On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2072 Something's Wrong with This Stone Statue

"Another face just like mine," Yan Ruyu finally spoke, her voice trembling with a tension she herself was unaware of.

She raised her hand to touch her brow bone, and then looked at the stone statue. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up—not from the cold, but because she felt as if the stone statue's eyelashes had moved. Although she knew it was an illusion, she couldn't help but move closer to Huo Changhe.

Huo Changhe leaned forward and touched the stone statue's arm with his fingertips. The stone was as cold as ice, but it wasn't as hard as ordinary stone. When he pressed his fingertips down, he felt a slight elasticity, as if he were touching the skin of a living person encased in stone.

He immediately withdrew his hand, and the tinderbox shook again: "It's bluestone, but the carving is too fine, too fine for a craftsman to do."

Yan Ruyu's gaze fell on the stone statue's robe.

The style of the buttons on the front of the garment was the same as what was popular in Beijing three years ago; she had even worn a similar one last year.

“Look at its hands again.” Huo Changhe pointed to the stone statue’s hands hanging down at its sides.

The statue's fingers were curled up, the fingertips slightly bent, as if they had just held something. On the last finger, there was a shallow mark, in the exact same spot as the scar Yan Ruyu had when she was a child helping her mother pick vegetables and was cut by a knife.

Yan Ruyu's heart beat faster. She took two steps forward, now only one step away from the stone statue.

The firelight shone on the stone statue's lips, which were a pale pink, as if they had just been rouged, but lacked the color of a living person.

She suddenly remembered how she looked in the mirror yesterday, with her eyebrows lowered and lips pursed, even the curve of her mouth was the same.

"Your Highness," Yan Ruyu's voice was so soft it was almost swallowed by the silence of the dark room, "This stone statue... could it be carved in my likeness?"

Huo Changhe didn't answer immediately. He raised the small flashlight higher and swept the light across the top of the stone statue's head.

The stone statue has a jade hairpin in its hair bun, with a white magnolia flower on the head, and the patterns on the petals are even finer than those of a real flower.

That hairpin, there was also one in Yan Ruyu's dressing box, left to her by the original owner's birth mother, it was unique.

Huo Changhe's voice also carried a hint of coldness: "This dark room has been around for at least five years."

If it was indeed carved based on Yan Ruyu, then it must have started at least five years ago.

At that time, Yan Ruyu was not the person she is now; she was still in her original form.

A chill ran down her spine, and Yan Ruyu instinctively looked behind her, only to find a dark stone wall behind her, nothing out of the ordinary.

But when she turned back, she suddenly felt that the statue's eyelashes seemed to have lifted a little. Although its eyes were still downcast, it seemed as if it could see her.

Yan Ruyu was startled, and she forced herself to calm down.

"Your Highness, let's go out first."

The two left the dark room, and everything returned to normal.

Huo Changhe noticed her emotions, took her hand and whispered, "Yu'er, don't worry, I've already sent people to investigate this matter."

This wasn't the first time someone resembling Yan Ruyu had appeared; he had already begun investigating.

Yan Ruyu took a deep breath and left the dark room, her mind clearing up considerably.

Looking at the night sky, she seemed to be saying to Huo Changhe, or perhaps to herself, "Something's not quite right about this stone statue."

“It’s different from the previous ones. When I saw it in the dark room just now, my mind seemed to go a little off.”

I felt a sense of fear, a sense of disorientation, and even a feeling that there were ghosts and spirits.

She never believed in these things, but for some reason, they all came to mind in that instant.

Huo Changhe's brows furrowed with worry: "What now? Should we go back first?"

Yan Ruyu looked up at him and smiled gently, "I'm fine now, I feel much better after coming out. Your Highness, there's no need to worry, let's go."

She walked away first, and Huo Changhe watched her retreating figure, his worry only increasing.

The two searched for a long time but couldn't find Chuntao.

"Could it be that Chuntao has already..."

Before she could finish speaking, a dark figure emerged from the shadows, knelt on one knee, and said in a very low voice, "Your Highness, Your Highness, I know where Chun Tao is."

Yan Ruyu immediately stepped forward: "Lead the way."

The three passed through two moon gates and stopped in front of a courtyard wall. The guard pointed to the innermost room in the courtyard: "She's in there. There are not only her, but also several other women, who were all secretly brought in this afternoon."

Yan Ruyu looked into the courtyard. The doors to the side rooms were tightly closed, and there was no other defense.

She walked sideways to the window, gently poked a hole in the paper window, and threw in a pill. The pill exploded, sending up a plume of smoke.

After a short while, Huo Changhe pushed open the door. Several women were tied to pillars in the corner, their mouths gagged with strips of cloth, and their heads were hanging down, clearly having been drugged.

Chun Tao was tied to the very edge, her blue dress still covered in mud.

Huo Changhe bent down and lifted the person out of the house.

Yan Ruyu followed behind, casually tugging at the gags in the other women's mouths to make them breathe more easily, before leaving the room.

The two led Chun Tao to the willow tree outside the courtyard. Yan Ruyu took out another porcelain bottle from her sleeve and held it under Chun Tao's nose.

Chun Tao vaguely felt a cool breeze, and soon opened her eyes.

When she recognized Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe, her eyes lit up instantly, tears welling up in her eyes, her voice trembling with sobs: "Save me..."

Yan Ruyu looked at the tears on her cheeks and said calmly, "I told you last time that I would give you a way out, and I will not go back on my word. Has Ding Hengshou made any unusual moves lately?"

Chun Tao's crying paused, her eyes flickering: "I...I..."

"To be honest," Yan Ruyu's voice turned colder, carrying an undeniable seriousness.

Chun Tao bit her lip and remained silent for a while, seemingly considering her words. Just as she was about to say something, a guard not far away suddenly spoke up: "She has never met Ding Hengshou and knows nothing about him."

Chun Tao was startled and turned to look in the direction of the guards, her eyes full of surprise.

She then realized that someone had been secretly watching her all these days, and that her every move had been seen by others. Even her thought of lying had been clearly seen.

"You...you've been watching me the whole time?" Chun Tao's voice trembled, and tears started falling again. "I didn't mean to lie. I just...I was afraid that if I said I didn't know anything, you would think I was worthless and wouldn't save me."

Seeing her sobbing uncontrollably, Yan Ruyu softened her tone: "If you really don't know, just say so. Now that I'm here, I won't abandon you. But you must understand that lying solves nothing."

Upon hearing this, Chun Tao cried even harder: "I really don't know anything... Lord Ding hasn't come to the backyard these past few days, and I haven't even seen his face."

Ali was taken away by them too. Today, the butler suddenly had me tied up. I thought I was going to be silenced, and my legs went weak with fear.