Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 127 Heartache and Lovesickness

Although healing is important, Su Qingqi cannot stay in the Shen family forever.

She and Guan Yunshu came to the Shen family openly and openly. If she had not shown up for a long time, it would have been obviously inappropriate, and some people might have speculated that there was something wrong with the Shen family... At present, arresting Zhao Wumian is of paramount importance. If the palace really wants to search a certain household, anyone who dares to refuse will be guilty of harboring a thief and will be punished.

Therefore, Su Qingqi planned to go back to the Detective Department to get a search warrant from Chief Inspector Su, and then bring some people to cover up the truth, and make "searching the Shen family" her mission... and then have an affair with Zhao Wumian under the pretext of official business.

However, Su Qingqi's constable uniform was torn by Zhao Wumian. It was obviously inappropriate for her to enter the Shen Mansion cleanly and leave the house in tattered clothes.

Fortunately, Guan Yunshu was wearing a straw raincoat, so it was no problem for Su Qingqi to put it on. However, Su Qingqi did not dare to look at Guan Yunshu's eyes when she put on the straw raincoat. She could only glare at Zhao Wumian fiercely, and then she could not help but soften her expression and whispered:

"I'm leaving first. My elder brother went to the palace to help you last night. Although he concealed his identity, he was obviously suspected. The Detective Department is not a safe place at the moment. There must be countless eyes watching. Therefore, the Shen Mansion is a rare shelter. After all, you also held the queen hostage last night. Most people will not suspect that you will live in the queen's family home.

But we must not take it lightly. Some people may suspect that all this was staged by the Shen family just to save the Shen family from danger. And Shen Xiangge, she stays at home most of the time in Beijing and is very mysterious. Now she comes to find the young master as soon as she returns to Beijing. There is obviously something wrong, so we should be more cautious with her..."

Su Qingqi kept chattering on and on. She should have left as soon as possible, but she still stood in front of Zhao Wumian and looked up at him, worry all over her face.

Regardless of whether the two of them lacked the process of "getting to know each other and falling in love", they are undoubtedly the closest people to each other at this moment. If there is a choice, Su Qingqi would not want to leave the seriously injured Zhao Wumian alone in the Shen Mansion, whose details she does not know.

Zhao Wumian wanted to reach out and pinch Su Qingqi's soft little face, but then Su Qingqi's face changed slightly, and she took a step back. She first glanced at Guan Yunshu who was staring at the two of them, and then her face blushed and she whispered, "I, I'm leaving, and I'll come to the Shen Mansion with a search warrant soon to find you. You, don't tear my clothes again."

After saying that, she took a few steps back with a blushing face, staring straight at Zhao Wumian with her almond-shaped eyes. After a few seconds, she turned around and trotted away.

Guan Yunshu stood there holding the sword, but his tone was a little confused, and he said:

"Before, when the Pingyao temple was ruined, Su Qingqi was determined to leave alone on horseback. She was so resolute and carefree at that time, but now... after only one night, she is like a virtuous young woman from an ordinary family in front of you... Can the relationship between men and women have such a strange power that it can change a person like this?"

"It turns out that there are still things in this world that Master Guan doesn't understand. If you become my disciple now, I, as the person involved, can answer your questions. I believe that this discussion will surely help Master Guan's Buddhist teachings advance further."

Guan Yunshu ignored Zhao Wumian, rolled her eyes at him, and followed Su Qingqi away. She came here with Su Qingqi, so she naturally couldn't let Su Qingqi leave alone at this moment. At this moment, every detail needed special attention.

But before leaving, she also warned Zhao Wumian, "Shen Xiangge has something to ask of you. Although it won't harm you at the moment, you must not underestimate that woman. If you trust her, you will only fall into her trap."

Watching the two women's backs disappear from his sight, Zhao Wumian returned to the house somewhat reluctantly. However, he did not lie down to rest. Instead, he looked at the traceless knife hanging on the clothes hanger and grasped the handle.

He also wanted to take advantage of this free time to practice martial arts.

Since waking up, although the journey seemed extremely dangerous, it was actually smooth sailing. The trip to Pingyang was an effortless recovery of Xiao Xitian. This time when he entered the palace, he was well aware of the gap between himself and martial arts champions like Eunuch Lin. At this moment, Zhao Wumian suddenly realized that with his current martial arts skills, he was not even qualified to intervene in the fight for martial arts champion.

