Chapter 211: The Imperial Concubine Has Waited Too Long
Indoor tea fragrance wafted gently.
The old servant poured the boiling water from the stove into the tea, then lifted it and sniffed lightly.
“Tea brewed with Capital City water has a unique fragrance,” he said.
His gaze swept over the two dead shop assistants lying on the indoor floor, then to the maidservant slumped against the chair with blood staining half her sleeve and knocked unconscious by the sword, and finally to the two men standing at the doorway.
The two men gripped weapons in their hands, their expressions furious.
“This isn’t our fault. You served tea and drank too much, forgetting that we’re no good people.”
The old servant said, smiling faintly.
“Earlier, we chased you like dogs until you fled.”
“What? After we gave you a few good days and you found a backer, you think you’re human now?”
“Now I’m sitting here killing you, and you don’t even dare make a sound. Why?”
“Because I can skin you alive.”
“Because if there’s a commotion, you wouldn’t dare face people at all.”
“And this little girl, putting on too much airs.”
He raised the teacup, looking at the unconscious maidservant.
“Imperial Guards, secret guards, Royal Princess Libationer disciples—you didn’t think that they are them, you are you. If I want to kill you, no matter how many of them come, you can’t escape.”
After speaking, he took a shallow sip of the tea and nodded.
“This tea is still a bit short on flavor; it can wait a little longer. Go, let your young master come. Whether I continue drinking tea or kill people, he’ll decide.”
……
……
“We put Miss Yang in danger.”
The carriage rocked and swayed as Zhang Sheng You said softly.
“That man was right; it’s our own fault.”
“We knew so many people had died at their hands before, yet we weren’t on guard…”
Mo Zheng sat in the carriage, holding a brush in one hand and writing calligraphy in the booklet, saying softly: “We were on guard, but we had to pretend not to be. But since they were determined to act, no amount of guarding would stop them…”
At this point, she finished writing the last line. Mo Zheng examined it and found the handwriting ultimately sloppy.
When Ling Yu saw it, he would surely sigh that it was for making a living.
After all, she couldn’t devote herself fully to reading.
She set down the brush and ink, looking at Zhang Sheng You: “Actually, I calculated they should act soon. They’ve been dragging it out too long and lost patience. Is Miss Yang alright?”
“Temporarily alright,” Zhang Sheng You said. “Her arm was slashed with a sword, and she was knocked unconscious.”
Mo Zheng removed her outer robe, rolled up her sleeve, and took a cloth strip from nearby to wrap around herself.
Zhang Sheng You turned away, listening to the rustling of fabric behind him.
“Young Master, do you really have to meet him in person?” he said softly. “Uncle Hong’s idea is to reveal Miss Yang’s true identity; that should get her out…”
Mo Zheng’s voice came from behind.
“It won’t work.”
“They’re rebelling; even Deng Shan is nothing to them. What does one daughter matter?”
“They really will kill her.”
“I kept Miss Yang’s enemy from killing her this time, only for her to die at my enemy’s hands…”
“That would be too humiliating for me.”
……
…….
It hurt so much.
Yang Luo’s consciousness was hazy. She remembered a sword piercing her, so she was dead?
No, if dead, it wouldn’t hurt.
She wasn’t dead yet.
“Would the young lady like some tea?”
A voice came.
Yang Luo’s consciousness gathered, and she slowly opened her eyes to see the old servant making tea in front of her, and the corpses lying on the ground.
Her heart twisted, intense pain spreading through her body again, and she instantly recalled what had happened earlier.
“You are so bold—” she shouted hoarsely, trying to stand up.
But as soon as she moved, cold pain stabbed at her neck, and from the corner of her eye she saw the familiar old man standing beside her, holding a sword pressed across her neck.
With just a slight movement, the blade pierced her skin…
Yang Luo froze.
“Of course we’re bold.” The old servant poured more tea. “If not bold, how could we deal with you?”
As he spoke, he looked at the color of the tea and nodded in satisfaction.
“The timing is perfect.”
After saying that, he looked at the maidservant and smiled.
“This loyal servant can go die for your young master.”
As the word “die” reached her ears, chill spread through Yang Luo’s entire body.
Although since her rebirth, she had always been thinking about dead ends.
But because she had swapped identities with A Sheng from the start, she hadn’t encountered true death threats; A Sheng had taken them all instead.
Even the first time these people captured her, though that old man had threatened her with knife and sword and life and death, it wasn’t as hair-raising as this moment…
True killing intent was like this.
She really would die.
She couldn’t die.
