Chapter 131 - 129: 129. I have to go find him (second update)
For a transmigrator who had lived two lifetimes, the love story of the original master, as described by Xiao Muyun, sounded trite and commonplace to Su Liang.
In one sentence: The illegitimate son from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, who has little presence, falls in love with a gentle and graceful girl from a small family after losing his wife, and they secretly vowed to spend their lives together.
Xiao Muyun seemed touched as he recounted the story.
Su Liang listened calmly.
“This fan represents the beginning of our fate and has never left my side,” Xiao Muyun held the folding fan in his hand and looked at Su Liang with a bitter smile, “I thought that you were forever gone, but to my surprise, you are still alive. But you are alive, and yet you’ve forgotten me, forgotten everything between us.”
At Xiao Muyun’s sorrowful sighs, Su Liang thoughtfully asked, “When disaster befell the Su Family, didn’t you check whether I was dead or alive?”
If someone cares so much, at the very least, they would want to see the body.
Xiao Muyun sighed deeply, “By the time I received the news, the remains of the Su Family had already been collected. Everyone said that the entire Su Family was wiped out.”
Su Liang thought, the key issue was, if the Su Family was murdered, how could the original master, a helpless girl, escaped? And who took her to the Su Family Village?
If it was indeed the second prince who made the move, he surely wouldn’t have left anyone alive.
There must be a person who helped the original master.
But according to all known information, there was no hint of who this could be.
“Where are my family members buried?” Su Liang asked.
Xiao Muyun replied, “On Wangxiang Mountain outside the city, there is a cemetery.”
“Who buried them?” Su Liang asked again.
If the second prince was convinced that it was Su Yuanzhou who killed the second princess, why would he allow the Su Family to be properly buried?
Xiao Muyun looked ashamed, “It was the fifth prince. He has always been frail and sickly, and your grandfather was taking care of his health. After the incident with the Su Family, the fifth prince arranged for the burial of the bodies. It is said that because of this, he even had a conflict with the second prince. Later, he fell sick and never left his home. If it hadn’t been for the fifth prince, it is hard to imagine what would have happened. I was powerless at that time.”
Su Liang was taken aback, the fifth prince mentioned by Xiao Muyun aroused her attention.
She had initially planned to discuss the matter of the Su Family with Duanmu Chen in the next few days. Although the two had previously agreed to “cooperate” on this matter, they hadn’t gone into detail.
Xing Yusheng had once sent Qi Yan to the capital city to investigate the news about the Su family, but he only focused on Su Liang, the Su Family lady that few people knew, and did not pay attention to many key points.
Therefore, this was the first time Su Liang heard about the fifth prince’s relationship with the Su Family.
Her intuition told her he was very important.
“Liang’er? Are you alright?” Xiao Muyun looked at her with concern.
Su Liang returned to her senses and shook her head, “I’m fine. Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
Xiao Muyun sighed, “I can’t think of anything else for now. I would often visit your grave to talk when I’m free, but I never thought, the person buried there was not you.”
Every time Xiao Muyun expressed his emotions, Su Liang would promptly change the topic, “Is your family still investigating the cause of the second princess’s death?”
Xiao Muyun gave a bitter smile, “So much time has passed, what can we find now? Even if we found something, what difference would it make?”
“To comfort your sister’s spirit in heaven.” Su Liang said.
Xiao Muyun was taken aback, “You’re right. But my grandfather and father both let the matter rest. As a powerless illegitimate son, what can I do?”
Su Liang looked at Xiao Muyun.
His sorrow didn’t seem fake.
But it was utterly useless.
He had just said that the second princess was kind to him before she got married. If this was his reciprocation, Su Liang could only say that perhaps Xiao Muyun was acting in line with the times, preserving himself, but his inherent cowardice was clearly shown.
Not bad, but in Su Liang’s eyes, this man was incapable, only understanding the romantic and mournful things, longing for an easy life.
His past with the original master sounded very romantic.
But when he heard that the original master was dead, he didn’t even have the courage to take one look.
He had reasons for all his actions, and those reasons were reasonable.
Exactly because of this, Su Liang felt, this man was entirely unreliable. He lacked ambitions. Though he could share wealth and riches, he couldn’t share adversity.
“Liang’er, are you blaming me?” For the third time, Xiao Muyun tried to hold Su Liang’s hand.
Su Liang looked indifferent, “I forgot. The things you said, to me, they all seemed like someone else’s business. You already regarded me as dead, from now on consider me really dead.”
