Temptation
With a snap, the woman’s chopsticks fell to the ground.
Only then did Ye Youqing seem to come to her senses. When she turned around to look, Ci Ke was picking up the chopsticks and gently placed them on the table with both hands. Then she stood up and pointed behind her towards Shi Li.
“She’s tired, let her rest,” Shi Li hurriedly said.
Ci Ke nodded to her, turned, and left. The white veil under her bamboo hat fluttered like butterfly wings and soon disappeared around the corner.
Shi Li retracted her gaze and said reproachfully, “Xiaoqing, how could Ci Ke not care about you?”
“Besides your mother, she probably cares about you the most in the entire capital,” Shi Li finished speaking with a sigh.
Ye Youqing looked at the steaming stew in front of her, feeling the wound on her back burn again. She became somewhat dizzy and couldn’t help but hold her forehead, waiting for the dizziness caused by blood loss to pass.
Suddenly, a scene appeared in her mind of Ci Ke, drunk, hugging her knees and crying miserably in front of her.
“I have nothing left. I want you to live,” she said.
Ye Youqing’s body swayed, and if it weren’t for Ma Xiao beside her reaching out to support her, she would have fallen face-first into the stew.
“Miss Ye, excessive blood loss easily causes dizziness. Let me help you inside to rest,” Ma Xiao said, almost lifting her up with one hand. Ye Youqing, feeling groggy, saw black and white spots in front of her eyes. By the time the dizziness passed, she was already lying on the small bed in the hut, her eyes closed for a short rest.
She sighed deeply but noticed from the corner of her eye that the door had opened. A pair of gray cloth shoes and the hem of a coarse cloth garment appeared beside her. The woman knelt down halfway and brought a bowl of medicinal soup.
“Thank you,” Ye Youqing said softly.
Ci Ke picked up the spoon and brought it to Ye Youqing’s lips, watching her drink through the hazy veil.
The medicine was very bitter, and Ye Youqing stuck out her tongue.
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“I apologize for my earlier words, I didn’t consider your feelings,” Ye Youqing said softly, her eyes looking at the slender white hand feeding her the medicine, then shifting away. “These clothes don’t fit you. Tomorrow, I’ll have Ma Xiao buy you something that fits. If you don’t like seeing people, we can get you a properly sized bamboo hat. This one is too big, you can’t see the road clearly.”
Ci Ke’s movements stiffened, her fox-like eyes blinking continuously under the light veil.
“I may need to trouble you to take care of me for the next few days. Once my wound is better, we will leave the capital,” Ye Youqing’s tone was gentle yet distant, the same as usual.
Ci Ke continued feeding her the medicinal soup, which was a tacit agreement.
The capital had been full of upheaval in recent days. First, someone broke into the prison, then the legitimate daughter of the Ye family was abducted. Everyone was caught off guard, and the streets were abuzz with gossip. People said that the legitimate daughter of the Ye family had a bitter fate, married to a cripple and then abducted by bandits. Either fate was extremely tragic.
It was said that the Emperor fell ill from anger because of this incident. Losing two people right under his nose was a great humiliation for him. As a result, under the pressure of the Emperor’s rage, the entire Bianjing seemed to be shrouded in dark clouds for several days.
The imperial guards searched house to house, entering residences multiple times to conduct searches. Ye Youqing had to hide in the cellar to escape capture.
Finally, unable to endure this torment any longer, she decided to leave the city at dawn, while her wound no longer caused intense pain.
That day happened to be a sunny one. As the sky was still tinged with red clouds, several people prepared to set off. The ox cart usually used for transporting pigs was ready. Ye Youqing was dressed as a man, wearing black coarse cloth and a headscarf. If one did not look at her face, she would easily be mistaken for a lean laborer.
Shi Li was sticking something onto her face while Ma Xiao tightened the ropes on the ox cart. When she turned around to look, she couldn’t help but let out a gasp of surprise.
