Chapter 49
Given the momentum that would send Qingyun flying, she was sure she would fall flat on her face. But instead of the expected pain of her head hitting the ground and splitting open, she felt a large cushion of flesh cushioning her fall.
Qingyun cursed under her breath, placed a hand on the woman's elbow, and gripped her shoulder to steady her. Before Qingyun could turn around, the woman she had bumped into spoke first, "Where are your eyes!"
Qingyun: ...This time, I really can't blame anyone else; it was definitely my own fault for not watching where I was going.
Seeing this, she quickly stepped forward to check on the other person's injuries, rubbing her own nose which was also aching terribly, "I'm really sorry, my eyes are indeed damaged, and I can't see things clearly."
Song Chaoli's veins twitched involuntarily upon hearing this. She pursed her lips and said, "Don't think I'll forgive you just because you said that! Just wait and see..."
"What are you going to do with the gauze curtain?"
Song Chaoli's words were interrupted by the man. Qingyun realized that this was actually the same woman from last time. "What a coincidence that we have?"
After the man finished speaking, two intense gazes fell upon him. Only then did Qingyun turn around and see that it was Song Junwu.
Song Junwu helped the person up and walked between the two. He picked up the gauze curtain from the ground, dusted it off, and handed it to Qingyun, then said, "This is Qingyun."
Upon hearing this, Song Chaoli snorted in annoyance, but then looked the other person up and down with her eyes. She was obviously aware of Qingyun's reputation. She did not mention her own identity, but she also stopped caring about bumping into her. She muttered to herself, "If you're blind, go see an ophthalmologist."
Seeing that the woman had forgiven her, Qingyun hurriedly prepared to leave. She was still thinking about the vegetable seedlings in the field. She said goodbye to the two of them and rushed out, leaving the two still bewildered.
[Who is that person? Can you find out?] Qingyun was still very curious about the new face.
The system simply said "Please wait a moment" before searching through the database and then reciting Song Chaoli's identity information like a menu.
[The Third Princess? Why didn't Song Junwu bow to her then? Has she become so arrogant now?]
Upon hearing this, the system, unsure how to respond, simply chose not to reply.
After Qingyun finished setting up the gauze tent, she still carried a hoe to the sand dunes to plant seedlings. The recent crackdown on illegal logging had been very effective, and the seedlings had all grown tall and healthy. However, quite a few people still went to pick the leaves. When asked what they were for, one person said they were for lighting the pot, and another said they were for eating. She didn't care about such things anymore; picking a few leaves was no big deal.
Every day, she would plant trees here and then go back to plant vegetables. In short, she worked from dawn till dusk without a single day of rest. At night, Yinglian saw the injuries on her body and felt a sense of lingering fear. She hurriedly asked if she had been mistreated here. But then she thought that she had come here to suffer, so how could she live comfortably? Seeing this, she hugged Qingyun and cried.
Seeing her crying so bitterly, Qingyun was at a loss for words. He wanted to comfort her, but didn't know what to say. He could only silently stroke Yinglian's back to show that he wasn't as fragile as she thought. Besides, the wound had already healed almost completely; it was just that at first, the sweat soaked into the wound, making it both painful and itchy.
If this had happened in modern times, she would have been terrified. But in this era, she realized that a human life might not even be worth as much as a piece of jewelry or a dish in the hands of a nobleman. So, being stabbed didn't seem so serious after all.
"Can we skip work tomorrow? Let's go have some fun?" She supported Qingyun's body, rested her head on her shoulder, and said in a coquettish tone.
Qingyun pondered for a moment, thinking that she was indeed busy all year round and hadn't had a few days off. After a long while, she hesitated and replied, "But I'm still a criminal."
"Aren't you on good terms with Lord Song? Can't you ask him for a day off?" Besides, all of Qingyun's contributions are worth having a good day of fun. Having been here for so long, Yinglian has heard about Qingyun's deeds. Perhaps he himself is not aware of them, but in Muyun City, Qingyun's status in the hearts of the people is very important.
Hearing what the other person said, Qingyun seemed to think about it seriously and finally came to a conclusion: Yes, a holiday is necessary! She planned to ask Mu Helian tomorrow; there was no need to specifically ask Song Junwu about this.
However, Qingyun herself didn't realize that her usual behavior of putting down her hoe to go find Song Chaoyun whenever she had something to do was not allowed, as it was considered slacking off. It was just that the foreman didn't say anything because of the big shots above.
After hearing her reasons, Mu Helian hesitated for a moment before approving it. Looking at Qingyun, she hesitated, about to speak, when she was interrupted by someone next to her, who said that a fight had broken out and she needed to go over.
"It would be foolish not to watch the excitement," Qingyun thought as he caught up with Mu Helian. Mu Helian turned around, gestured for him to stop, and raised an eyebrow. "Don't get involved in this mess. Weren't you going for a stroll?"
Upon hearing this, Qingyun pursed her lips, but then realized the other person was right, so she had no choice but to give up watching the show and go back to find Yinglian.
"Girl, come here," Yinglian said, pulling Qingyun to a sugar figurine stall. She ordered the biggest and most beautiful one and handed it to her, saying, "I remember when you used to go out, you wouldn't stop until you bought three..."
