Tie Ci had no idea about Qi Yuansi’s shock and brief regret in his emotional turmoil, and even if she knew, she wouldn’t care. At most she’d say, “A good horse doesn’t eat grass it has already passed.”
Her journey wasn’t going smoothly. It rained all the way, and when they entered Dongming County territory several days later, the road surface had been soaked to ruins. The local soil was mostly yellow earth with high adhesiveness. Even the carriages Tie Ci’s group used could barely move on the muddy ground. Everyone on the official road was moving like snails when suddenly their carriage tilted and got stuck in a pit.
At this moment, carriages were lined up head to tail. When one got stuck, no one could move, so everyone had to get out and push. Tie Ci was the first to roll up her trouser legs and jump down, while instructing Feiyu, whose foot injury hadn’t healed, and Gu Xiaoxiao, who couldn’t mix with crowds, not to move.
Second Senior Brother also remained seated. Feiyu looked at him with a smile and said, “I thought a dignified man would surely take the lead in everything and guide everyone.”
Second Senior Brother sat there, glancing at this hot-and-cold temptress, thinking how beautiful those court dresses would look on her, and that the custom-made fan for her had also arrived… Hearing this, he tapped his walking stick, took off his formal coat, and went down too.
Gu Xiaoxiao and Feiyu sat on opposite sides, far apart, neither looking at the other. Gu Xiaoxiao said without lifting his head, “Acting coquettish and foolish.”
Feiyu, resting her chin on her hand and finding him extremely displeasing, smiled, “A grown man with working hands and feet, yet has the nerve to sit high in the carriage while others push.”
Gu Xiaoxiao immediately stammered, “I’m not… it’s not that I can’t deal with people…”
“You want to cling to his side, yet you can’t change your problems. He always has to interact with people. If you follow him, will you make him constantly clear crowds for you? So what if you can make some money? You’re still a burden.”
Gu Xiaoxiao suddenly choked up, his face flushing red. After thinking for a long time without being able to say anything, he squeezed himself further into the corner of the carriage, as if wishing he could squeeze himself into the wood.
Feiyu let out a soft snort, leaned out the window, and held an umbrella for Tie Ci, who was supporting the carriage from below.
Tie Ci looked up and smiled at her, casually wiping her face, which was covered in mud.
Feiyu smiled, “Today’s clay figurine makeup is quite beautiful.”
Tie Ci casually smeared some mud on her face, “Then let’s be beautiful together.”
Looking at each other like mud monkeys, they couldn’t help but smile.
One in the carriage, one below, gazing at each other with smiles in the fine rain, their beautiful faces extremely close together.
Gu Xiaoxiao peeked out and felt this strange angle made it seem like they were about to kiss at any moment.
Suddenly Second Senior Brother walked straight through between them, using his magnificent shoulders to block their affectionate gaze.
Tie Ci’s nose was nearly bumped, so she had to step back. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly saw commotion ahead.
Looking up, she saw many people coming from the direction of Dongming County. The carriages ahead slowly moved forward to make way. A group approached, bowing from afar and saying politely, “Dear brothers and sisters passing through, I am a steward of the Xiao manor. Due to continuous heavy rains, the upstream embankments of Dongming County’s Sanbai River are in danger of collapse. The county has organized elders and villagers for emergency reinforcement, but the water level is rising too quickly and the embankments are too long. Everywhere is perilous and we lack manpower. Therefore, we wait on this official road seeking help. We hope passing brothers will lend a hand. Afterward, the Xiao family and county office will surely provide generous compensation.”
After speaking, he bowed in a circle. Others brought forward silver covered with red cloth. With smiling eyes and polite speech, this was an official road with many merchants traveling back and forth. Some people whispered in the crowd about “Xiao family,” “current Empress Dowager’s maternal family,” “great power and influence,” “if we could curry favor…” Then someone readily said, “If the river embankments collapse, it concerns thousands of households upstream and downstream. Since we’ve encountered this, we naturally cannot shirk our duty.”
The steward thanked them all around, but didn’t take everyone. He examined their travel permits and then selected a group of people.
Tie Ci watched from the side, noticing he didn’t select all the strong, robust men, but rather chose those visiting relatives, traveling far distances, without much family wealth.
This selection method made her suspicious. She signaled Chi Xue to change to a different set of travel permits and submit them.
That set of permits showed household registration from the very remote Liangzhou Guard, with the purpose of visiting relatives. To facilitate travel, Tie Ci had Chi Xue prepare several different regional permits, deliberately choosing the most distant one.
Given current transportation, such a long journey meant once you went, you could never return.
Sure enough, upon seeing this, the other party readily accepted this group. Tie Ci’s carriage had many hidden features but looked quite ordinary from outside. The other party seemed quite urgent and didn’t look closely, having someone lead the way for Tie Ci’s group to follow with the selected batch of people.
They traveled more than ten li, arriving only after dark. For some reason, the path underfoot was very uneven. Everyone was led up and down, gradually becoming dizzy, finally reaching an open area.
It was dark all around with no lights, only rain. Nothing could be seen clearly except for a large shed ahead covered with waterproof oilcloth, with dim light glowing inside.
