A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 215

When Zhan Zhao checked her pulse again, it was already very weak.

"You have to hold on! You can't die!" he whispered in her ear, tears streaming down his face.

Ning Jin shouted loudly outside, "Faster, faster!" After shouting twice, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and simply climbed out of the carriage himself, picked up the whip, and drove the carriage hard.

The carriage sped away, leaving the coffin-carrying procession far behind, as the setting sun shone down, raising clouds of dust.

end

Kaifeng Prefecture, outside the West Corner Gate.

Zhan Zhao dismounted, covered in dust, handed the horse to the guard at the side gate, and headed straight for Bao Zheng's study.

"My lord, this is the last memorial Huang Zhongsi wrote before his death, which was tucked inside the book." Zhan Zhao presented the evidence for this case.

Bao Zheng took it and nodded approvingly: "You've traveled hundreds of miles and returned in three days. Thank you for your hard work."

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly.

"Go and rest," Bao Zheng waved for him to go back quickly, "You must be exhausted."

"Your subordinate takes his leave."

Zhan Zhao bowed, left the study, and headed towards the small courtyard where he lived in the southeast corner. It was afternoon, and all was quiet except for the noisy chirping of cicadas.

I pushed open the courtyard gate, went inside, and then pushed open the door to the room. The room was empty, eerily quiet. A letter sat on the table, weighed down by a teacup.

He slowly put down his bundle and sword, picked up the letter, and recognized the handwriting. He unfolded it; a thin page contained only a few words. He quickly read it, a faint smile playing on his lips, then tucked the letter back into his pocket. After a moment's thought, without even changing his clothes, he turned and went out again. The east gate was just around the corner from the courtyard. As he walked over, the guard at the gate saw him and smiled, "Lord Zhan, you're back!"

Zhan Zhao nodded with a smile, about to ask, "She..."

"She went to the back street." Before he could finish speaking, the guard smiled and pointed into the street.

Thank you.

Zhan Zhao nodded, gave him a slight bow in thanks, and then headed towards the back street.

The back street was right next to Kaifeng Prefecture, and many of the shopkeepers were very familiar with the people of Kaifeng. As Zhan Zhao walked along, people kept greeting him.

"Lord Zhan! He's back..."

"Lord Zhan, he's not here; we need to go further ahead..."

"Master Zhan, it seems to be at the old bookstore..."

...

Zhan Zhao thanked them all with a smile. He walked until he reached the old bookstore, where he stopped and looked at the slender figure inside who was engrossed in reading a book. His eyes were full of smiles.

"Master Zhan!" The shopkeeper was the first to see him.

At this moment, the figure suddenly looked up and saw that it was indeed him. He quickly put down his book and ran towards him, saying, "Brother! You're back!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she was already in front of him, smiling brightly. Seeing the beads of sweat on his forehead, she couldn't help but wipe them away with her sleeve and said with a smile, "I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Did you rush back overnight again?"

Zhan Zhao smiled without saying a word, took her hand, and walked back: "Let's go home."

Mo Yan said with slight annoyance, "As expected, didn't I tell you? Now that I'm better, you don't need to rush back in such a worried manner."

Zhan Zhao didn't answer, but instead asked, "Have you read the letter on the table?"

“No,” Mo Yan shook her head. “I thought it was written for you, but I didn’t know if it was about the case, so I didn’t dare to open it.”

"It's a letter from Brother Su."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan jumped up with joy and grabbed his arm tightly: "Where...no, where are they now? Is everything alright?"

"The letter was very simple. It said that he had left Sichuan and would be heading south to find a place where it was spring all year round to settle down. He told us not to worry about him."

Mo Yan smiled broadly: "When we have time, we'll go find them, big brother, what do you say?"

"Of course, but I don't know when I'll have the time," Zhan Zhao said honestly.

"It's alright, I'll talk to Judge Bao then, I'm not afraid he won't allow it."

Mo Yan stepped into the courtyard, full of confidence.

Zhan Zhao smiled and shook his head helplessly.

Zhan Zhao closed the courtyard gate from the inside, and the sound of laughter could be faintly heard as the breeze blew by.

Author's Note: Finally finished... Phew...

I bow deeply to all my friends who have been waiting for and supporting me all this time! Thank you, thank you so much. I spent more than two years writing "Bing Xin," and without you, I might not have been able to persevere.

As usual, everyone please leave a comment on this chapter, so the lion can see you all!

A new story about Xiao Chen is now open for everyone to check out!

Side Story 1: Anecdotes of Kaifeng - Chapter 1

The story begins when Mahan acquired a strange book.

The pages were yellowed, the cover was tattered, and the title was unknown. In any household, it would most likely be used as a table mat or torn pages for kindling. But when this book came into Mahan's hands, after a brief glance, he treasured it as if it were a priceless gem. He cherished it so much that he wished he could fast and bathe for three days before carefully reading it.

On this fine day, Mrs. Ma sat in the yard shelling peanuts. When she finished shelling a large basket of peanuts and was about to get up, she realized that her legs were numb and she couldn't move at all.

"Oh dear!" she murmured, but there was nothing she could do but sit and wait for the numbness to subside.