ruyan was pressed into the tub by the maids to soak in fresh flowers. She was released from the tub until she was so tired that she almost fell asleep in the water. Just as I was about to hug the pillow and take a good night's sleep, something suddenly pressed down on my body——

She thought it was Mu Lingzhi who had returned, but when she opened her eyes, her heart tightened suddenly——

Under the bright light, who else is there besides Yu Xiaodao in those eyes shining like obsidian?
Yu Xiaodao leaned against the bed and bent down to look at her obsessively, reluctant to roll her eyes, but Yu Ruyan was completely shocked, she never expected that Xiaodao would appear in the palace, or in Mu Lingzhi's room inside!

She sat up in disbelief and reached out to touch Xiaodao's face, thinking that she was dreaming.The hand was tightly grasped halfway, Xiaodao pressed her hand to his cheek and caressed it nostalgicly, feeling both wronged and happy: "Sister, I finally found you!"

"Xiaodao, it's really you! You... why are you here?" Yu Ruyan was also very happy in her heart, but she was even more worried that Mu Lingzhi would suddenly come back from Gu Qing'er's room and find Xiaodao, so she hurriedly got out of bed He went to the window and looked carefully, he didn't feel relieved until he saw that the fire in Gu Qing'er's room had been turned off for sleeping.

Turning around, she carefully looked at the face holding the knife, seeing his haggard and thin face felt sad for a while, knowing that he must have suffered a lot in order to find her, and felt guilty all at once.

"Why don't you listen to your sister and go back to Qi? Do you know how dangerous it is for you to wander outside?" In Yu Ruyan's heart, Yu Xiaodao is her younger brother, a child who will never grow up. During that time, he was wandering outside alone, and his heart ached to death.

"Sister, you forgot. From the day you picked me up, I said that home is where there is a sister, so I will find you no matter where the world is!"

Xiaodao looked at her steadily, with a firm expression, and an astonishing light of heart and soul flashed in his dark eyes, which made Yu Ruyan's heart shudder!
Not seeing each other for several months, Yu Xiaodao's handsome cheeks unknowingly faded from immaturity, as if he had grown up in an instant, Yu Ruyan was startled, he was no longer the stubborn and impulsive young boy back then!
During these days of parting, what happened to him that made him change like this?

Before he had time to ask what happened to him during these days, Yu Xiaodao took her hand and walked out, his steps were firm, his thin lips were tightly pursed, and the expression on his face was unprecedentedly serious.

"Come with me, this time I won't leave you alone." He held her hand tightly, afraid of losing her.

Xiaodao's sudden move made Yu Ruyan flustered, she stopped involuntarily and wanted to break free from his hand: "Xiaodao, listen to me, I can't leave now!"

Hearing such an answer, Yu Xiaodao's handsome face actually showed a bit of hostility, he suddenly turned his head and stared at her fixedly, his dark eyes were piercingly cold, and said coldly: "Why did you stay here all this time? Is it because..." He didn't have the courage to say the following words, because he didn't want to believe such a fact.

He hugged Yu Ruyan tightly in his arms and said: "Sister, I don't want to see you suffer anymore. I want to take you away and live our lives in a place where no one knows us. Can you You know, this is the greatest wish of my life!"

She slammed into his arms suddenly, and her forehead hurt sharply.She raised her head in disbelief, and when she saw the hostility on Xiaodao's face, a huge wave surged in her heart.

Never before, Xiao Dao would only act coquettishly and playfully in front of her, and he has never been so serious as now.Such a small knife made her very strange, and she also felt a little timid.

She stared blankly at the gloomy young man in front of her and said softly, "Xiaodao, I haven't been by your side these days, did something happen? Can you tell my sister?"

Hearing this, Xiao Dao suddenly turned his head aside and said in a muffled voice, "I'm fine, I was just looking for you in a hurry, and nothing happened."

"Then..." She hesitated to express the question in her heart, but finally swallowed it down. Now the knife seems to be more sensitive and irritable, and she doesn't know how to say what is in her heart.

"I just want to ask you, are you going to follow me or not?" Xiaodao became very emotional, and he squeezed her wrist hard, causing her wrist to hurt.She couldn't help but let out a soft breath, Xiaodao heard it, saw the painful expression on her face, and knew that he had hurt her, so he quickly let go of her hand, pouting in distress to blow on her wrist, stuffy Said: "Sister... I didn't mean to!"

I still remember that when I returned to the palace with a scarred knife to help him deal with the wound, he tried to avoid the pain as if he was afraid of the pain. At that time, she was just like him at this time, breathing on his wound, letting him heal. Pain can be less...

At this time, Xiaodao seems to have returned to the way it was before, with clear eyes and innocent face, like a docile lamb, which can always arouse Yu Ruyan's desire to protect him, for fear that he will be bullied by others, so she protects him In his little arms.

