Chapter 217: Fully Armed (4)

Wrapping his arms around her slender shoulders and pulling her gently into his embrace, Su Ling nodded and replied, "Mm. There will definitely be a way."

The half-month of closed-door training had been very effective, and Gu Yun felt very confident about today's test. Early in the morning, just as she stepped out of Yitian Courtyard, Su Ling was already standing before her courtyard. Without waiting for her to speak, he grabbed her wrist and, as he walked outward, said, "Come with me."

Gu Yun asked urgently, "I need to go—"

Before she could finish, Su Ling said with a hint of excitement, "I have something to show you!"

Gu Yun raised an eyebrow slightly. What could it be that made even the Great General so restless? After thinking it over, Gu Yun stopped struggling and let him lead her toward the study. Upon entering the study, Su Ling released her hand and walked behind the desk, rummaging for something.

On the desk sat a gift box, about a foot tall and exquisitely wrapped. Gu Yun smiled and asked, "Is it this? Shall I open it?"

Su Ling looked up, glanced at it, and replied casually without much concern, "Mm."

Gu Yun carefully opened the box. Inside sat a pair of standing white jade dolls, one boy and one girl, carved with lifelike detail. Gu Yun praised in a low voice, "How cute!" Seeing that it was a pair of dolls, she had already guessed who they were for. "This must be the congratulatory gift you chose for Lou Xiwu. I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful."

Su Ling stood up, holding another smaller wooden box in his hand, and replied coolly, "I had Su Ren handle it."

Gu Yun was stunned, then started to laugh; he really didn't take credit for himself. She reached out and gently stroked the faces of the jade dolls; they were cool and comfortable to the touch. Seeing her so fond of the gift, Su Ling frowned and asked, "Is this gift very good?"

Withdrawing her hand, Gu Yun smiled and said, "The meaning is good. I hope Lou Xiwu can give birth to a pair of dragon-phoenix twins this time." Although she wasn't particularly fond of children, she was still happy to hold and play with them occasionally.

Dragon-phoenix twins? Recalling the conversation she had with Qing Ling that day, Su Ling finally had a moment of realization. "So this is what they call 'marrying for the sake of the child'!" This "marrying for the sake of the child" was even more enviable than "marrying by imperial decree." Glancing at Gu Yun, who was bowing her head to re-wrap the gift, a strange smile flashed in the depths of Su Ling's eyes. Unfortunately, Gu Yun, whose attention was entirely on the gift box, did not see it. "There will surely be many people delivering gifts tomorrow. Let's have someone send this over first later." Although the gift was very nice, it wouldn't be good if others saw it and started making wild guesses.

"Mm."

After re-wrapping the gift, Gu Yun looked at the sun that had already broken through the clouds and said urgently, "I still have to go to the drill ground. I'm leaving first."

This time, Su Ling didn't pull her back. He opened the wooden box in his hand and smiled, "In such a rush? I wanted to let you see the newly rushed-out short crossbow."

Gu Yun's footsteps faltered, and she asked urgently, "It's finished? Let me see."

He handed the short crossbow in his hand to her. Gu Yun's eyes lit up. "Have you tested it yet?"

"Not yet, the craftsman just sent it over." He had guessed that her love for weapons surpassed everything else.

Gu Yun smiled excitedly, "Let's go outside and test it." The size and style of this short crossbow were exactly as she had imagined; she just didn't know about the range and the speed of the repeating fire.

"Alright."

The two had just stepped out of the study when they saw Su Ren hurrying toward them. Su Ren's anxious gaze paused slightly when it swept over Gu Yun. He walked up to Su Ling, pulled him aside, and whispered only a few words in his ear. Su Ling's expression changed instantly.

Su Ling turned back to Gu Yun and said in a low voice, "There is still business at the Ministry of War. You go to the army camp first."

Gu Yun grabbed Su Ling's arm and asked, "What happened?"

Su Ling's deep voice replied calmly, "Nothing!"

"Does it have to do with me?" Gu Yun's sharp eyes stared fixedly at Su Ling's face, not missing any subtle expression.

Su Ling's black eyes narrowed involuntarily, and his brow furrowed the next moment. It seemed it really did have to do with her. Without waiting for Su Ling to say anything more to brush her off, Gu Yun said seriously, "Tell me what happened, otherwise I will go and investigate it myself after you leave."

The two stared each other down, neither willing to compromise. Su Ren sighed in a low voice, "Big Brother, tell her."

Facing Gu Yun's stubborn yet incredibly firm gaze, Su Ling was also frustrated. She was absolutely serious; if he stepped out of the General's Mansion, she would follow right behind him! Finally, Su Ling told the truth: "Ao Ji is dead. The people from Juling Island hold a grudge against me, and at the same time, they are even more eager to control Ao Tian, so they have been targeting you."

"And then?" There must be something worse that happened, otherwise he wouldn't be like this.

"You have been staying in the General's Mansion recently, so they had no opportunity to strike. Now they have captured the Vice Minister of Revenue, threatening that if you are not handed over to them, they will kill him."

To threaten her, the best candidate should be Qing. Gu Yun asked urgently, "Is Qing Ling alright?"

"She has Lou Xiyan guarding her and Mo Bai protecting her; she will be fine." The men in black probably couldn't get close to Qing Mo and couldn't capture Qing Ling, which is why they captured Gao Hongjian to force the General's Mansion to hand someone over!