In total, he fought three moves with Eunuch Lin, two in the East Palace and one inside the palace...not counting the Taiji Palace. Strictly speaking, Eunuch Lin was restrained by his eldest brother-in-law before he could even make a move.

When they were in the Eastern Palace, Eunuch Lin was fearless and punched Zhao Wumian so hard that he injured his insides. If he hadn't asked the Queen to keep an eye out outside the Eastern Palace at all times, he would have been captured alive on the spot.

While in the main hall, he used psychological warfare to the extreme, pretending to attack the enemy's weakness, but actually using the force to escape, and thus he was able to barely hold on for another move.

By the time he arrived at the Taiji Hall, he was actually at the end of his rope. If his eldest brother-in-law had not arrived in time, something would have happened.

But Zhao Wumian tried slightly harder but failed to pull out the knife.

He sighed softly, either he was too injured or too weak.

He had no choice but to silently withdraw his hand, lie on the bed, and start thinking about Wan Yuexian's subsequent moves and the details of future plans.

However, as soon as the two women left, Miss Shen, who was being watched closely by the two women, put her hands behind her back and slowly pushed the door open and walked in.

Zhao Wumian tilted his head to look, "Why didn't Miss Shen knock on the door?"

"This is my room, why are you knocking?" Lady Canghua, who was wearing a crimson long dress, glanced sideways at the Wuhen Sword hanging on the clothes hanger, raised her bare hand to grasp the hilt, and with a "clang" sound, she drew the sword out of the sheath. The sword came out three inches, and a cold light flashed.

Lady Canghua looked at Wuhen Knife for a few seconds, and then said in a calm tone:
"Before you entered the palace, you said that if you could bring news about Dong Yan, the bandit leader, I would give you something... Dong Yan used the Shen family as a shield, so he deserved to die, but the aristocratic families can't act based on hatred alone...

But I admire you, and I bet that with your help, the throne will definitely belong to the legitimate princess, so I am willing to work with you to kill Eunuch Lin. When the big thing is done, don't forget my Shen family. But before that, I can give you something else... give you a chance to have a drink with me, how about it?"

Zhao Wumian listened to Shen Xiangge's long talk and thought she could come up with some secret method like "sound transmission into secret", but the result was just this?

He rolled his eyes. "Is drinking a glass of wine with you a reward? Does Miss Shen think she is very feminine? Come on, my little detective is only sixteen years old, in his prime. With her around, how could I fall in love with an old woman who is ten years older than her?"

Upon hearing this, Lady Canghua's expression instantly turned dangerous. She drank the wine because Zhao Wumian once said that he wanted to use the Canghua Order to drink with Lady Canghua. In addition, Bi Ziding had a grudge against Canghua Tower, so Zhao Wumian killed him, which was considered as a way to please her by accident.

She condescended to give Zhao Wumian some face, just to satisfy her own little bad taste of "he doesn't know that the person drinking with him is Empress Canghua", but who knew that Zhao Wumian would be so unrespectful.

Then Zhao Wumian said, "Before I came to the capital, the rumors were rife that I was the 'son-in-law of the Su family'. I had already ruined her reputation, and now I have taken her body, but I can't even give her a promise or a status. How can I drink with you alone now, making her feel even more insecure?"

Lady Canghua glanced at Zhao Wumian. From a woman's perspective, she quite liked Zhao Wumian's attitude. However, the leader of the evil sect's thinking process was obviously different from that of ordinary women. She said with a little doubt:
"A man lives in heaven and earth, and you are quite powerful, so what if you have a few concubines? Do you know the Saint of our hall? She is an old woman older than me, but she has countless male favorites, and many of them have even married her, but no one dares to be dissatisfied, because she is the Saint of our hall, a master who is infinitely close to the top of the martial arts world."

What she said meant that she still wanted Zhao Wumian to marry a disciple of Canghua Tower.

Zhao Wumian shook his head slightly, "If we don't share the same ideals, we can't work together."