Seeing him calm down, she said softly: "Xiao Dao, listen to my sister's words and get out of the mansion quickly. It's not safe here in the palace. I set up a small yard for Brother An outside. Go find her there, and wait for the opportunity." I will go out to see you..."

"Since it's an unsafe place, why must sister stay?" A cold light flashed in the dark eyes, and Yu Xiaodao's expression revealed a bit of despair.

Yu Ruyan didn't know how to answer him, was she going to tell him that she was already Mu Lingzhi's man, no matter what her status was, she might never be able to leave his side again.

Her lips twitched for a long time but she couldn't speak, her eyes flickered and she didn't dare to look at Xiao Dao's earnest eyes.However, her hesitation, reluctance and nostalgia were all seen by Xiaodao.He stared blankly at Yu Ruyan in front of him, with a trace of pain in his dark eyes, he suddenly let go of her hand and said coldly: "If you insist on staying... I once promised you, no matter what you say I have to agree, if this is the case, you don’t have to take care of my affairs from now on.” After saying that, before Yu Ruyan could react, he suddenly got up and jumped out, his movements were extremely fast, and he turned his head in the blink of an eye. Over the courtyard wall disappeared.

She wanted to call him to stop but she was afraid of alarming the people in the mansion, so she just let him go, her eyes were sore and uncomfortable, she knew that Xiaodao was angry and sad...

However, before she could recover from her grief, the door was suddenly kicked open, and Mu Lingzhi appeared in front of her in silver pajamas with a worried expression on his face.

The sound of the knife rushing out finally alarmed the always alert Mu Lingzhi!
He asked the hidden guard to chase after the knife, and he rushed back to the room immediately to see Yu Ruyan, for fear that something might happen to her.

When he saw that she was safe and sound, he was instantly relieved, but the panic and guilt in Yu Ruyan's eyes, which was too late to retract, made his heart tremble——

In the middle of the night, instead of sleeping on the bed, she stood in front of the window in a daze, and her expression was clearly flustered. When she saw him coming, she even dodged his eyes with guilt!

There was a dark surge in the deep eyes, and Mu Lingzhi's face instantly became terribly gloomy!
He was sure that the person who came was not from the house, but she was not only safe and sound, but she was not afraid at all, let alone calling for help. Could it be that the person who broke into his bedroom in the middle of the night was someone she knew! ?
She is just a small maidservant in the Imperial Palace of the Qi Kingdom, why is there still someone looking for her in Daliang, which is thousands of miles away?

Then he thought of his subordinates to report that she was missing that day and was sold to Qin Xianglou by street gangsters, but she escaped with the help of others.

Who was the person who helped her escape from Qinxiang Tower?

How many secrets are hidden in her body?

The phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously, and before she could speak, he had already stepped forward to pick her up and threw her onto the bed.

"Who is he?" He circled her to the corner of the bed, fixed her eyes on him, with a cold expression on her face, and murderous look in her eyes!
Yu Ruyan's whole body trembled, and her face turned pale. She never thought that Mu Lingzhi would find the knife!

Seeing the murderous look in his eyes, she trembled and her voice trembled: "His Highness..."

Her body was suppressed, her deep eyes looked at her gloomyly, her chin was pinched with cold hands, forcing her to raise her head and look at her——

"I ask again, who was that person just now?"

His hands went all the way down her smooth cheeks, and stopped on her delicate neck——

Her whole body was cold, and she couldn't move at all, except for shaking. Looking at his terrifying gaze, she was about to say a knife, but the coldness from her neck shook her whole body, and she regained her sanity in an instant.

No matter what, I can't give you a knife——

She stammered: "Your Highness...that person...that person is the previous assassin, he wore...a mask...couldn't see clearly..."

Hearing this, Mu Lingzhi's expression froze, as if he didn't expect this to happen. He stared at her firmly, with inquiry in his eyes, as if he was wondering whether her words were credible?
"Then why didn't he attack you? Also, aren't you afraid when you see an assassin?" His tone was cold and he didn't seem to care at all, but the coldness in his eyes made her shudder——

"He...he... the servant is sleeping. The servant didn't notice when he came in. As soon as he came in, he covered the mouth of the servant. The servant couldn't scream, and he didn't dare to shout. His goal is... It's His Highness, so...all this happened so suddenly, the servants thought they were in a dream, and His Highness came in before they could even think of it."

Looking at her steadily, his eyes moved slightly, and he let go of his hands after a while.

"I will definitely find out the identity of the assassin. I hope you are not lying to me by then!"

His deep and gloomy eyes seemed to see through all her thoughts, her heart was pounding, but she knew that at this time, she could not be distracted, so she could only force herself to calm down and look back at him peacefully.

When he opened the door, the guard waiting outside whispered to him. After hearing this, he showed a suspicious expression on his face, frowned, and said coldly, "Stay here, I'll go and see for myself."

With a jump, he disappeared under the vast night, and Yu Ruyan's heart sank with a 'thump', she knew that he went to grab the knife himself.

(End of this chapter)