Xie Yubai grasped the military knife.
With a swift motion, he slashed downward across the fabric.
"Swish," the sound of tough fabric snapping, severing the only connection between the two. If he stayed here any longer, he feared he would truly lose control of his emotions and strangle her with his own hands!
Before Ye Huaran woke up, Xie Yubai lifted the curtain of the carriage, his face cold, and ordered coldly for Biyuan and Ningxiang to enter the carriage and attend to Ye Huaran, then leaped off the carriage.
Biyuan waited outside with great anxiety.
As soon as Xie Yubai finished speaking, she lifted the curtain impatiently and climbed onto the carriage.
Ningxiang followed Biyuan, stepping onto the carriage. Before entering, she lifted the curtain and glanced at the guards of the Xie Mansion who were specially brought in by Xie Yubai to drive their carriage, but in fact, they were responsible for monitoring their every move, as well as the guards waiting in line. She sighed heavily and put down the curtain with a solemn expression. Xie Yubai chased after them too quickly, and with the princess still unconscious, the situation was really unfavorable for them.
Xie Yubai's deputy, He Buxian, had already brought Xie Yubai's warhorse "Swift Wind" and waited on the side.
Xie Yubai stepped onto the stirrup with one foot, gracefully swung onto the horse, grabbed the reins with one hand, and turned to look at the guards, commanding in a deep voice, "Let's go!"
He lightly kicked the horse's belly.
"Hyah"
The fine steed obeyed its master's command, charging into the cool night ahead, with a blazing fire behind.
"Hyah"
"Hyah"
"Hyah"
The sound of horse hooves rose.
...
"Extra! Extra! Princess Dongzhu elopes for love, the marriage between the royal family and the giant merchant Xie family may be called off!"
"Extra! Extra! Princess Dongzhu elopes for love, the marriage between the royal family and the giant merchant Xie family may be called off!"
"Extra! Extra!"
The newsboy's shouts, one after another, pressed against the ears incessantly.
It was quite annoying.
Ye Huaran frowned slightly. How could the underworld have people like those in the earthly market, with newsboys selling newspapers?
Where were the judges? Where were the ox-headed and horse-faced messengers? The discipline in this underworld was unexpectedly loose. Such disturbing newspaper cries, and yet no one cared?
Over the years, Ye Huaran had become increasingly fond of silence. She couldn't stand any noise when she slept.
Frowning at the center of her eyebrows, Ye Huaran reluctantly opened her eyes.
But as soon as she opened her eyes, Ye Huaran was completely stunned—
What she saw was the magnificent wallpaper, a set of table and chairs near the window, with an embroidered fringe table lamp on the table, and on the wall hung a landscape painting by the great scholar Fu Sihong, a master of calligraphy and painting from the Great Yan Kingdom. The morning sun shone in from the window, falling on the silk quilt covering her.
This couldn't possibly be the underworld of Yama, a place where even sunlight wouldn't reach.
Could it be that someone saved her? No, it couldn't be.
Before she set fire to the Xie Mansion, she had already given up on the idea of leaving alive, so she had already poured oil at the escape route of the Xie Mansion. With such a big fire, even if it was a piece of iron, it would have turned to ashes.
How could she survive?
But if she wasn't saved by someone, how could she explain everything she saw now? Could it be that she was tied up by someone? At this moment, there was a faint quarrel outside the door.
Anxious to find out why she was in this strange place, Ye Huaran tried to move quietly, got out of bed, and walked barefoot to the door. She bent down and pressed her ear against the door.
"Young Master, my lady already has someone in her heart. Please, Young Master, grant her this."
In the corridor, Ningxiang knelt before Xie Yubai, knocking her head heavily.
Ye Huaran took a sharp breath.
Ningxiang!
How could it be Ningxiang?! Wasn't Ningxiang supposed to have died three years ago?
Back then, she clearly had personally prepared Ningxiang's body! Could it be that the conversation she overheard in Heyingying's room just now was really Ningxiang?
What was going on?
Outside the door, before Xie Yubai could speak, He Buxian's face had already darkened. He stepped forward, his neck turning red, and shouted angrily at Ningxiang, "How dare you! The young lady and our Young Master were personally appointed for marriage within the imperial city. You want our Young Master to give in, but how can our Young Master give in? Openly defying the imperial edict, offending the royal family, letting our young lady be with her lover? Isn't the Ruisu Mansion going too far!"
"Begging Young Master to grant her this!"
Ningxiang remained silent, only continuing to knock her head incessantly.
He Buxian, it was actually He Buxian?
Hearing He Buxian's voice, Ye Huaran's heart suddenly shook! In the fifteenth year of Chenguoguo, He Buxian finally knew that he was being used and thus plotted to assassinate Heyingying and Xie Fangqin, but the news leaked out and he was captured by the two and tortured to death.
How could a dead person come back to life ?!
No, something wasn't right.
First, it was Ningxiang who should have died three years ago, and now it was He Buxian who had died long ago.
Ye Huaran finally noticed that something was wrong.
She bit her lip hard with her tongue, and the sudden pain made her brain wake up a little.
She quickly began to think, finally noticing the details that she had ignored since just now.
Did Ningxiang and He Buxian both mention "Young Master" just now?
Could this really be the underworld? Would Guinian really wait for her in the underworld? Great!
Really great!
Ye Huaran suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, tears quickly filling her eyes.
She couldn't wait to open the door.
"Get lost."
Suddenly, a clear and cold voice came through the door.
Ye Huaran's hand on the door lock trembled violently.
Guinian, it was him, really him!
His voice, she wouldn't recognize it wrong!
Ye Huaran couldn't wait to go out, she was so eager to see him.
But her eyes caught sight of the robe she was wearing, and she slightly paused her steps.
She turned around and sat in front of the dressing screen in the room, picked up the comb on it, and started to comb her hair.
Separated for years, reunited in a flash, the soul has never felt like it's been dreaming.
Years apart, would Guinian forget what she looked like?
It didn't matter.
She would make him remember her.
Smiling in the mirror, applying makeup, Ye Huaran looked at the blush on her face satisfactorily and raised her eyebrows.
He said he liked her smiling face the most.
From now on, she would only smile for him.
Ye Huaran stood up from the dressing mirror and saw several clean Western-style dresses on the screen.
Ye Huaran looked at those Western-style dresses, and when her gaze fell on one of the pale white dresses, she suddenly felt like she had seen a ghost, her breathing suddenly becoming rapid.
This dress, this dress, even if it turned to ashes, she would never forget it!
She clearly remembered that she had appeared in front of Xie Fangqin wearing this Western-style dress back then, and how she had shyly lowered her head under the latter's gentle and affectionate gaze.
But in fact, that Western-style dress was not hers at all, but... but it was purchased for her by Guinian in a hotel in Jiangyang!
The hotel!
Right, the hotel! Ye Huaran quickly scanned all the furnishings in the room.
When she found that the room she was in now was exactly the same as the room she had temporarily stayed in at the hotel on the day of her elopement and was later temporarily arranged by Guinian after she was caught up with by Guinian on her wedding day in the 40th year of the Republic of China, Ye Huaran's heart shook violently.
In the past, Ye Huaran had also listened to stories in teahouses, watched operas in theaters, and heard about the absurd but deeply moving dramas of reincarnation and possession, such as "Three Lives and Three Loves", "Red Sleeve Invitation", and so on.
A bold and absurd speculation formed in her mind.
Ye Huaran's breathing became rapid.
Could it be?
Could it be as she imagined?
(End of this chapter)