An ordinary wooden horse carriage happened to stop at the entrance of the street. One could vaguely see a man sitting inside if they looked through the gaps between the curtains. He had a chiselled face, and his appearance was tough and heroic.
Shifting his gaze away from the crowd, he could still hear the constant cheers of the commoners.
“King, the street ahead is blocked. Should we wait, or make a detour?”
The man’s voice was crisp as he instructed, “The matter is urgent; make a detour.”
“This subordinate obeys the order.” The guard immediately pulled the reins, turning the horse in another direction.
Meanwhile, the man who Su Xi-er had just defeated could only dumbfoundedly listen to the cheers of the people. He hadn’t expected to lose to a weak woman.
Su Xi-er’s gaze turned cold as she looked at the man. “You lost. Scram out of the capital, and never appear on the streets of the capital again; don’t be a sore loser.”
The man snorted. “Your combat skills are not bad, and you have a glib tongue! Wait for me to report to Commandery Prince Xie before we arrive at a verdict.” He left without turning back even once.
Su Xi-er watched his burly departing figure. So he’s actually Xie Yun’s subordinate. How can the capital tolerate such a domineering person running around freely? I look forward to seeing how the handicapped Xie Yun will deal with this man.
Hong Li and Ruo Yuan quickly ran over and inspected Su Xi-er before simultaneously exclaiming, “It’s fortunate that you’re fine. You frightened me out of my wits.”
“Of course, I’m fine. Are the both of you done playing?” Su Xi-er asked with a smile.
Hong Li and Ruo Yuan vigorously nodded. “Yes; let’s return to the residence.”
“Let’s stay out a bit later; we’ll go to the tavern.” Su Xi-er started walking towards the tavern located on the neighbouring street.
Hong Li and Ruo Yuan exchanged bewildered glances at each other. The Princess Consort is planning to secretly drink wine while Prince Hao isn’t around? At this thought, they immediately followed. We can’t let her drink too much! Drinking too much will only cause one to make a botch of matters!
When Su Xi-er turned to another street, she caught sight of an old auntie peeping at her from her periphery.
She’s the one who almost got hit by the horse carriage just now.
Upon realising that Su Xi-er had discovered her, the old auntie hastily scurried away.
“Auntie.” Su Xi-er picked up her pace and called out to her, but the old auntie continued scuttling away.
Finding it very strange, Su Xi-er went forward to grab her arm. “Auntie, why were you following me? And why are you still hiding from me? We didn’t know each other in the past.”
Unable to break free from Su Xi-er’s grasp, the old auntie could only turn around and shudder as she looked at her, finally murmuring to herself. “This servant is wrong. Please don’t kill this servant…please don’t…” She kept shaking her head as she stammered.
Su Xi-er was perplexed as she watched her. She was already muttering things like ‘too similar’ and ‘already dead’ when we previously saw each other. Now, she’s referring to herself as a servant and asking for a pardon.
“Auntie, where are you from?”
Despite the question coming a benign tone, the old auntie suddenly plopped to the ground. “Wrong, wrong, all wrong.” She then began kowtowing.
With so many people on the street, it was inevitable that the passers-by would glance at them in confusion; some even suggested to Su Xi-er, “This old granny is deranged; she’ll be normal in one moment and become abnormal in the next. Miss, you don’t have to mind her.”
Suddenly, the old auntie stood up and stumbled a few steps backwards before starting to run. She even glanced back to look at Su Xi-er, as if afraid that the latter would chase after her; it wasn’t long before she had disappeared from sight.
A few commoners shook their heads and sighed. “A lonely and deranged old person with no children; it’s rather tough.”
Su Xi-er was immersed in her thoughts. Could the old auntie be related to my past? Or could it be…
~~~
Meanwhile, the old auntie had already run back to her small rundown house.
