Chapter 179 Extra (2)

Guan Suyi and Minglan packed up their valuables and went to Cangzhou in a rickety carriage. In addition to the coachman, there was an old woman who was in charge to escort them. The two knew that Madam had fallen out of favor, so their attitude towards her was terrible. At first, they wanted to swindle a bit of silvers, but they found out that she was really penniless, so they gave up, but they kept swearing while talking, which was very unclean.

Minglan tried to rein in her temper, and several times she wanted to flare out but was stopped by Guan Suyi. Cangzhou was a long way to go. If they offend the escort, whether they could reach it alive was still unknown, so they had to endure it.

This old woman was used to steal and cheat. When they were about to go, the old madam gave her one hundred taels of silver, saying that it was the travel expanse for escorting the madam. She secretly concealed it, and then urged the coachman to send her home, intending to give the silver to her children and grandchildren for safekeeping. In fact, how could Guan Suyi not know? It’s just that when people stand under eaves, they have to lower their heads*One has to concede when he or she is in disadvantage position. If Zhao Luli could not wake up, she was ready to pay with her life, so naturally she would not care about these trivial matters.

The coachman parked the carriage by the pond at the entrance of the village and followed the old woman back to eat. Before leaving, he asked the Madam, but when he saw her shaking her head, he left her alone.

“Hmph, it’s dog looking down on people*to look down on someone even when they are no better!” Minglan spat.

“Don’t be angry with them,” Guan Suyi rubbed Minglan’s head and comforted her, “Why hurt your liver and lungs for some irrelevant people? As long as we reach Cangzhou safely, then it’s good.” However, whether they could arrive alive or not, even she herself didn’t know. Right now the old madam willing to let her, but if Zhao Luli met an unfortunate event, she might change her mind.

Minglan was in very low mood, she whispered, “I don’t know what happened to Lord Marquis, I hope he doesn’t die.”

Guan Suyi’s eyes dimmed slightly, but she didn’t answer. Of course, she hoped that Zhao Luli would wake up, but she didn’t regret hurting him. If it happened again, she would still resist desperately.

Both the master and servant were a little out of their minds, and at this moment, a large group of villagers came noisily across the pond. The leader was an old man with gray hair, holding a piece of paper in his hand, as if to announce something. Because of the distance and the noisy surrounding, Guan Suyi couldn’t hear it clearly, only vaguely caught a few words, such as “doesn’t obey the women’s principle, to be damned” and so on. When he finished speaking, the crowd separated to the left and right, and a woman trapped in a bamboo cage was lifted up. The surrounding villagers frantically threw rotten vegetables and stones at her, some people even spat at her.

The woman was very frightened. At first, she insulted these people loudly, but seeing that they were indifferent, she cried in despair. Even if she was far away, Guan Suyi could feel the despair and anger in her voice.

“Oh no, this woman is going to be sunk!” Minglan shouted with a pale face.

Ever since the Empress niangniang wrote “Rules for Women” and it was widely publicized in the capital, sinking people in the water was no longer a new thing. Any woman who was defined as “doesn’t obey the women’s principle” would either be thrown out of the house or drown in the pond, one end was more miserable than the other.

Guan Suyi had suppressed countless anger in her chest because of this, and now it rose and fell violently because of these words. Why should women suffer these tortures? Men are people, but women are not people? Could it be they say beat then beat, they say kill then kill, and treat them like livestock?

She quickly took off her shoes, socks and heavy robe, chose a place overgrown with bushes and reeds, and dived quietly into the water.

“Miss, what are you doing? It’s cold now, you’ll get frozen.” Minglan realized something, and quickly lowered her voice, “Miss, you must be careful not to be discovered by those people!”

Guan Suyi grew up following her grandfather to travel all over the place, not to mention a pond that was only dozens of feet square, even rivers, lakes and seas could be trampled through. She swam slowly along the reeds, and after a while, she held her breath and dived to the bottom of the water, and in a moment, she quietly surfaced again, unknowingly already reached the other side.

The villagers went on a crusade against the woman, and no one looked into the water. The old man seemed to have fed up with the woman’s crying and scolding, raised his hand and said, “Throw her down!”

The villagers who were “doing good deeds” were eager to move, immediately stepped forward to lift the woman, took a boat to the center of the pond, and threw her down. The pond was very turbid, and because it was deep, it was impossible to find out what was going on underneath. Only a few bubbles came up and burst on the water surface.

“Clan leader, it’s done,” they shouted as they rowed the boat to the shore. The villagers stood on tiptoes and stretched their necks, but they couldn’t see anything. Because it was the twelfth month, the air was very cold, they stood there for a while and then went home one after another.

Li Su’e, who was tied and locked in a bamboo cage, struggled for a while, and finally could only accept her fate. She tried her best to hold her last breath, and quickly recalled every little detail of companionship she had with her brother-in-law, and how they shared the weal and woe together, there was no trace of regret in her heart. If she started all over again, she would still take care of him, follow him, and fall in love with him. She only hated that she realized her feelings too late and resisted too long, and not being able to spend more time with him and leave him with more happiness.

I hope in the next life, you and I can meet sooner. Thinking like this, she let out her last breath and let the cold liquid pour into her nose. Just at this moment, a hazy figure swam over in the turbid waters. Her pure white shirt floats up and down, her long black hair spreads out like algae and drifted backwards with the current, revealing a beautiful face.

Li Su’e opened her eyes wide, thinking she had seen a ghost, but found that the woman dragged the bamboo cage and swam to the other side, worried that she would drown and died, she also leaned over to give her a breath.

