Chapter 20 A Safe Place
The man's gaze lingered on Xie Rongying for a moment before he turned and walked away, holding the timid-looking girl behind him.
Seeing this, Yunniang said: "How can this person be like this? He didn't even say thank you!"
Xie Rongying stared at the back, a barely perceptible curve appearing at the corner of her lips, after the crowd dispersed and the street returned to normal.
"Miss, why are you suddenly meddling in this trivial matter?" Yunniang was already unhappy about what Xie Ting had said, and now she saw that her own daughter was meddling in other people's affairs and didn't get a good response, so there was a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.
Xie Rongying said, "Follow him."
After saying that, Xie Rongying quickened her pace and walked towards the place where the man had just left.
"Miss, please wait for me." Although Yunniang didn't understand why, she thought that her daughter would not help someone for no reason, so there must be other reasons.
In the private room on the third floor of Fengle Building, Xie Ting leaned against the window, his eyebrows furrowed as he muttered, "Something's wrong, something's wrong."
"What's wrong?" The voice was mellow yet a little hoarse, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.
Xie Ting looked to the side and said, "My eldest sister is not the type to meddle in other people's affairs. She even chased me off her carriage just now when I took a ride there. She has always distinguished between superiors and inferiors, and between men and women. But now she's chasing after a man she doesn't even know?"
The young man chuckled softly and did not respond. When Xie Ting's gaze fell on the street again, Xie Rongying's figure had long disappeared.
The lights in the private room were dim, and the young man, hidden in the gloom, said, "The eldest princess' birthday is in a few days. Do you want to go to Kaibao Temple to see it?"
Xie Ting's face was solemn for a moment, then he smiled and said, "I won't go. Your Highness, please give my regards to the Princess for me."
"Okay." The young man stood up, and as he moved, the orange light seeping in from the window made the python embroidered on the purple official robe look lifelike with its fangs and claws bared.
The lights were flowing, and under the orange light, the young man stood by the window, his brows cold, and he looked down at the people on the street casually, concealing half of the coldness in his eyes.
He then asked, "Why did your father suddenly come to the eldest princess?"
"This..." Xie Ting pondered for a moment: "I don't know about this. It's not my place to pry into the personal relationship between my father and the eldest princess."
——
The street was still noisy. The fierce man, holding the girl's hand, slowed down his pace when they entered an alley where people occasionally passed by.
And Xie Rongying also followed into this alley.
After entering the depths of the alley, Xie Rongying stopped walking. Yunniang caught up with her breathlessly: "Miss, you are walking too fast. I can hardly keep up with you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yunniang saw the man in front of her turn around. Due to the backlight, she couldn't see his face at all. She could only hear that gloomy voice: "What do you want to do?"
"I noticed your sister's face was pale. It definitely wasn't all because of a beating." Xie Rongying glanced at the girl who was peeking out from behind the man and continued, "Her eyes are dark blue. Is there some hidden illness?"
The man stared at Xie Rongying without blinking and did not say a word.
"I can heal her." Xie Rongying said again.
The girl hiding behind the man poked her head out again, her eyes full of curiosity.
Xie Rongying examined the hideous scar on the man's face through the veil. There is a kind of poor but capable people in this world. In order to survive, for their loved ones, and to avoid starving to death, they can only kill people for others in exchange for silver.
People like this are called ronin in the underworld.
Living on the edge of a knife all year round and making countless enemies, it's hard to say whether such a person can survive tomorrow.
But this person also brought his sister with him.
"I know your identity, so you are eager to settle your sister down and find a good family for her. Even if it means being a slave, you think it will be a safe place for your sister."
Every time Xie Rongying spoke, the man's expression changed a little.
"It just so happens that your sister has had difficulty speaking since she was young, and her body isn't very agile either. The families you can contact only want slaves who are nimble and quick in their work. The wealthy families you can't contact simply don't like someone like your sister, so despite all your efforts, you haven't been able to find a safe place for your sister."
Just as Xie Rongying finished speaking, she felt a strong wind blowing towards her, the veil stuck to her cheeks, and her throat was instantly pinched by a rough hand.
"What are you doing!" Yunniang exclaimed, "Is this how you repay kindness with enmity?!"
Instead, Xie Rongying said calmly, "If you can be used by me, not only will your sister have a safe place to live, but you will also be spared from being hunted by your enemies."
The words 'a safe place' loosened the man's grip considerably. He asked calmly, "How do you know my identity?"
Xie Rongying chuckled, raised her hand to push away the hand that was pinching her throat, took a step back, and said, "I guessed it."
The man obviously didn't believe it.
"You can consider it." Xie Rongying smoothed the veil of her hat and said, "But you only have one day to consider it. No more time will be wasted."
The man stared at Xie Rongying, who remained calm and composed until this moment, wondering what he was thinking.
"If you are willing at this time tomorrow, please go to the east gate of the Yongyi Marquis's Mansion. If you don't show up, it will be considered that you are unwilling."
After that, Xie Rongying instructed Yunniang, "Give him a hundred taels of silver and ask him to take this little girl to the clinic for a thorough diagnosis."
"Yes." Although Yunniang was a little angry, she thought that her daughter really needed some manpower, so she took out a silver note and handed it to the man.
Seeing that the man had no intention of taking it, Yunniang handed it to the man forcefully: "Even if you don't want to, my daughter is also a kind-hearted person. Go see a doctor!"
The man held the banknote in his hand, but his heart was filled with bitterness.
These nobles and dignitaries could easily get a hundred taels of silver for their kindness, but he had to kill five people for others to get a hundred taels of silver.
When I looked up again, Xie Rongying's figure had slowly disappeared from the alley.
It was the girl's sobbing that brought the man back to his senses. He turned his head to look at the girl frowning and gesturing, and suddenly remembered how the woman knew that her sister could not speak?
"It's okay, Xiang. This woman doesn't seem to have any bad intentions."
The girl gestured again.
The man continued, "I'm not asking you to kill anyone. I promised you that I won't kill anyone again."
Hearing this, the girl's frown relaxed a lot and she hugged the man's arm tightly.
The man stroked the girl's head gently and said with a sigh, "Don't be afraid, brother won't let you get hurt again."
——
It was already three quarters past ten when they returned to the mansion of Marquis Yongyi. Ever since Jiang and Marquis Yongyi had parted ways with Xie Rongying in the East Garden, Qin Junyi had not appeared in the East Garden again, nor had he appeared in front of Xie Rongying.
Xie Rongying was happy and relaxed. When she was about to rest after washing up, Mother Yuan came.
"It is truly my fault for bothering the young lady so late at night." Madam Yuan never made a mistake. "It's just that Madam and Madam have agreed to go to Kaibao Temple to pray for blessings the day after tomorrow. Madam needs to arrange things for burning incense and praying tomorrow. I was afraid I wouldn't have time to tell the young lady, so I asked me to come and tell her."
Xie Rongying smiled faintly: "The day after tomorrow..."
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