Old Friends Reuniting
Thanks to the escaped pigs incident, Li Wei Yang became the focus of the village. Zhou Qing and Mrs. Liu no longer dared to slave her around but allowing her to stay home all day was also irritating. They agreed to let her work at the teahouse not far from from the village.
The teahouse was managed by Zhou Jiang and Mrs. Ma, selling simple teas and tortilla bread for travelers passing by the village. It was a convenient way to make money. Mrs. Ma felt sorry for Li Wei Yang who was just a young girl and yet had to endure so much suffering. So she assigned Wei Yang the easy task of boiling the water for the teas and didn’t force her to do anything else exhausting.
Wei Yang was adding wood to the fire when Mrs. Ma hurriedly rushed in. She saw Wei Yang busy but urged nonetheless, “Wei Yang, hurry up a bit! We need a little bit more hot water. Also bring out 10 tortilla bread. We have a special guest at the teahouse.”
Li Wei Yang did as she was told. She walked towards the door but felt confused. There were plenty of travelers and guests from the South and North, but there had never been anyone who was considered a ‘special guest’. The special guest Mrs. Ma mentioned, what kind of person was it? She slowly walked up to the door and quietly observed the front of the house.
Standing under the cover was a bunch of bodyguards dressed in blue. It was hard to see the person sitting in the middle of the crowd. In the middle of twenty normal horses was a rare white horse with a silver and red-striped saddle, creating an overwhelming atmosphere.
Mrs. Ma repeated her urgings. “Wei Yang! Hurry! Don’t let the guests wait too long.”
For some reason, there was an ominous feeling inside of Li Wei Yang, as if the moment she stepped outside something bad was going to happen. Her feet couldn’t move, staying motionlessly in one spot.
“Wei Yang? Why aren’t you coming out?” Zhou Jiang was impatient then quickly laughed as he apologized to the guest. “That girl’s a little dense and slow. I will carefully discipline her later.”
Then there was a voice that sounded like one of the bodyguards. “No problem, just hurry and bring over the tea. My master is in a hurry.”
Looking at the situation, there was no way to retreat. Li Wei Yang contemplated and decided she should still go out. She took half a step but abruptly froze after glancing over the person sitting in the middle. In a flash, everyone’s eyes were on Li Wei Yang. Even that young man lifted his head and briefly looked at her.
He sat in the middle of everyone. He had a pair of eyes that shone brightly like the moon but there was also an aloofness in it. Those eyes were bright enough to the point it made others find it difficult to open their own eyes. From afar, one could see a coldness that separated him from the rest of the world. His white attire was embroidered with a downwards pattern that was carefully and expertly quilted. His gaze was steadfast like the stream but also frosty like the ice. Those pair of eyes flickered over Li Wei Yang.
Li Wei Yang shuddered. She quickly lowered her head after the brief glance. She held the tray up to her eyebrows and lowered her head as much as possible, covering up her face so that person wouldn’t be able to see her. She took a few more steps and handed the food over to Mrs. Ma. Then she covered her face, pretending to be afraid of strangers. She hurriedly returned to the small storage space in the back of the house. It was only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The middle-aged man sitting beside Tuo Ba Yu said to him, “Your Highness, it’s about to get dark. Should we go look for somewhere to stay for the night?”
Tuo Ba Yu didn’t look at him. His frosty gaze was fixed on the place where Li Wei Yang had disappeared to. There was a hint of humor in his eyes. This girl, it was the same girl he had seen that day. . .
The girl was about 12-13 years old and adorned a worn-out white attire that had been patched up in some places. Perhaps she had been fanning the stove fire because her face was stained by some black marks. Tuo Ba Yu noticed Li Wei Yang’s hands were fair but also very skinny, barely any meat. Her black hair was long and messy, which was haphazardly tied up on top of her head. Despite her intentions to hide her face, her big black eyes still shine with a strange, inexplainable feeling. That petite figure provoked a sense of protection, making one want to protect her, to take care of her.
