Chapter 4, Chapter 4: Sang Ji, I Don't Want to Marry Him
As time flew by, darkness once again gradually engulfed Grass Village, and all the villagers who had gone out returned home.
In the study, the oil lamp flickered on and off.
The light shone on Sang Ji's deep-set eyes, his unfathomable black pupils concealing a probing gaze.
"Master, the Gu family patriarch still refuses to see us."
Sang Ji didn't even frown: "Then we'll inquire about and search for any opportunity for the Gu family head to travel. Whether we force our way in or kidnap him, we'll find a way to meet him."
The well-dressed bodyguard who reported this confirmed it, and vanished like a shadow.
The study was small. He leaned against the east wall covered with paper, his long legs slightly bent, his long, calloused fingers flipping through a stack of books he had taken from the cabinet.
Two long quilts were placed close together next to a yellow old wooden mortise and tenon structure bookcase that occupied half of the room. This was Sang Ji's living quarters.
A strange feeling flashed through Sang Ji's mind.
He made an unexpected discovery while looking through his bookshelf. The books included the Three Character Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, the Primer of Prosody, and the Book of Poetry, all of which were for children.
Unsurprisingly, it was prepared by this family for their foolish daughter.
However, these books showed no signs of being opened; only the Book of Songs was turned to the page about the East Gate.
The daughter raised by this family doesn't seem to be literate.
Naïve, even frighteningly foolish.
However, this also shows that although this grass village is isolated and crude, and its people are fierce, it also has the advantage of being peaceful, which is completely different from the outside world.
Outside, there was cholera everywhere.
Everyone says that Huajing is prosperous, but now it is in turmoil, and the struggle for the throne between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince is in full swing.
He was under the Crown Prince's command and was inevitably drawn into the situation.
This journey from Huajing to Jiangnan, where he hid in a grassy village, was due to the turmoil within the imperial family and the struggle for the throne.
However, it was not because the opposing Second Prince fell into misfortune, but because of the Crown Prince, whom he had sided with.
cause:
The Crown Prince is ambitious and eager to don the imperial robes as soon as possible, thus surpassing the Second Prince's faction. Therefore, he seeks the support of the neutral Li family.
To win over the Li family, the Crown Prince, against his conscience, planned to kill his only younger sister—
Princess Xin'an, also known as Crescent Fox, married the heir of the Li family.
Sang Ji was always the first to know any news related to the princess.
After his efforts to persuade the prince failed, and once he was certain that the prince had made up his mind, he immediately informed the princess.
It snowed that day, and when he arrived at the princess's residence, he noticed a snowman outside.
Inside the mansion's main hall, the red-hot charcoal burned brightly. The princess, wearing a snow hat, rubbed her palms, covered with rabbit fur gloves, against the rising steam to warm them, presumably because her hands had been chilled. Her smile was genuine, revealing two shallow dimples, and her complexion was rosy.
If I got married, would I still be like this...?
Sang Ji still bowed respectfully.
"Princess, the Crown Prince orders you to marry the heir of the Li family."
The princess's smile froze.
It didn't reappear all day.
All afternoon, she clung to his sleeve, sobbing uncontrollably, her hands trembling as she said she didn't want to!
"Sang Ji, I don't want to marry him!"
She didn't want an arranged marriage, and she didn't want to live a miserable life.
Sang Ji agreed.
He simply reassured her that everything would be alright.
Sang Ji was actually the one who knew best the Crown Prince's terrifying ambition. Having been deeply involved in the political vortex since childhood, he had seen the true nature of people and knew that the so-called royal family and nobles were nothing but wolves in sheep's clothing. He knew that the Crown Prince was impervious to persuasion and would not change his mind about marrying the princess to a powerful family.
And the wedding date is set soon, so there's no way to postpone it.
That night, the lights in Sangji's house were not turned off.
The next day, he did something bold:
Take the princess and escape.
It wasn't an elopement, but a temporary escape to find time to devise a solution.
In addition to gaining the support of the Li family of Huajing, the Crown Prince can also gain the support of the powerful families of Jiangnan to help him surpass the Second Prince.
This was in exchange for the princess not marrying into the Li family.
The head of the Gu family is the backbone of the aristocratic families in Jiangnan. Gaining his support means gaining the support of all the aristocratic families in Jiangnan.
So Sang Ji took the princess to Jiangnan to try and win the support of the Gu family head for the crown prince.
However, the head of the Gu family did not want to see Sang Ji and his group, and always avoided them.
There are two reasons. First, the Jiangnan aristocratic families generally looked down on the northern overseas Chinese from Beijing. Second, the head of the Gu family wanted peace and stability and did not want to cause trouble.
