Chapter 45: Good Words May Not Always End Well
After re-disguising herself, Mu Shuangyan walked on the street again, and no one was willing to keep their eyes on her for even half a second.
As a disguised witness, Tang Qiuyue watched Mu Shuangyan's actions in amazement throughout the whole process and was full of admiration for her.
After leaving the crowd, she first tore off her sleeves to help Mu Shuangyan cover her face, and then, under Mu Shuangyan's instructions, she randomly found a rouge shop and selected a few styles. Then she ran to a clothing store and picked out two or three inconspicuous coats.
Finally, they paid to rent a private room for a short period of time. Mu Shuangyan had no reservations and made small moves on her face in front of Tang Qiuyue.
Tang Qiuyue witnessed with her own eyes how the face of a super beautiful woman turned into that of an ordinary young girl. After the face change, she changed into a very simple-looking dress. At this time, Mu Shuangyan was like two completely different people.
"Shuang, Shuangyan..." Tang Qiuyue was so shocked that she stuttered. She said, "You are really too strong!"
She carefully watched the expressions on the faces of everyone she passed, fearing that someone might notice something was wrong.
She was surprised to find that no one cared at all. Most of them just walked hurriedly with their eyes straight ahead, doing what they wanted to do.
A few noticed that someone was paying attention to them, looked at them in confusion, and then walked away.
Mu Shuangyan smiled faintly and said nothing.
"I'll take you back to the inn to meet Ren'er and the others first. I didn't come out to look for you alone. They've been looking for you everywhere these past two days, worried that something might have happened to you."
Tang Qiuyue calmed herself down and spoke.
Seeing Mu Shuangyan nodded in agreement, Tang Qiuyue took Mu Shuangyan's hand and led her forward.
——
When they arrived at the inn, they saw two men and a dog sitting leisurely drinking tea in the lobby on the first floor. Hearing the noise, they all looked towards the door and saw Tang Qiuyue and Mu Shuangyan, and raised their eyebrows.
It was obvious at a glance that they had been waiting here for a long time.
Xu Ren'er pointed upstairs, and the next second, a group of guys came upstairs and discussed in a secluded and quiet room.
After the tournament, they were no longer short of money, so it was easy for them to choose a good room.
What's more, they are now quite famous, and the boss is hoping that they will stay for a while longer so that she can advertise everywhere. Three of the top eight contestants in this competition are in her inn.
As long as a good gimmick is created, this inn can definitely attract more potential customers.
Taking this into consideration, the boss became more friendly towards them and even agreed to cut the price in half.
After sitting down, no one spoke first, and the air seemed to be stagnant.
After a long time, Xu Ren'er spoke:
"Since you suddenly disappeared these past two days, we've been searching everywhere for you. We first went to the Mu Mansion where we usually pick you up, but…"
Xu Ren'er paused, as if he didn't know how to organize his words.
Mo Youli glanced at her and continued, "Only when we got there did we find out that there was no one named Mu Shuangyan in the Mu Mansion, and the Mu Mansion had not fallen into poverty and had to leave the imperial capital."
Tang Beiju looked directly at her and said coldly:
"Who are you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Beiju was glared at by Tang Qiuyue, who condemned him with her eyes: Your tone is too harsh!
Mu Shuangyan put her hand on Tang Qiuyue's forearm and gave her a reassuring look: It's okay, I don't care.
She looked around and sighed inwardly. It seemed that if she didn't tell the truth, there would be no good ending.
She slowly told him everything that had happened to her.
Her tone was exceptionally calm, as if she was telling someone else's story. However, as she spoke, the expressions of the others changed.
The one who changed the most was Tang Beiju. His impression of Mu Shuangyan was the worst among everyone present.
After all, his own sister ignored her injuries for her and acted alone for her many times. But Mu Shuangyan even faked her identity and was not honest with Tang Qiuyue at all, which might cause harm to Tang Qiuyue. How could he have a good impression of her?
"What kind of hell was your previous life? It was pure hell on earth!"
Tang Qiuyue murmured with tears in her eyes.
After listening carefully to the whole process, she instantly hated the organization. They had persecuted so many innocent women just for a little bit of personal desire.
"It's all in the past. Don't feel sad for me. That organization has long been extinct."
Mu Shuangyan handed her a handkerchief and spoke softly.
Xu Ren'er suddenly asked, "Did you disappear these past two days to completely eliminate the organization?"
Mu Shuangyan shook her head. "During the time I was lurking beside Mu Renjia, I learned some medical skills. When the prince found out, he brought me to the palace to meet him. I was simply there to treat him."
Of course, the rewards are also extremely "generous".
Xu Ren'er nodded and asked the last question on her mind: "So what was the real reason you said you wanted to leave?"
When this question came out, Mu Shuangyan fell silent.
Mo Youli was one of the only two people in the audience who knew the truth, and he probably knew the reason why Mu Shuangyan was silent.
He originally thought that everyone has their own destiny, and Mu Shuangyan's approach was a good one. Tang Qiuyue would not know that her good friend had passed away, and she always thought that she lived a simple and happy life.
Even if the truth is suddenly known one day in the future, it will be a long, long time later. For such a relationship that has not been maintained for a long time, the emotion will only become indifferent little by little. No matter how sad Tang Qiuyue is, she will not be too grief-stricken.
However, things have come to this point, not to mention, during the two days that Mu Shuangyan was missing, he witnessed Tang Qiuyue's persistence with his own eyes, so he changed his mind.
