Chapter 422: 422. About to arrive

Chapter 422: 422. About to arrive

Translator: 549690339

That day, Bai Yang and Ji Yue Xuan visited the Su Mansion, especially to thank Su Liang for saving them and for her ongoing care.

Su Liang spoke frankly, “It’s because you’re Ren Dong’s brother. If it were someone else, I probably wouldn’t have bothered.”

Bai Yang knew it, but regardless, he would never forget her kindness.

Since leaving the palace, Ji Yue Xuan had become very familiar with Su Liang and often visited the Su Mansion, always bringing gifts for Gu Xiaonuan.

Ji Yue Bai had gone to the north, and they decided to wait for him to return before getting married.

“I heard from my sister that the prince went to Xingluo Island, should I go and help him in the south?” Bai Yang asked Su Liang seriously.

Ren Dong had also proposed this idea before, but Su Liang had rejected it and did the same now, “No need. We’ll wait for news.” Although Ren Dong and Bai Yang’s martial arts skills were not weak, they were still far behind Gu Ling and Qiao Jing. Going alone would probably not be of much help. Furthermore, Su Liang had never treated Ren Dong as a servant, and Bai Yang was even more of an outsider to her. It had not been easy for the two sisters to come this far, so they would not risk anything rashly.

Ren Dong and Qi Jun’s wedding date was set for two months later. Su Liang gave them a mansion complete with everything and, in name, it was Qi Mansion. She also prepared a lot of dowry for Ren Dong. Anything that could be solved with money was not a problem.

After returning to the capital, Ren Dong still lived in Su Mansion, which she considered her home. Moreover, she wanted to take care of her family before getting married, especially since Gu Ling was not around and Su Liang needed her help.

Ren Dong suggested moving Yan Shiba to her courtyard and taking care of her, so that Qiuyue wouldn’t be too tired. Su Liang thought about it and felt that it was a good idea.

Yan Shiba was then moved to Ren Dong’s place, living right next door to her. On sunny days, Ren Dong would carry Yan Shiba to a wheelchair and push her outside to enjoy the sun or stroll in the garden.

Regarding the past between Su Liang and Yan Shiba, Ren Dong knew most of it. Su Liang had instructed her that if Yan Shiba asked, she should tell the truth; if not, there was no need to say more.

Lately, in addition to teaching her children and making medicine, Su Liang had been researching amnesic drugs and antidotes. She had sought Lian Shan’s help several times but made no progress. It had been a long time since Lian Shan experienced memory loss from the drug, and she had no feelings about it.

The drug that caused Lian Shan’s memory loss was initially provided by Yue Mei. What Yue Mei knew, Old Bai mostly knew too, so Su Liang had the memory loss drug formula and the finished product she had made. She once asked Old Bai if the drug could be reversed to restore memory, and he said it couldn’t but suggested that Su Liang could try to make a reversible memory loss drug herself.

Because of Yan Shiba’s memory loss, Su Liang resumed researching the once-stalled project. She had plenty of free time recently, and if she succeeded in finding a “solution” for memory loss, perhaps there was hope to restore the memories of Lian Shun and Yan Shiba.

Under Su Liang’s medical treatment, Yan Shiba’s health was gradually improving, and her complexion had also improved.

On this sunny day, Ren Dong pushed Yan Shiba to the garden, where Qi Yan and Qi Jun were picking pomegranates with Zhengzheng and Ji Xiaoshu. The two children stood on the tree, choosing the reddest and biggest pomegranate, and agreed to compete; the loser wouldn’t eat meat that day.

Seeing Ren Dong coming, Qi Jun greeted her with a smile and handed her a big, bright red pomegranate.

Speaking of this pomegranate tree, Qi Yan and Qi Jun were very familiar with it, as it was a gift from Xing Yusheng to Su Liang. Before being brought to the Su Mansion, this ancient tree had grown in the former Bei Jingwang Mansion.

Ren Dong asked if Yan Shiba wanted to eat any, but she shook her head slightly, “No need. You eat.”

However, Ren Dong still peeled a pomegranate quickly using the method she learned from Su Liang, put the crystal-clear fruit in a bowl, and gave Yan Shiba a small spoon. Without refusing this time, she quietly ate the pomegranate while watching the lively scene not far away.

“Uncle Qi Yan, I want that one!”

“Uncle Qi Jun, hurry, that one’s mine!”

Both children spotted a big pomegranate hidden at the top of the tree and called for their helpers.

Qi Yan and Qi Jun, almost at the same time, jumped up to grab the pomegranate.

However, Qi Jun was a little distracted by looking at Ren Dong and was a moment late, so the pomegranate landed firmly in Qi Yan’s hands.

Ji Xiaoshu cheered, “I won!”

Zhengzheng sighed a little, “Uncle Qi Jun, you should just go play with Aunt Ren Dong.” It seemed that his heart wasn’t in it here.

Nian Jincheng and Yang Yu were so fond of Gu Xiaonuan that they couldn’t even catch up with Su Liang to reminisce.

Only when Gu Xiaonuan was taken away by Qiao Cong did Yang Yu go upstairs to find Su Liang and her first words were, “Xiaonuan is so good-looking.”

Su Liang nodded, “Yes, my man is the best looking.”