As for why he chose to settle in Caocun:
It is because this place is remote yet peaceful. Even if the prince searches extensively, he will not be able to find this small village in a short time. It can last for at least more than a month.
This would give him time to win over the support of prominent families in Jiangnan.
But stability needs to be maintained.
He looked up, and the night sky came into view.
The time has come; it's time to go kill someone.
Among the group of shadow guards he brought, some were restless.
Thinking of this, Sang Ji stood up neatly and carefully put away the childish book in his hand.
Open the paper window—
He slipped into the night.
*
The night was deep, and the thin spring mist was damp and slightly cool.
On a country road, Liu Jiao led the cow home by its rope.
She knew that Tie Niu's mother and Tie Niu would definitely come looking for her today, and she couldn't hide it from them, but!! It was impossible not to struggle.
So, she took the cow out for a stroll during the day and even took a boat ride on the river for a whole day.
They would wait until it was dark for two or three nights before taking the ox home.
This was to prevent Tie Niu and his mother from coming to the door during the day to demand the cow back.
After all, if they wanted it, their father would definitely give it to them, and she couldn't compete with her father's large physique.
She felt extremely distressed if Tie Niu used the ox even for a little longer.
Dad is such a spendthrift; he could buy her so many hairpins and clips just by renting them out. He's not giving them away for free.
But things are different when I come back at night.
When they got home in the evening, Tie Niu's family had to plow the fields a day late. Even if Tie Niu and his mother came to complain, they would only vent their anger, and his father would scold her a few times.
Even if we wanted to make up for the lost time during the busy farming season, it would be too late.
As she walked along happily, lost in thought, a long braid swung back and forth, and a sword light shot straight at Liu Jiao's forehead.
Liu Jiao: ?
She instinctively ducked down, and the sword flashed past her head, severing a lock of hair from her braid.
Liu Jiao wanted to cry but had no tears.
Is she having a run of bad luck with braids and swords lately? She should probably go pray to the goddesses...
After much persuasion, he survived.
But the attack was swift and relentless, with swords thrusting at her like arrows.
Liu Jiao's legs reacted faster than her brain; she turned and ran immediately.
Before running away, she patted the cow's rump to spur it on, which showed that Liu Jiao had done her best.
Then she did a left-low, right-high leg raise. Luckily, Liu Jiao catches chickens every day and has good eyesight, otherwise the sword would definitely have pierced her neck.
She felt her blood freeze, as the beautiful, sharp sword repeatedly grazed her eyes, chin, and waist.
While being chased and running for her life, Liu Jiao caught a glimpse of a man with a sword.
However, that guy wasn't there to kill her; he was killing someone else. It wasn't a fun killing game with her.
The man's back was dark and cold, and beside him lay a pile of corpses, their necks crooked and tongues lolling out. When Liu Jiao saw him, he was meticulously checking whether the corpses were still alive, and he was stabbing the heart of the last corpse that was barely moving a few times with his sword.
With a "crack," the still somewhat alive corpse coughed up blood from its chest and mouth, and then remained motionless.
There was a large pit next to him, where the body was to be buried.
This fellow is none other than the troublemaker, Sang Ji.
The scene sent shivers down Liu Jiao's spine, making her feel cold and trembling all over. She couldn't help but wonder if she herself would be stabbed to death by a menacing sword from behind, and whether that would be just as tragic.
The answer is yes.
The instinct for survival made Liu Jiao want to ask for help, but she didn't.
Instead of wasting her time, she might as well run a few more steps; maybe that would give her a way out.
It's better than wasting it on Sang Ji.
The reason she didn't ask for help was because she thought of Sang Ji's cold and aloof demeanor, a killer who didn't care about anyone except the fairies around him...
Besides, Sang Ji was also seriously injured, and blood would spurt out with the slightest movement. He was too busy treating his wounds to meddle in her affairs.
She should keep running.
Liu Jiao only glanced at him briefly before running off even faster, like a frightened chicken.
Running and feeling miserable:
My God, she was just a lowly village girl, why did you have to kill her!
I don't usually provoke others unless they provoke me, and I would never provoke such a big shot who throws a sword like an arrow!
Could it be...that group of people again?
My thoughts were in disarray, and so were my movements.
As she covered her head and lowered it, a sword that was aimed at her buttocks was redirected by this movement and went straight for her stomach.
The sound of swords clashing grew closer, and just as Liu Jiao, filled with despair, clutched her stomach to prevent being stabbed through—
Missed.
The sound of swords whistling past my ears rang out, followed by a series of clanging sounds as they landed on the ground.
All that remained was the howling wind and the sight of several swords piercing flesh.
After a while, Liu Jiao did not feel any stinging pain.
