Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 258 Admit your mistake
Yan Ciwan glanced at the tree, then went to look at Xiao Wang.

Xiao Wang also noticed the unusual movement in the tree. He seemed to have guessed something and shook his head gently at Yan Ciwan, signaling her not to make a sound.

Liu Qingguang was immersed in the joy of "reuniting" with his father and did not notice the little movements between the two.

He held the oil-paper umbrella steadily and said goodbye to Yan Ciwan and Xiao Wang: "Thank you for telling me all this. We should go back now."

Yan Ciwan smiled and said, "Mountains and rivers will always meet each other. I hope we will have the chance to meet again."

"There will definitely be."

Liu Qingguang turned and left, the sunlight fell on him, and in a trance, there seemed to be a blurry figure under the umbrella.

Only when Liu Qingguang's back disappeared at the end of the street did Yan Ciwan look up and say something to the tree.

"Stop hiding, come down."

She had just noticed someone on the tree, but she didn't sense any bad intentions, and Xiao Wang asked her to keep quiet, so she didn't expose it on the spot.

The branches shook, and many leaves fell down. After a while, a familiar figure jumped down.

This person is actually Uncle Nine!

Xiao Wang had already guessed that it was him, and there was no sign of surprise on his face.

"Uncle Jiu, why are you hiding in the tree?" Yan Ciwan asked.

Uncle Jiu went to see Xiao Wang, who told him to speak frankly and not to hide anything, so he had to answer honestly: "Last night, I saw Liu Lang come out of the guest room where Lady Ning lived, and then he went to the governor's mansion quietly. I guessed that you might know something about Xie Tanyu. I know that Liu Qingguang is Xie Tanyu's son. You came here to wait for him, maybe to tell him about Xie Tanyu, so I hid in the tree and eavesdropped."

Yan Ciwan raised his head and looked at the tree carefully, very puzzled: "When did you climb up the tree? Why didn't I see you?"

Uncle Jiu pointed behind the tree and said, "I climbed up from the wall."

There was a courtyard wall right behind the tree, and he had just climbed up the tree quietly using the wall as a cover.

Yan Ciwan complimented him with a half-smile: "I didn't realize you were so good at Qinggong. If you hadn't shaken the branches just now, I wouldn't have noticed there was someone on the tree."

Being caught eavesdropping is not a glorious thing. Uncle Jiu lowered his head in embarrassment.

Yan Ciwan asked, "Why do you care so much about Xie Tanyu's affairs?"

Uncle Jiu lowered his head and said nothing.

Xiao Wang sighed and helped explain, "Uncle Jiu respected Prince Renxian very much. He heard the rumor that Xie Tanyu was plotting to murder Prince Renxian, so he hated Xie Tanyu to the core."

Yan Ci looked at Uncle Jiu in the evening and asked, "Do you know Prince Renxian?"

Uncle Jiu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Many years ago in Lianzhou, I accidentally killed a bully in order to save a weak woman who was being bullied by him. The government wanted to punish me, but it happened that Crown Prince Renxian was passing through Lianzhou on his southern tour. After hearing about my story, he felt that I had a justifiable crime and stepped forward to protect me."

Yan Ciwan curiously asked what happened next: "And then?"

"Then Prince Renxian left Lianzhou and continued his southern tour, while I continued to wander around."

Yan Ciwan blinked: "That's it? You haven't seen each other since then?"

Uncle Jiu nodded: "Yeah."

Yan Ciwan thought he would hear a thrilling and wonderful story, but he didn't expect the truth to be so simple, and he couldn't help being a little disappointed.

Xiao Wang took in Yan Ci Wan's little expression and could probably guess what she was thinking, and felt like laughing.

Yan Ciwan continued to ask, "What did you do before?"

Uncle Jiu answered truthfully: "I wander around and make a living by doing odd jobs. If I encounter injustice along the way, I will lend a hand."