Yang Yu smiled, Gu Xiaonuan took after Gu Ling, whose beauty was unquestionable.

Su Liang took Yang Yu’s pulse, reminded her to pay attention to rest, not to bump into things, and not to exercise with Nian Jincheng for the two months.

Yang Yu blushed, “What are you talking about? We certainly know that.”

Nian Jincheng had a private chat with Su Liang about Gu Ling’s trip to Xingluo Island. They only brought 500 elite soldiers. One reason was that they didn’t have bigger ships, and the other was that they didn’t need too many people for fire attacks or explosives. It wasn’t a war, and sending ordinary soldiers to fight on Xingluo Island would be tantamount to suicide. In Gu Ling’s plan, they wouldn’t land on the island but rather maintain a distance and launch an attack. Bringing more people would require sufficient food reserves, and a larger, more concentrated target would make it easier to be attacked.

“Most of the explosives have to be made by Aling on the way. He brought a lot of raw materials with him.” Nian Jincheng said. If they were to prepare everything in Jiaye City before leaving, it would take too much time.

Su Liang sighed slightly, “I’m actually worried that the people on Xingluo Island will see Qiao Jing and insist that Gu Ling is also there, just hiding, and force him to show himself. It could be quite troublesome.”

Nian Jincheng nodded, “That’s a possibility, but in this kind of situation, they can only adapt to the situation and see who can hold their ground.”

There were hostages on Xingluo Island, and to some extent, Gu Ling was still somewhat passive. But Nian Jincheng and Su Liang, although worried, had absolute confidence in his abilities and intelligence. They just wanted to know the situation there as soon as possible.

For those who go out to sea for the first time, they always feel the vast sky and ocean at the beginning, with boundless horizons, stunning sunrises, magnificent sunsets, and even the seabirds appearing freer than those on the land.

But after a few days, when the novelty wears off, they start to feel bored and even looking at the endless blue sea for a long time can give rise to a sense of aimlessness and desolation, with the boat swaying with the waves, people often miss the stability of walking on solid ground.

The psychological changes in Qiao Jing also went through these stages. He shared them with Gu Ling, trying to find some sympathy, but unfortunately, Gu Ling was focused on making explosives and showed no emotional fluctuations. Occasionally expressing emotions was definitely about missing Su Liang and Gu Xiaonuan, and there could be no other reason.

Knowing that Gu Ling was uncommunicative, Qiao Jing still couldn’t help but try. Since there was no one else he wanted to talk to beside him, after realizing that Gu Ling was really not in the mood to pay attention to him, Qiao Jing set a goal for himself: to encounter Sheng Yue unexpectedly.

This was a matter of luck, but when Qiao Jing began to look for Sheng Yue, who might be ahead or behind them on the sea, he found something to do for himself.

Unfortunately, until their destination was near, they saw no trace of Sheng Yue all the way.

“We’ll be there when the sky lightens.” Qiao Jing’s expression was solemn, “Maybe the people on Xingluo Island have already noticed us.”

“Mm.” Gu Ling raised the gun in his hand, aiming it at Qiao Jing’s brow.

Looking into the dark muzzle, Qiao Jing tightened his heart and subconsciously dodged to the side, “Don’t scare people like that. Let’s talk about the real issue. The problem we discussed before, if the people on Xingluo Island insist that you’re here and just hiding, using hostages to force you to show up, what will you do?”

Gu Ling put away the gun, “You take your people and follow the original plan. I’ll leave before dawn and secretly go to the island.”

Qiao Jing’s face changed, “No way! We agreed that you can’t show up, let alone go to that damned island! Who knows if there are traps waiting for you there? If Sheng Yue is sure you’ll come, he might be prepared right now, waiting for you to walk right in! I don’t agree with you going to the island alone. We left together and must return home together. How can I face Su Liang if I can’t bring you back?”

Gu Ling frowned and thought for a while, “Since we’re already here, if we don’t go to the island, there’s no way to figure out what they’re really up to.”

“I still disagree.” Qiao Jing felt that safety should always come first. Gu Ling being captured was absolutely not allowed. However, Xingluo Island was too mysterious, and Min Rou had also been away from the island for some time. They didn’t know the current situation on the island.

“Well, let’s rescue the hostages first.” Gu Ling said, “If everything goes smoothly tomorrow and we rescue them, I’ll see how things are, whether to go to the island secretly or not.”

Gu Ling didn’t care about his own safety, on the premise that he knew Mo Yan and Sheng Yue wanted to catch him, but didn’t want to kill him. Maybe they wanted him to do something dangerous after being caught, but in any case, he had to find a way to figure out what was going on to come up with a countermeasure. Otherwise, even if they managed to rescue the hostages and leave this time, there wouldn’t be much change in the situation, and the many experts on Xingluo Island might capture more hostages at any time.

When Qiao Jing mentioned Su Liang, Gu Ling decided to wait and see what happened tomorrow after considering it.

However, what neither Gu Ling nor Qiao Jing expected was that Sheng Yue, who had been injured by Gu Ling earlier, did not rush back to Xingluo Island immediately but went in the opposite direction.

Qiao Jing had been keeping an eye out for Sheng Yue, hoping to “encounter” him and shoot him full of holes, but unbeknownst to him, Sheng Yue had already infiltrated the capital city secretly as they approached Xingluo Island...