The rain was pouring down, getting heavier and heavier.
It was noon, but the sky was gray.
The rain quickly soaked Liuzheng’s face, washing away the black ash she had deliberately applied, revealing her beautiful face.
But Liuzheng didn’t dare to delay for even a quarter of an hour. She knew that it was the mudslide brought about by the continuous heavy rain.
She rode her horse along the way, and when she passed an inn, she stopped to ask if the old lady had stayed there.
But after asking at three different inns, none of them had it.
No one had ever seen the old lady, nor anyone from the second or third branch of the family.
But she had already ridden her horse far out of the capital.
Ahead lies the Yuguan Pass. Even if the old lady and her entourage travel slowly, they should have reached this point by now.
Unless, the old lady never left the Summer Palace at all.
Upon hearing this guess, Liuzheng’s face turned deathly pale.
“Giddy up!” She squeezed the horse’s flanks with her legs, increasing its speed.
After passing through the Yuguan Pass, it was almost evening.
Seeing an inn ahead, she immediately dismounted and went inside to inquire.
The old lady still hasn’t come.
Fortunately, she had already made arrangements with Yu Liu. If she hadn’t returned before the city gates were locked, Yu Liu would do something first, and then continue to impersonate her and return to the General’s Mansion.
If a woman doesn’t come home at night, it’s not a good thing to hear.
The First Madam is under house arrest because of the matter of the top scholar’s wife, and she is unlikely to come looking for her anytime soon. As long as Yu Liu continues to impersonate her, no one will know that she is not in the mansion.
When she takes her grandmother back, with her grandmother there, she will have a reasonable reason for the First Madam and the First Master not to hold her accountable for “not returning home at night”.
Liuzheng did not linger any longer, turned around and left the inn, stepping into the raging wind and rain.
No matter what happens, she will never let her grandmother die again!
The heavy rain continued unabated.
Liuzheng changed horses at the post station and traveled day and night until she finally arrived at the Summer Palace.
The resort is located halfway up Qingfeng Mountain. It is cool in summer and has hot springs in winter. My grandmother spends most of the year here.
The roads are slippery when it rains, and no matter how hard you crack the whip, the horse will still walk very slowly.
Liuzheng simply tied her horse to an abandoned stone house and walked up Qingfeng Mountain.
In her past life, she had never witnessed a mudslide, but she could imagine how terrible the situation must have been at the Summer Palace.
The grandmother, the eldest and third wives, maids and servants a total of thirty-five people all perished here.
And they couldn’t even dig up the body.
The thought that this situation might happen again sent a chill down Liuzheng’s spine, and she quickened her pace toward the villa.
We passed a mountain villa on the way and saw that it was brightly lit, so people were obviously living there.
This place is only a hundred meters away from my grandmother’s summer resort. If a mudslide were to occur, this family would probably be…
Without hesitation, Liuzheng quickly stepped forward and knocked on the door.
“Knock knock knock “
Soon a servant came out to open the door.
Seeing that it was an unfamiliar face, he asked in confusion, “Young master, who are you looking for?”
“I’m not looking for anyone,” Liuzheng said bluntly. “The continuous heavy rain has made the mountain unstable, and this place is prone to mudslides. Please inform your master as soon as possible and leave immediately.”
The servant’s eyes widened immediately.
“Mudslide?”
“That’s right!” Liuzheng added, fearing that these people wouldn’t listen to her, “I am the young master of the Ruan family’s summer resort. We are about to leave, so you should leave quickly too! If I’m wrong, you can come to the Ruan family’s residence to settle accounts with me.”
After saying that, she didn’t linger and turned to continue up the mountain.
The servant dared not delay and hurriedly ran inside to report to his master.
“Mudslide?” The noblewoman in the villa frowned slightly. “There has never been a mudslide here.”
“That man said he was the young master of the Ruan family’s summer resort. If he’s lying, we should go find him.”
The elegant lady’s maid immediately said, “Madam, whether it’s true or not, the heavy rain has indeed been going on for four days without stopping. Why don’t we retreat to the inn at the foot of the mountain first… If nothing happens after the rain stops, we can come back later.”
The lady, however, was still hesitant.
She glanced down at her noticeably protruding belly and said, “I’m heavy and don’t want to go through all that trouble. Besides, my husband has already agreed to come and take me back to the capital next month when the weather gets cooler.”
“Madam!” The old woman knelt down. “But if it’s true, then… we won’t be able to wait for Master to come and fetch us!”
The lady finally relented.
“Alright, let’s pack some personal clothes and head down the mountain.”
“yes!”
A group of people immediately got to work.
As the lady got into the sedan chair, she was still saying, “If it weren’t for the mudslide, I would definitely go and settle accounts with them.”
“Yes! This servant recognizes the Ruan family; they run a school. I will personally lead people to their home.”
“Um.”
The lady closed her eyes wearily: “Let’s go!”
She was getting old, but she became pregnant.
The doctor said it was a girl.
She was delighted.
She gave birth to two sons, both of whom were stationed at the border fortress and did not return even when the army returned to the city.
Although her husband loved her dearly, he was always very busy because of his high position and power.
She was very lonely and had long wanted a daughter to keep her company.
Even though everyone said she was an old clam that gave birth to a pearl, she didn’t feel ashamed at all.
She didn’t want to go through the trouble of going down the mountain this time, firstly because she was late in her pregnancy and felt lazy, and secondly because she was afraid of upsetting the baby.
