ADWMCES Chapter52

Chu Fengqing looked at him, saw his surprised expression, and raised his eyebrows slightly. It turned out that not everyone had the strong ability to accept like Ji Yujin.

Since Qing Niao didn’t ask, he also didn’t answer. In order to give him some time to adapt to this, he just nodded at him and walked into the carriage.

The coachman told Qing Niao the direction before leaving, so he also knew that Chu Fengqing was going to Jiangnan. Before leaving, his master only told him to obey the madam’s orders, so he just obeyed the orders.

However… Qing Niao, who was outside the carriage, was now in deep doubt. Was it the madam who was disguised as a man, or was the original madam a man disguised as a woman? He was confused, and he didn’t know what expression to use when facing Chu Fengqing. What he wanted to know more was whether his master knew about this or not.

Qing Niao drove the carriage forward. He wore a bamboo hat and changed into a coachman cloth, looking very simple. The journey was long, and there might be bandits everywhere, so he had to be very alert. He rubbed his face and put Chu Fengqing’s matter behind.

The carriage was shaking and tiring, and the journey was mostly through desolate mountains and wilderness with no eating houses or inns. When they were hungry, they could only eat dry food and sleep in the carriage at night.

Chu Fengqing felt a little exhausted, and his originally pale lips now looked bloodless. He poured himself a cup of tea to try to suppress the discomfort in his stomach. He drew aside the curtain and looked outside. A howling cold wind swept in, completely chilling the already not very warm space.

He rubbed his fingers and lowered the curtains. Somehow he thought of Ji Yujin and the piece of glass made by Ji Yujin. That snow was the warmest snow he had ever seen in his life. Although it sounds strange to say this, but it is the fact.

Because the journey was long, he was reluctant to get out of the carriage. Now looking at the cold carriage, he inexplicably felt a little lonely. When he was with Ji Yujin before, even though they were silent, he did not think of the word “lonely”. Ji Yujin’s face, as well as those shameless words, kept appearing in his mind. He didn’t know what he was doing now.

Suddenly, Chu Fengqing was stunned, his thin lips tightly pursed, showing anxiety and confusion.

Is he… thinking about Ji Yujin?

……

On the other hand, the jailer ran to the Second Prince’s mansion after leaving that day and reported all the news he heard.

The Second Prince sat upright, his thin lips slightly curled as he held a cup of tea in his hand. He was not surprised to hear the jailer’s news about Chu Fengqing. The truth was already revealed when Chu Fengqing was drinking. Chu Yinyin never drank. After that day, he sent people to inquire about the news. Sure enough, the spy gave him information that the one who married into the Ji Mansion was Chu Fengqing, not Chu Yinyin.

Zhao Yiyu let out a sneer. A man taking a eunuch as his spouse, what a fitting pair. It was hard to tell who would end up dominating the other. When he recalled that he had once entertained thoughts about a man he should never have, a wave of discomfort welled up within him.

He is not like his good seventh brother, who can play with both men and women. It’s too damn disgusting.

He pressed his brows and said, “I understand. You retreat first.”

Not long after the jailer left, a man walked into the room. He hid behind the screen and heard the conversation between the two. Hearing the conversation, he asked softly, “Master, what should we do next? Should we…”

As he spoke, his eyes hardened, and he lightly stroked his neck with his fingers.

Zhao Yiyu was taken aback, and in his mind appeared the image of a cold-faced figure dressed as a woman, tilting his head back to drink, eyes shining with a brilliance that pierced straight to the heart. He frowned slowly, and his eyebrows jumped fiercely. “No need.”

He took a sip of tea to suppress the ambiguity. “Why dirty our hands? Isn’t it good to be a fisherman for once? But my good brother will also get the news soon.”

There were countless spies of the Crown Prince in his palace, and as long as he moved, he would definitely receive the news. The Emperor’s health was obviously deteriorating, and the day was not far away. The Emperor didn’t have many children, only six or seven.

