The Western Depot…

Ming Lan spent the whole night smashing things in his room, venting his anger like Noble Concubine Wan.

The Eastern and the Western Depots were ordered to jointly investigate the case. He had led the Western Depot guards to lure out the rebels, but the Eastern Depot had stolen the show. They wiped out the rebels who ransacked the execution ground and set off riots. They also drove straight to their den. Besides, the spies sent into the Palace were also uprooted.

How could Leng Qingtang take all the advantages all the time? Great. Now that fox had played the Western Depot again!

Ming Lan found it hard to accept that the Eastern Depot had used and thrown him away.

Recalling the lethal arrow wound he had on the battle, Ming Lan was furious.

Ming Lan kicked over the square table and then tried to flip it. But he sprained his wrist on the heavy woodwork. His face was twisted with pain and covered in sweat.

"My good Master, please stop. It's not worth hurting yourself for the fox of the Eastern Depot."

An Hong walked over to ease Ming Lan. He picked up a chair to help him seated and massaged his wrist for a moment. And then he eagerly took the safflower oil to rub on the injury after heating it in his hands.

The pungent smell made Ming Lan frown. Provoked for no reason, he quickly pulled back his fair hand and asked angrily, "What is it? It smells so weird. I can't stand it. Take it away!"

An Hong wiped his hands with a wet kerchief and smiled brightly.

"Be patient. The safflower oil does smell like this! You have hurt your bones. If you don't apply it, your wrist will swell tomorrow. It will be very ugly."

Ming Lan had always paid attention to personal image. Hearing that his wrist might be swollen, he immediately stopped tossing and stretched out his arm again.

"Rub my wrist more."

"No problem!"

An Hong held the Master's hand. While rubbing it, he praised, "Oh, your hands are really beautiful. The skin is as smooth as satin..."

He quietly peeked up and found Ming Lan's expression eased and continued to coax, "The Eastern Depot is nothing. They would not be so capable if His Majesty still needed to summon us to help them out."

"Humph!"

Ming Lan's brows relaxed and he finally smiled.

"I'm just angry to think about it. Leng Qingtang wanted the Western Depot to help him. But while the Western Depot was being hurt on the frontline, the Eastern Depot rode quietly to Mount Yin for jobs that came with credit and rewards."

An Hong kept massaging Ming Lan's wrist as he tilted his head in thoughts.

"Don't you still have the Kunhuang Island map in your hand? Dedicate it to Emperor and you will be generously rewarded."

Ming Lan shook his head with blank and gloomy eyes.

"No, I think it is inappropriate. The more Leng Qingtang says it's authentic, the more I feel that it is fraudulent. Tomorrow morning, I will bring the map to see the Imperial Noble Concubine first. As for whether it is fake or not, it’s the most appropriate way for her to ask the Shenle Marquis."

A little eunuch's anxious voice came from outside, "Master, great news!"

Ming Lan pulled his face down immediately and turned to shout at the door, "Shut up! What good news can I have?"

An Hong hurried out and pulled in the reckless eunuch by his ear. And then he slapped him hard ten times in front of Ming Lan.

In the end, he spat on him and cursed, "Rude little thing. Why are you barking so loud?"

The little eunuch knelt on his knees and cried. He buried his face in his palms and sobbed, "I dare not lie. There is indeed good news for the Western Depot..."

Ming Lan frowned in confusion. He tried to slam on the table with his left hand in the deerskin glove but only hit the air. He took a reluctant look at the flipped table on the floor and then hit his own thigh.

"Stupid thing! Tell me what it is, or I'll have you stripped naked and hung like a dried sausage."

The little eunuch was so frightened that his tiny body shuddered as he sniffed.

"Master, the guards just found a person on the street. It was Yunxi the Western Depot had been searched for a year and a half. She is already waiting in the front hall."

"..."

Ming Lan was speechless for a while. He stared in a trance until his eyes slowly became red.

An Hong silently beckoned the little eunuch to leave.

When he turned around, An Hong saw his Master poking stiffly. Suddenly, Ming Lan opened his eyes wide and called with a trembling voice, "An..."

