Started as a mute girl? I prospered in the lean years

A quarter of an hour later, the carriage reunited with Xiaoman, Shuangjiang and others, and then drove towards the gate of Xiangyi City.

Xiaoman and Shuangjiang had no idea what happened to their young lady in the Nanxia Palace. They just looked at each other when they saw the familiar tall figure and kept all the questions in their hearts.

This section of the journey seemed to be traveled very quickly. After arriving at the gate of Xiangyi City, Fu Yin got out of the car and took the reins handed to him by his men.

He held the reins and watched the carriage rumble away, with Shen Huaixu's words still echoing in his mind.

The face beneath the mask was now clear-eyed, with a heat in stark contrast to his usual coldness.

He has always firmly believed that Shen Huaixu and he are the same kind of people, and now it seems that he is not the only one who holds this view.

For him, nothing could be better than this.

"Sir, something happened in the Wu family." A eunuch in plain clothes whispered to Fu Yin.

Fu Yin watched the carriage disappear from his sight before asking, "What's the matter?"

"Wu Li killed the head of the Wu family and fled. The Lord Wu you praised was the son of the head of the Wu family. He seemed to have been bewitched after fainting and has not woken up. The Wu family is in chaos now. The mistress of the Wu family is kneeling outside the palace and begging you to seek justice."

Fu Yin glanced at him sideways, "If everything is reported to the emperor, what's the point of having the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice?"

The young eunuch was too dumb to say anything, so Fu Yin just said, "Leave it to the Ministry of Justice for punishment," then jumped on his horse, whipped it and galloped off towards the palace.

The eunuch's face was covered with dust kicked up by the horse's hooves. He quickly mounted his horse and followed the person in front of him who was about to disappear around the corner.

While chasing him, he was still wondering why the new master had two faces. He was so warm and welcoming when he was seeing people off, but became so cold when they left.

The carriage that Shen Huaixu took this time was prepared by Fu Yin. It was pulled by two horses side by side and the carriage was much more spacious than an ordinary carriage. She could even roll around while lying on the couch.

The carriages and guards were all hired. As long as they stepped into the territory of Huai'an Prefecture, they would be able to contact Xia Zhi and the others and then send them away.

She hadn't seen Xiaoman and Shuangjiang for a few days, and the two had a lot of questions to ask. She took the storybook and turned a page. She could still hear their conversation in her ears.

"The man who sent the lady out of the city looked somewhat familiar..." Xiaoman hesitated whether to ask.

Shuangjiang said directly: "Like supporting the young general."

"General Fu fell off a cliff, and his body was nowhere to be found."

"Maybe he was rescued?"

Xiaoman joked, "Everyone in Xiangyi City knows that Mr. Heyin likes to cover his face, so much so that the custom of covering his face has become popular among the people. That man looks very similar to the legendary Mr. Heyin. It can't be that he helped the young general to become the regent in a foreign country, right?"

Shen Huaixu looked up at her, silent. Shuangjiang also looked at her as if thinking about something.

Being stared at by two people, Xiaoman couldn't help but shrink his head, feeling something was weird.

"You have a good imagination." Shen Huaixu said, "If you want to write a storybook, I can help you find some examples."

Xiaoman let out a sigh and was about to say something, but Shuangjiang stopped her with a look. Although she didn't understand why, she didn't say anything else.

When they had a chance to ride together on horseback, Xiaoman couldn't help but ask, "Sister Shuangjiang, why don't you let me continue?"

Shuangjiang glanced at her and said, "Can't you see that Miss doesn't want to talk about it?"

Xiaoman: "I'm curious too. I heard that He Yin is very capable. Not only can he fly, but he is also a master of military tactics. He easily resolved a palace coup before.

He doesn't sound like a human being. If Dajin and Nanxia fight one day, who will win?"

Shuangjiang thought for a moment and said, "After the young lady returns to Beijing, maybe she won't fight anymore."

Xiaoman was confused, "What do you mean?"

"...I'll give you a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War when we return to Beijing."

The return journey was different from the coming journey. We took the main road, but because we took a detour, the journey became longer.

It was drizzling that day, and both the people and the horses were a little tired. Shen Huaixu asked them to stop the car and rest, while he walked around nearby.

They probably wouldn't be able to make it to the next post station at night, so they had to find a place to shelter from the rain for the coachman and guards to have a good rest.

The Nanxia forest is deep, foggy and the roads are rugged. If you are not careful, you might get bitten by snakes or insects or fall into something. You have to get enough rest to concentrate on the journey.

After we started again and walked for a while, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up, with only half of the sun's outline left in the sky, like a salted egg yolk.

The hired driver was very familiar with the places to rest along the way, and asked Xiaoman and Shuangjiang loudly if they wanted to rest for a night in a dilapidated temple in the forest ahead.

After Xiaoman asked Shen Huaixu, he agreed.

After the carriage stopped, Shen Huaixu got out and saw from afar the ruined temple standing among the tall trees. After the last ray of sunlight disappeared, the atmosphere around it became more eerie and terrifying.

The guards and coachmen were walking towards the dilapidated temple with food and water. From where she stood, the dilapidated temple without a temple gate looked like a giant beast with a big black mouth, quietly waiting to swallow up anyone who accidentally strayed into it.

Shen Huaixu felt that he had watched too many horror movies.

She turned her head and said, "You will sleep with me in the carriage tonight."

Shuangjiang: "Miss, we two have lived outside many times before, and these are nothing."

"Miss, don't worry about me..."

Shen Huaixu was too lazy to talk to them. "The temple is small and crowded. They are a bunch of grown men. It's not convenient for you to mix in with them. It's not like there's no room to sleep in the car. Besides, I feel more at ease with you around."

This is the first time they have camped outdoors in these days, so they'd better be careful.

I couldn't refuse during the Xiaoman and Frost Descent period, so I had to accept it.

The wind grew stronger at night, and the rustling of leaves in the forest drowned out other sounds.

Shen Huaixu was awakened late at night, and heard Fu Yin's voice while he was still in a daze.

"There's a rat outside. It's an old acquaintance of ours."

Hearing this, her consciousness gradually became clear, "Who is it?"

"Wu Li."

Shen Huaixu had already heard from Fu Yin about Wu Li committing a crime and escaping, so she opened her eyes and pricked up her ears to listen carefully.

"You haven't caught her yet?"

"The affairs of those useless people in the Ministry of Justice have nothing to do with me." Fu Yin distanced himself from the matter without thinking, "If I took action, I would have just let her go."

He has heard a lot about the Wu family and Wu Li during this period.

Wu Li was chosen to be the next witch since she was a child. From the moment she was chosen, she was destined to devote her life to consolidating the status of the Wu family.

They are not allowed to meet their biological parents, and become medicine men of the previous witch. They are kept company with poisonous insects for several years thereafter, until they reach the age of 15, when the witch's family secretly trades their virginity, and they become playthings of the powerful.

This goes on from generation to generation, and every witch cannot escape the cycle of becoming both victim and perpetrator.