At the Yin Hour, Su Zhou lay weakly on the bed, drifting off into a hazy sleep.
Xiaoman felt her forehead and said in a low voice: "Young Master, her forehead is a bit hot. Is there any good method?"
Chen Ji responded: "There's no good method. We can only use a handkerchief dipped in water to help her cool down."
Xiaoman took a white handkerchief, re-wetted it with water, and placed it over Su Zhou's forehead. Acting as if nothing happened, she slipped her hand into Su Zhou's hair to grope around, but didn't feel the remaining Lantern Fire Copper Coins.
Resentfully, she sat back onto the small stool beside the charcoal basin, staring blankly as the firelight in the charcoal basin flickered between bright and dark.
Xiaoman originally wanted to take advantage of Su Zhou being asleep to exact some minor revenge for the grudge of being held hostage earlier. But thinking about how the other party was completely unconscious, she felt it was meaningless.
When taking revenge, one had to let the enemy know in order to vent one's anger and feel satisfied!
Chen Ji sat on the small stool side-by-side with her, while Wu Yun curled up into a ball and nestled on his knees, having gone to sleep early.
Tonight, they first experienced the assassination of General Wang, and then faced the Secret Spy Division's search and arrest. This moment was currently a rare, peaceful good time.
Picking up the iron tongs, Xiaoman poked at the charcoal basin and asked: "Young Master, how about I lay out a floor bed for you so you can rest for a while too?"
Hugging Wu Yun, Chen Ji said calmly: "No need. I'm worried someone will come to search the Chen Estate again tonight. I won't be able to sleep."
Xiaoman let out an "Oh", her eyes rolling around: "Young Master, I heard from the City Defense Division Big Brothers earlier that the one who assassinated General Wang tonight was a Practitioner?"
Chen Ji gave an "Mhm".
Xiaoman secretly scrutinized him: "Do you want to become a Practitioner, ah?"
Chen Ji's gaze flickered slightly. He said nonchalantly: "I heard that Practitioners are all very mysterious and formidable. But even if I wanted to become a Practitioner, I have no opportunity, ah."
Xiaoman lowered her voice: "There is an opportunity."
Chen Ji turned his head to look at her: "Oh?"
Xiaoman puckered her lips toward Su Zhou on the bed: "Young Master, isn't the assassin right here? She is definitely a Practitioner. Let's tie her up and force her to hand over her Cultivation Pathway..."
Chen Ji was dumbfounded.
This Xiaoman wasn't old in age, yet she truly had thick skin and a black heart, completely lacking martial virtue!
Thinking about it, it made sense. The other party was sold to human traffickers since childhood. Over at the human traffickers, she even had to fight and scramble just for a bite to eat.
After arriving at the Chen Estate, although she stayed by Auntie's side for a period of time, Auntie also departed very soon after. Consequently, she once again became a rootless floating duckweed. Her days as a third-rank maid must have been very hard to endure, right? With no one to teach her right from wrong or reason, she could only ponder and figure out her own set of survival philosophies.
Like wild grass growing savagely on a cliff face, she could only continuously plunge her roots into the stone crevices, seizing the limited nutrients; only in this way could she survive.
However, she heard Xiaoman continue to tempt and bewitch: "I heard that once you cultivate an Official Path Gateway, as long as you aren't injured, you will be immune to all diseases and extend your lifespan; there are so many benefits! Not only that, but once you become a Practitioner, with your back straight, the people in this Chen Estate will never dare to bully you again!"
Chen Ji shook his head: "She is a friend of Prince Jing, and I am also a friend of Prince Jing. Although her actions are somewhat extreme, I cannot take advantage of her precarious situation at this time."
Xiaoman lowered her head: "Alright then... later on I'll think of other ways to get an Official Path Gateway for you."
Chen Ji asked casually, acting as if nothing happened: "You seem to understand Practitioners very well?"
Xiaoman panicked for an instant: "Ah? No no no! I just happened to go to the teahouses and heard the storytellers telling stories, and they mentioned it..."
Chen Ji roughly had two guesses in his heart. The first guess was: after his biological mother Madam Lu bought Xiaoman, seeing her pitiful background, she gave rise to feelings of compassion. Adding on that Xiaoman was clever and quick-witted, Madam Lu imparted the Jing Dynasty branch's Mandala Secret Seal to her, wanting to cultivate her as a trusted confidante.
It was just that shortly after Madam Lu imparted the Official Path Gateway to Xiaoman, due to certain reasons, she either died or fled, and didn't teach Xiaoman much else. As a result, besides possessing an Official Path Gateway, Xiaoman seemed just like a layman in all other aspects.
