Chapter 44 The sadness in Freedom's heart gradually dissipated, replaced by excitement...
The mule cart swayed along the street in the early morning. The cries of vendors could already be heard, and the lively atmosphere that had been dormant all night was rekindled, giving life to the new day.
As Su Panyue listened to the shouts around her and smelled the aroma of breakfast from the roadside, the sadness in her heart gradually dissipated, and excitement began to take over her mind.
Leaving the palace meant that the people of Lu could no longer control her; she was finally free.
The mule cart traveled through the bustling West Market and slowly came to a stop in a small alley at the entrance of the East City Vegetable Market.
The coachman went to talk to the vegetable vendor. Su Panyue secretly peeked out with one eye. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she flipped over and jumped out of the basket, not forgetting to throw in a piece of silver as payment for the fare.
She patted her bottom and walked deeper into the alley. After turning a corner, she quickly took off her palace maid's clothes, crumpled them up, and threw them on the side of the street.
She had made preparations before leaving. Underneath her palace maid's uniform, she wore an ordinary dress, which Xie Lanzhou had bought for her when he took her out last time. The dress had a pale yellow hem embroidered with white crabapple blossoms. He paid for it without even trying it on.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, she tied her hair into a woman's bun, inserted a simple wooden hairpin, and then turned out of the alley with light steps.
As they walked westward away from the market, a light rain began to fall. They happened to pass by a breakfast shop, so Su Panyue decided to go in and have breakfast.
There were few pedestrians on the street on a rainy day, and not many people were in the breakfast shops either. She chose a corner seat and looked at the wooden sign hanging in the shop with some curiosity, which listed the various fillings and prices.
Steam rose from a huge steamer nearby, and a woman came over to greet her: "What would you like to eat, Madam?"
Su Panyue was also a little hungry. "Give me three meat buns and a bowl of porridge."
The woman responded, and soon steaming hot buns were brought over, along with a plate of her homemade pickled vegetables.
She picked up a steamed bun, took a bite, and then drank a mouthful of white porridge. Su Panyue squinted her eyes in satisfaction. This was the taste she hadn't had in a long time.
Breakfast in the palace usually consisted of delicate pastries or light dishes like bird's nest and lotus seed porridge; large, greasy meat buns like these would never be served.
She ate everything in one go, and the rain outside had stopped. After paying the bill, Su Panyue continued walking towards the busiest market in the west of the city.
As more pedestrians appeared on the street, she ventured into less crowded alleys and eventually stopped in front of an inn.
A worn flag hung above the inn, bearing the four large characters "Sent to the Inn," and it looked somewhat faded.
The dilapidated wooden door was open, with two slightly crooked "Fu" characters pasted on it. Su Panyue raised her hand, knocked on the door, and walked straight in.
The inn's lobby had only a wooden table about half a person's height. A one-eyed old man was dozing off on it. When he heard someone come in, he lazily opened one eye and sized up the newcomer.
After a moment, as if remembering something, he waved his hand and said, "Our hotel is full."
Su Panyue remained silent, took out a silver ingot from her sleeve and placed it on the table: "I'll only stay for a few days, is that enough?"
The one-eyed old man remained unmoved. "You may leave."
"Please don't do this, I really have nowhere else to go, please take me in for a few days." Su Panyue pleaded pitifully, and then took out a silver ingot from her sleeve and placed it on the table.
The old man seemed to soften his stance and asked, "Did you escape from the palace?"
Su Panyue chuckled and didn't deny it, "Uncle Ghost, you have a place for me to hide for a few days, right?"
He scrutinized her with that one eye for a long time, then took the two silver ingots from the table and said, "One week."
That's considered an agreement.
Su Panyue quickly replied, "Okay, okay, a week is enough."
He turned and walked upstairs, and Su Panyue quickly followed, looking at him curiously.
The second floor of the inn was equally dilapidated, with creaking wooden floors. There were two guest rooms on each side of the corridor, but the doors were closed, and it was impossible to tell whether anyone was staying there.
At the end of the corridor were several wooden barrels, dusty and inconspicuous.
"Where do I live?" Su Panyue asked.
As she spoke, Uncle Gui reached out and lifted a bucket of water, pouring it into the wooden bucket at the far end. As the water level rose, the wall in front of her began to move, slowly separating to the sides.
Su Panyue opened her eyes wide in surprise, looking at the room that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
Inside, there was a four-poster bed, a set of tables and chairs, and even a clean room separated by curtains. It was small but complete.
The old ghost said, "If you live here, no one will find out."
Su Panyue went inside and saw him standing motionless outside the door. She asked, "How do you close this door?"
"The bucket behind the door."
Su Panyue turned her head and saw a wooden bucket full of water behind the door. She reached out and lifted it to the side, and the door in front of her began to close slowly.
Looking at the wall in front of her, now perfectly sealed again, she called out, "Uncle Ghost? Can you hear me, Uncle Ghost?"
"I can hear you, keep it down." The voice of the old man was even more muffled through the wall.
"Okay, thank you." Su Panyue thanked him.
There was no further sound from outside the door; he must have already left.
Su Panyue met this one-eyed old man on the black market when she first came to the capital.
When Su Pan first arrived in Daqi, she originally wanted to go to the black market to buy some things to save her life, but she was stopped by this one-eyed old man.
“Young lady, I see that you are destined for disaster; do not enter the imperial city.”
Su Panyue thought he was some kind of charlatan and didn't intend to pay him any attention, but Sun Shi, who was with her, stopped her and whispered a reminder:
"This is the famous Ghost Master. It is said that he can communicate with the living and the dead with his one eye, and can see the next life. Please be more polite in your speech."
