MFURCC -Chapter 20 A Strikingly Similar Face

If they had truly known a mudslide would occur, then even death a thousand times would not absolve them of guilt!

But Liuzheng had no time to dwell on that now. Getting Grandmother to safety was the priority.

“Grandmother,” Liuzheng said, “sutras can be copied anywhere. Sincerity is what matters. On my way here, I heard that a mudslide is about to happen. Please come with me at once.”

“A mudslide?”

The Old Madam froze. The Third Madam’s face also turned pale instantly.

The Third Madam said anxiously, “Old Madam, everyone from the second and third branches is still at the villa…”

The Old Madam looked at Liuzheng and asked seriously, “Yao Yao, are you certain there will be a mudslide?”

“I’m certain! Grandmother, please trust me this once!”

“Very well. I trust you.” She turned to the Third Madam. “Strike the gong and call everyone out immediately. No need to pack anything—we leave now.”

“Yes!”

The Third Madam hurried off to summon the others.

Liuzheng helped the Old Madam put on her cloak and sent someone to find Pan Zhan.

Soon, Pan Zhan arrived, looking weak and pale.

“What happened to you?” Liuzheng asked in surprise.

Pan Zhan explained.

He had originally intended to escort the Old Madam away the day he arrived, but she insisted that it was unsafe to travel at night and decided to leave the next morning instead.

However, when he woke up the next day, he felt dizzy and weak, unable even to get out of bed.

It was only after hearing that Liuzheng had arrived that he forced himself up, leaning on a cane, to come over.

Liuzheng grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse.

“You’ve been poisoned! It’s Soft-Bone Powder. Not fatal, but it causes full-body weakness and drowsiness.”

Pan Zhan’s eyes widened. “Th-this…”

Liuzheng ordered the servants to help him outside.

“You go down the mountain first. I’ll bring Grandmother down shortly.”

Knowing he would only be a burden in his current state, Pan Zhan obediently allowed himself to be supported down the mountain.

Liuzheng then had the servants escort the Old Madam and the others down first while she searched for Nanny Qian.

Pan Zhan would need an antidote, and Nanny Qian must have it. She would never dare kill him outright—that would be a grave crime.

But trouble arose on the Second Branch’s side.

At first, they refused to leave.

“A mere young girl spouting nonsense, and the Old Madam believes her? This villa never had any problems when the Old Master was alive. We’re not going!”

“Exactly! Who wants to run around in this heavy rain because of her? She brings nothing but trouble the moment she returns!” said Fourth Miss Ruan, Ruan Baizheng of the Second Branch.

Only after the Third Madam personally urged them did they begin to move.

Yet halfway out, Ruan Baizheng suddenly remembered that she had forgotten several of her favorite gold hairpins and ran back to retrieve them.

At that moment, a massive boulder rolled down from the mountain peak, smashing a building.

Fortunately, it was only a livestock shed. No one was hurt, though three horses were killed.

With the carriage horses dead, they could only use sedan chairs.

But Ruan Baizheng, having returned for her hairpins, was struck by flying debris from the falling rocks. It hit her forehead.

Blood flowed profusely.

“Bai Jie’er!”

“Call a doctor!”

The Second Branch fell into chaos.

Helpless, the Third Madam returned to report to the Old Madam.

“Mother, perhaps you should go down first. I’ll stay and wait for Second Master and the others,” she suggested.

But the Old Madam refused to leave.

“We’ll go together once they come out.”

Meanwhile, Liuzheng searched the villa. Though she failed to find Nanny Qian, she discovered a packet of antidote in her room.

When she came out with it, she saw her grandmother still standing at the entrance.

“Grandmother, why haven’t you left?” Liuzheng hurried over.

“You haven’t come out yet. Neither have your second uncle and aunt. I was worried…”

“I’ll persuade them. Please go down first.”

The Old Madam ordered, “Nanny Dou, go urge them again. Tell them it’s my command—no one is to pack any more luggage.”

“Yes!”

Nanny Dou rushed off.

But Liuzheng did not want her grandmother to wait another moment.

If the Second Branch refused to leave, let them be!

They couldn’t all stay behind to die with them.

Just then, the ground trembled.

The mountainside had begun to shift. Several large trees were already toppling.

“Grandmother! We must go!” Liuzheng urged. “Climb onto my back—I’ll carry you down!”

“But your second uncle and the others…”

“They’ll catch up,” Liuzheng said firmly, crouching down.

The mountain path was slippery; a sedan chair would be too slow. She would be faster on foot.

But the Old Madam, soft-hearted as ever, still hesitated.

“Let’s wait a little longer. Nanny Dou will bring them out soon.”

Gravel continued to tumble down the slope. A mudslide could erupt at any moment. How could Liuzheng let her wait?

She raised her hand, ready to use force if necessary—to carry the Old Madam down whether she agreed or not.

Before she could act, the ground trembled again.

Liuzheng’s heart clenched. Thinking the mudslide had begun, she prepared to sprint down the mountain with her grandmother on her back—

But the next instant, she saw a procession approaching with torches held high.

From a distance, she couldn’t see clearly, but she had a faint guess who they were.

The day Prince Su had sent housewarming gifts, his steward had said that if she ever needed help, she could go to them.

She had not been polite.

Before leaving the city, fearing something might happen at the villa, she had instructed Yuliu that if she had not returned before nightfall, she was to seek help from the Prince’s residence.

These must be the Prince’s men.

Now that they had arrived, she could finally breathe.

Alone, her strength was too limited.

At most, she could only have saved her grandmother.

Liuzheng asked the Third Madam to take care of the Old Madam and sent a servant once more to urge the Second Branch. Then she ran toward the approaching group.

Her steps were swift.

Finally, she saw the man at the front—dressed in black.

The once-blurred face suddenly became clear.

