When Yuanxi regained consciousness, she was choked into coughing by the dust permeating the air. Lifting her head, she found herself in a damp and dark old house with only bare walls around her and no windows. As soon as she sat up, she felt pain in her wrists. Looking down, she discovered both hands were tightly bound with thick rope, and something was stuffed in her mouth so she couldn’t make any sound. Most terrifying of all, she was wearing only her undergarments and intimate clothing—all her other garments had disappeared.
Yuanxi stared in horror, her mind completely blank. The enclosed small room was oppressively stuffy, and sweat continuously dripped from her forehead, dampening her disheveled hair and clothing. After a while, she forced herself to calm down and confirmed there were no signs of violation on her body, which brought her some relief. Fortunately, she wasn’t dead, merely thrown into this room in some unknown location. But what was the purpose of whoever had abducted her?
Just as she felt lost and helpless, not knowing how to escape, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching the door. Someone knocked and called: “Madam Xiao, are you inside?” It was the young teacher’s voice!
Yuanxi’s heart suddenly relaxed, and she was so overjoyed she nearly cried, wanting to open her mouth but unable to make a sound. She rushed to the door in desperation, then suddenly stopped. A thought crashed into her mind, becoming increasingly clear and somewhat terrifying: Why did the young teacher appear at just this moment? Why did her captors deliberately prevent her from speaking and strip away her clothing?
She slid down against the door to sit on the ground, her joy at finding salvation transforming into deeper fear. She seemed to be trapped in a malicious snare—someone had deliberately taken her outer garments and confined her here, then somehow notified the young teacher to come find her. The young teacher certainly didn’t know she was currently improperly dressed. As soon as he opened the door, with her and the young teacher—a man and woman—alone together in this remote house, if anyone discovered them, it would be impossible to explain clearly.
At this moment, getting no response from inside, the young teacher outside began trying to manipulate the door latch. Yuanxi was frantic, wanting to call out but only able to make small whimpering sounds that were quickly drowned out by the chaotic cicada songs outside…
Meanwhile, less than ten li away, Xiao Du was leading many servants to search house by house for Yuanxi’s whereabouts. The earlier scenes kept surfacing in his mind—emotions of vexation, regret, and worry clogged his chest. He vigorously shook his head to cast off these distracting thoughts, only hoping he wasn’t too late.
After finishing his conversation with Luo Yuan that afternoon, he felt somewhat restless, so he strolled to outside Yuanxi’s courtyard, wanting to see her. But as soon as he entered the courtyard, he sensed something wrong. Though it was nearly dinnertime, he couldn’t see a single maid or servant bustling about. Suppressing his unease, he searched through all the rooms but couldn’t find any trace of Yuanxi, only discovering An’he and Nanny Li unconscious in his room.
According to their recollections, they had lost consciousness after drinking tea that Rong Qiao had brought them. Xiao Du was frantic with worry and quickly called several clever servants to inquire throughout the mansion. Finally, someone reported seeing Yuanxi and her maid Rong Qiao heading toward the western corner gate. When he hurried to that location, he found among a patch of shrubs that the normally verdant vegetation was in complete disarray, obviously showing signs of someone having fallen and crushed the plants.
A streak of blood-red setting sun illuminated the broken and scattered shrubs on the ground. Xiao Du clenched his fists tightly, imagining what Yuanxi might have experienced here, his heart aching indescribably. When Concubine Wang had transferred Rong Qiao from her room, he had arranged for hidden guards to secretly investigate, but at that time they found no connections between her and Concubine Wang. Though he detested Concubine Wang, he didn’t believe she would truly dare harm the main wife or commit such a grave evil act. But now… could he really have been wrong? Could the estate incident truly have been Concubine Wang instructing Rong Qiao? Then Yuanxi now…
He closed his eyes, not daring to think further. At this moment, someone nearby exclaimed: “This golden hairpin seems to be Madam’s.” Xiao Du quickly looked toward where he pointed and saw a golden hairpin lying not far from the shrubs—exactly the one Yuanxi commonly wore. Beside the hairpin in the muddy ground, a deep scratch mark had been carved. Xiao Du stared intently at this scratch mark, understanding this might very well be the last message Yuanxi had left for him before something happened.