"That's a nice thing to say. One day, Guan Yunshu and Luo Chaoyan will look at you with tears in their eyes, hoping that you can be with them. If you don't want to, they will be alone for the rest of their lives. By then, I don't believe that you can be as hard-hearted as a rock and have empty eyes." After saying this lightly, Empress Canghua did not wait for Zhao Wumian to answer, and directly drew her sword from its sheath, saying with interest:

"Can you still hold the moon string?"

“I know a few tricks, but I’m still exploring more.”

"Xiao Yuanmu's martial arts are famous and never passed on to others. What is your relationship with her?"

"It's nothing, but when I was a kid, I met a master who saw that I had a good foundation and was destined to be with her, so she taught me a few moves. I only recently learned that this martial art is called Wan Yue Xian."

Zhao Wumian would never reveal his background to Empress Canghua.

"Really?" Lady Canghua looked at Wuhen Knife and smiled sweetly at Zhao Wumian.
"But Wan Yue Xian is Xiao Yuanmu's original martial arts. When you were a child, if you were ten years old, Xiao Yuanmu would have been about seventeen or eighteen years old. At that time, she had not yet figured out Wan Yue Xian, or had only figured out the basics." Zhao Wumian suddenly realized, "No wonder she only taught me a few moves. It turns out that she had only figured out a part of Wan Yue Xian at the beginning."

Lady Canghua's sweet smile immediately turned cold. He still wanted to be perfunctory with her?
Zhao Wumian closed his eyes and said, "I'm too badly injured. I'm sleepy."

Lady Canghua sheathed her sword and said calmly, "When Xiao Yuanmu killed the old spear master in Poyang Lake, I was twenty years old and was traveling around the world. I happened to pass by Poyang Lake and saw her Wan Yue Xian... Now that I know you also know this martial art, I want to discuss it with you. Now that you are tired..."

Zhao Wumian stood up with a somersault and said with a smile, "I'm not tired. Miss Shen is here now, so I can't let you go back empty-handed."

Lady Canghua glanced at Zhao Wumian before picking up the Wuhen Knife and said, "Follow me out."

The two came outside the house. Queen Canghua held the scabbard in one hand, then recalled it, and then suddenly drew the sword and slashed forward. There was a "clang" sound. From Zhao Wumian's perspective, Queen Canghua was like a dragon emerging from the sea, breaking through the snow curtain. The sword was like a silver dragon, drawing a thin silver line in the snow curtain.

Zhao Wumian's eyes were filled with amazement. This move was the 'Xi Shi Holding Her Heart'. Although Miss Shen's strength and posture were not right, her sword technique was correct... It seemed that she had indeed seen Xiao Yuanmu's Wan Yue Xian before, but had never learned it systematically. Now that she was using it based solely on her own martial arts insights, she only had the form but not the spirit.

"How about this move? Do you know how to do it?" Lady Canghua sheathed her sword gracefully and asked with her head tilted.

Zhao Wumian nodded slightly.

Madam Canghua smiled slightly, "When Xiao Yuanmu killed the old spear master, he used a few sword techniques and a few fist and palm techniques... I didn't see the fist and palm techniques clearly, but I can still remember the sword techniques clearly after five years. I will teach you these moves as a reward for helping me save the Shen family. How about it?"

Zhao Wumian was overjoyed. He had never expected such an unexpected surprise. He immediately raised his hand and said, "Thank you, Miss Shen."

"Am I still an unpopular old woman?" asked Lady Canghua with a smile.

"As the saying goes, women are like fine wine, they become more mellow with age."

Lady Canghua's eyes turned cold again, and she suddenly smiled coldly: "So, at the age of 25, I am really an old woman in your eyes?"

"I can swear on the Glazed Tower of Xiaoxitian that Miss Shen is in her prime."

Empress Canghua was too lazy to argue anymore. With a serious look on her pretty face, she started to play with the knife in front of Zhao Wumian.

Zhao Wumian stood to one side, concentrating fully and memorizing Lady Canghua's movements in his mind. He only needed to remember these postures, and when he had almost recovered, he would pick up the knife and practice it himself, figuring out how to use the energy in it. Then he would be able to comprehend the following sword techniques of Wan Yuexian.

Only Qi He hid in the side room, biting her handkerchief with silver teeth, thinking to herself that it was such an honor for the Empress to personally teach Zhao Wumian martial arts... However, she actually admired Zhao Wumian very much at this moment, but she still had to be envious and jealous.

