“Miss, these are all the horses we have in our shop. They’re ten taels of silver each. Which one do you like?” the shop assistant said, pointing at the tall, handsome horses in the stable.
Shen Qingyao didn’t really know how to choose a horse, but she still pretended she did. She walked past every stall one by one.
As she walked, she nodded thoughtfully, looking so knowledgeable that anyone watching would think she was an expert.
To her, however, all the horses looked about the same.
In the end, she casually pointed at a tall, sturdy horse.
“I’ll take this one.”
The shop assistant immediately praised her.
“Miss, you have excellent taste. This horse is tall, strong, and absolutely first-rate.”
Shen Qingyao smiled happily at the compliment.
Of course, she knew the assistant was only saying it to flatter her.
But no matter who you are, it feels nice to be praised.
Even if it’s not completely sincere, it’s still pleasant.
Besides, the man was putting in the effort to make her happy.
Why bother worrying about whether it was true?
The assistant then led Shen Qingyao to where the carriages were kept.
Ten carriages were lined up neatly in a row.
He introduced them one by one.
“Miss, these cost five taels, these are ten taels, these are fifteen taels, and these are twenty taels.”
There were carriages for every budget.
The price differences mainly came down to the materials used and their size.
Shen Qingyao quickly looked over all the carriages before stopping at a medium-sized one.
“I’ll take this one.”
She pointed at it.
She didn’t choose the finest carriage.
This one wasn’t too shabby, but it wasn’t luxurious either.
Most importantly, it wasn’t eye-catching.
That way, she was less likely to attract unwanted attention on the road.
The assistant nodded and calculated the total.
“Miss, the horse is ten taels, and this medium carriage is another ten taels. That’s twenty taels altogether. We’ll include the saddle as a complimentary gift.”
Shen Qingyao nodded, immediately took out her money pouch, and handed him the payment.
She didn’t know whether the saddle was good or bad.
But she knew that a complimentary saddle was probably just the most ordinary kind, worth perhaps around one tael of silver.
It didn’t matter.
If it broke later, she could always buy another one.
For now, it would do.
Money changed hands.
The goods changed hands.
The assistant respectfully escorted Shen Qingyao out through the back courtyard.
Customers usually left that way after purchasing a carriage, since the front entrance wasn’t wide enough for one to pass through.
After leaving the mule and horse market, Shen Qingyao drove the carriage toward the City Gate.
Today, she was officially beginning her grand journey of traveling the world.
When she reached the City Gate, the guards stopped her.
Since the Imperial Palace, the Prime Minister’s Residence, and the Duke’s Residence had all been robbed, security throughout Yunjing had become extremely strict.
Every horse carriage and ox cart had to stop for a thorough inspection.
Shen Qingyao halted the carriage, jumped down, and stood calmly to one side.
She wasn’t worried in the slightest.
Everything was stored inside her Space, so there was nothing for them to find.
Besides, her carriage only contained a small bundle, two quilts, two water flasks, and several sets of plain clothes.
There was nothing else inside.
After carefully searching the carriage, the soldiers let her pass.
Leaving Yunjing behind, Shen Qingyao headed south.
Along the way, she passed a ruined temple.
It was the very same temple where she had abandoned Liang Xinxin.
She merely glanced at it before driving on.
Whether Liang Xinxin lived or died had nothing to do with her.
However, Shen Qingyao didn’t actually leave Yunjing immediately.
Instead, she flashed onto the top of the City Wall and discovered that no one was guarding it.
An evil smile spread across her face.
Yesterday, she had taken photographs of the scumbag and the vicious woman.
She had already developed the photos.
The technology from her previous life was incredibly advanced and could produce images in whatever style she wanted.
Whether she wanted an oil painting or a traditional Chinese painting, it could be done with ease.
She had developed the photos in the style of traditional Chinese paintings.
On the back of each photograph, she had written the person’s name and status.
She made thirty copies of each.
Standing atop the City Wall, she waved her hand and scattered the photographs into the air.
The instant they floated down, she flashed back to her horse carriage.
No one noticed her.
That way, no one could trace it back to her.
After all, by then she was already far away from the City Gate.
Below the gate, countless commoners were lining up for inspections.
Every face wore an expression of numb exhaustion.
The past few days, all of Yunjing had been in chaos.
As ordinary people, they were questioned every single day until they were sick of it.
If they really had the ability to rob the palace, would they still be living such miserable lives?
It was utterly ridiculous.
