Chapter 8 - ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 8
It was early morning, and several carriages gradually stopped at the entrance of the Ming Garden. The young girls alighted from the carriages, dressed in various colorful clothes, mostly around fifteen or sixteen years old. Among them, Li Zhizhi also recognized some familiar faces, like Princess Xiao Man from Jing’an County.
Li Suwan ignored Li Zhizhi and hurriedly approached Xiao Man, engaging in cheerful conversation. As Li Zhizhi looked at that familiar face, she could sense arrogance and haughtiness in Xiao Man’s demeanor. To be fair, Xiao Man was quite beautiful, but unlike Li Suwan, her beauty carried a hint of cruelty and arrogance, making her difficult to get along with.
At first glance, Li Zhizhi seemed to hear the shouts and threats before her imminent death, along with the sinister suggestion that if she dared to push Suwan into the water, she should also taste some hardship to prevent her from harming others again.
A cold feeling spread through her limbs, and Li Zhizhi was reminded of that suffocating sensation when she was close to death, unable to breathe freely. After a moment, she took a deep breath and clenched her hand tightly in her sleeve, gradually shifting her gaze away.
The golden morning sun fell upon her, emitting a warm and soothing sensation that dispelled the coldness. Li Zhizhi finally regained her composure and concealed her hatred and anger.
She remembered that Xiao Man was not yet a princess; she was the daughter of King Cheng, bestowed with the title of Rong’an County Princess. She had a good relationship with Li Suwan. Additionally, there was another girl named Zhao Shan’er, the granddaughter of the current prime minister.
Li Zhizhi glanced around and indeed spotted Zhao Shan’er’s figure. The three of them stood together, engaged in conversation and laughter, with one being overbearing and arrogant, another haughty, and the third playing to their whims. It was indeed an interesting trio, like a group of cunning and treacherous individuals.
Li Zhizhi didn’t want to linger any longer, so she surveyed the area and headed towards the Ming Garden. After chatting for a while, Xiao Man suddenly remembered something and asked Li Suwan, “I saw someone beside you just now who didn’t look like a maidservant. Who is she?”
Li Suwan’s expression slightly stiffened, but she quickly returned to normal and whispered, “Oh, that? She is a distant relative from our family.”
Upon uttering those words, she inexplicably felt more confident and calmly explained, “She came to the capital to seek shelter with us.”
Zhao Shan’er immediately understood and exclaimed, “I see. She’s one of those poor relatives who come to freeload and take advantage of opportunities, shameless throughout the year.”
“And there are such shameless people?” sneered Xiao Man.
Li Suwan didn’t bother explaining further and pretended to be confused, saying, “I’m not sure. She… she is going to live with us at home, and my father has allowed her to study at the Ming Garden.”
“Your father even allowed her to study at the Ming Garden?” Zhao Shan’er exclaimed with surprise, “Your father is really generous. The tuition fee at Ming Garden is not small for a year.”
Xiao Man scoffed, “Your father is just a fool. If it were me, I would have sent her away with a stick long ago.”
Seeing that both of them disliked Li Zhizhi, Li Suwan’s heart gradually eased. She smiled and said, “There’s nothing I can do. My father is kind-hearted. She’s from the countryside and doesn’t know anything. He even instructed me to take good care of her.”
“This kind of person,” Xiao Man sneered and said, “Since she’s your relative, we will definitely take good care of her.”
As a close friend, Li Suwan couldn’t possibly miss the hidden meaning in her words. Just imagining the scene of Li Zhizhi being bullied by Xiao Man made her excited.
Thinking this way, she turned around and glanced, but she couldn’t see Li Zhizhi’s figure, nor did she know where she had gone.
…
Li Zhizhi continued walking along with the crowd. The place for studying was in Mingde Hall, and this road was so familiar to her. However…
Li Zhizhi stopped for a moment as she looked ahead at the crescent-shaped lake. She hesitated; the gentle breeze blew, the water surface shimmered with ripples, and the morning sun sprinkled fragments of golden light on it, making it exceptionally beautiful.
Beautiful it may be, but Li Zhizhi dared not approach. Just looking at it made her feel suffocated, and her hands and feet turned cold, unable to move.
At first, she thought it was due to being startled and that it would get better over time. But after so many days, she still felt fearful of water. Even when passing by the lake’s edge, she couldn’t help but shiver all over, feeling dizzy.
Yet, this was the only way to Mingde Hall. Li Zhizhi’s face turned slightly pale. After hesitating for a moment, she turned into a nearby trail. This path would allow her to bypass the Small Mirror Lake, but it would take more time. Fortunately, if she walked fast enough, she shouldn’t miss the appointment.
The trail was somewhat secluded, paved with green stones, and covered with soft green moss in the gaps. There were some unknown small flowers growing, indicating that few people usually came here. The air was calm, and numerous flowers and trees grew on both sides, swaying gently with the wind.
Just then, Li Zhizhi suddenly heard a burst of crying. She shuddered involuntarily, looked around, but the crying ceased as quickly as it came. The air returned to tranquility, and Li Zhizhi suspected that she had misheard something.
However, as she took a few more steps, the crying sound resurfaced. It was soft and mournful, as if coming from a wild ghost. The sensation sent shivers down her spine, and the dense vegetation here, blocking the sunlight, added to the eerie feeling.
“Who’s there?”
Li Zhizhi summoned her courage and raised her voice to inquire, but there was no response. The crying stopped again, and Li Zhizhi felt a chill down her spine. She stared at the path ahead, gritted her teeth, and hurried forward. Regardless of whether it was a person or a ghost, she had to take this route today; no one could stop her!
After all, she had already experienced death once; if it really was a ghost, maybe she could try to get closer and befriend it for her own convenience.
