Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 253 : Restitution (3)

Chapter 253: Chapter 253 : Restitution (3)

"For the seventh time, Zhang Zhiyuan, I am not going home!" Lady Song’s high-pitched voice cut through the serene atmosphere in Fuxi Palace that morning. "How can you expect me to leave my grandchild alone???"

Zhang Zhiyuan pulled at his wife’s sleeve in a beseeching manner.

"Dear, it is too early to check for pregnancy, anyway. Why don’t you go back home first, hm?"

Lady Song snapped for air dramatically.

"And what will you do if something happens to my grandchild??? Zhang Zhiyuan, you need to set your priorities right!!!"

Some distance away, Xie Jianyu was sitting on a sitting pillow and eating his breakfast by the window. This morning, he got to watch his in-laws chasing each other in the garden.

"Oh, the foolish old couple," Zhang Fengxi muttered under his breath when he entered the chamber and looked outside of the window. He wanted to close the curtains, but Xie Jianyu stopped him.

"Don’t," he said. "Fuxi Palace is rarely this lively."

Zhang Fengxi pressed both hands against the table that separated him and his wife and leaned forward to give Xie Jianyu a morning kiss.

"I think that they are embarrassing," Zhang Fengxi muttered. "Their son is this big already, but they are still acting like children."

"I think that they are adorable," Xie Jianyu disagreed. A soft smile laced his lips when he watched Lady Song smacking his husband’s face with her peacock fan. "Most couples that hail from noble houses are overly strict and rigid with each other. It is important to maintain a loving atmosphere with each other especially after many years have passed."

Zhang Fengxi went around the dining table to sit next to his wife.

He put an arm around Xie Jianyu and kissed a select spot on his neck.

"Do you want us to be like that when we are older?"

Xie Jianyu laughed.

"Yes. I will buy a peacock fan later and start hitting you with it."

Zhang Fengxi snickered.

"Do you even need a peacock fan? I thought that you loved slapping me with bare hands."

"Oh, you."

With a gentle smile on his lips, Xie Jianyu cupped Zhang Fengxi’s face with both hands and locked their lips together in a passionate kiss.

The delicious spread on the dining table became silent witnesses as the newlywed couple chose intimate exchanges over food.

The two men only broke apart when they heard the clattering sound of plates crashing against the floor outside of the chamber.

"What happened?"

Both of them rose to their feet and went outside.

It was Qingyun, who dropped a big ceramic bowl of soup on the floor. Her eyes were red and swollen, apparently the result of crying for hours.

"Qingyun, what’s wrong?" Xie Jianyu furrowed his brows at his maid.

"I... Master, I am so sorry. I... I was clumsy."

She knelt on the floor to pick up the broken shards, but Xie Jianyu grabbed her wrist and pulled her up.

"Forget the bowl. Why are you crying?"

Qingyun started to sob. With her crumpled face, she still tried to lie.

"Master, I am not crying. I am just... Wahhhhhhh...!!!"

Both Xie Jianyu and Zhang Fengxi were puzzled by Qingyun’s unexpected breakdown.

"Where is Mingyu?" Xie Jianyu asked.

Mingyu and Qingyun were the best of friends. Only Mingyu could cheer Qingyun up when she was down.

When she heard Xie Jianyu’s question, Qingyun sobbed even harder.

An unsettling feeling built within Xie Jianyu’s heart. He grabbed Qingyun’s shoulders and asked, "Qingyun, I am asking you where Mingyu is. This is an order. Answer me."

Blubbering and sobbing loudly, Qingyun led them to the maids’ sleeping quarters.

Qingyun and Mingyu shared a bedroom together, a cozy little place where they spent every bit of their free time together.

"M-Masters, please enter."

Qingyun slid the door open and the two men walked in.

It was already breakfast time, but one of the mattresses had not been rolled up yet. Mingyu was lying on it, her neck, arms, and legs were wrapped in bandages. There were some scratch marks on her face.

She was as pale as a ghost.

"Mingyu!"

Xie Jianyu rushed to Mingyu’s side and checked her vitals.

She was still alive, but she was very weak.

"What happened? How did Mingyu get injured?" Zhang Fengxi asked. The last time he saw the maid, she was walking around Fuxi Palace with a basket dangling from her arm.

"M-Master is in a delicate condition. I do not want to worry Master too much," Qingyun sobbed. "Mingyu has already been treated by the best medic in S-Shuiran Palace. She will be fine. Master, don’t worry..."

"Shuiran Palace? Did this happen in Shuiran Palace?"

Xie Jianyu rose to his feet. Frightened to death, Qingyun hung from his legs and begged, "Master, please! Please do not overexert yourself! Mingyu is not in a critical condition anymore! Please!"

Xie Jianyu glared at her.

"You and Mingyu are my maids. I am responsible for both of you. If you are not going to tell me what happened, then I will find out from my elder brother personally."

"Mingyu accidentally wandered into the lions’ enclosure!" Qingyun cried out sorrowfully.

Xie Jianyu and Zhang Fengxi stared at the sobbing maid at Xie Jianyu’s feet in disbelief.

"How come...?"

"I don’t know!" Qingyun shook her head desperately. "No one knows! It was Prince Jiang Muchen who heard her screaming. He saved her, treated her, and brought her back early this morning!"

Xie Jianyu felt sick to the stomach.

It was not Mingyu’s first time coming to Shuiran Palace for a visit. She was never the type to wander off on her own.

Something must have happened to her in Shuiran Palace, prompting her to land in the lions’ enclosure.

But what?

Who did this to Mingyu?

And why?

Xie Jianyu gritted his teeth.

"Qingyun."

"Yes, Master!"

Xie Jianyu peered at the crying maid.

"I do not need your service today. Stay here and take care of Mingyu."

Qingyun’s lips fell open in bewilderment.

"But Master..."

Xie Jianyu flicked his sleeves and announced, "I am leaving for Shuiran Palace."