"Old woman, you're finally awake..." Old Yun held Gu Shi, sobbing.
Yun Daman and Zhao Guihua crowded over, asking in unison, "Mother, how are you?"
Gu Shi didn't say anything. After a moment, she tried to sit up. Old Yun quickly held her down, "Old woman, don't move around, lie down and rest first!"
"Guihua, go fetch your mother a bowl of tea!"
"Oh, okay..."
After a long while, seeing that Gu Shi's emotions had stabilized a bit, Old Yun felt relieved.
"Old woman, you almost scared me to death. If something had happened to you, how would I explain it to the children? Sigh!" Old Yun chattered as he wiped Gu Shi's sweat.
Gu Shi pushed away Old Yun's hand and looked at Yun Daman, asking weakly, "Daman, tell me, what exactly happened?"
Shangguan Fang'er was sitting at the head of the kang, eating a steamed bun while wiping away tears. Her eyes were vacant, as if she had become even more foolish.
Yun Daman rubbed his hands and recounted the events in Guojia Village in detail. He added, "Mother, you don't know, those two father and son were so disgusting, they actually drugged me and Sanman, and wanted to defile Miss Fang'er. Sanman, in a fit of rage, killed them all... all of them!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Shi frowned, "Are you sure they're dead?"
"Of course, I'm sure!" Yun Daman nodded emphatically. "Mother, I wouldn't dare joke about such a thing. Those two were dead, lying on the ground motionless. Sanman was afraid of implicating me and Fang'er, so... so he let us come back first!"
Old Yun heard this and vigorously knocked on his pipe, his face full of worry. "Oh dear, killing someone means paying with one's life, and debt must be repaid. How could Third Son be so reckless? Killing is no small matter, alas, what can be done? If he had killed a roe deer or a wild boar, it would be nothing, but these are living people..."
Sanman usually appeared refined and acted with propriety. How could he go out and kill someone?
Gu Shi heard this, and a tear trickled down from the corner of her eye, dampening the embroidered pillowcase.
As the saying goes, even the Son of Heaven is subject to the law like commoners, let alone Yun Sanman, who was just an ordinary person.
This matter was indeed difficult to handle...
"No, I can't let Third Son ruin his future!" Old Yun threw down his pipe and jumped off the kang.
Gu Shi saw this, quickly sat up, and grabbed Old Yun's sleeve, "Old man, what are you doing? Our family is already in enough trouble, can't you just calm down?"
Old Yun broke free from Gu Shi, his face stern. "I'm going to take the blame for Sanman. My old bones are about to give out, and it doesn't matter if I die, but Sanman is still young. He can't just perish like this..."
Gu Shi heard this and shook her head helplessly, "If you go now, it'll be too late. Besides, do you even know how to get to Guojia Village? If something happens to you again, our family will be completely broken!"
"Yes, Father!" Yun Daman also quietly persuaded, "It's snowing heavily outside again, and it's all hazy. It's difficult to even leave the village, let alone find Third Son. So... so let's wait first. Tomorrow, when the weather improves, I'll go to the county town first to see if Magistrate Chen has any ideas. If not, I'll go to the prefectural city to find Prefect Qin. He's a high-ranking official with extensive connections, and his word should carry weight!"
Gu Shi heard this and silently lowered her head, "I don't want all of you to get into trouble, so let's just stay home honestly for these two days and don't go anywhere..."
"Oh, old woman, what about Sanman?" Old Yun stomped his feet anxiously.
Gu Shi closed her eyes, pondered for a moment, then endured her physical discomfort and got off the kang. She walked to the desk and picked up a brush.
"Mother, who are you writing to?" Yun Daman asked.
Gu Shi wrote the letter with her head down, not saying a word.
When Yun Daman saw the signature 'Gu Zhenshan', he was stunned. "Mother, who is Gu Zhenshan?"
Old Yun nudged him, "He's your maternal uncle..."
"What?" Yun Daman scratched his head and stared blankly at Old Yun.
He had never known he had an uncle in his life.
And judging by his mother's serious expression as she wrote the letter, this uncle seemed very formidable.
When Gu Zhenshan came to acknowledge kinship with the Yun family, Daman and Sanman had already gone to collect pelts and didn't know about this matter...
Gu Shi finished writing the letter and handed it to Yun Daman, "Tomorrow, take some time to deliver this letter to the post station in the county town. Your uncle knows about this and won't ignore it!"
However, it wouldn't be easy for this letter to reach Gu Zhenshan.
Gu Zhenshan was currently fighting in the northern frontier, so the letter could only be sent to the general's mansion in the capital, and then delivered to the northern frontier by a servant.
Yun Daman said "Oh," folded the letter, and tucked it into his sleeve...
Shangguan Fang'er fell asleep crying. Her only thought in the old Yun family was Yun Sanman. Now that he was gone, Shangguan Fang'er suddenly wanted to run away from home.
Even if she went to the county magistrate to find Murong Qing, it would be better. Without Sanman, the old and young of the Yun family would surely look down on her.
Gu Shi drank a bowl of tea and saw Shangguan Fang'er curled up, leaning against the quilt, sleeping soundly. Her messy hair covered half of her face, making her look extremely exhausted...
Gu Shi sighed softly, walked over, stroked Shangguan Fang'er's hair, and gently woke her up, "Fang'er, go sleep in Xitian's room. The kang and the heated wall are very warm!"
"Mm!" Shangguan Fang'er slowly woke up. Seeing Gu Shi sitting in front of her with a loving expression, her nose felt sore, and she burst into tears, "Wuwuwu, Mother, Mother, Sanman is dead, wuwu, cough cough, he, he was so good to me, he can't be dead!"
Gu Shi: "..."
Can't you wish him something good?
Always talking about death, how inauspicious!
"Don't worry!" Gu Shi wiped her tears for her, "Sanman will be fine, I guarantee it!"
Unless it was absolutely necessary, she really didn't want to trouble Zhenshan, but Sanman was her son after all. Now that lives were at stake, she couldn't care about anything else...
"Really, really? Mother, don't think I'm silly, I understand everything clearly in my heart!" Shangguan Fang'er sobbed.
Could one escape punishment after killing someone?
That was impossible, right!
Gu Shi pursed her lips and smiled, "It's good that you understand. Stay home and wait with peace of mind, don't cry all the time, it's not pretty..."
Shangguan Fang'er heard this, chuckled, and then burrowed into Gu Shi's arms like a well-behaved kitten, "Mother is the best!"
Gu Shi didn't mind her calling her Mother, because she had a premonition that Shangguan Fang'er would eventually become her daughter-in-law.
At the same time, in the State of Yan, within the Prince's Mansion.
The Second Prince Ming Feiche was sleeping soundly, embracing his concubine, completely unaware that a dark figure had pushed open the window and quietly slipped into the bedroom...