Chapter 483 - Cease Your Dazing, Your Excellency

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Forty past one in the morning.

Qi Qingyao was still in the room, dazed. Suddenly, she caught sight of a silhouette at the door and was shocked. She thought it was Gongsun She again. The person at the door knocked and she went over. She first asked who it was. After Lu Yan announced himself, Qi Qingyao let out a sigh of relief and opened the door.

Lu Yan asked.

“Have you packed your things?”

“What do you think?” Qi Qingyao answered, her mood sour.

Lu Yan pointed at the night sky and said, “Then, let’s leave.”

Qi Qingyao was stunned for a moment before asking with confusion, “Why do we have to leave the city all sneaky in the middle of the night?”

Lu Yan pursed his lips together and said, “Do you perhaps want to leave in broad daylight and have half the city come to send you off happily?”

“Would they be so disrespectful to openly celebrate my departure?” She was, at any rate, from Baishui Town, Qingzhou City. She was a local. The people of Qingzhou City could not possibly hate her that much, could they? That said, she did not do much to affect the common folk. At most, she celebrated some of the festivities with those from the upper circles.

Lu Yan said, “Si Jin killed a grand master from an enemy nation when you were in Qingzhou City. While it may look like a good thing on the surface, in reality, a lot of people have only one word to describe you now—scourge. They’re eagerly looking forward to your quick departure. ”

Qi Qingyao instantly felt righteous indignation when she heard that. “There is no shortage of scourges in Qingzhou City, why do they discriminate against me only? I want to sue them!”

“There are indeed plenty of scourges, but you’re the only one with a grand master by their side!” Lu yan was a little shocked by the little woman’s mindset and her naivety. “Think about it, you’re from a village, you’ve only gone to the city for a few days before you drove away one of the city’s local tyrants, Miss Jiang. Then, you killed several of Han Ruomei’s guards and they did not dare retaliate at all. You even formed relationships with some of the distinguished guests from Eastern Ling and have a pretty good relationship with me, not to mention are on speaking terms with the State Preceptor and the Head Grand Secretariat… Your roughneck even killed a grand master from an enemy nation!”

Qi Qingyao was speechless for the first time in forever after hearing his description.

It did sound a little...overboard.

Lu Yan asked, “Tell me, how would the people in Qingzhou think of you now?”

Qi Qingyao hung her head and touched her chin. She wanted to laugh but did not dare to. She said, “Even worse than a local tyrant.”

“As the saying goes, a powerful dragon cannot repress a snake in its old haunts. You crush it instead,” Lu Yan concluded his speech.

Qi Qingyao stuck out her tongue and made a face. Then, she said that they ought to hurry and leave and not dally any more.

She went to get his luggage.

Her luggage consisted of just a few clothes and all her poisons, antidotes, and paper money. The pills were stored in vials and hung on the back of her waist.

As for the remaining clothes and paper money, they were settled into two bundles.

Lu Yan examined her luggage and was somewhat surprised. “Don’t you want to bring anything else?”

“No need.” She had been an undercover informant many times in her last life and had always been used to traveling light. The most important items for a modern person were their mobile phone, keys, and money. As for here, the most important thing was just money…

She could get everything else once they arrived in Capital City.

Lu Yan, “...”

Her response made Lu Yan feel somewhat embarrassed because this woman did not behave like one. Which woman did not bring much luggage with them when they were traveling far away…

…

…

The triplets were currently asleep and naturally, Qi Qingyao would not wake them up. She immediately called for them to be carried to the interior of the carriage that had blankets already laid out. Dong Jing was at the rear, moving all the packed luggage into the other carriages.

Qi Qingyao grabbed her money bag and jumped into the carriage.

She glanced at the mighty convoy behind her and frowned. She looked at Lu Yan, who was in the black carriage next to her, and thought about how there were dozens of guards, five or six servant girls coming along with them, as well as seven or eight carriages… It was as if they were moving.

The travel pomp of the richest child of Northern Liang was indeed different!

Qingzhou City was rather quiet in the late night.

When the convoy arrived quietly at the gate of the city, they brought out their documents and the soldiers on guard duty quickly opened the gate to let the convoy out.

Qi Qingyao kept lifting the curtains to look at the night sky outside the window. She could already see two convoys of carriages scattered on both sides of the official road outside the city from a distance. Qi Qingyao shouted to the carriage beside her with surprise.

“Why are there two other carriage convoys?”

