Chapter 1: Return Home

NOVEMBER 12, 2020 ~ RUBYDREAMS

Feng Yun Country, Jin Yang Town, Cushan County, Tianjia Village.

The village was silent and the villagers had fallen into a deep sleep, the occasional barking of wild dogs in addition to the sound of frogs croaking by the river added a bit of vividness to this summer evening.

On the only mountaintop in Tianjia Village, there were two dainty and lovely maidens standing on either side with a heavy look on their faces.

In the depths of the mountain, where even the bravest hunters of Tianjia Village didn’t dare to enter, there were more than a dozen corpses lying across the ground.

The dense smell of blood filled the nostrils, causing one to want to vomit.

The sounds of “crunch, crunch” was particularly loud and abrupt in the silent night sky.

The man who was handling the corpses looked up at a woman standing in the center, dressed in coarse linen, and swallowed his saliva, unable to resist, his tone was filled with helplessness: “Miss, can you please eat somewhere else?”

Standing in the middle of corpses and eating, was she not afraid of throwing up!

The girl called “Miss” raised her head, she was no more than twelve years old but had a graceful posture, and a face that was a sight to behold.

The skin on her small, palm-sized face was a little sickly pale.

A pair of clear eyes under the willowy eyebrows, seemingly misting up from time to time, making people feel pity for her.

Slightly pursing her lips, the dimple in her cheeks added a bit of playfulness.

“Chi Cheng, you quickly remove these corpses, I am afraid to look at them, it affects my appetite.” That soft and weak voice was trembling, seemingly extremely frightened.

Chi Cheng’s mouth twitched: “Miss, these people were killed by you …… Moreover, there are no outsiders here.”

So, who are you showing this weak look to?

“Ah ……” the woman seemed to have thought of something, slightly lowering her eyebrows, her small face full of seriousness, “I’m not, I’m not, don’t talk nonsense.”

Chi Cheng looked at the girl who was talking serious nonsense and rolled his eyes, quickly disposing of the corpses around him.

The girl didn’t mind and continued to eat the snack in her hand.

When the sky turned light, the voice of a maid came from outside.

“Miss, there’s news from the hillside, the Prime Minister’s family is here!”

Ay ……” the girl sighed quietly as if she felt tired of standing, she simply sat down on a rock and said slowly, “They finally remembered that there’s still a third miss of the Prime Minister’s residence, Su Mo Li? “

Cheng Tao and Chi Cheng looked at each other, both seeing the worry in each other’s eyes.

“But calculating the time, it’s time to return.” Su Mo Li chuckled twice, the corners of her lips slightly curved upwards, and her eyes shone a luminous color, making it impossible to see what she was thinking.

“Miss, it’s time for us to go.” Huang Fan also walked in, “There are still fifteen minutes left before they enter the village.”

After putting the last piece of the snack into her mouth, Su Mo Li patted the crumbs off her hands and faintly ordered, “After Chi Cheng cleans this place up, take the brothers with you and go ahead, Cheng Tao and Huang Fan follow me.”

With that, Su Mo Li stood up, but her body stumbled, and if it wasn’t for Cheng Tao’s quick eyes and hands, she would have almost fallen to the ground.

Su Mo Li leaned on Cheng Tao’s body in a smooth manner and coughed twice, her small face getting paler and paler.

The handkerchief in her hand covered her mouth, her eyebrows were filled with sorrow, and her voice grew weaker: “You guys have to help me out a bit, I’m a weak little woman.”

Chi Cheng couldn’t help but touch the goosebumps on his arms, and after disposing of the last few corpses, he left as fast as he could.

Cheng Tao and Huang Fan were silent as they looked at each other.

The two maids didn’t cooperate, and Su Mo Li didn’t feel embarrassed, continuing to say in that delicate, artificial voice, “Let’s go, we can’t keep the people of the Prime Minister’s Residence waiting.”

The sound of wheels grinding came from the official road.

Two ordinary carriages quickly crushed the earth.

In the carriage, Su Mo Li’s face was slightly pale and she slowly closed her eyes.

In her head were swords and shadows, all the things from her previous life.

She was the daughter of the eldest princess of the current dynasty, she should have been favored for the rest of her life, but she never expected that when she was five years old, her mother suddenly died, her grandmother fell ill, her father broke his leg away from home, and she contracted a cold that could not be cured for a long time.

Seeing her condition getting worse and worse, her father felt sorry for her and sent her to the so-called blessed land of Cushan County, Tianjia Village.

This is also her father’s hometown.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she came over, the whole family got better.

And rightfully so, she was also placed in the Tianjia Village to pray for her family.

Just ……

It was all an excuse.

“Miss, we’ re already out of Cushan County.”

Cheng Tao lifted the curtain to take a look, then sat upright and said in a low voice, “Chi Cheng and the others should have arrived at Lingjing Town by now, with our people protecting them along the way.”

“Mm.” Su Mo Li raised his head, a pair of eyes tinged with moisture and light laughter, “About to return, it’s truly delightful.”

Saying that, she chuckled twice, the bell like sound was really pleasant to hear.

However Cheng Tao and Huang Fan shivered and touched the goosebumps on their arms, fearing for the people in the capital.

The scenery outside the window was rapidly receding, and Su Mo Li thought of the many assassinations and poisonings she had suffered when she first arrived at Tianjia Village.

At that time, she was too young to dodge an open spear, let alone a hidden arrow.

After five more days, when Cheng Tao lifted the curtain again, she had already seen the word ” Capital”.

When the carriage entered the capital, it slowed down. In this capital full of noblemen, any one of them was an imperial relative, even the carriage of the Prime Minister’s Residence had to be prudent and cautious.

