Chapter 31: Miserable
"This is the rootless water buried under the peach tree. Would you like to try it?"
"You turned too slowly just now, so you couldn't catch the shuttlecock. Pay attention to Xiaoju's footwork."
"Try to direct the Qi from the Zhongdantian to the Yunmen, and then to the Shenfeng... Uh, I forgot you don't understand these things. Just follow where I point and breathe inward."
"Jiao Ran, you fell asleep on the edge of my bed last night, and my hands were still numb when I woke up this morning."
"This is Madam's crabapple flower. Don't you want to live?"
"The moon was really beautiful last night, didn't you think?"
"Jiao Ran, tell me what you want to do in the future. Maybe I can help you."
"You're not stupid, who always calls you stupid? Your mother?"
"I see your handwriting is getting better and better, hahahahahahahaha... you're really learning to be about 30% like me."
Her eyelashes moved slightly, but she did not wake up immediately. She frowned, as if she was in a nightmare and could never wake up.
Jiaoran struggled and heard Mu Jin's voice from all directions. She was scared. Now, whenever she heard his voice, she was scared. This was the first time she was completely betrayed by someone she trusted. It was so painful.
"Why don't you beg me, shed a few tears, maybe I'll soften my heart and let you go."
"You think I'm the prey? No, you're the prey. Why are you so stupid that you only realize it now?"
"I gave you so many chances, but you couldn't seize them all. Who can you blame?"
"You hate me, don't you? If you can still survive, I will wait for you to come and take revenge."
"The consequence of a wrong move is death. Didn't I tell you that long ago?"
…
The severe pain from her wrist and the bright light in front of her eyes made it impossible for her to close her eyes and endure the words that kept pouring into her mind. She struggled and called for help like a drowning person underwater.
Everything around her was shaking. Jiaoran was trapped in a prison carriage, which was heading towards an unknown direction. When she opened her eyes, the world was spinning around her. There were all kinds of people around her, men, women, old people, and young children.
Her throat was so dry that it was about to burn, her wrists ached, and the massive blood loss made her feel weak all over, and she leaned against the side of the prison van.
She had never felt such pain before. It was only when she was beaten by that madman in the Governor's Mansion that she was seriously injured. However, that time, it was just the boiling blood in her body and the pain did not last long. The last time it hurt so much, she thought... maybe it was because it had been too long. The last time her whole body was in pain was when she rolled down the mountain path as a child and was bedridden for three months.
She wanted to lie down and rest, but there was no place under her feet. As soon as she sat up, someone lay down exhausted, right at her feet. Everyone in the prison van was pale and thin, with injuries on their bodies. It didn't look like a van full of people, but rather a van full of captured animals to be slaughtered.
"Girl, you have slept for so long, let us take a break." said a bearded man, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Jiaoran nodded and saw that her wrist had been bandaged with white cloth. She wondered who had treated her wound.
She looked around and didn't see anyone she knew.
Sister Xiaoju, Shaofeng, Susu, the cook, Changchuan, Changli and the servants were gone, and of course, the young master was gone too.
It was like she had just woken up from a long dream.
Everything in the past is fake, only the pain in my body at this moment is real.
She was using him, and he was also using her.
But she still couldn't figure out how she had become the one being cheated in the blink of an eye.
He said they were even, what a joke. If she wasn't lucky, would she still be sitting here now?
So who saved her?
Could it be that he had a change of heart and came back?
Jiaoran was immediately struck down by this thought. How stupid! No matter who it was, it wouldn't be him. He didn't care about her life or death at all.
"Where are you from?"
Jiaoran was talking to a young man next to him.
He said, "I am from the Bingque Sect. Where is the girl?"
"Bingque Sect?" Why are they here? Phoenix Young is really capable, he can call all the sects as far away as Sanyuan Mountain to Xiutu to serve him.
"Which sect is the girl from?"
"I... Huiying... I have no sect or school, I'm just a maid in the mansion, and I woke up here."
The young man had a wound on his face and the blood in the corner of his eye had dried. "You are so unlucky. You were dragged into this without doing anything. Hey, don't be sad. This siege of the Governor's Mansion... I heard that a lot of spies were caught in the Governor's Mansion. Those people would rather kill the wronged ones than let any of them go. You are still lucky, girl. Several maids and servants who were wrongly arrested were crying out that they were innocent, and they were killed two days ago." He said to Jiaoran.
