Chapter 22: The Young Master’s Secret
“Didn’t see you at the old place, Sheng You was nearly scared to death.”
“It was Tao Hua who said you definitely wouldn’t die, telling him not to act rashly to avoid causing trouble, which steadied him.”
The boatman pressed his heart and said so, then patted himself again.
“Later we went to Lu County and saw the mark you left, so everyone was convinced you were fine.”
“But why did you come back to Zhao County again?”
Mo Zheng looked at the scattered lights on the river surface: “Mr. Jiang’s Family died because of me, and since I’m not dead, I naturally have to take revenge for them.”
The boatman frowned: “Young Master, you’re taking too big a risk like this. Mr. Jiang’s Family sacrificed themselves for you to die; if something happens to you, they won’t be able to rest in peace.”
Mo Zheng was silent for a moment, not answering whether she was taking a risk or saying she wouldn’t next time, only asking: “Have you found out the background of the people who tried to kill me?”
The boatman said: “These people went through the unrelated Li Family and didn’t act personally, nor did they leave traces. The few survivors we barely caught up to that night all committed suicide on the spot, and there’s still no clue.”
After speaking, he lowered his head.
“This subordinate is incompetent; these years still couldn’t eliminate the traces, causing Mr. Jiang to be exposed and you to fall into danger.”
Mo Zheng looked at the slowly flowing river water.
“This isn’t your incompetence; it’s something that can’t be helped.” He said softly, “We deliberately exposed traces back then to survive. We can’t complain about the past actions just because we’re in danger now.”
The boatman’s expression was somewhat complex as he looked at the flowing water, seemingly lost in memories.
“You and Grandpa Zhang were penniless eunuchs with no survival skills, and I was a two-year-old sickly child. What could we rely on to live?”
“Only by revealing my identity to others could there be rare goods.”
“Others weighed my value, and in exchange, we got a house to live in, enough to eat and wear warmly, people to serve us, and the chance to read books and learn martial arts.”
“When Grandpa Zhang fell ill, we could afford doctors and medicine; when he died, there was a grandnephew to smash the basin for a proper burial.”
“Uncle Hong, now you can adopt ten sons and no longer worry about the ancestral line.”
The boatman Hong Lin was amused and snapped out of his memories, saying: “Listening to you, Young Master, our days really haven’t been bad.”
His voice lowered as he looked toward the river water.
“If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I might really believe it.”
His gaze was cold and mocking.
Rare goods.
How could goods ever have truly good days?
Being weighed, imprisoned, resold, fought over.
They wandered from one person’s hands to another’s.
Said to have a house to live in, but most of the time locked in secret rooms or cellars without seeing daylight, to avoid attention; wearing coarse ragged clothes, eating plain food.
Said to have people serving, but actually under constant surveillance.
As for teaching reading and literacy, it was to keep the child quiet.
It was the child himself who studied diligently by the light of a lamp with an awl to his thigh, eavesdropping and peeking to read all those books.
Learning martial arts was just to amuse themselves with the child.
It was the child himself who endured teasing, groping, rolling, and crawling to bitterly train his skills.
As for Grandpa Zhang falling ill and him adopting adopted sons, that had even less to do with those people; it was after they endured hardships, finally escaped those people, built their own forces, and became their own masters that they achieved it.
These years they’ve also been working hard to hide their tracks and eliminate the traces left behind, but….
“Now it seems we still couldn’t eliminate them.”
At this point, Hong Lin angrily pounded the boat deck.
“Mr. Jiang back then merely stayed at the Qi Family for three months while traveling and studying in Ganzhou, and the Qi Family was wiped out not long after, yet someone still traced it.”
“Traces that existed can’t be completely eliminated.” Mo Zheng said, “Since they’ve been found, we’ll meet force with force and block water with earth.”
Saying this, she looked at the boatman and smiled.
“Fortunately, we’re not in the time when we had to sell ourselves to survive.”
“They want our lives? It won’t be that easy.”
Yes, now they had their own forces and hiding places, and weren’t to be casually kneaded.
The boatman Hong Lin laughed.
“However, the enemy is in the dark and you’re in the light; go back to Yun Ling to avoid for now.” He said.