An Hong hurriedly walked to support him and replied, "Master, I'm here."

Ming Lan's eyes twitched with a sudden sting. His voice was sharp with excitement that was hard to suppress.

"Koer said who was here?"

An Hong gazed at his Master's uncontrollably agitated face. Overwhelmed, he replied with a trembling voice.

"It's Yunxi. We've found her."

"Yes, yes, Yunxi... The little wild cat ran away for a year and a half, but she's back..."

Ming Lan's expression changed between sadness and happiness. He ran to the front courtyard as he spoke quietly.

An Hong was worried. He escorted Ming Lan, who was in a mess, safely to the front hall of the Western Depot.

A slim girl was sitting on the rose chair. The dim candlelight cast her slender shadow on the white wall. Her long eyelashes were so thick that they tickled one's heart like small brushes.

"Yunxi!"

Ming Lan opened his mouth but uttered no words. Finally, he spoke out and dashed to her.

The quiet girl was frightened. She pushed her back hard on the back of the chair, trying to lean back and keep her distance from Ming Lan.

The once beautiful girl was now like a beggar with her disheveled hair and rags, which pricked Ming Lan's eyes. Dumbfounded, he spread his hands apart to comfort her, "Don't be afraid. I won't come close..."

The girl tilted her head and studied him many times with her big eyes covered with perplexity. She then asked with a naive smile, "Who are you?"

Ming Lan's eyes soon burned with fire as he glared at the guard who dropped on one knee at once with a pale face.

"Master, forgive me. She was like this when we found her. Silly and abstracted."

"Shut up. You are silly!"

Ming Lan cursed with a red face and waved.

"Go and fetch the doctor!"

"Yes, Master!"

The guard answered and ran out.

Ming Lan approached the girl by two steps and held her dirty hands. The past rushed to his mind.

He blinked his wet eyes, smiled, and said to her, "Little monster, you finally came back. You know that I've sent people to search for you for a whole year after you disappeared..."

The girl was also looking at him with the two shining eyes, so dazzling and affectionate. She suddenly chuckled when her eyes spotted something.

"Why are you wearing only one glove? Indoor?"

An Hong was astonished in silence. He hunched his back and hid humbly aside.

The Master hated it when others mentioned the incompleteness of his left hand. Now that she had touched the tender spot, he would lose his temper again!

An Hong's worried gaze lingered on the girl for a long time as he reckoned.

Unexpectedly, it stayed quiet for a long while. He couldn't see the face of the Master, but he heard him saying with a gentle and loving voice, "Don't mind it. For you, everything is worthwhile... An!"

An Hong was called back to reality from a trance.

Ming Lan turned around and ordered, "Bring the meal from the kitchen. It must be rich and fine. She must be hungry."

An Hong went out to prepare and soon servants brought large plates of chicken, duck, fish, and various dim sums, which filled the table.

The girl ran to the table with a bright smile and scanned the table. Suddenly, she bowed her head and spread her arms to stuff her mouth with food.

An Hong and Ming Lan exchanged a stunned glance. And then one carried the chair over while the other pushed her down on it.

Ming Lan handed the chopsticks to her and instructed her carefully, suddenly realizing that he could actually be so patient.

"Don't hurry. Slow down. It's all yours. Come on, eat with chopsticks. Grabbing food with unwashed hands will sicken you..."

The girl looked up and gave him an embarrassed grin. She took the chopsticks with her dirty oily hands and slowly put the food into her mouth.

After dining and drinking, she washed her hands and face. A eunuch led the doctor into the hall.

The doctor diagnosed that she had lost part of her memory due to the suffering she had gone through during her long disappearance.

Considering the foreign accent she had, Ming Lan believed the doctor's words.

Who had kidnapped her that year? How did she escape to the capital? The questions would be asked and answered in detail until she got better.

After the doctor left, Ming Lan gestured to his subordinates to prepare the wagon for a trip back to Master's Mansion.

The girl sat silently in the hall with no expression on her delicate face.

But her eyes were fixed on the back of Ming Lan in the white robe. The corners of her lips curled up slightly with a faint smile of sinisterness.