Jiao Ran asked, wanting to know what had happened while she was away. Now that she had saved her life, she began to think carefully about the truth. This was a flawless plan, and she was just one step in it. "Why did you want to besiege the Governor's Mansion?"
He refused to say any more.
Jiaoran thought for a moment and reached out to touch the hairpin on her head, but now there were only messy hair on her head, and not a single hairpin was left. She had lived a life of luxury in the Governor's Mansion before. Her box was full of gold hairpins and jade rings that had never been seen in the small town. There was red marrow jade on the pomegranate hairpin, and small pearls hanging at the bottom of her Que Wuchang hairpin... She could use whatever she wanted, but after following Young Master Su for a long time, she also loved jade.
"Don't look for it, girl. You have nothing on you anymore." The young man said guiltily.
"You guys!" She immediately shrank back and hugged her knees.
A prison van was packed with people.
"They took it, not me," the boy said.
Seeing Jiaoran lowering his head and his eyes red, he felt a little reluctant and said, "Okay, I'll take one of your earrings and return it to you."
He took out a white jade earring from his arms, which was carved with peonies.
"No need, just take it." Jiaoran was deflated.
I am lucky to be alive.
He trotted along, looking happier than he had been in a long while. He pushed open the door, loudly calling for someone to come over, holding a pot of Bamboo Leaf Green in his hand, as if he was celebrating something.
"Are you awake?"
The maid in the room hurriedly greeted him and said, "Third Young Master."
Chai Hui sensed something was wrong and took a few steps forward to push aside the beaded curtain, but there was no one on the bed. "I told you to keep an eye on the person, but where is he?"
The maids didn't dare to answer, and they knocked their heads on the ground, begging for mercy.
Chai Hui drew his sword, wishing he could chop them into pieces. They couldn't even do such a small thing, and he had only been gone for a few hours.
Before the sword reached the maid, a scabbard alone stopped him. Chai Hui looked up and saw that it was Chai Lie.
"Brother, why are you..."
"It has nothing to do with them. I've handed the person over to Chache, and he will handle it."
Chai Lie told them all to go out and not to worry.
"Where did you take her?"
"Did you really think that no one would know if you brought her out of the mansion? If mother hadn't covered for you, father would have skinned you alive!"
Chai Hui didn't want to argue and rushed out, "Bring me the horse!"
The servants didn't dare to obey. When the eldest master came, they still listened to the third master, which was like asking for death. They stood under the eaves and obeyed submissively, not daring to leave easily. The third master was like a firecracker, and some of them made a fuss.
"You all go and do your own things. There's no need to wait here." Chai Lie waved his hand and ordered them.
"Okay, if I don't have a horse, I'll just walk to find my second brother!"
"Is it too late to go back and look for it now?" Chai Lie sneered, "Don't you know how fast your second brother works?"
"Second brother won't kill her." He believed he wouldn't do that.
"How do you know he won't?"
"She's just Mu Jin's useless chess piece."
"Yeah, she's just a useless chess piece. A useless chess piece has no effect at all. Who cares whether she's dead or alive?"
"I... Since I was the one who rescued her from the Dragon Locking Cave, I must..."
"Should we send her back to Mu Jin? Or should we send her back to her insignificant sect?"
"She didn't have a master or a sect, she said."
"Silly brother, do you really believe her?" This kind of woman never speaks a word of truth. She is even worse than ordinary people. Women in the rivers and lakes are self-degrading and associate with bandits. They are no different from prostitutes. They can do anything to survive and for gold, silver and treasures.
"Which master can teach a disciple with such poor martial arts skills?" Chai Hui smiled.
Chai Liezhen was helpless with his younger brother. Sure enough, he hadn't made any progress since he was a child. "Ahui, she has been lying to you. Her appearance at the armory that night was enough to explain everything. Mu Jin escaped and the mansion was in chaos. She can't escape responsibility. You should listen to me and hand the man over to A Che."
"What if she won't say anything?"
"So many spies have been caught in the mansion, and those who didn't speak have all died. How long do you think she can live if she refuses to speak?" Chai Lie said.
"Changshi and Mu Jin are the ones father wants to go after. Jiaoran is just a small shrimp. The real big fish have already swam away. It's only because we were careless. If father must pursue it, he should start with Mu Jin."
"Father won't kill Mu Jin. You know, he will never kill him."
Chai Hui was still ruthless, "Please, big brother, just tell me, where did she go?"