Listening to the other person's rambling, Qingyun's smile froze on her face, unsure how to respond. These were all memories of Yinglian and the original owner; she only remembered the original owner's preferences. In recent days, Yinglian would occasionally bring up the past, reliving the beautiful moments she shared with the original owner.
But Qingyun felt like a thief, having stolen the original owner's body and the affection others had for her. She wasn't Qingyun; she was Qingyun from the 21st century. Whenever this happened, she could only force a smile and not let anyone notice her abnormality, as if she knew nothing about it.
Yinglian was incredibly generous, paying for both of their expenses. When Qingyun offered to pay, she refused. It's likely that she took the money when she escaped from that house. I really want to know how she got out, but I'm afraid that a single careless word might touch a raw nerve.
"Miss, could you go and queue up for Defangzhai's chestnut cakes for me?" Yinglian pointed to a shop with an excellent storefront decoration. Following her gaze, she saw a crowd of people everywhere. Buying cakes was practically a free-for-all. And if you smelled it closely, the air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked pastries.
"You seem to know this place better than I do." Qingyun smiled. She had been here for so long, yet she didn't know which restaurants were good. Yinglian, on the other hand, had known it all so well in such a short time. Before Qingyun could answer, Yinglian said she was going to buy some fabric.
"Don't waste your money, you just got your new clothes made not long ago." Yinglian wanted to stop her, but instead pushed her into the crowd at Defangzhai and said, "Alright, alright, when did you become more long-winded than me, young lady?"
The fabric shop was diagonally opposite Defangzhai, not far at all. However, she didn't need to wait for Qingyun to buy the cakes herself, as she was already squeezed into a pancake shape by herself. She glanced back casually and saw two horses at the entrance of the fabric shop. Her intuition told her that something was strange.
Horses are not the most common means of transportation. They are expensive to raise and care for, and are definitely a means of transportation used by the upper class and nobles in ancient times. Qingyun had been to that fabric shop, but only to buy some linen, the kind of fabric that ordinary people wear. Would a rich person go to such a shop to buy things?
He only thought about these things for a few seconds, but then he remembered that Yinglian was right there. He keenly realized that he might be going there for Yinglian. Without saying a word, he immediately pushed through the noisy crowd and squeezed out.
Rewind to when Yinglian had just entered the fabric shop. She had barely touched the fabric when she suddenly felt unwell. It was an instinctive tension in her body, and this tension was all too familiar to her. Immediately, she looked around frantically as if she had risen from the dead, and then kept backing away.
A terrifying thought exploded in her mind. Yinglian unconsciously clenched her sleeves and quickened her pace backward. "No, no," she reassured herself. A loud "bang" startled her. She frantically looked towards the source of the sound and realized with a start that she had knocked over a jar the shopkeeper had placed in the corner.
Suddenly, everyone around her turned their gazes to her. Seeing this, Yinglian forced a smile and quickly picked up the jar. But as she stood up, a chill ran through her body, and those gazes came again.
It was as if a ferocious beast was staring intently at her in the darkness, the kind of gaze one has for prey. The thought of running away kept swirling in Yinglian's mind. She wanted to go straight out the back door of the shop, but after only a few steps, she felt something against her back. In an instant, she froze on the spot, her hands gripping her clothes tightly, afraid to let go.
Ying's forehead was covered in fine sweat. Only after she seemed to have mustered all her courage did she slowly look back. Fortunately, it was just a pillar in the shop. Immediately, a huge weight was lifted from her heart. It turned out that it was just a pillar. How could the pillar not have sensed anything? Rather, the fear that man had instilled in her was a thousand times greater. But she had already escaped here. Would he come looking for her again?
She lowered her eyes, lost in thought, then let out a relieved sigh, thinking that no one could possibly find this place. But the next second, as she looked up to leave, she saw that nightmarish face. In an instant, her heart seemed to stop beating, her blood seemed to freeze, and she stood there motionless, her mind blank.
His lips moved up and down, but he couldn't utter a single word.
"Did you have fun?" the man asked.
The words "I...I" swirled in her mouth as she broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a chill run down her spine.
The man exuded a solemn and calm aura. His face was expressionless, but he asked earnestly, "When do you plan to go home?"
As he spoke, the other man reached out to take Yinglian's hand, but the moment he touched her, Yinglian's legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground. However, the man caught her. After a while, a faint sound of running water came from behind, dripping onto the floor. She looked down and realized that she had lost control of her bladder.
A wave of indescribable shame and fear washed over her. She didn't know that this was a normal symptom after childbirth, but when she saw that she had lost control of her bladder, she felt so wronged that she wanted to cry.
The man seemed not to notice, and simply hugged Yinglian tighter, trying to lead her outside. Only then did Yinglian, who was leaning against the man, realize what was happening and tried to struggle and run away, holding onto a pillar with one hand and leaning her legs towards the man.
"Move again and I'll break your legs." The voice was deep but threatening; Yinglian knew the man wasn't joking.
But she still resisted, shouting "No!" and tears streamed down her face, making her look pitiful and endearing. However, when people heard her cries, they only glanced at her and did nothing else.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
