Chapter 26 Fu Jingchen "Hey? You're worried about me?"...
"I don't want to lie to you. So, can we not tell you now?"
Ning Lu lay on the horse's back, remaining steady as the horse moved at varying speeds, going uphill and downhill, the words Ji Ming had spoken that day echoing in her ears.
His eyes, though mature and calculating, held a mixture of panic and anticipation as he spoke.
She had no choice but to nod in agreement.
From the simplest perspective, Ji Ming had no reason to harm her, nor was he obligated to reveal all his secrets to her. She also didn't want to take on too much of someone else's life in this world where she wouldn't be staying long.
What's more, just a few days later, Ji Ming really did find her a horse and a riding instructor, just as he had said.
Ning Lu was overjoyed that he kept his word, and said that she could turn a blind eye to whatever secrets he might be hiding. The taste of getting something for nothing was just too wonderful.
Unfortunately, before the riding instructor could even demonstrate, she had already become familiar with the horse beneath her. The instructor marveled at her skill, but Ning Lu felt unusually uneasy.
This body possesses incredibly powerful motor skills.
Whether it's her now-mastered light-footed skills, her near-perfect accuracy in throwing darts, or her ability to ride horses...
Back in Zhujia'ao, she was hungry and cold, and didn't have time to think much. Now that she finally had time to sort out her thoughts, she would stare blankly at her reflection in the water vat whenever she had a spare moment. The longer she looked, the more she felt that the original owner of this body had a dignified, reserved, and aloof appearance.
She increasingly felt that the female lead, with her amazing lightness skills and accuracy, was no ordinary person. Coupled with her experience of being chased by Zhao Yue, all dangers became clearly visible.
Not long after learning to ride a horse, Ning Lu became even more restless; going home as soon as possible was the right thing to do.
Having gained experience doing business in Zhujia'ao, quickly understanding the basic situation in Ying County was not a big problem.
Under Lord Cen's rule, the people of Ying County lived in peace and prosperity, their customs were simple and honest, and all walks of life were well-organized.
That's why Ning Lu couldn't find any loopholes to exploit. After wandering around for seven or eight days, she came up empty-handed.
This morning, I had a stroke of luck; before even entering the city, I heard some new information from a passing merchant.
The mad dancer from Yanchun Tower had been missing for more than half a year, but was found by the government officials in the past few days, which also implicated the courtesan Qing Sheng.
Everyone was curious about just how beautiful and otherworldly the courtesan was, but Ning Lu was more interested in the mad dancer.
After asking around, no one could give a clear answer. One of the men impatiently shouted, "If you're curious, just go to Changzhou and see for yourself. No one's going to take a madman from you."
Ying County is the closest county to Changzhou City, about thirty li away. If she doesn't ride a horse, she can reach it in an hour by relying on her light-footed skills. If she rides a horse, it will only take half an hour.
Originally, Ning Lu considered Changzhou to be a place of trouble, so she would stay as far away from it as possible.
But right now, the only clue to getting home points to Changzhou, and there's no way to avoid it.
Ning Lu initially wanted to go back and discuss it with Ji Ming, but that guy had been acting strangely lately, unusually clingy. She had sneaked out while he wasn't looking, and if she went back, she feared she would never be able to leave again.
After much mental preparation, she finally decided to convince herself to go to the gates of Changzhou City to investigate.
If we don't go into the city, I think nothing will happen.
The horses clattered along the official road, and Ning Lu lay on their backs, looking around at the scenery.
The black and white flat-roofed buildings, surrounded by rivers and streams, create a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
Just as I was about to sigh, I suddenly heard soldiers shouting angrily in the distance to stop people.
Ning Lu reined in her horse and stopped, holding her breath and listening intently, but felt that she couldn't hear clearly at some distance.
Sensing something was amiss, he dismounted, chose the tallest and densest tree trunk beside him, leaped onto it, and gazed ahead.
There was indeed a checkpoint at the intersection ahead, checking people one by one, questioning them in detail and even searching their bodies.
Upon closer inspection, each soldier was holding a portrait. Although it was unclear who it was, it was still possible to tell that it was a woman.
"Oh no, are they arresting me?"
The soldiers' attire was similar to Zhao Yue's men, so Ning Lu thought for a moment and then tiptoed into the dense forest. Finding a secluded riverbank, she tied her horse to a tree and planned to take a side path towards Changzhou.
The original owner had a good sense of direction, and over time, she got used to trusting this body's intuition and instincts. Following the direction of the river, she circled into the dense forest, walked through the bushes towards the city gate, and sure enough, she saw the plaque of Changzhou City.
