Ten Li Love Tribulation
(Li, a unit of distance in ancient China, roughly equivalent to half a kilometer or about a third of a mile.)
Body movements far outpace thoughts, yet no matter how swift, they can’t reverse time. In the next instant, Ci Ke was tightly surrounded by several people. A scream echoed, causing Ye Youqing’s heart to plunge into the abyss.
Fortunately, she soon realized that the scream was not emitted by Ci Ke. Meanwhile, roars resonated within the house as several men dropped their sticks, retreating as if seeing a monster.
Ye Youqing also halted, staring in surprise at the person slowly getting up from the ground.
The white garment on the person was no longer recognizable, stained with red, green, and black, their disheveled hair spread around, reaching down to their thighs.
She seemed to have not yet recovered from drunkenness, her eyes cloudy and dim. She wiped the blood from her face as if not feeling the pain, holding a hairpin in her hand sharp as a knife’s edge at the tip.
“These lunatic actually ambushed us! Send her to see the officials!” Several people were furiously angry, clamoring and shouting, but not a single one dared to step forward, as if fearing something.
Ye Youqing shifted her gaze downward and saw Ci Ke, who had fallen to the ground unharmed, and then she slightly, almost imperceptibly, sighed in relief.
“Gentlemen, this is my family’s store. If you want to fight, please go outside…” The young man tenderly held up his hands towards his own shop’s tables and chairs, which had been smashed to pieces, but after seeing the fierce and menacing eyes of several burly men, he voluntarily quieted down and dejectedly returned to the corner.
“It’s useless.” Qin Xin shrank in the corner.
“A wise man does not eat losses before his eyes, what would a girl like you know.” The young man muttered, holding his head.
Ye Youqing kept her gaze firmly on that so-called crazy woman, her hand subconsciously moved behind her, slightly clenched into a fist. She seemed to have a natural premonition towards dangerous things, but for some reason, apart from sensing danger, she also felt this person seemed a bit familiar.
The “crazy woman” seemed to notice her gaze, her eyes suddenly turned sharp as if they could pierce someone’s spine.
However, this look didn’t last long because, after a moment, she let out a long burp and crashed to the ground with a clang.
A few men exchanged glances as if they had been granted a great pardon, once again gripping their clubs, advancing forward. The leader stretched out an arm, trying to use the stick to lift the hair of the woman on the ground, but suddenly a soft white hand grabbed the tip, making it immobile.
Ye Youqing felt Ci Ke’s gaze on her, but she did not look back at her. Instead, she hooked up a smile, holding the stick upright, and spoke like a babbling brook: “Gentlemen, what are you doing capturing her?”
The man looked up and down at Ye Youqing, noting her plain attire, and assumed she was just an ordinary girl from a common family. He frowned and said, “Where did this girl come from? That crazy woman has been stealing liquor from our shop all day. Today, even if we beat her to death, it would be too lenient!”
“If you don’t move aside, be careful, I’ll beat you too!” The man forcefully swung his stick, thinking it would make Ye Youqing stumble. However, to his surprise, Ye Youqing didn’t budge at all. As the stick was pulled back, he almost landed on his behind.
Before the man could speak, he heard that melodious voice again, saying, “Fifty taels of silver.”
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“What, what?” The man stammered.
“These tables and chairs are made of the finest fragrant sandalwood. The older they are, the smoother and more exquisite they become. You have destroyed so many of them, and fifty taels of silver is just the beginning.” Ye Youqing calmly said, flicking her delicate fingers and carefully selecting a perfectly intact stool to sit on.
Facing a group of strong men, she realized standing there didn’t give her much presence, so she chose to sit down, adopting a posture as if she were lecturing. Indeed, the man opposite her turned paler.
“These broken tables and chairs, are they worth so much silver? Besides, who are you anyway? Do you own this shop?” the man tried to embolden himself with his voice.
“Whether they are worth it is not for you or me to say. You just mentioned delivering her to the officials, so why don’t we send all these tables and chairs over for a thorough examination?” Ye Youqing spoke calmly, her slender fingers playing with an object, “As for this shop, do you know my surname?”
Hearing this, Qin Xin forcefully pushed the young man next to her. Staggering a few steps forward, the young man couldn’t maintain his balance and fell to his knees with a clatter.
Grimacing in pain, he had an epiphany and immediately burst into tears, shouting, “So you are the Eldest Miss from the Duke’s Household, I… I have been waiting for you so desperately!”
Upon hearing “Duke’s Household,” the sturdy men immediately looked at each other, their faces ashen. Coming from common folks’ families, who would dare to confront the officials, let alone someone of Duke status like Duke Liang? Their knees weakened, nearly collapsing in unison.
“Miss, please forgive us, we were just eager to catch a thief, we didn’t mean any…” The man lamented with a gloomy face, hurriedly hiding the stick and club behind him, not daring to show them again.
“Yes, yes, this, these fifty taels of silver, we are just ordinary folks, how can we afford it?” Another spoke up from behind, the group of men seemingly on the verge of tears.
The incident had happened so suddenly that Ye Youqing had no intention of entangling with a few commoners. She simply wanted to dismiss them, so she nodded symbolically, lazily saying: “If you don’t want to compensate, that’s fine, just don’t trouble her again.”
