Chapter 564

Chapter 564 – There is News…

Ye Zhen left the Wu residence quietly, then directed the coachman to take her to the Qianjin* on the main street. She hadn’t contacted Hong Ling** for over half a year now and wondered whether she*** had news about her father and brother.

(*her shop, **her trusted maid when she was Ye Zhen, ***Hong Ling)

“Just wait for me outside the door,” Ye Zhen instructed the coachman and went into the Qianjin by herself.

The staff at Qianjin already knew that she was Hong Ling’s most important guest, and whenever the third miss from the Lu family came, they had to invite her to the private room on the second floor.

“Miss Lu, you’ve arrived at a good time. Hong Ling just came back from Jinkou City and has brought a lot of treasures back.” The shopkeeper greeted Ye Zhen upstairs. “I will invite her over immediately.”

“Okay.” Ye Zhen was secretly surprised. Why did Hong Ling go to Jinkou City? Could it be that there is already news about Uncle Tian*?

(*Tian Jiu, another confidant who follows by Man Qin (her father’s trusted retianer), a general; the one who rashly went to the west to kill Lu Lingzhi)

After waiting in the room for a while, Hong Ling rushed in.

“Miss!” Hong Ling panted slightly and excitedly looked at Ye Zhen who was sitting by the window.

Ye Zhen glanced at her with a smile and said, “I heard you just came back from Jinkou City?”

Hong Ling gulped, turned around, and told the rest of the people not to come up, closed the door, went to Ye Zhen’s side, and bowed respectfully. When she raised her head, tears were streaming down her face as she said, “Miss, there is news about Master.”

Ye Zhen was stunned; she was a little unresponsive and sat blankly on the seat. There is news of… Father and Brother?

“Miss—”

“What did you say?!” Ye Zhen tightly grabbed Hong Ling’s shoulders with both hands, and asked with a trembling voice, “Repeat what you just said.”

Hong Ling cried as she said, “This servant went to Jinkou City and received news from Uncle Man* that he saw Master and Young Master in East Qing Country. Miss, Master and Young Master are really still alive!”

(*Man Qin)

“East Qing Country?” Ye Zhen murmured blankly, “Are they really in East Qing Country?”

“Yes! It’s true!” Hong Ling nodded vigorously.

Ye Zhen bit her finger, she was afraid that this was just another dream.

It hurts so much! I’m not dreaming!

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Has Uncle Man met them?” Ye Zhen asked, wiping away the tears on her face. It was not time to rejoice yet; she had to find her father first.

“No,” Hong Ling replied, “Uncle Man just saw them on the streets. He is still staying in East Qing Country, trying to glean their whereabouts…”

“Did Uncle Man Qin really see them?” Ye Zhen couldn’t believe it, she was afraid mistaken*.

(*that he had recognized the wrong people)

“Miss, can’t you trust Uncle Man’s eyesight? If he wasn’t certain, he definitely wouldn’t send the news back,” Hong Ling said in a low voice. She could understand her mistress’ predicament. She had gone through so many misfortunes that she was scared to react let alone put her hopes high on a glimmer of hope.

“No matter what, this is already good news.” Her optimism got the better of her, Ye Zhen was very excited. After almost two years, she finally had news of her father.

Hong Ling nodded in equal excitement. “Miss, according to the news brought back by Uncle Man, Master seems to be doing well in East Qing Country. He was well dressed, but… Master’s identity is too secretive, that’s why he hasn’t managed to find him.”

“Uncle Man will find them! Uncle Man will definitely find them.” Ye Zhen tried her best to calm down since she knew that her father and brother were in East Qing Country, and she would find them. If two years of relentless search had brought them to this point, they would reach their goal too for they wouldn’t give up.

“Young Miss, what should we do next?” asked Hong Ling. Although they knew the whereabouts of their masters, they still couldn’t really feel relieved because they hadn’t seen them in the flesh. And considering it was not their home turf, and the fact that their identities were concealed, she wondered how long the road would be.

Ye Zhen took a deep breath in a bid to calm her nerves and clear her mind. “There’s no rush,” she said. “Let’s just wait for a while more, perhaps Uncle Man will have news soon.”