Before they could even feel happy, a loud bang was heard from the east, startling birds into flight and shaking the ground.
After the loud noise, the surroundings fell into dead silence. The people who occasionally walked along the official road all kept their heads down and did not dare to greet each other or look around.
Ning Lu held her breath. Looking at the city gate, where there were several times more guards than in the county town, she couldn't help but tremble with fear. She crouched down and backed away, preparing to return to the county.
Because he took a few extra steps back, he ended up getting lost on the way back, wandering around in the dense forest.
After turning left and right, I somehow ended up in a mountain path. When I looked up again, I saw a whole group of shirtless men in the valley, holding long spears and training soldiers.
Calling them soldiers is a bit of a stretch. The men were all strong, but their movements with the spears were still clumsy.
Ning Lu subconsciously felt something was strange, and without bothering to look closely, she quickly turned away.
Crack—
Their feet slipped, stones fell, and everyone below looked up.
She immediately shrank back, barely daring to breathe.
In the quiet, empty valley, even the sound of breathing was amplified a hundredfold. Ning Lu closed her eyes, gripped the wild grass beside her, and silently chanted Amitabha.
Finally, the sounds below returned to normal.
As she got up to leave, she realized that a burly man with a broad face and deep eyebrows was standing behind her, his training uniform hanging on his shoulder.
"Who's spying here?"
Before Ning Lu could even cry out, her body reacted.
Just before the burly man lunged at her, she tried to dodge to the right, narrowly avoiding him. Without thinking, she grabbed a handful of sand from beneath her and flung it up.
The newcomer clearly did not expect Ning Lu to react so quickly and lost her way in time.
Ning Lu seized the opportunity without hesitation, immediately jumped up from the ground, and used her agile body advantage to kick his knee hard. Taking advantage of the moment when the other party bent over in pain, she turned around and ran away.
By a stroke of luck, despite being pursued by her enemies, she regained her sense of direction, stumbled a few times, and finally found the horse grazing peacefully by the river.
"Don't eat the baby, I'm coming for you! Run!"
Ning Lu mounted her horse and galloped away without looking back.
With Ying County in sight and a few pursuers behind her, Ning Lu thought of her sickly husband Ji A'ming at home and immediately reined in her horse, turned around, and changed direction.
After circling around a few more times, they finally managed to shake off the person under the cover of night.
As night deepened, Ning Lu returned to the courtyard, panting and covered in dust. Without even knocking, she barged into the yard.
She stumbled and fell into his arms, which smelled of cool medicine.
Ji Ming's gray cloak was damp with dew, and his fingertips were cold; it was unclear how long he had been standing there.
Ning Lu grabbed his arm with her other hand to avoid hitting his old wound on his left chest. She gasped and looked up, her first words being, "Ji Amin, I want some water."
The man's gaze swept over her disheveled and dusty appearance, already showing displeasure. Hearing her words, his brows furrowed even more deeply.
He waved to Aunt Zhang, who was serving nearby, and told her not to worry about it. He then dragged Ning Lu into the inner room like a little brat.
Ning Lu drank the water from the teacup one cup at a time, then held the porcelain cup in her palm and looked pitifully at the teapot in Ji Ming's hand: "Can I drink directly from that?"
When faced with the instinct for survival, all civility is meaningless.
He paused slightly upon hearing the sound, his expression darkening, but he still pushed the teapot in front of her.
After she gulped down the drink, Aunt Zhang knocked on the door and came in, placing the medicine, hot water bottle, and freshly boiled water on the table.
Ning Lu leaned on the table and instinctively hugged the hot water bottle to her chest, greeting Aunt Zhang with a smile.
Seeing that she still nodded distantly and retreated, her little face fell again, and she glared at Ji Ming resentfully.
Since he had recovered, he dismissed Yu Lun, citing her noise, and replaced her with this hardworking but mute aunt. Now, he was the only living person left in the courtyard who could talk and joke with her.
Ning Lu even suspected that the person was doing it on purpose.
Ignoring her sharp gaze, Ji Ming grabbed her wrist and pulled it close to his eyes. He then took out some cotton wool from the tray, soaked it in medicinal wine, and wiped the wounds on her palms that had been chafed by the sand and reins.
Seeing the scattered bloodstains flowing from her sleeve, Ji Ming's breath hitched slightly. With trembling fingertips, he slowly rolled up her sleeve, revealing her scraped elbow.
"Hey? You're worried about me?"
Seeing that Ji Ming was being overly cautious, Ning Lu no longer felt any pain. Instead, she found it amusing and presented both hands to him, waving them from side to side.
"Ji Amin, you're not afraid of blood, are you?"
"Don't move."