Apart from the Crown Prince, he is the only one with the most power among them. Originally there was also the Seventh Prince, but now the Seventh Prince is considered useless, so there are only the two of them left. Once this evidence is brought out, the Crown Prince will definitely be seriously harmed.

But the Crown Prince is not stupid either, and he will definitely not let these things see the world.

Zhao Yiyu pondered for a moment and said, “Send some people to protect the things. If necessary, they can get the things first.”

“Then, the person…”

Zhao Yiyu raised his eyes and glanced at him gently. The aide immediately realized that he had said too much. He broke out in a cold sweat and begged for mercy.

Zhao Yiyu then said, “Whether the person lives or dies is none of my business.”

On the other hand, things were not going smoothly for Ji Yujin. Their original plan was to go west, but they realized they had been tricked halfway through the journey. Ji Yujin, who had wanted to finish his work early and rush back, now had a very gloomy face.

“Master, I just received news that the person ran south toward the Yangtze River. The person we were chasing was fake.”

Ji Yujin played with the whip, his eyes sullen. “Fake?”

“Divide the troops into two groups. You lead one group to continue northwards and bring back the fake ones. The rest of the people follow me southwards.”

“Yes.”

The secret guard sent by Steward Mo to convey the message had been killed outside the imperial city long ago, but no one knew about it. One thought the message had been delivered, and the other thought everything was safe in the city.

Chu Fengqing and Qing Niao traveled for two days and finally arrived at a small town. They decided to stay in the town for a day before continuing their journey.

There is only one inn in the town, and it is located in a very remote location. They had to ask many people before they found this place. They don’t know if an inn can even do business in such a remote location.

However, the waiter at the inn was very welcoming. When the carriage arrived at the door, perhaps he heard the sound of horse hooves, he came out to greet them immediately. He first looked at the carriage and then inconspicuously glanced at Qing Niao’s clothes, and then said with a smile, “The two guests, are you staying overnight or stopping for a while?”

Qing Niao frowned, feeling that the waiter was a little strange, but he couldn’t tell what was strange either.

He said in a deep voice, “Stay overnight, two guest rooms.”

The waiter, “There are, there are. Please come in. Leave the carriage to this humble one, and this humble one will take it to the stable for you.”

Qing Niao nodded, jumped off the carriage, and said, “Ma…”

He stopped just as he opened his mouth, coughed lightly, and said, “Young Master, we have arrived.”

Chu Fengqing pressed his nose bridge and lifted the curtain. His expression looked really ugly. His face, which had grown a little fatter in the Ji Mansion, became sharper again.

The waiter opened his mouth slightly when he saw Chu Fengqing. Though clad in green, Chu Fengqing’s noble bearing could not be hidden, and there was an innate aloofness about him that made others hesitant to draw near.

Qing Niao helped him get off the carriage, and the two walked towards the inn. There was only one proprietress in the inn. She was standing behind the counter and counting with an abacus. Several tables and chairs were placed crookedly. It was deserted, and there were no customers. The only sound in the whole room was the sound of abacus beads colliding. No one knew what the proprietress was calculating either.

The proprietress didn’t even raise her head when she heard the footsteps and just lazily said, “Sir, please come in.”

Qing Niao frowned, feeling that something was wrong with this inn, but couldn’t tell what it was. He asked, “Proprietress, do you guys have anything to eat?”

“Guest, you are joking. If there is no food in the inn, then where can you get food?” The proprietress laughed when she heard Qing Niao’s words. Her voice was so sweet that it sounded like she was flirting.

As she spoke, she finally stopped fiddling with the abacus and looked over. Qing Niao subconsciously protected Chu Fengqing behind him. Qing Niao was half a head taller than Chu Fengqing, and he deliberately hid the person behind him, tightly. He felt that this proprietress was a little bit unserious. His madam was so good-looking, what if she was noticed by someone? He wouldn’t know how to explain to his master then.

