If they had known there would be a mudslide, they would be guilty beyond redemption!
However, Liuzheng doesn’t have much time to deal with these things right now; getting the old lady away is the priority.
“Grandmother,” Liuzheng said, “it doesn’t matter where you copy Buddhist scriptures, as long as you are sincere. On the way here, Yaoyao heard that a mudslide is about to happen here. Please come with me quickly.”
“mudslide?”
The old lady was stunned, and the third lady’s expression changed instantly.
The third wife, her face pale, said, “Grandma, all the people from our second and third households are at the manor…”
The old lady glanced at Liuzheng and asked for confirmation, “Yaoyao, are you sure a mudslide is going to happen?”
“I’m sure! Grandmother, please believe me just this once!”
“Alright, Grandmother believes you.” She turned to the Third Madam and instructed, “Beat the gong and tell everyone to come out quickly. There’s no need to pack anything; let’s leave now.”
“yes!”
The third wife went to call for help by beating a gong.
Liuzheng helped the old lady put on her cloak and then sent someone to find Pan Zhan.
Pan Zhan arrived quickly, looking weak.
“What’s wrong with you?” Liuzheng asked in surprise.
Pan Zhan explained the reason.
He was originally going to take the old lady away the day he arrived, but she said it was too dark to travel and she wanted to stay overnight and leave the next morning.
However, when Pan Zhan woke up, he felt dizzy and weak all over, and couldn’t get up at all.
I only came today because I heard that Liuzheng had arrived, so I forced myself to come over despite my illness and using a cane.
Liuzheng grabbed his arm and placed her hand on his pulse.
“You’ve been poisoned! It’s rickets, not fatal, but it will cause weakness and drowsiness.”
Pan Zhan’s eyes widened.
“This, this…”
Liuzheng ordered her servants to help Pan Zhan out the door.
“You go down the mountain first, and I will bring Grandmother down later.”
Pan Zhan knew he couldn’t be of much help in his current situation, and it would be good enough if he didn’t become a burden, so he obediently went down the mountain with the help of the servant and an umbrella.
Liuzheng instructed the servants to take the old lady and the others down the mountain first, while she went to find Granny Qian.
Pan Zhan’s poison requires an antidote, and Granny Qian must have the antidote on her. She dares not kill Pan Zhan directly, as that would be a serious crime.
However, something unexpected happened on the second wife’s side.
The second wife’s family initially refused to leave.
“A young woman can make things up and an old lady can believe her. Nothing ever happened here when the old master was alive, so we’re not leaving!”
“Exactly, who wants to deal with her in this rainy weather? Nothing good ever comes of her coming back!” said Ruan Baizheng, the fourth daughter of the second wife.
They only moved out when the Third Madam herself came to urge them.
But halfway there, the fourth young lady of the second wife, Ruan Baizheng, suddenly remembered that she hadn’t taken her favorite gold hairpins, so she turned back.
Just then, a huge rock rolled down from the top of the mountain and smashed into a house.
Fortunately, it was a livestock pen, and no one was injured or killed, except for the loss of three horses.
Now the horse-drawn carriage is unusable; we can only use a sedan chair.
Ruan Baizheng, on her way back to retrieve her hairpin, was struck on the forehead by a stray rock.
Blood kept flowing from his forehead.
“Sister Bai!”
“Call a doctor!”
For a time, the second wife’s side was in complete chaos.
The third wife had no choice but to withdraw and report back to the old lady.
“Mother, why don’t you go down the mountain first? I’ll wait for Second Master and the others here,” said the Third Madam.
The old lady, however, was still worried and refused to leave first.
“We’ll go down the mountain together once they come out.”
Meanwhile, Liuzheng searched the manor and, although she couldn’t find Granny Qian, she did find a packet of antidote in Granny Qian’s room.
When they came out with the antidote, they found their grandmother and the others standing at the door.
“Grandmother, why haven’t you left yet?” she hurriedly went to greet her.
“You haven’t come out, and neither have your second uncle and aunt. I’m worried…”
“I will try to persuade my second uncle and the others. You should go down the mountain first.”
The old lady said, “Granny Dou, go and urge them again. Tell them it’s my order, and no one is allowed to pack any more luggage.”
“Yes!” Granny Dou hurriedly went to the second house.