Chai Lie was upset and turned to leave, but he was entangled by him tightly, "Brother, don't you want to pay attention to me?"
"She's just an ordinary woman, why do you insist on having her?"
"Brother, don't you think she looks alike?"
"Like what?"
"She looks very much like the future daughter-in-law of the Chai family."
“…” Chai Lie was silent for a moment, and finally said nothing.
Seeing that his brother had stopped arguing, Chai Hui quickly said, "Hey, just tell me. I'll go look for him right away. It's still not too late."
"It's no use. Your second brother said so."
Seeing that he refused to give in, Chai Hui had no choice but to secretly think of another way to follow him. He clenched his fists and said, "Just wait until I find her."
"What do you want with her? Will Dad agree to let you marry her? She's just a country girl!"
"When I find her...I'll kill her."
"Well?"
His brother, who often had brain problems, sighed and said, "Come back home with me as soon as possible to see mother. I'll ask you to come over there."
"Is my second brother also in the mansion?"
"Okay, whether you want to see mother, father, or your second brother, you have to go back now."
The prison van was on the road every day. As the days passed, from late summer to late autumn, prisoners in the prison van died every day.
Sometimes when Jiaoran opened his eyes, he would see the bodies of several people being thrown out of the prison van. The escorting guards would stab the people with spears. If there was no response, they would wrap them in tattered mats and throw them in the grass.
She was sick several times. After the autumn came, her body was burning hot almost every day and she had a fever for almost a month.
The young man who spoke to her at the beginning now didn't dare to get close to her. He heard an old man in the prison van say that her cough was like tuberculosis. If it was true, everyone in the van might be infected.
When she coughed the most severely, she would always cough up blood, with blood oozing intermittently from the corners of her mouth.
A little girl who didn't do her duty at home and got into such a big trouble, is probably not far from death.
The girl who stole her bracelet was a few years older than her. Seeing that she was getting sicker day by day, she rubbed the boy's shoulder and said, "Yuan Jianlu, don't think I don't know that all the money she had on her was in your pocket. You hid it quite well."
"Our Bingque Sect and your Shengming Sect have nothing to do with each other. Why are you meddling in my affairs for no reason?"
"After all, she's so sick, you should have some conscience when you take money from her. When the officials come to distribute food and water, go get some to feed her. She hasn't eaten in two days."
"I won't go. You and she are both women. You girls should help each other. Why don't you go and feed her?"
"Who knows if her illness is tuberculosis? Go, you took her money, so you have to take care of her."
"Mei Wan'er, watch your mouth. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll cut your mouth off and use it as a snack for wine."
She curled her lips, thinking that she couldn't beat him, and retreated into the crowd. The small prison van was drafty on all sides. If this continued, the girl would surely die in the cold winter.
Although he said harsh words, when it was time for dinner, he still soaked the dry biscuits in cold water and fed them to the dying girl under the contemptuous gaze of the girl opposite.
Jiaoran closed her eyes and could not eat no matter how much he fed her.
Yuan Jianlu woke her up impatiently. He was not a kind person. "Girl, if you don't eat a bite, you might be the one stabbed to death by the spear tomorrow morning."
I don't know where I am at this time. The autumn wind is blowing, and the elm leaves have turned dry and yellow, covering the sky. A few of them float into the prison car, looking a bit like paper money on the road to the underworld.
The wild grass was withered, and in the marshland grew patches of white reeds. Flocks of geese flew across the sky, their mournful cries. Jiaoran listened to the mournful calls, closed his eyes, and thought of the autumn in Mianyuan.
Next to the small town of Mianyuan, which is close to the wilderness, there is an endless field. A traveler on a skinny horse passed by Mianyuan. She was sitting at the window of the inn, looking at the wilderness, and heard the sad flute played by the passers-by. The music of the frontier made her feel sad.
Whenever her senior sister saw that she was unhappy, she would take her to find mice. They were very cunning and hid in caves under the grass. There was also a large maple forest in Mianyuan, with red leaves and green forests clearly separated. It was the most beautiful scenery she had ever seen.
She couldn't die, she had to go home.
Mother was still at home. Father knew that Fenghuangchu was plotting against her and would not let the despicable guy go. He would hang him up and, like her, cut his wrists and drain his blood.
She also wanted to find that bastard Mu Jin and make him die in her hands, only then could she vent her anger.
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