The lips were soft and hot. So she was human, not a ghost. Li Su’e was in a trance, sadness and joy could not be define. When she regained her senses, the bamboo cage had come to the surface but was hidden in the dense reeds. Fortunately, her hands and feet were tied so tightly that she couldn’t struggle, so she could be rescued smoothly. Otherwise, depending on the current temperature, if the two of them were entangled and pulled together, they could have died.

“Are you alright?” she heard the woman ask with concern.

“I’m fine,” Li Su’e burst into tears the moment she spoke, and said excitedly, “Thank you for saving me, thank you!”

The woman shook her head and didn’t speak. She tore open the bamboo cage with her bare hands, untied the ropes, and carried her ashore. Li Su’e was dumbfounded, she never expected that the other person’s delicate little body would have such great strength. No wonder she dared to jump into the water to save people in the cold winter.

Remembering the kiss in the water, and recalling the woman’s steady actions, Li Su’e’s pale cheeks were getting red, feeling a little shy. Who is this woman? So heroic and chivalrous, she must let her brother-in-law thank her after returning home!

“What is it, are you scared?” After getting into the carriage, the woman handed her a handkerchief and comforted her softly, “Don’t be afraid, you’re safe now, change into dry clothes so you don’t get sick. Do you have someone that you can trust and take a shelter with? If there is one, I will send you there now.” While talking, she changed her own clothes and went outside to pull the reins.

Minglan handed the dress she had prepared to Li Su’e and said worriedly, “Miss, would it be good for us to leave those two dogs in Lijia Village?”

“It’s alright. The fact that I didn’t say anything doesn’t mean that I’m afraid of them. It’s just I’m too lazy to care.” Guan Suyi’s face was full of disapproval. Those two people changed the itinerary by themselves and hid their master’s belonging, when they found out that the carriage was gone, they would run back to the mansion and made up their own alibi. When she returned home after sending the woman away, she would plead guilty to the old madam, only saying that she was worried that the two would take her to a strange place to kill her, so she drove away in a carriage for a while.

The old madam was a clear-sighted person, and if she sent people to investigate, just see who was unlucky in the end.

Minglan had always been obedient to her miss. Seeing that she was confident, she stopped talking and helped dry Li Su’e’s hair silently. Li Su’e was very grateful to the two of them, knowing that it was inconvenient for them to ask why people wanted to kill her, she took the initiative to talk, “Thank you for your help. My surname is Li, my name is Su’e, and I am the sister-in-law of Marquis Zhenxi. Please send me back to Marquis Zhenxi Mansion, thank you very much!”

“It turned out to be Madam Li, it’s a pleasure to meet.” Guan Suyi seldom went outside to socialize due to her low family background, and did not know many noble ladies. But she had heard about this Madam Li. The other person seemed to be from a poor family, but because Marquis Zhenxi attached great importance to affection and righteousness, he was grateful for her years of care and respected her very much.

Why the sister-in-law of magnificent Marquis Zhenxi was taken to be sink in the pond, Guan Suyi actually didn’t know the inside story, nor would she inquire. However, she didn’t ask, but Li Su’e took the initiative to be frank, “I see that my sister is chivalrous, so I won’t hide it from you. My brother-in-law and I have discussed to get married in the spring of next year, and somehow the clansmen know about it. The clan leader is a Confucian, and with the excuse of following Xu family’s words, he tricked me to go back and sink me in the pond. Fortunately, I met my sister, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to go back alive today.”

She was terrified after she said this, and her eyes began to redden again.

It turned out that it was an older sister-in-law marrying a younger brother-in-law, which was considered messing with ethical guideline. No wonder those old things couldn’t bear it. Guan Suyi pondered secretly in her heart, but there was no surprise or contempt on her face, which made Li Su’e more at ease.

Perhaps because the other person saved her at the most desperate moment, Li Su’e trusted her very much and felt very close to her. After changing her clothes, she sat beside her and asked with a smile, “Which family does my sister belong to? Could you please let me know? It looks like you are going to travel far away? There are two servants with you? Don’t be afraid, when we arrive at Marquis Zhenxi mansion, I will ask Lingyun to send guards to escort you, and then send a letter to your house.”

Seeing her recovered so quickly, Guan Suyi felt much more relaxed, and replied, “I’m Guan Suyi, Marquis Zhenbei Madam. Don’t bother my sister to send me off, I’ll go back and explain the reason later. Of course, will not reveal anything about my sister, this is our secret.”

Li Su’e opened her mouth in surprise, “You, you are Marquis Zhenbei Madam? Oh, it’s really destiny to meet for thousand miles. (people who are destined to meet, even if they are separated by thousands of miles, will still be able to meet)! Us two, one is Zhenbei and the other is Zhenxi, there’s also a ‘su’ character in our name, we should become sworn sisters!”

Is “destiny to meet for thousand miles ” can be used like this? Guan Suyi, while chatting and laughing with Li Su’e, drove back to the capital.

The coachman and the old woman came out of the house after having lunch and walked around the village for a few laps but still couldn’t find the carriage. Only then did they realize that something was wrong, and immediately hired an ox cart to rush to the mansion. When Zhao Luli learned that Madam had been sent to Cangzhou, how could he still care the big-belly Ye Fan. He immediately dispatched people to intercept. The old madam repeatedly ordered him to stay in bed to recuperate. Zhao Wangshu and Zhao Chunxi cried and noisily blocked the way, and a group of concubines went up to hug his legs, which made him unable to move an inch.

At this moment, how much he missed the Zhao family that was rectified by Madam to be orderly and quiet, rather than this marquis mansion that seemed extravagant, but people’s heart was actually full of dirt. At this moment, the coachman and the old woman hurried over, knelt down and shouted, “No good. Madam, dreading the punishment, has run away!”

Previous     TOC     Next