Heartstrings Resonance: The Beloved Princess of the Female Power

Yongle knew why Mu Yunxi had suddenly walked so fast, and said with a bit of amusement, "Humph, you're afraid I'll hold you back and tell you it's not okay." He went to sleep, not minding Mu Yunxi's behavior. The two of them had gotten to know each other better over the past few days, and their relationship had grown closer.

A few more days passed. That afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, the breeze was blowing gently, and a quiet and peaceful atmosphere enveloped the entire Qin family.

However, this tranquility was soon shattered by a gentle knock at the Qingzhu Courtyard door. A servant arrived to report that someone from the Mu family was looking for them. Upon hearing this, Mu Yunxi and her daughter exchanged a glance, a hint of doubt welling up in their hearts. "Did your father send someone?" Xiao Yao asked softly.

Mu Yunxi didn't say much, but said decisively: "Go and take a look and you'll know." She took Xiao Yao's hand without hesitation and walked out together.

When they arrived at the Qin family's front yard's reception room, they were startled by the scene before them. Qin Donghai was personally entertaining a dozen dusty men. Among them were Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei, two of the ten thugs assigned to Xiao Yao by the Xiao family. Like the other seven or eight Mu family servants, their faces were filled with fatigue. A few others, however, were in relatively good condition: Mu Cheng's two guards and five servants.

When everyone saw Xiao Yao and Mu Yunxi walk in, they all stood up and saluted respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Madam, Miss." Their voices were in unison, revealing a kind of respect for the mistress and the young lady. "Okay, stop saluting." Xiao Yao stood up and looked at the people in front of her with a smile on her face, but that smile was filled with a bit of fatigue and sadness. "It's impossible to say that Xiao Yao is not excited. After all, many of these people are former acquaintances. Now seeing these people in front of her, she feels more at ease. "Leave Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei, as well as Jing Qi and Jing Ba, and the rest of you go down and rest." Xiao Yao said, pointing to the four people standing in front. Then she turned to look at Qin Donghai, smiled and said, "Thank you, Second Young Master Qin, please make room for them to rest for a while."

Qin Donghai didn't mind. He smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Mrs. Mu, you're too polite. Everyone hasn't had their meal yet. Donghai will ask someone to prepare it right away." After saying that, he turned and left.

Several people bowed in unison to thank Qin Donghai. Qin Donghai also bowed and said some polite words before leaving.

Xiao Yao gestured for everyone to sit down, and Mother Wu helped Mu Yunxi sit in the seat next to Xiao Yao.

After the Qin family servants served tea and left, Xiao Yao regained control of her emotions and slowly spoke, "Xiao Zhi, Xiao Liu, Xiao Li, and Ning Zhi are all dead."

Xiao Nan sighed and said in a depressed tone, "We know."

Xiao Yao and Mu Yunxi were both confused. They wondered how they knew since they hadn't told them anything. Then Xiao Nan frowned and said,

"Last year before the Lunar New Year, the Xiao family sent someone to our mansion and told us that the Madam and the eldest daughter would not return to Youzhou until after the Lunar New Year in Qingzhou. Due to the heavy snow and wind on the road, it was unsafe to travel, so they might not leave Qingzhou until after the first lunar month. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the master ordered a few of us to rush to Qingzhou to welcome the Madam and the eldest daughter. I don't know what happened in Kyoto, but there were officers and soldiers everywhere along the way. We were constantly checked along the way. Some unreasonable officers and soldiers even detained us directly. Even when we showed them the sign from the mansion, they didn't believe it. They asked us to check one by one, and this back and forth wasted a lot of time. It was not until the end of February that we arrived in Jingzhou. We were detained three times by several groups of officers and soldiers just by one prefecture. Before leaving, the master reminded us that the court was catching rebels and asked us to be cautious, but we didn't expect the situation to be so serious." Xiao Nan frowned and never relaxed, and sighed after he finished speaking.

Xiao Bei beside him clenched his fists and snorted angrily: "It will be even harder to get out of Jingzhou!" He continued: "We told them the truth that we were going to pick up the wife and daughter of Lord Mu from Youzhou. The magistrate of the same county in Jingzhou actually insisted that we looked like the gang of bandits who had just appeared in Jingzhou, so he locked us up in the cell without saying a word. We stayed there for a whole month and a half!" He took a deep breath and continued: "After we came out, they just said that they had caught the real gang and admitted that they had wronged us. We were in a hurry to get on with our journey at the time and didn't think too much about it. When I We finally arrived in Huangni County and were about to leave Jingzhou when we were detained at the county's north gate for another two weeks. This time, their excuse was even more outrageous, accusing us of treason. They even said they had to go to Youzhou to verify our identities to avoid wrongfully accusing innocent people. We suggested they investigate in the same county, but they flatly refused, citing concerns that the county magistrate was in cahoots with us. It's like a scholar encountering a soldier, unable to explain himself! Everyone present could clearly sense the frustration and anger embedded in his words.