As the photographs drifted down, everyone instinctively bent over to pick one up.
The moment they looked at them…
They were stunned.
What was this?
Some of the commoners could read.
Others could not.
Those who were literate read the words carved onto the faces in the pictures aloud.
“Scumbag, Go Die.”
“Vicious Woman Deserves to Die!”
Then they turned the photographs over.
The writing on the back made their eyes widen in shock.
Their hands trembled so badly they nearly dropped the photographs.
Heavens!
The man in the picture was His Majesty.
The woman was the Empress.
How could His Majesty and the Empress look like this?
Thinking back to the mysterious papers that had fallen from the sky a few days earlier, along with everything written on them…
Everyone reached the same conclusion.
His Majesty and the Empress had definitely been targeted for revenge.
But who could possibly have taken revenge against them?
Could it have been the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister’s Residence, the one who had been deceived?
Then again…
That didn’t seem possible.
If she truly possessed such abilities, how could she have been fooled so completely by those two?
No matter how they thought about it, nothing made sense.
The soldiers naturally saw the photographs as well.
Compared with the commoners, they thought much further ahead.
If His Majesty and the Empress had truly become like this, then neither of them could continue occupying their current positions.
After all, someone with severe facial disfigurement was unfit to sit upon the Dragon Throne.
His Majesty would likely be forced off the throne before long.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Palace had already fallen into complete chaos.
His Majesty and the Empress had both been attacked.
Yet the Imperial Guards hadn’t noticed a thing.
Shen Shuyan clutched her scorched hair as she stared at her disfigured reflection in the bronze mirror.
She screamed hysterically.
“Ah! My face! My face! Who was it? Who ruined my face? How am I supposed to face anyone ever again?”
All the palace maids and eunuchs knelt on the floor, trembling violently.
Not a single one dared step forward.
The Empress had been disfigured.
That was their failure.
Especially the two palace maids who had stood watch the previous night.
They were so terrified they nearly fainted.
They had clearly remained outside the entire night.
They hadn’t heard the slightest sound.
So how had the Empress ended up disfigured?
Just as every palace maid and eunuch was shaking in fear, Cui Liu hurried back with an Imperial Physician.
Cui Liu was the first to discover that the Empress’s face had been ruined. Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately ran to summon the Imperial Physicians.
Only two Imperial Physicians came to the Empress’s Palace.
The moment Shen Shuyan saw there were only two of them, she flew into a rage.
“Why are there only two Imperial Physicians? Where are the others? Are they all dead?”
Her face had been ruined like this.
The entire Imperial Medical Academy should have been summoned.
No matter what, they absolutely had to restore her face.
Cui Liu bowed respectfully.
“Replying to Your Majesty, all the other Imperial Physicians have gone to His Majesty’s bedchamber.”
Shen Shuyan froze for a moment.
A thought quickly occurred to her.
Could it be…
Had the Emperor also been disfigured like her?
Just like the guards at the City Gate, she immediately realized a crucial point.
An Emperor whose face had been disfigured could never remain on the Dragon Throne.
The court officials and members of the Imperial Family would certainly do everything they could to force him off the throne.
At that moment, Shen Shuyan didn’t care in the slightest whether Xiao Jingyu was in pain.
The only thing she cared about was what would happen to her if Xiao Jingyu was no longer the Emperor.
Before she could think any further, however, the two Imperial Physicians began examining her face.
As they examined her, they repeatedly shook their heads.
Meanwhile, in the Emperor’s Bedchamber…
The room was packed with Imperial Physicians.
As they looked at the Emperor’s completely ruined face, every one of them was helpless.
The wounds on his face were simply too severe.
Every cut was so deep that the bone was visible.
None of them possessed the skill to restore His Majesty’s face to its original appearance.
“Imperial Physicians, how is it? Can my face still be treated?” Xiao Jingyu asked anxiously.
The Imperial Physicians remained silent.
One after another, they knelt to the floor.
“Please forgive us, Your Majesty. We are powerless.”
Those four words—
We are powerless.
They struck Xiao Jingyu like a heavy hammer to the chest.
“Impossible! How can it be impossible to cure? I order you to think of a solution immediately!”
Xiao Jingyu roared at the Imperial Physicians.
The Imperial Physicians could only kneel with their heads lowered.
They truly had no solution.
Whoever had attacked him had been utterly ruthless.
Meanwhile, Shen Qingyao continued driving her horse carriage south.
After traveling for half a day, night fell before she found anywhere to stay.
