Su Muge started the carriage and continued her journey to Nancheng prefecture. She wanted to visit Zhang on behalf of Zhao since she had made the promise.
She took a whole day to travel along the official road and finally saw the lofty gate of Nancheng prefecture.
When she entered the prefecture, it was already dark and too late to continue the journey. She had to head for Zhao village till tomorrow.
Several days’ journey made Su Muge exhausted, so she found an inn to accommodate herself after buying some medicine she may need.
“Please arrange a first-class room for me.”
The innkeeper took a look at her covered eye, freezing a bit, and said, “OK, lady. Please wait for a moment.”
“Where is the manager? Come here quickly.”
A yell burst out outside when the innkeeper just finished his words.
Su Muge turned back and saw two soldiers wearing military uniforms, followed by a man wearing
“There is an assassin. Catch him!” The soldiers rushed to the man in black from the front yard.The man in black saw so many soldiers coming to him, and he was about to grab Su Muge. Su Muge tended to avoid him, but it was too late to escape. She was finally caught by the man in black and controlled before his chest, and the sharp point of his sword was against her neck.“Don’t push me, or I’ll kill her!”Su Muge closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She told herself to be calm!The soldiers hesitated for a while when seeing Su Muge was caught, but instantly they relaxed.For them, saving a common person was less important than catching an assassin aiming at the princess!“Catch him, and he must be alive!”Bastards!Su Muge didn’t expect them to save her, but she was still angry when hearing that. She bit the man on the hand when he didn’t pay attention to her. “Ah
It was not only his face but also his lofty and noble temperament that fascinated others. He seemed to be a sword to be unsheathed. Even if he stood still, he looked scary.The man wore a white gown with dark patterns and had a jade belt on his waist, which demonstrated he was slender and straight. Despite this, Su Muge thought his white gown was like a battle robe because of the formidable ambiance.Xia Houmo looked ahead, without giving a glimpse to Su Muge without any rest.Hua Zheng wore a sweet smile on her dainty face the moment she saw Xia Houmo and said, “Your Royal Highness, were you OK last night?” “Is everything done?” Xia Houmo ignored Hua Zheng’s inquiry and said to his bodyguard.“Your Royal Highness, everything is OK.”“Start off.”What Xia Houmo said made Su Muge returned to herself. She thought that man didn’t know a little about romance and didn’t have any tenderness toward
“Oh, she was still alive.” The Taoist priest reached Su Muge’s nose tip and sensed that she was alive.Looking at Su Muge who was comatose, the Taoist priest hesitated and frowned. “It’s not my fault, but you are comatose.” He reached his hand to her waist and got her money, weighing them up.“Lady, earlier death, better life.” Guima put the money away and was about to leave. Suddenly, he was caught by someone.He looked back and saw Su Muge had been awake!“Give it back to me!” Su Muge stared at Guima with her light eyes. Her fingertips whitened due to grasping him tightly.Zhao and her previous body had been bullied by An for many years and Zhao was born in a peasant family, so she didn’t have much own dowry. Even if she had some, she gave Su Lun to let him take the examination in the capital. The twenty-liang silver in the purse was all Zhao’s private savings. Without this money, she would not starve to death. But n
“I saved you. Is it appropriate to treat me like that?” Guima lit a torch and put the basket on a huge stone. Su Muge sat down before the fire. “You saved me?”He was exposed but he was not angry. “Yes, I saved you.”Guima took some food from the basket and threw them to her.Su Muge didn’t know how long she had been here and she was starving. So she just picked up the steamed bun and ate it, regardless of it being dirty.Guima sat opposite to her and asked, “where were you poisoned?”Su Muge had a bite of the steamed bun and looked up at him with her clear eyes which were full of puzzles.“Poison, what poison? Am I poisoned?” Fear appears in her eyes. “So, am I dying soon?”Guima was puzzled when seeing she was ignorant and fearful.“You didn’t know you were poisoned?”Su Muge shook her head woodenly.“Why were you driving the carriage in t
Su Muge looked at the yard and frowned.As the night approached, it’s so dark in the yard, quiet and weird, which was incompatible with the ascending smoke in the surroundings. Su Muge opened the fence gate. There was nothing but three old adobe houses in the yard.An gave Zhao and Muge silver worth three liang a month just for effect. Zhao kept one liang for her use and the rest would be saved secretly. She had been sending at least ten liang to Zhang every year.Su Muge knew that Zhang had three sons and two daughters and they were all married. They had more than ten acres of land. Zhao told Muge that her uncles were not useless. Her third uncle was a farmer, and the other two uncles worked at the town and had monthly income. Moreover, Zhao sent money to them every year. It’s not difficult for them to build several good houses. Puzzled by this, Su Muge pushed the door of the main room and smelled an acrid stink tha
“Sister Su, my mom asked me to bring some hot water for you.” Erya said with a string of copper coins in hand. Erya knew Zhang’s situation. Her mother also gave Zhang some porridge secretly out of pity.“My mom told me we couldn’t take this money. Sister Su, please keep it.”Su Muge didn’t receive it. “This is for you, please take it. I need your help after a while.”“If there’s anything you need, just say.”Considering Zhang’s situation, Su Muge didn’t stand on ceremony so she told her what she needed. Leaving Erya to look after Su Muge, she went to the end of the village with Hutou and asked the only barefoot doctor in the village for some medicine for Zhang. Zhang’s leg had begun to rot. The rotten meat must be cut out, or the leg would be useless. She was poisoned but she did not dare to use her power on the palm since she had not grasped the use of it herself.It was late after everyth
With her lips slightly raised up, Su Muge managed to smile, but there was no such emotion in her eyes. It was such a pity that her emotion was ignored by those people because they were overwhelmed by the things she possibly had brought back.“I left all the things in town. I’ll bring them to grandma when I go back.”Now that they had got the answer, the Zhao families dispersed after a few more casual words with Su Muge.Zhao Ming offered to accommodate her by letting her share a bedroom with his eldest daughter but was refused. He was told that she had to take care of Zhang. “Do you know what good stuff has your little sister brought us? Dalang is going to make a proposal, and a gift from the city will be perfect with dignity.” Wang went back to her room, and the greed on her face was too obvious to cover.Zhao Shun was sitting aside, and those words reminded him of that dirty yet delicate face of Su Muge.
It was almost noon when they arrived in town. Su Muge first went to the pharmacy to buy medicine and then bought some warm winter clothes for Zhang. With all those done, she returned to the town gate, waiting for Zhao Dalang. Soon Zhao Dalang returned with a jar of liquor and a basket.He put them away on the cart, groped up and down in his clothes for the oiled paper bag, and handed it over to Su Muge. “It’s already afternoon. You must be hungry, right? I bought you a dough cake made from distillers’ grains. It’s sweet.”Shopping for grandma was Su Muge’s top priority, so she forgot to eat something for lunch. It would still take about another one or two hours before they could get back, and she didn’t want to be hungry in this long trip. She reached out her hands and took over the bag as Zhao Dalang was looking at her, expectantly and carefully.“Thank you very much.”Zhao Dalang burst into laughter as he gave it to