Chapter 44 Go easy on me! Of course it's still me, I'm the obedient one you all like...
The rain showed no sign of stopping.
Yu Nie sat on a long bench under the eaves, looking on with a sense of longing and despair.
The matter of going to Longdao could not be delayed any longer.
She pondered what time she should choose to quietly pack her bags and leave if she were to set off tomorrow.
After pondering for a long time, she finally settled on two optimal time periods for her to choose from.
Either wait until Langxi and the others fall asleep, or before they wake up.
Apart from the two times mentioned above, there was no other way for her to escape with her baggage.
It was just bad timing; she finally managed to travel far away, only to encounter a prolonged period of continuous rain, the worst in decades.
Feeling so unlucky, she wondered if it was because she had been dozing off too much while chanting scriptures and sending off the Dao, causing the Three Pure Ones to mistakenly believe that she was not sincere and thus give her such a big test.
Sigh... Yu Nie sighed inwardly, but couldn't help feeling fortunate. Luckily, she had taken the opportunity to get a travel permit when she went to the government office earlier, otherwise she would only be able to choose in the evening tomorrow.
If I leave tomorrow night, I'll definitely be there until the wee hours of the morning.
The longer we wait, the greater the danger of the Jincheng County dike breaking.
After thinking for a while, she gritted her teeth and thought to herself that it would be best to set off before dawn tomorrow.
To avoid any unforeseen complications.
She had been sitting alone under the eaves since she came back, looking thoughtful.
It was raining today, and no one came to the temple to offer incense. Langxi took the opportunity to come out of the main hall and went to Yu Nie's side.
Hearing her footsteps, Yu Nie smiled and looked up: "Junior Sister..." As she spoke, she made room for her: "Please sit down."
Lang Xi did not refuse and sat down next to her: "Why do you look so worried since you came back from the city? Is something on your mind?"
She was about to do something earth-shattering. Although she hadn't left yet, she could already fully anticipate how they would feel when they woke up the next day and saw the farewell letter she had left behind.
Unable to say goodbye in person, she could only make up a lie: "I don't have anything on my mind, Senior Sister. I'm just feeling a little dizzy from eating too much for lunch."
"Is this what you call 'carb sickness'?" Carb sickness wasn't a term used in ancient times; it was just a vocabulary she taught them.
When Langxi said that, she went along with it: "Yes, yes, yes...that's exactly what I meant."
“Before you told us these strange things, we always thought that being unable to concentrate after meals was a sign of weak blood and qi.”
After Lang Xi finished speaking, as if remembering something, he turned his head and asked her, "Since you blew up the wooden house last time, I haven't seen you tinkering with your saltpeter these past few days when you've had some free time?"
"Logically speaking, since your master is not here, no one will take care of you. You should hurry up and refine it."
I wonder if this counts as the two sisters being of one mind. She had just made a decision to go to Longdao to buy saltpeter, and in the blink of an eye, Langxi asked about it after not mentioning it for many days.
When it comes to lying, she's a natural; she can tell lies without even blinking.
"Sigh... I was just about to catch my breath after finishing the peacock blue blend, when Zhao Shuhuai started causing trouble, and before I knew it, the saltpeter refining was delayed."
What she said made sense. Langxi replied, "That makes sense, but... Qiqi, do you still intend to continue refining it? I remember that more than two years ago, you put a lot of effort into that saltpeter. Not to mention burning down the wooden house on the back mountain, you almost got injured several times yourself."
After a pause, Langxi looked at her and asked a question that had been on her mind for a long time: "Why... does Qiqi insist on refining that saltpeter?"
As she finished speaking, Yu Nie's face clearly showed a moment of surprise.
She bit her lip, seemingly unsure how to explain why she felt compelled to do this.
If someone tells you that a cataclysmic event is bound to happen in the future, no one will believe such absurd words without even trying. They will only think that the person who said it is a charlatan spouting nonsense and engaging in superstitious practices.
Even now, with so many people in Beiye believing in gods and Buddhas, it is still necessary to use rare celestial phenomena to correspond with their beliefs in order to convince people.
She spoke without thinking, and she knew that no one would believe anything she said.
Even Langxi, who treated her like a younger sister.
Seeing that she seemed to have something to say, Langxi covered the back of her hand and said softly, "It's okay if you don't want to say. Your senior sister was just asking out of curiosity."
Looking at the tender face before her, Yu Nie was filled with conflicting emotions.
If she were to share her secrets, she would not be keeping them to herself, but rather sharing them with someone else.
Share her innermost, most authentic self.
"I refined saltpeter... actually because..."
She paused, as if considering how to say it in a way that would convince the person in front of her.
"Hmm?" Langxi waited for the next question.
After a moment, she composed herself, her words no longer hesitant, her expression firm. She looked directly into Langxi's eyes and said earnestly, "It is because about a year from now, the world will face a great calamity, with chaos and turmoil following one after another. At that time, war will break out everywhere, the people will suffer, all the countries and tribes will be caught up in the war, and the various states and counties will also take the opportunity to establish their own independent regimes and hold their own armies."
The dark sky hung low, the sound of the wind mingling with the whistling of the rain, which tugged at the copper bells hanging in the pavilion.
After she finished speaking, Langxi stared at her for a long time.
Seeing that she hadn't spoken, Yu Nie tentatively opened her mouth, her tone slightly self-deprecating: "Does Junior Sister also think... I'm talking nonsense? Like I've been possessed, or that I'm sick?"
Ten years ago, she had only been in this world for six years.
Unfamiliar people and things crashed down upon her in an instant. She was filled with anxiety all day long, unable to accept this world, nor able to integrate into it.
