Soft and crispy waist

Xia Zheng's persistence surprised the three of them.

Xue Rui is usually quiet and stays silent most of the time. Xia Zheng won't take the initiative to say anything to her. The relationship between the two has always been indifferent. Why would Xia Zheng insist on looking at Xue Rui now?

But since Xia Zheng had spoken, Lin Rongrong couldn't just let it go. She just nodded and said, "Yes, we're already here. It won't be a problem if we stand outside the window and stay away."

"This..." The maid lowered her head in embarrassment, but Xia Zheng could clearly see the cold sweat emerging from under her hair.

Sure enough, there was a problem.

She smelled a faint smell of blood as she entered the door.

It became clearer when she reached the door. She had just glanced and saw drops of blood in an inconspicuous corner. Judging from the direction they were falling, they were flowing inside.

"Frost, open the window!"

Xia Zheng gave the order directly without getting entangled with the maid.

Shuangxue moved very quickly. The maid wanted to step forward to stop her, but Xia Zheng grabbed her hand.

boom!

Frost Snow pushed the window open with one hand, and the wooden bar that originally sealed the window broke into two pieces and fell to the ground. Inside the house, Xue Rui trembled with fear, and her half-pulled underwear fell off, revealing half of her smooth back.

"Be d...be d...be d...be d...be frightened!" Xue Rui was so frightened that she quickly pulled her clothes in place, turned around and said politely, "I just...just finished bathing and am getting dressed."

The maid immediately replied, "Yes, Shen Yi is bathing. I was just about to say it when Sister Shuangxue pushed the window open first."

Seeing Xue Rui's disheveled clothes and shivering in the cold wind coming in through the window, Lin Rongrong and Chunzhi both felt a little embarrassed and tried to smooth things over.

"Su Rong is worried about your illness and won't feel at ease until he sees you."

"Yes, yes, we have come all the way here, and we thought we would just check on you."

As they spoke, the two looked at Xia Zheng, waiting for her to speak.

"Just now I heard Concubine Lin say that she came to call you this morning but there was no response. When she came, your maid tried to stop her, but there was no sound from inside. I was worried that something had happened to you, so I became very anxious."

"My illness has been exhausting. I fell asleep this morning. The bath was too warm and I fell asleep for a moment. That's why I didn't hear anything. I'm sorry Surong was worried."

"I'm glad you're alright. You're still sick, so it's better to have someone by your side to help you bathe in the future."

"Yes."

After getting Xue Rui's response, Xia Zheng didn't say anything else.

Lin Rongrong had already returned to the hospital and no longer went to Xia Zheng's place, and did not go with them.

When they returned to the courtyard, Wei Qingqing had already left, so Chunzhi collected some cakes and went back to her own courtyard.

After everyone had left, Xia Zheng sat down on the soft couch and asked Shuangxue, "Did you see anything just now?"

"There was no mist in the room. Xue Shenyi lied. She didn't take a shower."

Xia Zheng also saw that although the window was directly facing the screen and mist rising from the warm water could be seen behind it, there was no water vapor in the entire room.

Even in the summer, water vapor and water droplets will condense around you due to the mist after bathing for a while, not to mention that it is already autumn when the temperature has dropped significantly.

Xue Rui said that she fell asleep while taking a bath. It must have been at least a moment, so it is impossible that there was no moisture at all.

But there was no smell of blood in her house.

Was she wrong, or was it covered up?

"Surong, I saw something else." Shuangxue took a step forward, her expression more serious than usual, and said, "There is a brand on her waist."

"What brand?" Xia Zheng was shocked.

Even though Xue Rui was not favored in the Xue family, she was still a concubine of an official family. How could she have a brand on her body? That was something that only slaves or exiles would be branded with.

Shuangxue did not answer Xia Zheng immediately. Instead, she walked to the desk, picked up a pen, drew on the paper, and handed it to Xia Zheng.

Although Frost Snow's painting skills were not very good, she could vaguely make out that it was a three-petal painting, but Xia Zheng had never seen the shape of the mark before.

Whether they were slaves or exiles, most of them would only be branded with one word, either slave or exile, and there were almost no such fancy words.

"Where is this from?"

"On the border of Cloud Realm."

Xia Zheng was so frightened that she couldn't even hold the paper.

The border of the Cloud Realm is the border of the four countries. As a separation of the four countries, the four countries all maintain the same tacit understanding. However, that land does not belong to any country, so it has become a lawless area where all kinds of monsters and demons are present.

And this kind of place is the breeding ground for sin.

Pornography, gambling, drugs, everything.

Especially Huang, the flower girls there are very civilized in the world. It is said that they have been trained since childhood and have great skills. Countless people risk their lives to be attracted to them.

Hua Niang was a person from Yunjing when she was alive and a ghost of Yunjing when she died. She could not leave that place from birth to death.

So how could Xue Rui go to such a place? And how could he possibly come back? Even to enter the Zhenguogong Mansion, one had to verify their identity!

Suddenly, an amazing idea emerged in Xia Zheng's mind.

"How do you recognize this brand?"

Frost Snow stood up straight, untied the laces of her outer shirt, and lifted her undershirt at the back of her waist.

The wheat-colored skin was crisscrossed with scars of varying depths. The most conspicuous of them all was a circular three-petal brand, deeply imprinted on the skin. One could even imagine the intense burning pain it felt when it was branded.

Xia Zheng widened her eyes, unable to believe that Shuangxue was actually Yunjing Hua Niang!

She had just thought that Shuangxue's identity was not ordinary. Maybe he was a refugee from abroad, or a professional killer in the martial arts world, or even a pirate. But she never thought that it was Hua Niang.

It is more terrifying for women to be in such places than in purgatory.

"I escaped from the Cloud Realm and met the prince on the way. The prince saved me. My life belongs to the prince." Shuangxue let go and put on his clothes again, speaking calmly and simply.

After all, it was a nightmare-like past. Xia Zheng did not ask in detail. She only paused and asked, "Have you been brought into that place since you were a child?"

"Yes, most of them pick up orphans from the battlefield, or make you an orphan with no one to help you, making it impossible for you to escape."

Then Xue Rui can't be the real Xue Rui.

The real Xue Rui is probably dead, and the female corpse is most likely her.

But the Xue family should not dare to plot against Gu Yizi now. Perhaps they have never paid attention to Xue Rui, so no one noticed the substitution. Or perhaps Xue Rui has changed her appearance.

So she was not sick during this period, but was out.

Where did you go?

She couldn't investigate this matter, and it might even alert the enemy.

He immediately stood up, walked to the desk, picked up a pen, wrote a letter and handed it to Shuangxue.

"Find a reason to leave the palace and quietly deliver this letter to the prince. Make sure you hand it to him personally."