“I heard that the elder Miss of the Prime Minister’s Mansion has returned, this should be the elder Miss’s carriage, right?”

“There’s another young lady in the Prime Minister’s house? Why haven’t I heard?”

“Oh, I only heard about this in the past few days, I heard that the Eldest Miss of the Chancellor’s House was praying for the Chancellor’s family at the Ancestral Shrine, and now that she’s of age, she’s come back.

“So that’s how it is, this eldest miss is really filial!”

“No, she was only five years old when she left, and now it’s been seven years, but if it wasn’t for her prayers outside, where would the prime minister’s family have been on an even playing field? It’s just a pity that of the three misses and one son in the Prime Minister’s residence, the other two misses and one son are lavishly enjoying themselves in the capital, while the eldest miss is suffering out there.”

“Yes, yes, but the Prime Minister shouldn’t be able to detain the Eldest Miss, should he?”

“Who knows, after all, the eldest miss isn’t the prime minister’s wife’s real daughter.”

“What’s all this talk of praying, it’s not like he doesn’t treat this original birth of a young lady well!”

“So what if they don’t treat her right? Her mother is Princess Huimin! That’s a princess who was praised by the late Emperor!”

The people whispered and looked at each other with a “you understand and I understand” expression.

“Eldest Miss, please get off the carriage.”

A green-clothed grandma came down, naturally hearing the voices of the people around her, and frowned, a hint of disdain crossing her face.

Even if her birth mother was the eldest princess, so what?

Growing up in that place, I’m afraid she doesn’t have the temperament of a noble girl in the capital.

Back in the capital, she would only be a laughing stock!

With the opening of the carriage curtain, Cheng Tao and Huang Fan jumped down.
Although they were dressed in sackcloth, they had beautiful faces, and anyone who looked at them would see a bright lively look, indeed the two maids’ faces were too gorgeous.

Immediately after, the crowd only saw a slender and elegant hand stretched out, without any decoration on the wrist, just that exposed skin, but it was like cream.

The carriage curtain opened once again, ink-like hair spread out behind her back, and only a very cheap wooden hairpin on her head fixed the bun.

“Miss.” Cheng Tao was busy helping Su Mo Li off the carriage.

But Su Mo Li’s body swayed a bit and raised her head slightly, her delicate and weak appearance exposed to everyone.

“Hiss ……”

The crowd let out a sucking sound, as they were the people of the capital, the Feng Yun Nation was open and tolerant of women, so they had seen many noble women.

But none of them were so good looking!

A sour beauty in the crowd saw this and couldn’t help but murmur, “The beauty covers the present and the past, and the lotus blossom is shy.”

“Mo Mo, is it time to enter the house?”
The soft sound came over as if dew drops were falling in a pond, making one feel a sense of refreshment.

The sun hanging high in the sky didn’t seem so hot anymore.

“This girl, she’s so beautiful and youthful!”

An old woman carrying a basket couldn’t help but exclaim, “Just that this one in coarse sackcloth, is she a maid?”

Seemingly having heard the old woman’s words, Su Mo Li turned her head slightly, her eyebrows filled with weakness, and her face grew pale.

“Eldest Miss, this way please.”

“Heavens, this is the Eldest Miss? How come you’re not dressed as well as a servant?” That old woman exclaimed once again, “And this lady is obviously not feeling well, but she doesn’t even have an umbrella, is this servant of the Prime Minister’s Residence so ignorant?”

“I saw that it wasn’t like this to the second and third misses and the fourth son before.”

The old woman’s words once again caused a wave of public opinion.

And while the crowd was making a ruckus, the old woman left.

When Mo Mo Chen heard this, her frown deepened, when she glared at Cheng Tao: “How come you didn’t also give your lady an umbrella?”

“Mo Mo ……” a voice called melodiously, the tone is filled with grief, a pair of eyes containing tears, “Please Mo Mo don’t blame Cheng Tao, it is my fault, on the way I am not well, infected with cold, Cheng Tao did not have money, to treat me, the only way to do that is to sell the only umbrella that is valuable …… begging Mo Mo not to blame.”

After saying that, she covered her mouth and coughed a few times.

When Cheng Tao and Huang Fan saw this, they couldn’t help but reveal their sorrow, and knelt down: “Mo Mo, please, give Miss a doctor, on the way you said to hurry, not to delay the hour, but now, already at the doorstep of the house, can you please Mo Mo give Miss a good look?”

“Miss was born weak, please take pity on her Mo Mo ……”

But after Cheng Tao and Huang Fan kneeled down, Su Mo Li was unsteady and swaying.

Seeing that she was about to fall down, the young woman on the side of the room hurriedly helped her, “Miss, are you alright?”

The young woman’s eyes were filled with shock and she couldn’t help but exclaim, “This young lady, you’re too light!”

She was afraid that even a gust of wind could blow her away.

Su Mo Li gave a thank you and tried to stand up straight, covering his mouth and coughing gently for a few minutes, “It’s my body that is not strong enough, and I ask Mo Mo to forgive Cheng Tao and Huang Fan, I ……”

Saying that, Su Mo Li coughed loudly.

Mo Mo Chen didn’t dare to let a few people stand outside the door anymore, and immediately said, ” Still don’t hurry up and help the eldest miss into the house!”

“Sister, how can she enter the house if the gate is not open?” Cheng Tao frowned and asked in confusion.

Mo Mo Chen snorted lightly and said faintly, “Take the side door.”

It seems that Su Mo Li looked at Mo Mo Chen in disbelief, her lips slightly trembling, the look on her face under the backdrop of the coarse linen clothes more and more pitiable: “Could it be that the Prime Minister is not my father? My father became a lackey of the Prime Minister’s House?”