He felt like an outcast, an alien in his heart.
Later, she gradually became familiar with everyone and developed emotional connections. She harbored a shocking secret about this era, knowing that in the near future, this place would become a "battleground."
So she began to think about saving them and finding a way for everyone to survive.
The first time, she went to find the master who had saved her and told him the "heavenly secret" she had kept hidden for so long, rambling on and on for a long time.
But the elderly master had poor hearing and couldn't hear what she was saying at all. He could only see her lips moving, but he couldn't hear clearly.
If you can't hear clearly, you can't dispel her worries or offer her advice.
At that time, Langxi and Ahui were still young, and she was afraid that telling them would scare them. Besides, they couldn't offer any good solutions, so she simply skipped it.
My uncle, Cui Miaochang, is often away performing rituals to earn money, so he doesn't have time to listen to her "nonsensical" remarks.
When Aunt Liu heard what she said, she was so shocked that she touched her forehead and asked repeatedly if she had a fever.
Under such circumstances, she could only swallow those shocking words back down and stare blankly at the moonlight outside the window on countless nights.
Until she could no longer bear these concerns about everyone's future fate, one day she went to the market in town with Aunt Liu. When they passed a fortune teller's stall, she told him all this. He said that in more than ten years, the world would be plunged into a catastrophe, and Huaiyuan would become a place fought over by all sorts of people.
How can she convince everyone to move away from Huaiyuan and escape this disaster?
After examining her over and over again, the fortune teller finally said to her, "Where did this kid come from, acting crazy here? Go cool off somewhere else."
After that, following the previous revelations, she stopped mentioning what would happen in the future and secretly began grinding saltpeter every day, quietly accumulating gunpowder and other things that could save her life in preparation for the coming chaos.
The water-based powder and night-shining powder that she used to send off the baby a few days ago were things she figured out slowly during this period.
As soon as she asked the question, Langxi didn't say anything to worry her, only saying, "Senior sister believes what you said."
Upon hearing this, Yu Nie was stunned for a long time, speechless with astonishment.
She grabbed Langxi's hand tightly, overjoyed, "Is what Senior Sister said true?!"
Lang Xi smiled gently and adjusted the hairband behind her ear: "Why would your senior sister lie to you?"
"But don't you think what I said is a wild fantasy?" she pressed.
Langxi patted the back of her hand, stood up, looked at the long rain in the courtyard, and said sadly, "When I was young, my father impeached Grand Tutor Gao Yao for embezzling farmers' land. The evidence was conclusive, but he was framed instead. The court only lightly fined the Gao family a few taels of silver, but dismissed my father and sent him back to his post."
Langxi said, "The imperial power cannot be free from the influence of its subjects, and this dynasty will be swallowed up sooner or later. At present, the court is still ruled by the four major clans, and various forces are eyeing Beiye covetously. The Xiutu Khanate, Jie people, and ancient Qiang in the east, as well as the Nanyin Kingdom in the south, have never stopped harassing Beiye."
"Nan Yin has been relatively peaceful in recent years, but unifying the world is every monarch's dream. The Xiao royal family has never been willing to be divided and ruled separately, and war will come sooner or later. It's only a matter of time before the world descends into chaos."
She turned to look at Yu Nie, who had also stood up, and said gently, "Qiqi, you have been intelligent since you were little. You said that the next reign title is 'Xuande'. When Guard Xie was chatting with us, he mentioned that the day after tomorrow, the news of the late emperor's death and the new emperor's ascension to the throne would be announced, and the reign title would be 'Xuande'."
"I suppose... this can't be a coincidence." She walked up to Yu Nie. "Besides, you've come up with so many things I never even dared to imagine before. You made soap that can be used for washing clothes by mixing soapberry and wood ash, and you also created peacock blue, and used black vinegar and limestone to extinguish fires..."
“Qiqi, you know so much, you’re not just kidding me.” She looked at her sincerely: “So I believe what you’re saying.”
Yu Nie's eyes suddenly reddened, and her vision instantly became misty. She had never been one to shed tears, but unfortunately, she was born into this life and was still prone to incontinence.
Just as she was about to speak, the door behind her creaked open, and Ah Hui came out carrying a rabbit cage.
Neither of them expected him to be there. Yu Nie asked in surprise, "When did you come to my room, Junior Brother?"
Ah Hui moved in front of the two of them and gestured with her hand: "I was here when Senior Sister came. You forgot that I told you I was going to feed the rabbits, and you even said 'uh-huh'."
She was probably too engrossed in her thoughts just now, and didn't remember agreeing.
Ah Hui continued, "I heard everything you two said. I know eavesdropping is wrong, but I promise it won't happen again."
He turned his gaze to Yu Nie: "I just want to tell you that I believe what you say, and I believe it too."
Hearing this, Yu Nie's lips curled into a sneer, and she almost burst into tears.
She looked at the other two and said, "Since you two spoil me so much, I might really become arrogant and spoiled in the future."
Langxi and Ahui exchanged a glance and smiled.
Lang Xi said, "You are our junior sister. If we don't spoil you, who else will we spoil?"
Yu Nie smiled and quietly watched the two of them. If it weren't for Lingbao Temple, if she hadn't met them...
Perhaps she still won't feel a sense of belonging here.
The courtyard was shrouded in gloom and rain. Suddenly, she opened her arms and hooked her arms around their necks, feigning a coquettish tone: "Of course it's still me. I'm your obedient and well-behaved junior sister."
After a pause, she snuggled up to them affectionately and said, "So... if I ever do something I shouldn't do in the future, please be lenient with me, senior brother and senior sister."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