Liuzheng, however, did not want her grandmother to wait any longer.
If the second wife’s family doesn’t want to leave, then let them go!
We can’t all die with them.
Just then, the ground shook.
The mountainside was already beginning to tremble slowly.
Several large trees have already fallen.
“Grandma! Let’s go!” Liuzheng urged, “Get on my back, I’ll carry you down the mountain!”
“But your second uncle and the others…”
“They will catch up.” Liuzheng squatted down without saying another word.
The mountain road was slippery, and riding in a sedan chair was too slow; it was better for her to walk.
Liuzheng had already squatted down, but the old lady, out of kindness, was still unwilling to leave the second branch of the family behind, and said, “Wait a little longer, Granny Dou will bring them out soon.”
Rocks kept falling from the mountain, and a mudslide could break out at any time. Liuzheng was unwilling to let her grandmother wait.
She raised her hand, but her grandmother wouldn’t listen, so she had no choice but to use force and carry the old lady down the mountain.
However, before they could do anything, the ground trembled slightly.
Liuzheng thought a mudslide was coming and her heart tightened. She was about to carry the old lady and run down the mountain when she saw a group of people carrying torches coming towards them.
From a distance, Liuzheng couldn’t see the person clearly, but she vaguely guessed whose people it was.
That day, Prince Su sent his steward to deliver housewarming gifts. The steward told the prince that if he needed any help, he should go to him.
Liuzheng didn’t stand on ceremony.
Before leaving the city, fearing something might happen at the manor, she instructed Yu Liu in advance that if she hadn’t returned by nightfall, she should go to the Prince’s mansion to ask for reinforcements.
Those who have arrived must be from the Prince’s residence.
With their arrival, she could finally catch her breath.
Her strength alone is too weak.
We can only save the old lady.
Liuzheng instructed the Third Madam to take good care of the Old Madam, and then ordered the servant to urge the Second Branch of the family to hurry up before running towards the group heading up the mountain.
Liuzheng moved swiftly.
Finally, she saw the man in black at the head of the group.
That blurry face suddenly became clear at that moment.
He was soaked to the bone, but his dark eyes were incredibly bright, flashing with a cold, sharp light, as he looked at her through the thick fog.
Liuzheng looked bewildered: “Little…Little Hengzi?”
Overjoyed, she grabbed the man’s sleeve from the horse.
“Xiao Hengzi, you’re not dead?! That’s great! You’re not dead!! I thought you…”
But the person was thrown away in the next instant.
If Liuzheng hadn’t had a stable stance, she would have already fallen to the ground.
Quickly regaining her balance, Liuzheng frowned and glared at him.
“Xiao Hengzi, have you gone mad?”
How dare he push her?
Who dug him out of the pile of corpses and saved him?
Just as she was about to unleash a torrent of curses, a bearded man stepped forward, drew his sword, and pointed it at her.
“How dare you! His Highness Prince Su is here! Kneel down!”
Liuzheng froze, staring blankly at the man on horseback.
“You…you are Prince Su? You’re not Prince Xiao Heng?”
The man looked over coldly.
Their eyes met; his gaze was cold yet weighty.
A drop of rain clung to her eyelashes, trickling down from the corner of her eye, across her high, straight nose, and her tightly pursed lips.
This face is clearly her Xiao Hengzi’s.
But his expression, his overall demeanor, and his luxurious clothes were completely different from Xiao Hengzi’s.
He… is really not Xiao Hengzi.
How could there be such similar people in the world?
Her thoughts were in complete disarray.
“How dare you! How dare you look directly at the Prince!” the bearded man reprimanded again.
Liuzheng snapped out of her daze and quickly looked away.
She must have admitted her mistake.
Her son, Xiao Hengzi, would not allow his subordinates to treat her like that.
Liuzheng lowered her eyes and clasped her hands in a fist: “This humble general, Ruan Shi Liuzheng, mistook you for someone else just now. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
Prince Su kept his eyes fixed on Liuzheng, suppressing the turbulent emotions surging within him. To outsiders, however, his expression appeared to be one of displeasure.
But for some reason, he felt a slight pain in his chest.
Prince Su freed one hand and pressed it against his chest, and the discomfort slowly subsided.
He glanced at the chaotic crowd at the entrance of the manor and asked, “You sent someone to the Prince’s mansion saying you needed help?”
