Chapter 261

Wen Yu was socializing with Madam Qi at the Cui family residence when a servant girl came to find her, saying that someone named Mu Ling was looking for her at the second gate.

Confused, she hurried out.

Mu Ling looked flustered and whispered something in her ear.

Wen Yu was shocked. She quickly sent a Cui family servant girl to inform Madam Qi, “I have an urgent matter to attend to. I will return home on my own.”

Then, she took La Ba with her, got into the carriage, and went straight back to the courtyard where Yan Zhu lived.

Hu Fei and Sun Ying were in the front yard.

“Miss!” Sun Ying stood up when he saw her.

Wen Yu asked, “Are you alright?”

Sun Ying replied, “Just some minor injuries. Zhu Zhu is in the back. She’s a bit frightened but unharmed. After we got back, I went to find Young Master Zhang and told him what happened. He immediately took people there, including Li Jiang. Please go check on Miss Yan first, and we’ll talk later.”

“Okay!”

Entering the backyard, Master Qing had also returned. “Zhu Zhu is fine, just a little shaken.”

“Zhu Zhu!” Wen Yu entered the room.

Yan Zhu looked a bit downcast. When she saw Wen Yu, her eyes reddened a little…”Ah Yu…”

“Are you scared?! Are you hurt?” Wen Yu sat beside her, taking her hand and looking her over.

“I’m fine…Yin Huan and Master Sun are injured.”

“I saw Master Sun in the front. His injury isn’t serious. Where’s Yin Huan?”

Jin Huan, who was standing nearby, replied, “She got a cut on her arm. We’ve already applied medicine and bandaged it. Please don’t worry.”

Master Qing said, “We called a doctor, and he prescribed some calming medicine. It’s being brewed now! He said she just needs to take the medicine and get some sleep.”

“Zhu Zhu, just stay home and rest for a couple of days.”

“Oh…you all go out first. I need to talk to Ah Yu for a moment.”

Everyone left. Yan Zhu held Wen Yu’s hand and said, “Ah Yu, do you think something went wrong today because I’m going to acknowledge Magistrate Wen as my adoptive father? At the temple, I drew a bad fortune stick. I’ve never drawn a bad fortune stick before!”

Wen Yu laughed, “Silly girl, how can you believe that? Those people today were definitely robbers. Zhang Jiangqing has already taken people to investigate. Those bad guys won’t get away. Don’t overthink anything else.

As for Magistrate Wen…he’s a good person. I feel that you’re always happy around him. That’s why I thought it would be good for you to have an adoptive father. But there’s no rush. Let’s see what he thinks first.”

“Alright…” Yan Zhu leaned wearily on Wen Yu’s shoulder. “I was really scared today. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to see you again!”

Wen Yu’s heart ached. “That won’t happen. Just rest well these days and don’t go out.”

“Thank goodness for the rescuers today! Jin Huan said they seemed to know Gu Yue.”

“Know Gu Yue?” Wen Yu was even more puzzled. “How about I have Mu Ling stay with you? I need to ask them what happened…”

“Okay.”

“If you don’t want to eat anything, just have some porridge.”

“Okay, you go ahead.”

Wen Yu went to the front. “Master Sun, Gu Yue…thank you so much for today! I am deeply grateful.”

Sun Ying quickly stood up. “This is my duty, you don’t need to thank me.”

Hu Fei remained seated but nodded.

Wen Yu sat down. “Master Sun, please tell me what happened.”

Sun Ying recounted the events in detail.

Wen Yu’s gaze had been fixed on Hu Fei. “Gu Yue, you look familiar. But I can’t recall where I’ve seen you before.”

She was fishing for information; she really didn’t know who he was! It was actually quite normal that she didn’t recognize Hu Fei. She had only met him once, and she had been too preoccupied with Yang Ruishi at the time…

Hu Fei slowly removed the blue cloth covering his head, revealing a head of white hair…

Wen Yu was surprised but still didn’t understand. Sun Ying, however, was stunned…Thinking of a certain scenario, he suddenly realized and excitedly said, “Could your surname be Hu?”

“My name is Hu Fei,” Hu Fei said calmly.

Wen Yu finally understood. “Mr. Hu?”

“Some people call me that!”

Sun Ying stood up abruptly. He had met a famous person! “I’ve heard that you are a skilled swordsman, Sir. To witness it with my own eyes today is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…Actually, I was a bit puzzled…how could you hold off three people alone?!”

Hu Fei replied, “Master Sun, I also admire your courage in stepping forward today even though you knew you were outnumbered. Especially when you held off one of them, which allowed us to wait for reinforcements.”

Sun Ying blushed and chuckled, embarrassed by Hu Fei’s praise. “Not at all, not at all. It’s all thanks to your people arriving in time…”

“Mr. Hu, how did you end up here…” Wen Yu asked curiously.

✿✿✿

“I wonder how much Fifth Madam Qi knows about my past…” He was very frank. “My wife passed away unexpectedly, and I couldn’t accept it. I lost my mind and left home, wandering aimlessly. I don’t remember when or how I arrived in the capital. When I came to my senses, I was already by Miss Yan Zhu’s side.”

Memories flooded back, and Wen Yu quickly reviewed them. Then, it suddenly dawned on her, “So those people who appeared today were after you?”

