novelThe Secret About the Past (134)
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
To Yuan Mingzhu's astonishment, Xu Youran's efficiency was far higher than she had expected.
Not long after they parted ways, Xu Youran proceeded to settle the administrative procedures required for the handover of the apartment and transferred it to Yuan Mingzhu.
Located within close proximity to the police station, the apartment, which consisted of three bedrooms and one hall, must have cost at least a million dollars or more.
Yet, Xu Youran gave it to her so easily.
Yuan Mingzhu was elated and thrilled to finally have her own home, which she had always dreamed of. She had always wanted to let her mother move in with her so she could take care of the latter.
Were her wishes going to come true all of a sudden?
Yuan Mingzhu returned to the office, as happy as a lark.
Happiness was written all over her face as she could not contain her excitement, which her colleagues had noticed.
"Team Leader, what has gotten into you?" Ma Jianguo asked in curiosity.
'"Nothing much. By the way, let me ask you guys, how strong are An Xiaoning's psychic powers? I still don't quite know what she has achieved in the past when she was in my position."
Everyone looked at one another, after which Ma Jianguo answered solemnly, "We can't comment about her powers because she has never told us about her abilities explicitly. But she can tell someone's fortune instantly just by reading their birth characters. She can also see and communicate with spirits. I'm not too sure about the rest, though."
Yuan Mingzhu had more or less already understood where An Xiaoning's strengths laid. To her dismay, An Xiaoning was far more competent than she had imagined.
"Did she treat you guys well?"
"Yeah, " they answered in chorus.
"What's the point of that, though? She's just a dog in the manger. She may enjoy the glory of being the Team Leader on the surface, but in reality, she's cracked only a few cases. Not to mention, she's always absent as well, " Mingzhu sneered.
"Yeah, Team Leader An isn't as committed to this job as you are. Well, this is not her main occupation anyway. After all, you're here every day because there's nothing else for you to attend to, unlike her, " Gong Le remarked.
Staring at him, Yuan Mingzhu questioned, "Are you giving me a compliment or criticizing me?"
"Team Leader, I'm praising you, of course."
"Yes, I may not have anything else to do apart from solving cases, unlike her who has a busy schedule. But, I'm a graduate of the Police Academy. How about her? I heard she's barely received any formal education. I bet she's illiterate."
"Team Leader, I heard Sis Xiaoning mention before that her Master did teach her how to read and write, although she has never attended school..." Zu Dong explained.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Filled with rage and displeasure, Yuan Mingzhu did not utter another word.
——
It began to drizzle in the evening in B City.
Tuoba Danxue finally decided to eat something after several days of barely eating anything.
After watching her fall asleep, Zhi Yin motioned for An Xiaoning to leave.
An Xiaoning hurriedly dismissed herself.
She returned to her room, after which she received a text message that she initially thought was sent by Jin Qingyan. To her surprise, it was from Xiao Chi.
The contents of the message sent a shiver down her spine.
She was informed that Jiang Feng was implicated, as expected, and had been taken away forcefully to an unknown location. Judging from how Tuoba Gucheng seemed to be nonchalant about the matter, Jiang Feng was very likely to be executed.
An Xiaoning had never expected Tuoba Gucheng to be so heartless as to sit back and leave his bodyguard, Jiang Feng, in the lurch.
He could have easily intervened but he did not do so.
Jiang Feng was innocent.
At this moment, An Xiaoning was certain that death would be the only thing that awaited Jiang Feng.
Society was far more cruel and twisted than she had imagined.
Things turned out to be just like she had expected in the end.
However, she knew that there was no point in telling Tuoba Danxue about the matter since nothing could be done about it.
Besides, she was in no place to intervene, nor did she have the means to do so since the Autumn Palace was a heavily-guarded place where security was tight.
If she were to step in and end up being captured by the surveillance cameras, she would only be bringing a hard time on herself should her identity be exposed.
Yet, An Xiaoning could not help but find it hard to watch an innocent man die before her eyes. She put herself in the shoes of Jiang Feng's mother and imagined what it would be like to watch her son being tortured and killed for no reason. If Jiang Feng's mother were to find out about her son's death, needless to say...
But then again, she would not make it in time to save him even if she tried to rush there now.
An Xiaoning hurriedly replied to Xiao Chi's text message and asked if she could leave the palace.
Xiao Chi answered with a "No."
An Xiaoning decided to try her luck anyway. Thus, she climbed out and down from the window using a rope, to which she then gave a little tug to retrieve.
She then sprinted towards Tuoba Gucheng's mansion with all her might.
Due to the rain, she was completely drenched from head to toe.
At this moment, she thought to herself that she would try and rescue him if he had yet to be executed by the time she arrived. However, they could only blame it on fate and Heaven's will if she does not make it in the nick of time.
She did not get her hopes up and instead took it as a casual stroll out of boredom.
In fact, it really did become like an actual stroll for the territory was way too large and she had no idea where Jiang Feng had been taken to at all.
After searching around a vast area, she still could not find him.
Her hopes were diminishing as time passed by.
She was momentarily overwhelmed with an inexplicable feeling.
She felt sorry for Jiang Feng who was innocent, unlike those terrorists who took the lives of many. All he did was to unwillingly become the subject of Tuoba Danxue's adoration.
He did not do anything wrong at all. Furthermore, his rights as a human ought to be respected.
An Xiaoning could not quite explain how she felt about his plight.
She decided to return slowly.
All of a sudden, she was stopped in her tracks by a male voice, "Hold it right there."
She turned around to see a figure standing in the rain with a black umbrella in hand. It was none other than Tuoba Gucheng.
"Your Highness."
Drops of rainwater trickled down her face when she nodded her head to greet him. She was almost completely drenched.
"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
"I couldn't fall asleep so I came out for a jog."
"You're jogging on a rainy day? You must be really bored, huh?" he questioned apprehensively, clearly not buying her excuse.
"Yes, Mu Ning is different from others. It's quiet only when it rains. I like the rain."
"Freak..."
"I'm heading back to get some rest. Please go to bed early too, Your Highness."
She turned around and took flight immediately.
Tuoba Gucheng did not dwell much on the matter, thinking that An Xiaoning must have been sent by his sister.
Upon returning to her room, An Xiaoning took a warm shower and removed her mask to finally allow her skin to breathe. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she patted her face a few times to boost circulation.
She was still ill at ease even after lying on the bed.
Buzz...
She opened the text message from Jin Qingyan while still lying in bed. It was a daily routine for them to text each other at night, and he would rarely call or text her in the day unless absolutely necessary.
After sending several messages to each other back and forth, An Xiaoning put her phone away and prepared to go to bed.
She could not seem to sleep in peace for the rest of the night.
She woke up at six o'clock the next morning, as soon as daybreak arrived.
After putting on the mask, she proceeded to get dressed and exited her room.
Zhi Yin scurried downstairs hastily and zoomed inside Tuoba Danxue's room.
Noticing the sight before her, An Xiaoning reckoned that Zhi Yin must have heard about the matter about Jiang Feng.
As expected, Tuoba Danxue ran out of her room, sloppily dressed and appearing unkempt. Zhi Yin hurriedly took chase and exclaimed, "Mu Ning, stop Her Highness!"
An Xiaoning swiftly stepped forward to hold her down and said, "Your Highness, please get dressed first."
"No, move aside!" Tears streamed down Tuoba Danxue's face uncontrollably and she seemed to be on the verge of despair.
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