“yes……”
Liuzheng suppressed the complex emotions in her heart and said, “With the continuous heavy rain, the soil on the mountain here is loose and mudslides may occur, so… Liuzheng boldly asked the Prince’s Palace to borrow people.”
She never expected that Prince Su would come in person.
What was even more unexpected was that Prince Su actually looked exactly like the deceased Prince Heng.
“Who told you that a mudslide would occur?” Prince Su asked.
“I will not take myself…”
Prince Su gave her a deep look, which made Liuzheng feel uneasy.
I always have this feeling that he’s spying on my secrets.
She quickly added, “A huge rock just fell and smashed the livestock shed. If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, you can send someone to see for yourself.”
Prince Su was silent for a moment, then quickly spoke: “What do you need me to do?”
Liuzheng’s back stiffened slightly, but her mouth moved faster than her brain: “We have many women and our horses are damaged, so we can’t get down the mountain quickly. We need your people to help us get down.”
“Do you have a sedan chair?”
“Yes, but it’s slower to go down the mountain by sedan chair…”
“That’s because your men are slow at carrying the sedan chair.”
As he spoke, he instructed the men behind him: “Carry the sedan chairs! Make sure everyone is taken down the mountain!”
Liuzheng glanced at the soldiers in black armor behind him.
They are highly trained and are by no means ordinary people. They have a stable lower body, great strength, and can walk much faster than ordinary sedan chair carriers.
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“No need to thank me. After you go down the mountain, wait for me at Changfu Inn. If there is no mudslide, I will punish you, so be prepared.”
Liuzheng found it somewhat amusing.
Why should she be punished even though a mudslide didn’t occur?
If he didn’t want to help, he didn’t have to come. Now that he’s already here, why is he saying all this?
However, since she needed someone’s help and their status was different, she dared not say much and only said, “Yes.”
Prince Su dismounted at this point.
“Leave the rest to me, you take the old lady and leave quickly.”
After saying that, he personally directed his men to help.
Liuzheng was responsible for helping the old lady into the sedan chair.
Inside the sedan chair, the third wife and her two children from the third wife’s household traveled together.
As for the second branch of the family, when Prince Su heard that things were still in chaos there, he ordered his men to drag everyone out of the house one by one and force them into the sedan chair.
They were all warriors who only obeyed the prince and paid no heed to the wailing of the second wife’s family.
Liuzheng and Prince Su worked together in a surprisingly harmonious way.
A large group of people quickly headed down the mountain.
An hour later, everyone from the mountain villa arrived safely at Changfu Inn.
Liuzheng helped her grandmother sit down in the guest room. Her eyes were visibly red, but she was trying her best to suppress her excitement.
Reborn, she saved her grandmother, and her grandmother did not die!
No one knows how happy she was at that moment!
If she were still in the army, she would definitely drink a whole pot of wine to celebrate!
“Cough, Grandmother…” Liuzheng cleared her slightly hoarse voice and said, “You’ve been caught in the rain. Quickly take a hot bath and change into dry clothes so you don’t catch a cold.”
The old lady nodded.
“You should hurry up and go too. I didn’t get too wet, but you look like you were pulled out of the water. You’re so thin now, what if you catch a cold?”
Liuzheng wanted to say that although she looked thin, she was very strong.
It’s just a light rain; you won’t catch a cold.
But the words caught in his throat: “Yes…”
Just as Liuzheng was about to leave, the second branch of the family started making a scene.
The first to push open the door was Ruan Baizheng, the fourth young lady of the Ruan family, who was only three months younger than Ruan Yunzheng.
“Ruan Liuzheng!” Her forehead was already bandaged, and she looked very unwell. “I haven’t had time to put away my gold hairpins yet. Send someone to retrieve them for me right now!”
His tone was full of commands.
Liuzheng disliked this fourth young lady very much. She was arrogant and rude when they were young, and she is still the same now.
She said expressionlessly, “The mudslide is coming soon. Going up the mountain now is tantamount to suicide.”
Ruan Baizheng sneered and said, “Mudslide? We’ve been coming down the mountain for an hour now, where would a mudslide come from? If you hadn’t been urging me, I would have packed everything up long ago. You have to return my hairpin!”
She completely forgot that it was because of these hairpins that her forehead was injured.