The group immediately returned to the residence. The maids packed their belongings, while General Zhao directed her people to prepare the carriages.
In that short span of time, Zishan discovered a strange flower in the courtyard.
It was purplish-red, and its scent made one’s head spin.
“It got here so fast? This Myriad Flowers Cluster has a nose sharper than a hound’s!”
Yinghong stomped her feet in frustration.
They had originally planned to set out the next morning, but Nangong Yunshang now ordered an immediate departure.
The carriage raced onward without pause, plunging into the woods. The next town lay just ahead.
Tao Chuyi clutched Nangong Yunshang’s hand, muttering under her breath, “Hmph, you can’t scare me.”
The coachman cracked his whip repeatedly, urging the carriage far faster than usual. The horses thundered ahead, green leaves rustling and drifting in their wake. Some swirled about before landing on the carriage roof.
When the carriage reached a clearing in the woods, the noble steeds suddenly reared up, their whinnies echoing through the trees.
“What’s going on?”
Zhao Linglong rode forward on her tall mount, circling the carriage twice.
At that moment, a cuckoo’s cry rang out, followed by a strange fragrance gradually wafting through the air.
“Bad news! Bewitching incense!”
Zhao Linglong barked the warning, but before the words fully left her mouth, she toppled from her horse.
Everyone was caught flat-footed. The maids, guards, and even the coachman all collapsed unconscious. The incense was colorless, mimicking ordinary floral perfume, which made it all the more insidious.
Tao Chuyi shook the unconscious Nangong Yunshang, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rouse her.
“Sister? Sister!”
Just then, the carriage lurched forward on its own, the horses bolting madly ahead like they had gone berserk.
Strangely enough, while the bewitching incense knocked people out cold, it seemed to excite the horses.
Tao Chuyi hugged Nangong Yunshang tight, tossed left and right by the bucking carriage.
After an indeterminable stretch of time, the carriage finally ground to a halt.
The curtain had shielded Nangong Yunshang somewhat, so her dose was lighter than the others’. She came to after a short while. Her mind cleared quickly, though her body remained utterly limp.
“Chuyi, where are we?”
She leaned limply against Tao Chuyi, asking in a feeble voice.
“I… I don’t know.”
Tao Chuyi replied in confusion. “The horse just kept running and running.”
The two had no time for further talk before a figure appeared outside the carriage. The intruder approached slowly, snapping twigs underfoot with crisp cracks.
“Miss, you’ve had quite the scare. I am Myriad Flowers Cluster.”
Nangong Yunshang paled inwardly at the name and promptly told Tao Chuyi to hide under the seat. Tao Chuyi balked, forcing Nangong Yunshang to put on a stern expression. At last, Tao Chuyi obeyed, scrambling beneath the seat and draping herself in Nangong Yunshang’s trailing skirts.
Myriad Flowers Cluster drew back the curtain, his eyes gleaming with lust, drool practically dribbling from the corners of his mouth in excitement.
Only then did Nangong Yunshang behold the infamous Myriad Flowers Cluster in full: a short, ugly man whose every gesture oozed sleaziness.
No wonder he could only skulk as a thief—which respectable young lady would ever glance his way?
Myriad Flowers Cluster clambered aboard, drinking in the beauty from point-blank range.
“With your stunning looks, Miss, you really shouldn’t go wandering about. You’re far too alluring. Lucky for you, you ran into me today. Here in this idyllic, poetic spot, why not seize the moment and make it memorable?”
Nangong Yunshang raised a hand to shove him away, only for Myriad Flowers Cluster to seal her acupoints in a flash.
“No rush, Miss. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
With that, his groping paw snaked toward her, inches from her shoulder.
Summoning every ounce of strength, Nangong Yunshang cried out, “Chuyi!”
In the next instant, Tao Chuyi erupted from hiding like a whirlwind, slamming her palm into Myriad Flowers Cluster’s left shoulder and hurling him from the carriage.
