Due to that previous incident, Li Weiyang became the focus of attention in the village. Zhou Qing and Liu Shi felt uncomfortable assigning her rough chores anymore, yet found her presence at home bothersome, so they simply sent her to help at the tea pavilion not far from the village entrance.
The tea pavilion had always been managed by Zhou Jiang and Ma Shi, selling simple tea and rough cakes to travelers passing through Xinshou Village, while earning some money on the side.
Ma Shi felt sorry that Li Weiyang had suffered so much hardship at such a young age, so she only had her boil water in a small shed temporarily built in the back, not making her do anything else. Just as Li Weiyang was adding firewood to the stove, she suddenly saw Ma Shi hurrying in. Seeing that Li Weiyang was still busy, she quickly said, “Quick, Weiyang! Boil more water and bring out ten or so cakes—distinguished guests are resting at our tea pavilion.” Li Weiyang did as told, but when she reached the doorway, she felt very puzzled. There were indeed many merchants traveling through Xinshou Village from north and south, but none could really be called distinguished guests. What kind of people were these distinguished guests Ma Shi spoke of? She slowly moved toward the doorway and quietly peeked outside. Sure enough, she saw the shelter filled with guards wearing blue brocade clothing. She couldn’t see clearly who was sitting at the center table among them, but just looking at the twenty fine horses outside the shelter, including a white dragon steed with a silver saddle and red tassels, was already imposing enough. Ma Shi’s urging voice rang out again, “Weiyang! Hurry up! Don’t keep the guests waiting anxiously.”
For some reason, Li Weiyang had a strange premonition in her heart, as if going out would lead to something bad happening. Her feet never moved; she just stood there rigidly. “Weiyang?! Where did she go?” Zhou Jiang became somewhat anxious and hurriedly apologized to the guests with a smile, “That girl is clumsy and slow in her movements. I’ve truly made you laugh. I’ll go teach her a lesson later.” Then came what seemed to be an attendant’s voice, “It’s fine, just bring the tea and water quickly. My master still needs to continue his journey.” In this situation, she had no choice but to go out. Li Weiyang thought for a moment and still walked out. Just as she caught sight of the person sitting at the main table, her advancing steps froze on the spot.
In that instant, everyone’s gaze focused on Li Weiyang, and the young man also raised his head to look at her.
He sat among the crowd, his eyes radiating a light as clear and tranquil as moonlight. The coldness that emanated from deep within his bones isolated him from the mortal world, shining so brightly it was almost blinding. On the hem of his plain white robe were embroidered silver flowing patterns, exquisitely crafted to perfection. His gaze was indifferent yet carried an icy coldness, flowing with water-like elegance—such detachment, such ice-cold eyes like water, sweeping toward Li Weiyang.
Li Weiyang’s heart trembled. After just one glance, she quickly lowered her head, raising the tray to eyebrow level, keeping her head as low as possible to prevent the other party from seeing her face. She took a few steps forward to hand the food to Ma Shi, then pretended to be shy, covering her face as she quickly rushed back to the small shed in the back. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The middle-aged man sitting beside Tuoba Yu said to him, “Seventh Prince, it’s already late. Should we find a farming household here to rest for the night?”
However, Tuoba Yu didn’t look at him. His pair of ice-cold eyes stared in the direction where Li Weiyang had disappeared, with a trace of amusement in the depths of his eyes. This young girl was clearly the person he had seen that day—
This little girl appeared to be around twelve or thirteen years old, wearing tattered white coarse cloth clothes with patches. Possibly blackened by the stove fire, her face had patches of black and gray. Tuoba Yu noticed that Li Weiyang’s hands were quite fair, but there was hardly any flesh that could be pinched. Her long, messy black hair was casually tied in a knot on top of her head. Although she deliberately kept her head lowered, those large, dark, deep eyes sparkled brightly, filled with an indescribable strange sensation. That thin, bony frame unexpectedly made one involuntarily want to care for and protect her. Shaking his head, Tuoba Yu also found himself quite incredible to have such an impossible thought. Thinking of the last time he had personally witnessed how she tricked others, an unprecedented trace of amusement appeared in Tuoba Yu’s eyes.
This child was truly interesting!
While thinking this, he casually said, “No, let’s speed up and rush to the town ahead to rest for the night! We’ll leave early tomorrow morning and must return to the capital on schedule.”
Zhan Shuo quickly agreed, not daring to have a second opinion. He understood the Seventh Prince’s temperament all too well. When he told you what to do, it meant he had already made his decision, though he often used a consulting tone to discuss with you.
Very soon, this group finished their tea and water, remounted their horses, passed through the village without entering, and continued galloping northward!
Li Weiyang watched the dust raised by the horse hooves and couldn’t help but show a smile. She never expected that the first acquaintance she would meet after her rebirth would be him—Tuoba Yu! The Seventh Prince!
Tuoba Yu—he was Tuoba Zhen’s mortal enemy. The two had clashed countless times, yet neither could defeat the other… Li Weiyang remembered in her previous life how that person had the same ice-cold, emotionless eyes. She couldn’t help but slightly curl the corners of her mouth. At this time, the Seventh Prince should have been away studying. His sudden return would surely stir up another storm in the capital. She lowered her head, looking at her fingers that had already grown calluses. Meeting an old acquaintance again—they were in the light, she in the shadows. This feeling was truly quite interesting.
The sun finally disappeared completely. A crescent moon accompanied by stars filled the sky, proudly scattering their unique light upon the earth. The oppressive hot wind, gently caressed by the moonlight, also became cool and refreshing, making one feel very comfortable. Li Weiyang had just followed Zhou Jiang and Ma Shi back to the Zhou family home when she saw Liu Shi rushing out overjoyed, grabbing Li Weiyang’s hand with eyebrows raised in delight, saying, “Miss, great news!”
Zhou Jiang and Ma Shi both froze on the spot, looking at Liu Shi at a loss, wondering if some wire in her brain had suddenly crossed. How could she suddenly be so enthusiastic toward Weiyang? Li Weiyang looked at Liu Shi, whose face was practically blooming like a flower, and her eyebrows imperceptibly relaxed. Then she deliberately showed a surprised expression on her face, “Zhou Shen, what’s wrong?”
Liu Shi couldn’t care about her strange expression and said urgently, “It’s the Li family! Someone from the Li family has come!” Her excited appearance made Li Weiyang immediately think of a possibility: “The Li family from Pingcheng?”
“Yes, yes, Master Li sent Nanny Lin to visit the young miss!” A flower bloomed on Liu Shi’s face with her smile. Not only had Nanny Lin come, she had also brought one hundred taels of silver, saying it was a thank-you gift for them.
Li Weiyang felt even more puzzled. According to her previous life’s trajectory, she would have to wait another year before Prime Minister Li would remember this daughter of his and send someone to fetch her. Then the Pingcheng Li family would hastily bring her back from Xinshou Village to the large mansion in Pingcheng, announcing to the outside world that she had recovered from her illness, before sending her back to the capital… In terms of timing, why had it been moved up by a full year?
Just then, a woman in her thirties walked out of the house, wearing a bright blue satin skirt, with a gold hairpin inserted in her hair and gold earrings hanging by her ears. Fair and neat, she smiled and said, “This servant greets the Third Miss.”
Li Weiyang glanced at her. It was indeed Nanny Lin, the most prominent steward of the Pingcheng Li family. She smiled slightly. It seemed everything was true. The Pingcheng Li family must have received news from the capital, which was why they had rushed to bring her back to Pingcheng ahead of time.
Good, very good. All of this was truly excellent!