Lu Yan had not initially heard her but then Dong Jing rode over and knocked on his window. Lu Yan then opened up the curtains and the window. He replied, “You would naturally have to hand over your documents in advance if you want the government to open the city gates on their side this late at night. The State Preceptor and the Head Grand Secretariat are always watching the chess piece that is you so they had clearly been waiting ages ago.”

“Waiting for what? Waiting to send me off?” They were both sending her off, right?

“Idiot,” Lu Yan said. “Both of them will obviously be accompanying us back to the capital city.”

Qi Qingyao, “...”

Lu Yan explained, “You are a very important chess piece and Si Jin is not with you. It’s a long way back to the Capital City. Despite the Lu family escorting you, these two are seriously suspicious; they’re afraid that someone will hijack you midway, then threaten Si Jin and use him on behalf of the other nations.”

She really still was so f*cking popular, huh!

Damn.

There was no one who was sending her off out of sincerity!!

They were all treating her as a chess piece.

Thinking of this, Qi Qingyao rolled her eyes. “Looks like the journey…won’t be peaceful.”

Lu Yan said evenly, “Think about it like this instead. Even if Si Jin is not here, now that Her Majesty has summoned you, they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on you still. With them around, the journey back to the capital will surely be smooth.”

Qi Qingyao cursed, “I don’t want to travel with two schemers at all.”

Saying that, she drew down the carriage window with a huff.

“Indeed.” Lu Yan looked at the window she shut and the corners of his mouth tightened. Then, he also slowly closed his window. He sat in the carriage alone, closed his eyes, and whispered, “To seek skin from the tiger...” One had to be on guard against it.

Li Ruoxuan and Jiang Yeqian definitely regarded her as a chess piece. Qi Qingyao knew this, but after thinking about what Old Sir Gongsun had reminded her before, an idea suddenly came to her mind.

There were only that many rank nines around her.

To be precise, there were not many rank nines in the continent…they were a rare bunch!

Li Ruoxuan and Jiang Yeqian were two of them.

They were also people she often met with recently.

Could the person who had broken through that old Gongsun mentioned be one of them?

Could it be Jiang Yeqian?

At any rate, they had a savior and saved relationship between them.

If he had ascended to grand mastership, it would be beneficial to her.

Thinking of this.

Qi Qingyao felt a little excited. Since Si Jin was not here for the time being, if Jiang Yeqian had ascended into grand mastership, she must get on good terms with him.

The convoy approached the official road.

Qi Qingyao called for them to make a stop.

Without waking up the triplets who were sleeping soundly, Qi Qingyao jumped out of the carriage and closed the door before bowing to the people standing on both sides of the road one by one.

“State Preceptor.”

Head Grand Secretariat.”

…

Jiang Yeqian and Li Ruoxuan were indeed waiting at the side of the road.

No one would have thought that this usually arrogant woman would take the initiative to get out of the carriage and greet them as she was leaving today!

Li Ruoxuan beamed. He glanced at Jiang Yeqian and said, “You can just salute me alone. This person next to me has already resigned and the empress has accepted his resignation. It just hasn’t been officially announced in court.”

Jiang Yeqian frowned, his gaze sharp as a knife as he glanced at Li Ruoxuan.

When Qi Qingyao heard the news of Jiang Yeqian’s resignation from Li Ruoxuan, her mood changed. She said, “Congratulations to Your Excellency on an early retirement to your hometown,” while thinking, ‘Could this guy have deliberately resigned because he ascended into grand mastership?’

Jiang Yeqian was still very young; he was only in his twenties. He was the Head Grand Secretariat at such a prime age. Who would resign from such a lofty position without reason?

Unless they had ascended into grand mastership and decided to properly cultivate and break through the limit old Gongsun always talked about, dreaming of reaching an even higher level…

If he really were the new grand master, he could take her under his wing, no?

Perhaps she could even persuade him to kill Li Ruoxuan?

At the thought of this, Qi Qingyao could not help laughing.

“...” Jiang Yeqian was stunned by her sudden congratulations. He frowned and said nothing.

He was thinking that if he had known that she would be called into the capital, he would not have handed in his resignation so early!

“Let’s go,” Li Ruoxuan interrupted their conversation timely and said directly to Qi Qingyao, “I’ll go back to the capital with you.”

Qi Qingyao instinctively asked, “What about the Head Grand Secretariat?” Could he still tag along now that he had resigned? She even had plans to encourage him to take advantage of the old identity of Jiang Bai.

Li Ruoxuan paused, then said, “He can come along.”

