They walked until they reached a dead end before Xie Lingqin stopped, dusted off her sleeves, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Come out."
"Why are you following me?" Bai Yu landed on the wall, looking at Xie Lingqin with a troubled expression.
Xie Lingqin was still dressed as a man. Of course, Bai Yu still didn't know she was a woman. At this moment, her eyebrows were not dancing, and her face looked extremely ugly.
"You're not exactly handsome to begin with, but a smile can actually enhance your looks. Now, with that long face, it's really unappetizing." Xie Lingqin's words were quite sharp.
Bai Yu crossed her arms and looked at her, "I'm not in the mood for jokes today."
"What is your relationship with the Marquis of Anping's mansion?" Xie Lingqin asked directly.
Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Bai Yu's dark eyes on his extremely white face. He stared at Xie Lingqin for a long time before rubbing his nose and saying, "Didn't you hear Nie Zui'er say that my family was once a prestigious clan, but it has declined?"
"I understand." Xie Lingqin replied simply. "So you have some connections with the Marquis of Anping's residence? And you're thinking of paying your respects?"
"Hmm." Bai Yu seemed unwilling to say more. After speaking, she patted her forehead and looked at Xie Lingqin, "By the way, where are you going, kid?"
"Looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Bai Yu frowned instantly. "Why are you looking for me? I don't have any money to give you."
That sudden, guarded look made Xie Lingqin feel inexplicably awkward.
"I have something important to discuss with you," Xie Lingqin said.
"As long as we don't talk about money..."
"Something that will make you a lot of money." Xie Lingqin suddenly realized that image was sometimes necessary, so she walked over and said, "Come here, I'll tell you."
"Tell me quickly, I have other things to do." Bai Yu put on a haughty face.
Is something the matter?
A glint flashed in Xie Lingqin's eyes, and as if unaware, she whispered quickly in his ear.
a long time.
"Huh? Oh... Are you sure... We can give it a try... No backing out... Okay... It's a deal." Bai Yu went from initial wariness to doubt to disbelief, to final certainty, and then, with a smile, slapped his thigh, sealing the deal.
"Alright, you go ahead and get busy." Xie Lingqin had achieved her goal and said goodbye to Bai Yu.
The alley was quiet, with only a single withered leaf falling silently.
Bai Yu landed in a small courtyard, his expression solemn.
"You've come." It was an old man's voice. Under the moonlight, his brown, wrinkled face looked at Bai Yu with a kind expression. As he spoke, he handed over a set of clothes with both hands. "I've already told you that I'm not feeling well today, so I asked my nephew to help me deliver the swill. Please be careful."
"Brother Yu." At this moment, a man and a woman, one big and one small, came out from a simple tile-roofed house. They had already taken off the silk and brocade dresses they wore during the day and were dressed as men.
"Where are we going?" the younger girl asked hesitantly, tugging at the older woman's sleeve. "Where are Father and Mother?"
"Shangyu, your father and mother are dead. We need to escape now and get out of the city." The taller girl patted An Shangyu's head.
An Shangyu was clearly unable to accept this fact; her once clear black and white eyes suddenly darkened, and her voice rose slightly, "An Shangning, what are you saying? How could you..."
"An Shangyu." An Shangning raised her hand and covered her mouth, holding back her tears, and suddenly grabbed An Shangyu's small shoulders, "We need to save our lives now, do you understand, do you understand?"
“I…” An Shangyu looked at An Shangning, at this fourth sister she wasn’t usually close to, and tears streamed down her face. “I know, I know, second brother, do you also… I know… Waaah…”
This usually proud and precious child, now ten years old, is not truly ignorant. In a single day, earth-shattering changes have given her some insight into the political landscape of the court.
Bai Yu looked at the two sisters, nodded to the old man, and then took the clothes to the house next door.
"Don't cry, don't worry, I will protect you from now on. The entire Anping Marquis's mansion is left with only us. We must take good care of ourselves." An Shangning raised her sleeve to wipe away An Shangning's tears, while her own eyes were also red, but she tried her best to hold back, her clear eyes revealing a firm determination.
Bai Yu had changed into a very ordinary dark-colored outfit and was wearing a felt hat, deliberately disguising himself. Then he looked at An Shangning and An Shangyu and said, "You two will hide in this swill bucket in a while. If someone checks at the city gate, you will sink down and hold your breath for a while. Can you do that?" His tone was serious and stern.
An Shangyu nodded and hid behind An Shangning.
An Shangning gritted her teeth and said, "Young Master Baiyu, thank you."
"I'll thank you after I've successfully gotten you out of the city." Bai Yu's expression tightened, and she glanced at the sky. "I hope everything goes smoothly; they won't be too careful."
Upon hearing this, An Shangning paused for a moment, then her expression changed slightly as she looked at Bai Yu. "What do you mean? Will this implicate Sister Lingqin?"
"Sister Lingqin?"
"It's the woman who covered for us when you led us away, she..."
"Don't worry, I haven't heard of anyone being implicated. Besides, she probably found two corpses to impersonate you, but if they investigate carefully, they'll find out it wasn't you..." Bai Yu stopped talking, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go."
Xie Lingqin was not implicated, which put An Shangning at ease.
Then, An Shangyu was pulled by An Shangning and reluctantly crawled into the swill bucket.
Not long after, a group of Imperial Guards suddenly emerged from a section of the long street in the cold and indifferent city of Beirong.
"A message has come from the palace that there are still some fugitives in the Marquis of Anping's household who have escaped the net, and they must be caught."
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