In reality, she really wanted to go to East Qing Country to find them right away. Her dear father and brother, who had doted on her to no avail and suffered because of her… the guilt that had been gnawing at her, the excitement that was surging upon knowing that there was someone else other than Mo Rongzhan who confirmed they were alive… how could she not want to go? However, she knew all too well that she couldn’t go anywhere now. Old Madam Lu would not allow her to so much as step out of the capital without a word, and Mo Rongzhan was watching her closely. As such, this was not the time to get swayed by emotions, she needed to be rational and rein all impulsiveness. They were close, she needed to trust her people to do the job.

More importantly, she could not let anyone know that her father was in East Qing Country!

“Miss, do you want me to pull more people into the search?” Hong Ling queried.

“No, don’t!” Ye Zhen shook her head immediately in negation. “If the person Uncle Man saw was really Father, then Father should know that Uncle Man is looking for him. If he doesn’t want to meet Uncle Man, then it’s probably not the right time yet.”

She knew her father and his methods. If his retainer had the ability to find him, what more could be said of the master who had instilled the capabilities in his men? Knowing that his people had spotted him, why would he still choose to stay concealed?

Perhaps there is something Father can’t tell us…

Hong Ling was also worried that their search might be in vain and they would end up disappointing their mistress even further. “Miss, what should we do next?”

“I want to go to East Qing Country.” Ye Zhen said in a low voice, “But now is not the time. I can’t leave now. When I’m ready, we can leave together.”

Ye Zhen had always wanted to leave the capital after she was done serving her enemies their just desserts, however, she didn’t know where to go. Now, she had finally found her goal. If her father was really in East Qing Country, then she would travel there to find him. After finding her father, she would never return to the Jin Kingdom again.

“Miss, what should we do about Qianjin?” Hong Ling asked in a low voice.

“Leave it to Sun Jiaxing, after we go to East Qing Country, can’t we open another Qianjin?” Ye Zhen said with a smile. She felt that anything was possible so long as she could find her father and brother.

Hong Ling nodded with a smile. “This servant will follow Miss’ instructions.”

There was an inexplicable joy in Ye Zhen’s heart at the thought that her father and brother were really still alive. She felt that her rebirth finally had meaning. No one could understand how much she wanted to be reunited with her father and brother, she had been separated from them for too long.

After coming out of Qianjin, Ye Zhen’s expression returned to normal; no one could tell that she had been crying with joy not long ago.

She returned to the Lu Mansion, but before she could get out of the carriage, she heard a familiar and gruff voice from outside.

“Yaoyao, you are finally back, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”

“Ah Yi?” Ye Zhen raised the curtain of the carriage and found Mo Rongyi standing beside the carriage. With a smile on her face, she asked, “Why are you here?”

Although Mo Rongyi’s handsome face still had a little childishness, it looked very different from half a year ago. He glared at Ye Zhen as he said, “You disappeared for so long for no reason, and you didn’t even visit the palace to look for me when you came back… I had no choice but to come to you reluctantly.”

“Well, you’ve grown taller!” Ye Zhen got out of the carriage, reached out, and patted his head. “Why did your voice become like this?”

Mo Rongyi didn’t like people talking about his voice*. He didn’t know why it had become this awful either. “Don’t touch my head, I’m taller than you now!”

(*Haha, the lad’s going through puberty, cut him some slack!!!)

“Just a little bit taller.” Ye Zhen teased him but sighed in her heart. This boy has finally grown up.

“Where did you go? You didn’t really go to the Wu family’s banquet, did you?” Mo Rongyi asked with a frown.

Ye Zhen led him into the gate of the Lu Mansion. “I did. What’s wrong?”

“You still had the mood to go to the banquet? Hmph, do you know what everyone in the palace is saying about my Imperial Brother?” Mo Rongyi demanded angrily. He thought that Lu Yaoyao would soon become his sister-in-law, so he didn’t expect things to develop so strangely.

“What happened to His Majesty?” Ye Zhen asked, obviously not too concerned about Mo Rongzhan’s affairs.

“They are all saying that Imperial Brother is a wife-jinxer!” Mo Rongyi shouted angrily.

“——” Ye Zhen was stunned. “What?!”

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