Xiao Du sat down beside the shrubs, falling into deep contemplation. The servants around him didn’t know what had occurred and simply stood quietly waiting. The gradually westward-moving sunset cast golden afterglow, moving inch by inch across the vegetation before him. Suddenly Xiao Du awakened with a start: it was time! She wanted to tell him the time she was attacked! Yuanxi knew that from his years of military campaigns, he could calculate time based on the sun’s movement, so in her last moment of consciousness, she had carved a scratch mark where the sunlight fell. He quickly calculated on his fingers—it shouldn’t be more than an hour since Yuanxi’s incident. Even by carriage, they couldn’t have gone far. Yuanxi must still be within the city!
Xiao Du felt somewhat reassured. There was no blood here, so Yuanxi had most likely only fainted and at least hadn’t been injured at the time. He quickly sent people to question the servants guarding the various gates and learned that during this time period, only one wine-carrying cart had left the mansion through the western gate, heading toward the eastern part of the city. Hiding a person in wine jars shouldn’t be difficult.
In front of the marquis mansion’s western gate was a small alley used only by mansion servants, normally quite quiet. But now this alley was unusually bustling as many people entered together. They didn’t ride horses, fearing to disturb the cart track traces on the road.
Xiao Du brought a hidden guard to carefully examine the cart prints on the ground. The impressions were deep on one side and shallow on the other, obviously showing the wine jars’ weight was tilted to one side—it seemed they hadn’t made a mistake. Everyone followed the wheel tracks forward until reaching the busy market district where the impressions were trampled beyond recognition by numerous footsteps. Xiao Du sent people to inquire with various merchants. The carts from the marquis mansion were all extraordinarily impressive, naturally catching many people’s attention, and finally they were directed toward a dark alley.
Indeed, clear wheel tracks appeared again at the alley entrance. Everyone hurried inside in pursuit, only to discover this was actually a dead-end alley, and the wheel tracks abruptly terminated in front of a courtyard wall. The hidden guard beside Xiao Du quickly examined the three surrounding walls, finding no hidden doors to pass through, and puzzled: “Such a large cart—could it have vanished into thin air?”
“Naturally not.” Xiao Du stood with hands behind his back, studying the wheel tracks on the ground. “Look at how these tracks differ from the earlier ones.” After the hidden guard observed for a while, he suddenly understood: “These are no longer deep on one side and shallow on the other.”
“Exactly. They played a trick to confuse us—actually deliberately returning along the original tracks.”
“Then Madam…” the hidden guard questioned.
Xiao Du didn’t answer but looked up at a towering tree beside the courtyard wall. Taking the hint, the hidden guard immediately climbed the tree to investigate and indeed found traces of rope binding on a thick branch. Xiao Du and the hidden guard leaped over the courtyard wall and pulled many other servants across. Behind the wall were many winding small paths and clusters of old, dilapidated courtyards. Xiao Du had a premonition that Yuanxi couldn’t be far away, so with a stern expression, he called out loudly: “Search every household!”
Just as everyone was searching nearby, Luo Yuan finally discovered the wooden door before him wasn’t locked, merely lightly latched with a piece of wood. His heart leaped with joy, and he was about to find a way to move this door latch when he suddenly heard several rhythmic knocking sounds from inside.
He froze abruptly, remembering how in the Xia family schoolhouse, when Yuanxi found classes boring, they had devised this code for conveying simple messages, tapping on desks to secretly communicate. The sounds now coming from inside the door clearly expressed one meaning: don’t come in.
