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墨書 Inktalez
"Right now? Now?" Shining was taken aback. "But sister, it's the middle of the night, very quiet."
"It's precisely because it's quiet that I need you to go," Yun Kexin said anxiously, unable to keep her voice down. "Are we supposed to wait until morning to save someone?"
Shanling and the others were momentarily stunned. It was rare to see Yun Kexin so flustered giving orders, and they suddenly realized that Seventh Sister was not joking or throwing a tantrum. Could it be that she really knew something?
"Yes, sister," Shanling nodded seriously. "Do you want all three of us to go? But if we leave, who will guard the door?"
"It's fine; this is my own residence, it won't be a problem," Yun Kexin said, grabbing Shanling and Shan Yue's hands. "Remember, if Young Lord is really in trouble, you must find a way to rescue him."
"Where are we taking him?"
"Tian Zhuang!" Yun Kexin replied without hesitation. "If I don't see you back at the residence tomorrow, I'll go looking for you there... Be careful when you leave; don't let anyone see you."
"Understood!" Shan Yue nodded solemnly.
Shanling, Shining, and Shan Yue slipped out of Duke of E State Mansion under the moonlight and headed toward their destination. As before, they took a shortcut to Duke of Yan's Residence, leaping over the wall and crouching on the glazed tiles to observe quietly below. They noticed that at a time when people should be sound asleep, Duke of Yan's Residence was brightly lit, with light spilling from the ancestral hall. How could the lights in the ancestral hall still be on at this hour? They understood clearly that the ancestral hall wasn't opened casually; if nothing significant was happening, they wouldn't easily allow anyone in! Even more bizarrely, there were many attendants standing at the entrance.
The three girls took a deep breath and exchanged worried glances: What was going on? Could it really be that something major was happening at Duke of Yan's Residence as Seventh Sister said?!
With anxious hearts, they jumped down and crept forward under the cover of night. However, just as they reached a dark spot near the stone bridge, someone called out from behind them: "Who!"
Shanling and the others jumped in fright but mustered their courage to turn around, only to breathe a sigh of relief when they saw it was Ma Minghao.
"Ma Minghao! It's you!" Shan Yue whispered.
Ma Minghao was also startled and didn't have time to ask questions. Shanling spoke first: "Brother Ma. Why are there lights on in Duke of Yan's Residence's ancestral hall? Has something happened?"
"You came just in time; I was worried and couldn't leave the residence to find you," Ma Minghao said as he led them into a dim corner and lowered his voice. "Something serious has indeed happened. Young Lord is being dealt with by Jiangyin Marquis in the ancestral hall tonight. Family Law punishment... I don't even know where he is being held now."
"Dealing with Young Lord?!" Shan Yue almost exclaimed. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, paused, and held her breath. "What... what is going on? Just a few days ago everything was fine..."
"There’s no time to explain," Ma Minghao waved his hand anxiously. "The urgent matter is to find Young Lord and rescue him from the residence."
"Right. Seventh Sister also instructed us to do the same," Shanling said, deeply impressed by Yun Kexin's intuition. "First, we save Young Lord, then... Brother Ma, where do you know he might be held?"
"I’ve checked the dungeon, secret rooms, and wells; there’s nothing," Ma Minghao replied. "I can’t think of any other places in the residence where he could be imprisoned."
"Is it possible he has been moved elsewhere?" Shining suggested with bright eyes.
"Impossible. First, it was already late when the ancestral hall was opened," Ma Minghao firmly denied. "Second, dealing with Young Lord is a public matter, not something done in secret. Jiangyin Marquis has no reason to do that." As he spoke, Ma Minghao's gaze suddenly fixed on a flickering light not far away, moving toward them. He squinted and said coldly, "I have a plan..."
Feng Yinxiao lay in the cold Ice Cellar, his blood frozen and flowing beneath him to the opposite corner of the cellar. The leather straps binding him became tighter due to the water poured on them, as if they were trying to strangle him. He could feel his internal organs being twisted into a mess. The severe physical and mental trauma caused Feng Yinxiao to gradually slip into unconsciousness, but a delicate and lovely figure kept jumping in his subconscious, reminding him not to "sleep," or else he would never "wake up" again.
"Yun Kexin..." Feng Yinxiao kept his dark eyes closed, repeatedly calling out her name from his pale lips. "Yun Kexin... Yun Kexin..."
After a moment, he seemed to realize something; he stopped calling out loud and instead silently recited her name in his heart. Surprisingly, thinking of her and calling her name felt like the best medicine, allowing his severely injured self to no longer feel pain. The bone-chilling sensation from all directions dissipated as well... "Young Lord!" At some point, Ma Minghao and the others had knelt beside Feng Yinxiao, calling out together, " Young Lord, wake up..."
However, deeply unconscious, Feng Yinxiao could not hear their calls; he lay there motionless, pale as paper. Seeing this scene, Shanling, Shining, and Shan Yue felt their hearts ache.
"Stop it," Ma Minghao calmed down and instructed them. "We need to immediately untie the leather straps on Young Lord, or else he will surely suffocate."
The three maidservants wiped away their tears and hurriedly worked together to loosen the bindings on Feng Yinxiao. Without hesitation, Ma Minghao picked up Feng Yinxiao and left while Shanling and the others provided cover. Following Yun Kexin's earlier instructions, they headed to Tian Zhuang, keeping vigil by Feng Yinxiao's bedside throughout the night.
The next morning, Yun Kexin found an excuse to go out and hurriedly made her way to Tian Zhuang. She hadn’t slept a wink either; by dawn, when she hadn’t seen the three maidservants return home yet, she had already guessed what was happening.