Tang Qiuyue will discover the truth sooner than expected. By that time, her emotional foundation for Mu Shuangyan will still be there, but she didn't even see her friend for the last time, or even attend her friend's funeral.
Then, she will only be more miserable, and this will become a regret that she can never erase and a thorn that she can never remove.
"A white lie may not always have a happy ending."
Mo Youli hinted as tactfully as possible.
Probably she heard it, Mu Shuangyan's eyes flickered, she hesitated for a long time, thinking about it in her mind, and finally, she made a decision.
She decided to be honest.
"I chose to leave because I don't have much time left. I hope that in Qiu... in your understanding, I have always lived well. I don't want you to be sad about my departure."
——
Under the dark night, the country of Jiucai was brightly lit.
The streets were crowded with people. The women wore beautiful clothes and put on exquisite makeup. Although the men did not wear makeup, they also paid special attention to their image. Their hair was combed neatly and their clothes were the popular styles in Jiucai Country.
After the annual martial arts competition in Jiucai Country, a grand night lantern party is held to raise the atmosphere to the highest level, dedicated to letting everyone have a lively and fun time.
"You're finally here! If you're any later, the night light show will be over!"
Shangguan Jieshu was standing by a small stall selling masks, looking at five figures coming towards him, and immediately complained with a smile.
"We arrived on time."
Tang Beiju instantly refuted Shangguan Jieshu's exaggerated tone.
"The night lights will be on until Zishi (between 11am and 1am), and now it's only Xushi (between 7pm and 8pm). Brother Jieshu, you really love to joke!"
Mo Youli shook his head helplessly and said in a gentle voice.
Shangguan Shujie, who had been following Shangguan Jieshu, smiled slightly and said, "Ignore him! He just loves to talk nonsense!"
Shangguan Jieshu was furious: "Shangguan Shujie, when you're out, at least give me some respect!"
Shangguan Shujie looked left and right, turning a deaf ear.
She glanced around and suddenly found that among the five figures, there was one person who had been wearing a colorful dove mask on his face. He stood steadily beside Tang Qiuyue, silently watching them quarreling.
Noticing Shangguan Shujie's curious gaze, she said softly:
"I'm Mu Shuangyan."
Hearing her voice, Shangguan Jieshu's attention shifted instantly. He asked in confusion, "Why did you go out alone wearing a mask?"
Without waiting for Mu Shuangyan to answer, Xu Ren'er hurriedly spoke:
"She's been irritable lately and has had a few pimples on her face. She thinks it's detrimental to her appearance, so she insisted on wearing a mask, fearing it would be a nuisance to our eyes."
"Is that so?"
Shangguan Jieshu was very confused. He had only known Mu Shuangyan for a short time, but he felt that Mu Shuangyan was not someone who cared about her appearance.
Shangguan Shujie was much more perceptive than Shangguan Jieshu. When Xu Ren'er and the others came over, she noticed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere between them.
Since they didn't want to talk more, they should have some understanding, so she pretended to be angry and said:
"Brother, as a man, how can you understand a girl's mind? Stop being so suspicious! If you have the free time, why don't you think about buying a nice mask for your obedient sister?"
Shangguan Jieshu tilted his head. Well, he really didn’t understand girls’ minds.
"Which one do you want?"
There was a stall selling masks next to him. Shangguan Jieshu turned sideways, looked at the various masks, and asked.
Without waiting for Shangguan Shujie to answer, he pointed to a light pink monkey mask in front of him and said, "This one looks good. Want to buy this one?"
Shangguan Shujie showed disdain and said vaguely, "Just make do."
As she spoke, she picked out a light yellow monkey mask for Shangguan Jieshu and waited for him to pay.
Faced with this situation, Xu Ren'er couldn't help but have some thoughts:
"Why don't we buy a few too?"
The others nodded.
Xu Ren'er picked out a white and gold fox mask, Tang Beiju chose a dark green snake face mask, and Mo Youli carefully selected and took a fancy to the sky blue elephant mask.
"Qiuyue, do you have any favorite styles?"
Xu Ren'er turned around and asked her.
"I'm fine with either. Let's go with the classic style!"
"Our Jiucai Country's classic style is the colorful turtledove. I'll bring it to you right away!"
When the stall owner heard what Tang Qiuyue said, he hurriedly searched under the table and took out a colorful turtledove mask, which was the same style as Mu Shuangyan's.
A group of guys, all wearing masks, were moving through the crowd.
Their action did not seem abrupt. There were many stalls selling masks at the Night Light Fair, and the prices were not expensive, so many people bought them. You could see several people wearing masks every few steps on the street.
"Why are there so many people over there? Let's go take a look! Maybe there's something new there!"
When they were halfway there, they found a crowded crowd ahead. Shangguan Jieshu's curiosity was aroused, and he led a group of followers behind him and rushed in.
I managed to squeeze in, and what I saw were two young women reciting poems to each other.
Shangguan Jieshu looked closely and found that it was Liu Roulei and Nie Erfeng.
"What's going on?" he asked the stranger next to him.
"This is a poetry gathering. The stall owner picks a theme at random, and the others recite poems. The one who can recite the most poems to the end will receive a free golden lantern made by the owner himself."
I see.
"So what's their theme?"
"Oh no! It's not an auspicious topic. I don't know what the boss was thinking, calling it farewell. Don't think it's just those two women competing now. In fact, many people were vying for answers just now, but in the end, only the two of them were left."
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