37 The Wei's

The house Zho LanLin led them to was a small and shabby white stone house, with an open fireplace in the front yard for cooking meals. The dining area comprised a small room with four chairs and a barely standing wooden table. Wedging between the table and the wall, they reached a room that held only a single bed. Sunlight peeked through many tiny cracks that littered the dark tiled roof. The Wei's probably used this room as the master bedroom. The house was otherwise clean, not much dust had gathered over any of the surfaces.

The backyard was ten steps far and twice as wide. Straws were piled at one corner so high, it nearly reached MingYu's chin. A shelter was propped up against the wall with three wooden poles and an abandoned sign of a shop with faded out letters. Under this self-made rain shelter was another bed, made of straw and torn blankets.

MingYu looked over at the miserable sight. The shelter must have been where the Wei sisters slept. How did they survive over the winter? Or the rainy seasons? His fist clenched as he thought what the Wei's had been going through, and how much the Hsu marriage meant for them. Still, Wei YueQin had been adamant that her sister would not become the fourth wife for the Hsu's. She would rather live here, out in the open like a beggar. MingYu couldn't wrap his head around any of it.

ZhiYi carried the basket AhXin was currently dozing away in. He didn't say a word, which further agitated MingYu.

"I thought Wei LiXue married to the richest family in TingZhu. How come the rest of her family still live here?" MingYu asked quietly as he ran his eyes over the cracks along the walls. Mould and moss were peeking through the ragged crevices, creating dark green and black patches across the white surface.

"This must be the bad bargain Zho LanLin was talking about," ZhiYi said.

MingYu nodded quietly as he walked over to the outdoor bed. The bed was so narrow that he doubted the girls could fit in, even when sleeping back to back. Unless the girls were so malnourished that they were merely skin and bone, MingYu grimaced at the thought. Rummaging around the bed, there was nothing to indicate anybody lived there, anymore. No personal belongings, not even a handkerchief or a plain hairpin was left behind.

The house was abandoned.

"Where do you think they have gone?" MingYu asked as he turned back to ZhiYi. After the slander the Wei's had received from the Hsu's, they surely would stray faraway from TingZhu.

MingYu pondered for a moment and seeing ZhiYi stumped from having any answers, he continued, "Maybe they followed Wei LiXue? Maybe she returned home after the incident?"

ZhiYi's eyes were gliding over the backyard. His brows were tight and his eyes slightly squinted, like a snow-white tiger stalking its prey in the tall grasses.

The picturesque man mesmerized MingYu, and he only snapped out of it when ZhiYi said, "You have a point. But somehow, I don't think she ever returned home."

"Why not?" MingYu���s brows shot up in surprise. Why wouldn't LiXue return home? These were her only family.

"I doubt she ever ran away with anyone in the first place," ZhiYi said slowly as he turned his darkened eyes to MingYu. "The Wei's were very proud people. Even when poor and looked down upon, I doubt Wei LiXue would dirty their name by running away. She would rather bite her teeth and endure a miserable marriage, then disgrace their ancestry."

Pride, that was probably the reason Wei YueQin had refused her sister's marriage to the Hsu's. They came from one of the nine powerful families of the Wu dynasty. Becoming a fourth wife to anyone must have been a terrible piece to swallow.

And yet, according to what Zho LanLin had told them on their way here, Wei YueQin had tried to take her sister and run away from Tiang'an, but they were caught and the old Wei's had forced Wei LiXue to marry. In the end, the money went before the pride. MingYu shook his head at the thought. If the old Wei's could force their daughter to marry for monetary gains, what stopped LiXue from running away?

"There is nothing here to show how they escaped Wu TianLan's clutches, or where they are heading. How can we find them now?" MingYu rubbed his head with his palm in frustration. There were too many unanswered questions. It was driving him crazy.

"I don't know, MingYu," ZhiYi said quietly. He now stood next to MingYu but kept his eyes on the shelter in front of them. A wind rustled the leaves at their feet. "The Wei's should have been dead years ago. Yet, here they are, alive and well."

"But someone must have known. One person cannot orchestrate this without a single soul knowing about it." MingYu offered.

Even if one was an emperor with unmeasurable power and influence, it was impossible to execute four unknown people in the Wei's place and take the entire family out of the imperial city without at least one person witnessing it. But who were these people in charge of this ploy, and where could MingYu find them?

ZhiYi stiffened. His lips thinned into a tight line and his eyes narrowed. "Well, if you put it that way, I might know a person who most likely knew of what had happened."

MingYu's eyes brightened as he beamed at ZhiYi. "Who? where can we find this person?"

"Lang YangZhou." ZhiYi spat the name as if it were worse than poison.

MingYu's body went icy as he heard the name. An uncomfortable feeling enveloped his neck, and he unconsciously raised his hand to brush over the back of his neck. That name, it felt familiar, like it was something important MingYu was supposed to remember. Something that should be carved into his mind for the rest of eternity.

"Why do I feel like I should know who that is?"

ZhiYi looked at MingYu with severity in his eyes. "He was one of the officials under Wu TianLan's reign. The one in charge of carrying out the executions. The judge that executed Wu TianLan."

MingYu flinched as he recalled a sharp sting and the cold edge of the sword cutting through his skin and bone with one swift movement. MingYu decided it was better to not see the man behind his previous demise.

The two stood in silence when a powerful wind blew over them and ZhiYi finally spoke, "We should go, there is nothing left here for us to see."

When they turned to leave, the straws piled high in the corner was lifted by the wind, and parts of two upright wooden planks came to view. Both men froze at the sight. The partly covered planks could only mean one thing. They were a poor man's self-made tombstones.

MingYu hurried over to remove the straws. Layer by layer, the wooden planks came into full view. MingYu took a faltering step back and right into ZhiYi's arms. The demon kept him steady as they gazed at the scene.

Two names were carved on the planks, one was dedicated for Wei Zhang and the other for Wei BiYu. The master and madam Wei laid here, in the tiny backyard of a shabby home, covered in straw, hidden from the world.

"How- Who?" MingYu cried out.

Zho LanLin said the Wei's hadn't been seen for a week now. Had they been lying dead here in their own backyard this entire time? If the old Wei's were here, then where were the girls? How did the old Wei's pass away?

An urgency took hold of ZhiYi and he said, "We must find the Wei sisters as soon as possible."

MingYu gave him a shaky nod and taking a deep breath, he made up his mind. There was nowhere else left to look for clues of the Wei sisters. They had to go to TingZhu, the last place anyone seemed to have seen Wei LiXue.

MingYu took hold of ZhiYi's hand and pulled him out of the backyard. "We must pay the Hsu's a visit. They are the last who saw Wei LiXue. Maybe they will tell us who she ran away with."

ZhiYi only gave him a stiff nod, but said nothing more. The silence was ominous, and MingYu felt a pang of heavy guilt weigh over his shoulders. He hoped the two sisters were safe and sound, wherever they were.