Hu Fei shook his head. “To be honest, their aura is somewhat familiar. But they weren’t after me today. They were after Miss Yan Zhu.”

Sun Ying quickly added, “Miss, what Mr. Hu said makes sense.” He then analyzed the situation where those people tried to take Yan Zhu away. “They didn’t say anything and went straight for the carriage. Although Mr. Hu was beside the carriage, they didn’t notice him at first.”

Hu Fei also nodded. “They weren’t prepared when I struck, so I was able to injure one of them first! Moreover, judging by their skills and methods, they don’t seem like ordinary thieves.”

“But Yan Zhu…who would do such a thing to her?” Wen Yu murmured.

Recently, Yan Zhu had experienced two significant events. One was encountering Qi Yue at the Qi family residence.

The other was going to acknowledge Wen Ruoqing as her adoptive father.

“Could it be that someone in the Wen family found out about the adoption and didn’t want it to happen, so they took action?”

Hu Fei shook his head again. “Those people’s skills are not those of ordinary guards working for officials. However, although they are not weak, they are not top-level assassins…”

Wen Yu thought to herself: Could it be Qi Yue?

Hu Fei said, “Master Sun, I have a few words I would like to speak with Fifth Madam Qi alone.”

His current demeanor was different from his previous taciturnity. He was assertive and unquestionable.

Sun Ying quickly stood up. “I’ll go check outside…” He hurried out.

Hu Fei continued, “Two years ago, I was attacked. There were seven or eight people, two of whom could be considered top-level assassins. The others…seemed to have been trained together with those from today…Fifth Madam Qi may not understand, but people like us are observant and have strong intuition. And intuition is very important. If I’m not mistaken…those people may be connected to Prince Wu’s residence.”

“Prince Wu’s residence? But why would Prince Wu’s residence harm Yan Zhu?” Wen Yu was even more surprised.

Could Prince Yongqing want to avenge Wen Huan? Was that possible?

And if there was truly something going on, they should be targeting me! I’m perfectly fine…

“Those people wanted to abduct her, not kill her. Otherwise…” In fact, he was also afraid. If those people had wanted to kill, they wouldn’t have been able to stop them at the time!

✿✿✿

In a small but exquisite residence in the north of the city, Prince Yongqing was looking at the few people in front of him with a grim expression.

“Is everything alright?!”

“Reporting to Your Highness, your subordinate has checked. There are no loose ends. Three of them died on the spot. The one who escaped, seeing no hope, took his own life. The group didn’t stay at the scene and went straight into the city. By the time the officials arrived, there were already many onlookers. They left no clues, so they won’t be able to find anything.”

Prince Yongqing leaned back, feeling extremely frustrated.

Originally, that Wen Huan had been deeply in love with him, and he had been moved. He had discussed with his mother about making her his consort. As for Yan Zhu, whose background was too humble, he had planned to bring her into the residence as a concubine.

However, after going to the estate, Wen Huan somehow got involved with Jinzi, and the situation spiraled out of control. In the end, she even died…

Prince Wu had lectured him, and the Empress had reprimanded his mother…It had been a complete mess!

His mother had told him to focus on his duties.

He had no choice but to put aside his distractions and stop going out to have fun. He had worked diligently for a while, and only then did his father’s expression soften a bit.

But then, the day before yesterday, he had accompanied his father to a banquet. An official had gotten drunk and told a joke…about how Magistrate Wen was going to acknowledge a girl named Yan Zhu as his adopted daughter and even hold a banquet at Delicious and Flavorful…He had joked, “To make such a fuss over acknowledging an adopted daughter, what a strange man!”

Upon hearing this, he had realized it was that Zhu Zhu…

He hadn’t even visited his inner quarters much lately. Slightly tipsy, the thought of that charming girl had set his blood racing and filled his mind.

Wen Ruoqing…was indeed a strange man. He wasn’t arrogant, but he was bold and straightforward, often arguing with the Emperor to his face. The Emperor was both angry and exasperated, but when he presented his accounts…there was nothing he could do…

If Yan Zhu became his adopted daughter, it would be difficult to bring her into the residence as a concubine.

That guy wouldn’t agree…He would make a scene and embarrass him again.

She was just a pretty girl with no background. It wouldn’t be bad to bring her here secretly and keep her. In the future, if he really wanted to elevate her, he could change her identity and bring her into the residence. Who among his people would dare to question him?

And if he lost interest, he could just leave her here…

Having made up his mind, he had sent people to gather information that night and had learned that Yan Zhu was going to the temple to draw fortune sticks…

Outside the city…It was a heaven-sent opportunity! So he had casually sent a few of his guards to abduct her. It was actually his first time doing something like this!

But he hadn’t expected to encounter such a tough opponent. He had lost a few men for nothing and had almost brought trouble upon himself.

Why am I so unlucky?!

“She’s just with her servants, right? How could they defeat the people I sent?! Did you investigate?”

“Master…we inquired before. She just has two maids, a retired escort from an agency, a driver, and a servant…They should have been easy to deal with! I don’t know how…things turned out this way. We haven’t found out…Should we go to her house tonight and check?”

“You fool!! They must be on high alert now! You don’t even know what’s going on, and you want to walk right into their trap?!”

His subordinate quickly apologized.

He cursed a few more times and sighed inwardly, “It seems I’m truly not fated to be with them!”