Shaking his head, Tuo Ba Yu thought he was being weird. He couldn’t believe he would harbor such a ridiculous, unrealistic thought. Remembering how she had deceived the others previously, amusement surfaced in Tuo Ba Yu’s eyes.
This girl was very interesting!
As he replayed the scene in his head, he casually said, “No, we will speed up and rest at the small town up ahead. We have to set out early tomorrow and return to the Capital on time.”
Zhan Shuo quickly agreed. He didn’t have the guts to say otherwise. He knew Seventh Prince’s personality too well. When he tells you to do something then that means he has already made up his mind, despite using a negotiable tone of voice.
Very quickly, the crowd had finished their teas, got up on their horses, went past the village but didn’t stop as they raced forward, heading towards the North.
Li Wei Yang watched the dust created by the horse’s hooves. There was a ghost of a smile on her mouth. Who knew that the first familiar face she would come across again after the rebirth would be him—Tuo Ba Yu! Seventh Prince!
Tuo Ba Yu was Tuo Ba Zhen’s archenemy. They had fought and competed countless number of times but a victor could still not be named. Li Wei Yang remembered that person also had a pair of cold, emotionless eyes. The corner of her mouth slowly lifted up. Right now, Seventh Prince should still be schooling outside but he had suddenly returned to the Capital. A storm must be happening in the Capital.
She lowered her head and stared at the calluses on her hands. Reuniting with familiar faces, they stood in the light while she hid in the dark. This feeling was indeed fascinating.
The sun eventually set, replaced by a crescent-shaped moon, bringing along with it thousands of stars that lit up the entire evening sky. They arrogantly shone their lights down onto the world. The humid air was appeased by the presence of the moon, causing the temperature to become cooler and easing the people.
Li Wei Yang walked behind Zhou Jiang and Mrs. Ma as they headed back to the Zhou’s house.
An excited Mrs. Liu dashed forward and held onto Li Wei Yang. She was brimming with happiness. “Xiaojie, there’s good news for you!”
Both Zhou Jiang and Mrs. Ma were stupefied in their spot. They didn’t understand what was going on as they stared at Mrs. Liu. They wondered if she had taken the wrong medicine because she was suddenly so nice towards Li Wei Yang.
Li Wei Yang stared at Mrs. Ma’s glowing face. Her eyebrows furrowed then unfurrowed. Then she pretended to be startled. “Aunt Zhou, what’s wrong’s with you?”
Mrs. Liu pretended not to notice the weird expression on Wei Yang and quickly replied, “Li jia [1]! Li jia sent their people!”
Her behaviour was full of enthusiasm as Li Wei Yang thought of a possibility. “Li House in Ping Cheng?”
“That’s right, that’s right! Li da laoye [2] sent Lin Mama [3] to visit you!” Mrs. Liu was beaming. It wasn’t only Lin Mama but also 100 silvers as an expression of gratitude.
Li Wei Yang thought it was strange. According to the previous lifetime, she would have to wait for another year before Prime Minister Li would remember someone like her and send people to pick her up. Only then would the Li House in Ping Cheng quickly send someone to this village to pick her up and move her back to the estate in Ping Cheng. Afterwards they would announce to everyone that she had recovered from her illness. Following that they would send her back to the Capital. . .How come it was happening a year earlier?
At this time, a fair-skinned woman who was older than 30 in a blue silk dress with a gold brooch on her hair and gold earrings came out of the room. She smiled and said, “Nubi’s [4] greetings to San xiaojie [5].”
Li Wei Yang stared at her. It really was Lin Mama from the Li House in Ping Cheng. She was the female servant with the highest status at the Li’s in Ping Cheng. She softly grinned. So it seems everything was true. Perhaps the Li House in Ping Cheng had received some sort of news from the Capital and made their first move by quickly bringing her back to Ping Cheng.
Great, this was very great!