After tricking this foolish child once more, Su Tang climbed up into the carriage and, with Pei Xuan following alongside on his horse, left Qinghe Town towards the Qingyuan County Seat. However, less than two hours after the two disciples left Qinghe Town, Song Yi’s house invited some unwelcomed visitors.
“Lord Song, please don’t make things difficult for us. We just want to invite the Young Duke back to the capital.” The leader of this group of visitors met with Song Yi and asked about Pei Xuan in a very respectful and polite tone.
Song Yi took a sip of his tea and said faintly. “How could I make things difficult for you, who are working so painstakingly on behalf of his Majesty and the Empress? It’s just that you came a bit too late. Xuan’er got along so well with my youngest disciple after he arrived yesterday that he decided to run out with her to play without telling me anything. I only found out because he left a letter in his room saying he went out to play with her, but as for the person himself, I haven’t even seen his shadow today.”
As Song Yi spoke, he produced a letter and passed it over to the person he was speaking with. And, indeed, it was a letter written by Pei Xuan explaining that he had gone out with Su Tang. After all, Song Yi was aware that men sent by the emperor and empress would probably soon arrive chasing after Pei Xuan and, if when they arrived Song Yi just casually said that he had let Pei Xuan go out it would be a crime that Song Yi wouldn’t be able to wash off. Thus, Song Yi had specially asked Pei Xuan to write a letter he could use to get rid of these people.
After all, when speaking of Pei Xuan and Su Tang, one was fifteen years old and the other was only nine, so they were two children any way you looked at it. Thus, it was normal for them to act unruly and misbehave. The leader of the group chasing also understood this logic, so after he looked over the letter he didn’t have any doubts that it was real.
“Then I wonder if Lord Song could tell us where your youngest disciple usually goes? His Majesty the Emperor and his wife are very worried about the Young Duke’s safety. As you know, he’s the only remaining bloodline that Princess Mingxi left behind back then, so there must not be any mistakes.” The man finally asked in a concerned tone.
Song Yi shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know. My youngest disciple is the wildest of any of my disciples, and she usually runs around everywhere, so I really don’t know where they might have gone. However, they definitely won’t go too far, and they should be back within ten days.”
But how could these men just wait around for ten days? When he heard Song Yi saying that he didn’t know, the leader could only say, “I’m afraid we can’t wait that long. Anyway, since they are just two children, I don’t think they will have run off too far. We should start to search and try to find the Young Duke as soon as possible. Only when we see him safe and sound will we be able to feel at ease.”
As he spoke, the man looked at Song Yi carefully to see any changes in his expression, but Song Yi was a man who had waded through the Imperial Court for many years and his face gave nothing away. In fact, without his expression wavering in the slightest, Song Yi just nodded calmly and said, “That’s fine, but I hope you will take a bit more care. My youngest disciple is only nine years old this year, and her temper is still a little wild. I hope you won’t hurt her if you meet her.”
When the leader realized that Song Yi had no intention of stopping him from sending people to search, he could only nod and lead his men out to look around.
Once they left, Pengmo came forward and refilled Song Yi’s teacup. Seeing the grave expression on his master’s face, he called: “My lord…”
Song Yi looked at the clear sky outside and sighed softly, “It seems the wind really does not stop!”
(tl note: This line is a partial quote of a famous idiom about the relentless passage of time.)
Meanwhile, Pei Xuan naturally had no idea that the people chasing behind him had already arrived in Qinghe Town shortly after he left. He just rode his big horse alongside Su Tang’s carriage without any worries. And, inside the carriage, the orange cat lay down beside Su Tang and watched her thinking to herself, scheming up new methods and tricks to play on Pei Xuan the whole way.
The orange cat was speechless as he watched this. What kind of terrible taste did he have to have chosen this dark loli as his master back then ah?
“Senior brother I’ve heard you don’t want to get married… no, rather, you don’t want a marriage bestowed upon you. Since you can’t accept having a marriage bestowed, what kind of girl do you want to marry? Do you already have someone in mind?” In the end, Su Tang was also bored, so she spoke up and began asking questions. After all, Pei Xuan had been practicing martial arts since a very young age, so he definitely wasn’t as easy to trick as her carriage driver Niu’er. Su Tang knew that if she hid inside her space while inside the carriage like she usually did, he would almost certainly notice something off. Thus, she pulled back the curtain on the side of the carriage and began to chat with Pei Xuan.
And, who knew why, but as she began to chat, a certain person could feel his hair starting to stand up on end.
“I don’t want to get married!” And, sure enough, as soon as he heard this question from his junior sister the young man couldn’t stop himself from immediately retorting.
Then, he continued, “Who is getting a marriage bestowed? You women are the ones who get bestowed marriages, us men take wives. Only someone as stupid as you would think of such a thing.”
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tl begging corner:
PX is really an M, huh?