Her silence reminded Hu Yan Nan of Shan Xiao Ya’s stubbornness when he had whipped her, causing him to look at her a few more times. He was disappointed to see her submissive compromise… Hu Yan Nan leaped back to the city tower, continuing to observe the people entering and leaving the city gate…
Shan Xiao Ya, rubbing her swollen belly, walked to the restaurant entrance. Unexpectedly, she saw all the pedestrians voluntarily move aside, creating a path. Confused, she looked around but noticed nothing unusual and stepped out… After walking a few steps, a group of men who looked like troublemakers approached, wearing light beige cloth robes, with an intimidating demeanor that made people instinctively avoid them…
Shan Xiao Ya walked forward, curiously observing the group approaching her… A woman saw Shan Xiao Ya walking boldly in the middle of the road and kindly pulled her aside. “Those people are trouble. Quickly move, don’t block their way.”
Shan Xiao Ya, who didn’t like causing trouble, retreated to the side following the woman’s guidance.
Her eyes remained fixed on the group. “Who are they?” she asked curiously.
The woman whispered, “Oh, you don’t know? No wonder you dared walk in the middle of the road. They’re thugs from Chun Xiang Yuan. Have you heard of Chun Xiang Yuan?”
Shan Xiao Ya, hearing the name, immediately knew it wasn’t a good place. She blurted out, “It’s not a brothel, is it?!”
The woman continued talking. “Let me tell you, Chun Xiang Yuan is the largest brothel in An City. Do you know who its behind-the-scenes boss is? It’s the famous Prince Jing. In An City, who would dare to disrespect Prince Jing? His subordinates are all top-notch. See that woman they’re dragging? She’s escaped several times in the past few days, and each time she’s caught, she’s beaten mercilessly. Her miserable screams can be heard far away.”
Shan Xiao Ya asked, “Why are they catching her?”
The woman leaned close to Shan Xiao Ya’s ear and said, “I heard she was Prince Jing’s concubine who was caught cheating. The man was killed on the spot, and she was sent to Chun Xiang Yuan by Prince Jing. She deserves it! How could she be so shameless? If you ask me, she should be thrown in a pig cage. Serves her right!”
Shan Xiao Ya recalled the strange man who had forced her to accept the token with his sword and asked, “Prince Jing? Are there multiple Prince Jings in An City?”
The woman looked at Shan Xiao Ya as if she were strange. “Of course there’s only one Prince Jing. How many do you think there are?”
“No, no. I was just asking casually.” Shan Xiao Ya thought to herself: This Prince Jing is really strange. He would even send his own wife to such a place? It seems best to avoid him and hope never to see him again.
While Shan Xiao Ya was lost in thought, the group had already reached her. Seeing the woman’s tearful appearance, Shan Xiao Ya helplessly shook her head. “Ah! This is the sorrow of women in ancient times.”
Shan Xiao Ya watched them pass by, feeling a bit of sympathy. But what could she do? After they passed, the street returned to its previous calm, as if nothing had happened.
Shan Xiao Ya turned around, only to face a sinister, smiling face.
“Young Master, what are you doing here?”
Zhao Ye Qing patted Shan Xiao Ya’s shoulder, speaking cheerfully, “How could I leave you behind?”
Zhao Ye Qing, seeing Shan Xiao Ya’s surprised and panicked expression, felt inexplicably happy.
“Xiao Shan, let’s find a way to leave the city and return to Ming Jian Mountain Villa.”
Shan Xiao Ya was stunned. “Aren’t you going to handle your business?”
Zhao Ye Qing stared wildly at Shan Xiao Ya and mysteriously nodded. “I’ll deal with that later. First, I’ll take you to a ‘safe’ place!” When she said “safe,” she drew out the word, clearly implying something more.
Shan Xiao Ya raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhao Ye Qing’s jubilant demeanor. What had changed? Why was she acting so enigmatic?
Zhao Ye Qing’s gaze suddenly became deep, and as he withdrew the hand that had been patting Shan Xiao Ya’s shoulder, he brushed across her cheek. The delicate texture of her cheek made Zhao Ye Qing’s heart tremble.
Shan Xiao Ya felt his fingertips brush across her cheek and turned her head slightly, ignoring her unease. “Young Master, since that’s the case, I can take you out of the city.”
Zhao Ye Qing laughed. After laughing, he leaned close to Shan Xiao Ya’s ear and whispered, “You? A person being hunted everywhere by General Huyuan, wants to take me out of the city?”
Shan Xiao Ya nodded and took out the token given by the King of Jing, waving it in front of Zhao Ye Qing.
She asked confidently: “With this, do you think I can’t take you out of the city?”
Zhao Yeqing looked at the token, and his doubts grew even more. Who was she exactly? Hunted by people from General Huyuan’s mansion, and now he wasn’t even sure if ‘that’ could be considered a hunt. Wanted posters of her were all over the city, depicting her in men’s clothing. She could steal things without anyone noticing, and now she mysteriously produced a golden token. It seemed he needed to investigate her carefully.
“Are you sure this disguise won’t be recognized by General Huyuan? He hasn’t left the city gate tower all day.”
Shan Xiaoye suddenly laughed. “Young Master, whether we can leave the city depends on you.”
“Me?”
Shan Xiaoye nodded, gesturing for Zhao Yeqing to lower his head. Zhao Yeqing lowered his head in confusion, and Shan Xiaoye leaned close to his ear, whispering something. Zhao Yeqing’s furrowed brow gradually relaxed, revealing an admiring expression and continuously nodding…
A luxurious carriage approached the city gate with two drivers dressed in royal guard uniforms sitting in front. The carriage moved without much disturbance, with only the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground…
The city gate guards saw the approaching carriage and called for it to stop for inspection from far away.
This provoked extreme dissatisfaction from the two guards sitting in front, and they only stopped the carriage when they were about to collide with the gate guards. Without getting down, they arrogantly flashed their token and shouted: “Seeing the token is like seeing the Emperor, kneel down quickly!”
The gate guards, seeing the token, immediately knelt on the ground and shouted in unison: “Long live the Emperor! Long live, long live!”
The two men impatiently roared: “Get out of the way!”
The kneeling gate guards looked at each other, none daring to make the decision to let the carriage pass. They knew the importance of military orders from Huyuan Nan and would never dare to disobey. But now they were caught in a dilemma.
Huyuan Nan stood on the city tower, saw everything below, and leaped down from the gate tower. Standing in front of the horse, he sharply scanned the two drivers before asking: “Who’s in the carriage?”
The two men’s attitude visibly softened upon seeing Huyuan Nan. One jumped down and approached him, saying with flattery: “General Huyuan, we are following the King of Jing’s orders to send two newly acquired dancers to the palace to present to the Emperor. Look…”
He opened the curtain, revealing two scantily clad women.
He opened it briefly and then closed it, adhering to the principle of not looking inappropriately, especially for women about to be presented to the Emperor.
Huyuan Nan, following the movement of the curtain, caught a glimpse of four long, beautiful, tempting snow-white legs under the transparent pink silk shirt, and the full breasts before the curtain was dropped. The sighs of the kneeling gate guards could be heard, indicating they had also seen the scene.