Qi Qingyao noticed that Li Ruoxuan was the one speaking from the beginning till the end and that Jiang Yeqian had not said a word, which made her wonder if Jiang Bai hated her. How was she to persuade him? Qi Qingyao feigned casualness and asked, “Is his leg lame, or is he mute as well?”

Li Ruoxuan’s smile was sly as he said, “He probably hates you and so doesn’t want to talk.”

Qi Qingyao pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at Li Ruoxuan. She then glanced at the black-armored knights and said unhappily, “I’d just been summoned by her majesty to the capital to face the court. Looking at the State Preceptor’s formation, I would have thought I was some court prisoner being escorted back to the capital if I didn’t know better.”

“You misunderstand my intentions when you say that.”

Li Ruoxuan’s expression was smug with a hint of casualness.

“I can let you know that I received a tip-off that Old Sir Gongsun still hasn’t left Qingzhou City.

“So, it’s just a precaution that I had this many tiger guards transferred over.

“Hasn’t he always been interested in your Erniu?

“If Si Jin was still there, I wouldn’t spend so much manpower and go through so much trouble to transfer the tiger guards here to protect you while you make your way back to the capital.”

“…”

After hearing this, Qi Qingyao’s gaze darkened. It was clear that they wanted a justifiable reason to keep an eye on her, yet he said it so arrogantly, making it sound like they were afraid that she would be taken away. Qi Qingyao put on a fake smile and said, “Thank you for your kindness.”

Unexpectedly, Lu Yan had gotten off the carriage and heard the conversation between them. He took the initiative to speak.

“If Old Sir Gongsun really hasn’t left and intends to attack you, then...”

He pointed to his own carriage, “You should take this carriage.”

Qi Qingyao looked at the larger carriage and said, “Isn’t this your carriage?”

Lu Yan replied, “It’s sturdier than you think.”

Jiang Yeqian also agreed that she should take Lu Yan’s carriage.

“Master Lu’s carriage is excellent,” he said

Qi Qingyao, “Oh.”

Jiang Yeqian added, “It is said that the carriage is engraved with a special array and that the carriage itself is made of refined steel. The steel is made from black quartz and black iron from Tielu City in Dazhou. The craftsman who built the carriage is Xiao Guchi, and this carriage is one of his masterpieces.”

Lu Yan raised his eyebrows. The shape of this carriage was very simple. How did the Head Grand Secretariat know about the array? None of them from the Lu family had spoken of this to anyone…

Li Ruoxuan narrowed his eyes and said, “The Head Grand Secretariat is knowledgeable.” There was some information even he was not privy to…

Jiang Yeqian realized he spoke too much.

He casually said, “If you can’t even get information on Master Lu’s carriage, then the State Preceptor’s efforts have really gone in vain in recent years.”

He paused, then without waiting for Li Ruoxuan to get a word in, he added, “Is it so hard to buy information from the Zhaixing Administration?”

Li Ruoxuan, “...”

The Zhaixing Administration supplied information, but not every kind of information could be bought…

Before getting on the carriage, Qi Qingyao first asked Dong Jing to carry the triplets over together with the blanket. As soon as she sat down, Lu Yan leaned into her and elaborated about the carriage.

“If the door and windows are all closed, the inside is completely sealed, and even a grand master would not be able to sense how many people are inside.”

Was it really that amazing? “What about voices?”

“They can’t be heard either.” Lu Yan said.

Qi Qingyao asked again, “Then what about you?”

Lu Yan answered, “I’ll just take your carriage.”

Qi Qingyao said leisurely, “Your carriage must be more comfortable than mine.”

After speaking, she closed the door and windows, and got ready to sleep…

There would be hired roughnecks all along the way anyway.

She supposed that these rich men had arranged for meals and lodging, so there was no need to worry about it at all.

Outside of the carriage.

The three men looked at each other.

Lu Yan smiled and got into the carriage that Qi Qingyao was in, then closed the door coolly.

Looking at the dim carriage, he took out a luminous pearl from his sleeve and placed it on the mattress for illumination.

Although Lu Yan was slightly more open to contact with people recently, it did not mean that he had the courage to remain in this relatively old carriage, which may have been ridden by many people…

After hesitating for a while, he sat on the soft mattress that Qi Qingyao had laid on before, feeling the surrounding “warmth” and “scent”.

He noticed that the air was filled with a faint smell of medicine.

It was because she liked to tinker with medicinal herbs lately, which caused her to carry a medicinal smell. The carriage that she often rode in was also infected with a smell that was unique to her…

Of course, there was also a possibility that she had slept on this mattress before…

As soon as Lu Yan recalled that this mattress was moved from her room, his whole body suddenly stiffened, and his face turned red from his ears down to his neck.

