Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 9
by Little PandaPoisoning
The guards, all being martial practitioners, carried the sedan chair steadily and swiftly.
Ye Shui’s village was about sixty li [30 kilometers] from the Su Manor. While walking would have been slow, the sedan chair moved quickly, and with the maids and Ye Shui traveling by carriage, they soon arrived at Ye Shui’s small village.
Ye Shui lived in a place near the mountains, a poor region where people survived on farming. Many had never been to the city in their lives, and even those who had never witnessed such a grand procession. People they encountered on the road stopped their work to point and stare at their group.
“Young Miss, we’ve arrived.”
Inside the soft sedan chair, Su Yi was carefully awakened by Yanshen.
She weakly opened her eyes, “Then let’s get down.”
Yanshen lifted the sedan curtain, but before she could help, Ji Qingchi intercepted.
“Wife Master, please be careful,” Ji Qingchi said softly, bending down to carefully help her up.
Su Yi had no strength to resist, her entire body as soft as cotton, forced to lean most of her body against Ji Qingchi, “Thank you, husband.”
Ji Qingchi curved her lips in a smile, suppressing the guilt in her heart, “Not at all, this is this slaveβs duty.”
Thus when the two emerged, everyone saw what appeared to be an affectionate scene between wife and husband.
The onlookers pointed at Ji Qingchi, “Isn’t that the young lord whom Ye Shui saved before?”
“Ah, truly, look quickly, that seems to be Ye Shui.”
The crowd’s whispered discussions gradually dispersed as Su Yi was helped down from the sedan chair.
They had lived in this village their whole lives, but when had they ever seen such a beautiful young lady?
Several young men carrying vegetable baskets and picking wild vegetables couldn’t stay idle. They slowly approached, eyes fixed on Su Yi, asking with grins, “Where does the young lady come from? Have you come here looking for a husband?”
Ji Qingchi coldly looked at those tactless men, “Get lost.”
“Hey, aren’t you that boy Ye Shui saved? You’ve probably already secretly pledged yourself to Ye Shui, haven’t you? A loose man, how dare you seduce someone else’s young lady? Still holding onto her, have you no shame?”
Ji Qingchi, having grown up this long, was insulted by men for the first time. Immediately enraged, she was about to teach them the meaning of living worse than death, when the woman in her arms suddenly coughed, and whether intentionally or not, leaned against her, using her frail body to restrain her movement.
She said gently, “Young masters, we’re here visiting relatives.”
Ji Qingchi looked at the person in her arms, who still appeared sickly, as if what just happened wasn’t intentional.
She frowned, hesitantly releasing her claw-like hands.
“Is that so…” Those men, unaware they had just walked through death’s door, were about to ask more questions, hoping to hook up with the young lady, when a woman in her forties wearing a long robe hurriedly ran over from the village, followed by several other properly dressed women.
As soon as she arrived, she scolded those men, “After picking vegetables, hurry home to weave! Your mothers are looking for you all! Such lazy men, who knows who would dare to marry you in the future!”
The men appeared very afraid of her, timidly calling out “Aunt Shen” before pushing and shoving each other as they ran away.
Watching them leave, the woman called Aunt Shen straightened her long robe and bowed to Su Yi, who stood like the moon among stars in the crowd, “I am Shen Ke [η³ζ― | shΔn kΔ], the village head. May I ask where our distinguished guest comes from? We failed to welcome you properly, please forgive our rudeness.”
Seeing how hurried everyone was, Su Yi guessed that the villagers must have seen their group arrive, assumed they were either wealthy or noble, and quickly called for the respected village head to welcome them.
Su Yi was a commoner [η½θΊ« | bΓ‘i shΔn | person without official rank], and though the village head wasn’t a proper official, they still held authority in the village. She returned the courtesy, “Village Head, no need for formalities. We are escorting Young Lady Ye home.”
The village head then noticed Ye Shui at the back of the group, and saw that the one supporting Su Yi was Ji Qingchi, whom Ye Shui had saved. She immediately understood that this young lady before her was the much-talked-about Young Miss Su from Feng City.
The Su family’s power ranked among the highest in their Feng City. She hurriedly bowed again, “So it’s Young Miss Su. This old one will prepare a feast right away.”
“I said there’s no need for formalities, Village Head,” Su Yi coughed once, “We’ll quietly escort Young Lady Ye home and leave. No need for Village Head to accompany us. Yanshenβ”
Yanshen understood and took out several rolls of silk from behind the carriage, giving one to each of the women present.
Su Yi smiled and said, “Village Head, this is a small gift for our first meeting, please accept it.”
When traveling abroad, money and valuables were essential.
Su Yi had long understood this principle, so she had specifically asked people to bring some along.
Though Village Head Shen spoke of being overwhelmed, she wasn’t slow in accepting the items. Afterward, her smiling expression vanished as she berated Ye Shui at the back of the group, “Ignorant beast! Why don’t you hurry home? How dare you trouble Young Miss Su to escort you!”
She didn’t even ask how Ye Shui had left the village or how she had met Su Yi, just started scolding immediately.
The people who came with the Su family showed displeasure on their faces. Ye Shui, long accustomed to being scolded, didn’t mind and lowered her head to leave.
As she passed by Su Yi’s group, she was suddenly grabbed by Ji Qingchi, who looked displeased.
Ye Shui hesitantly looked at her, but Ji Qingchi grabbed Su Yi’s arm, stamped her foot, bit her lip, and drew out her voice saying, “Wife~ Master~”
This voice was truly meandering [δΉζ²εε «εΌ― | jiΗ qΕ« shΓ bΔ wΔn | idiom meaning moving slowly in no particular direction], making Su Yi’s heart tremble.