The second guess was: Xiaoman herself was originally a member of the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Division, and her Official Path Gateway also came from the Military Intelligence Division's teachings. She was someone planted by his uncle to stay by his side. The rawness and inexperience she displayed right now was all an act.
Chen Ji pondered over it again and again. He believed the probability of the first guess was high, and the probability of the second guess was low.
However, he simply didn't need any Official Path Gateway. Counting the Mountain Lord, Sword Seed, and the 'Cloud Obscuring' bestowed by the Inner Chancellor, Chen Ji already possessed three Cultivation Pathways on him!
While pondering, Chen Ji's thoughts were brought back to reality by a burst of clamor from outside the courtyard. Stroking Wu Yun on his lap, he opened the door to check, only to see Dongzhi, the first-rank maid serving by Madam Liang's side, currently waking up all the maids in the Qunfang Courtyard.
Chen Ji looked at the color of the sky. The sky hadn't even brightened yet, nor had the roosters crowed.
Holding Wu Yun, he stood outside the Mingquan Courtyard's doors and asked curiously: "Miss Dongzhi, what is the meaning of this?"
Dongzhi performed a Ten Thousand Blessings Greeting: "Replying to the Third Young Master, Master and Madam temporarily instructed us to quickly pack up the household's wealth and valuables. We will leave Luo City as soon as the sky brightens."
Chen Ji asked: "Are we heading directly to the Capital City together with the Zhang Family?"
Smiling, Dongzhi explained: "Replying to the Third Young Master, our Chen Family will travel alone, and will not travel together with anyone. Oh, right! You should also pack your things. The horse carriages are already parked outside the estate. Master and Madam are in the first carriage, Eldest Young Master is in the second carriage, Second Young Master is in the third carriage. You and Xiaoman will sit in the fourth carriage."
After saying that, she ignored Chen Ji altogether. Turning around, she yelled loudly: "Get up, all of you! Liqiu, you lead people to boil water and cook food! The rest of you follow me to the Wen Yun Hall to pack things up! Do your work more carefully for me today! If even a single item in the Wen Yun Hall breaks, even if I sell all of you, you won't be able to compensate for it!"
...
...
At the Mao Hour, the roosters crowed.
Inside the Chen Estate, the delicate and lively chatter of maids shuttling back and forth could be heard. They registered and cataloged the items to be taken away from the estate one by one, before loading them onto the horse carriages and ox carts parked outside Emerald Cloud Lane.
The doors of the Zhang Estate were tightly shut. It was deathly quiet, as if they weren't in any hurry to leave Luo City at all.
In the thin mist of the early morning, Chen Ji and Xiaoman carried a large wooden chest together, walking through the Chen Estate to cram it into the horse carriage. Some pages stepped forward to help, but were tactfully declined by him.
Seeing this scene, Dongzhi hurriedly moved to stop them: "Third Young Master, just place this chest onto the ox carts in the back! There's no need to put it inside the horse carriage taking up space. The ox carts are all equipped with tarpaulin covers, so you needn't fear snow or rain."
Crawling out from the horse carriage, Chen Ji dusted his palms and smiled as he explained: "Items I finally managed to save up with great difficulty... I feel more at ease keeping them by my side."
Turning around to return into the estate, Dongzhi withdrew her smile and muttered under her breath: "Heh, someone who hasn't seen the world. Those who don't know would think there was some massive amount of precious treasures saved up inside!"
After breakfast, the members of the Chen Family climbed into their horse carriages one after another, setting off hastily as if fleeing from a disaster. They harbored no lingering attachments. Chen Liqin and Madam Liang didn't even cast a second glance back at the Chen Estate. On the contrary, it was the maids who cried together in a mass.
Among the Chen Estate's maids, some were to return to the Capital City together with them, while others were left behind to look after the family property in Luo City. They separated thusly. To the people of this era, the distance between Luo City and the Capital City represented an entire lifetime.
In front of Chen Ji's horse carriage, Liqiu wiped her tears with a handkerchief while exhorting Xiaoman: "Once you return to the Chen Family's main mansion, don't foolishly butt heads against people anymore! Reign in that rotten temper of yours. Sometimes, when you can endure, then endure it."
Xiaoman's eye rims also turned red: "Mhm, I know, Sister Liqiu. But I just can't endure it."
Liqiu was angered into laughter by her words. Using her finger to poke Xiaoman's forehead, she said: "You little hussy, you always refuse to listen to what I say! There will come a time when you suffer a loss. When that time comes and others demote you back to a third-rank maid, and without me around, let's see what you do!"
