Chapter 1017: All-out Care (Part )

"Who says that a little bit of love can repay the kindness of parents... Liu Xunyi, betraying your master and killing your father may be the greatest misfortune in your life, but having a mother who loves you so much like Master Xiao... isn't it your great fortune? Alas!"

After sighing, Xunzhen gradually woke up from his thoughts and suddenly realized that his legs had become very heavy without him noticing.

The conversation with Xiao Zhirou just now seemed calm, but in fact there were undercurrents.

After all, the two of them were of different generations and had different statuses, so Xunzhen had to hold his breath to compete with Xiao Zhirou and not lose in momentum.

However, "bluffing" consumes a lot of energy. When Xunzhen finally calmed down and slowly wiped off the cold sweat, he felt as if he had experienced a life-and-death battle, and he was exhausted both physically and mentally.

He closed the door, held onto the wall with his hands, staggered towards the copper basin, gently wiped his cheeks with a wet towel, and tried to clear his confused mind a little.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

However, before Xunzhen could catch his breath, the tightly closed door was knocked again.

"who?"

"Hong Si, Yan Shun, and Lei Zhen want to see the young lady!"

Hearing the answer from outside the door, Xunzhen quickly put the wet towel into the copper basin and took a deep breath, which made his tired eyes bright again.

"come in!"

When the people from Hong Temple pushed the door open on tiptoe, Xunzhen was already sitting at the table in high spirits, pouring four cups of tea for them.

"Greetings, young lady..."

"We are all family, no need to be polite, just sit down and talk."

Xunzhen nonchalantly interrupted their bowing and greeting, while scanning the four people one by one with a scrutinizing gaze.

When he saw that the person next to Hong Si, Yan Shun, and Lei Zhen was not Yuan Xiao, but a timid stranger, he was startled and asked curiously, "Who are you?"

"Reply...Report to the young lady, I am 'Yuan Dahai', and I have come to see you on the orders of my master..."

"Your master is... Yuan Xiao?"

"Reporting to the young lady, it's... it's Yuan Xiao." Yuan Dahai stuttered, his expression and behavior were quite shy.

Feeling that something was amiss, Xunzhen frowned slightly and deliberately tried to test him: "Do you know who I am?"

"This..." Yuan Dahai was stunned and answered in a panic, "I don't know... No, no, no! I know..."

Seeing Yuan Dahai talking incoherently, Lei Zhen flew into a rage and shouted, "Sometimes you know, sometimes you don't, do you know or not?"

"Miss, please spare me! I know it was just a slip of the tongue..." Yuan Dahai fell to his knees with a plop, and his body was shaking violently due to extreme fear. "I have seen Miss in Shenzhou..."

"Miss, I think this Yuan Dahai... is probably a fool. He gets nervous when asked and trembles when scared. Either he has something to hide or there is something wrong here." Yan Shun pointed at his head and whispered, "Did Yuan Xiao take the wrong medicine? He actually sent such a fool to see Miss, he..."

"Where is Yuan Xiao?" Xunzhen interrupted Yan Shun's sarcasm with his eyes, and said to Yuan Dahai in the softest voice possible, "Don't kneel, sit down and have a cup of tea. Everyone here is family, you don't have to be nervous."

"I……"

"What do you mean by 'I'? You should sit down when the young lady asks you to. What kind of man are you acting like when you keep on whining?"

Lei Zhen roughly and arrogantly dragged the bewildered Yuan Dahai to Xunzhen's side and forced him onto the stool.

"Look up and look at me." Xunzhen pushed a cup of tea in front of Yuan Dahai and asked calmly, "Tell me, why didn't Yuan Xiao come?"

"The master said... the Xianwang Mansion is not peaceful tonight. He is afraid of unexpected troubles and dare not act rashly." Yuan Dahai, trembling with fear, held the teacup in both hands and answered intermittently, "Miss, please tell me what you want to say. I will convey it truthfully."

"When did you become Yuan Xiao's disciple? What position do you hold in Yuan's mansion?"

"I entered the Yuan Mansion seven years ago and have been working in the kitchen of the lower courtyard..."

"The kitchen?"

Yuan Dahai's words not only stunned Xunzhen, but also shocked Hong Si, Lei Zhen and Yan Shun.

"After all this fuss, it turns out you're just a servant who cooks for Yuan Xiao? No wonder you look like a coward and don't know anything." Lei Zhen sneered unscrupulously, "Is Yuan Xiao crazy? He actually ordered a servant to report to the young lady..."

"okay!"

Xunzhen waved her jade hand, interrupting the angry Lei Zhen and the other two, staring at the terrified Yuan Dahai with her beautiful eyes, and said in a serious tone: "Tell me honestly, is Yuan Xiao... in trouble?" "In trouble?" Yuan Dahai was stunned and shook his head like a rattle, "The master is full of energy, nothing happened."

"really?"

"I would rather die than deceive the young lady. The master is really fine. Before coming here, the master personally told me that I must be respectful when I see the young lady and must not be rude..."

"I understand." Looking at Yuan Dahai who was making a solemn promise, Xunzhen smiled and said, "Actually, I don't have any instructions. I just want to have a chat with Yuan Xiao. You've made a long trip. After drinking this cup of tea... go back and have a rest!"

"Oh!"

