Ji Bozai’s fingers tightened and then relaxed on his teacup as he lowered his gaze. Something had happened to Ming Yi? Since Si Tuling had gone, he wouldn’t go himself. But there were surprisingly many people here concerned about Ming Yi.
If Si Tuling’s interest was merely investigative instinct, and Zheng Tiao had ulterior motives, what about She Tianlin? As someone from Chao Yang City, why did he suddenly care about Ming Yi?
And why had Ming Yi insisted on sending Twenty-seven to the Qingwa Courtyard?
A weight like a boulder pressed on Ji Bozai’s heart, making him uneasy. Regardless of the reasons, someone as complicated as she could no longer remain by his side.
He sipped his wine and looked to the side, where Xu Tianji was approaching with joyful small steps, intending to sit beside him again.
“Go over there,” he pointed to the end of the table.
Xu Tianji’s smile froze, and she panicked: “My Lord, why?”
Why else? He knew all the envoys now; there was no need for her to stay here.
In the past, he would have gently coaxed her away, but now he lacked the mood, simply saying, “I don’t like people sitting beside me.”
Xu Tianji was bewildered. Hadn’t Ming Yi always sat beside him at various banquets before?
Her aunt was still watching from behind the bamboo grove. If she went to the end of the table now, wouldn’t it clearly show she wasn’t important to him? With her aunt’s temperament, how could she let that slide?
Trembling, Xu Tianji quickly knelt before Ji Bozai: “If this humble girl has done something wrong, My Lord can tell me. I’ll change. Please don’t send me away here.”
So many words, and not a bit sensible.
Ji Bozai grew irritated and stood up to sit with Yan Xiao.
Xu Tianji stared at his actions in shock, frantically recalling if something from earlier had reached his ears.
The more she thought, the angrier she became. What was so good about Ming Yi? Just a pretty face.
She stubbornly sat down at Ji Bozai’s place, pretending to guard his seat.
Xiu Yun saw her predicament and couldn’t help advising: “Lord Ji isn’t a good man. Why suffer for him?”
“What do you know!” Xu Tianji snapped, “If he’s not a good man, then there are no good men in this world.”
To ensure the continuity of their cities, the Da Si of each city in the Qing Yun Realm would cultivate an heir. This heir could be of their bloodline or someone with strong Yuan Power adopted into the family.
The previous heir of Mu Xing City was the Da Si’s son, but he had died young years ago. Now, Ji Bozai was the most likely to become the heir.
Just being by his side, even if not as the primary wife, would bring wealth and status.
Xu Tianji clutched her skirt tightly.
She couldn’t give up. Her aunt wouldn’t allow her to give up either.
Ming Yi was already dead anyway. Competing with others, she had nothing to fear.
***
The supposedly dead Ming Yi was squatting by a dry well in a desolate courtyard, sighing.
Behind her, two badly beaten servants lay on the ground, too weak to even stand.
“You… you…” One servant stared at her in terror, unable to comprehend how this seemingly frail girl could break his rib with a single punch.
“Enough with the ‘you’s. Give me some advice,” Ming Yi stared at the well, pondering. “If I let you go, I can’t leave here. But if I don’t, this well is too small to fit both of you.”
The servant wet himself in fear: “Please spare us, miss. We won’t report this.”
“Oh?” She jumped down from the well’s edge, dusting her hands casually. “Then I’ll trouble you two to stay here a while longer.”
The inner courtyard was heavily guarded, but only these two knew about the Empress Dowager’s kill order on her. If she could make it back to the main road, she could return to Tage Tower and then find a chance to escape.
Ming Yi tried hard to recall the direction she came from, watching her step as she walked.
Behind her, one of the fallen servants suddenly got up, pulling out a dagger to stab her in the back.
Ming Yi sensed it, but before she could turn, an arrow flew in from afar.
“Whoosh—”
The arrow, swift as the wind, its iron tip glinting coldly, flew past Ming Yi and embedded itself deep in the servant’s shoulder blade.
She looked up in surprise to see She Tianlin standing at the path ahead, holding his Heart-Piercing Arrows and glaring at her coldly: “How many times must I say it? When you cut the grass, you must remove the roots.”
The sky was turning to dusk, the sunset glow falling on his black and white hair, yet it did nothing to soften his stern features.
Ming Yi’s pupils constricted. She immediately raised her sleeve to cover her face and darted behind a nearby fake mountain rock.
She Tianlin laughed angrily at her action: “I’m old, not blind. Come out here.”
With her back pressed against the cold rock, Ming Yi didn’t move.
“You ungrateful child. I thought you were dead and held a forty-nine-day vigil for you, not eating meat for over a month,” he stood outside the rock, cursing in a low voice. “Do you know how fragrant your Shimu’s braised beef was?”
“I’m your only master, the master who watched you grow up. I’m practically your second father. What couldn’t you tell me that made you run to this remote little city?”
“If Dan Er hadn’t vaguely mentioned it to me as a favor, was I supposed to believe you were dead for the rest of my life?”
As he spoke, he walked towards her.
Ming Yi listened to his footsteps, her brow beading with cold sweat: “I’m not Ming Xian.”
“If you’re not, who is?!” She Tianlin grew angry, striding forward to grab her out. “Even if you’re dressed like this, even if you turned to ash, I could recognize you from the arc of that ash blowing in the wind!”
Ming Yi: “…” That’s not necessary.
She tried to stand straight to talk to him, but once on her feet, she still wanted to hide, keeping her head low, wishing she could bury it in the nearby flowerbed.
Ming Xian wasn’t like her. Ming Xian was proud and spirited, carrying the future of Chao Yang City. She was weak and despicable, just a vase that needed to flatter others to survive.
Looking down at the cracks in the flagstones, Ming Yi tried to smile, but her voice trembled uncontrollably: “Master is indeed mistaken.”
Her hands kept retreating into her sleeves, her toes desperately trying to hide under her skirt. She hurriedly bowed to him: “This servant must return to the banquet. I won’t block Master’s way.”
With that, she turned to run.
She Tianlin’s throat tightened as he grabbed her: “I worked so hard back then to get you to call me Master, and now you change so easily.”
He turned over her hand to check her meridians, saying confidently: “You may fool others, but you can’t fool me. These meridians—”
His gaze fell on her wrist, and She Tianlin’s words stopped abruptly.
The meridians that were once red as flame were now a chaotic mess, a mixture of blue-purple and black. Forget about strong Yuan Power; it was questionable whether she could even survive.
She Tianlin’s eyes reddened.