Looking at the group of caged women displayed before her, Li Ruoshui was certain this was the location described in the original book.
However, when Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian arrived in the novel, there were far fewer people—only two or three girls in cages and far fewer masked men surrounding the courtyard, which had allowed the duo to easily capture their leader.
However, with so many masked men in the yard and who knew how many more inside the building, how were they supposed to rescue anyone?
To the side, a deep frown marred Lu Feiyue’s face as she seriously considered possible solutions.
Jiang Nian had already scaled the roof from the back of the house to gather information. He returned to Lu Feiyue’s side shortly after, shaking his head with a grave expression. “Many guards are resting inside, probably about the same number as in the yard. A direct assault is not a good idea.”
Hearing this, Lu Feiyue straightened up and surveyed their surroundings.
This was a remote location. Even if they launched a signal flare, reinforcements wouldn’t arrive anytime soon. They couldn’t allow these women to be sold off to other places. After all, once sold, who knew if they would ever be found again.
Her gaze shifted to the side, to the blind Lord Lu Zhiyao.
He was lounging comfortably among the tree branches. A swaying pear blossom branch, moved by the wind, hid half of his face, revealing only a refined jawline and hair like black satin. (T_T)
He didn’t look like someone who had endured hardships to get here, but rather a tourist out for a spring outing.
There’s a significant reason why Lu Feiyue had followed them here was because of her trust in Li Ruoshui.
You could often judge a person’s character by their eyes. Li Ruoshui’s eyes were clear, without malice. But this Lord Lu… She found him somewhat indecipherable.
Although he always smiled and put on a pleasant appearance— as even Jiang Nian said he seemed like a good person—she had a strange feeling in her gut. She didn’t like him.
Her intuition also told her it would be best to keep her distance.
However in this situation, with his help, would markedly increase their chances of success.
Lu Feiyue’s gaze moved to the space in front of Lu Zhiyao. A figure dressed in goose-yellow robes knelt there with her neck turned to look in their direction.
She truly didn’t comprehend how someone like Li Ruoshui could be involved with someone like him. Was it simply because he had saved her before?
Li Ruoshui noticed the puzzled look in Lu Feiyue’s eyes and misinterpreted it as her asking if she had any ideas or solutions to the problem at hand. ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
However, what solution could there be for a situation like this?
All they had were their weapons. Besides retreating or charging in recklessly, there were no other options.
One must learn to position oneself appropriately. For instance, in this situation, if they had to fight, Lu Zhiyao should take the lead.
Lost in thought, Li Ruoshui turned to look back at Lu Zhiyao. On the branch behind her, he sat with his legs bent and eyes gently closed. Pockets of light and shadow from the flowers shimmered across his body. He resembled a meditating Buddha statue with his closed eyes. He seemed to radiate an indescribable aura of peace and tranquility.
In one hand, he played with a cluster of unripe, green mulberries he had picked who-knows-when. On the other, a small sparrow perched upon his fingertips.
She had seen a wild mulberry bush in the pear forest earlier, but since the fruit was still unripe, she had just moved on and ignored them. When did he pick these?
The sparrow stared with its beady eyes at the mulberries in his hand, wanting to hop forward and peck at one, but he always moved it away just before it could.
After a few rounds of this, Lu Zhiyao let out a soft laugh. Just as Li Ruoshui thought he was about to feed the bird, he raised his hand and shooed it away.
Perhaps because the nearby pear trees hadn’t borne fruit yet and there was little to eat, the greedy sparrow fluttered its wings and flew back, only to be struck in the tail feathers mid-flight by a hard, green mulberry.
A grayish-black feather drifted down from its rear, spiraling to the ground.
He smiled while shaking the fruit in his hand. His expression was gentle and his words soft and light: “Be good.”
The sparrow chirped angrily a few times, gave him another beady-eyed stare, and flew off. It seemed to have fled in defeat.
“It’s probably cursing you out,” Li Ruoshui said, somewhat speechless. Why pick on an innocent little bird? And you knocked off one of its tail feathers too.