Just then, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the thicket. Li Zhizhi was startled, her hair standing on end. As she focused her gaze, she couldn’t make out anything clearly about that thing, except for two golden points that shone like bright lamps amidst the shadows.
Before Li Zhizhi could think further, she heard a soft and delicate meow: “Meow~”
This is actually a cat!
Li Zhizhi immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She had been very nervous, and there was a layer of sweat on her forehead. The cool breeze made her feel better. She observed the cat carefully; it was a small bundle of pure black fur, like a piece of black charcoal, with no mixed colors. If it weren’t for its golden round eyes, she would have had trouble locating its head.
Although the cat was black, its fur was shiny and spotless, clearly indicating that it was well taken care of by someone.
The cat tilted its head and meowed at Li Zhizhi, then started walking towards a fork in the road. After a few steps, it stopped and meowed at her again.
Li Zhizhi hesitated. Was the cat asking her to follow it?
As she pondered, the crying sound started again, accompanied by a girl’s voice: “Meow, Meow? Where are you? I’m scared…”
The black cat meowed at Li Zhizhi once more and then ran ahead. Li Zhizhi hesitated for a moment; she didn’t really want to get involved, but the girl’s cries sounded so desperate and pitiful that she couldn’t bear it.
Some unpleasant memories gradually surfaced in her mind, reminding Li Zhizhi of the bullying she experienced in her past life. Taking a deep breath, she decided to follow the cat in the direction of the crying.
After navigating through twists and turns on the secluded path with lush flowers and trees, Li Zhizhi finally reached her destination. She saw a girl sitting on a tree, crying in a miserable state.
The black cat crouched on the ground, meowing at her, and the girl quieted down for a moment, then whimpered again, “Meow, I want to come down…”
Li Zhizhi instinctively stopped her, saying, “Don’t move!”
The tree was over ten feet tall, and she couldn’t figure out how the girl had climbed up there. The girl looked around fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in a yellow outfit, her hair messy as if it had been caught by the branches. Despite this, her beauty was undiminished. She gazed at Li Zhizhi with a pair of red eyes and asked, “Who are you?”
Li Zhizhi didn’t answer directly, instead saying, “The tree is too high; you might get hurt if you jump down.”
Upon hearing this, the girl wiped her tears again. This time, instead of calling for the cat, she cried, “Brother, help me, wuwuwu…”
Li Zhizhi looked at her with some confusion. Logically speaking, at her age, even if she was scared, she shouldn’t cry like this, more like a little child.
Li Zhizhi didn’t dwell on it and was more concerned with calming the girl down. She said, “Stop crying; I’ll help you.”
The girl stopped crying as expected and looked at her with surprise, her eyes slightly widened. With a tone of admiration, she said, “Sister, you’re amazing! Can you teach A Yang?”
Li Zhizhi climbed up a tree branch and gently exhaled, smiling as she asked, “Are you called A Yang?”
The girl nodded vigorously, “Yes, yes!”
Innocently, she asked, “Can you teach me? A Yang wants to learn how to climb trees, so when Meow Meow goes up, A Yang can bring it down.”
If there were doubts before, Li Zhizhi was now somewhat certain that this girl named A Yang had some issues, perhaps a mental disorder.
How could someone like her be in the Ming Garden? Could she also be here to study?
Li Zhizhi couldn’t help but size her up. Despite her disheveled appearance, the accessories and clothes she wore, made of gold and jade, were of top-notch quality, suggesting a remarkable background. However, Li Zhizhi had never heard of such a prominent figure in her past life. But then again, she had been oblivious to the outside world, preoccupied with competing with Li Suwan.
“Sister?”
Li Zhizhi snapped back to reality, and instinctively smiled with squinted eyes, saying, “Sure, but first, we have to go down.”
A Yang was delighted when Li Zhizhi agreed, “Sister is so kind!”
Holding A Yang’s hand, Li Zhizhi cautioned, “You go down slowly, and I’ll hold you, so you won’t fall.”
Although A Yang was afraid, she still nodded and clung tightly to Li Zhizhi’s hand, gradually moving downwards. Li Zhizhi found her surprisingly heavy for someone so slim, and she started to feel strained.
Especially since A Yang didn’t know how to climb trees, she misstepped several times, causing her to slide down, putting all her weight on Li Zhizhi’s hands. The sharp branches scratched Li Zhizhi’s wrist, and when A Yang instinctively struggled, Li Zhizhi’s expression changed, “Don’t move!”
But it was too late; Li Zhizhi practically slid down the tree while holding on to it. When her feet touched the ground, she felt a bit dizzy. As she regained her senses, she heard A Yang burst into loud sobs, scaring away the birds perched on the tree.
Just then, a man’s voice came from not far away, clear and cold as if made of gold and jade, “What are you doing?”
Li Zhizhi instinctively looked towards the source of the voice. The man appeared to be between youth and adolescence, around twenty years old, dressed in a robe of blue jade color. He had a very handsome face, with sharp eyebrows, sword-like eyes, and an indifferent demeanor.
However, the only flaw was that he was sitting on a wheelchair, obviously having trouble with his legs. He held a scroll in his hand and wore a string of purple sandalwood Buddhist beads on his wrist. A black cat leaped lightly onto his lap and lazily lay down, meowing softly.
So he was the owner of the black cat, then…
Li Zhizhi looked towards A Yang and confirmed her suspicion. A Yang got up from the ground, not caring about the dirt on her, and happily ran towards the young man, shouting, “Big brother!”
As she was about to pounce on him, the scroll in the young man’s hand stopped her, and he frowned in disgust, “Stay away from me, all dirty.”