He sailed several dozen feet before crashing to the ground, twisting around to vomit a gush of blood.
In their line of work, pickpocketing was the bread and butter, with escape artistry as the ultimate skill. He clearly hadn’t anticipated the beauty traveling with such a formidable fighter. In blind panic, he turned tail and fled.
His lightness skill was in a league of its own—he skimmed through the woods without so much as a leaf brushing him.
But when he alighted on a treetop and glanced back, there stood Tao Chuyi.
“Sorry, wrong way.”
He wheeled south at once, only to spin around and find Tao Chuyi hot on his heels once more.
He darted every which way—east, west, north, south—but Tao Chuyi blocked him at every turn, as if she could split into multiple bodies.
“Oof!”
A kick sent Myriad Flowers Cluster sprawling. He flashed a fawning grin. “Mercy, young hero! I’m just a pitiful soul—no woman will have me as a husband. I took a wrong path, that’s all. I’ll go straight from now on, I swear!”
Tao Chuyi closed in step by step, looming over him. She spotted the punchable glint in his greasy, smiling face.
After the time it took to brew half a cup of tea, Tao Chuyi finally relented. The man at her feet lay swollen like a pig’s head.
Myriad Flowers Cluster must have thought his ordeal over. He struggled to rise, only to have his shoulder pinned midway.
Tao Chuyi’s gaze turned glacial. On impulse, she asked, “Which hand sealed her acupoints?”
Myriad Flowers Cluster blubbered, “Huh?”
Tao Chuyi’s patience snapped. She hefted a rock and smashed it down on his right hand. Amid his pig-slaughtering howls, she pulverized his left as well.
“Chuyi! Chuyi, tie him up. When Zishan and the others get here, we can drag him to the authorities.”
Mindful of the others still in the carriage, Tao Chuyi spared the wretch’s worthless life. She severed his hand and foot tendons for good measure, snagged a rope from the carriage, trussed him up like a dumpling, and hoisted him upside down from a tree branch.
His incessant yowling grated on her, so she crammed a rag into his mouth.
With all that done, Tao Chuyi suddenly felt drowsy. She yawned hugely. When her eyes fluttered open again, the chill in them had vanished, leaving only childlike purity.
“Sister! Sister! I chased off the bad guy!”
She bounded back onto the carriage. Nangong Yunshang remained frozen in her prior pose.
“Sister, why aren’t you moving?”
Nangong Yunshang was exhausted from holding still. “Hurry and unseal my acupoints.”
Tao Chuyi cocked her head and planted a quick peck on her cheek. “I don’t know how.”
Nangong Yunshang: “…”
Who had been the one dishing out such ferocious blows moments ago?
“Want to give it a try?”
Tao Chuyi eyed Nangong Yunshang as though confronting the world’s toughest puzzle. After a long pause, she nodded firmly and set to work probing the acupoints.
Half an hour dragged by, punctuated by shrieks and giggles from inside the carriage.
“Where are you poking…”
“Not there!”
“Let go—it tickles!”
Tao Chuyi hadn’t a clue where to press, so she jabbed every spot she could think of. By sheer luck, she finally released the seal.
The moment Nangong Yunshang could move, she grabbed Tao Chuyi’s ear.
“Sister, ow, Sister…”
Tao Chuyi looked utterly aggrieved. She had only been trying to help her sister, after all.
Nangong Yunshang’s cheeks flushed, though she didn’t pinch very hard.
“What spots did you poke? Were those even acupoints?”
Tao Chuyi blinked innocently. “Weren’t they? But…”
Nangong Yunshang swiftly shifted from ear-pulling to clapping a hand over her mouth, stifling any more scandalous remarks.
By the time Zhao Linglong and the rest caught up, Myriad Flowers Cluster dangled there like a sun-dried rag. The guards cut him down and hauled him off to the newly appointed Jiangnan Prefect—a handsome present indeed.
The group pressed eastward, reaching the town just before nightfall. The inn had vacancies aplenty for their stay.
