Leng Qingtang went back to the Southern Residence of the Eastern Depot tiredly.

He had seen Yuan Qian, the tenth captain, just now.

When he entered the room, he saw the men of the tenth tribe gathering around his bed.

The badly injured boy had a pale face, losing his former vitality completely.

The naive dimples were gone from his thin cheeks. His eyes looked dry and gloomy with dark circles.

He lay on his back decadently and despondently with no spirit, which caused a sudden pain in Leng Qingtang's bright black eyes.

Jiang Huaian had already treated Yuan Qian and the four secret guards, and left the unique ten-star tendon pills for them made by Tantai who was the medical sage.

The injured were repeatedly told to take them on time according to the doctor's advice, so that after a season, their severed tendons and vessels could recover then.

However, his superb medical skills could only help then externally.

All the people who practiced martial arts knew that tendons and vessels were the hubs that connected human organs and were used to transmit various internal strength.

Once they were severed, even if the injured recovered after the reconnection and their hands and feet could move normally again, they would not be able to practice martial arts anymore for life.

The boy knew the reason, so he lay in bed with a blank brain, sinking into endless confusion and despair.

When Yuan Qian found that the Master was standing by the bed, he seemed to have been injected with some strength then, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to come and help to pull his upper body from the bed.

He was seriously injured and could not perform acts of respect.

Looking at the Master's drooping eyelashes for a while silently, the boy called him in a husky voice with his chapped lips trembling, "Master!"

Immediately afterwards, his face changed and he burst into tears.

"It's my fault! I shouldn't act arbitrarily to break your plan. If it hadn’t been for me, Madam Yun would not have been robbed ..."

Obviously, Yuan Qian had known about the attack on the carriage in the Western Depot that night, so he blaming himself so much.

"I do not blame you ... Take care of yourself. The brothers in the tenth tribe are still waiting for you to return."

His wretched cry conjured Leng Qingtang's infinite sadness. Seeing that the boy was so sad, how could he blame him then?

Finally, Leng Qingtang carefully instructed Yuan Qian to stay in bed for recuperating before returning to his room alone with haunting pain and thoughts.

Pushing open the newly-painted wooden door, he saw the bright moonlight in the courtyard.

The moonlight was bright and ethereal just like the white mist floating in the sky which was beautiful and hazy.

Leng Qingtang stepped forward in the misty moonlight with faraway eyes.

Suddenly, he saw the candlelight shining in the room where Gu Yunxi lived before. He was startled, striding to the door then.

The door opened, and the little guard wearing a flat hat was already in the porch, who said in a sweet voice to him with twinkling eyes and a light smile then.

"Master, you're back!"

Leng Qingtang was so surprised and replied.

"Girl!"

He stretched his arms to hug her tightly, but what he embraced was just blank air.

Leng Qingtang suddenly came to himself.

There was no figure and no fire there. Only his upset and lonely figure was standing in the porch, silhouetted against the heartless moonlight.

It turned out that what happened just now was just phantom.

The bitter pain permeated into his heart little by little. He felt that his heart was being squeezed and ravaged by a big hand ruthlessly, and the pain of being crushed continued to torture him, making his face change.

Leng Qingtang exhaled deeply as his chest undulated violently, savoring the endless pain in his heart.

Staring at the door closely, Leng Qingtang never had the courage to raise his hands to push it open.

He was afraid that when he opened the door, there would be scenes of sweet and beautiful memories coming into his mind, making him feel sad.

Standing still for a moment, he turned around sadly and went back.

——

More than half a month passed after Leng Qingtang visited Kunning Palace at night and had a fierce quarrel with Empress Qian.

One day, Emperor Jingxiao charged the Imperial Ceremony Office with the crime of laziness and negligence on the grounds that they had lost an important dossier in Jiage Storeroom during their tenure.

The wretched and ingenuous Eunuch Feng had to hand over the gentle and white square seal to Leng Qingtang then after he recovered from the wounds out of being hit by sticks without returning to the position of the Seal Keeper.

Time drew on, and it was the end of July in the blink of an eye.

Gu Yunxi had been missing for a month, and the Eastern Depot had never given up the search for her.

In order to get her back as soon as possible, Leng Qingtang even called on the people from all provinces to find her. They looked for her day and night without stopping, almost turning the whole Da Yi upside down.

Regrettably, his girl just disappeared without a trace.

On the other hand, the Western Depot was also busy. Every day in every province, there were guards of the Western Depot in disguise who lurked around the streets day and night.

In addition to searching for the traces of Gu Yunxi, they also accepted another important task, which was to capture Lu Qiange who committed the murder in the Western Depot that day.

On that day, Ming Lan was humiliated by him who was dressed as a servant and had two fingers cut off. When he woke up again, he suddenly remembered that the new face of the servant with the pseudonym "Xiao Luzi" was actually the one who rescued Gu Yunxi from him and routed him and his subordinates utterly in disguise of a geisha.

Ming Lan was extremely angry on the spot and sent people to draw pictures of him. Under the name of the bandit, Lu Qiange's portraits were posted at various gates and downtown areas in the capital. Guards were sent to search for him day and night from house to house.

Then a treacherous atmosphere gripped the capital and outside, and the situation was turbulent. Although everything seemed peaceful on the surface, there were hidden dangers internally.

In July, the first month of autumn, the evening breeze was blowing. On the deep blue sky, there were no clouds and no stars.