“As expected the young escort head; your disguise skills are even more masterful than the old head’s,” she said, lowering her head to examine closely.
Shi Li’s light-colored eyes were also full of satisfaction. She clapped her hands and handed Ye Youqing a bronze mirror. Reflected inside was the face of a man with distinct features. Apart from a high nose bridge and unchanged phoenix eyes, the rest was quite ordinary.
Ye Youqing touched the stubble on her face, feeling a bit dazed for a moment.
“You leave the city with Ma Da and Ma Xiao. I’ll come find you afterward,” Shi Li said, slinging a pack over her back. The others, not being in any portraits, could leave normally.
The only tricky one was Ye Youqing, but with the disguise, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Ma Da gave a shout and led the ox through the gate, squeezing into the alley. The group followed, merging into the morning crowd leaving the city. All around were common folk, some leading horses, others pushing two-wheeled carts, making a noisy commotion.
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By the roadside, someone was carrying a basket on their back, weaving through the crowd and selling freshly steamed buns.
As the imposing city gate appeared before them, its towering eaves seemed to reach the clouds. The lacquered golden gate shone brilliantly in the morning glow, dazzling the eyes. Ye Youqing stopped and looked back.
A woman in white still wore her bamboo hat, standing a few steps away. Her face was completely hidden, but her slender waist hinted at her graceful figure.
“Are you going back?” Ye Youqing asked. The morning sun cast a tea-colored hue in her phoenix eyes, making them shimmer.
The woman in white leaned forward but then drew back.
Ye Youqing suddenly frowned, clutching her shoulder and bending over. Seeing this, the woman moved faster than her thoughts, already stepping forward.
“It’s nothing, just that the wound hasn’t fully healed and still aches occasionally,” Ye Youqing said, breathing lightly. The woman’s face couldn’t be called handsome, but if one focused on those eyes, they would find her cold and frail.
“Thanks to your care these past few days, I’ve recovered so quickly. Without you, I don’t know what I would do,” Ye Youqing said, seeming worried, and sighed lightly.
The pale fingertips beneath the snow-white sleeves twitched slightly.
“It’s getting late,” Ma Xiao, who was leading the ox cart, said softly.
Ye Youqing nodded, straightened her back, waved to Ci Ke, and then turned to walk to Ma Xiao’s side. The three of them headed towards the checkpoint at the city gate.
Ci Ke remained in place, the tip of her nose already red under the veil, her eyes shimmering with something crystalline. She then turned to look at the palace, hidden behind layers of tiles and bricks.
“Zhou Ziqiu will be fine,” Shi Li said as she approached, stopping behind her and blocking her view. “If she could let you out, she was already prepared.”
“Do as you please,” Shi Li’s words floated softly to her ears.
Ci Ke turned back to look at Ye Youqing, who was passing through the city gate.
Several guards were holding sketches, letting through a few local farmers delivering vegetables. Then they approached the ox cart, waving their hands and calling out, “Come on, come down!”
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“Officer, it’s just me and my sister. We have to make this trip every day!” Ma Da cheerfully jumped off the ox’s back, bringing his face close to the guard’s.
“I haven’t seen you leave the city these past few days,” the guard, who seemed to be an acquaintance, said, patting Ma Da on the shoulder.
“Business hasn’t been good. We slaughtered a pig, and it took several days to sell. In the end, we were left with rotten meat!” Ma Da said with a face full of sorrow, sighing deeply.
“These days, even rotten meat can be sold,” the guard said, signaling for Ye Youqing behind him to come forward. “Why does this kid look so unfamiliar?”
Ma Da grinned and pushed Ma Xiao forward towards Ye Youqing, patting her head. “He’s my brother-in-law, just married!”
Ye Youqing smiled awkwardly and placed her hand on Ma Xiao’s shoulder, which was twice as wide as hers.
Unbeknownst to her, not far behind, the woman in white clenched her fists.