Su Liang stood up to leave after her words, Xiao Muyun blocked her path, looking hurt, “You are clearly alive, and heaven has allowed us to meet again, how can I pretend as if nothing happened? As I’ve said, I can marry you, what else are you unsatisfied with?”
Su Liang’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Mr. Xiao, please step aside.”
“I won’t allow it!” cried Xiao Muyun, his eyes red, “You promised to marry me long ago, now you want to back out, I won’t accept it!”
Su Liang found this very annoying. She found him rather obnoxious, but he was the original master’s lover. She couldn’t just hit him because of a disagreement. She figured it would be best to sever ties and avoid him in the future.
But Xiao Muyun insisted that Su Liang had hurt him, demanding an explanation, which gave her a headache.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, disrupting the strange atmosphere in the room.
“Who is it?” Su Liang asked.
“Me.” A familiar voice came from outside.
Su Liang, feeling as if she’d received a pardon, quickly maneuvered around Xiao Muyun to open the door and let Ning Jing in. She closed the door and sighed in relief.
Xiao Muyun’s expression changed when he saw Ning Jing. “Liang’er, who is this man?”
Su Liang, who had initially released Ning Jing, grabbed his arm again, “This is the friend I told you about, who has helped me a lot.”
Xiao Muyun noticed Su Liang’s hand on Ning Jing’s arm and his face darkened.
“You guys…”
Su Liang nodded, “As you can see, after losing my memory, I fell in love with him.
Ning Jing looked slightly rebellious and brushed away Su Liang’s hand.
Su Liang grabbed his arm again, “But he doesn’t accept my feelings, so we can only be friends for now.”
Xiao Muyun frowned, “You…”
Su Liang was firm, “But I won’t give up!”
Xiao Muyun looked at Su Liang in disbelief, “Would you rather pursue a man who doesn’t love you than be with me?”
Su Liang looked regretful, “Feelings can’t be forced. I forgot to introduce him. He is Ning Jing, the head of the Ning Family, a leading merchant in Xunyang and the top candidate in the recent exam. He’ll be taking the Imperial Civil Service exams soon. If he’s willing to marry me, I’ll be the mistress of the Ning Family, with a lifetime of wealth I couldn’t possibly spend. I might even have the chance to become the Top Scholar’s wife. I know you care about me, and seeing me doing well should make you happy for me, right?” Xiao Muyun looked furious, “But he didn’t promise to marry you!”
Su Liang playfully swung Ning Jing’s arm, “Is it impossible for us?”
Ning Jing gave Su Liang a cool glance, “Who knows what the future holds?”
Su Liang laughed lightly, “Mister Xiao, you heard him, there is hope for us to be together. Wish me well, and hope that you find a suitable lady soon.
Farewell, we won’t meet again.”
With that, Su Liang opened the door, leading Ning Jing away with a triumphant air.
Xiao Muyun was left behind, a look of gloom on his face as he ripped apart a fan hanging off his robe.
Once outside the door, Su Liang let go of Ning Jing, “Why are you here?” “Buying fish.” replied Ning Jing.
“Where’s the fish?” Su Liang asked. Just as she finished speaking, a waiter walked out of the kitchen holding a fat fish.
“Didn’t Prince Xing and the others go home?” Su Liang remembered that she had forgotten to give Xing Yusheng the key.
Ning Jing instead asked, ‘What was that all about earlier?”
“Xiao Muyun.” Su Liang replied with three words.
Ning Jing, having seen the love token embroidered with the character for “cloud” , immediately understood the situation.
“Since you knew I was here, it means you must have seen Prince Xing.” Su
Liang stated, “Did you come to buy fish and take the opportunity to find me?”
Ning Jing nodded, “I want to eat fish, you should go back and cook it.”
Su Liang: …Alright then, it’s almost time. I can take the reserved food back and entertain my friends. The fish can be an additional dish.
With a food box in one hand and the fish in the other, Ning Jing led her horse, and they headed home.
“Do you know the fifth prince?” Su Liang asked. Ning Jing nodded, “I do.”
“What’s his name?” Su Liang asked again.
“Duanmu Ze.” Ning Jing replied.
“Is he a good person?” Su Liang asked.
Ning Jing shook his head, “I don’t know.”
“Xiao Muyun said the Su Family was buried by Duanmu Ze, do you think he was the one who sent ‘me’ back to my hometown?” Su Liang wondered.
“I don’t know.” said Ning Jing.
“I think it might have been him. Perhaps he knew something about what happened back then.” Su Liang said, “I need to find him and ask him..”