Chapter 19: Trust and Distrust
The deep of night had passed. The crowd by the lake grew smaller and smaller, and it became quieter and quieter. No matter how wild the celebration, one eventually had to rest.
Meng Qingshu had originally been by the lake, entertaining distinguished guests on behalf of his City Lord, toasting princes and nobles. But now, as the guests gradually dispersed, Meng Qingshu couldn’t hold on any longer and was preparing to take Little Jiu’er back to the manor to rest.
He handed the venue over to Lu Ai and Zheng Ke to clean up and turned to look for Little Jiu’er.
Huh?
Seeing the empty space behind him, Meng Qingshu was slightly stunned.
A shadow guard had handed him a little boy with red, swollen eyes from crying this afternoon, saying it was to help the City Lord take care of him. Meng Qingshu had almost burst into tears himself, thinking it was the City Lord’s child.
But after understanding the whole story, Meng Qingshu’s heart immediately ached for the child. He had planned to buy him candy to comfort him, but today had been too busy. One moment, there wasn’t enough food for the festival; the next, some distinguished guest arrived; then, someone got into a dispute with someone else. Instead, he had been the one dragging the child around everywhere.
Now the child was missing. Meng Qingshu suppressed his nervousness and ran a lap around the lake.
“Little Jiu’er!”
“Little Jiu’er, where are you!”
Chen Zhishu’s deputy saw Meng Qingshu’s flushed cheeks, running around looking for something, and asked, “Are you looking for someone?”
“Yes.” Meng Qingshu described Little Jiu’er’s appearance to the deputy.
The deputy nodded and said he would have his subordinates keep an eye out as well.
Meng Qingshu was extremely grateful.
After a few more laps, Meng Qingshu finally encountered one of Chen Zhishu’s subordinates, who said he had seen Little Jiu’er leave the festival and head east.
Meng Qingshu immediately headed in the direction the man had indicated.
The shops on both sides of the eastern street were all closed for the night. The street was deserted. Except for the occasional clamor from the festival, it was completely quiet here.
It was pitch black. Meng Qingshu was a little annoyed with himself for not bringing a lantern.
Swoosh—
Meng Qingshu froze.
Rubbing his eyes, Meng Qingshu headed towards the corner where a dark shadow seemed to have flitted past. Around the corner from the cloth shop was a small alley. Meng Qingshu looked, but there was no one in sight. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a deliberately suppressed curse of “bastard” from around the bend in the alley.
Meng Qingshu froze, then lightened his steps and slowly approached, pressing himself against the wall and peeking out.
He saw two men in black standing to the side. One of them said, “Did that little boy just now hear what we said?”
“Don’t worry, my lord. I’ve already sent the shadow guards to find him.”
“Once you find him, don’t leave him alive! But don’t let the body be discovered either. Find a place to dispose of it.”
Meng Qingshu’s face turned pale, and his legs began to tremble.
Who were those two men? Was the little boy they were talking about Little Jiu’er!
Just as Meng Qingshu was about to quietly slip away to ask Chen Zhishu for help, the two men behind the wall suddenly fell silent and began to approach his location without a word.
He probably didn’t know martial arts and couldn’t hide his presence, so he had been discovered.
Meng Qingshu could no longer care about anything else. He took a deep breath and ran for his life.
“After him!”
Meng Qingshu’s mind was a mess. The fear of possibly losing his life was the only thing propelling him forward. The fierce wind from his running made his cheeks sting.
“Help! Help—”
The city was currently a mix of dragons and fish, and the Emperor was also here. The city guards were stricter than usual. Meng Qingshu believed that if he shouted like this, someone would come soon.
“Help…!!”
It seemed there was someone on horseback coming towards him.
At the same time, the men in black behind him had also caught up. Meng Qingshu felt a fierce wind attack him, and his body lost its balance, falling to the ground with a thump.
Meng Qingshu scrambled to get up, and when he turned his head, he saw the man in black standing behind him, raising his sword to strike his back.
Meng Qingshu gritted his teeth and covered his head.
“Meng Qingshu!”
With a clang, the sword was blocked by another sword that came out of nowhere.
Chen Zhishu leaped forward, and with a sweep of his sword, he directly injured the unprepared man in black. The man was even sent flying by the fierce sword wind, crashing into a nearby wall and losing consciousness.
The subordinates who had arrived behind Chen Zhishu immediately came forward, tied up the man in black, and dragged him away.
“Meng Qishu, are you hurt!”