However, what you fear most is what happens.
After walking for a while, the sedan chair bearers slipped and fell because the road was slippery due to the rain.
The sedan chair overturned, and the lady fell heavily to the ground, suffering unbearable abdominal pain.
“Madam! Madam!!”
The old woman screamed in surprise.
The scene was in complete chaos.
But at that moment, dozens of streaks of fire began to wind their way up the mountain road, like a fiery dragon.
A group of people carrying torches were coming up the mountain.
The leader, riding a brown steed, was dressed in black robes soaked by the rain, yet he showed no sign of dishevelment; to those present, he appeared as a god descending from heaven.
Someone recognized the man.
“Prince Su! It’s Prince Su!”
“Your Highness! Save my wife!”
The group of men immediately stepped forward.
“Your Highness, it’s the Duchess of Wei…”
“Save people.”
“yes!”
Several large hands steadily supported the sedan chair, quickly bringing the person down the mountain.
Prince Su looked up at the mountain.
“You few, go down the mountain with the Duchess; you, continue up the mountain with me!”
“yes!”
On the other side.
Liuzheng had already arrived at the Summer Palace before the Duchess and her entourage descended the mountain.
She wore a straw hat, and the gatekeeper didn’t recognize her. She didn’t bother to explain and just barged in, heading straight for her grandmother’s courtyard.
“Halt! Halt! Who are you? How dare you trespass on a private residence?”
Ignoring the shouts behind her, Liuzheng rushed into the house.
While Madam Ruan was chatting with the third wife of the third branch of the family, she heard the commotion and sent someone out to inquire.
Before she could even step out the door, Liuzheng had already strode in.
“grandmother!”
She knelt down and kowtowed deeply.
The old lady froze, and asked in astonishment, “You are…?”
The third wife instinctively stepped in front of the old lady.
Seeing that something was wrong, Granny Qian immediately shouted, “Guards! Tie up this thief who broke into our private home and drag him out!”
“Yes!” The servant who had chased in immediately rushed over.
Liuzheng immediately took off the straw hat on her head.
“It’s me, Grandmother, it’s Yao Yao…”
Before the old lady could speak, Granny Qian interrupted, “What Yaoyao? I can clearly see you’re a thief, yet you dare to impersonate the young lady. What are you all standing there for? Drag her out and send her to the yamen immediately!”
Liuzheng subconsciously reached for the sword at her waist.
But then she remembered that she had given the sword to Yu Liu to impersonate her.
As a group of servants approached, Liuzheng was about to knock them down before explaining when the old lady spoke up: “Wait. You… raise your head.”
Liuzheng looked up, her eyes red, at the old lady.
The old lady had indeed aged; many wrinkles had appeared at the corners of her eyes, and her temples were noticeably gray.
When she looked at the old lady, the old lady was also looking at her.
At a glance, the old lady recognized Liuzheng.
“Yaoyao, you really are Yaoyao!”
She practically raised Liuzheng herself when she was little, and she looked very similar to Ruan Changzheng, so even after nine years apart, she could recognize her immediately.
Granny Qian wanted to say something more, but she saw that the old lady had already excitedly stood up from the armchair and walked a few steps to Liuzheng. She had no choice but to swallow her words.
The old lady stroked Liuzheng’s face and looked her over carefully.
“Good child… my old eyes are failing me, I didn’t recognize you just now!”
“It’s normal that Grandma didn’t recognize Yao Yao at first because she was dressed as a boy.”
“You’ve suffered so much at the border! Look how thin you are! You used to have such a plump face.”
He then instructed the third wife, “Prepare hot water. Yao Yao is soaked to the bone; be careful she doesn’t catch a cold.”
The old lady’s eyes were filled with excitement and concern.
Liuzheng also had a lot to say to her grandmother, but the mudslide wouldn’t wait for anyone.
She got up from the ground, took the old lady’s arm and said, “Grandmother, no rush. Yaoyao has come to take you back. We can talk in detail when we get back to the capital.”
“It’s raining heavily outside, no rush. Once the rain stops and I’ve finished copying my hundred Buddhist scriptures, we can go back together.”
“What, one hundred Buddhist scriptures?”
A guilty look flashed in Granny Qian’s eyes as she quietly retreated towards the door.
The old lady said, “It was someone close to me who said that a high monk advised me that you had committed too many killings on the frontier, which would be detrimental to your future. Therefore, he asked me to copy Buddhist scriptures for you a hundred times.”
The third wife said from the side, “Yaoyao, the old lady has been copying Buddhist scriptures for you day and night. I just forced her to take a break, and she has only just put down her pen.”
Liuzheng smiled slightly: “Thank you, Grandmother. I just don’t know which servant told you this?”
“yes……”
The old lady looked up and saw that Granny Qian, who had been there just moments before, was now nowhere to be seen.
“It’s Granny Qian. You’ve met her before; she used to serve me. Granny Qian… Strange, where is she?”
Liuzheng sneered inwardly.
This Granny Qian, she was clearly at the Ruan residence when she returned to the capital, but now she’s come here without a word.
Now that things have come to this, how could Liuzheng not understand what really happened?
It must have been the work of the First Madam and Ruan Yunzheng!
Her grandmother doted on her, and if her grandmother were to return, Ruan Yunzheng would probably not have much of a place in the family.
Therefore, they sent Granny Qian over to stop the old lady from going back.
I just don’t know if they even knew about the mudslide.