Mo Zheng shook her head and looked toward the cabin.
“I still need to escort Miss Yang to the Capital City; no matter what, she protected me.”
That night in the mountain forest, he was fleeing.
The anesthetic in his body had eased, but he perceived more than one group of pursuers behind him.
Escaping wouldn’t be that easy.
At that moment, he heard sounds of fighting coming from the mountain forest ahead.
So he saved that young lady, letting the people pursuing her collide with those pursuing him.
Both sides engaged in melee.
Using one’s strength against another.
Confusing the gaze.
He smoothly escaped and even gained a new identity to hide his traces.
The young lady’s guard.
Mo Zheng’s lips curved into a smile.
If not for this young lady, he wouldn’t have had the chance to risk returning to Zhao County for revenge for the Jiang Family.
“I, Mo Zheng, repay grudges with revenge and repay kindness with kindness; I must safely escort her to the Capital City.”
Hong Lin hesitated: “But that’s the Capital City; it’s too dangerous for you to go there, especially now that the Li Family mentioned the Previous Dynasty Treasure, and the Imperial Court will surely investigate.”
Mo Zheng shook her head: “Uncle Hong, from the moment I was born, as long as I live, there will always be danger; that’s my fate, I can’t escape it.”
The fragmented light rippled across the youth’s face, carrying a touch of melancholy.
Fate, Hong Lin sighed lightly in his heart and lowered his head: “Yes, this subordinate obeys.”
Mo Zheng chuckled lightly: “Uncle Hong, don’t worry; the most dangerous place is the safest. Once in the Capital City, I’ll actually be safer.”
Hong Lin lifted his head: “Young Master, have Sheng You and Tao Hua go to the Capital City side.”
Mo Zheng nodded: “You take the people in the mountains and withdraw quickly to avoid being wiped out.”
Hong Lin acknowledged.
Mo Zheng said no more and stood up.
Perhaps pulling at her shoulder and back, she involuntarily let out a soft breath.
Hong Lin thought of something and hurriedly asked: “Young Master, how is your wound?”
First drugged and ambushed, he fought for his life to escape, so he must have wounds; then returning to Zhao County alone to kill over a dozen people, he couldn’t possibly be unscathed.
Moreover, blocked and searched by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to avoid discovery of old wounds, he added new ones during the conflict.
“At the time, I controlled the angle so the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s strike wasn’t deep.” Mo Zheng said, “It just overlapped the original wound, making the gash a bit larger.”
Thinking of this, she looked toward the cabin.
At the time, she had prepared for the worst; if it really reached the most dire situation, she could use Yang Luo’s real identity to avoid being killed on the spot.
But unexpectedly, it didn’t reach the worst; even before Wei Jiao could investigate, after taking a slash, Yang Luo directly shouted out her identity.
This young lady was kinder than expected; good people should be rewarded.
Mo Zheng smiled faintly and walked toward the cabin.
“I’m going to change the dressing.”
Hong Lin looked at her back and hurriedly said, “Young Master, let me help you.”
Mo Zheng waved her hand without turning: “No need, I can do it myself.”
Hong Lin hesitated: “Young Master, I’m a eunuch.”
His voice was very soft; perhaps the youth didn’t hear and walked straight into the cabin.
Hong Lin let out a soft breath, lowered his head, and poled the boat to make it sail more steadily in the night.
……
……
In the small compartment of the cabin, no lamp was lit; Yang Luo slept deeply on her small bed.
Mo Zheng stood by the other small bed, removing her outer robe, inner clothes, and the thick bandages wrapped around her shoulder, arm, and back.
The night breeze blew in, and the outer lights flickered through the window, scattering fragments on the standing naked body.
Slender shoulders, thin back, slim waist, delicate curves.
Mo Zheng slightly turned her head; the medicinal powder in her hand fell like snow, sprinkling onto the ferocious wound on her shoulder and back.
Everyone has their own secrets.
The fallen young lady has them.
The hunter who saved someone in the mountain forest has them too.
Didn’t expect so many people to have guessed it hahaha, sure enough, nothing escapes the reader’s eyes.