Leng Qingtang was in a plain moonlight silk gown with his black hair scattered, sitting under the phoenix tree in the courtyard, weaving a red rope.

His hair and the hem of his clothes billowed in the breeze. The moonlight shone through the layers of phoenix tree leaves, casting the dense shadows on his slightly-bowed and broad back.

His figure looked weak and thin under the towering and luxuriant canopy.

Cheng Wanli came in from outside, walked quickly to the Master and stopped.

Every day, despite the fruitless news brought by the guards, the loyal Chiliarch would still return to the Master's Mansion on time and report to the Master in accordance with the instructions of him.

Since Madam Yun was not here, the Master had reverted to his former sullen reticence again. His impersonal indifference and alienation always made people stay away.

Cheng Wanli stood aside quietly and watched the Master moving his slender fingers. The two scorching red ropes gave birth to various forms under his smart fingertips.

For a whole month, there had been a thick heap of red ropes in the Master's room and the safety buckles, delicateness buckles, and fisherman buckles on each of them were of different styles.

Cheng Wanli knew well that although the Master had never talked about it, in his heart he had always had infinite regret for the disappearance of Madam Yun.

Zhaoyi Yu, Qinger, Xiaoshen ... There were so many people blamed him because he was with Yanwan or because he abandoned Yunxi in Mansion of Ming. But nobody saw his chaotic heart hidden in his calm face, just like the thousands of knots on the rope and the blood dripping ...

Who could understand that such a bold and cold person in the daytime would also lick his wounds alone in the middle of the night?

Regret was the most terrible thing. It was a scar that could never heal. It would accompany you to the end of life and couldn't be easily erased once you got it.

With time passing by, the injury would spread and expand, and the pain would increase then.

Cheng Wanli understood the Master whose heart was suffering from regret. But people in high positions could not vent their emotions at will. He could only place his feelings in the ropes, weaving all the pain and longings into the ropes, locking them in each exquisite round buckle.

Silence reigned, and the wind blew for a moment.

Cheng Wanli heard that the night watches were sounded three times outside the courtyard. He hesitated for a while and then looked at the Master, saying softly and slowly.

"It's late at night, Master. Let me help you back to your room to rest."

Leng Qingtang's thin lips were lightly pursed, and his long eyelashes drooped slightly, which cast two faint and vague shadows under his eyes in the quiet moonlight.

His thinner face showed no expression. His eyes looked stagnant for a while and then fell on the red ropes among his fingertips which reflected a blazing red light.

After stopping his hand movements, Leng Qingtang said in a cold voice.

"Still no news?"

Cheng Wanli paused for a while, and then immediately nodded, lowering his voice to reply.

"Yes. I'm sorry for that."

He frowned slightly, and the light in his dark eyes was complicated. After thinking for a short time, Leng Qingtang raised his head, looking into the distance in front of him.

"What's going on in the Western Depot?"

"The same as before, Master. Ming Lan is also searching for the trace of Madam Yun and Lu Qiange everywhere, but he gets nothing as well."

Leng Qingtang snorted coldly and said.

"It's time for me to take actions and handle the mob ... "

After that, he stood up from under the tree, and turned around quietly carrying the half-woven red rope. The light sleeves of his robe fluttered in the deep dark night in an elegant and beautiful arc.

In the light breeze of night, his indifferent voice sounded with a slight echo.

"Order the informant in the Palace to do something for me tomorrow ... "

——

Ming Lan had poor luck recently.

Since his being attacked at night to have his fingers cut off, Noble Concubine Wan had been disappointed in the Western Depot.

Fortunately, he had been in the Palace for so long. He had served Wan Yuyao for the longest time, and he was very good at acting artfully.

After he took off his robe, knelt in front of Yongning Palace and shed tears, Wan Yuyao temporarily extinguished her anger finally and helped him retain the position of Commander-in-chief in the Western Depot for the time being for the sake of their master-and-servant relationship.

However, Wan Yuyao was a picky person.

Seeing that Ming Lan had lost two fingers on his left hand, she didn't summon him to enter the Palace as usual as before then.

Leng Qingtang resumed his position in a high-profile way, while the Western Depot suffered such a major setback, so Ming Lan learned to keep a low profile then. He asked An Hong to take care of the Western Depot, and hid himself into the Master's Mansion.

Whenever there were important matters, Ming Lan asked An Hong to send someone into the Mansion to report. The official documents were all sent to the Mansion for him to review.

Days passed quickly in peace.

Recently, Cairen Jin in Weiyan Chamber always sent her servants to Mansion of Ming from time to time to invite Ming Lan to meet in the Palace.

Ming Lan was afraid of the rumors about the Western Depot in the Palace, and his broken tailbone had just stopped hurting, so he turned her down several times and was unwilling to go.

However, one day Weiyan Chamber sent someone to invite him again. Ming Lan couldn't get away with that anymore, so he bit the bullet and entered the Palace then.

Cairen Jin, namely Gu Yunjin, who was favored by Ming Lan when the Western Depot took over the Garden, entered the Palace from the Garden and was directly sent to Emperor Jingxiao’s bed then.

It was sunny. In the Weiyan Chamber, Gu Yunjin was shaking the butterfly-flower round fan idly.

Hearing the clanging footsteps peculiar to the boots for officials, Gu Yunjin was overjoyed and got up from the chair to greet him.

She chuckled slightly and said softly.

"Godfather, you are here!"