"Seventh Sister, you’re here! I’ll take you there!" Knowing that Yun Kexin would definitely come, someone had been waiting early at the entrance of Tian Zhuang. They took her hand and rushed into the inner room.
Upon entering the room where Feng Yinxiao was located, Yun Kexin witnessed one of the most tragic scenes she had ever seen: he was wrapped in blood-soaked clothes, severely injured with disheveled hair, eyes tightly shut, lips purpled and lifeless.
Yun Kexin bit her lip hard, not allowing herself to cry out loud.
“Seventh Sister, he was just treated an hour ago,” Ma Minghao stood beside Yun Kexin, his voice choked with emotion. “He’s covered in injuries; the Jiangyin Marquis was too ruthless.”
Yun Kexin silently sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Feng Yinxiao without saying a word. After a long while, she reached out and held Feng Yinxiao's hand. The moment she touched it, she exclaimed, “Why is your hand so cold!”
It felt like the hand of a dead person! Her heart sank instantly. Fortunately, she had learned to take pulses from her uncle when she was young. Yun Kexin tried to check Feng Yinxiao's pulse and found it extremely weak, as if he were on the brink of death.
“...Sister, Young Lord is locked up in the Ice Cellar,” Shan Yue could no longer hold back. She cried out, “I don’t know how long he has been imprisoned. By the time we arrived, he was already frozen and unconscious…”
“He was already injured, and with the cold invading him, I fear he is suffering from both injury and illness,” Shining also cried. “At that time, Young Lord was completely cold and stiff; it was terrifying. We never imagined Young Lord would end up like this.”
“We burned dry wood in a charcoal basin and placed it by his bed all night,” Shanling sighed sadly. “But Young Lord is still like this. Brother Ma, his body temperature hasn’t shown any signs of warming up; we’re all going crazy… What are we going to do?”
“I never expected the Jiangyin Marquis would lock someone in the Ice Cellar and bind him with soaked cowhide ropes,” Ma Minghao gritted his teeth in anger. “This is clearly a death sentence! He is Young Lord’s uncle! How could he be so cruel!” He clenched his hand tightly in his sleeve.
“Ma Minghao, step outside for a moment.” Yun Kexin listened quietly to everyone’s words before slowly speaking. “Shanling, you go out too; leave Shining and Shan Yue here.”
“Seventh Sister, what are you going to do?” Ma Minghao snapped back to reality.
“I’ll stay with Young Lord.” Yun Kexin gazed quietly at Feng Yinxiao on the bed without turning her head.
“Sister, I want to stay too—”
“Obey my orders!” Yun Kexin said expressionlessly.
Ma Minghao and Shanling exchanged glances and obediently stepped outside, closing the door behind them.
"Shining, Shan Yue, take off Young Lord's clothes," Yun Kexin said as she began to remove her own clothes. "Be quick about it."
Seeing this, Shining seemed to understand Yun Kexin's "motivation," her eyes widened in shock as she stammered, "Seventh Sister, you, you can't be thinking, thinking..."
"Yes, in this situation, we can only try checking his body temperature," Yun Kexin ignored the stunned expressions of the two maids and had already removed everything except her undergarments, her face showing no signs of shyness or panic, completely calm. "If you're shy, just take off his outer robe; I'll handle the rest myself. Then turn your backs to me and stand by the door."
"Yes, yes..." Shining was completely taken aback by Yun Kexin's bold actions. She blankly pulled Shan Yue to the bed and began to untie Feng Yinxiao's outer robe. Unlike Shining, Shan Yue admired Seventh Sister's courage and determination.
After they removed the outer robe, they followed Yun Kexin's instructions and walked to the door, turning their backs. Yun Kexin quickly finished what she needed to do. Just as she covered his chest with her body, she nearly gasped in shock—she felt like she was lying on a freezing slab of ice, instantly making her shiver and almost bite her lip... Gritting her teeth, she pulled up the blanket and confirmed that both of them were under it before turning her face to say:
"Shining, Shan Yue, you can turn around now." Her voice trembled slightly.
The two maids turned back and stepped closer, looking at the two people "tightly embracing" on the bed. Shining felt a mix of emotions; if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would hardly believe that Seventh Sister had such courage.
"Sister, I admire you," Shining finally managed to stammer out a brief statement.
"What's there to admire?" Yun Kexin replied lightly. "It’s a matter of necessity."
Yet inside, she was bitterly laughing: if it weren't for his deep feelings for her in the last life and her decision not to marry in this life, not valuing reputation, whether she would have made such an outrageous act remained a big question mark in her heart. She knew she was freezing to death and truly wondered if she could hold on until he woke up.
"If Young Lord learns of Seventh Sister's sacrifice in the future, he will surely be grateful," Shan Yue smiled and said. "He really didn't misjudge her."
"Please stop praising me like that," Yun Kexin gritted her teeth and said irritably. "Just make fun of me a bit; I'd feel better..."
Upon hearing this, the two maids couldn't help but chuckle softly: it was rare for Seventh Sister, a woman, to be so open-minded.
However, thinking about Feng Yinxiao's current state brought the three back into silence as they stopped laughing.
"Sister, what should we do next?" Shan Yue asked sincerely.
"Keep watch for me and don't let anyone in," Yun Kexin said. "Don't let any information leak out."
"If we don't let anyone in, what about your meals?"
"You all take turns going out to bring food and keep watch."
"Understood!" Shining nodded seriously, then paused and said, "Sister, can we tell Brother Ma and Sister Shanling about this?"
Yun Kexin thought for a moment and decisively replied, "It's fine to tell Shanling, but there's no need to inform Brother Ma."
He probably wouldn't be able to handle such "stimulus."
"Alright, from now on," Shan Yue said, "we will stay in this room. Just let us know if you need anything." (To be continued)
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