Luo Yuan frowned, thinking through this entire incident from beginning to end. Shortly after leaving the marquis mansion, someone had deliberately bumped into him on the street, secretly slipping a note into his robes that read: “To save Xia Yuanxi, go alone to the fifth room on the right in Yulin Alley, Anlang District.” Concerned for her safety, he had no time to determine if this was a trap and desperately rushed here. Now he finally understood—everything seemed orchestrated by someone. But what exactly was that person’s goal?
He steadied himself and asked softly: “Madam Xiao, are you inside?”
A light knock came from within, meaning: it’s me. Luo Yuan asked again: “Is anyone with you now?” After receiving a negative response, his heart eased somewhat, but he didn’t understand why Yuanxi wouldn’t let him enter. After asking about several possibilities and being denied each time, he finally asked tentatively: “Is it inconvenient for you to see people right now?” Urgent affirmative knocking sounds came from the room. Luo Yuan’s heart slowly sank—what a vicious killing-two-birds-with-one-stone scheme this was. It could both destroy Yuanxi’s reputation and make him completely lose Xiao Du’s trust. Whoever had lured him here must know about their past. Who exactly could “they” be?
Luo Yuan pressed his hand against the door panel, as if he could sense her presence through the door, softly comforting: “Madam Xiao, don’t be afraid. I’ll stay outside the door with you and definitely won’t let anything happen to you!” Yuanxi gently pressed her face against the door. That familiar warm voice was right by her ear, and tears she had held back for so long finally spilled forth, yet her heart felt warm and settled. Because she knew the young teacher was outside the door—even if they couldn’t meet, he would certainly protect her from any harm.
The two sat facing each other separated by a wooden door. Worried she might be frightened, Luo Yuan picked many amusing incidents from after their separation to tell her, while part of his mind pondered countermeasures. Yuanxi listened with growing fascination, feeling as if she had returned to the chancellor’s mansion, almost forgetting she was still in a perilous and unpredictable environment.
Just then, Luo Yuan heard chaotic footsteps and voices approaching from not far away. He suddenly stood up, knowing it must be people from the marquis mansion. But he quickly realized that if Xiao Du brought people charging in like this, Yuanxi would certainly be extremely embarrassed. Seeing the footsteps drawing closer, Luo Yuan steeled himself and decided to make one final gamble.
Xiao Du led people searching room by room until finally stopping outside an old house. He crouched down and picked up a brocade handkerchief from the ground. The embroidery work was quite clumsy, yet he immediately recognized it as Yuanxi’s handiwork. He suddenly looked up and discovered the door wasn’t even latched—it could be opened with just a pull.
The person he had been desperately seeking might very well be inside, yet Xiao Du suddenly hesitated. This handkerchief was far too conspicuous, and the door wasn’t locked—it seemed too much like a prepared trap. At this moment, knocking sounds came from inside the door, mixed with small whimpering noises, as if someone was anxiously trying to tell him something. Xiao Du recognized Yuanxi’s voice, so he waved behind him: “You all wait here. I’ll go look first.” He gently pulled the door open a crack and slowly peered inside. In the dark room, a bare arm was visible. His heart jumped violently. He sent the hidden guards and servants farther back, carefully slipping inside. He saw Yuanxi wearing only her undergarments, hugging her legs and hiding her body by the door, looking at him with tears streaming down her face.
He felt his breathing catch and immediately removed his outer robe to wrap her body tightly, then held her firmly in his arms, afraid that if he let go she might disappear again, softly saying: “It’s all right now, it’s all right…” Yuanxi leaned against this warm, solid embrace and finally couldn’t help but cry aloud.
Meanwhile, on a small path shaded by green foliage behind the house, a figure quietly stood up, breathed a sigh of relief, and walked away. Xiao Du lifted Yuanxi up, as if making a vow: “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t let whoever harmed you get away with it! First that Rong Qiao—she definitely can’t escape!”
But he didn’t know that Rong Qiao was already a dead person—a headless dead person…