Prosperous Spring

Chapter3

"Stop right there!"

The man continued to threaten from behind.

But how could he possibly stop Liang Ning?

"Zhen'er!"

At that moment, a breathless, concerned voice came from behind, faintly familiar.

"Zhen'er, where are you going?"

Liang Ning was certain she had heard this voice somewhere before, prior to the incident.

Before she could turn around, a series of light, hurried footsteps had already reached her.

The person who arrived was a woman in her thirties, well-dressed, with delicate and beautiful features. It was easy to imagine how stunning she must have been in her youth. But now, her face was haggard, and she was much too thin, not at all like the pampered wife of a wealthy family.

A thought arose unbidden in Liang Ning's mind. She felt that this woman's face should have been rounder, fuller, her expression calmer and more gentle, filled with a deep and tender strength.

Liang Ning stared at her closely, then froze in place. Suddenly, she grasped the woman's arm: "It's you!"

The woman, focused on the man and girl chasing after them, didn’t notice Liang Ning's expression.

Startled by the words, she turned her head in surprise: "It’s me, Zhen'er, what’s wrong?"

Whether it was her naturally pale complexion or Liang Ning's imagination, the woman's face seemed to grow even paler in response to their brief exchange.

But Liang Ning, overwhelmed with joy, had completely ignored the fact that the woman was calling her "Zhen'er."

"Madam! We met that night, don’t you remember me?"

Her heart surged with emotion—not only because that night was unforgettable, but because, in the midst of all the confusion in her mind, here was someone she had previously encountered, someone alive and real!

She had seen this woman the night she found the dagger.

At that time, she had chosen a house for Xu Yin near the Liang family’s residence in Qingquan Alley, separated by only a narrow lane, so she could look after him easily.

Because of the proximity, even though she spent her days helping her two widowed sisters-in-law and her eldest niece-in-law, Su Xing'er, manage the general’s household after all the recent upheavals, she could still find time at night to visit him.

But that night, just as she entered the narrow alley between the two houses, she caught the scent of blood.

Having lived in the northwest for many years, she had developed a strong instinct for danger. Following the scent, she stealthily made her way forward, only to find the alley deathly quiet, while the side lane was awash with blood. Two bodies lay motionless on the ground, blood flowing from them.

It was the sixteenth year of the new dynasty. Although the borders were unstable and the country was still rebuilding, the emperor, having overthrown the corrupt previous regime, had brought peace to the nation, and the government was stable. A nighttime murder like this was rare and shocking, a story that could stir the entire capital.

The dead were a middle-aged man and a child of about eight or nine. Near the child lay a half-eaten skewer of candied hawthorn. The man’s face was frozen in terror, one arm still wrapped around the child’s body. His hands were soft and uncalloused, clearly not those of a martial artist.

They were both dressed in fine clothes, and the man wore a jade pendant of white nephrite at his waist, while the child had a gold necklace around his neck, making it clear that this wasn’t a robbery.

The man also had a travel permit from the Zhou dynasty in his arms. Though much of it was smeared with blood, making the name illegible, having such a permit, along with the fact that they were walking the streets of the capital buying candied fruit, indicated they were not suspicious characters.

Having seen many soldiers die tragically in the northwest, Liang Ning held deep respect for life and carried a heart full of compassion. She closed the man’s eyes and placed the skewer of candied hawthorn back into the child’s hand.

It was then that she noticed a finely carved dagger lying beneath their bodies. Even in the faint post-rain moonlight, it gleamed coldly, clearly not an ordinary item.

The moment she picked it up, footsteps suddenly echoed from both ends of the alley—light and hurried!

In such a dangerous situation, of course, she couldn’t afford to be discovered.