Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 158 Dirty Claws

After wiping her mouth, Rong Wanyin's curiosity grew even stronger, her gossip-loving heart burning brightly. She quickly moved closer to Yan Mingzhang and inquired, "My lord... there's a question I'm not sure if I should ask..."

Yan Mingzhang looked up at her: "...Just because I don't let you ask, do you think you can refrain from asking?"

Rong Wanyin grinned and said, "Then I can't stand it!"

Mo Yun thought to himself, "This Miss Rong's shamelessness is truly unfathomable!"
Yan Mingzhang opened a new scroll and sketched the outline of the eyes with a few quick strokes. He stopped writing and asked, "Are you asking about the owner of these eyes?"

Rong Wanyin nodded and teased, "Could it be your sweetheart?"

Mo Yun glanced at the eyes, then at Rong Wanyin, and said, "It doesn't seem like it! Besides, the master was already drawing these eyes before he met Miss Rong. It shouldn't be."

Rong Wanyin blushed slightly and glared at Mo Yun: "Mo Yun, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Mo Yun smiled, rubbed the tip of her nose with her finger, turned her head away, and thought to herself, "So Miss Rong has her shy moments!"

Yan Mingzhang's eyes held no smile. He scrutinized the eyes intently, as if trying to see through him: "These are the eyes of the murderer who killed my parents."

"..."

Rong Wanyin looked at the painting and suddenly noticed something: "Mo Yun... these eyes... don't they look a bit like Chang Feng's?"

Mo Yun looked completely bewildered: "Huh? What? How is that possible?"

Rong Wanyin became even more certain: "It really is! The more I look at it, the more it resembles it!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Mingzhang also compared the two pairs of eyes in his mind: "They are definitely two pairs of eyes!"

Yan Mingzhang didn't say they didn't look alike, but rather that they were "completely two pairs of eyes." Rong Wanyin instantly understood, because Yan Mingzhang's insight was truly remarkable. He must have carefully compared the shape of the eyebrows, the length and width of the eyes. These eyes definitely weren't Changfeng's, but they did look alike!

Rong Wanyin explained, "Of course it doesn't look like it. Everyone knows you have a photographic memory. You can tell the difference between two identical pastries at a glance. I mean, these eyes look like Changfeng's, but they're not really Changfeng's. Is it possible that they belong to someone who looks a lot like Changfeng?"

Rong Wanyin and Mo Yun exchanged a glance, suddenly remembering what they had overheard last night. Could the owner of those eyes really be Changfeng's relative? No, they had to find out!
"My lord, let's go! Let's go see what's going on, even if it's just to explain things to Changfeng and clear up the misunderstanding!" Rong Wanyin grabbed Yan Mingzhang and dragged him out. "People have mouths, that's what they're for!"

“That’s right, that’s right!” Mo Yun also joined in.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Yan Mingzhang was practically carried out of the study, his feet almost off the ground. "My calligraphy brush! I haven't put my calligraphy brush back yet! Wait—the ink is dripping!"

------

"My lord, Changfeng is missing... and his sixth uncle is missing too." Mo Yun picked up a letter from the table and handed it to Yan Mingzhang, stammering as he spoke.

Yan Mingzhang opened the letter, and a few lines of text came into view.

Your Majesty's opinion:
Yesterday, I was shocked to learn the truth about the massacre of my entire family. My mind is in turmoil, and I am unable to continue to wholeheartedly protect my master. Therefore, I am temporarily leaving, and will return after clarifying the truth. I hope you will understand.

Don’t read it.

Upon hearing this, Mo Yun panicked. She grabbed her longsword, ready to leave, shouting, "No! This so-called Sixth Uncle Changfeng is clearly no good. I have to find Changfeng right now! That bastard needs a good beating to understand why the sun is so red! He even resorted to this 'running away without saying goodbye' trick!"

Mo Yun looked anxious. Yesterday, after hearing what Uncle Changfeng said, he knew that this person had ill intentions and was deliberately sowing discord. He wondered who had bribed him. Changfeng was usually smarter than him, but now he was being deceived. It was probably because it involved his close relatives that he was so flustered.

Rong Wanyin sniffed and smelled a faint sour smell in the air: "Wait a minute, why does it smell sour?"

"Does it taste like sour plum juice?" Mo Yun asked, picking up the remaining sour plum juice from the table.

"No, the taste is different..." Rong Wanyin leaned closer to the letter and sniffed it, then quickly took a step back and pinched her nose. "This letter is sour!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Mingzhang also brought his nose close to the letter and smelled it; indeed, it had a sour smell.

Yan Mingzhang's eyes lit up, and he realized: "It's white vinegar!"

Yan Mingzhang placed the paper over the flame and slowly heated it. After a while, the paper gradually turned a golden brown, and several lines of previously hidden writing appeared.

Words written with white vinegar become invisible once dry, but become visible when heated with fire.

-

"My lord, where are we going?" Mo Yun tightened the reins and caught up with Yan Mingzhang's pace.

"To Mount Song..." Yan Mingzhang whipped his horse a few times, speeding up the pace.

"Why go to Mount Song all of a sudden? Changfeng didn't say he was going to Mount Song either?" Mo Yun asked, puzzled.

"Hurry up and keep up! The master has his reasons! He said before that his family was assassinated on a mountain road, maybe even in Songshan." Rong Wanyin whipped her horse a few times. "Forget it, stop guessing, we'll just ask the master later. Keep up... Giddy up!"

"Hey, wait for me..." Mo Yun had no choice but to catch up, but she was still protesting, "Even if people don't need to rest, the horses do, right? It would take eight hours to get from here to Mount Song without rest... At this rate, I'll collapse before we even get there! Hey, wait for me!"

"My lord, the wind is picking up! Judging from the sky, it looks like a downpour is about to begin!" Mo Yun shouted at Yan Mingzhang in front of him.

Rong Wanyin also looked up at the sky with concern, her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and a sense of worry welled up in her heart: "I wonder when we will be able to reach Songshan? I am not afraid of being late and making things difficult, but I am afraid that this rain will cause a flash flood or landslide."

Yan Mingzhang tightened his grip on the reins and replied, "We're almost there. We'll be there in four more hours..."

"Four hours..." Mo Yun and Rong Wanyin exchanged a glance, inwardly groaning. They had been tossed and turned for almost four hours, and apart from a break in the middle where they ate some pastries, they felt like their bones were about to fall apart. And another four hours! How could that be fast?

Mo Yun looked up at the sky, somewhat worried: "My lord, judging from this weather, a storm is probably coming soon. Let's hurry and find a place to take shelter!"

Yan Mingzhang stopped his horse, dismounted, looked helplessly at the sky, and nodded: "I remember there should be a small village not far ahead. I went there a few years ago."

Rong Wanyin dismounted and walked to Yan Mingzhang's side, looking incredulous: "Hahaha, so this is how you use your good memory! An old horse knows the way! Hahaha! What a fine horse!"

Rong Wanyin's dirty hands, which had been eating pastries, peeked out from her sleeves and almost touched Yan Mingzhang's shoulder. Yan Mingzhang leaned back to avoid the "claws." He smiled and shook his head, took out a white handkerchief, moistened it with water from the kettle, and handed it to her so she could wipe her "dirty hands" clean.