Chen Zhishu squatted down and helped Meng Qingshu up.
“No… no…” Meng Qingshu had just survived a disaster. Only now did he feel exhausted. His whole body went limp in Chen Zhishu’s arms. Chen Zhishu subconsciously used his strength to hold him. The body in his arms was soft and still trembling.
Meng Qingshu had grown up here, had not seen much of the world, and had never encountered any major disasters. This was the first time something like this had happened.
Chen Zhishu looked at the white ball in his arms and felt a strange mix of emotions in his heart. He felt sorry for the exhausted Meng Qingshu, angry at the villains, but also a little happy, satisfied by Meng Qingshu’s dependence.
In the end, all his swirling emotions turned into a single phrase: “Don’t be afraid.”
“Mm.” Meng Qingshu sniffled, took a deep breath, and said, “We have to find Little Jiu’er! Those villains have other people. Little Jiu’er is in danger.”
“Don’t you worry. I’ll escort you back first,” Chen Zhishu said softly. “Others will look for Little Jiu’er. The Emperor has also come out with the City Lord.”
“Th-then that’s good. It’s all my fault…” Meng Qingshu lowered his head. “I didn’t look after Little Jiu’er properly.”
“It’s not your fault.” Seeing Meng Qingshu pulling on his sleeve, Chen Zhishu squatted down.
“Get on.”
“…Ah?”
“I’ll carry you.”
Meng Qingshu’s face flushed red with a poof. He stammered, “I… I can walk by myself!”
The bare back before him didn’t move, like a sturdy mountain.
So, Meng Qingshu closed his eyes and leaned on hesitantly. His chest was pressed against his back, and Chen Zhishu could feel Meng Qingshu’s rapid heartbeat, which made him nervous as well.
“You’re quite light…” More than just light, Chen Zhishu thought. It feels like he has no weight.
“L-let’s go back.” Meng Qingshu looked around. Chen Zhishu’s deputy and subordinates were still… still there…
“Mm.”
XXXXXXX
When Li Jianyu received the news from Chen Zhishu’s deputy that Little Jiu’er was missing, he immediately threw on a cloak and left the City Lord’s manor on horseback without delay.
Zhao Linxu was not yet asleep and was practicing his sword in the courtyard. Hearing from the deputy that the matter seemed to be more complicated, with other involvements, Zhao Linxu simply followed Li Jianyu.
The eastern street had been completely sealed off. Chen Zhishu’s subordinates were tracking footprints and clues.
“Your Majesty! There are bloodstains behind the Wanfu Teahouse.”
Hearing this, Zhao Linxu immediately followed the deputy.
Li Jianyu looked around. The street was full of soldiers holding torches. The bad guys probably couldn’t escape, unless…
Li Jianyu frowned slightly and summoned Lu Ai and Zheng Ke.
“What are the City Lord’s orders?”
Li Jianyu lowered his voice and said in Lu Ai’s ear, “You and Chen Zhishu’s deputy go and check the people here. Confirm if they all belong to your command.”
Lu Ai was stunned.
“This…”
Li Jianyu said, “Don’t let others know.”
“Alright.” Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lu Ai didn’t dare to be negligent. He pulled the deputy aside and said a few words, and then the two of them began to secretly observe the people nearby. Zheng Ke, on the other hand, rode on horseback beside Li Jianyu, on alert.
“City Lord!”
One of the soldiers rode over from a distance. “City Lord! A shoe has been found!”
The horse stopped in front of Li Jianyu, and the soldier respectfully handed him a shoe. “It was found at the street corner.”
Li Jianyu took the cloth shoe, and his brows furrowed tightly.
He wasn’t sure if this belonged to Little Jiu’er. After all, Meng Qingshu had already changed Little Jiu’er’s clothes and shoes. Fortunately, no matter what, the shoe was not badly damaged and had no bloodstains.
“Take me there.”
“Yes!”
Li Jianyu and Zheng Ke followed the soldier to a small alley. The soldier said, “It was found right here.”
Li Jianyu looked around. “Let the team…”
Before his voice had even faded, Li Jianyu felt the scenery before him blur, and the tip of a sword flashed past him.
A fierce wind swept past him, and a sharp pain shot through his arm as someone pulled it.
If it weren’t for Zheng Ke’s quick reaction, pulling Li Jianyu away in time, the sword would have pierced his chest.
Zheng Ke broke out in a cold sweat, then turned to look at the villain disguised as one of Chen Zhishu’s men with rage.