Su Panyue asked with some doubt, "Uncle Ghost, why do you say that? What calamity have I been struck by?"
The old man squinted at her with one eye and muttered, "Interesting, interesting."
Su Panyue frowned, puzzled: "What's interesting?"
Gui Bo did not answer, but said to himself, "Take my advice: do not enter the imperial city."
Now it was Sun Shi's turn to have a dark expression. He had gone to great lengths to bribe his way into the palace, and he immediately pulled her away.
Uncle Gui didn't say much, only telling Su Panyue, "If you regret it, come to the West Market and take me to the inn to find me."
At the time, Su Panyue was unaware of the situation and never expected that she would actually have to ask him for help.
She had just asked Uncle Gui why he said she was going to have a calamity when they first met, but he wouldn't say anything, only that her calamity had passed and that she was truly a blessed person.
Su Panyue sat at the table and sighed. Could any lucky person be as miserable as her? From midnight until now, she hadn't had a drop of water; all she had done was run for her life.
She gulped down two large glasses of water before carefully examining the room.
Apart from that hidden door, there were walls on all four sides, with a small hole about the size of a palm at the top of each wall, which could barely let in a little light. But today was a gloomy and rainy day, so that little light was better than nothing.
Su Panyue sighed softly, lay down on the bunk bed, and felt that she would fall off if she turned over. Fortunately, the mattress must have been newly changed, and it had a faint smell of soap.
Having grown accustomed to the various incense scents in the palace, the simple fragrance of soapberry is quite comforting.
Listening to the pattering rain outside, which seemed to be getting heavier, Su Panyue lay on the bed lost in thought:
They must have noticed I'm missing, right? I wonder if Xie Lanzhou will be angry. It wouldn't be good if Feixue and Feiyan got into trouble, but I don't think so. He's not the kind of person who doesn't know right from wrong...
Lost in thought, she fell asleep.
*Jingchun Palace.
All the palace servants, big and small, knelt on the ground, heads bowed and trembling. The atmosphere in the entire hall was like an ice cave.
Xie Lanzhou, who was usually expressionless, turned ashen-faced and ordered in a deep voice, "Find him for me. If you can't find him, none of you will live!"
Feixue and Feiyan knelt at the front. They were originally sent by Xie Lanzhou to protect Su Panyue, and now that she was missing, they bore the greatest responsibility.
"Who was on duty last night?" Xie Lanzhou asked.
Feiyan bowed her head and replied, "Your Majesty, it is this servant."
“Last night, I stayed outside and didn’t leave for a moment.”
Xie Lanzhou asked, "Did you hear any sounds? Did you see anyone?"
After thinking for a moment, Feiyan shook her head: "No, after you left last night, you never came out again. I waited until noon and there was still no movement, and that's when I realized you were missing."
As she spoke, Fei Yan's eyes reddened. "It was this servant's fault for failing to protect Your Highness. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
Xie Lanzhou frowned slightly, walked to the bedside and sat down, then suddenly asked, "Did you know that she had started her period?"
Feiyan and Feixue were both taken aback, clearly unaware of the situation.
Xie Lanzhou frowned even more, as if he had remembered something. He looked towards the head of the bed, but could not find the ring that had been left there last night.
"Go and see if anything is missing."
The two men rose and checked the items in the hall before reporting, "Your Majesty, some of the jewelry in the dressing box is missing."
"Your Majesty, two sets of clothes are missing from the wardrobe. One set was bought when we left the palace, and the other set..."
Xie Lanzhou looked up: "Which one?"
Feiyan answered softly, "It's a palace maid's dress that Your Highness used to wear."
After these words were spoken, the hall fell silent.
After a moment, Xie Lanzhou spoke up: "Where did she go yesterday, who did she meet, and what did she do? Explain clearly."
Feixue answered truthfully. Upon hearing that Su Panyue had stayed in the Imperial Study for a quarter of an hour, Xie Lanzhou's hands clenched involuntarily, as if he knew the problem.
He summoned Seventeen and coldly ordered, "Gather all the secret guards in the capital and search the surrounding towns, especially those heading north."
Seventeen accepted the order, then asked uncertainly, "If we find it, what should we do with it?"
Xie Lanzhou said in a somber tone: "Notify me immediately if you find it. If you cannot find it, you need not come back."
Seventeen was startled and quickly bowed in agreement, daring not to say another word.
Xie Lanzhou waved for everyone to leave, then sat alone on the bed, raising his hand to rub his temples.
Looking up, I saw the red date and bird's nest porridge prepared by the Imperial Kitchen still on the table, long since cold, looking utterly mocking.
Her unusual behavior yesterday was all traceable: she unconsciously backed away, her guilty eyes darted away, and she even lied to him about sleeping in the Hall of Mental Cultivation...
It turned out that her bad mood wasn't caused by menstruation, but rather because she knew her identity had been exposed and was preparing to run away.
One hand unconsciously caressed the Shu brocade quilt, which seemed to still retain her body heat.
Xie Lanzhou sat in silence for a long time. The rain outside gradually intensified, pattering against the leaves of the crabapple tree by the window.
This was personally selected and placed by Su Panyue from the flower nursery. It's a small plant, and she usually cherishes it very much.
Xie Lanzhou stared at it for a while, and just then he saw a leaf being knocked down by the rain.
He suddenly got up, walked to the window, and brought the flowers inside.
Raindrops slanted down his face as Xie Lanzhou stood by the window, gazing at the distant palace walls. No one knew what he was thinking.
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Author's Note: Moon: I'm free! [Starry-eyed]
Congee: Where did my wife go? Is she coming back for dinner? [Burning with sobs]
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