White Robe - Chapter 72
I laughed, "That's right, I'll let you go. But—" I slowly crouched down, looking into her eyes, which held an unprecedented coldness and terror. I said, "However, as you leave, I will give you a gift—I will also give you a curse—"
"I, Baiyi, have personally crippled your martial arts, and I will announce this news to the world as quickly as possible!"
"Do you know what this means for you? You will live a life of constant running and being hunted! You will worry every day that the people you have harmed will seek revenge, and you will even be afraid that someone will poison you while you eat, and you will be even more worried that a knife will suddenly appear and be held to your neck while you sleep."
"For your own sake, you have harmed and ruined so many people. Then I will avenge them—" I stretched out my left index finger, my voice as cold as unyielding ice, and slowly said:
"Run—run now—this is my curse upon you. Before long, the whole world will turn against you. Gentle leader, head of assassins, how many families have you ruined and killed? That's enough to condemn you to a life of wandering like a rat! I won't kill you, because Young Master Shang certainly wouldn't like me killing, but—"
"This ending is more suitable for you."
It's over... the white-clad woman... it's all over...
These words kept repeating in my mind. Suddenly, my legs went weak, and I collapsed to the ground uncontrollably. My heart was pounding as if it were about to jump out of my chest, and the Ju Xue sword in my hand fell to the ground with a "clang".
Could it be that I am such a terrifying person...?
My forehead was soaked with sweat, and my whole body felt like it had been pulled out of water. I felt as if I had just had a nightmare, and my limbs were completely empty and powerless. My body and face were covered in blood, and a foul smell of blood assaulted my nostrils, but I didn't know if the blood was my own or Lan Ye's. I felt a tickle in my throat, and with a "whoosh," I vomited, but my stomach was empty, and I only vomited up some clear water. My fingers were still trembling slightly, and my whole body was still incredibly tense.
I'm so afraid... that my sword, filled with hatred, will just plunge down...
After a while, I slowly stood up, leaning on a tree for support. I walked a few dozen steps forward and came across a small stream. I dipped my hands into the water, washed my face, tidied my hair, and rinsed the bloodstains off my clothes. Although I couldn't get them completely clean, the bloodstains weren't very noticeable because I was wearing white. I then soaked the half-broken Ju Xue sword in the stream to wash away the blood and grime. Only then did I notice that the Ju Xue sword in my hand was flawless and crystal clear, completely different from when I first saw it! Now I felt a little strange. Normally, although the Ju Xue sword was made of jade, ordinary blows couldn't damage it in the slightest. Today, however, it had absorbed my blood, shattering the edge of the sword into pieces, with a thin, long section protruding from the blade, but without a trace of blood. Although I had already put the blood-stained jade fragments into my sleeve, I couldn't see any clue to the problem. Previously, I always thought Ju Xue looked strange, not at all like jade, and it was very difficult to use. Now, after smashing most of it, I felt that it was incredibly warm and smooth to the touch. The blade was slender, but the weight had not changed much. When I lifted it up, it seemed as if there were strands of light flowing in the spine of the blade, echoing and harmonizing with me, as if it had suddenly come to life.
I shook my head slightly, strapping the sword to my arm, utterly bewildered as to why things had turned out this way. I looked down at my reflection in the stream; the fierce glint in my eyes was almost gone. Suddenly, I heard someone running towards me from not far away, shouting:
"Is he the Minister in White Robes?"
I turned at the sound and saw a middle-aged scholar stumbling down the hillside not far away, waving at me as he ran, looking quite comical. He soon reached me, still breathless, and said, "Bai—Prime Minister Bai, I've finally found you—"
Overjoyed, I exclaimed, "Master Gongsun, how could it be you!"
The middle-aged scholar I called Mr. Gongsun, wearing a dirty and tattered long robe and covered in mud, took a few breaths and his face lit up with joy: "I've searched high and low without finding it, I never expected that the Prime Minister would be here!"
I exclaimed with delight, “Mr. Gongsun, what are you doing here—Yiyang! Is Yiyang here too?”
Mr. Gongsun's eyes shone brightly as he said, "Young Master Yun has ordered everyone in Guiyun Manor to come and find the Prime Minister. Naturally, I must also do my part! Furthermore, without the Prime Minister, Guiyun Manor would be like a roc with its wings broken. We must search high and low to find the Prime Minister."
Upon seeing Mr. Gongsun, I was immediately in high spirits and said with a smile, "Mr. Gongsun, you flatter me greatly. You are a learned man. Without your great wisdom, how could such a relic of the past dynasty, Liaoling, have been brought back to life? Guiyun Manor's current success is largely due to your and Aunt Xu's contributions. I was just about to discuss with Yiyang the idea of dividing Guiyun Manor's profits from Liaoling among Mr. Gongsun and Aunt Xu, each receiving 10%. What do you think?"
Gongsun's slender face changed slightly, and he said, "You flatter me too much, Prime Minister. I am unworthy and unworthy to accept such praise."
I laughed and said, "We'll talk about this later. Mr. Gongsun, how far is it from here to Guiyun Manor? How is Yiyang?"
Mr. Gongsun bowed slightly and said, "The young master is waiting not far ahead. Please follow me, Minister." With that, he waved his right hand, signaling me to follow, and then headed back towards the hillside he had come from.
The two walked one after the other for about the time it takes to eat a meal. While chatting casually with Mr. Gongsun, I secretly stole glances to try and figure out where I was. I already had no sense of direction, and Lan Ye's abduction of me from the Ning Prince's mansion had made me even more disoriented. But I vaguely remembered that Guiyun Manor was to the east. The sun was gradually setting, and Mr. Gongsun was leading me north. I frowned and asked, "Mr. Gongsun, where are we going?"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Gongsun hurriedly replied, "Your Excellency's departure is naturally to meet with the young master."