She hurriedly said, “No trouble… cough cough… no trouble, we’ll escort Young Lady Ye back.”
Ji Qingchi pulled Ye Shui over, protecting her behind herself, covering her smile with her sleeve, “Where is there a beast here? I only see a croaking old hag. Ye Shui, isn’t that right?”
As she spoke, she laughed even harder behind her sleeve. Ye Shui’s mood improved after being scolded, and her eyes were full of light as she looked at Ji Qingchi. The Su family’s guards and maids also began laughing together.
The village head had been rebuked and couldn’t maintain face, but this man had just called the Su family’s Young Miss “Wife Master,” clearly being her husband, someone she dared not offend. She could only glare angrily, bid farewell to Su Yi in frustration, and finally left with her people, sleeves swishing.
Su Yi breathed a sigh of relief internally. Ji Qingchi stopped laughing and said coolly, “With people like this, there’s no need for courtesy.”
Su Yi shook her head, “When dealing with petty people, you must use petty methods. Otherwise, they’ll stab you in the back without you knowing how it happened.”
Her insight was different from what Ji Qingchi had heard before, making her look at Su Yi with surprise and contemplation.
Su Yi ignored her thoughts and asked Ye Shui to lead them to her residence.
There was more than one way to ensure Ye Shui’s safe return to the village. Why did Ji Qingchi insist on escorting Ye Shui back? Su Yi thought about it and suspected she must have left something at Ye Shui’s house.
Sure enough, after Ye Shui opened her dilapidated door, while others were helping her fetch water and prepare food, Su Yi saw Ji Qingchi retrieve something from the trunk of a dead tree behind Ye Shui’s house.
Ji Qingchi’s hands were quick; Su Yi couldn’t see what it was, but guessed it must be very important. She glanced once and quickly turned away, pretending to be admiring the scenery.
After retrieving the token [δΏ‘η© | xΓ¬n wΓΉ | object used as proof of identity or authority] that could command shadow guards, which had been hidden beforehand, Ji Qingchi felt much more at ease.
Seeing Su Yi pitifully leaning against the doorframe, her heart softened considerably. She smiled and walked forward, “What is Wife Master looking at?”
Su Yi coughed once, “Although this place is remote, the scenery is quite nice.”
“Indeed,” Ji Qingchi smiled and said, “There’s a brook ahead where the scenery is even more beautiful. If Wife Master doesn’t mind, shall we go take a look together?”
Rarely able to embrace fresh air from nature, Su Yi nodded, “Then I’ll trouble husband to lead the way.”
Ji Qingchi was in a good mood, trying hard to play the role of a virtuous married-in husband, “Wife Master is this slave’s heaven, such words truly humble this slave.”
Su Yi endured her goosebumps, forcing an awkward smile without saying anything, letting Ji Qingchi lead her to the reportedly beautiful spot.
It was the entrance to an endless forest, with lush trees across the brook, while the village lay on this side of the bank.
Ji Qingchi carefully supported her over. Su Yi watched the rising mist from the brook mingling with distant cooking smoke rising skyward, and the setting sun’s halo spreading its evening glow. She truly found this place breathtakingly beautiful.
She thought happily that after recovering from her illness, it wouldn’t be bad to spend her elderly years here.
Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her ankle. “Hiss…”
Ji Qingchi hadn’t been looking at the scenery but had been watching her. Hearing her pain, she quickly moved forward to support her, “What’s wrong?”
Su Yi’s face turned deathly pale, sweating profusely, “My foot… it hurts so much…”
Ji Qingchi immediately thought of snakes and poisonous insects in the forest, her heart alarmed, and hurriedly picked her up to leave.
“Young Master, please wait!”
Just as she was about to turn, a melodious female voice suddenly came from behind.
Ji Qingchi frowned, immediately throwing a copper coin toward the voice. The woman dodged sideways, and the coin embedded itself in a tree, which, after several creaking sounds, fell down, startling a flock of birds.
“Young Master has impressive martial arts.”
“Not as impressive as you, who could approach us so closely when I clearly didn’t hear even the slightest sound.”
“It’s not that I’m skilled, but rather Young Master was too focused earlier, causing you to miss the sound of my footsteps.”
Along with these words, a woman emerged from the grass. She wore a white embroidered dress, carrying a bamboo basket on her back and holding a spade in her right hand.
Ji Qingchi had lived in Ye Shui’s village for many days but had never seen this woman. Clearly, she wasn’t from this village.
Ji Qingchi’s eyes showed a hint of danger, “Who exactly are you? Where did you come from?”
“As Young Master can see,” the woman waved her spade and pointed to her bamboo basket, “I’m an herb gatherer. Wherever there are herbs, that’s where I go.”
“So you can treat illnesses?”
“Of course.” The woman smiled faintly, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have stopped you just now.”
Ji Qingchi held Su Yi with one arm while secretly gripping two copper coins with the other, “What do you mean?”
“I mean that the young lady in your arms has been poisoned, and it’s the extremely deadly seven-stalk snake poison. If you take her away, within seven steps, she’ll die with blood flowing from all seven apertures [δΈηͺζ΅θ‘ | qΔ« qiΓ o liΓΊ xuΓ¨ | bleeding from eyes, ears, nose, and mouth].”
Ji Qingchi’s heart jumped to her throat, and her grip on the copper coins loosened slightly, “How do you know?”
“Because I was chasing this snake when I came here.”
“So you made herβ”
“Stop, young master, you have too many doubts.” The woman helplessly pointed at the pale-faced Su Yi in her arms, “Are you going to save her or not? If not treated soon, she’ll be meeting the King of Hell.”
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