Tao Chuyi patted the bedding happily, only to find her sister gazing out the window, lost in thought.
“Sister, what are you looking at?”
This was Zhouzhuang Town, site of the Xia Family Old Residence.
Nangong Yunshang turned with a smile. “Nothing much. I want to visit a place. Will you come with me, Chuyi?”
“Yes!”
Wherever Sister went, she’d follow.
Tao Chuyi assumed Nangong Yunshang was leading her somewhere fun or tasty. Instead, stepping down from the carriage revealed a ruin.
Crumbled walls and shattered beams remained; a crooked plaque by one wall, bearing a faded “Xia” character, barely identified its former glory as the Xia manor.
“Take it slow, Your Highness. Dragging us here in the dead of night—what if you trip?”
Yinghong fussed the whole way, all while steadily supporting her princess.
Nangong Yunshang hiked up her skirts and stepped into the ruined courtyard.
“No matter.”
“Prince Consort? Why aren’t you coming?”
Zishan advanced a few paces, but Tao Chuyi hadn’t budged.
Tao Chuyi stood rooted, her big eyes blankly fixed on the plaque, her mind elsewhere.
Zishan hurried back to guide her inside. Tao Chuyi followed mechanically, like a puppet with its strings pulled.
The estate housed Nangong Yunshang’s memories of one sweltering summer. Though reduced to wreckage, they lingered sharp as ever.
Guided by recollection, Nangong Yunshang halted before a mound of debris. This had been Qianhua’s bedroom.
“Any word on the Xia family’s orphaned daughter?”
Nangong Yunshang murmured softly. “I want to see her within three days.”
Yinghong bowed. “Contact has been made, Your Highness. You’ll meet Miss Xia the day after tomorrow.”
With the entire Xia clan exterminated, only a glance would reveal if this woman truly was Xia Qianhua.
Nangong Yunshang hoped she was.
“Prince Consort! Prince Consort, are you all right?”
Zishan’s frantic cries drew Nangong Yunshang and the others rushing back.
Tao Chuyi flung off Zishan’s grasp, clutching her head and curling into a agonized ball. Bloody visions flashed relentlessly before her eyes.
“Blood! It’s all blood!”
Zishan panicked. “Prince Consort, there’s no blood. Nothing here but ruins.”
The old bloodstains had dried to dust long ago.
Yet Tao Chuyi’s frenzy only mounted. “There is! Look—it’s everywhere.”
Bloodstains. Corpses. Assassins…
Tao Chuyi reeled backward, staggering as if fleeing some horror. She bumped into something and whipped around in terror, locking eyes with Nangong Yunshang’s worried gaze.
“Chuyi? What’s wrong?”
Nangong Yunshang hurried to steady her. “Don’t be scared. Sister’s right here.”
“Sister?”
Tao Chuyi suddenly fell silent. She reached out as if to grasp Nangong Yunshang’s hand, only to faint midway through the motion.
Nangong Yunshang was greatly alarmed. She hurriedly scooped her up and arranged for them to rush back to the inn to summon a doctor.
Tao Chuyi remained unconscious. The man Zishan had fetched was a white-haired old physician. He examined her pulse for what seemed like ages, his brows knitting together so tightly they could have crushed a fly.
“How is she?”
Nangong Yunshang asked urgently.
The old physician shook his head. “This old man has truly never seen such a pulse condition before. It feels both substantial and illusory—I can’t get a clear read on it.”
Nangong Yunshang inwardly berated herself. She shouldn’t have brought Chuyi to a place so thick with resentment.
“Why hasn’t she woken up yet?”
The old physician made a formal bow. “The young master was badly frightened. This old man will prescribe two doses of a calming tonic. The young master should awaken soon enough.”
“My thanks.”
Once the old physician had withdrawn with Yinghong, the room held only the two of them. Nangong Yunshang clasped Tao Chuyi’s hand tightly and sat at the edge of the bed, her thoughts a chaotic whirl.