Behind the shed was also covered with a long strip of oilcloth. The steward explained this was a water diversion dam under construction.
Tie Ci looked around in all directions. She had expected to see crowds everywhere, repairs happening all around, bustling with human voices, but instead found such desolation and emptiness. Where were the citizens supposedly mobilized citywide to repair the embankments?
The steward who brought them lifted the shed’s covering. Inside was just empty ground with a shallow pit already dug. Sacks were piled all around. The steward said apologetically, “Everyone, this isn’t the Sanbai embankment. The embankment is already packed with people. The main difficulty now is insufficient sandbags, so we need to trouble everyone to dig more sand and stones here for bagging. We’ll send people to transport them to the embankment to block the gaps.”
Tools were immediately distributed, with repeated instructions not to leave the shed and especially not to go near the oilcloth area, as the water diversion dam was half-built and had steep slopes—be careful not to slip down.
Everyone nodded dully. For some reason, after entering this shed, everyone’s expressions became slow and confused.
Tie Ci also felt lazy and unwilling to think. Suddenly her sleeve was tugged. She turned to see Feiyu looking at the corner of the shed.
Tie Ci saw it too—incense was burning in all four corners of the shed, emitting a faint pleasant fragrance. Because of their remote positions, they were hard to notice.
She immediately checked her body and confirmed nothing was wrong, except her thinking seemed a bit slow. But during nighttime rest, slow brain function was normal.
The steward was very perceptive, noticing her gaze. He quickly explained, “People come and go in this shed daily. Everyone working sealed inside—the smell isn’t pleasant, so we light some incense to dispel the odor.”
Tie Ci nodded, took the shovel, and everyone had already begun working mechanically—one shovel at a time, no one talking. Smoke curled up all around, and in the hazy light, everyone’s faces were blurred like a group of numb puppets.
Tie Ci stared at those people, feeling something was wrong. Looking around again, a large group of Xiao family stewards and servants stood there but didn’t help, just watching—more like surveillance.
In any case, nothing showed the urgency of embankment repair. Everything seemed strange.
Earlier, to care for the scholars, Tie Ci had left Gu Xiaoxiao, Tong Rushi, and Li Zhi behind, with Dan Shuang and Chi Xue staying to protect them. She had wanted Feiyu to stay too, but Feiyu refused. Recently, Second Senior Brother went wherever Feiyu went, so he followed as well.
Because he was following, to avoid drawing attention, Tie Ci forced him to change into ordinary clothes in the carriage. Le Wuxun in normal clothing looked like he was wearing strange costumes, standing there uncomfortably.
The three hid in a corner not easily noticed by the stewards. Feiyu whispered, “The incense is suspicious.”
Second Senior Brother immediately produced a small box and handed it to Feiyu, who passed it to Tie Ci. Tie Ci recognized this as one of Master’s gadgets—some kind of cooling balm. It was paste-like. Opening the box, she applied a little and dabbed it on Feiyu’s forehead. Feiyu was so stimulated she shivered sharply, her long lashes filling with tears, truly a pitiful sight. Second Senior Brother glanced with the corner of his eye, regretting he should have applied it himself. Distracted by this thought, his shovel nearly hit his own foot.
Tie Ci was being mischievous and couldn’t help smiling, but suddenly saw Feiyu grab her neck, press her forehead against hers, and rub it, transferring the cooling balm to her brow. Caught off guard, Tie Ci was stimulated into closing her eyes tightly. She heard Feiyu’s low laugh, along with the faint enchanting scent of sandalwood and patchouli mixed with the warm breath from her lips, spreading across her cheek.
For no reason, her face heated up.
When she opened her eyes again, though the heat had subsided, because the cooling balm was too close to her eyes, tears flowed continuously. Tie Ci wiped her tears and sighed, “Look, you’ve made me cry from anger.”
Feiyu looked at her with a smile and said, “I want to make you cry every day for the rest of my life.”
Tie Ci’s heart trembled. Through her blurred tear-filled eyes, she looked at her—hazy and graceful in the dim yellow light, not seeming real.
Recently she had been making these flirtatious remarks, both real and fake, with various ambiguous little gestures, near and far. Tie Ci understood in her heart but didn’t dare think too much, always feeling her romantic encounters were truly bizarre.
But Second Senior Brother beside them couldn’t bear being left out. Seeing the excitement, he also dabbed a large amount on his forehead and leaned forward slightly, waiting.
Feiyu smeared it all over his face, from top to bottom. Second Senior Brother was so stung that tears poured like rain.
After the three joked around for a while, the confused feeling in their minds faded. Feiyu whispered, “It’s not poisonous smoke.”
Tie Ci nodded.
It was just a drug that slowed reactions and confused the mind. She didn’t know if the aftereffects would cause memory loss.
Some people looked over, so she lowered her head to dig earth as cover. After digging several shovelfuls, she found it wasn’t sandy soil. On the contrary, the soil was quite sticky and mixed with many pebbles. After digging a few more shovelfuls, she dug up some mesh-like material. Looking carefully, it was actually reed matting.
Tie Ci’s expression changed slightly.