Seeing that Xiao Bei didn't want to talk anymore, Xiao Nan took over the conversation: "We had just left Huangni County when we stopped to rest, eat something, and go to the bathroom." He paused, took a deep breath, and then said: "We saw Ning Zhi's body, and not far away was Xiao Zhi's."

A trace of grief and anger flashed in his eyes as he continued, "We buried them. Remembering there were some signs of a fight on the road when we came here, and deducing the time when the lady would return, plus the fact that Xiao Zhi and the others' bodies were casually dumped in the bushes, we all decided to go straight back. Xiao Bei led four people along the small path, and I led four people along the official road. We didn't miss any place with signs of a fight. Just like that, after searching for a few days, we found the bodies of Xiao Liu and Xiao Li in a tall bush. This also made us more certain about the direction of our search."

At this point, Xiao Nan clenched his fists, trying to suppress the resentment within him. What they hadn't told Mu Yunxi and her daughter was that Ning Zhi and Xiao Zhi's bodies were pieced together from bones they'd found in the mountains. They knew they were the two of them because the servant saw a piece of cloth with words on it that looked familiar, and then found a human leg bone nearby, which prompted Xiao Nan and the others to come. Xiao Nan saw that it was Ning Zhi's name. Everyone dispersed to search, but the bones they found were different, so they couldn't piece together a single body, but they could still piece together some of the pieces. Then a servant arrived from a distance with two small pieces of cloth, which, when pieced together, revealed Xiao Zhi's name. It took them a whole day to find both bodies. If it weren't for the fact that everyone's name was embroidered on the cuffs of their clothes, and everyone in the mansion wore similar clothes, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Xiao Yao would have instituted this rule. Unexpectedly, it would have served this purpose, allowing Ning Zhi and the others to rest in peace.

"These damned beasts wouldn't even dig a hole! I curse them all to death!" Mother Wu's eyes were red with rage as she began to curse. Think of the wolves and tigers in the forests. Even a shallow hole would be dug out, let alone one that was just dumped carelessly.

Although Xiao Nan and the others hadn't mentioned it, how could Xiao Yao and Mu Yunxi not have thought of it? Xiao Yao had considered asking the Qin family for help in finding the body, but those people were not easy to deal with. If these things led them to believe that the Qin family knew about it and were deliberately targeting them, and they were far away in Youzhou and couldn't help immediately, then it would be their fault if the Qin family fell into trouble.

Now that she knew Ning Zhi and the others were laid to rest, her heart was at ease. It only took three or four days to travel from Shuanglin Prefecture to Youzhou Prefecture, and even a day if they rode at full speed. They had previously arrived in Qingzhou in less than two days by carriage; it was clear how eager Xiao Yao was to return home to see her mother.

Xiao Yao lowered her eyes and said softly, "It's good that they are buried in peace. When we return to Youzhou, we will find a good feng shui site to move them all back."

Mu Yunxi patted Xiao Yao's arm gently, saying in a soft and soothing voice, "Mother, the dead are gone. Ning Zhi and the others died because of us, and we must avenge them. Look, my injuries are almost healed now. Shall we set off for Youzhou in two days?"

Thinking of Mu Yunxi's injury, Xiao Yao wanted to refuse, but after careful consideration, she realized that this matter could not be delayed any longer. Now that she and her daughter had not been caught, those people would definitely not give up and might come up with some conspiracy to deal with Mu Cheng. Thinking of this, she could only nod helplessly and said, "Okay! We will set off for Youzhou in two days."

Then, she turned to look at Jing Qi and Jing Ba and asked, "Did you come from the mansion?"

Jing Qi replied, "Yes, ma'am. The day before yesterday at 11:00 am, General Jin came to your house to stay for one night and told you about this matter. Yesterday morning, your master asked me and you to bring some men to protect you and the eldest daughter. We arrived at Shuanglin Prefecture City at midnight last night. Your master told us to visit Duke Rong first after we arrived here and hand over some important items to him. We just came here from the general's house this morning." He explained in detail to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao nodded slightly and said softly, "Okay, thank you for your hard work." Then, she turned to look at Xiao Nan and the others and asked with concern, "How did you find this place?"

Xiao Nan replied, "We didn't find any bodies, so we thought everyone must have escaped. But considering that everyone might be injured, we searched everywhere for a clinic. We asked around in every clinic in the nearby villages and the county town. This morning, we finally got news from a place called Chen's Clinic. When we learned that you were at the Qin family, we rushed over. As soon as we arrived at the Qin family's gate, we ran into Jing Qi and the others."

Xiao Yao nodded, then said to everyone, "Well, everyone has worked hard."