Cui Yunfeng looked at Yun'er's tear-stained, anxious face and froze for a moment. Then she frowned slightly and scolded coldly, "What nonsense are you spouting? If Eldest Sister hears you, watch your skin."
"Second Miss," Yun'er cried, stomping her feet in distress. "How would this servant dare to joke about such a matter?"
But Cui Yunfeng still refused to believe it. "Impossible. We came out together alive and well just a short while ago."
Yet seeing Yun'er crying endlessly, Cui Yunfeng's body eventually began to go soft.
"Did you and Eldest Sister collude to trick me? Speak, what is your purpose?"
Weeping, Yun'er continued to shake her head.
"What do you mean by crying?" Cui Yunfeng grew anxious, her voice rising in pitch. "Where is Eldest Sister? What do you mean she is gone?"
"Eldest Miss... Eldest Miss took the carriage up the mountain, but who knew the horse would suddenly go mad for some unknown reason. It crashed through the guardrail, and Eldest Miss, along with the horse and carriage, tumbled down the cliff."
Cui Yunfeng stared blankly at Yun'er, feeling as if someone had struck her in the back of the head with a heavy club. Immediately, the world spun around her, and her vision went black.
"Yunfeng." Her body was steadily supported from behind. Xiao Yi pressed his lips tightly together, his eyes dark and profound.
"What kind of nonsense is this," Cui Yunfeng murmured. Then, as if drained of all her strength, she slid toward the ground, her legs too weak to stand.
The color rapidly drained from her delicate face, leaving it deathly pale.
"She was just laughing and joking with me this morning," Cui Yunfeng turned her eyes to Xiao Yi. "When I left... she was perfectly fine."
She seemed unable to believe it, trying to hear words of comfort and denial from Xiao Yi's mouth.
An emotion flashed quickly through Xiao Yi's eyes, and he said in a low voice, "The most urgent matter right now is to find her, alive or dead."
Cui Yunfeng's breathing grew increasingly rapid, and her heart beat so fast that her entire body trembled. She could not clearly see the path beneath her feet, nor the person in front of her.
"Second Miss, Cousin Miss has already gone over. Let this servant help you over there."
The maid was about to step forward to support Cui Yunfeng, but was frightened off by a cold, dark look from Xiao Yi.
Cui Yunfeng hurriedly tried to go, but the more anxious she became, the more her legs felt like lead, making it difficult to move.
"Xiao... Xiao Yi, I cannot walk."
...
Halfway up the mountain.
The monks of Anshan Temple had long surrounded the site of the accident with multiple layers, sealing off the small path up the mountain and forbidding pilgrims from approaching.
Tang Qingwan looked at the shattered wooden fence, still somewhat unable to believe it.
"Go look in the temple again. What kind of trick is Cui Yunchu playing now? Go quickly," she urged her maid, her voice trembling.
"Miss," the maid was also frightened out of her wits and stuttered, "A monk saw with his own eyes that the horse Cousin Miss was riding went mad, rampaged on the mountain path, and plunged down the cliff."
"Who?" Tang Qingwan's gaze instantly turned incredibly stern. "Who saw it?"
A monk slowly walked out from the crowd.
It was his turn to be on duty today, and he happened to witness the situation unfold. However, the horse had been too fast, giving him absolutely no chance to call for help.
The monk recounted the scene he had witnessed with his own eyes to Tang Qingwan.
"Are you saying there was another person who fell off the cliff with my cousin?"
"Yes, but the incident happened so suddenly that this humble monk did not clearly see that person's appearance."
Tang Qingwan stared deeply at the monk for a moment, then said to the Crown Prince, "Send someone to keep an eye on this person first."
A horse would not get spooked for no reason. With the Cui and Tang families' political enemies and the royal family, Tang Qingwan dared not let her guard down.
Whether it was an accident or something else, it was always best to be cautious.
Tang Qingwan suddenly remembered that the carriage Cui Yunchu was riding in was actually hers.
What if the person riding the carriage up the mountain had been her?
Her heart sank to the bottom of a valley, her eyes incredibly cold and frosty.
If that were truly the case...
Tang Qingwan closed her eyes, her fingernails digging deeply into her palms.
"Qingwan, do not worry, mind your health. I have already sent people to the bottom of the cliff to search. I will definitely bring her back to you."
As for whether they would bring back a living person or a corpse...
In truth, everyone present knew that falling from such a high cliff left absolutely no chance of survival. Being able to piece a body together and bring it back would already be quite difficult.
"Xiao Chen, this matter..." Tang Qingwan was just about to say something when Cui Yunfeng suddenly came stumbling over.