I said, "But I remember Guiyun Manor isn't in this direction."
Mr. Gongsun smiled and said, "What you say is very true, but the young master is worried about your safety and has already left the manor to wait for you. The young master is currently on the cliff not far ahead. Please be patient."
"I see..." My eyes flashed, and I gradually slowed my pace, saying slowly, "Yi Yang's body still has residual poison. I wonder how he is now, and whether he has been taking his medicine on time..."
Mr. Gongsun hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, rest assured, the young master's complexion is improving day by day. He is taking the medicine on time, and in less than ten days, he will surely be as handsome as before—" Suddenly, I felt a chill on my throat, and a slender jade sword was pressed against his neck. I said coldly, "Mr. Gongsun, where are you taking me? May I ask you to enlighten me?"
Master Gongsun's face changed drastically, and he said in a trembling voice, "Prime Minister—Prime Minister—you—"
My gaze was sharp as I spoke, each word distinct: "Yun Yiyang is not here at all. What is your purpose in bringing me here?"
When I broke up with Yun Yiyang, the bone-corroding poison he had suffered had already been cured in Yanliang Valley, so how could there be any talk of "residual poison not being eliminated"!
"Hahahaha—" Suddenly, a loud laugh rang out. A rustling sound came from the woods, and figures flashed by. More than twenty people jumped out, surrounding Mr. Gongsun and me. My expression changed. I looked up and saw that the laughing man was about forty years old, burly, with a full beard—it was Qian Dakuan, a famous silkworm merchant from Shanxi City! Qian Dakuan clapped his hands and laughed, revealing a row of yellow teeth. He said, "Minister Bai, I never expected to meet you here."
Qian Dakuan! It was him!
I was shocked. Ever since I was hunted by the gray-clad assassin, I've been puzzled. Although Lan Ye wanted to kill me, I hadn't fallen in love with Shang Shaozhang at that time. Why was the gray-clad assassin like a leech, impossible to shake off? I felt that all these things were like a series of interlocking links, but the most important link was missing—the "cause".
Who hired the gray-clad assassin?!
As expected, with Qian Dakuan's appearance here, followed by a dozen gray-clad assassins, the truth will soon be revealed—
Qian Dakuan's hoarse voice rang out: "As expected of a white-robed prime minister. I've seen countless people, but the one I admire most is you, my daughter. You actually managed to find out about that bastard Gongsun with just one sentence!"
My face remained expressionless, my sword still pressed against Mr. Gongsun's neck. This brute before me, though still as foul-mouthed as when I first met him, was no longer someone to be underestimated. All the previous chases and escapes had been caused by this money-grubbing merchant. No matter how clever we were, we might now all become his pawns—I am, Shang Shaochang is, and Lan Ye is too!
I slowly said, "No, no... No matter how clever Baiyi is, how can he compare to even a fraction of Qian Dangjia's skill... Qian Dangjia has made Baiyi look like a rat crossing the street for the past six months, completely at his mercy! How could Baiyi's lowly skills possibly catch Qian Dangjia's eye?"
Qian Dakuan laughed heartily, his laughter filled with smugness, and said, "It's just a pity that you've realized it now, but it's too late!"
I said, "That's right, just as Baiyi predicted. Master Qian must have wanted to make a move against Baiyi for a long time... But I wonder how much money Master Qian spent and how much effort he put in to make Mr. Gongsun, a learned man, have a disloyal heart and actually become an inside agent for Tianjin Manor?"
Qian Dakuan rubbed his hands together and said, "Why don't you ask that bastard?"
My gaze swept over Mr. Gongsun, and I slowly said, "I don't know what to ask him... When I first met him, he was a poor and destitute scholar, full of knowledge but struggling to make ends meet... After we invited him to Guiyun Manor, sure enough, with his talent, he actually found the Tang Dynasty silk-making technique, which saved Guiyun Manor. At that time, to thank him, I specially decided to allocate half of Guiyun Manor's annual income to him every year... Although it's not much, it's enough for him to live on for the rest of his life. Mr. Gongsun, am I right?"
Mr. Gongsun was drenched in cold sweat and stammered, "Yes...yes..."
I slowly said, "According to what you said, neither Baiyi nor Guiyun Manor has ever owed you the slightest thing. Why would you let a wolf into the house, first trying to assassinate me, Baiyi, so that the gray-clad assassin would know my whereabouts perfectly; and then embezzling the accounts and revealing Guiyun Manor's secrets to others! -- Poor Yiyang, at first, he even suspected Youhua! Poor Youhua was such a good girl, but she has been secretly framed several times!"
Mr. Gongsun's lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't utter a word. His face grew paler and paler, and his scholarly demeanor vanished completely. Qian Dakuan laughed loudly, "Why don't I do it myself! I promise him that once the plan succeeds, I will give him the entire Guiyun Manor!"
"What!" I glanced at Mr. Gongsun, whose face flushed and paled in turns, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of longing and fear. He was clearly extremely agitated. It seemed that what Qian Dakuan said was true; he had indeed dared to gamble everything and do such a despicable thing for the sake of Guiyun Manor. I heard Qian Dakuan say, "Minister Bai, release that bastard. Even if you capture him, you won't escape these assassins."
I sighed, "Not bad—" and with a wave of my hand, I took away Ju Xue. Mr. Ren Gongsun scrambled towards Qian Dakuan. Just now, Qian Dakuan had called him a "turtle son," but he seemed not ashamed at all, but rather proud, his face full of joy. When he was still about half a zhang away from Qian Dakuan, he suddenly screamed "Ah—" and a large patch of blood gushed from his chest.
A slender sword tip emerged from Mr. Gongsun's chest.