Xiao Mujin quickly turned on the recording function of the recorder: “Uncle, I’m ready to record, go ahead.”
As for what his uncle said, it was to ask Tang Xu whether he had heard the news about Si Si. The little guy felt that there was no need to tell the other party now.
Tang Xu cleared her hoarse throat: [Qi Mohan, I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect Si Si. She fell off the cliff 2 hours ago… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m incompetent…]
At this point, Tang Xu couldn’t say anything more and cried helplessly into the microphone of the mobile phone.
At this time, Father Tang, who had been accompanying him, stepped forward, patted his shoulder to comfort him, took his mobile phone, and hung up.
Even though the two kids were ignorant, they still understood some things from Tang Xu’s words.
“Uncle said that my sister fell off a cliff, right?” Xiao Qing’s eyes were filled with tears as she looked up at Xiao Mujin.
Xiao Mujin couldn’t control her tears at this moment and even cried out loudly: “That’s right, uncle said so. Sister fell off the cliff… wuwuwu…”
The brother and sister were sure of this and cried bitterly.
“Qing’er wants her sister to come back… wuwuwu… Qing’er doesn’t want her sister to die… wuwuwu…”
“Mujin also wants sister… wuwuwu…”
The two little ones sat on Si Si’s big bed and cried non-stop. After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Mujin got tired of crying, and then he remembered to tell his uncle what Tang Xu had just said.
The two wiped their tears and returned to their rooms in Prince Rong’s mansion together.
Imperial Concubine Yun sat on a chair. The food on the table had been heated up countless times by the maids, but she had no appetite at all.
Worrying about Si Si was one thing, but Qi Mohan had led people to Suolan Lake in the rain last night, and he hadn’t come back yet, so she was also very worried.
The two little ones appeared in the room, and after seeing their grandmother, they cried again out of grievance.
They ran over crying and hugged Concubine Yun. Xiao Qing’er choked up and said, “Grandma, that uncle said, said…sister…sister…”
When Imperial Concubine Yun saw Xiao Qing crying out of breath and unable to utter a complete sentence, her heart was already filled with turmoil.
“Qing’er, don’t worry. How is Miss Si Si?”
Xiao Mujin was more like a man this time. He didn’t cry like his sister. He held up the recorder and handed it to Imperial Concubine Yun: “Grandma, uncle said that my sister fell off a cliff…”
“What did you say? Si Si fell off a cliff?” Imperial Concubine Yun’s eyes were full of disbelief.
She took the recorder from Xiao Mujin’s hand trembling and pressed the play button.
Tang Xu’s hoarse voice came from inside: [Qi Mohan, I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect Si Si…]
After listening to the entire recording, Imperial Concubine Yun felt her mind go blank.
Her tears fell from the corners of her eyes like pearls from a broken string.
“I don’t believe it. Why would such a good girl encounter such a situation?”
As she spoke, she held Xiao Mujin’s arm tightly: “Mujin, you should go to Si Si’s place and wait with Qing’er. She will come back safely.”
Xiao Mujin and Xiao Qing didn’t know that their grandmother was too sad and unwilling to accept the fact.
The two of them felt like they had seen hope again. Their sister would return safely, just as their grandmother had said.
Before Imperial Concubine Yun could say anything else, the two little figures quickly disappeared in front of her.
Imperial Concubine Yun picked up the Buddhist beads and kept turning them in her hands, chanting Buddhist scriptures and praying that Si Si would be safe.
*
In the Solan Lake!
The heavy rain fell mercilessly on Qi Mohan. The tattered bamboo hat on his head had long lost its function of shielding him from the rain. It was completely soaked and weighed heavily on his head.
The rain flowed down the brim of his hat and around his neck, soaking his thin clothes. The wet cloth clung to his skin, bringing waves of biting chills.
Since arriving at Suolan Lake, more than a dozen tribesmen who were good at swimming have jumped into the pool to look for the whereabouts of the millennium clam.
However, not only did they fail to find the millennium clam, but several of them didn’t return.
Even those who came back were covered with scars.
After asking, they learned that there was indeed a huge water beast living in the pool, just as Prince Heng had described.
The water beast had a bloody mouth, its skin was as bumpy as rock, and its tail alone was more than one meter long.
Moreover, the water beast attacked people very quickly. Once the person who entered the water was discovered by the water beast, there was no way to escape, and he would be swallowed alive.
In this situation, even if Qi Mohan, who has the highest skills, encountered it, he would probably have no hope of survival.
He turned to look at the worried Prince Heng and Prince Jin and said: “My two brothers, I don’t think catching the Millennium Clam will work.”
After a pause, he explained: “My subordinates’ lives are also lives. I will never allow them to die in such an unclear way.”
When Prince Jin heard her say this, he became anxious and asked: “Brother, what do you mean?”
Prince Heng also said: “Yes, brother, we have just started, how can we give up so easily?”
Qi Mohan pointed at the subordinates who had escaped death in the lake and said: “These people are all my subjects who followed me to protect Qiushui City. It can be said that without them, I, Qi Mohan, would not be where I am today.”
“I cannot abandon their lives for my selfish desires.”
Qi Mohan was not exaggerating. These troops not only followed him to protect Qiushui City for a long time but also did not abandon him and helped the people of Qiushui City escape alone when the drought was so severe.
He would be heartbroken if any of these loyal and courageous officers were missing.
Rather than watching his men die one by one here, he would rather bear the crime of disobeying an imperial order and spend the next two days gathering his strength to do something big.
Qi Mohan has such courage, but Prince Heng and Prince Jin do not.
They didn’t want to disobey the order and then be punished by the one in the capital.
“I understand that you feel bad for me, brother. Please be patient. I will send a few people into the pond now. After we find the hiding place of the millennium claim we will work together to find a solution.” Prince Heng almost begged and proposed to discuss the method with Qi Mohan.
People have come to this point, it would be a bit unreasonable for Qi Mohan to mention leaving again.
“In that case, let’s follow what the Second Imperial Brother said. Let some people investigate first.”
Qi Mohan wanted to leave here quickly. Besides feeling sorry for his children, there was another reason. He wanted to go back to Prince Rong’s Mansion to see if the two little kids had any good news to bring back.
Qi Mohan stood on the top of a tall and steep rock facing the wind, overlooking the sparkling, bottomless pool on the other side.
At this moment, Prince Heng and Prince Jin’s troops jumped into the pool one after another, causing layers of splashes.
On the surface, Qi Mohan seemed to be concentrating on watching the actions of those who entered the water, but in fact, that was not the case……
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