Chapter 20: Jiang Zhuoying, still with her head down, didn't move as she was picked up. ...
Jiang Zhuoying kept her head down and didn't move.
Qi Fan exhaled a breath of stale air, took two steps forward, bent down, and picked up the cloth bundle from the ground.
It's tiny and light, with absolutely no weight.
He straightened up, clutching the bundle, when two light pieces of cloth unexpectedly fell out.
The man casually reached out and thought it was two handkerchiefs, but a casual glance at the ribbons hanging on them made him pause.
Jiang Zhuoying kept her head down and waited for a while, but there was still no sound behind her.
Fearing she had gone too far, she slowly turned around and secretly glanced at the situation behind her.
If the Second Prince gets tired of her behavior and turns away, she will suffer a great loss.
But what did she see?!
Jiang Zhuoying's face flushed bright red. She staggered to her feet and lunged toward the man.
"What...what are you doing?!"
The girl was extremely embarrassed and angry, her whole face flushed red, and she glared at the other person with tearful eyes.
She simply asked Xiangyue to pack her things and put some handkerchiefs and loose silver inside.
When exactly did she put this undergarment inside?!
Jiang Zhuoying lunged forward, attempting to snatch the bundle from the man's hands.
But whether it was because she pulled too hard or because the man never let go, the tie on the thin fabric snapped with a 'whoosh'.
It broke apart.
Jiang Zhuoying clutched the piece of crimson fabric in her hand, and uncontrollably fell backward...
"save……"
Before she could even cry out in surprise, a long arm grabbed her waist.
Jiang Zhuoying lunged forward again, this time landing directly in the man's arms, the sweet and cool scent of sandalwood instantly filling her senses.
"I, you... sob sob..."
Jiang Zhuoying cried for real this time; she felt truly humiliated!
The tiny bundle in his arms was crying softly, and Qi Fan felt a sharp pain in his head.
He pursed his lips, his face stern: "I didn't see it."
"What do you see?" the little girl cried, her voice hoarse.
"Your undergarment."
The soft body in his arms stiffened noticeably, and then she cried even more bitterly.
The man's lips were tightly pressed together, the corners of his mouth pursed into a straight line...
He stood frozen in place, his arms hanging limply at his sides, realizing he had just blurted it out.
A hint of annoyance flashed across his face, which was usually as cold as ice.
He waited a few moments, but the girl in his arms seemed to be made of water, sobbing and choking, showing no sign of stopping.
"Don't cry."
It sounded a bit awkward, but he didn't know what else to say besides those words.
This was the first time he had ever experienced such a scene.
Jiang Zhuoying covered her face and stepped out of his embrace, sobbing, her thin, slender shoulders still trembling.
"Are you not homeless? You may stay at my villa for the time being."
The man frowned, his voice indifferent, suggesting he wasn't genuinely inviting him.
Jiang Zhuoying bit her lip: "No need. Your Highness doesn't like me anyway, so it's best not to force yourself."
Upon hearing this, Qi Fan's expression darkened further, and he pursed his thin lips, remaining silent.
Jiang Zhuoying lowered her head, then turned back to pick up her handkerchiefs.
She raised her hand seemingly unintentionally and touched the only beaded flower in her hair. As her sleeve fell down, the whip marks on her arm were revealed.
Reddish whip marks were haphazardly imprinted on the girl's arm, varying in shade.
At first glance, the years since the injury seem to have been recent and distant, but it has never stopped.
Jiang Zhuoying only revealed herself for a few breaths. If it was too short, she was afraid the Second Prince wouldn't see it; if it was too long, she was afraid he would notice something amiss.
The man noticed it, his expression hardening as he turned to look at the little girl's face.
The girl had just cried, and her face was still flushed, with scattered tear tracks on her cheeks, and a few teardrops would occasionally slide down her cheeks.
Jiang Zhuoying pretended not to know the movements of the person behind her, and only focused on picking up her handkerchief...
Suddenly her arm was grabbed, and Jiang Zhuoying immediately struggled to dodge to the side without thinking: "No, don't hit me!"
"Who hit you?"
A cold, icy remark made Jiang Zhuoying immediately stop struggling. She cautiously looked up and met those deep, dark eyes.
"Who hit you?"
The man, with a blank expression, repeated the words again, his lips slightly pursed.
The girl seemed to suddenly realize something and kept shaking her head: "No, no one hit me. This is what I deserve. It's because I failed to do my job well."
