The Fourth Lady novel Chapter 91

After camping for a night, Su Yun lead his Su family army and continued to advance again. But the further they advanced, the more he felt uneasy in his heart. That letter from earlier, seems to have always lingered in his mind, and even in his dreams last night, he dreamt of Qingyan being hung up and beaten.

Luo Bing also told him what she dreamt of last night. Although he knew in his heart that dreams and reality were opposites, in the end, she was still his daughter after all.

His only daughter in this life. He'd already felt he owed Qingyan too much, and now if he were to let her fall into danger, then he would regret it for life.

After a brief discussion, Su Yun and Luo Bing decided to let the Su family army avoid the Forest of Buried Souls, and the two of them would head there together. He originally wanted to go alone, but he couldn't dissuade Luo Bing, knowing her personality. So he could only go along with her desire, agreeing to let her go with him.

"Father, mother, why are you going to the Forest of Buried Souls. Not only does that forest have giant wild beasts, there's also a large piece of marshland. If one were to unintentionally fall into the marshes, it'd no doubt be a certain death." Su Qingyu looked to the two of them, asking in bewilderment.

"Yu'er, there's a reason behind this. Don't ask anymore. If your mother and I don't come back alive, then it'll be up to you to protect your little sister in the future." Su Yun said as he solemnly patted Su Qingyu's shoulder.

But Su Qingyu still didn't understand why the two of them would suddenly want to enter the Forest of Buried Souls. Before Su Qingyu could even come to his senses, the two of them had already disappeared in front of his eyes.

The more he thought, the more it didn't feel right. For Su Yun and Luo Bing to be this concerned, something must have happened to his younger sister. When he thought of this, he recalled Su Yun's words from earlier and could only continue advancing along with the Su family army around the forest.

Using her dreams of her parents as an excuse, she proposed to Su Jiashi to let her spend the next few days inside the ancestral hall*, and today was her third day inside the halls. Everyday she would kneel before buddha devoutly praying, hoping nothing will happen to Su Yun and Luo Bing.

(*TN: A space that's set up as a shrine to worship one's ancestors.)

And if they were to pick up the pace, then they'll probably be able to arrive at the Su manor around this time tomorrow.

Only when she felt her legs going numb, did she finally turn her body and sat to the side. Jiang Mengrou was continuing to feed the chickens white arsenic, but Qingyan was no longer using those chickens provided by the backyard. Instead, she was eating the delicacies provided by the Shizi manor.

Of course, this bit aside from the close servants by her side, no one else knew. She also instructed Huangcen to go fetch a chicken every few days for appearance sake.

"Miss, today Huangcen made white fungus lotus seed soup for you." Zizhu spoke as she opened the food container and took out a soup bowls. "Miss, you don't need to worry. You'll be able to see the Lord and Madam tomorrow."

She looked to Zizhu, "Help me up, my legs are numb." Zizhu heard her and quickly helped her up. Afterwards, she helped Qingyan walk over to the table.

Qingyan drank the soup and replied with a smile, "Zizhu, thank you for staying with me these few days."

"Miss what are you saying. Miss is worried about Lord Su and Madam, naturally I'm worried as well." Zizhu looked to Qingyan grinning, "Moreover, Lord Su and Madam also treats Zizhu extremely well."

Zizhu and the others were all servant born children of the household. And these children were all trained and raised by the people of the Su manor. It said that the four of them were once personally instructed by Qingyan's maternal grandparent side of the family. After Qingyan was born, they were arranged at Qingyan's side to assist her and take care of her.

"Zizhu, in a moment, tidy up my completed copy of the Diamond Sutra. I want to rest for a while."

Seeing Qingyan's tired complexion, Zizhu worryingly nodded, "If miss is tired, go and rest. Leave the remaining matters to me."

Qingyan looked to her and nodded.

Su Jiashi had specially made someone prepare a small bed, so that Qingyan could rest in the ancestral halls. Qingyan walked over to the bed and laid down without changing.

These few days, she would always be unable to sleep at night. When she couldn't fall asleep, she would copy the Diamond Sutra over and over again. It seemed that was the only thing that could let her relax.

Qingyan knew that her nerves were woven to tight, still unable to trust those around her, aside from Murong Jingxuan. Although this matter Murong Jingxuan could also help her settle, but at the end of it, these things she could also take care of herself.

Just when Qingyan was thinking of these things, she instead slowly entered her dreams. But in her dreams, she dreamed of a pair of children cruelly enduring abuse.

And the one behind it all was precisely her good old younger sister--Qilian Qingyi.

Qingyan immediately awoke from her nightmare in shock. When she woke, she saw Murong Jingxuan sitting by her bed. She looked to him and rubbed her head, "Jingxuan, why have you come?"

Murong Jingxuan flicked her on the forehead, "Could it be, you didn't want me to appear?"

Qingyan looked to him and reluctantly shook her head, "That's not the case, just recently I haven't been able to sleep at night. That's why I would always sleep during the day." She said as she rubbed her faintly swelling head.

Qingyan buried her head into his arms, "Jingxuan, regarding the matter with Xiu Ran, how's the investigation going?"

"With this letter, the investigation into Xiu Ran became much easier. He certainly is someone from the Ning family, and furthermore, the Ning family seems to also have dealings with Qilian Qingyi as well. In Nanchen right now, Qilian Qingyi has given full authority to her kins. However, in the imperial courts, those that are angry don't dare to speak out."

"That's right." Qingyan lifted her head up to look to him, nervously asking, "How's the situation with Weisheng Minning and Weisheng Minjing?"

Seeing her worried look, he shook his head, "At the moment, I don't know their whereabouts. However, I've already sent people to investigate. As for news of the Qilian family, aside from not having news of the Qilian Old General and the Qilian Young General, the other members of the Qilian family seems to have all been exiled."

Although no news was the best news, she still was very much worried about Weisheng Minning and Weisheng Minjing's whereabouts, and also her father and full younger brother. As for how the others were, she simply didn't care.

"Yan'er, you don't need to worry. They're most likely fine." Murong Jingxuan stared at her, knowing she was definitely thinking about those two children.

But regarding the matter with those two children, they really weren't able to find out more. But there was one thing he was certain, and that was that those two children weren't dead.

"Yan'er, listen to me, I can say for sure that those two children must be alive." Murong Jingxuan held her hand and said with a serious look.

Qingyan widened her eyes at him, "What do you mean by that?"