Thinking of Mu Bai and Xiao Xi, Su Ruanruan felt a sharp pain in her heart. If Mu Bai hadn't left and Xiao Xi hadn't been harmed, she would probably have already brought Xiao Xi with her to accompany Mu Bai to the capital.
However, things are unpredictable, and now everything has changed, leaving her alone to bear this loneliness and solitude.
Su Ruanruan still hadn't received any news from Mu Bai by the day of the imperial examination.
Sitting in the carriage, Su Ruanruan kept her eyes glued to each examinee entering the examination hall, afraid of missing Mu Bai. However, even after all the examinees had entered, she still hadn't seen Mu Bai.
She then asked Ziwu to inquire with the officials at the examination hall, but the answer she received was that there was no one named Mu Bai on the list.
Su Ruanruan's mood grew heavier and heavier. Why did Mu Bai stop after passing the imperial examination and not participate in the spring examination?
Was he seriously ill and unable to attend? Or was he delayed by other matters?
All sorts of speculations made Su Ruanruan feel uneasy. She lingered at the entrance of the examination hall for a long time before finally getting into the carriage.
The carriage slowly drove out of the examination hall area, and Su Ruanruan's thoughts gradually drifted away...
She closed her eyes tightly, feeling inexplicably fearful and uneasy, as the scene of her final farewell to Mu Bai kept flashing through her mind.
Although a long time has passed, those images imprinted in my mind are still vivid and hard to erase.
Mu Bai's choked cries were like a dull knife, deeply piercing her heart.
“Purple mist…” Su Ruanruan murmured softly.
However, no one answered her calls. She composed herself and wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.
Puzzled, she lifted the curtain and looked towards the carriage shaft, only to find to her surprise that Zi Wu and the coachman, who had been sitting there, were nowhere to be seen. Now, only a lithe man in black, wearing a veiled hat, was driving the carriage alone.
Su Ruanruan narrowed her eyes slightly, gently rubbing her aching temples. This figure was all too familiar to her. Her voice carried a hint of languor, "It's you?"
The man didn't turn around, but simply responded with a "Mm".
"How are my maid and coachman?" Su Ruanruan asked.
The man replied, "I won't kill your men."
Hearing this, Su Ruanruan finally felt relieved, as long as they were alright.
She looked outside and realized that they were already outside the capital. She couldn't help but feel puzzled, wondering where he was taking her.
In the past, Su Ruanruan would have been terrified, but at this moment she was unusually calm.
Not only that, she even had the leisure to flip through sketchbooks in the carriage to pass the time.
The carriage continued on its way, but the journey became increasingly bumpy, as if the road was becoming rugged and uneven.
Su Ruanruan couldn't help but lift the curtain again to look outside, and a cool spring breeze caressed her face.
Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped.
Su Ruanruan turned her gaze to the man leaning against the carriage frame, wearing a black veiled hat, and asked in a flat tone, "Why did you bring me here? I never see you during the day."
The man remained silent for a moment before slowly replying, "It's the master's order."
His voice remained as low and indifferent as ever.
"Oh, so it's him." Su Ruanruan turned to look at the cliff face not far away, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Is he planning to throw me off the cliff?"
"Given your current status, he won't kill you."
"Oh? Could it be that he's trying to play a trick on me before returning to Jiangnan?" Su Ruanruan raised her eyebrows slightly, her lips curving upwards as she gracefully stepped down from the carriage.
Her fingers gently caressed the man's hard, broad chest through his clothes, while her other hand softly lifted a corner of the veil covering his head.
She teased playfully, "As the saying goes, even a day as husband and wife brings a hundred days of kindness! The bond between us is far more than just a day. You're so heartless, letting him play tricks on me..."
The man's deep, dark eyes stared intently at Su Ruanruan, his gaze calm as still water.
Su Ruanruan wrapped herself around his neck as nimbly as a water snake, then lightly tiptoed and whispered in his ear, "You really are cold and heartless, you have no pity for me at all."
"But do you know that the cruelest people in this world are women who are heartless and loveless?"
She paused for a moment, then smiled sweetly, "Coincidentally, I am one of them."
The man finally reacted, his brows furrowing slightly as if he wanted to push Su Ruanruan away from his arms. However, at that moment, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. It felt as if a thin needle had gently pierced his skin, followed by a cool liquid slowly spreading through his body.
At the same time, the woman who had just been whispering sweet nothings to him quickly stepped back. Her face showed no sign of panic; instead, she calmly watched him.
The man tried to touch the back of his neck, but his body seemed to have lost control, limp and unable to move. His strength seemed to have been drained away in an instant, and he could only slowly slide down the frame of the bicycle to the ground, eventually sitting helplessly on the cold ground.
Seeing the man's disheveled state, Su Ruanruan knew that the anesthetic had begun to take effect.
She paced slowly beside the man, her gaze lingering on him from time to time. When she noticed the look of surprise in his eyes, Su Ruanruan paused slightly, then slowly squatted down in front of him.
“You shouldn’t have come back after leaving the hot spring in my mansion that night at the palace banquet… Some things were destined from the moment you decided to turn back.”
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