She couldn’t die at a time like this; she had just changed her fate…
“You…” Yang Luo heard her own voice bursting from her throat.
But the next moment, a voice rushed in from outside.
“The Imperial Concubine has waited long.”
A clear male voice sounded, and at the same time the tightly closed door was pulled open as a youth strode in briskly.
Seeing this figure, Yang Luo closed her eyes and leaned back against the chair.
The youth’s voice came from beside her ear.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Good, not late, not late.
……
…….
The old servant looked at this youth.
The youth wore a robe of coarse blue cloth, hair bound with a wooden hairpin, and had refined features.
As if not seeing the tense standoff, corpses, and bloodstains indoors, he was like someone attending a banquet with friends. He smiled brightly, raised his hand in greeting.
The old servant seemed dazed, and after a moment murmured: “The son of an old acquaintance far surpasses the father in appearance.”
Mo Zheng looked at him, smiling and bowing again: “Thank you, Right General, for the praise.”
The old servant sighed emotionally: “No one has used that title in so many years.”
After speaking, he set down the teacup, stood and straightened his clothes, then bowed.
“Your old minister Wei Cui pays respects to the Young Master.”
Wei Cui?
Yang Luo sat in the chair, suddenly opening her eyes wide with a shocked expression.
This man was Wei Cui?
Longxi Great General Wei Cui?
Wei Cui had actually come to the Capital City!
……
……
“Great General is the title His Majesty bestowed now. In the previous dynasty, when my father was alive, he was enfeoffed as Right General.”
Mo Zheng explained to Yang Luo. At this point, she seemed to notice this maidservant for the first time, and also her wounds, and the sword still gripped by the old man across her neck.
Her expression calm, she withdrew her gaze.
“These years I’ve been busy fleeing for my life, so those around me must be loyal.” She looked at Wei Cui again and said, “If she offended the General, it was for me. Please let her go treat her wounds.”
Wei Cui smiled and nodded, waving his hand: “Go, go.”
The old man sheathed his sword, and Yang Luo immediately stood, staggering. The two men who had been at the doorway stepped forward to support her.
“Hei Shu,” Mo Zheng said, “Take A Sheng to treat her wounds. Have Uncle Hong wait outside.”
Hei Shu acknowledged, glanced at Wei Cui, and supported Yang Luo as they walked out.
“Young Master—” Yang Luo said, her expression worried.
Mo Zheng smiled: “Go.”
Yang Luo said no more, glaring fiercely at Wei Cui before being helped out by Hei Shu.
“Don’t deal with the other corpses yet,” Wei Cui said with a smile. “Too many eyes around.”
Mo Zheng looked at him and smiled: “The General thinks of everything.” After speaking, she stepped over the two shop assistants’ corpses, through the blood, to the tea table, where she lifted her robe and sat down.
Wei Cui also sat down, poured tea and handed it to Mo Zheng, asking: “Was it that Uncle Hong eunuch who recognized me?”
Mo Zheng took the tea: “No, he was just a rough laborer in the Imperial Palace back then and never saw the General’s splendor.”
She smiled as she spoke.
“Besides, who would think the General would come to the Capital City? His Majesty hasn’t managed to invite you all these years.”
Wei Cui looked surprised: “So the Young Master recognized me upon meeting? I saw the Young Master once back then, though he was just a few months old. To remember me… truly heaven…”
Before “endowed genius” could come out, Mo Zheng shook her head with a smile: “I guessed.”
Guessed? Wei Cui looked at the youth before him.
The youth’s features were serene as spring day, showing no emotion.
“First, I thought the General would come see me,” Mo Zheng continued. “After all, I’ve made my existence known. And second, seeing the decisive manner in which you had your people act against my maidservant.”
True and false mixed in his words, but Wei Cui didn’t press, laughing heartily: “I see.” He leaned forward slightly. “I thought the Young Master was familiar with my son, so recognized the father.”
Mo Zheng also laughed heartily: “How could that be? Your son A Jiao is unparalleled in beauty, not resembling his father at all.”
Wei Cui’s face stiffened slightly.
The old man standing nearby frowned and stepped forward: “You…”
There were many rumors in the streets that Wei Jiao wasn’t Wei Cui’s son, but Zhao Tan’s.
Saying the son didn’t resemble him right to his face—outrageous!
Wei Cui waved him off, and the old man retreated without speaking further.
Wei Cui looked at this youth and smiled faintly: “The Young Master is indeed very familiar with my A Jiao.”
Nauseating words came out so easily.