Seeing that Xunzhen had no intention of making things difficult for him, Yuan Dahai quickly swallowed the tea, then bowed to Hong Si, Yan Shun and Lei Zhen who were looking at each other in bewilderment, and then fled out of the guest room.

"Miss, he..."

"The problem is not with him, but with Yuan Xiao." After Yuan Dahai left, Xunzhen's smile gradually froze. "An hour ago, Murong Bai came here. Why is he not afraid of complications, but Yuan Xiao dares not act rashly? Even if he can't get away, why doesn't Yuan Xiao send a capable subordinate, but chooses a confused and stupid cook? Is he deliberately perfunctory? Or is he forced to do so? Or... is he trying to hint something to me through Yuan Dahai?"

"The night before yesterday, Yuan Xiao met with us to discuss matters. At that time... I didn't notice anything wrong with him." Hong Si recalled, "Why haven't I seen him for two days..."

"Maybe the problem lies in these two days..." Xunzhen pondered, "But Murong Bai told me that everything is normal in the Xianwang Mansion, and nothing earth-shattering has happened. If Yuan Xiao encountered any trouble, or... his identity was exposed by Qingfeng, the Xianwang Mansion would not be so peaceful."

"Could it be that Murong Bai is lying?" Yan Shun's mind turned and he made a bold guess, "Could he be a spy planted by Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao among us?"

"Impossible!" Lei Zhen denied categorically, "If there was something wrong with Murong Bai, I would have died long ago."

"Maybe he wants to play the long game..."

"This..." After Hong Si's "reminder", Lei Zhen couldn't help but feel shaken, "It shouldn't be...right? Xie Xuan and Murong Bai are like brothers..."

"Maybe... Xie Xuan is also problematic. God knows what conspiracy they are brewing..."

"You are talking nonsense. The more you say, the more outrageous it is!" Seeing Hong Si and Yan Shun suspecting Xie Xuan and Murong Bai, Xun Zhen's face darkened and he admonished them in a bad tone, "I know that you and Yuan Xiao have been friends for many years, and you are also brothers who share honor and disgrace. You don't want to believe that the problem lies with Yuan Xiao, and I don't want to either. But you can't deliberately discredit Xie Xuan and Murong Bai to cover up Yuan Xiao's suspicion. If you act so impulsively, are you going to drag Xiao Zhirou, Teng Sanshi, and Yun Zhuiyue into the water next? What about me? Do you want to suspect me too?"

"Miss, please calm down. We would never dare to do that!"

Seeing Xunzhen's rage, the three people from Hong Temple were all frightened and fell to their knees, kowtowed to her in panic and apologized.

"I called you here tonight to ask you about your preparations. Second, to ask Yuan Xiao about Qingfeng's movements. Third, to ask Hong Si about Hong Yang's situation. Now it seems that none of the three things are to my liking." Yuan Xiao's behavior was out of character. Hong Si's three people avoided the important issues. In addition to his own fatigue, Xun Zhen could not maintain his usual temperament and demeanor. He became anxious, irritable and irritable. "This time, it is the first time you have joined forces with the Central Plains Sect. They are ready to go, but you made many mistakes at the critical moment. If you delay the plan of the young king Qin, you know the consequences."

"Miss, calm down. We know we are wrong!"

"Captain Hong, have I wronged you?" Xunzhen asked sarcastically, "If you have found Hong Yang's whereabouts, I will take back what I just said."

"Miss, you are very smart. I, Hong, really... really haven't found the whereabouts of Hong Yang." Beads of sweat the size of beans flowed down Hong Si's cheeks. At this moment, he didn't even dare to breathe.

"I knew it!"

"Snapped!"

Xunzhen, unable to bear it any longer, smashed the teacup to the ground, frightening the three people kneeling in front of him.

"I don't want to hear any more unnecessary complaints and grumblings from you, and I don't want any more accidents to happen to you three, just like Yuan Xiao did. I don't want any unexpected 'surprises' or 'shocks'! I just want you to do your best to do your job, and don't make any excuses to shirk responsibility!" Xunzhen warned word by word, "Remember your identities. You are no longer the 'local tyrants' of the four prefectures in Shangjing, but the leaders of the four major branches of Xilu Wuzong in the Central Plains. Liu Xunyi is the deputy leader of Xilu Wuzong. If anything goes wrong with him, none of you will survive. Also, don't worry about Yuan Xiao's matter. Go back and prepare, and do everything according to the plan."

"As ordered!"

"Go down!"

"Yes……"

Under Xunzhen's impatient urging, the frightened three people from Hong Temple cautiously left the room.

"It's really like one thing after another!" Xunzhen, feeling depressed, looked at the flickering candlelight with a complicated look, muttering to himself, "Yuan Xiao, Yuan Xiao... you should be the person I can rely on the most. What happened tonight?"

"boom!"

Just when Xunzhen was feeling upset and puzzled, the half-closed door was suddenly pushed open.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Ku, who was drunk, stumbled into the room with the support of Qin Da, Qin Er and Qin San.

"My 'Miss Xunzhen', for the whole night... you met all the aunts and uncles. Some are thin, some are plump, and each has its own merits... you talked, laughed, cried, and scolded... how is it? Is it your turn to turn over my 'brand' now? Hehe..."

……

(End of this chapter)