After saying that, she lowered her head again: "Didn't Your Highness also say that servants should be treated more strictly?"
Qi Fan remained silent.
"Your Highness, please let go. I need to hurry into the city."
"If we wait too long, these handkerchiefs won't sell."
The little girl's voice was both soft and hoarse; soft was her natural voice, and hoarse was from crying for so long.
Now that the topic has come up, Qi Fan thought of her fiancé, who might be living in Luojing City.
The man released his grip with a blank expression.
Jiang Zhuoying picked up the handkerchiefs from the ground, carefully patted off the dust, folded them neatly, and put them back in her bundle.
As she looked at the broken bodice inside the bundle, her snow-white ears slowly turned crimson.
Jiang Zhuoying bit her lip as she packed her bundle, then stood up and curtsied, saying, "Then this servant will take her leave."
She turned around with her head down, and the man in front of her unexpectedly did not stop her.
Jiang Zhuoying frowned slightly, and as she turned around, she raised her hand to touch the beaded flower in her hair.
The sleeve slipped down again, revealing the scars on the forearm once more...
She wiped away her tears again, but still didn't hear the man tell her to stop.
She looked so pitiful, was this man's heart made of stone?!
Jiang Zhuoying took two steps forward angrily, it seemed she still had to rely on her next strategy.
If she had followed her original plan, she would have pretended to faint if something seemed amiss.
But now she has a new idea.
The man had clearly let her stay, which meant he was somewhat swayed, but then seemed to have changed his mind, which meant she hadn't done enough.
She needed to gain the Second Prince's trust; simply forcing him to bring her back to the manor wouldn't be what she wanted.
We must seize this opportunity.
The petite figure gradually receded into the distance, moving slowly but steadily forward.
From behind, she appears extremely delicate, yet her stubbornness is undeniable.
Chu Yixin was still standing not far away, watching the melon, when he saw his master take the initiative to pinch the girl's arm, he couldn't help but tighten his grip on his whisk.
But in the end, the girl slowly walked away into the distance...
The master, however, remained standing there, gazing at that beautiful figure, lost in thought.
Chu Yixin pondered for a few seconds, but still couldn't resist stepping forward: "Sir, why don't you see Miss Jiang off?"
"She's a young woman; if she were to walk all the way to Luoyang on her own two legs, who knows how long it would take her?"
The man gave him a cold look: "She doesn't need me to take her."
Upon hearing this, Chu Yixin immediately shut up.
*
Jiang Zhuoying walked slowly, partly because she still had to go back to see Xiangyue, and the more she walked now, the more she would have to back up later.
Secondly, she was indeed tired from walking.
The dust rose higher and higher, and the sound of horses' hooves and wheels rolling behind her grew closer as the Second Prince's entourage sped past her.
Chu Yixin kept watching the girl through the carriage window until her figure shrank to a tiny dot...
He glanced at his master's face, opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't say what he was about to say.
...
As soon as Jiang Zhuoying saw the carriage disappear, she turned around and walked back. She had only walked a few dozen steps when she met Xiangyue, who had rushed over.
"Miss, why didn't you leave with the Second Prince? Has something happened?"
Xiangyue stepped forward, took the bundle from her shoulder, and held her arm, asking her questions earnestly.
Jiang Zhuoying sighed, then gritted her teeth: "The Second Prince is too difficult to approach."
"Oh? Then...why don't you come back with me, young lady? We'll think of another way. Tonight, I'll have the kitchen heat up some osmanthus wine for you?"
Mentioning osmanthus wine, Jiang Zhuoying licked her lips, but quickly narrowed her eyes and said, "That won't do. I will make him take me back to the manor today!"
Seeing her young mistress's confident demeanor, Xiangyue pouted, "But... that's what you said before you left today."
"But it didn't work out either..." she retorted softly.
Jiang Zhuoying glanced at her, then pinched her cheek: "You little rascal, Xiangyue, how dare you undermine your young lady!"
"I haven't settled accounts with you yet. When did you put that undergarment in the bundle?"
"Miss, no, no, I was wrong..."
As Xiangyue dodged and apologized, before she could even explain herself, the faint sound of galloping hooves echoed behind her.
Jiang Zhuoying's expression turned serious; she was still facing away from the direction from which the sound of horses' hooves was coming.
She quickly gestured to Xiangyue: "Look quickly, is the Second Prince's entourage returning?"