Gu Yun breathed a secret sigh of relief. The Vice Minister of Revenue was only a third-rank official; Gu Yun faintly sensed that something was wrong. Su Ling was silent, not knowing what he was thinking. Gu Yun looked at Su Ren and asked, "Who is the Vice Minister of Revenue?"

She was indeed sharp. Su Ren sighed low, "Gao Hongjian, the Empress's own uncle."

So he was imperial kin; no wonder they captured him. "I'm going with you."

"No." Su Ling refused coldly, "You are safer staying in the General's Mansion." This matter involved the imperial family; her current situation was even more dangerous.

"I don't think so." Gu Yun looked quite relaxed and said pointedly, "Don't forget, that is the Empress's own uncle! Don't you think it's safest to keep me by your side?"

Su Ling's expression instantly became even uglier. She was right; if he wasn't there, and the Empress issued an imperial decree to take her away, no one would dare to stop it. She was merely a woman from a foreign land; if the General's Mansion didn't release her, that would be defying an imperial decree! Seeing that he was already wavering, Gu Yun quickly pressed her advantage and said softly, "Let's go over and see the situation first. Stabilize them; perhaps there is a way to save him."

Deep black eyes stared into Gu Yun's clear eyes. Su Ling said coldly, "You must guarantee that you will absolutely not act rashly."

Gu Yun nodded and smiled, "I guarantee I absolutely will not."

Holding her hand, Su Ling sighed with apparent helplessness, "Let's go."

Watching the two walk away quickly, Su Ren shook his head. Big Brother seemed unable to ever harden his heart in front of her; it really was a case of one thing subduing another.

The three of them, with two hundred elite soldiers, rushed to the villa where Gao Hongjian was located. Three miles away from the villa, Cheng Hang had been waiting for a long time. Seeing them, he immediately went up to meet them and said, "General Su, Lord Dan is already waiting for you in the tent."

Looking into the distance, the villa gate was tightly shut, looking very calm. If it weren't for the yamen runners surrounding it a mile away, one wouldn't be able to tell there was anything unusual about the residence. Cheng Hang led them into the temporarily erected tent. The three entered, and Dan Yulan was already waiting there. "General Su, Commander Su." Seeing Gu Yun following behind Su Ling, a flash of surprise crossed Dan Yulan's eyes, but it was quickly hidden.

Su Ling just nodded in response and asked, "What's going on?"

Dan Yulan glanced at Gu Yun again. Gu Yun nodded generously at him, and Dan Yulan no longer hid it, saying bluntly, "Lord Gao brought his wife and children to the villa for a short stay. Just as dawn broke today, more than twenty men in black rushed into the villa, killed all the servants, and released only one steward to report the news. The men in black demanded to exchange Qing for the lives of Lord Gao's family."

Gu Yun asked, "Where is the steward?"

"Bring the person here."

"Yes."

Cheng Hang lifted the tent flap and went out, just in time to see a pair of beautiful people approaching together. Both were figures of extreme elegance, but Cheng Hang frowned deeply. He turned back to Dan Yulan and said, "My Lord, the Prime Minister and his wife have also come." Although the kidnapping of a third-rank court official was not a small matter, there was no need to alarm the Prime Minister, right? When it came down to it, they were all targeting Qing Mo. This case was going to be tricky; the Lord was going to have a massive headache, and he couldn't afford to offend anyone.

Dan Yulan stood up to welcome them, his smile somewhat stiff. "Prime Minister."

Lou Xiyan was as composed as ever, bowing slightly to Dan Yulan and Su Ling. "Lord Dan, General Su." Su Ling only gave a cold nod in response; Lou Xiyan's arrival was not within his expectations either.

Zhuo Qing entered the tent and immediately saw Gu Yun beside Su Ling. Without exchanging pleasantries with others, Zhuo Qing walked over, pulled her aside, and warned her sternly, "I knew you would definitely come. This time, under no circumstances are you allowed to act rashly!"

Su Ling said so, and Qing said so too. Gu Yun asked gloomily, "Am I such an impulsive person in your eyes?"

Zhuo Qing rolled her eyes at her and snorted coldly, "You're not impulsive, you're bursting with a sense of justice!" Seeing how she handled the Ao Tian affair, one knew what a crazy person she was who would risk everything. This kidnapping incident was sparked by her; it was hard to say she wouldn't go crazy and put herself in danger again.

It seemed she had scared both Su Ling and Qing last time. Gu Yun shrugged slightly and smiled, "Don't worry, I know how to handle it."

Zhuo Qing's heart not only didn't settle, but became even more uneasy. She believed that Yun could indeed handle it, but how she would handle it was up for debate. Zhuo Qing cursed Su Ling in her heart; she really didn't know what he was thinking, why he would let Yun come here!

"My Lord, the person is brought." The tent flap opened again. Behind Cheng Hang followed a slightly plump middle-aged man. The people in the tent were naturally all imposing figures. The steward immediately knelt down with a thud and bowed, "This humble one greets all the Lords."

Su Ling asked coldly, "How many people did the men in black capture in total?"

This deep voice contained an overwhelming dominance. The steward didn't dare to look up, trembled, and hurriedly replied, "The Master, the Mistress, the two secondary mistresses, as well as the young master and young miss. Everyone else was killed."

They actually captured Gao Hongjian's entire family. Gu Yun's expression darkened even further. Su Ling continued to ask, "How many men in black are there in total?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 218 =====