Chapter 463: Marrying on Her Behalf

Chapter 463: Marrying on Her Behalf

After letting the two of them into the room, Jin'er was overjoyed. "Zhe Jing, Zhe Ying, how did you find your way here?"

Zhe Jing glanced at her, his eyes filled with the joy of finding something lost, but he first reported to Su Youyue.

"My lady, Third Young Master Hua directed us here. We've already searched the downstream areas of the Jiuyuan River within the Great Shen borders. That leaves only the downstream areas in Dongrong and Nanlin, so we came here."

Su Youyue nodded slightly. "Zhe Jing, do you think Xie Yuan could be in Dongrong or Nanlin now?"

Before Zhe Jing could answer, she continued, "I need you to investigate someone in Dongrong for me. I need one of you to leave right away. The sooner, the better."

Sensing her urgency, they hesitated briefly before Zhe Jing responded. "My lady, let Zhe Ying escort you back to the Great Shen. I will help you investigate."

"Good. You must go to the capital of Dongrong as quickly as possible and find out if the newly found young son of Princess Pingyang is Xie Yuan."

The two men's eyes widened, understanding the importance of the matter from Su Youyue's expression.

Jin'er was also shocked, but sensing the tense silence in the room, she remained quiet.

Zhe Jing quickly clasped his fists together. "I will depart at once! Zhe Ying, protect my lady and Miss Jin'er."

Zhe Ying, with his uncovered eye, nodded firmly at him.

In the blink of an eye, Zhe Jing had left the room.

Su Youyue looked at Zhe Ying. "How is your recovery coming along?"

"Thank you for your concern, my lady. My injuries have fully healed, and I am ready for duty." Zhe Ying replied.

Though losing one eye had indeed caused him many troubles, compared to his fallen brothers, he considered himself extremely fortunate to be back by his master's side. Moreover, his master had been showing him extra care lately.

Just as Su Youyue nodded, there was another knock at the door.

Jin'er's face lit up with joy. "Is it Zhe Jing returning with something else to say?"

Before she could reach the door, Zhe Ying stepped forward and held it closed. "More than one person," he said in a low voice.

At that moment, voices from outside coincided perfectly with his words.

"Why isn’t anyone answering? Did they already leave?

"If they've left, what are we going to do? The Great Elder Lady will beat us to death if we can't deliver!"

Su Youyue recognized the voices of the two elderly women who had accompanied Miss Shen earlier. Frowning, she signaled for Zhe Ying to hide.

Outside, Lai Po Zi and Zhu Po Zi looked distressed. The door creaked open, revealing the two elderly women and Qingluo, the young maid.

The three were covered in dirt, their clothes tattered. Qingluo's sleeve had blood stains, and she looked dazed. The other two women also had strange expressions in their eyes.

"Qingluo, what's going on?" Su Youyue asked directly, not trusting the two elderly women. "Where is your miss? What happened?"

As soon as she asked, Qingluo, who had been on the verge of collapse, burst into tears. "Our miss... our miss was attacked by assassins..."

Seeing that Qingluo could not finish her sentence, Lai Po Zi pushed her aside, hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly knelt down. "Miss, our miss has been killed!"

"What!" Jin'er exclaimed, her eyes turning red as she remembered the gentle Miss Shen from earlier that morning. "How could this happen? Miss Shen was such a kind person..."

Jin'er had picked up some Dongrong language from Su Youyue, though her grasp was shaky and full of mistakes. Still, the Dongrong people could understand about sixty or seventy percent of what she was saying. Combined with her gestures, they could get the general idea.

"Yes, Miss Shen was such a wonderful person—she wouldn’t even step on an ant by the roadside. How could she end up like this? Now that we’ve failed to bring her back safely, I don’t know how we’ll survive! We’ll all be punished for sure!" Lai Po Zi wept, as if her heart was truly breaking for Shen Nan Nan.

But soon she shifted her tone. "Miss Shen’s marriage was an imperial decree. Since we failed to bring her back, the entire Shen family might be implicated. Previously, Master Shen was slandered in front of the Emperor and fell into a coma for three days and nights due to anxiety. If he is punished again, it might severely damage his health. If Miss Shen were still alive, she would never wish to see such a tragedy..."

Jin'er’s tears kept falling. Ah, how pitiful Miss Shen was, and how unfortunate the Shen family is. But what use was it telling all this to Miss Youyue? There was nothing she could do to help now.

Even if Miss Youyue knew medical skills, she couldn’t bring the dead back to life.

The other servant, Zhu Po Zi, couldn’t wait any longer. "Miss, our young miss saved your life. She is your benefactor. Can you, out of gratitude, help save the Shen family..."

As she spoke, she secretly observed Su Youyue’s expression. Seeing that Su Youyue’s eyes were as calm as the depths of a pond, Zhu Po Zi became more nervous. This girl seemed so unreadable, despite her youth.

At that moment, she wasn’t sure if Lai Po Zi’s suggestion was a good idea or not.

"So, what exactly are you asking me to do?"

Just as both women were becoming tense from waiting, Su Youyue finally spoke.

Lai Po Zi let out a huge sigh of relief and quickly replied, "If you could temporarily take the place of our young miss and return to the Holy City with us..."

"How could that be possible? Our Miss can’t marry on behalf of Miss Shen," Jin'er exclaimed, utterly shocked. She hadn’t expected these women to come up with such a plan.

Even a fake marriage wouldn’t be acceptable. If the young master found out, he would surely have them all beheaded!

Hearing the rejection, Lai Po Zi’s eyes flashed with displeasure, but she didn’t dare show it. Instead, she pleaded softly with Su Youyue, "Miss, please, help save the Shen family. If we fail, the entire family will be ruined. If the Emperor grows angry and orders the execution of Master and Mistress Shen, or any of the young masters and misses, Miss Shen’s spirit will never rest."

"And don’t worry, once you arrive at the Shen family and go through with the marriage, we’ll arrange for your fake death and help you escape without anyone knowing. No one will suspect a thing. Miss, you can repay the kindness of our young miss and leave safely."

The more Jin'er listened, the more she felt like shaking her head in disbelief. This was madness.

These women had no idea about Miss Youyue’s true identity. Miss’s husband was none other than Lord Xie, who had made even the toughest Dongrong warriors tremble in fear. If he found out that these Dongrong people were tricking Miss into marrying, even the mention of the word 'marriage' would likely provoke him to march straight to their hometown and annihilate them. The entire Shen family wouldn’t be enough for Lord Xie to deal with in one strike.

Jin'er had no doubt that if Lord Xie were to hear about this—even from beyond the grave—he’d rise to exact his revenge.

Jin'er’s mind raced. She knew Lord Xie’s wrath would be unimaginable if he ever found out about this scheme. Even in death, he wouldn’t let it go.