"That sounds like a Ranger."

"Someone has indeed called me that." In the past, there were knights among the people. Relying on their martial arts skills, they were not restricted by the government and did whatever they wanted, which caused a lot of trouble. The Daye Dynasty had issued a clear order to ban the emergence of knights among the people. Unexpectedly, Uncle Jiu, who looked honest and dull, was actually a knight when he was young.

Yan Ciwan sighed sincerely: "You really can't judge a person by his appearance!"

Uncle Jiu was even more embarrassed. He said awkwardly, "I was young and hot-tempered before, and did a lot of ridiculous things that I thought were right."

Yan Ciwan continued gossiping: "You are so good at martial arts, you must have been famous in the martial arts world before, right?"

Uncle Jiu quickly waved his hands to deny: "No, my martial arts are far inferior to Madam Ning's."

Yan Ciwan was so flattered that he chuckled: "Uncle Jiu, you are really too modest."

Seeing that Uncle Jiu was in great embarrassment, Xiao Wang spoke up in time to help change the subject.

"Uncle Jiu heard what we said just now?"

Uncle Jiu nodded. He looked at Yan Ciwan and asked seriously, "Did Xie Tanyu really appear in your dream?"

Yan Ciwan put away his smile and nodded in response, "Yes."

Although the dream was fake, what she just said about Xie Tanyu was true, so she can't be considered a lie.

Uncle Jiu was extremely ashamed: "So, Xie Tanyu did not murder Prince Renxian."

Previously, he believed the rumors and mistakenly thought that Xie Tanyu not only betrayed Prince Renxian, but was also likely the murderer of Prince Renxian. He even plotted to kill Xie Tanyu to avenge Prince Renxian.

It was not until just now, when he listened to what Yan Ciwan said, that he realized that he might have misunderstood Xie Tanyu.

He is a man with a very clear sense of right and wrong. Since he knew he was wrong, he admitted his mistake on the spot.

"I shouldn't have just followed the crowd. I feel so sorry for Xie Tanyu. I will go in and kowtow to him and admit my mistake."

After saying that, he walked towards the governor's mansion.

Yan Ciwan called out to him and asked, "Were you the one who shook the branch just now?"

Uncle Jiu nodded.

Just now, he was hiding in the tree and heard the conversation between Yan Ciwan and Liu Qingguang. He was surprised and suspicious at first, and then gradually turned into guilt and regret.

He secretly thanked God that his plan to assassinate Xie Tanyu had not succeeded, otherwise he would have to die to atone for his sin.

Hearing Liu Qingguang calling for his father, Uncle Jiu reached out his hand as if possessed by a ghost and gently shook the branch.

A leaf fell from a branch and landed on Liu Qingguang's umbrella.

Liu Qingguang mistakenly thought that it was a response from his father's ghost, and happily went home with an umbrella. Uncle Jiu now feels quite uneasy when he thinks about it.

He asked, “Did I do it wrong again?”

Yan Ciwan smiled brightly: "No, you did a good job this time."

Uncle Jiu felt relieved: "Then I'll go in."

"Let's go with you."

A group of three people arrived at the gate of the governor's mansion. The soldier guarding the gate went in and made a message. A moment later, Afeng came running in hurriedly. He was wearing a plain white linen robe, his hair was already gray, and the wrinkles on his face were deeper than when they met yesterday. He looked very haggard and tired.

He saluted Yan Ci Wan and Xiao Wang with crossed arms and respectfully asked them why they had come.

Yan Ciwan said: "I came to see Madam Xie. I want to talk to her about something."

Ah Feng begged hurriedly, "That's great. Please have a good chat with her. Today is the day of the envoy's funeral, but the lady is unwilling to even see him off for the last time. No matter how angry she is with the envoy, death is like the extinguishing of a light. Please let her put aside her grudge for the time being and send him off for the sake of her twenty years of raising him. Don't let him go so sadly."