Lu Zhiyao raised his brows, his closed eyes facing forward. Pear blossom petals fell into his black hair like snow, adding to his soft appearance. Only his words remained unpleasant. “Oh? You understand the language of birds?”
“You’re staring at me again.”
“Yes, yes, I’m staring at you because you’re good-looking, alright?”
Ignoring his soft chuckling, Li Ruoshui rolled her eyes and turned to check the situation nearby. Finding everything as it was before, she turned back to continue cozying up to him. “Do you know what’s going down below?”
Lu Zhiyao’s face, partially obscured by a branch above, seemed illusory. Hearing her question, he pointed to his own eyes. “I can’t see.”
“There are ten girls locked in cages down there, surrounded by many guards. We need to save them.”
“That does sound rather pitiful,” Lu Zhiyao nodded. “If I don’t save them, does that prove your dream is false?”
“…” She could definitely see him doing that.
Li Ruoshui looked at him carefully and uttered a phrase of timeless wisdom: “Sigh, we’re already here. Might as well make the most of it.” [1]
She couldn’t quite gauge his thoughts. Lu Zhiyao was capricious; who knew if he would agree?
Lu Zhiyao played with the mulberries in his hand without speaking. It seemed he had sunk into deep thought.
Suddenly, ten coachmen with honest-looking faces, dressed for the role, emerged from the second floor. They held horse whips and set one foot onto the carriage’s step. Strangely, they stopped right there and stared blankly ahead without making a single sound. Their faces were wooden and the light in their eyes dull.
A man completely covered in black clothing lifted a cage labeled ‘Yao Province.’ The young woman inside was carried along with the cage to the side of a carriage.
The bottom of the carriage opened, revealing a square, dark compartment. Ignoring the girl’s weak struggles, they placed the cage inside. A wooden panel was fitted snugly over the opening, leaving only a few small holes for air.
Subsequently, the other cages in the yard were also lifted and hidden in the carriages one after another.
Just as Li Ruoshui turned to look at Lu Zhiyao, he spoke. “You want me to help you. That way, not only do you save them, but you’d also win the bet.”
He always stated the bluntest truths in the gentlest of tones.
Li Ruoshui didn’t deny it, answering him directly. “Yes.”
“Alright.” Lu Zhiyao raised the mulberries in his hand as his closed eyelashes curved upwards. “Want some fruit?”
Looking at the fruit the sparrow had coveted for so long, Li Ruoshui suddenly understood.
His current greater interest was in making her eat this. Saving people, the bet—everything else had to take a back seat. Satisfying his immediate whim was paramount.
Even if she couldn’t see what was so interesting about eating fruit.
Each caged girl wept softly, bereft of any hope of escape, waiting to be loaded into that dark scary space. Unknown of their future.
The girl in the cage labeled ‘Imperial City’ gripped the iron bars with one trembling hand. Gazing in the direction of the pear blossom trees, she wept freely. Her face quickly became soaked with tears, causing even the black-clad men carrying her cage to hesitate momentarily.
“Stop looking at her. Last time, someone softened his heart and ended up with his eyes gouged out and ended up as a useless cripple.”
The black-clad man quickly nodded but couldn’t help following her gaze in that direction. “What is she looking at?”
“I don’t know.”
The two looked over together. The other masked men in the yard, curious about what they were staring at, also followed their lead and looked up.
Lu Feiyue followed their line of sight and saw Li Ruoshui and Lu Zhiyao, who were whispering to each other.
Lu Zhiyao, eyes closed, was smiling softly, picking at the green fruit in his hand. Li Ruoshui crouched before him, looking exasperated.
Neither noticed the gathering of gazes upon them.
The cluster of mulberries in his jade white palms weren’t large, but each berry was green and hard to the touch. The green and white complemented each other actually, it was quite beautiful to see. However, Li Ruoshui wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it at the moment. All she felt in the moment was her teeth aching from anticipation.
Li Ruoshui gave a wry smile. The bird wanted to eat these but didn’t get to, and now they’re going into my mouth.
Can he actually see me?
Li Ruoshui couldn’t resist waving her hand in front of his eyes, only for him to catch it. “I really am blind. No need to test me. Are you ready?”
