FMEA Chapter 99 Part 2

Chapter 99 Catching the cheating couple in the act 

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Shao Zitong froze and touched his chin carefully. The thief leader didn’t seem like anything special, but the old lady’s demeanor and expression wasn’t like an ordinary women who lived in the mountains. Instead, it seemed more like a noble lady from a large family. 

“What’s wrong with the mother and son duo?” Shao Zitong looked up at Feng Tingye and asked in a low voice.

Feng Ting slightly smiled: “Do you still remember more than ten years ago, the time when my father the emperor was about to ascend to the capital; there was a general named Wu in the court who remained neutral during the battle between my father and the crown prince. The man was an official and did not want to swim in muddy waters, but still got splashed with dirty water. ” 

Shao Zitong paused. When Feng Tingye mentioned it, he faintly remembered that something like that did really happen in the past: “General Wu? Could it be the general who His Royal Highness Qi accused of depriving the frontline rations and attempting to collude with the enemy? The General Wu who was sentenced to have his entire family executed unto the third generation?” 

Feng Tingye nodded his head: “Yes, that Wu family. They were framed. At that time, the general was regarded as a man of high moral standing with great achievements, but he was a straight man and did not understand the dangers of the fight for the throne. My royal father appreciated his integrity and his talents of leading soldiers and wanted to rope him into his side. But he never thought it would start to draw unwanted attention and cause him trouble. At that time, the Wu family was sentenced to be executed and my royal father felt unbearable guilt. Although they were executed, a subordinate of the generals’ rescued his wife and his only son.” 

“You mean….. the mother and son were….” Shao Zitong’s face changed slightly, this made sense.

“En.” Feng Tingye took a deep breath. “Royal father had planned to take them back in, but unfortunately a lot of things happened later. When he finally succeeded the throne, the foundation of the city was unstable. If they hurriedly took them back, it would not have been a blessing to them. Originally, after cleaning up the government, Zhen was going to receive them, but I did not expect that due to some person’s temper they would reject it.”

Shao Zitong nodded: “What are you going to do?” 

“Watch for changes. That stronghold looks ordinary, but it is a place with crouching tigers and hidden dragons. If Zhen rashly reveals his identity, I am afraid it will be counterproductive.” 

“En, then we …” 

Before Shao Zitong had finished speaking, he saw that Feng Tingye stepped forward with raised eyebrows, “Zhen suddenly remembers that there is one thing left to do. You go back first. Once Zhen finishes with his matters, Zhen will go back naturally.” 

After speaking, Feng Tingye didn’t wait for a reply. With a step of his feet, he rushed into the woods on the side. 

“Your Majesty…..” Shao Zitong reached out and tried to stop him, but he was one step too late. He rolled his eyes.

You say you don’t care, but you would run even faster than a rabbit. He would dare to bet with Yan Ran right now that Feng Tingye that fool was going back to domesticate his pet. When all was said and done, a brother is still inferior to his wife. How could he just throw him behind?

Shao Zitong complained for a moment with resentment, then turned to look at the forest behind him. His body suddenly froze. 

This… this… where is the road to go down again?!?!!?!! 

At the same time, a loud face slap rang out from an inn at the border of Ye State. 

“Ma….. Master…..” Jiang Zhaorou covered her cheek and looked at the person in front of her in disbelief. 

“What did I tell you? With the situation now, you and I must not act lightly and provoke others. What happened in the end? You don’t listen to my words and try to act smart. It would have been strange if you succeeded. Now, not only did you not bring that Niang Niang back, but you alerted the snake. Everything we did before was wasted, WASTED!” The man shouted and slammed his fist on to the table next to him.

Jiang Zhaorou only heard a loud noise and looked up in surprise. The table in front of her eyes was broken into dregs. She couldn’t help but tremble and bite her lips. “My subordinate saw the Ya Tou leave the palace and thought it was rare opportunity. That’s why….. why….. my subordinates took the girl out of the capital of Ye. Just a little bit, just a little bit more and it would have succeeded. I just didn’t expect that there would be a damn burglar encounter on the road.” 

At the end of her speech, Jiang Zhaorou gritted his teeth. It was all because of the thieves she had lost so many of her loyal men. 

The man gave Jiang Zhaorou a cold glance, “I understand what you are thinking, but you are too eager for a quick success. Now that the Ya Tou is missing, Ye Country is in chaos. I am afraid that you and I have already been exposed. The priority now is to find a way to remedy it. Until now, there has been no news of the woman being rescued. She still lives in the thieves den. Gather everyone and immediately go to the thieves stronghold. You must make it there before Feng Tingye and the others…… and bring back that Niang Niang.” 