"Cousin, where is Eldest Sister? Where is she?"
Tang Qingwan's red lips were bitten to the point of bleeding, and her eyes were bloodshot, but she did not shed a tear.
Cui Yunfeng, however, was crying so hard her vision was blurred.
"Miss." Tang Qingwan's maid held some broken porcelain pieces and a torn piece of fabric. "This... is indeed from our carriage. This torn fabric is what this servant found by the cliffside. It is the exact same fabric as the dress Eldest Miss was wearing this morning."
Without another word, Cui Yunfeng dashed toward the edge of the cliff.
Xiao Yi immediately stepped forward and firmly grasped her wrist. "Yunfeng, do not go over there."
The edge of the cliff had already been heavily cracked by the carriage's impact, and no one could say for sure if it would suddenly break off.
"It is all my fault. It is all my fault. If I had not gotten out of the carriage, I would be with her and she would have been fine."
Xiao Yi's heart, however, felt as if it had been instantly gripped tightly, leaving him breathless.
He did not even dare to imagine such a consequence.
Cui Yunfeng suddenly wiped her tears. "I cannot cry. Grandmother said that the greater the crisis, the more calm one must be."
She turned and tightly grabbed Xiao Yi's sleeve, her eyes bloodshot. "Send people immediately to find my Eldest Sister."
"Yun'er."
"This servant is here."
Cui Yunfeng ordered, "Return to the city. Tell Father to immediately send reinforcements, and bring doctors. Bring them all, go quickly."
Yun'er immediately left in a frantic rush. The men brought by the Crown Prince and Prince An immediately set out, and they also dispatched people back to the city to mobilize troops.
For a time, Anshan Temple was in utter chaos, voices buzzing in a massive commotion.
At the request of Tang Qingwan and Cui Yunfeng, the Crown Prince and Prince An also personally went down to search for her.
Before leaving, Xiao Yi left Eunuch Liu behind to accompany Cui Yunfeng.
"Cousin," Cui Yunfeng said only when the two sisters were left alone halfway up the mountain, "Do you have something to tell me?"
Tang Qingwan's brows were tightly furrowed.
"You, step aside." Cui Yunfeng pointed at Eunuch Liu.
"..." Eunuch Liu complied, bowing his head and lowering his eyes as he retreated, though his gaze remained fixed on Tang Qingwan's embroidered shoes.
Due to this unforeseen event, the pilgrims on the mountain were all advised to return. Shen Zilan, holding a peace amulet in his hand, came out of the temple with his servant.
"What is going on over there?" he asked the servant beside him.
The servant replied, "This servant overheard a few words just now. It seems a girl jumped off the cliff."
Shen Zilan was taken aback. "Jumped off the cliff? Why?"
What kind of matter could make someone so desperate?
He looked down at the marriage fortune stick he had sought in his other hand and sighed.
"According to the discussions of a few women, it seems they were saying that the girl was deeply in love with a scholar, but her family disapproved, so she jumped off the cliff in her grief."
"And what about the scholar?" Shen Zilan asked again.
The servant shook his head. "I did not hear that part before you came out of the main hall."
Shen Zilan shook his head repeatedly.
"Silly girl." After sighing, he furrowed his brows and stared blankly at the marriage fortune stick in his hand, startling his servant.
"Young Master, we must not have foolish thoughts. Marriage is destined by heaven, and as long as one is alive, anything is possible."
Shen Zilan looked up at his servant, who was sweating profusely from anxiety.
"Young Master, it is getting late. We shouldn't keep the Second Master waiting. Let's hurry." The servant wished he could just drag him into a run, terrified that Shen Zilan might take things too hard and follow suit.
"But the monk said my fortune slip is the worst possible omen."
Hearing this, the servant quickened his pace even more.
The two made their way down the mountain. They did not spot their own carriage, but they did catch every word of the gossiping women along the way.
Upon hearing that the scholar had leapt down the cliff alongside the young woman, Shen Zilan nodded, repeatedly praising the man for his unwavering devotion and acknowledging him as a true man.
The young woman certainly had not misjudged him.
Inevitably reminded of his younger uncle's opposition to his own romantic pursuits, Shen Zilan began to search his soul. If it were him, would he dare to do something so earth-shattering and pledge his life and death to the Eldest Miss Cui?
"Young Master, I cannot find the Second Master," the servant suddenly said.
Pulling himself out of his tangled thoughts, Shen Zilan raised his eyes to look at the path down the mountain. "He probably received an assignment and left early," he said dismissively. "Let's just hire a carriage and head back."