He suddenly sat up and placed his hand silently on the mattress. His face was flushed.

Even though it was spring, Lu Yan felt that the air had warmed up.

He fanned himself with his hand.

Then he took a few deep breaths.

What was this? Indirectly sleeping on the bed she slept in! How could he sleep tonight!

Hang on, even if the beddings were swapped back tomorrow, his bedding would have been laid on by her as well…

Lu Yan suddenly felt shy and nervous.

Although he did not know what exactly he was nervous about either.

That woman was already a mother of three children!!! Why was she so attractive…

It must be because he had only been in contact with this woman lately…

This was bad. He had been poisoned by this woman.

No, he felt as if he was out of breath. Lu Yan suddenly opened the window and, facing the moonlight outside, he breathed in a few big mouthfuls of fresh air.

Dong Jing, who was riding a horse next to him, thought his Master must be having another episode, so he rode the horse over and said in a low voice.

“Master, if you were going to give the carriage over to Missus, then you should’ve just ridden it together with her.”

Lu Yan immediately wiped his face when he heard it. After making sure that no one could see his blushing face in the middle of the night, he said righteously, “Although we’re traveling at night, we’ll be traveling in the day from tomorrow onward and rest overnight at the inn. As a small lady, if she sticks with me all day in broad daylight, what will happen to her reputation if word gets out?”

“...” Dong Jing blinked. Was Missus’ reputation not long gone? He wanted to say that but did not dare to. She already had three children…what reputation was there left?

…

…

Jiang Yeqian and Li Ruoxuan looked at each other for a few more seconds before retracting their gazes and getting into their respective carriages.

When Qi Qingyao and her three children woke up, it was already noon.

She felt the speed of the motion for a while, and could not help but sigh. “This carriage is no different from a modern BMW or Benz, it’s stable and quiet!”

The interior walls of the carriage were also luxuriously and magnificently decorated.

It made her want to curse!!

Damn rich people.

The interior walls of the carriage were covered with luminous pearls!

The bedding was covered with a tiger skin sheet. On the floor was a woolen carpet.

After the three children had woken up, they all rubbed their eyes aggrievedly and said that they were hungry…

Qi Qingyao opened the window and was shocked when she glanced at the sky.

She immediately shouted that she was hungry to the big group.

Dong Jing rode the horse over and handed her a flask and a box of pastries. He told her and the children to have something first, and that they would reach the next town soon.

It only took an hour to arrive at the next town.

After getting off the carriage, Qi Qingyao glanced at the town.

She asked offhandedly, “What place is this?”

Lu Yan, who got off the carriage next to her, was about to answer.

Then Jiang Yeqian, who was hobbling over with crutches, quickly said, “Just a passing town.”

Qi Qingyao, “...”

Was this a bad joke?

She asked what town this was.

Then he said it was a passing town…

F*ck…

He really was not joking with me!

The black-armored knights surrounded the perimeter and scared the locals. They thought that some big shots must have come. None of them dared to come close and just crowded around and watched from afar.

After Qi Qingyao and the others entered the inn, they went straight to the guest rooms and freshened up first. The three children washed their faces and brushed their teeth, so they were much more awake.

Then, she took them to the big hall.

Li Ruoxuan said, “It’s time to sit down and eat. We have to continue on our way after the meal.”

Qi Qingyao looked around. The other tables were all scowling royal guards, and there were no random guests. She frowned. “Where are the other people in the inn?”

Lu yan said, “This is my family’s inn. I’ve notified them in advance to only serve me for today.”

Qi Qingyao, “...”

Holy sh*t.

As expected of a rich man.

How ostentatious!

A big inn refused to take guests just to wait for the big boss to patronize…

Wait a minute.

Would it all be this kind of treatment for the remaining journey to the Capital?

Qi Qingyao was internally cursing how luxurious this was.

However, she did not know the full picture.

It was not that Lu Yan would not do this kind of thing in the past, but he seldom did it. This time it was different. He had expected that many people would return to the Capital, so he sent Dong Jing to make arrangements ahead of time.

The group came up to nearly a hundred individuals, along with the State Preceptor’s and the Head Grand Secretariat’s people. If they had not emptied out the inn in advance, they would not be able to stay there at all.

In addition, there were too many idle people in the inn, which made it easy for various thugs to mingle in…

Hence, to be on the safe side, emptying the inn in advance was a precaution.

