The drizzle of rain seemed to be black as well.
The sky and water met. In the gloomy sky, the flames of the fishing boats were bright and dim, as if they were ghosts from the other side. The last strum of the zither faded away, and the night became exceptionally quiet.
At this moment, a woman's scream pierced through the long night.
"Murder, murder — —"
In a few small boats that were gathered far away from the pleasure boat, the guards were sitting together, waiting for Fan Cheng's signal. Suddenly, they heard the mournful screams and were all startled.
"What's going on? It's already been so long. Why is she still causing trouble? "the leader of the guards asked.
"Young Master didn't send a personal message. Let's wait a little longer," someone said.
After being Fan Cheng's guard for so many years, the most important thing was to guess his master's thoughts. They were accustomed to this kind of thing. Fan Cheng had been the young master of the Fan Family for so many years. Other than the women who threw themselves at him, he had also ruined many good families. Tonight's situation had already happened more than once. Those poor women would be kidnapped to the boat or the outer residence, allowing Fan Cheng to humiliate them. After the matter was done, he would give them some money to send them off. Those women were poor and had nowhere to cry out their grievances, so they could only let it go.
He Yan would also become one of them.
Originally, Lady He was deeply in love with Fan Cheng, so there was no need for her to go through so much trouble. Who knew that after the commotion at the Fan Family's door, she would really become angry and want to break off all ties with Fan Cheng. Fan Cheng's thoughts were aroused. If the soft approach didn't work, then he would use the hard approach.
What these guards needed to do was to bring He Yan to Fan Cheng and deal with the aftermath.
"I feel that something's wrong." The leader of the guards stood up and stood at the bow of the boat to survey the situation. He saw that Fan Cheng's pleasure boat was violently swaying in the river. From the extent of the swaying, it seemed like someone was fighting inside.
"No, there's a problem!" he shouted, "Everyone get up! There's something wrong with the ship! "
The rest of the people were shocked and quickly rowed their small boats towards the boat. When they were still some distance away, they suddenly saw a woman running out of the boat. The woman was stumbling and her movements were panicked. It was He Yan. She seemed to be hiding from someone. She screamed and fell into the river.
She was quickly submerged by the torrential river, almost without making any sound. Like Shi Tou, she only stirred up a cluster of ripples on the surface of the water, and then there was no more movement.
"Young Master!" The guard couldn't help but call out.
No one cared about He Yan's life or death. When the small boat was about to reach the boat, the leading Imperial Bodyguard used his lightness skill to sweep over the bow of the boat and climb onto the boat. He took a few steps into the boat and saw that there was someone on the boat with his back facing him. It was a man. His face was covered with a handkerchief and only his eyes were exposed. Under the dim lights, his face was blurry. And at his feet, Fan Cheng was lying on his back in a pool of blood.
The masked man held a dagger in his hand.
The Imperial Bodyguard was extremely shocked. He didn't expect that there would be another person on the boat. Looking at Fan Cheng, he was afraid that the odds were against him. For a moment, he was shocked and angry. Without thinking, he threw himself at the masked man. "You dare!"
The masked man sneered and began to fight with the Imperial Bodyguard.
The sounds of fighting could be heard from the boat. The boat shook more and more violently. The rest of the Imperial Bodyguards also caught up to the boat. The masked man saw that there were many people on the other side and didn't continue to fight. He slashed the Imperial Bodyguard's sword and jumped into the river without thinking.
"Catch him!" The Imperial Bodyguard leader shouted. "He killed Young Master!"
Everyone followed, but they found that the masked man was very cunning. The Imperial Bodyguards all boarded the boat. They thought that he had jumped into the river, but he actually boarded the small boat that they came from.
This was the center of the river. Although there were people who knew how to swim, the night was too dark and it was difficult to avoid encountering danger. But the small boat was light and thin, so it moved very quickly with the current. The boat was slightly heavier, so even if several people paddled together, they were still half a step behind the masked man.
One in front and one behind, in the drizzle, no one saw the fight in the middle of the river.
When they were about to reach the shore, the masked man threw away the wooden paddle in his hand. With a tap of his foot, he jumped onto the shore and disappeared. The Imperial Bodyguard leader said, "Leave two people to go find the city guards. The rest of you, follow me!"
Although it was night, it wasn't very late. Spring was coming, and there were still peddlers doing business on both sides of the river. They saw a masked man suddenly rush over from the dock. He came in a hurry and knocked over countless peddlers. Following behind him was a group of Imperial Bodyguards. Their murderous aura was very frightening.
"What's going on? Why are you in such a hurry? "The peddler who had his stall knocked over didn't dare to say anything. He bent down to pick up the scattered fruits on the ground.
"It seems like there's been a murder. Look at the people chasing after him. They aren't ordinary people."
"The heavens have pity on us. Why has it been so chaotic recently?"
The water by the river had a fishy smell. Suddenly, a hand reached out from the water. First, it grabbed the Shi Tou on the shore. Then, the whole person was pulled out of the water, bringing with him a fishy smell.
He Yunsheng's whole body was trembling. He didn't dare to move too early in case he was discovered. He dived under the water for a long time before he quietly swam downstream. At this moment, his face was pale and his lips were purple. He didn't know if it was because the river water was too cold for too long or because he was simply afraid.
He was still tightly holding a basket in his hand. Inside the basket were the clothes that He Yan gave him in the tailor shop. It was the basket used to store snacks on the boat. He Yan put the clothes in the basket and covered him. The clothes were clean and not soaked by the water. He took off the woman's clothes, rolled them into a ball and threw them into the basket. Then, he tied a few pieces of Shi Tou to the basket and threw the basket into the river.
The river instantly swallowed up the basket.
He changed into the new spring clothes. The clothes were very well-made and the style was very beautiful. There was also a cloak of the same color, which was just enough to hide his wet hair. As he put on the clothes, his throat choked up.
However, there was no extra time for him to be afraid here. He Yan's words were still in his ears.
"You have to change into clean clothes and sneak home. You have to be fast."
He had to be fast.
He staggered and took a small path, walking quickly in the direction of home.
There seemed to be city guards in the city looking for people everywhere. He Yunsheng walked and walked and heard people talking on the street.
"I heard that someone on the boat died a horrible death."
"Who?"
"I don't know. It's the young master of a big family. Didn't you see the city guards looking for people everywhere? "
"There are so many people. The murderer must have wings and can't escape. Maybe they have already caught him. Aiya, the rain won't stop. My clothes are all wet. "
The discussion gradually faded away until it couldn't be heard anymore.
Faster, a little faster.
A young man in a green robe walked by the street. His spring clothes were still thin. Probably because he felt cold on such a rainy day, he tightened his clothes and walked quickly home.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. The pedestrians on the street who didn't have umbrellas hurriedly took shelter from the rain. The hawkers hid under the eaves and shouted loudly. The pedestrians passing by took a look. There seemed to be no difference between tonight and last night.
"Sister …" Someone whispered to himself. Like the spring night wind, it fell into the drizzle and disappeared without a trace.
The young man buried his head and walked forward. He didn't look back. Tears fell down.