Deep inside the palace and outside Kunning Palace, the area was surrounded by three layers of secret guards. Even a palace maid who went in to clean would be stared at with murderous intent by the secret guards.

The whole hall was filled with a tense and depressing atmosphere.

Eunuch Lin led the team out of the palace, and the safety of the Queen was in their hands. Even though they did not take off their official hats because they were focusing on arresting Zhao Wumian, they did not dare to slack off at all... In fact, it was difficult to take them off, after all, the law does not hold everyone responsible, and if something happened, the responsibility would still be on the leader.

That is, Eunuch Lin and Li Zhengkong, the left chief of the Imperial City Division.

However, Li Zhengkong was arrested by the Detective Department as early as when the Mingfeng letter tube was lit, and is currently being held in the Detective Department's prison for strict interrogation.

Jing Jin, the former commander of Kunning's secret guards, was pacing back and forth in front of the palace door with his hand on his sword, looking anxious. Soon, a kind old woman with white hair came out of the palace carrying a medicine box.

Jing Jin hurriedly went over to greet him, "Madam Yang, how is the queen?"

Madam Yang, born in Guixuan Valley, is a miracle doctor who has been working in the capital since the founding of the country. She is eighty-five years old now, but her hair is all white and her face is still like a woman in her forties or fifties. With such a youthful appearance, her medical skills must be good.

Madam Yang shook her head slightly. "The queen is frightened and can't get up from bed. The specific principle is similar to 'lovesickness', both are mental illnesses. If you want to cure it, you can only arrest the culprit and bring him to Kunning Palace. Punish him in front of the queen, and then you can relieve the queen's fear."

"What if we can't catch him?" a secret guard nearby asked worriedly.

"Can't catch her?" Madam Yang shook her head slightly. "The queen's body will become weaker and weaker day by day. In the end, there will be no cure... Don't underestimate this mental illness. Throughout history, many people have died from it. Now, I can only prescribe some medicine to nourish the body."

The secret guards around all took a deep breath. If they couldn't catch Zhao Wumian, Dali would lose its emperor, crown prince and queen in just one year?
If this is the case, the emperor's only remaining bloodline would be the legitimate princess and a few grandchildren who live far away in Jin.

The atmosphere outside Kunning Palace was solemn, and inside Kunning Palace, only Lian Xue, the personal maid, was taking care of the queen to maintain a quiet environment.

The queen was wearing a crimson nightgown and lying neatly on the phoenix bed. She coughed from time to time and looked extremely weak.

Lian Xue was about to faint from crying. At this moment, she was standing properly behind the curtain of the phoenix bed, wiping the corners of her eyes with her sleeves from time to time.

In order to pretend to be sick, the Queen could do nothing but secretly hide a few small books under her bed, and read them secretly when Lian Xue was asleep by lighting a lamp to relieve her boredom... "Secret History of the Harem" and "Amorous History of Nun" and the like.

But Lian Xue was awake at this moment, so the Queen had to close her eyes, trying to sleep but unable to fall asleep.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she remembered Zhao Wumian's back as he flew over the palace wall, and her ears heard Zhao Wumian's gentle voice asking her if she wanted to leave the palace... How she wished she could follow Zhao Wumian out of the palace.

Not long after, Jing Jin quietly walked into Kunning Palace and conveyed Madam Yang's original words.

The queen opened her almond-shaped eyes, but breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, and then said calmly: "In this case, then announce it to the world and tell the truth about my affairs. I must capture Zhao Wumian alive and bring him to Kunning Palace... I want to watch Zhao Wumian die."

It was worth it that she pretended to be worried in front of Old Madam Yang, and now she finally got Zhao Wumian's "Death Immunity Token".

What Zhao Wumian thought in his heart was right at the beginning. Older sisters are caring.

Jing Jin secretly thought that it was obviously against etiquette to casually tell anyone that the Queen was seriously ill, but at this point, if Zhao Wumian was really killed by someone, the Queen's hatred would be difficult to resolve and something bad would definitely happen.

The sky and the earth are not as big as the Queen's phoenix body.

So she nodded slightly and took her leave.

(End of this chapter)