He cupped her forearm with his palm, pulled her closer to him, and asked in a solemn voice, "Who did this?"
“It wasn’t anyone who did it.” Ning Lu thought about it and found it funny: “I tripped and fell while I was running away.”
It's just a minor scrape; given her physical condition, it will probably heal by tomorrow morning.
However, it was truly rare to see Ji Amin looking so nervous.
Ning Lu recalled Yu Lun's words about how he had rushed in with her in his arms that day, and seeing his current cautiousness, a faint flutter rose in her heart, and she couldn't hide her smile.
"What's wrong, Lord Ji? Your tone makes me think you're about to call in people to investigate the case, find the culprit, and execute him immediately."
Ji Ming glanced up at her, not giving her a chance to evade the question: "What did you do to try and run away?"
"Hmm..." Ning Lu picked up a piece of cake from the table, took a couple of bites, composed herself, and then said seriously, "Ah Ming, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I've stumbled upon some incredible secret."
She recounted to Ji Ming everything she had done on the road: how she encountered the checkpoint, how she turned into the deep forest to find the path into the city, and how she saw the group of soldiers training in the mountain stream.
“At first, I thought I had stumbled upon soldiers training. But they chased me for several hours, which made me suspicious. Thinking about it carefully, only the leader of that group was wearing soldiers' uniforms. The shirtless men were all very thin and didn't look like soldiers; they looked more like farmers.”
"Don't you think it's very strange?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the man wasn't as interested as she had imagined. Instead, he held her wrist and examined it from side to side, his face pale and his breathing shallow and rapid.
"Hey! Ji Amin, are you feeling unwell?"
Ning Lu waved her hand in front of his eyes, and when he came to his senses, she asked, "Did you hear what I just said?"
"I heard you, don't move."
He produced a piece of thin gauze from somewhere, tore it in half, carefully attached it to her elbow, and patiently tied it tightly before letting go and setting her free.
"You tore off such good gauze to cover the wound? You're really heartless."
What are you going to Changzhou for?
He wasn't interested in the soldiers and officers outside Changzhou City; instead, he stared at Ning Lu's face and asked her about the parts of the story that could be omitted.
"Me?" Ning Lu's big eyes darted around, and she gave a sheepish smile as she replied, "There's nothing fun in the county town, and it's close to Changzhou, so I thought I'd go and check it out."
Under his gaze, Ning Lu felt increasingly guilty: "I'll also see if there are any ways to make money."
"Changzhou is not safe lately, so avoid going there."
"What do you mean? Did you know all along?" Ning Lu was a little surprised, then shook her head in denial. This person never went out and never saw anyone. Logically speaking, she was his only source of information.
Ji Ming did not answer her question, his gaze remaining fixed on her wound, still looking shaken.
Seeing him like this, Ning Lu's heart softened inexplicably. She patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry too much. This wasn't the only thing I got out of the house today."
She tapped the table and made a couple of triumphant gestures in the air.
"You didn't see it today, how swiftly I reacted when that burly man was standing behind me! First, a sweeping leg kick, then a Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers move, followed by Stepping on Snow Without a Trace, and I made a complete retreat!"
The man watched her brandishing those few moves, finding it both funny and absurd, and slowly rose, supporting himself on the table.
Seeing his pale face and weak appearance, coupled with his bright and clear face, Ning Lu choked up for a moment and jogged to catch up.
"Even if I don't go to Changzhou, I still need to leave the house."
What are you going out for?
"Go out and make money."
"Are you short of money?" Ji Ming asked, as if he had never considered this question.
She has plenty to eat and drink in this courtyard, and she has everything she needs. Plus, she earned some spare change in Zhujia'ao, so she shouldn't have to worry about making a living anymore.
He sensed something was wrong, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Where's your money?"
"I..." Ning Lu stammered when asked, "I...I bought horses."
That old horse that they ran to its death.
"You used all your money to buy horses?"
She spent a few taels of silver on a horse that was pulling and carrying goods and was nearing the end of its life.
"I didn't have time to think about it at the time. You were sick, so you definitely couldn't run. And in the whole village, only my second brother's family had a horse."
Ji Ming was stunned when he heard this. He looked down at her, who was holding up her two hands like a scarecrow, with a stubborn look on her face, and found it even more amusing.
But the smile remained on his lips, not reaching his eyes; his gaze towards Ning Lu grew increasingly profound.
After a long while, he raised his hand, as if wanting to touch her cheek, but then felt it was abrupt and pretentious. He gently pinched the flesh on her cheek with his fingertips and shook it.
"Didn't you ask me to write a letter for someone a few days ago? Have someone deliver it to me tomorrow."
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