The Double

Jiang Li and Jih Heng arrived back at the edge of the forest, Ye Mingyu and his subordinates had already come looking for them. Two of his men were seriously injured, the rest had various light injuries. Ye Mingyu himself had a gash on his arm, dripping blood steadily, but he seemed completely indifferent, casually tearing off a piece of cloth from his clothing to bind the wound.

They had searched everywhere for Jiang Li without success, and just when Ye Mingyu had also begun to despair, at one end of Green Stone Lane, Jiang Li appeared on horseback, and beside her was a handsome young man in red. Ye Mingyu recognized the man; he had appeared before the gate of Ye Residence in Xiangyang, Jiang Li had mentioned before that this man was Duke Su.

Although Ye Mingyu didn’t understand how Duke Su had also come to Tongxiang, seeing Jiang Li still filled him with unexpected joy. He hurriedly led his men to greet her, calling out, "Jiang Li!"

"Uncle!" Jiang Li was also surprised to see Ye Mingyu, and she immediately reined in her horse to dismount. Uncle and niece reunited, each feeling lucky to have escaped disaster. Jiang Li looked behind Ye Mingyu and asked, "Uncle, are you all right? What about the assassins?"

"They were just a disorganized mob, the three most skilled went after you. Once we dealt with those following us, we lost sight of you. We didn’t know the roads of Tongxiang, and we split up to look for you, but we couldn’t find you. It worried me to death. I’m glad you’re safe." He scrutinized Jiang Li from head to toe, and only when he saw she didn’t have a scratch on her did he relax.

Jiang Li, however, saw the coarse cloth tied around Ye Mingyu’s arm, still seeping blood, and exclaimed in shock, "Uncle, you’re injured!"

"It’s nothing," Ye Mingyu waved his hand dismissively, "They’re just minor wounds, not worth mentioning. Jiang Li, I’ll tell you, it was lucky I was here, if you had only brought your own guards, it wouldn’t have been sufficient. But even so, those three skilled ones... I also struggled to deal with them. By the way, what happened to those three? I saw them chasing after you, and I was so anxious I could die, but I got entangled with the others and couldn’t free myself in time. How did you escape from them?"

Jiang Li thought about it; telling Ye Mingyu how she had trapped the assassins in the forest’s marshland seemed too horrifying. Although she had shown many suspicious aspects, her uncle had always wholeheartedly believed in her. It was better to keep things simple in his mind; she didn’t want Ye Mingyu to look at her as if she were a monster.