From the proprietress’ angle, she could only see the corner of Chu Fengqing’s clothes. She stared at Qing Niao’s face and said with a smile, “Yo, you are also a handsome guy. Tell me, what do you want to eat? I don’t have any delicacies in this inn, but I do have a few home-cooked dishes.”

Qing Niao turned to look at Chu Fengqing. “Young Master, what would you like to eat?”

Chu Fengqing shook his head. He had no appetite after the bumpy ride. “I’ll just eat anything.”

Chu Fengqing had regained his true voice, colder even than the one he used in disguise as a woman, like snowfall over the imperial city: frigid and chilling, yet so light it caused no harm.

The proprietress looked at him curiously but was still blocked by Qing Niao, so she couldn’t see his face. She just suggested, “You both look weary and drained; it seems you’ve traveled quite a distance. I suggest having something light to eat, it should help you feel more at ease.”

Qing Niao also had no objection. “Alright, you can make one or two dishes.”

Chu Fengqing: “I’ll have to trouble the proprietress to lead us to the guest rooms first.”

The proprietress asked, “One room or two?”

Qing Niao: “One room.”

Chu Fengqing: “Two rooms.”

The two spoke at the same time, and the proprietress smiled and said, “Yo, how many rooms do you want? How about you two discuss it first?”

Qing Niao whispered, “Young Master, this inn is weird. I’ll be guarding you outside the door.”

Chu Fengqing: “No problem, I can protect myself.”

The journey is still long, and he is not made of iron. He needs to rest no matter what.

Chu Fengqing: “Two rooms.”

The proprietress put the account book together and said, “Alright, guests, follow me.”

As she spoke, she moved ahead of the two, and it was only then that she truly saw Chu Fengqing. Her eyes brightened immediately, and surprise spread across her face. Whether out of professional habit or not, she made no attempt to hide it and exclaimed, “This Young Master is really born with a good appearance. I have never seen such a good-looking person.”

Qing Niao frowned. It’s bad, whatever you fear will come true.

Chu Fengqing was used to it. In fact, he never thought that he was that good-looking. He calmly said, “You’re too kind. I’m just so-so.”

The proprietress made a few “tsk tsk tsk” sounds, her gaze lingering on Chu Fengqing as if unwilling to look away. She smiled and said, “Young Master is too modest.”

“The two guests come this way.”

The three of them walked to the second floor. The corridor was narrow and dim. He reached for the handle, and his fingers brushed against the scratches etched into it. He was stunned. The handle was covered with scratches of various sizes, but the light was dim here, and it was difficult to see with naked eye.

He calmly withdrew his hand and sighed softly in his heart, thinking that he might have entered a shady inn. If he guessed correctly, the marks he just felt should have been made by swords. How could an ordinary inn have such a thing?

The proprietress opened two adjacent guest rooms and said, “One room for each of you. They are both the best rooms in our inn.”

The two guest rooms were quite spacious, but the layout is simple with only a table and a bed.

The proprietress added, “Our place is small, and there aren’t many people coming and going. It’s not as good as the ones in the big places, and it’s a bit shabby. But I’m afraid there are no other inns within a few miles. How about you make do with this?”

Although Chu Fengqing wanted to leave immediately, their carriage was detained, and they probably couldn’t leave. Besides, he didn’t know how many people were in the inn. If Qing Niao was alone, he might have a chance, but he was not sure about his own luck as he was not very active. Based on his understanding of Qing Niao, he would definitely not want to leave first.

He can only keep calm for now and make long-term plans.

Chu Fengqing didn’t show it on his face, he nodded and said, “Alright, thank you, proprietress, we’ll take these two.”

On the other side, Ji Yujin and his companions were worn out from traveling day and night. Even if people could bear such a journey, the animals could not. Ji Yujin touched his horse’s neck with his hand, both the man and the horse were a little tired.

He pondered for a moment and asked, “How long will it take before we reach a place with people living?”

The first officer replied, “Answer My Lord, there is a small town ahead.”

Ji Yujin nodded. “Alright, let’s go and see if we can get there to spend the night.”

“Yes.”