Qi Qingyao sat at a table with the triplets, Li Ruoxuan, Jiang Yeqian, Lu Yan, and some others. The triplets knew who Li Ruoxuan was and did not dare to say anything. They were as obedient as three little kittens the moment they came to the table.

They clutched their rice bowls obediently as they dug into their food.

Qi Qingyao coaxed them as she picked the dishes for the triplets, “Eat a little more, we still have to hurry and be on our way later.”

Li Ruoxuan looked up and said, “There’s no need to worry. Even if you were to get hungry midway, we brought all sorts of dried food and cakes.”

“...”

Qi Qingyao did not make a sound nor did she look at him.

Li Ruoxuan felt that Qi Qingyao was ignoring him.

He suddenly thought about how she had rejected his proposal and then came to despise him.

He could not help but speak up.

“The Head Grand Secretariat has already resigned and won’t be accompanying you to the palace once we arrive in the capital. If you have any semblance of a brain on you, shouldn’t you be flattering me while we’re on the way? That way, when we enter the capital, I’ll put in a good word or two for you.”

Qi Qingyao smiled superficially and said, “Based on what you said, the empress summoned me to the palace because she was thinking of testing me and meeting me to see how special I am. It’s not like she’s going to kill me.”

“You said it yourself, the empress’s motive is Si Jin. What do you think she’ll do when she sees you but not Si Jin when the time comes?” Li Ruoxuan’s voice was bone-chilling and his gaze was bottomless. “Although the emperor of Daliang is a woman, she is an emperor whose means are beyond mine.”

Qi Qingyao, “...”

Li Ruoxuan knew she was scared now and said with a smile, “So, do you really not intend to curry favor from me?”

Jiang Yeqian’s hand that was gripping the chopsticks gradually turned pale. He wanted to blow up but he resisted.

Qi Qingyao asked in a thoughtful manner, “You murdered my sister and her entire family, and now you want me to curry favor from you?”

“While that may be the truth…” Li Ruoxuan said calmly, “I thought smart people excelled at veering with the winds. Oh, no, this word is too profound. It should be said that smart people excel at conducting themselves.”

Qi Qingyao smiled with her teeth revealed. “I apologize, I’m not a smart person~~”

Expression dark, Li Ruoxuan said, “You still need my protection while we make our way to the capital. If you keep giving me this attitude every day, I can’t promise that I won’t kill you first thing after the empress is done meeting with you.”

Jiang Yeqian finally could not take it anymore and said, “Have you asked for my opinion before wanting to kill her?”

“You already resigned. You’re just a commoner now, Jiang Yeqian.” Li Ruoxuan reminded him coldly before continuing, “That said, what does me wanting to kill her have to do with you? Could it be that you’ve fallen for this widow?”

“Fallen for?”

He was once again checkmated. However, Jiang Yeqian had already mentally prepared himself this time. His gaze was deep and he immediately retorted, “That the State Preceptor always uses these words against me makes me suspicious if the one who has fallen for her is actually you. Otherwise, why would you be so suspicious about the many love rivals every day?”

“You overthink!”

Li Ruoxuan inexplicably felt that being questioned back was especially troublesome. He threw his chopsticks down and made his exit. “I won’t be eating anymore.”

The triplets’ nervousness instantly reduced when Li Ruoxuan left.

Lu Yan noted that Li Ruoxuan only had a few mouthfuls of rice and said softly, “His appetite is really small.”

Qi Qingyao laughed out loud. “The hateful scum finally left. This is great.”

She urged the triplets, “Eat, eat.”

Li Ruoxuan walked along the hall all the way to the inn’s courtyard. He looked at the countless draping green silk tapestries. Grabbing a wicker, he immediately pulled it off.

As his subordinate, Zhu Shen had always eaten fast.

After he was done eating, he hurried to the courtyard.

He stood behind Li Ruoxuan for a while, thinking, ‘The master seems to like spacing out more and more recently.’

Zhu Shen said quietly, “Your Excellency, why are you standing here, spacing out and not eating?”

“It’s nothing.” Li Ruoxuan retracted his gaze and lowered his head. He looked at the deformed wicker in his hand.

“The tiger guards’ steeds have all been fed concentrated feed and are done eating. They’re now resting and waiting to depart at any moment,” said Zhu Shen.

“...”

Li Ruoxuan said nothing.

His mind was still mulling over that matter.

About what Jiang Yeqian said just now.

Who would fall for that woman…f*cking nonsense!

She was just a widow…

Not to mention a stupid woman who did not obey feminine principles and did not even know who she slept with…