Translator: Madesmoiselle V.
“It’s my father’s study!”
“Why do you think it’ll be there?” Ouyang Shaochen looked at her calmly. When Murong Yue’s body was brought back to the capital city, he did not take the mysterious token with him.
“Didn’t you mention that the invisible guards were extremely loyal to my father? When they were secretly protecting my father, they must have been guarding that token as well. My father died in battle so suddenly that they had no time to rescue him. They also did not want the token to be taken by villains, so they secretly kept the token well and sent it back to my father’s study.” Murong Xue spoke eloquently.
Ouyang Shaochen glanced at her: “The story is well made up. But it is a hundred to one shot.” The token was made for commanding the invisible guards, how could those invisible guards take it everywhere at will?
“No matter how unlikely it is, it doesn’t mean there is no possibility. Let’s go to my father’s study to find out.” Murong Xue said pleasantly with wisdom twinkling in her dark pupils.
Seeing this, Ouyang Shaochen sighed helplessly and nodded gently: “Okay!”
After getting off the bed gracefully, Ouyang Shaochen took a clean white robe and put it on. Then he led Murong Xue out of the room and flew out of the Lord Freedom’s Mansion as with his long arms tightly around her waist.
After a while, they arrived at the Country-guarding Marquis’ Mansion and then landed outside the study lightly.
Ge Hui was standing not far away. Seeing them, he came over quickly: “Milady, Your Highness.”
Murong Xue slightly nodded and looked at him, saying: “Uncle Hui, did anyone come to this study after my father’s death?”
“The junior marquis came several times, the servant comes for cleaning every day, and I enter the room occasionally. If memory serves, there is no one else.” Ge Hui replied in a low voice.
Murong Xue nodded and gently pushed the door open. The fragrance of sandalwood came with the strong scent of books and caressed her face, which was refreshing.
She blinked before slowly walking into the study, and only saw a tall bookshelf placed in the innermost area with various books. And there was a set of table and chairs made of rosewood in front of the bookshelf, which was sculptured complicatedly and looked noble as well as elegant. There was also a superior set of pen, ink, paper and ink stone on the table, each of them was valuable.
There were several scripts and paintings on the wall. The style of those paintings was delicate and the strokes of the writing was sharp, which added to the elegance of the study.
“The junior marquis seldom comes to the study. So the decoration and the layout of the room are the same as it used to be.” Ge Hui explained gently.
Murong Xue nodded again. It was obvious from the layout of the study that Murong Yue was not only good at martial arts, but also a person who knew literary pursuits well and had high attainments in calligraphy and painting.
Walking slowly towards the desk, she reached out her hands and pulled out the drawer, in which she saw an ebony box quietly put on the top of everything else.
Murong Xue picked up the box and opened it gently. She saw nothing inside so she couldn’t help knitting her brows in confusion: “Why is an empty box here?”
Ge Feng took a glance of the box and said softly: “It was used for packing the keepsake of engagement that was sent to Prince Jing’s Mansion. But the box seemed so ordinary that it was unsuitable for such an occasion. When exchanging the keepsake of engagement, the marquis replaced it with a relatively gorgeous box, so this one was left here.”
The keepsake of engagement? Was it that “Icy Crystal” lost by Ye Yichen? Murong Yue replaced the box which was supposed to contain the “Icy Crystal”, because he hoped that his daughter could be attached as much importance as the gorgeous box. Unfortunately, the fate of the owner was also like this humble ebony box, which was completely ignored by Ye Yichen.
Murong Xue raised her eyebrows and put down the ebony box. Then she picked up a stack of papers in the drawer and flipped through softly, looking at the patterns and the text marks on them, she suddenly narrowed her eyes: “It is the topographic map of the junction of Qingyan and Nanjiang.”
“The marquis was killed in the battle against Nanjiang, and this topographic map was the last one he had drawn personally, so the soldiers sent it back to the marquis’ residence as a token.” Staring at the slightly faded topographic map, Ge Hui sighed softly with gloom in his eyes.
Murong Xue narrowed her cold eyes. The last stand of Murong Yue was the battle against Nanjiang.
“Clip”, an almost inaudible sound rang, drawing Murong Xue’s attention. Then she snatched up the paperweight on the table and threw it towards the direction of that sound mercilessly. With a dull sound of “Pah”, a miserable scream resounded in the air: “Ah!”
Murong Xue suddenly opened up the window and saw a forty-year-old maid squatting below the windowsill, covering her forehead with her hands and wailing painfully. Her forehead was injured by the paperweight, with blood gushing out, streaming down her cheek, which stained her face and cut her in a sorry figure.
Murong Xue looked at her with condescension and said indifferently: “If memory serves, you are my aunt’s maid, Li. Now that she has been seriously injured, what are you doing here stealthily instead of taking care of her in Tender Garden?”
“Milady, I just brought the medicine for madam from the kitchen. There are more trees on this lane and it’s shady, so I wanted to take this shortcut back to Tender Garden.” Maid Li said timidly with fear in her eyes.
Murong Xue looked up, and saw a tray, a broken bowl as well as spilled decoction. As the faint smell of medicine pervading, she frowned and said indifferently: “This is a restricted area where none of you is allowed to approach. Even if you want to take the shortcut, you should have bypassed the study.”
“Well. I see. And I’ll never do this again.” Maid Li promised repeatedly with devoutness in her eyes.
“It’s enough. Clean up the ground and get lost!” Murong Xue impatiently interrupted her.
“Yes, madam.” Maid Li replied hurriedly, picking up the tray and the broken pieces on the ground in a great bustle, and then stumbled forward.
Looking at her figure gradually disappearing, Ge Hui narrowed his eyes slightly: “The reason why Maid Li came here was absolutely not as simple as what she said.”
“I know.” Murong Xue nodded with calmness in her eyes: “She was here for Murong Rou, and her purpose was eavesdropping on our conversation. Bringing the medicine was merely an excuse.”
“But why did you let her go so easily?” Ge Hui confusedly looked at Murong Xue.
“So as to go for the long haul.” Murong Xue smiled with confidence. Maid Li was just a servant of Murong Rou, even though she beat Maid Li savagely this time, there would also be Maid Zhang or Maid Wang coming next for monitoring.
They were just a group of humble minions, and she was not in the mood to deal with them. If she wanted to, she would have directly gone for Murong Rou, the mastermind behind them.
Ge Hui nodded said indifferently with hatred gleaming in his eyes: “After the marquis’ death, the mother and son of the Du’s have always been behaving tyrannically, and they humiliated you and the junior marquis recklessly by virtue of their identity. It’s time to teach them a lesson.”