Xiangyue glanced over, and after a few breaths, nodded solemnly: "Yes, that's right! It's the Second Prince's convoy!"
She had been hiding not far away, so she had a clear view of the Second Prince's convoy.
Jiang Zhuoying quickly gave her a push: "Hurry up, ride away on horseback, or we'll get caught!"
"……ah?"
Xiangyue was suddenly pushed and staggered back two steps, but at the same time she seemed to have figured something out.
Holding the bundle in her hands, she asked, "Miss, do you have a new plan now?"
Jiang Zhuoying nodded quickly: "No matter what I do later, don't look back. It's all part of your young lady's scheme!"
Xiangyue: "..."
"This servant understands."
Of course, she couldn't ruin her young mistress's grand plan.
Xiangyue grabbed her bundle, turned and ran, then mounted her horse a short distance away, shouting as she sped off...
Jiang Zhuoying collapsed to the ground, listening to the approaching hoofbeats behind her. Before long, her peach blossom eyes filled with tears.
The sound of horses' hooves stopped not far away, followed by a series of hurried footsteps.
"Miss Jiang, what's wrong?" It was Chu Yixin's voice.
He had just given his master a pep talk in the car, saying that Miss Jiang had saved Zhuozhuo's life and that she was also close to Zhuozhuo.
Sending someone to deliver a girl to Luoyang is not a big deal.
That's why we've had to turn back now.
Jiang Zhuoying ignored him completely, as if she couldn't hear anyone's words, and just kept crying with her head down.
The child's cry was so heart-wrenching that Chu Yixin knew something was wrong and turned around to ask the master inside the carriage for instructions.
But the master actually came out on his own!
The man lifted the carriage curtain and walked to the girl's side in just a few steps.
Jiang Zhuoying felt that the light in front of her was replaced by a shadow.
"Aren't we supposed to walk to Luoyang?"
"So you've changed your mind? Are you going to cry about it?"
The man's voice remained cold.
Jiang Zhuoying suddenly choked, coughing from her own saliva.
She seemed to understand this man's temperament a little better.
Could it be that he was angry and embarrassed because she rejected him?
Yes… Jiang Zhuoying suddenly had a sudden realization: he was attracted to gentle, obedient, sensible and compliant women!
She acted too forcefully just now, which backfired.
With that thought in mind, she quickly made up her mind: since the direction was wrong, it had to be corrected.
Jiang Zhuoying covered her mouth and coughed repeatedly. After finally finishing coughing, she raised her teary, peach-blossom eyes and said, "Your Highness, I..."
She stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, lowered her head, and pinched the hem of her skirt with her fingertips, as if she were extremely conflicted and anxious.
"explain."
The girl seemed to have finally mustered up her courage, raising her slender, swan-like neck once more, her voice filled with despair.
"This servant...this servant has nowhere to go..."
The man glanced around her and asked, "Where's your bag?"
The little girl seemed to have reached the point of utter despair, sitting there in despair.
She choked back tears: "The young lady sent someone to take my handkerchief back, saying that since I did something wrong, I should be punished."
“The needles, thread and embroidery patterns used for embroidering handkerchiefs are only for the servants in the mansion. Now that I have left, I can no longer make a living this way.”
"But...but those handkerchiefs were all embroidered by me, stitch by stitch...sob..."
The girl started crying again.
The man frowned and looked at Chu Yixin beside him.
The latter bowed and said, "This servant was just a short distance away when I did see a figure snatch Miss Jiang's bundle!"
Qi Fan suddenly remembered the thin, soft cloth in the bundle, and his face darkened abruptly: "Pei Yun, go after them."
"yes!"
Pei Yun cupped his hands in greeting and rode away on horseback.
Jiang Zhuoying lowered her head, extremely nervous. She rubbed her fingertips, hoping that Xiangyue would be quick-witted and not be caught.
"Come back to the manor with me first, and we'll decide what to do when Pei Yun returns."
Jiang Zhuoying breathed a sigh of relief; this time she couldn't be willful and refuse again.
The girl bowed to the ground and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for taking me in."
She propped herself up on her knees.
Perhaps because she had walked too far, her legs buckled as she curtsied, and she collapsed to her knees...
The man moved so fast that Jiang Zhuoying didn't even have time to panic before she was swept up in his arms.
“…Your Highness?” she asked weakly.
A note from the author:
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Regarding the fictitious fiancé, Qi Gou's assessment: Incompetent.
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