Chapter 18 Brother Shang Xuan, quickly drive them away!
Seeing that she was just silently shedding tears, and that the past few days had passed peacefully without her causing any trouble, Granny Zhao hadn't been very wary of her to begin with, and had become even more relaxed.
Seeing the little girl sobbing and crying pitifully without making a sound, I couldn't help but think of my own daughter, who is two years younger than Yang Qing and is at the age where she loves to cry. I felt a little sorry for her, but what could I do if I felt sorry for her?
She was just a servant, so naturally she obeyed her master's orders. Her whole family depended on her master, and she couldn't and wouldn't give up everything for a strange girl. She could only advise her as someone who had been through similar experiences, "Miss, after all these days, you should have guessed who my master is, right?"
Yang Qing glanced at her through teary eyes, said nothing, and began to sob softly again.
Granny Zhao continued, "I've heard about your affair with the young master before. Not to boast, but how many men in the capital could you find with his looks, talent, and family background?"
Yang Qing thought to herself: This person may have a beautiful exterior, but inside he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. If someone tries to force her, she would rather die than submit.
Obviously, she couldn't say these words to Granny Zhao. She could only wipe away her tears and barely suppress her sobs as she said, "Granny Zhao, I... I grew up in the capital and have never been to any other place. Besides, my parents and relatives are all in the capital... Please have some compassion and tell your good master to let me go back. He's such a good person. I was blind to his greatness before. Please let him let me go."
Granny Zhao said, "Miss, you still haven't thought it through. What's with all this talk about letting go? When you come to our Yunzhou, Xiaoyi will serve you gently. Even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman. In less than a year or two, you'll be all lovey-dovey. What else could she possibly refuse? With your status, you're not some poor girl. Who knows, you might even become the Crown Prince's consort."
Yang Qing listened without saying a word, silently shedding tears. Granny Zhao didn't continue to persuade her; these things were for her to figure out on her own.
The next day, however, the group abandoned the carriage and instead traveled by water.
They chose a large merchant ship, and the people on board were very respectful to Granny Zhao, which was probably arranged by Li Heyun in advance.
Once on the boat, Granny Zhao even kindly prepared seasickness medicine for her. She had lost a lot of weight in the past few days. Life on the boat was tough, and many people couldn't adapt, let alone a delicate young lady like her who rarely left her room. Granny Zhao was afraid that something might happen to her, so she even stopped giving her the cartilage powder in her food.
Yang Qing was secretly delighted, but she didn't show it on her face. She could swim, and if she swam to the shore from here, or asked passing ships for help and offered them money, she might be able to escape successfully.
So for the next few days, she pretended to be very seasick, and Granny Zhao let her sit on the deck and look at the water and the scenery on the shore.
Yang Qing observed for two days and found that the water flow was not too rapid, which made her feel more at ease. That night, when she heard Granny Zhao snoring, she secretly put on her clothes and took Granny Zhao's clothes with her, thinking that she would throw them into the water together so that Granny Zhao would not be able to call for help if she found out.
The boat was huge, and Yang Qing was still a little scared standing on the water's edge. But she couldn't hesitate any longer. She gritted her teeth, opened her eyes, and jumped in. Unexpectedly, she still made a "plop" sound. There were sounds coming from the boat. After swimming for a while, she looked back and saw that several lights had been turned on.
The moon overhead wasn't bright tonight either, casting only a hazy light that allowed people to barely see their surroundings.
The ship behind her was vaguely resembling a man-eating monster, and the few lights there represented its awakening. It seemed that it would be behind her at any moment and swallow her whole.
Yang Qing was terrified and swam even harder. When she looked back, the boat had changed direction and was moving very fast toward the shore.
It was easy to understand; he was probably thinking of going directly to the shore to ambush her.
Yang Qing had no choice but to change direction and swim toward several passing ships nearby.
There's nothing we can do about it. Although we don't know who's waiting for her, she can't be worse off than Li Heyun.
There's no other way but to take a gamble. If you offer her a large reward, maybe she'll actually meet a kind person who will take her back to the capital.
She originally intended to call for help from the nearest ship, but as she got closer, she was finally able to make out the plans of the nearby ships by the dim moonlight. She even saw an official ship not far away, which made her overjoyed. Her strength, which had been almost exhausted, suddenly returned, and she waved her arms even more vigorously.
The moment she touched the boat, she met a pair of sharp eyes; she happened to know the man.
Huo Lu held a sword, the cold light emanating from it seemingly more dazzling than the moon in the sky.
She suddenly remembered that Li Shangxuan was not in the capital, and Huo Lu was here. Did that mean that he was here too?
She hurriedly searched the small official boat, and sure enough, another figure approached her and reached out his hand to her.
Yang Qing put her hand on it, and before she could even exert any force, she was pulled up.