“Bastard! How dare you try to assassinate our City Lord! Why don’t you go and die!”
While Zheng Ke drew his sword and fought with the man, Li Jianyu also decisively fired a signal flare.
Reinforcements arrived quickly. The villain’s last-ditch effort, originally planning to pick on a soft target and use Li Jianyu as a hostage, ultimately failed.
And Zhao Linxu also arrived with Little Jiu’er and a tied-up man in black. It seemed they had successfully tracked them down and rescued Little Jiu’er from the villain’s hands in time.
“Found them.”
Seeing that there was no hope left, the two men in black bit down on the poison in their mouths and committed suicide.
“Bastard!” Zheng Ke couldn’t stop them in time and stomped his foot in anger.
“It’s no matter,” Zhao Linxu said with a smile. “If we need to know anything, we can just ask Little Jiu’er.”
Only then did Zheng Ke breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhao Linxu took Little Jiu’er and Li Jianyu back to Luoye Garden. Zhao Linxu sat at the desk in the study, while Li Jianyu held Little Jiu’er on the soft couch.
Incense wafted through the room, with a calming and soothing effect.
“Don’t be afraid. No one will hurt you.” Li Jianyu stroked Little Jiu’er’s hair.
This was the first time Li Jianyu had seen Little Jiu’er after Meng Qingshu had taken him to be washed and dressed. Clean and wearing nice clothes, he now looked so cute with his flushed, soft cheeks.
“I’m sorry…”
“You want to go back to the mountain to see your grandma, right?”
Little Jiu’er lowered his head.
Li Jianyu sighed and hugged him. “As long as you promise me not to act alone in the future, I will take you back to see your grandma tomorrow.”
“Alright!” Little Jiu’er nodded like a pecking chicken.
“Then tell me, what did you hear?”
Little Jiu’er recalled for a moment. “They said… they said they wanted to cooperate with the Prince.”
Zhao Linxu sneered in his heart.
“What else?” Li Jianyu felt a sense of foreboding.
“I couldn’t hear clearly. They seemed to say that the Prince could help their master ascend the throne, and their master could help the Prince ascend the throne.”
The smile disappeared from Zhao Linxu’s face. “Who is that master?”
“Feng… Fen… Ji…” Little Jiu’er was struggling to find the pronunciation.
Zhao Linxu said, “Feng Ju.”
“That’s right! It’s Feng Ju.”
Li Jianyu also understood. The king of the Great Xi was the eldest son of the Feng Ju family, Feng Juhua. It seemed that someone in the Feng Ju family wanted to overthrow Feng Juhua and had made a deal with Zhao Zhanqi to use each other’s troops.
No wonder Zhao Zhanqi was able to mobilize the assassins of the Great Xi to ambush them on the mountain this time.
Zhao Linxu said, “What other names?”
Then, Little Jiu’er struggled to say a few more names: Zhao Zhanqi and Li Jianyu.
Li Jianyu was stunned.
Had Zhao Zhanqi included him in his plans?
He turned around and saw Zhao Linxu looking at him, his eyes unreadable.
Li Jianyu immediately let go of Little Jiu’er, lifted his robe, and knelt down. “This subject has no private dealings with the Prince.”
Before Li Jianyu could think of what to say next, he heard the sound of unhurried footsteps. A eunuch announced from outside that Meng Qingshu had come on imperial orders to take Little Jiu’er away.
Zhao Linxu rubbed his temples. “You all should go back and rest.”
Li Jianyu let Little Jiu’er go first, then went to the desk. “Your Majesty, you said before that you would teach this subject martial arts. This subject is extremely honored and willing.”
After what had just happened, Li Jianyu felt that he was too useless. If it weren’t for Zheng Ke, he would have lost his life. He couldn’t always rely on others to protect him.
“Alright,” Zhao Linxu said with a smile. “We’ll start tomorrow night.”
Just as Li Jianyu was preparing to leave, Zhao Linxu, sitting behind the desk, leaned forward slightly and took his hand.
The grip on his wrist was somewhat rough. Before Li Jianyu could say anything, Zhao Linxu said, “Li Jianyu, I trust you. Don’t let me down.”
Li Jianyu lowered his eyes slightly, thinking to himself that since Zhao Linxu had no confidence in him, if he didn’t trust him from the beginning, then he wouldn’t be disappointed later. Wouldn’t that be better?
But Li Jianyu didn’t dare to say it. He just nodded slightly and then took his leave with a demeanor that was neither servile nor overbearing.