She had no choice but to drive into a small forest nearby.
After finding a secluded spot and confirming there was no one around, Shen Qingyao climbed into the carriage.
When she came back out, she was carrying a bundle of firewood and a small cooking pot filled over halfway with water.
She even had two packets of instant noodles clenched between her teeth.
She quickly built a fire, set the pot over it, and began heating the water.
She set the instant noodles aside for the moment.
Then she reached into her sleeve and pulled out two sausages and a packet of shredded kelp.
She first poured the shredded kelp into the pot.
Then she tore open the sausage wrappers, broke the sausages into pieces, and tossed them into the water.
Once the water came to a boil, she added both packets of instant noodles.
Three minutes later, she removed the pot from the fire.
The moment she lifted the lid, a rich aroma drifted through the air.
Shen Qingyao sniffed deeply.
“Ah… it smells amazing!”
She reached into her sleeve again and took out a pair of chopsticks.
Picking up a large mouthful of noodles, she blew on them several times before happily slurping them into her mouth.
Delicious.
Absolutely delicious.
People always said instant noodles were junk food.
But she thought instant noodles were one of mankind’s greatest inventions.
How could something this tasty be considered junk?
As Shen Qingyao happily slurped her noodles, her ears suddenly twitched.
Rustling sounds came from behind her.
Her brows immediately furrowed.
She quickly swallowed the noodles in her mouth and fixed a sharp gaze toward the source of the sound.
“Who’s there?”
Her voice was cold and stern.
If one listened carefully, there was even a trace of killing intent hidden within it.
In the middle of the night, any sound coming from a forest would put anyone on guard.
Not long after her words fell, a figure slowly stepped out from behind a large tree.
Shen Qingyao narrowed her eyes.
When she saw the figure’s height, she froze.
It was a child.
Judging by his size, he was only about eight or nine years old.
As he came closer, she saw he was a little boy.
He was so thin that he was little more than skin and bones.
His oversized clothes hung loosely from his body.
Although they didn’t fit, they were spotlessly clean.
There wasn’t a trace of flesh on his face.
His cheeks were deeply sunken, yet his little face had been carefully washed clean.
“Elder Sister…”
the little boy called softly.
His eyes, however, kept drifting toward the pot of instant noodles.
He couldn’t help swallowing.
It smelled wonderful.
Far too wonderful.
He hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a very long time.
The last thing he’d eaten was a steamed bun he had begged for two days ago.
Seeing the boy reduced to skin and bones, Shen Qingyao’s heart softened involuntarily.
But then she thought of Liang Xinxin—that ungrateful wretch.
Her heart immediately hardened again.
She had no desire to save another ungrateful person.
Yet when she looked into the boy’s clear, innocent eyes as he gazed at her…
Her resolve wavered once more.
Silently cursing herself for being soft-hearted, she finally stood up and walked over to the carriage.
When she returned, she had an extra bowl and a pair of chopsticks in her hands.
Without saying a word, she walked over to the cooking pot.
She noticed that neither the pot nor the chopsticks had been touched.
Everything was exactly where she had left it.
She nodded slightly.
This child was well-mannered.
He knew better than to touch someone else’s belongings without permission.
Shen Qingyao’s impression of him improved a little.
On top of that, although the little boy looked miserable, he was exceptionally clean.
That earned him quite a few extra points in her mind.
Taking the bowl, Shen Qingyao filled it with instant noodles and ladled in some broth before handing it to him.
“Eat.”
The little boy’s eyes immediately lit up.
He stretched out his thin, bony hands and carefully accepted the bowl.
Instead of wolfing down the noodles right away, he respectfully bowed deeply to Shen Qingyao.
“Thank you, Elder Sister.”
Only after straightening up did he sit on the ground and begin eating the noodles.
Even while eating, his movements were graceful and refined.
It was obvious he had once received a good upbringing.
Shen Qingyao watched him thoughtfully, her eyes flickering slightly.
Then she continued eating her own noodles.
After the meal, Shen Qingyao picked up the pot, intending to wash it.
She knew there was a small river beside the forest.
Just as she was about to head there, the little boy stood up on his own.
“Elder Sister, I’ll wash the dishes.”
Shen Qingyao didn’t refuse.
She simply handed him the pot and the chopsticks.
To her, it was perfectly reasonable.
She had treated the little boy to dinner.
The little boy would wash the dishes.
Fair enough.
The little boy accepted the pot and smiled shyly at Shen Qingyao.
Only then did he turn and walk toward the river.