“Absolutely, absolutely, we will surely heed the miss’s words!” The men exchanged glances and nods, quickly turning around to flee.
Soon, the room was empty again, save for the door left ajar, creaking softly.
“Eldest Miss!” Qin Xin hurriedly ran up, pushing the genuinely crying boy aside, and helped Ye Youqing up, anxiously saying, “You nearly scared me to death…”
Ye Youqing didn’t comment on her being “scared to death” every other day, sighed, and frowned at the “crazy woman” collapsed like a rag on the floor. Then, she lifted her eyes, looking inquiringly at Ci Ke.
Only then did Ci Ke shift her gaze, silently stepped forward, and with difficulty, tugged at the woman’s arm, trying to help her up.
Ye Youqing watched for a while, but eventually still shook her head, slowly stepped forward, and reached out to help.
“There’s no need to dirty Miss Ye’s hands,” Ci Ke said, glancing at the broken tables and chairs. “I will compensate for these.”
“Who is she?” Ye Youqing looked at her own empty grasp and reluctantly let go.
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“That’s none of your business,” Ci Ke replied lightly.
This woman’s attitude was hot and cold, speaking with veiled criticism. Ye Youqing felt displeased, her voice turning colder, “Are you going to drag her out like this, then? Where to?”
Ci Ke’s eyes held a mocking light, about to retort, when the woman, who just managed to stand a bit, suddenly bowed her head and vomited profusely.
Ye Youqing recoiled in disgust, letting out a long sigh.
In the second-floor compartment.
Mist filled the air, the windows tightly shut, making the room unbearably stuffy. Ye Youqing had no choice but to rip off her outer garment and toss it aside, a thin layer of sweat covering her delicate arms.
Ci Ke, who was quietly rolling up her sleeves to help the woman wash, averted her gaze without a word.
“Eldest Miss, you are of noble birth, why bother serving a crazy woman?” The voice of a young man outside grew urgent, almost to the point of breaking down the door, “This crazy woman has been roaming this street for years, often hurting people, Eldest Miss…”
“Quiet, go heat up another basin of water,” Ye Youqing spoke up, as the sound of irritated stamping came from outside, followed by receding footsteps.
Who knows how long it had been since this woman had last bathed – it took a total of six large buckets of hot water before her true appearance began to show.
Ye Youqing initially thought this person was of an older age, but now seeing her more clearly, she turned out to be a young woman in her early twenties. Perhaps it was the overly aged and weathered look in her eyes that had misled her.
The woman mumbled something in her drunken state, brushing aside her tangled hair to reveal delicate brow bones and light-colored eyelashes. Her bone structure was more robust than that of the typical Central Plains woman, not seeming to be purely of Central Plains ancestry.
Even her limbs were elegantly long and pleasing to the eye, draped over the edge of the bathing tub, emanating an innate grace and carefree demeanor.
“So who is she?” Ye Youqing folded her arms, her gaze following Ci Ke’s slender figure bending over, yet she received no answer.
“Do you know her?” Ye Youqing pressed again.
This time, Ci Ke spoke: “No.”
Not knowing her but risking her life to save her, Ye Youqing didn’t buy it for a second. Yet, seeing Ci Ke’s expression, she knew she probably wouldn’t get a straight answer.
“Eldest Miss! The scissors are here!” Qin Xin ran over from outside, holding a sharp pair of scissors in her hand, which she handed to Ci Ke.
The woman’s hair was extremely long, tangled into countless knots that couldn’t be untangled. Cutting it was the only option. Ci Ke took the scissors and was about to approach the woman when suddenly the woman who had been unconscious a moment ago opened her eyes wide and fiercely grabbed Ci Ke’s wrist, forcefully pulling her towards her.
At the same time, the other hand reached for Ci Ke’s throat.
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Ci Ke was no match for her opponent. With a piercing scream, accompanied by a splashing cascade of water, Ci Ke fell into the bathing tub.
Oh no! Ye Youqing’s heart skipped a beat. First, she pushed away the screaming Qin Xin, then took a swift step forward and reached her hand into the waist-high wooden tub, grabbing onto whatever she could find, and forcefully pulling the slippery Ci Ke out of the water.
However, despite Ye Youqing’s quick actions, she was still not as fast as the woman. Suddenly, her shoulder felt an intense pain like being pricked by a needle. She lowered her head in pain and discovered that the woman had actually drawn blood by pinching her shoulder.
In the meantime, Ci Ke, who was still in the barrel, suddenly stepped forward. With her hands tightly wrapped around her waist, she leaped out, using the momentum to push Ye Youqing out of the woman’s control.
Dizzy and in pain, the two of them rolled to the ground together. The wooden tub overturned with a loud bang, and the room was instantly flooded, soaking them through.
But the woman’s movements were too fast, like a fleeting shadow, reappearing in front of Ye Youqing in a flash. Her hand formed into a claw, aiming for Ye Youqing’s throat. At that critical moment, Ye Youqing felt a weight on her body.
Looking down, Ci Ke was facing her, her eyes red, lying on her chest with her back down. Her hands were clutching the sharp hairpin, pointed at the woman.
“Sister Shi Li…” she said, with a cry in her voice.