Stop, it's stopped?
Liu Jiao tentatively opened her eyes and touched her stomach, which had no marks of being stabbed and not even a scratch.
He's not dead!!!
She's not dead!
Liu Jiao was overjoyed!
Go home quickly, it's too dangerous!
Having survived the ordeal, she flashed a bright, white smile and turned around happily—only to be so shocked that her jaw nearly dropped!
There was a bloodied figure in front of me.
The boy in black was covered in blood, with several holes pierced in his body. The white feather covering his face was also stained red, and blood was spurting from each wound.
Before him lay the scattered swords that had been knocked to the ground, the very ones used to assassinate Liu Jiao.
And a new pile of headless corpses, he was hacking people away while dripping blood.
These new corpses belong to the group that assassinated Liu Jiao.
In short, the scene was quite bloody and gruesome.
Wow, that's amazing!
Having survived the ordeal, Liu Jiao was shocked.
He saved her?
How could such an inhuman person help a stranger like her?
Actually, he's not a bad person...
He's a really good person!
Liu Jiao thought to herself.
"Aren't you coming to help?"
Sang Jiru's voice suddenly drifted in on the night wind.
"Oh! Okay!! Here it comes!!!"
Before Liu Jiao could even retract her chin, she rushed over upon hearing this: "What kind of benefactor do you need!"
Sang Ji glanced at her, his expression still cold:
"Pull your chin in."
Even though blood was gushing from his body, his voice didn't tremble, as if he was born without the ability to feel pain.
He noticed Liu Jiao staring at him with wide eyes and asked, puzzled, "Why are you so surprised?"
Liu Jiao's smile was particularly wide, a stark contrast to her usual wary demeanor towards Sang Ji; her eyes now held only innocence and sincerity.
"You actually saved me? I thought..."
Sang Ji let out a soft snort, completely rejecting her attempt to get closer.
"I saved you only because I have the ability to kill someone, which wouldn't hurt me much, so I just helped you out."
"Don't take yourself too seriously. If someone kills a cat or dog, I will go and save it."
"You can't help me either, so don't even think about repaying my kindness."
He was already very agitated, his brows furrowed deeply.
Upon hearing this, Liu Jiao hesitated, seeing how badly he was injured, as she reached out to help him.
He was dripping with blood, like a chicken being slaughtered. You call that not much damage?
Sang Ji: "Come here."
"Carry the body."
Liu Jiao snapped out of her daze, withdrew her hand from her grasp, and eagerly went over to lift him up.
If they couldn't lift it, they would hold the corpse's head and drag it into the pit that Sang Ji had dug.
After everything was over, Liu Jiao was still worried about Sang Ji's wound and wanted to help him, but Sang Ji avoided her with extreme vigilance.
Liu Jiao said earnestly, "Your injuries are so bad, don't move, let me help you home!"
Sang Ji: "No need."
"Are you sure you don't need to?" Liu Jiao asked with concern.
Sang Ji felt a throbbing vein on his forehead.
Do I need him to repeat it again?
Impatience almost filled him.
Just as she was about to touch the sword, a water buffalo appeared in front of Liu Jiao, its eyes filled with emotion, kicking its hooves.
Liu Jiao's attention was diverted, and she exclaimed, "You actually knew to run back? Little Niu Niu, you're so clever! You're amazing!"
She thought the cow had run away and wouldn't come back.
The cow, its eyes brimming with emotion, mooed softly.
Even after being assassinated, its little owner still cared about it, patting its bottom to make it run away! Waaaaah!
The water buffalo arrived just in time.
So, in the end, it became an ox carrying Sangji.
Because Sang Ji's wound really needed to remain still in order to slow down the bleeding.
*
The moonlight shone like a ribbon in front of Liu Jiao's gate.
Liu Jiao wanted to get home quickly to get medicine for Sang Ji.
She led the cow and the dark-faced Sang Ji to her doorstep, only to bump into two uninvited guests—
There were three people eating, enjoying good wine and meat.
In the courtyard behind the door, there was a round table decorated with peach branches and leaves, on which were placed wine, fish, and spare ribs that could only be eaten during the Lunar New Year.
One of them was his father, and the other two were Tie Niu's mother and Tie Niu.
Liu Jiaoniang went to sleep at this time; her body couldn't stay up all night.
Upon seeing Liu Jiao standing at the door with an ox, the three of them changed their expressions.
The mother and son, Tie Niu, who were both eating and drinking heavily, stood up in unison and glared at her.
The father, who had just been bowing and scraping to the mother and son, suddenly changed his attitude and slammed his wine glass angrily on the table.
"You still know how to come back!"
The air felt heavy and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
