The Virgin Mary in the Book: I Decide My Life with Two Swords

Cang Yue Kingdom - Official Road

Late at night, the camp beside the official road was still ablaze with flames. Duan Peng arranged people to stand guard every night and patrol the surroundings to ensure Yelu Zongzhen's safety.

Ye Ling slept soundly in the space, but she still didn't dare to take off her clothes for fear of any accidents. Meng Meng was extremely alert and vigilant of her surroundings.

Nearing the fifth watch, Meng Meng suddenly flew into Jiuyou's room and said, "Master, Master, there seems to be something going on outside."

Ye Ling immediately woke up, put on her boots, and left the space. When she heard Bicheng get off the carriage, she asked across the carriage, "Bicheng, what happened?"

"I'm not sure, it seems to be the maid's tent over there. Your Highness the Second Prince is fine here," Bicheng replied. He got off the carriage to check as soon as he heard the noise.

Hearing the noise continue, Ye Ling also got off the carriage: "It's a mess, go over and take a look."

"Yes" Bicheng trotted over to check.

Ye Ling glanced around vigilantly. He must not let his guard down at this moment.

Yelu Zongzheng was also woken up. He stood up with his chest half exposed: "Duan Peng? What's wrong?"

Duan Peng immediately responded across the tent: "Your Highness, I'm sorry to bother you."

"Your Highness" Jiaojiao also woke up and sat up from beside Yelu Zongzheng: "What happened?"

"You fall asleep first, I'll go out and take a look." Yelu Zongzhen put on his boots barefoot, pulled on a cloak and went out.

"Your Highness has woken up too," Ye Ling said, leaning against the carriage.

Yelu Zongzheng couldn't help but smile when he saw Ye Ling: "It's so noisy, if you don't wake up, there will be problems."

Ye Ling also smiled: "Your Highness is so lucky. When you go out, every night is like a gentle paradise. But... I have a small suggestion. You see, we live just a few steps away from each other every night. Of course, this is also for your protection. Then, Your Highness, can you think about me, an unmarried woman, and be quieter!"

Duan Peng and the guards in front of him tried hard to hold back their laughter.

Yelu Zongzheng couldn't stop laughing: "I'm sorry, I will definitely pay attention to this issue."

The "officer" Bicheng came back: "They said it was shameful."

"Embarrassing? Who is embarrassed? No matter how embarrassing it is, you can't make a noise in the middle of the night!" Ye Ling obviously misunderstood.

"It's not that embarrassing, it's a maid who is missing."

"Oh, this is embarrassing? What did you do?"

"He said he went to relieve himself an hour ago and never came back."

"Send someone to look for her! It's pitch dark here, and a girl like you wouldn't want to run into any wolves or tigers."

"Duan Kai has already taken people to look for him."

Ye Ling looked at Yelu Zongzheng and said, "Your Highness, it's still about an hour before dawn. You should go back to bed!"

"Where is the Night Envoy?"

"Me? I definitely can't sleep, so I'll just have some tea and wait for dawn."

When Bicheng heard this, he immediately went to get the small stove and started to make a fire to boil tea.

"Well, I can't sleep either, let's have some tea together!" Yelu Zongzhen returned to the tent to change clothes.

While no one was paying attention, Ye Ling took out three plates of snacks with different flavors from the space and placed them on the table next to her that had been confiscated from dinner in the evening. These were all made by Qian Qing herself.

It happened very quickly. The fire was lit, the teapot was filled with water, and it was put on the stove to start boiling.

Yelu Zongzheng came out dressed and took two plates of snacks from his own tent. "Hey! You have some here too!"

"Swap and eat!"

"That's right." Yelu Zongzhen has become more and more familiar with Ye Ling recently. He likes Ye Ling's personality very much. He says what he thinks and never acts pretentiously, and he will never flatter him as a prince.

Ye Ling didn't dislike Yelu Zongzhen either, because the other party never acted like a prince in front of him, but was very friendly instead.

The teapot was the smallest, so it boiled quickly. Bicheng poured a cup for each of them, then added water and continued to boil.

Yelu Zongzheng took a bite of Ye Ling's snack and said, "It's delicious. Did you make it yourself?"

"No, my maid did it."

"Maid?" Yelu Zongzheng suddenly didn't want to eat anymore. "Envoy Ye, let me tell you, we've been out for half a month. Are the snacks made by your maid still edible?"

Ye Ling picked up one and ate it in one bite: "Look, it's delicious. It's made with fresh fruits and can be kept for a month."

"Really?" Yelu Zongzheng took another bite, half believing and half doubting. "This tastes like it was just made. Very fresh."

"Of course not." Ye Ling's favorite food was the strange things Qian Qing made. "Your Highness, does your country have no winter?"

"Just like you, some places have it, some don't. Just like your capital and Cangzhou on the border, the capital has four seasons, but Cangzhou is hot almost all year round."

"I can already feel it. We set out from Zhezhou, so it should be getting colder, but it's getting hotter. It hasn't been cool at night in the past few days."

"The border is hotter, and it is green all year round"

"Really?" Ye Ling expressed doubt. "In my impression, borders are supposed to be desolate and uninhabited, with no grass growing? That's what they depict in TV dramas."

"This... Although I don't know what TV series you are talking about, the barren land you mentioned is the border between Dayu and Cangyue. Here in our Western Capital, there are endless grasslands, rivers and ponds everywhere, the air is humid, and all kinds of famous flowers compete for beauty all year round. It is beautiful beyond words." Yelu Zongzhen's eyes lit up when he talked about these beautiful scenes, which shows that he likes his country very much.

