Ling Yao finally understood her location. She was still in the capital, in a civilian courtyard near the city gate.
She had overheard this yesterday when the soldiers came to patrol.
Unfortunately, her acupoints had been sealed, and the man had taken her into a cellar. She could only hear the sounds from above. He was a guard under her eldest brother.
This man had captured her, but she had no idea what he wanted. He never went out. Every day, he had her cook, and he would assist her.
Now, she had learned to start fires and make simple meals.
Everything else was fine, except at night, when he insisted on sharing the same room with her, saying he could only sleep well if he was close to her.
If he weren't a living, breathing person, she would have thought he was that big white wolf.
What was infuriating was that when she woke up in the morning, this shameless man was in her bed again. Enraged, she had pulled out her hairpin, intending to stab him, but he had snatched it away.
He had confiscated the hairpin.
She still hadn't gotten it back.
“Tomorrow, we will leave the capital.”
Today, the man had said this.
Ling Yao thought he was finally going to reveal his intentions, so she asked, "Where are you taking me?"
The man said nothing. He gave her a deep look and then, for the first time, left the small courtyard.
After he left, Ling Yao finally had a chance to turn her attention to the servant.
Strange, why was the man so at ease this time? Did he have something more important to do?
The young servant was afraid she would escape and kept following her, but he didn't dare to get too close, looking timid and as if he was afraid she would eat him.
“Hey, you know who I am, right? Let me go, and I’ll give you money you can’t spend in a lifetime, how about that?”
The young servant pretended to be deaf.
“What good will it do you to follow your master? Hiding forever. A person can’t be too foolishly loyal. He’s a major criminal, do you know that? If discovered, it’s a death sentence for the entire clan. Don’t you have a family?”
The young servant seemed displeased, but he still didn’t speak.
“Are you going to let me go or not? If not, when your master returns, I’ll say you bullied me.”
“You woman, why do you always use these tricks?!”
The young servant blurted it out in a moment of urgency.
He immediately covered his mouth, realizing his mistake. He hadn't been careful, had she heard him?
Ling Yao heard his true voice. It was familiar, but she couldn't recall it for a moment.
“Heh, so it’s you,” Ling Yao said slowly, seeing the terrified look in the young servant’s eyes.
“Your master is truly audacious. See if I don’t flay him alive!”
“Princess! Please don’t!” The young servant knelt down with a thud. “My young master is already miserable enough. Please spare him! He didn’t mean to. He could have disappeared forever, but he likes you too much. I told him not to come back, but he wouldn’t listen… He won’t hurt you, truly!”
“How do you know he won’t hurt me? He’s planning to take me away from the capital.”
“He likes you, how could he possibly hurt you! He said he only wants to stay with you for a few days and then he’ll let you go. Just a few days, Princess, please bear with him for a few days!”
The young servant’s tears flowed, but his face remained stiff and expressionless, which was quite peculiar.
“It was hard enough for my young master to escape from Qirong. He was such a proud person since childhood. He doesn’t know anything about his father’s affairs, nor did he participate. How did he suddenly become a Qirong person?”
Ling Yao suddenly understood and finally knew who they were!
“Zhusheng? You, you ran off to Qirong too?”
The Grand Tutor’s mansion had all been convicted. Some were exiled, some were executed, and the close attendants were all sentenced to death.
Zhusheng hadn't died, but he had followed Lu Yanmo to Qirong.
There were still survivors from the Grand Tutor’s mansion!
“It wasn’t me who ran there, and my young master didn’t go on his own. It was the master, the master ordered the last dark guard to escort my young master there. My young master didn’t want to go! Oh, it wasn’t the master, it was that scoundrel Lu.” Zhusheng tried his best to make excuses for Lu Yanmo.
“My young master was controlled by the Queen once he arrived in Qirong. He barely managed to escape back. Princess, my young master’s mother is from Da Jing. He has already changed his name to Lu Yanmo, taking his mother’s surname. This way, he is considered a Da Jing person, right?” Zhusheng asked cautiously, full of a desire to survive.
Seeing that Ling Yao remained silent, he felt a sense of despair.
“I was blind before and didn’t recognize your noble status as a princess. As long as you can spare my young master, I am willing to commit suicide to atone to the princess.”
“If you let me go now, I will not pursue the matter of you and your master.”
Zhusheng fell silent.
“Hmph, traitor!”
“No!” Zhusheng shouted. “If one day you suddenly became a Qirong person, what would you do! That wasn’t what my young master wanted either! The Queen of Qirong might have offered him high positions, but he still ran back! He did not betray Da Jing!”
Does it matter!
His father killed the Emperor. A father’s debt is paid by the son. He is a sinner of Da Jing!
When Lu Yanmo returned, he saw the guilt in Zhusheng’s eyes and knew he had been exposed. He didn’t say anything.
It was only a matter of time.
Ling Yao was filled with hostility towards him.
He knew this would happen.
She stopped talking to him and stopped cooking. Her gaze occasionally swept over him, filled with disgust.
“I’ll ask you one more time, where do you want to take me?”
In the evening, Ling Yao asked him coldly.
Lu Yanmo still slept on the floor, sharing the same room with her.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice returning to its original tone. The once arrogant young master was long gone.
“I won’t hurt you.”
That same sentence again.
Ling Yao refused to talk to him anymore and turned over.
If he dared to climb into her bed tonight, she would fight him to the death.
She secretly tested her body. She wasn’t as weak as she had been a few days ago, but her abilities still couldn’t be used.
There was no movement behind her. Ling Yao was wary of him and couldn’t sleep well. By dawn, Lu Yanmo got up, packed his things, and went out.
Ling Yao quickly got up. She heard his conversation with Zhusheng in the courtyard.
“Take the money and open the shop. Wait for me to find you.”
“Young master, can’t we go together? Didn’t you say you’d leave in a few days?”
“You go first. Change your name and manage the shop well.”
“Young ma…”
“Zhusheng, be obedient.”
Zhusheng said no more. A moment later, she heard the sound of the courtyard gate opening and closing.
Then Lu Yanmo re-entered the room, carrying a few steamed buns. He wasn’t surprised at all that Ling Yao was awake.
“Where did you send Zhusheng?”
“Princess.” Lu Yanmo’s dark eyes finally dared to meet hers. Her eyes were still so clear, so captivating.
Once, he had been attracted to her, but he had ridiculously maintained his pride, viewing her as a woman within easy reach.
Now, he had become a ghost in the shadows.
He didn’t even have the right to look up at her.
He lowered his head again, not daring to look any further. “He’s just a child who knows nothing. Can you spare him?”