Squatting on the seat where the carriage driver sat, Xiaoman's tears fell
pitter-patter
like falling droplets: "Sister Liqiu, you must live well in Luo City too, ah! Next year when you reach the age, hurry up and find a good family to marry into. After you marry, you absolutely must write me a letter..."
Crying, Liqiu asked: "What, are you also going to add a bit to my dowry?"
Xiaoman shook her head, wiping her tears while saying: "That's not it. I just wanted to offer my congratulations."
Liqiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I doted on you for nothing!"
From the first horse carriage came Chen Liqin's calm voice: "How long are you going to keep crying? Set off."
The page beside him hurriedly waved his arm: "Setting out! Setting out!"
The carriage driver sat sideways on one side of the horse carriage. Raising his whip and snapping it out, the carriage slowly started moving.
Liqiu chased forward two steps, forcefully stuffing the cloth bundle on her shoulder into Xiaoman's embrace: "Once you go to the Capital City, then stop constantly worrying about the people and matters in Luo City! Live your life well!"
"I know!"
Within the wobbling and swaying carriage, Xiaoman clung to the carriage and turned her head to look back. She watched the gate lintel of the Chen Estate growing further and further away, as well as the maids standing in their original spots. Her tears flowed uncontrollably.
A long time later, she crawled back into the carriage and sat down blankly: "Young Master, are we just leaving like this?"
Chen Ji squeezed himself together with the wooden chest, hugging Wu Yun in his arms: "Was Liqiu very good to you?"
The light from outside the window pierced through the gap in the curtains, gently sprinkling over Xiaoman's face: "In these deep mansions and massive estates, how can one be considered 'good'? If Young Master is talking about that life-saving grace type of 'good', then definitely not. It's just that whenever Wang Gui made things difficult for me—clearly it was time to eat, yet he suddenly made me go fetch water and sweep the floors; by the time I finished my work and went back, there was only burnt rice crust left in the pot that I couldn't even bite into. Whenever times like that occurred, Sister Liqiu would secretly leave a bowl of rice for me. To me, this was already considered very, very good."
Chen Ji gave an "Mhm": "Take a look and see what things she gave you."
Xiaoman unpacked the cloth bundle. Inside the bundle were squeezed Liu's Soap Beans from the Eastern Market, Nan Sheng's Rouge Paste, Dong Zhe Old Brand's Black Eyeliner Pencil...
Chen Ji subconsciously covered Wu Yun's ears. In the very next moment, Xiaoman sat inside the carriage and wailed loudly, crying like a child who hadn't grown up.
At this time, a burst of clamor interrupted her crying.
A maid rushed out from the Chen Estate, crying and shouting while chasing after the horse carriages. She followed closely by Chen Wenxiao's horse carriage at every step: "Second Young Master, are you not going to take me with you?! You said you'd take me to the Capital City together with you, ah! I've even conceived your own flesh and blood!"
Chen Wenxiao ordered his page in a panic: "What are you still standing there in a daze for?! Pull her away, ah!"
The page pulled the maid away, their figures gradually disappearing into the icy-cold thin mist behind them.
The Chen Family's horse carriages totaled eight, along with twenty-two ox carts pulling wealth, goods, and soft valuables. They took away eighteen maids and over forty pages and household servants. Wang Gui sat on the very last ox cart without uttering a single word. Because he had lost his identity as the steward, he couldn't even sit in a horse carriage now.
After traveling for roughly half a Shichen, the convoy arrived before the Northern City Gates.
Yet suddenly, someone loudly shouted from outside the carriages: "Lord Chen! Hahaha, Lord Chen, if you wanted to leave, why didn't you give me a heads up? You made me wait here for so long!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Chen Liqin cried 'Oh no' in his heart!
He lifted the window curtain to look holding, only to see Zhang Zhuo, Zhang Zhuo's legitimate wife Madam Xu, Zhang Xia, and Zhang Zheng currently sitting in a teahouse before the city gates, eating tofu brains and golden-bright fried dough sticks.
Below the city gate pass, the Zhang Family's hundreds of horse carriages formed a massively long queue, an incomparably spectacular sight! Not only were there flocks of maids and pages, they had even hired men and horses from Luo City's Liang Family Escort Agency as an escort!
Wiping his mouth, Zhang Zhuo walked out from the teahouse, laughing cheerfully: "Lord Chen, this Zhang has waited here for a long time! Let us travel back to the Capital City together, ah!"
(End of this chapter)