???
Sighing lightly, Li Ruoshui grabbed his wrist. The white jade prayer beads on his wrist clinked against one another. Their coldness penetrated deeper than her skin’s surface, making her shiver.
Without further hesitation, Li Ruoshui grabbed ahold of his hand, tilted her head back, and stuffed her mouth with the whole cluster. The unripe mulberries were green and hard and the moment she bit into them, an alarmingly sour juice flooded her mouth. Saliva rushed forth, her teeth felt weak, and she reflexively shuddered. (>﹏<)
This time, it wasn’t from the cold. It was from the sourness.
Feeling Li Ruoshui’s tremor, Lu Zhiyao let out a low laugh, as amused as if he’d heard the sound of a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Meanwhile, Lu Feiyue, watching Li Ruoshui’s pained expression from the other side, was growing frantic inside. How could they be tasting mulberries at a time like this?!
She waved her hand, trying to get Li Ruoshui’s attention, but Li Ruoshui had shut her eyes after being overwhelmed by the sourness and couldn’t see a thing.
A black-clad man distinguished the hanging corner of a robe from the expanse of snowy whiteness.
He yelled, “There’s someone over there!” Then leapt upwards towards them.
Unfortunately for him, a pebble struck his knee as he was mid leap. A small patch of his black robe instantly darkened with moisture. He cried out and fell back down.
Lu Zhiyao’s smile faded slightly. He stood up, looking as delighted as if touched by a spring breeze, grabbed Li Ruoshui, and flew down into the courtyard with her. “Now, it’s time for me to fulfill our agreement and help you save them.”
Picking that cluster of fruit was indeed the right choice. This is much more fun than teasing a bird.
Seeing Lu Zhiyao take action, the other two hesitated no longer and dropped down from the tree as well.
A woman dressed in plain white mourning clothes appeared at a second-floor window. A white silk flower adorned her hair. She wasn’t old, seemingly around twenty five or twenty six. However, her expression did not suit her age as she seemed steady and austere.
The woman in white scanned them, her gaze pausing on Lu Zhiyao. As she did so, her pupils constricted sharply. Her previously composed expression twisted into one of pure hatred. The hand gripping the windowsill turned white with force.
“Bastard!”
Her angry exclamation came with such vitriol that it didn’t just shock Li Ruoshui and the others, but also the group of guards surrounding the house courtyard also turned to look at the woman in white in surprise.
The shock within their gazes in particular was akin to that of seeing a pampered and sheltered young lady roll up her sleeves and uproot a willow tree by digging with her bare hands.
The woman in white was so angry her eyes and face reddened almost immediately. Forgetting everything else, she grabbed her sword and charged straight at Lu Zhiyao.
The masked men surrounding them hadn’t expected her to join the fray. For a moment, they didn’t know whether to join her or to just stand back.
The woman in white, eyes blazing with fury, attacked with fierce and sharp moves. Lu Zhiyao was her sole target.
Unfortunately for her, she was no match for him. Her numerous strikes could only meet his sword. She didn’t even manage to push him back a single step.
Lu Zhiyao parried her moves while trying to recall. “Your style is familiar. I think I’ve fought it before. But that was long ago. I can’t quite remember.”
These words were like pouring oil onto the fire, making the woman’s face flush even redder with rage. Her sword thrust forward incessantly. “Seize him! I don’t care if he’s dead or alive!”
Finally, with a clear order coming from the woman in white, the surrounding guards all converged on him. Li Ruoshui and the other two stood outside the encirclement, treated like they were nonexistent.
Although they were fully prepared to enter the fray, Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian suddenly paused in place and retreated to shield Li Ruoshui, who lacked the martial skills to defend herself.
Watching the figure at the center of the encirclement and hearing his raucous laughter, Li Ruoshui also couldn’t help but take a step back.
This was the first time in her life she had seen someone so utterly insane.
Chapter Notes
[1] 来都来了 or ‘lai dou lai le’, is a very common phrase used to justify doing something despite the consequences. Simply because you have already invested the effort. Kinda like the “in for a penny, in for a pound” attitude. Aka, sunk cost fallacy.