It was only then that Huo Lu recognized her. She had been dressed in the dark and her clothes were not very neat. Now she was soaking wet, and even after getting on the boat, water was still dripping from her. Her clothes clung to her body, and she was missing one shoe. Huo Lu quickly turned his back.
Yang Qing felt a sense of relief, as if she had survived a disaster, but decided to feign pitifulness first, "Your Highness..."
Li Shangxuan frowned as he looked at her disheveled appearance: "What are you doing here?"
Before Yang Qing could complain, several small boats approached, and Zhao Pozi was standing on the closest one.
Seemingly wary of the fact that it was an official ship, the men did not approach too closely. They stopped when they were still some distance away, each holding a torch. The firelight illuminated their faces, making them look like ferocious ghosts in the darkness.
Yang Qing was terrified and instinctively grabbed Li Shangxuan's waist, desperately trying to hide in his arms.
Granny Zhao's voice came along with the sound of water, sounding very sinister and terrifying, "This woman is my master's runaway concubine. Please return her to me, sir. I will reward you handsomely in the future."
Although Yang Qing was certain that Li Shangxuan would never abandon her in her time of need, she was still somewhat afraid and could only clutch his clothes tightly, saying, "I'm not, Your Highness, please save me."
Seeing that there were only a few people on this ship, while the opposite side had a large and powerful force, Yang Qing panicked again.
Although Granny Zhao was from the Ning Prince's mansion and had been to the capital, she did not know the Crown Prince. The two were behaving intimately on the boat, which startled her. If the Second Young Master's chosen woman ended up with someone else, how could she possibly survive?
He hurriedly added, "My master is the eldest son of the Luo Nanming family. Please grant me this favor, sir."
Seeing that he remained silent with his hand on his lower back, Yang Qing urged him softly, "Brother Shang Xuan, hurry up and chase them away."
Her urging finally had an effect. Li Shangxuan put his arm around her waist, preventing her from showing her face. It was early summer, and the weather was getting warmer, but the night on the river was still very cold. Li Shangxuan's words were also tinged with the coolness of the river breeze. "You've probably mistaken me for someone else. This is my fiancée, not the person you're looking for. You'd better leave quickly, lest you frighten her."
Granny Zhao was furious tonight. She never imagined that Yang Qing, who seemed so obedient and gentle, would have such audacity as to jump into the Jiangfu River in the dead of night to escape, and even take all her clothes, leaving this old woman to come out in her undergarments and call for help. This humiliation and the anger of being deceived combined had long since made her unrecognizable; her once somewhat kind face was now no different from that of a demon.
Although he couldn't see Yang Qing's face, he couldn't mistake her clothes. Seeing that this person seemed determined not to release her, and wasn't afraid even after bringing up the Ming family of Luo Nan, his eyes flashed with a fierce light. "Sir, are you really sure about this? This little wench is clearly my master's runaway concubine. You're an official in the court, you should know what kind of family the Ming family is..."
Yang Qing nestled in his arms, still feeling Granny Zhao's gaze fixed on her. Her clothes were soaked through, and she shivered involuntarily in the wind.
Li Shangxuan seemed to have noticed, and patted her back reassuringly, interrupting Granny Zhao, "Perfect timing, I'm going to Luonan soon, so I can ask him in person whether she is his runaway concubine or my fiancée."
Hearing that the man on the boat knew the eldest son of the Ming family, Granny Zhao was also taken aback. Princess Ning was indeed from the Ming family, but the second son had no relation to the Ming family. Granny Zhao had just said it casually, thinking that Luonan was not far from here, and that she would use the name of the Ming family to scare away the man in front of her, so that he would obediently hand over Yangqing.
She certainly wouldn't dare to confront the Ming family.
In the past few years, there were many river bandits in the Luonan-Chuannan area. There were government troops stationed every few dozen miles on both banks. Their ostentatious display of torches has probably already attracted attention. If a conflict were to break out, especially since the other side is an official boat, it would be even more difficult for them to escape unscathed.
Granny Zhao glared at Yang Qing resentfully, then could only order, "Let's go."
Yang Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
******
There were hardly any people on the ship, let alone maids. Yang Qing was soaked to the bone and had no clothes to change into. She could only wear Li Shangxuan's clothes, rolling up the sleeves a couple of times and tightening the belt, which was enough to cover her body.
After doing all that, she untied her hair and wrung it out. She was exhausted and had been caught in the wind while in a state of fright, which had caused her to sneeze several times. If she didn't dry her hair, she was afraid she would really get sick.
After he finished doing all that, Li Shangxuan came in and asked bluntly, "Why are you here? And who were those people just now?"
His tone wasn't very good, carrying a cold questioning tone. Yang Qing was wearing ill-fitting clothes, and her disheveled hair was still damp. After experiencing so many days, she was already extremely frightened. When she saw Li Shangxuan, instead of comforting her, he even scolded her.
Her tears fell without warning.
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