“Yes.” 

The man walked to Jiang Zhaorou’s side and looked down at her: “As for you making a mess out of things, when you return, go receive your punishment in the darkroom.”

Jiang Zhaorou shivered, her head lowered even more as she replied, “Yes.” 

It was only when the man walked out of the room did Jiang Zhaorou let out a sigh of relief. She got up and walked out of the door. Just a few steps out and she met a smiling tiger. 

“Why did Lord Xi come?” 

The boy across from Jiang Zhaorou gave her a smirk: “Wang Ye* heard that Da Ren was staying in Ye Country for some matters and even requested me to come assist.”

* Prince

“Wang Ye?” Jiang Zhaorou froze, then her lips turned into a sneer as she looked at the young man with a hostile gaze, “Wang Ye still can’t believe in Da Ren after all.” 

The teenager did not pay much attention to Jiang Zhaorou’s satire and smiled: “Da Ren has a special identity and Wang Ye naturally values it. While for Si Gu Niang* …” 

* Lady four (number); most likely the fourth child born

The young man paused for a moment, glanced at Jiang Zhaorou, then teased: “A fine bird chooses a tree to nest in. Si Gu Niang should think about it. When Da Ren makes his choice, how should Gu Niang handle herself?”

The young man stepped forward and whispered close to Jiang Zhaorou’s ear: “Gu Niang has to be careful not to stand with the wrong team. Otherwise you might regret it.”

After saying what he needed to say, he smiled brightly and walked out. 

Jiang Zhaorou turned her head to look at the back of the young man. Her hands hung by her sides with her fists clenched. Her brown eyes was filled quickly with cold killing intent. 

Night has fallen and a full moon filled the sky. The soft moonlight poured down and enveloped the entire mountain forest as if it was a blanket. There was no lack of excitement at night in the mountain stream. Low calls from birds echoed in the deep mountains and even the frog, unwilling to be left out, would stick their heads out to join in. 

Suddenly, a dark shadow passed quickly between the tree shadows. It jumped lightly through the open gate near the side, bringing up a small cold wind. 

The gatekeeper who was dozing off while holding his weapon opened his eyes stupidly. Then, he clenched the weapon in his hand in surprise and whispered, “Who… who’s there?” 

“Brother Tiezi, why are you shouting? Who’s there?” The youngster who was also dozing off on the other side suddenly woke up when he heard the man’s call. 

“Hmm… I thought I saw a dark shadow…… fly by.”

“Whoosh…..” The young man shivered and stared blankly at the man named Tiezi. His teeth started trembling, making a creepy sound. “Bro… Brother Tiezi , I’m not brave at all… don’t scare me.” 

Before he finished, Tiezi slapped the young boy’s shoulder, “Don’t shake, that movement earlier wasn’t as scary as your teeth chattering!” 

When the words came out, there was a whoosh and a dark shadow rushed past them. 

The two took in a deep cold breath and stiffened. They were trembling in unison now. Eyes widened, they looked at each other in horror. Turning their heads to look back, what appeared in their eyes was….. 

“Meow …” A big black fat cat looked at them innocently. It yawned, then called out innocently, as if it was trying to say hello to them. 

“……..” 

“……..” 

“It turns out… it was a cat. Don’t scare me.” The young man caressed his frightened little heart.

“…… yeah.” Tiezi’s face was also a little stiff. He looked at the pure black cat with green and blue eyes and still felt a little scared. 

The black cat didn’t get a response from the two and shook the dust off his body in a boring way. Looking up, it walked proudly back towards the woods. 

Seeing the black cat leave, the two breathed a sigh of relief. Tiezi patted the young man’s shoulder: “It’s fine now. Did you see the eyes of the cat were different colours? When I was in the village, I often heard the old people in the village say that when a cat has twin pupils, yin and yang travel.” 

“Huh? What does that mean?” The young boy stared at Tiezi blankly. 

“That is to say, cats with two-coloured pupils are creatures that can travel between the underworld and the natural world, just like the bullhead and horse face from hell. They can recruit souls. I also don’t understand it completely. It was just when I was younger, I heard the old people often say it. It sounds wicked.”

“Stop… Brother Tiezi, don’t say it…. I’m terrified.” The young man who had finally calmed down began to tremble again. 

Tiezi seemed to be taken aback by his own words. He looked around with a guilty conscience. He stopped talking for a moment then whispered, “No more, no more. Let’s keep alert while guarding. These days it hasn’t been peaceful at the bottom of the mountain. Let’s make sure we don’t let any cats or dogs slip in or else we might get punished.” 

“Yes, let’s be more alert.” 

