The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 157: The Search Begins

"But don't worry, Pei Du is someone even the Emperor cares about, so he won't dare to slack off in finding him."

Ji Yuxiu said this to reassure Shen Hanyu.

"Okay, I'll go check out my place and pack my things first."

The things she brought were piled up on the carriage, and Miao Cui and the others had to take them over.

"Okay, I'll have someone take you there. I have people here, I'll come find you later."

Shen Hanyu only knew her here, so Ji Yuxiu naturally had to take extra care of her.

Ji Yuxiu arranged for Shen Hanyu to be a young girl who looked to be about the same age as her.

She had two red blushes on her cheeks, and the tip of her nose was also red from the cold. When she smiled, she showed a set of white teeth.

“Miss Shen, my name is Lin Cao. I was sent by General Ji to take you to the camp.”

Shen Hanyu looked at Lin Cao and had a very good first impression of her; she seemed to be a very energetic girl.

"Then you lead the way."

Lin Cao led Shen Hanyu to the camp and had people unload the things from the carriage, and also made arrangements for the Imperial Guards.

"Miss Shen, please feel free to tell me if there's anything else you need."

Lin Cao brought some toiletries, all of which were new.

Shen Hanyu thanked Lin Cao. Lin Cao was very hospitable, and everything she prepared suited Shen Hanyu's taste.

Miao Cui made the bed, and Lin Cao glanced at it before reminding them, "You must remember not to go west. A couple of days ago, someone went there and was arrested."

Jin Chui's eyes widened: "Has that person been found?"

Lin Cao shook his head: "Leave the corpses to rot in the wilderness."

Jin Chui shuddered. How terrifying! Is this the kind of life the young master leads every day?

Feeling both scared and heartbroken, Miao Cui was also a little worried.

"I will definitely not go that way."

It's too dangerous, and Shen Hanyu doesn't know martial arts; she wouldn't risk her life.

Besides, there were people at the border helping her search, so Shen Hanyu didn't need to think too much.

Seeing that Shen Hanyu had taken the advice to heart, Lin Cao breathed a sigh of relief, but still worriedly warned, "Don't go."

Only after repeated assurances did Lin Cao leave the camp.

They arrived at the border at noon. Shen Hanyu wasn't hungry, so she didn't ask Miaocui and Jinchui to prepare any food.

Jin Chui went out for a walk. He didn't dare to cause trouble for Shen Hanyu, so he just took a quick look and found out about Pei Du's situation here.

When Pei Du is mentioned, people generally have a very high opinion of him.

The main reason is that Pei Du's performance here is impeccable.

At first, everyone thought that Pei Du, being of noble status, would not be able to endure the hardships of the border region, but they quickly changed their minds.

Jin Chui recounted everything he had heard to Shen Hanyu, and Shen Hanyu learned about what Pei Du had not mentioned in the letter.

"Let's find an opportunity to investigate everything that happened the day before Pei Du disappeared."

Shen Hanyu was quite concerned about this. Chen Jianshan hadn't mentioned it earlier, so she would ask Ji Yuxiu about it tonight to see if she knew.

Jin Chui slapped his forehead; he hadn't thought to ask that when he went out.

"Don't worry, they've been searching for a long time without any results. We've just arrived, so we need to figure out the situation first."

Ji Yuxiu has things to do here, so she can't bother her as often as she does in Chang'an.

Shen Hanyu rubbed her palms together, and Miaocui handed her a hot water bottle.

"Miss, please warm your hands first, it's really too cold here."

Going outside makes my face and ears ache from the cold; this season is simply torture.

Jin Chui sat on a small stool. "This place used to be the territory of foreign tribes, which is why the climate is so harsh."

Shen Hanyu knew this, and the three chatted casually. During dinner that evening, Ji Yuxiu came in.

Ji Yuxiu changed into casual clothes, exuding a chill.

"Let's eat." Ji Yuxiu sat down and picked up her chopsticks.

Shen Hanyu swallowed what was in her mouth. "What happened the day before Pei Du disappeared?"

Ji Yuxiu recalled that more than a month had passed, and there were some things she couldn't quite remember.

"That day we went to fight some foreign guys, but I didn't take Pei Du with me, so I really don't know what exactly happened. I also asked people how he disappeared, and they said that Pei Du chased too deep and then disappeared without a trace."

Ji Yuxiu frowned. In fact, some people said even harsher things, such as Pei Du being greedy for credit and reckless, but Ji Yuxiu always felt that things were not that simple.

"Who took Pei Du with them?"

"Zhang Fengzhi".

Knowing the person's name is enough.

I will go see him tomorrow.

"I'm with you."

Ji Yuxiu happens to be free tomorrow, so she can accompany Shen Hanyu on the trip.

Some of the guys on the border are quite difficult to deal with.

Shen Hanyu understood Ji Yuxiu's good intentions, so she did not refuse.

"Is Zhang Fengzhi difficult to talk to?" Shen Hanyu still asked.

“It’s not that he’s hard to talk to, he’s the one who’s greedy for credit and reckless. I haven’t found anything else, but I did find out that Pei Du’s deep involvement was all thanks to Zhang Fengzhi.”

Pei Du's status here is not as high as Zhang Fengzhi's, so he must obey Zhang Fengzhi's orders.

Shen Hanyu hadn't expected this layer of meaning, so she couldn't completely trust Zhang Fengzhi's words then.

"What kind of person is General Chen?"

Ji Yuxiu carefully chose her words: "It's decent, except for some biases, everything else is fine."

That's acceptable, Shen Hanyu thought.

On the second day after arriving at the border, Shen Hanyu went to see Zhang Fengzhi. Zhang Fengzhi was surprised to see Shen Hanyu, having not expected her to come.

"Captain Zhang."

Zhang Fengzhi scratched his head and stood up somewhat awkwardly.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: Pei Du's disappearance was not my fault. Although some people here say that Pei Du's disappearance is my fault, General Chen did not punish me, which proves that I did nothing wrong."

Shen Hanyu smiled kindly: "I don't mean to blame Captain Zhang. I just wanted to ask what exactly happened that day. After all, Pei Du is my fiancé. He has helped me a lot, and I have to give him an explanation."

Seeing that Shen Hanyu showed no intention of blaming him, Zhang Fengzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good, that's good. Actually, the situation that day wasn't complicated. I led a group of men to intercept the foreign soldiers, but who would have thought that those guys were so cunning that they lured us in. Later, everyone dispersed, and when we went back, we found that Pei Du hadn't returned. You can ask General Chen where the incident happened."

Zhang Fengzhi had an expression as if he had already confessed everything.

Ji Yuxiu didn't say anything. It was because she wasn't the one leading the team that day. The survivors from Zhang Fengzhi's team all gave similar stories.

"Is that all?" Shen Hanyu asked again.

"That's all I know. You can ask General Chen about the rest. He's been in charge of Pei Du's case, so he'll definitely find out more."

Seeing that Zhang Fengzhi was trying to shift the blame, Shen Hanyu knew that she wouldn't get anything out of him.

"Thank you."

Shen Hanyu and Ji Yuxiu left together.