Though Little Butterfly didn’t understand the reason, she still covered her mouth with her hand.
The two of them waved at Little Butterfly, and she moved over to their side.
“Keep your voice down. There are guards outside, and the master could return at any moment.”
Little Butterfly nodded. Following the direction of their fingers, she indeed spotted several burly, black-clad, masked men at the corner of the cave.
She lowered her voice and said, “I understand.”
One of the round-faced women also whispered, “My name is Caiping, and this is my younger sister, Fangping.”
Little Butterfly’s gaze swept over the two sisters before she looked toward the door, leaning in to say, “We need to think of a way to escape.”
She recalled the recent tragedies. “Staying here, sooner or later, we’ll be tortured to death.”
Upon hearing her words, the two sisters shook their heads simultaneously.
The younger sister, Fangping, even raised her hands to shield her head, saying, “No! I’m scared!”
Caiping comforted her sister while explaining, “That man is cruel. The slightest displeasure, and he takes it out on us with a whip.”
As she spoke, Caiping wiped away her tears. “If we escape and are caught again, at best, we’ll lose half our lives; at worst, we’ll be beaten to death.”
“Besides, we have no idea where this place is or how many guards are outside. There’s no escaping.”
The two were clearly terrified by the beatings. Just mentioning Murong Hao made fear seep from their very bones.
Little Butterfly clenched her fists in anger. “That villain is probably sick in the head! A sadist!”
“Unable to deal with those stronger than him, he kidnaps innocent women and tortures us.”
Caiping was so frightened by her words that her eyes widened, and she hurriedly covered Little Butterfly’s mouth. “Please, keep your voice down.”
“If anyone hears, we’ll be in for another beating.”
Fangping nodded vigorously. “Yes, his spies are everywhere here.”
Little Butterfly looked at the two sisters and nodded silently. “I must find a way to escape. Will you come with me?”
The sisters exchanged a glance, then shook their heads in unison. “No, no, I don’t want to.”
Caiping comforted her sister. “Don’t be afraid, little sister. I’m here.”
Looking at them, Little Butterfly felt a lump in her throat. “Even if we obey obediently, that villain won’t spare us.”
“Haven’t you realized it yet? He clearly takes pleasure in bloodshed.”
“Even if I die, I’d rather die on the road than be tortured to death by him!”
Little Butterfly secretly made up her mind, vowing to escape no matter what.
In preparation for the grand sacrificial ceremony, the palace was bustling with activity.
As the year-end approached, Murong Yao handled memorials from various regions, while Empress Jiang Yuzhou oversaw all palace affairs. In the entire imperial palace, only Xiao Changning enjoyed her carefree leisure.
Just as Xiao Changning was practicing dance in Weiyang Palace, a sharp voice echoed from outside. “Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”
“Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress.”
Seeing her, Jiang Yuzhou looked delighted. “Sister Guifei, I’ve been exhausted these past few days.”
“Today, I finally have some free time. Would you accompany me for a stroll outside the palace?”
Go outside the palace?
Xiao Changning’s eyes lit up. Since arriving in Beiyuan, she had been confined within the palace’s four walls and had never once witnessed the bustling world beyond.
“Your Majesty!” Xiao Changning excitedly trotted over to Jiang Yuzhou. “Do we need Bixia’s permission to leave the palace?”
Jiang Yuzhou chuckled and said, “I am, after all, the Empress. Do I really need Murong Yao’s permission just to leave the palace?”
“Don’t worry, sister Guifei.”
She promptly offered reassurance, “You can hide in my carriage. As long as we return to the palace before the gates are locked at dusk, nothing will go wrong.”
Xiao Changning looked at the Empress’s kind invitation and thought for a moment. These past few days, the Empress had always taken good care of her and helped her a lot, making her a good friend in the Beiyuan Imperial Palace.
“Alright.”
The Empress snapped her fingers, “Great.”
Then she took Xiao Changning into the sleeping palace and brought out two sets of ordinary civilian clothes.
After changing, the two got into the carriage and headed straight for the palace gate. Just as Jiang Yuzhou had said, they passed through without any hindrance.
Jiang Yuzhou and Xiao Changning parked the carriage in a small alley in Jincheng and quietly slipped out without bringing any attendants.
“Sister.” Jiang Yuzhou pulled Xiao Changning along and softly called out to her.
She leaned close to Xiao Changning’s ear and whispered, “We sneaked out of the palace, so we mustn’t let anyone know our identities.”
“We’ll address each other as sisters.”
Xiao Changning, caught up in the excitement, nodded repeatedly. Her smile was beautiful, with crystal-like eyes and a sweet, curved mouth that resembled a pair of parentheses.
The two looked exactly like “country bumpkins,” finding everything new and exciting. Even if a crowd was packed tightly, they would crane their necks to get a closer look at the commotion.
They were like rabbits let loose.
It wasn’tt until the sun slowly moved to the center of the sky that the two, who had been bouncing around all morning, finally felt hungry.
Jiang Yuzhou pulled her along and casually walked into a restaurant called Kelai Restaurant.
The main hall was filled with guests, and on the central stage, a girl was singing.
The two sat in a private room on the second floor, which was elevated and offered a view overlooking the entire restaurant.
Before long, the waiter brought up several signature dishes.
Jiang Yuzhou said, “Before I entered the palace, I often skipped classes with Murong Yao to come here and eat.”
“Kelai Restaurant’s roast duck is a specialty of Jincheng. Sister, you must try it.”
Xiao Changning looked at the roast duck, which was perfect in color, aroma, and taste, and couldn’t help but dig in eagerly. “It’s delicious.”
She turned to Jiang Yuzhou and asked, “Did Murong Yao attend the Grand Tutor’s lectures with you?”
“Not exactly.”
Jiang Yuzhou replied, “When he was young, he was very mischievous. Several Grand Tutors couldn’t handle him.”
Hearing this, Xiao Changning immediately became interested. “Sister, tell me more, tell me more.”
Jiang Yuzhou put down her chopsticks and said, “I remember once, when he was seven, he took a hornet’s nest from a tree and threw it into the outhouse while the Grand Tutor was using it.”
“The Grand Tutor was stung all over with venomous welts and resigned that very day.”
She grew more animated as she spoke, “When he was eight, the late emperor sent another highly respected Grand Tutor. Murong Yao stuffed insects into the Grand Tutor’s books.”
“As a result, all the rare books in his study were chewed up by the insects.”
As they talked, the two burst into laughter together.
Xiao Changning clutched her stomach, laughing so hard she was out of breath. “Those two were really unlucky to run into such a troublemaker.”
Jiang Yuzhou sighed helplessly, “Later on, the late emperor gave up on this son of his.”
“Give up? As in letting things take their own course?” Xiao Changning asked suspiciously, “Then why did he ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor?”
“That year, on his tenth birthday banquet…”
Driven by curiosity, Xiao Changning pressed further, “What happened?”