"I heard from my senior that Xidu is a very beautiful country. I will definitely go there if I have the chance."

"Isn't this a chance? How about going to Xidu with me?"

Ye Ling shook his head directly: "I won't go this time. First, I'm not in the mood. Second, I promised Master to spend the New Year with him. He's getting old. Like my senior brother said, one year more, one less. But, this time when we go to the border, can I have a spar with your General Tuo Jun?"

"No problem, then let's make a deal. When you come to Xidu, you must look for me. After all, we are friends, right?"

"Thank you, Your Highness, for being my friend. When I have the chance, I will definitely look for you."

"We have a deal."

"A word is settled"

The two raised their teacups and made an agreement. Yelu Zongzheng took a sip, then put down the cup and suddenly remembered something: "Envoy Ye, do you remember the first time we met?"

"Remember, Senior Brother is hosting a banquet!"

"Is this the second time?"

"Really? Have we met before?" Ye Ling felt a little guilty.

"On the first night in Langya Pavilion, I encountered a female thief who robbed me while I was bathing. Does Ye Sishi remember this?" Yelu Zongzhen asked with a smile.

Bicheng couldn't help laughing, and Ye Ling was a little embarrassed: "It's like this, everyone loves beauty! I heard that the most handsome man in the world has come to the pavilion, so I wanted to take a look. I have to say, Your Highness is indeed handsome. He is the most handsome person I have ever seen. Even women are not as beautiful as you."

"Haha..." Yelu Zongzheng laughed happily: "Thank you for the compliment, Envoy Ye. I am flattered!"

"Well-deserved!"

The two chatted back and forth, seemingly with endless things to say. As the sky began to brighten, Duan Kai returned, "Your Highness, we haven't found the person yet. We have to wait until daybreak to look for him again. It's darkest during the early morning hours, so it's hard to find him!"

"It's more dangerous than good," Yelu Zongzheng said, "We'll continue searching at dawn. How could a living person just disappear out of thin air? If he's alive, we want to see him. If he's dead, we want to see his body."

"Yes," Duan Kai responded.

"Your Highness is so concerned about a maid?"

"She's a maid, but she's also a citizen of Xidu. I brought her from Xidu, so I have to take her back. I can't just leave her alone in Cang Yue Country, right?"

Ye Ling nodded: "Your Highness is right. I don't believe that a living person could just disappear like that. Even if they were attacked by a wild beast, there would be traces left."

"that's right"

Soon, it was daybreak, and Duan Kai once again organized two teams to search separately.

Ye Ling's eyes were fixed on the Tongshun Escort Agency not far away. "Bicheng, look how they've packed up everything. It looks like they won't wait for us today."

"Indeed, we are ready to go." Bicheng also began to pack up the carriage. It was not easy to harness four horses.

"Found it!" A soldier came trotting back, "Commander Duan, we found the person, but... he's dead."

"What?" Duan Peng looked at Yelu Zongzheng: "Your Highness, this..."

"Let's go and take a look," Ye Ling stood up.

Yelu Zongzhen also stood up and went with Ye Ling.

In a patch of tall grass not far from the camp, the maid was lying face up, her clothes in disarray.

Ye Ling glanced around: "It's too far from the camp. It seems that she didn't walk here by herself, but was dragged here by someone."

"Your Highness," Duan Kai whispered in Yelu Zongzheng's ear, "She was raped. Judging from the condition of her private parts, it must have been by more than one man. She was naked when we found her, and we had to cover her with clothes. It definitely wasn't one of ours who did it."

Ye Ling squatted down, lifted the clothes and took a look. Then he began to examine her while saying, "The cornea is cloudy enough to see through the pupils. There are scattered pinpoint hemorrhages on the conjunctiva of both lower eyelids. There are strangulation marks on the neck, indicating death by asphyxiation. Rigor mortis is slightly obvious. This level of stiffness...is within about half an hour of death. In other words, she should still be alive when you first looked for her. As for her private parts...from the remains on her body, she was definitely violated before her death, definitely by more than one person."

"You can also perform autopsies?" Yelu Zongzheng was surprised.

"Just make do, it's okay." Ye Ling stood up and asked: "What should I do?"

"Besides us, the only people who camped here last night were from Tongshun Escort Agency," Bicheng said.

"Tongshun Escort Agency? It must be them," Duan Kai said.

"Is there any direct evidence?" Ye Ling asked.

"This..." Duan Kai was speechless. He really had no evidence.

"Bury the person!" Yelu Zongzhen said.

"Yes," Duan Kai turned around and ordered, "You guys, go back and get the tools to dig the hole."

Ye Ling felt somewhat uncomfortable, perhaps because they were both women. She squatted down again and said, "She must have been in great pain and despair before she died. Judging from her age, she must have been under 20, right?"

The little girl who followed "She is Seventeen" was already crying inconsolably, but because Yelu Zongzhen was there, she dared not cry out loud.

"Poor thing, please get her some clean clothes to change into!"

"I... I dare not change." The little girl stepped back in fear. This is a normal person's fear of corpses.

"You go get it, I'll change it," Duan Kai said.

"Yes," the little girl ran away.

Yelu Zongzheng patted Ye Ling's shoulder and said, "Let's go!"