Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Because of the matter with my uncle, everyone believed I truly had a connection with the County Magistrate.

Even the village head started treating me with newfound respect.

I took the opportunity to ask the village head to preside over the return of the fields that had been snatched from my family. It was a long story.

My family owned several acres of poor land, but after my father passed away, I couldn’t farm all of it by myself. Many people took advantage of Grandma and me-two vulnerable women-and slowly encroached on our property, bit by bit, until they had seized half of our land.

Grandma and I had approached the village head before, but he always brushed us off with excuses.

This time, however, the village head was very decisive. He ordered the land returned and made those families pay me a sum of money in compensation.

With the New Year approaching, I took the money and brought Ah Si on a long trip into the county to buy some supplies.

On the bumpy carriage ride, Ah Si was fuming.

“Why didn’t he deal with this before? Now that he thinks we have the County Magistrate’s backing, he finally acts. Such a dog of an official truly fails the Emperor’s trust; he ought to be stripped of his post!”

Ah Si was right. The village head was unfair.

But in some places, a perfectly fair person cannot survive for long.

I said calmly, “He isn’t a completely good man, but he isn’t a completely bad one either. Grandma and I have lived in the village without being robbed or burgled; he manages the local security well enough. As for not standing up for us before, that was simply the way of the world. I will eventually marry into another family, and Grandma will pass away sooner or later-the longest-lived elder in our village only reached sixty-four, and Grandma is already in her fifties. To him, offending the rest of the villagers to help us wasn’t worth the cost. He only ensures that Grandma and I survive; he doesn’t care if we live well.”

Ah Si stared at me, dumbfounded.

I continued, “Besides, where in this world can you find a person who is entirely good or entirely evil? You and I both have our virtues and our flaws. Whether a person is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ often depends on the specific situation at hand.”

Ah Si fell silent, looking out the window with a long, pensive sigh.

Once we reached the county, I took Ah Si wandering through the streets. She showed some interest in the items at the stalls, but after seeing the crude craftsmanship, she put them back with a look of disappointment. She only picked out a few simple bamboo-woven animals to play with, even haggling with the stall owner.

I felt relieved; the child was finally learning how to save money.

At noon, I took her to Furong Restaurant, the largest establishment in the county. Ah Si hadn’t eaten out in over two months, so she naturally indulged herself.

When it was time to go home, we packed some leftovers and hired a carriage. However, the moment I stepped inside, a dagger was pressed against my throat.

It was a man with exceptionally bright eyes, dressed in grey.

He said coldly, “Don’t move, lady. I won’t take your life, but you must stay quiet. Don’t let anyone find out I’m in this carriage.”

The driver clearly had no idea he had an extra passenger and was busy chatting with another driver.

Startled, Ah Si barked in a low, sharp voice, “Let her go! We won’t take this carriage anymore.”

“You had better get in quietly, unless you want your sister to suffer,” the man said.

He was trying his best to suppress it, but I could tell he was injured.

I pushed his dagger aside and said calmly, “Excuse me, make some room. I’m the one who paid for this carriage. Why are you hogging half the seat?”

The man went silent, giving me a strange look before shifting over.

I climbed in and pulled Ah Si up with me. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she was a good girl; though she sat beside me with a deep frown, she remained silent.

I had seen this man in my dreams.

He was the one the transmigrator loved.

He hadn’t been a bad person originally, but a series of events led the two of them to join forces. He eventually stormed the imperial palace, overthrew the dynasty, and became the founding emperor of a new era.

I didn’t understand why he was here or how he had been injured, but I had a faint feeling that I had just intercepted the transmigrator’s destiny.

The thought suddenly filled me with a strange excitement.

“Why are you laughing, miss?” the man asked.

“I just felt like it.”

“Aren’t you afraid to be alone with a stranger?”

“Are you going to hurt me?”

The man fell silent.

I shifted a little closer to Ah Si.

“Then stay away from me!”

“Hmph!”

The man leaned against the side of the carriage in a huff, crossing his arms. “Once we reach a safe place, I will naturally depart,” he said coldly.

“That’s wonderful.”

He seemed to be provoked by my words again.

He closed his eyes to rest, but as he did, he let out a muffled groan of suppressed pain. Then, quite pathetically, he fainted…

I pulled back his robes to take a look. Gauze was wrapped from his shoulder to his chest, but it was already soaked through with blood. While checking him, I felt a stack of banknotes hidden against his skin.

He was rich!

I reflexively snatched the banknotes.

In that moment, staring at the money and then at his face, a murderous urge inexplicably rose within me. If I killed him now, would all the tragedies that followed never happen?

But I quickly abandoned the thought.

To kill someone for things that had not yet occurred was no different from falling into a demonic path.

Furthermore, the world is unpredictable. I couldn’t be certain that killing him would make destiny run in the direction I desired.

Ah Si hurriedly pulled me out of the carriage.

The driver, confused, brought the horses to a halt.

Reluctantly, I pulled the smallest denomination from the stack of banknotes and told the driver I was buying his carriage.

The driver accepted with a thousand thanks, scurrying away as fast as he could as if afraid I would change my mind.

Once he was far enough away, I shouted loudly toward the surrounding area.

“Is anyone there?”

No sooner had the words left my lips than several men dressed in black suddenly emerged from all directions, kneeling before Ah Si and me.

“What are your orders, miss?”

I felt a sense of relief. I knew Liu Ying must have left people here to watch over us. Otherwise, my uncle wouldn’t have been captured so quickly.

I pointed at the carriage.

“There is a man inside.”

One of the men in black went in, and a cry of surprise soon followed. “Young General Yang!”

The man told me that this person was Yang Jingzhi, the son of the Zhenguo General. The Zhenguo General had died on the battlefield, and Yang Jingzhi’s whereabouts had been unknown. No one expected him to be here.

The man in black stated that this was a matter of great importance-Yang Jingzhi might be a vital witness-and they needed to take him back to the capital immediately.

I agreed.

However, before they left, I borrowed a jade pendant from Ah Si and placed it on him.

Ah Si was bewildered.

I explained, “I’m putting something on him so he knows who his savior is. That way, when we return to the capital, we can ask him for a reward.”

In truth, I only wanted him to remember who his savior was so he wouldn’t try to kill us again in the future. Even if we eventually reached the point of facing each other on the battlefield, I hoped there would be some room for reconciliation.

The men in black drove the carriage away with their charge, leaving Ah Si and me to return on foot.

Fortunately, the distance wasn’t great.

As we walked and talked, the journey didn’t feel lonely. She told me interesting stories from the capital, and I shared humorous anecdotes from the village. We both felt a sense of melancholy realization: it turned out that no one’s life was truly smooth sailing.

Before long, a carriage came rushing up behind us. As it passed, it slowed to a stop. A young girl lifted the curtain and asked softly, “Please wait, ladies. Have you seen an injured man passing this way?”

I looked back and saw the transmigrator.

She saw me too, and her expression changed instantly.

But she quickly composed herself, smiling as she re-described the man’s appearance while looking at us with absolute certainty.

Ah Si and I exchanged a glance and shook our heads in unison.

“Haven’t seen him. Don’t know him.”