Rain drenched him. His dark eyes shone brilliantly, cold and sharp, piercing through the mist as they fixed on her.

Liuzheng stared in shock. “Xiao… Xiao Hengzi?”

Overjoyed, she grabbed the sleeve of the man seated on the horse.

“Xiao Hengzi, you’re not dead?! That’s wonderful! You’re alive! I thought you…”

The next moment, she was flung aside.

Had her footing not been steady, she would have fallen flat onto the ground.

She quickly regained her balance and glared at him.

“Xiao Hengzi, have you lost your mind?”

How dare he push her?

Back then, who was it that dug him out from a pile of corpses and saved him?

She was about to curse him when a bearded man stepped forward, drawing his sword and pointing it at her.

“Insolence! Prince Su is present—how dare you behave so recklessly? Kneel!”

Liuzheng froze, staring at the man on horseback.

“You… you’re Prince Su? You’re not Xiao Hengzi?”

The man looked at her coldly.

Their eyes met. His gaze was cool and distant, yet heavy with something indescribable.

A drop of rain slid from his lashes, down the corner of his eye, over his straight nose and tightly pressed lips.

This face—it was unmistakably Xiao Hengzi’s.

But the expression, the bearing, the noble attire—were entirely different.

He… truly was not Xiao Hengzi.

But how could there be someone in this world so alike?

Her thoughts were in turmoil.

“Insolence! How dare you stare at His Highness!” the bearded man barked again.

Liuzheng snapped out of it and lowered her gaze.

She must have mistaken him.

Her Xiao Hengzi would never allow his subordinates to treat her like this.

She clasped her fists. “General Ruan Liuzheng greets Your Highness. I mistook you for someone else just now. Please forgive my offense.”

Prince Su continued to stare at her.

The emotions surging in his chest were forcefully suppressed. To outsiders, his expression seemed merely displeased.

Yet for some reason, his chest ached faintly.

He pressed a hand to it, and the discomfort gradually faded.

Glancing at the chaotic crowd near the villa gates, he asked, “You sent word to my residence saying you required assistance?”

“Yes…”

Suppressing her tangled emotions, Liuzheng replied, “With the heavy rains these past days, the soil has loosened. A mudslide is imminent. I boldly requested aid from the Prince’s residence.”

What she had never expected was that Prince Su would come in person.

Nor had she expected that he would look exactly like Xiao Hengzi, who had already died.

“Who told you a mudslide would occur?” he asked.

“I deduced it myself…”

Prince Su studied her deeply, making her uneasy.

It felt as though he could see through her secrets.

She quickly added, “A large boulder has already fallen and destroyed the livestock shed. If Your Highness doubts me, you may send someone to see.”

After a brief silence, he said, “What do you require of me?”

Her back stiffened slightly, but her words came quickly: “There are many women among us. Our horses have been killed. We cannot descend quickly. We need your men to escort everyone down.”

“Are there sedan chairs?”

“Yes, but they would be slow—”

“That is because your men are slow.”

He turned and ordered, “Sedan chairs! Not a single person is to be left behind. Bring them all down the mountain!”

Liuzheng glanced at the black-armored soldiers behind him.

They were disciplined and powerful—not ordinary men. With their steady footing and strength, they would be far faster than common bearers.

“Many thanks, Your Highness.”

“No need. After descending, wait for me at Changfu Inn. If no mudslide occurs, I will hold you accountable. Be prepared.”

She almost found it amusing.

If no mudslide occurred, he would punish her?

If he hadn’t wanted to help, he needn’t have come at all.

But needing his assistance, she merely replied, “Yes.”

Prince Su dismounted.

“I’ll handle the rest. Take the Old Madam and go.”

He personally directed his men.

Liuzheng helped her grandmother into a sedan chair, where the Third Madam and her two children joined her.

As for the Second Branch, still in chaos, Prince Su simply ordered his men to drag them out one by one and stuff them into the chairs.

They were soldiers—obedient only to their prince. The wails of the Second Branch meant nothing to them.

Liuzheng and Prince Su worked together with unspoken coordination.

Soon, the entire group made their way down the mountain.

An hour later, everyone from the villa safely arrived at Changfu Inn.

Liuzheng helped her grandmother sit in a guest room. Her eyes were red, though she struggled to contain her emotions.

In this lifetime, she had saved her grandmother.

Grandmother had not died.

No one knew how overjoyed she was at this moment.

Had she still been in the army, she would have celebrated with a whole jug of wine.

“Grandmother…” she cleared her hoarse throat. “You were caught in the rain. Please bathe in hot water and change into dry clothes, lest you catch a chill.”

The Old Madam nodded.

“You go as well. I wasn’t soaked much. But you—you look as though you’ve been fished out of water. You’re so thin now. If you fall ill, what then?”

Liuzheng wanted to say that though she looked slender, her body was strong. A little rain wouldn’t harm her.

But she swallowed the words. “Yes…”

Just as she was about to withdraw, members of the Second Branch stormed in.

The first to enter was Ruan Baizheng, Fourth Miss of the Ruan family, only three months younger than Ruan Yunzheng.

“Ruan Liuzheng!” Her forehead was bandaged, her face dark with anger. “I didn’t have time to retrieve my gold hairpins. Send someone up the mountain now to fetch them for me!”

Her tone was commanding.

Liuzheng had never liked this Fourth Miss. Even as a child she had been arrogant and rude—and she still was.

Expressionless, Liuzheng replied, “A mudslide is imminent. Going up now would be courting death.”

Ruan Baizheng sneered. “A mudslide? It’s been an hour since we came down. Where is it? If you hadn’t rushed me, I’d have packed everything properly. You must return my hairpins!”

She seemed to have forgotten that it was precisely because of those hairpins that her forehead had been injured.