The two stopped talking. The gate returned to its original silence, but after the earlier shock, the usual night became extra frightening and strange.

Suddenly, the young man’s shoulder was patted from behind. The young man shuddered and stepped back, his heart almost jumping out of his throat: “Tiezi, don’t scare me to death!” 

“I was taken aback by you!” Tiezi, who was also startled by the young boy’s reaction did not look any better. 

The boy calmed his little frightened heart again. His eyes were filled with tears and he looked at Tiezi with dissatisfaction: “Brother Tiezi, are you okay? If you’re fine, why did you pat me?” 

Tiezi became embarrassed and scratched his head, “Well, can you go back and grab a hat? Uh… I feel a little shaky…”

“…….” Brother Tiezi, are you turning your back on bald man? This is making me emotional ~~~ ageing prematurely, not even a blade of grass growing, I also didn’t want to be like this. A young man in his early twenties who has a smooth bald head, how am I going to get myself a wife?!!!! 

Tie Zi really didn’t have any particular dislike towards it, he just felt that the dazzling little head in front of him shone brighter than the two lights shining on him and is almost blinding him. 

If Tiezi was in the 21st century, he would understand that the light that made him feel dazzled, the object that can emit such light, is commonly known as a…… light bulb! ~~

The two in front of the stronghold looked at each other and the little black cat that had disturbed them quickly dashed into a thick bush. 

The shadows of the swaying trees were wrapped in the moonlight and lengthened into a slender figure of a person.

The ink-coloured gown fell to the ground and it was possible to clearly see the flowers embroidered on the side with the moonlight. The long ink-coloured hair of the boy fell like a waterfall all the way to his waist. Swaying slightly under the light breeze, it made the young man’s figure look thin and fragile.

The black cat smelled the familiar scent permeating in the air, it’s different-coloured eyes lit up slightly. His feet began to pick up the pace. After a while, it had ran to the teenager’s feet. It intimately rubbed against the hibiscus pattern on the teenager’s shoes looking incredibly cute. 

The boy looked down at the pet acting coquettishly, his lips slightly hooked. Then he slowly leaned down to embrace the black cat in his arms. The long hair in front of him fell gently on the face of the black cat as he bowed, causing it to yawn with its mouth open. It then happily reached out to grab the long hair to play. 

The teenager didn’t mind and stroked his hand down the fur of the neck of the black cat, “Did you see it?” 

The black cat heard the owner’s question and stopped playing with the strand of hair, then as if it understood, it responded with a “Meow…”

“It looks like she’s doing quite well. Now that that person is here, I can rest easy.” The young man breathed a sigh of relief and his gentle words resembled a breeze in the cold night. 

The black cat called out again and stretched out its pink tongue to lick the fingertips of the boy as if it was begging for something. 

The teenager smiled, scratched the black cat’s chin, and asked gently: “Do you want to see her that much?” 

The black cat looked up, “Meow ~~~” 

“It’s a pity…. it’s still not the right time. “

He patted the impatient black cat in comfort. Then he turned around and carried him away.

The moonlight on the water shattered it’s light and shadows everywhere. The evening breeze blew and the young man and black cat who were standing under the tree disappeared. It was as if everything that happened just now was just a dream, leaving behind only a faint scent of fragrance in the air. This scent of fragrance was blown away by the evening wind and then there was nothing left. 

Taking advantage of the weather conditions to secretly sneak into the stronghold, the culprit of scaring the two gatekeepers, at this moment was carefully avoiding the people walking around. Then he quietly opened the window into Xia Yuqing’s room.

Hidden for a long time, Feng Tingye learned that Xia Yuqing’s next-door neighbour was Su Qingyan, the second master who he had just met today. Feng Tingye’s movements became more and more careful. Now was not the time for them to be open and honest with them. 

Opening the window by a small sliver, after he saw that there was no one else in the room except the person who had fallen asleep, Feng Tingye jumped lightly into the room. He carefully closed the window and then stepped towards the bed in the inner room. Going forward, he eagerly reached out and opened the curtains. 

In the next second, the smile on Feng Tingye’s face froze completely. 

On the warm and spacious big bed, two figures were tightly intertwined together. The teenager on the edge of the bed was beautiful and tender. It was clearly the same teenager who had been sitting next to Xia Yuqing at lunch today, his child’s father. 

On the other side of the bed, the person leaning against the wall was obediently nestled within the arms of the young man, showing the soft and long hair that Feng Tingye couldn’t be more familiar with. Seeing the two so close, it wasn’t hard to guess what kind of scene was under the quilt. 

Feng Tingye looked at the scene in front of him and felt the string labelled reason in his head snap….. broken, did he just … catch the cheating couple in the act?!!

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