Mingyi quickly withdrew her hand, not daring to meet Shen Tianlin’s gaze. She said, “I’ve told you, Master, you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Mingxian is over there.”
She pointed in a direction, and Shen Tianlin instinctively looked.
The small path was empty, with nothing there.
When he turned back, the person in front of him had vanished without a trace.
Angry and distressed, Shen Tianlin cursed under his breath, “You little rascal! Why are you running?”
In such a state, shouldn’t she have asked her master for help first?
Mingyi used all her strength to sprint forward, not caring about returning to the Tage Platform or the inner court’s forbidden areas. She leaped over eaves and walls, leaving Shen Tianlin’s sight at top speed.
And at that same top speed, she fell into the encirclement of the imperial guards.
“Who goes there!” Eight streams of Yuan Power formed into halberds, restraining her. The guards shouted angrily, “How dare you!”
Mingyi was startled and instinctively wanted to resist, but remembering this was Muxing City’s inner court, she had to forcibly withdraw her hand.
She withdrew, but the guards didn’t intend to. This was a restricted area of the inner court, how could they allow trespassers? Several guards immediately surrounded her, intending to arrest her.
“Wait,” someone called out.
Mingyi turned to see Si Tuling standing at the other end of the road, quickly walking over.
“Lord Si Tu,” the guards spoke seriously, “This is a trespasser in the inner court. Surely this doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Hall?”
“Inner court trespassers indeed don’t fall under the Judicial Hall’s jurisdiction, but the Grand Minister wants to see her,” Si Tuling waved a token in front of them. “Hand her over to me.”
The token, forged from star-fallen stone, gleamed with engraved constellations. Seeing this, the guards hurriedly bowed.
Si Tuling successfully took custody of Mingyi, roughly escorting her forward.
Mingyi followed him for a while, and once the guards had dispersed, she spoke softly, “How long has the young lord been here?”
“Didn’t Sister Ming see? I just happened to arrive.”
“Just now?” Mingyi smiled slightly. “There are two paths to the Tage Platform from here. The young lord didn’t choose the closer, easier small path, but instead picked this farther, muddy palace road. Aren’t you afraid of dirtying your fine clothes?”
Si Tuling was at a loss for words, then laughed, “I almost forgot Sister Ming remembers the paths in this inner court.”
The most commonly used path to the Tage Platform was that small road. Ordinary people wouldn’t choose this palace road unless they saw Shen Tianlin still on that small path, making it impassable.
He sighed, “Sister need not be so tense. Even if I heard everything, I wouldn’t harm you.”
Mingyi’s palm tightened, and she lowered her gaze, “In this world, there’s no one who won’t harm another. You might as well tell me directly what you want. It would put this servant’s mind at ease.”
Looking up at her, Si Tuling hesitated to speak.
He didn’t understand how the person before him could so naturally refer to herself as a servant, just like when they first met at Prince Gong’s mansion. He couldn’t comprehend how someone with such pride could so naturally bow deeply to a stranger like him.
Mingxian was such a proud person. Riding a horse through the street, she had reached out and plucked him from a group of fighters, placing him on her horse. She laughed loudly, “Though this place only cares about strength and weakness, there’s also a distinction of age. He’s still young, it’s fine if he can’t use Yuan Power yet. Maybe he’ll have other achievements in the future. As for the rest of you, bullying the weak is the behavior of petty men!”
Dozens of fighters on the street were angered by her words, and countless streams of Yuan Power flew toward her like shooting stars.
She didn’t even look back, only asking him, “Which city are you from? Which courtyard do you live in?”
He looked up in panic, pointing at the attacks behind her, about to shout for her to run. But before he could, those Yuan Power attacks exploded like fireworks against her transparent shield, thousands of meteors slowly falling in the reflection of his shocked eyes.
“Hmm? Behind?” She paid no attention to the commotion behind her, only smiling, “Then it must be Muxing City.”
Turning her horse around, she galloped with him towards Muxing City’s lodgings, muttering, “Muxing City is good. Sleeping clouds follow the wind to embrace the moon, the Milky Way moves boats to carry stars.”
Her slightly amused voice scattered in the wind, along with the clear sound of hoofbeats, filling Chaoyang City’s Changyao Street.
The wind brushed past his temples, and Si Tuling looked up.
The person before him had unchanged eyes, still, those smiling phoenix eyes, but all the brilliant light within them had vanished. Her words seemed directed at him, yet also seemed to mock others through her.
He felt somewhat desolate, “Sister now has nothing. What could I want from you? If you feel uneasy, why not leave Ji Bozai and return to my mansion with me?”
Mingyi was puzzled, “Surely the young lord’s mansion doesn’t lack people to serve.”
“No one is as interesting as Sister,” he smiled. “I’ll give Sister eight thousand bei coins as a monthly allowance, and you won’t have to do anything.”
“…” Truth be told, it was quite tempting.
Mingyi hesitated for a moment, just about to respond, when she saw another group of female servants approaching. The leading female official looked familiar; she must have been by the Consort’s side earlier.
She inwardly thought this was bad. One of the two palace servants from before must have survived and gone to report.
“Lord Si Tu,” the female official approached and curtsied slightly, “We have come on the Consort’s orders to apprehend an escaped criminal.”
Si Tuling nodded, “This is someone the Grand Minister wants to see. I’m under orders to bring her there.”
The female official smiled, “This woman’s contract is still in the inner court, under the Consort’s jurisdiction. Lord Si Tu, please hand her over to us first. We’ll take her to see the Consort and then send her to the Grand Minister.”
These old hands of the inner court were all slippery, with not a word of truth in their mouths. Si Tuling glanced behind him, somewhat regretting not bringing Fu Yue along.
“This order was urgent. If I’m late, I can’t bear the Grand Minister’s blame,” he said. “Please understand, Madam.”
The female official shook her head regretfully, her hand hidden behind her back making a slight gesture. The servant girls behind her immediately surrounded Mingyi.
Si Tuling frowned, “I didn’t know that in this inner court, the Consort’s orders could override those of the Grand Minister.”
“We’re all following orders,” the female official smiled at him. “I’ll apologize to my lord later.”
Si Tuling stood in front of Mingyi, refusing to move. In his urgency, he took out the kaleidoscope Shen Tianlin had just given him.
“Don’t—” Before Mingyi could stop him, she saw him shoot an arrow towards the female official’s ear.
The arrowhead, though lacking Yuan Power, still carried tremendous force. It sliced off a lock of the female official’s hair by her ear and embedded itself in the earthen wall behind with a “zing.”
The female official’s face turned pale with fright, and the surrounding servant girls all took half a step back.
Si Tuling steadied himself and raised the kaleidoscope, saying softly, “Please make way, Madam.”
“My lord belongs to the Judicial Hall. You should know that carrying weapons in the inner court is a crime akin to treason,” the female official tried to remain calm.
“I will explain to the Grand Minister myself,” Si Tuling signaled to Mingyi with his eyes.
Mingyi nodded, nimbly slipping past the group of servant girls and running forward quickly.
Her embroidered shoes stepped on the gray-black stone slabs, but after just a few steps, she gradually slowed down. Mingyi looked up and found herself face-to-face with an approaching imperial carriage.