in2ebook Chapter 192 Escape (2)
Chapter 192 Escape (2)
Before going to bed, Lin Qianqian packed her clothes and money in a bag, then contentedly covered herself with the quilt, blew out the candle and went to sleep.
In the early morning, a thin layer of mist rose in the palace. The air was still cold, and a layer of white frost formed on the ground. Some withered yellow grass was frozen in the gaps between the floor tiles.
When Lin Qianqian left the palace with her bag, the palace servants had already started cleaning the courtyard, palace roads, and corridors. Some were watering the flowers, and some were emptying the chamber pots.
She put on an extra layer of clothes, and although her body wasn't cold, her fingertips were icy cold. She quickly put her hands to her mouth and blew out white smoke.
The sky was the color of a pot of thick rice soup.
There was no sun to be seen, not a single cloud in sight, and only one or two birds occasionally flew by.
Her heart was beating excitedly and her eyes were smiling with joy.
Free, free, liberated!
She was finally going to be free.
Lin Qianqian wanted to sing and shout, but she knew she couldn't be too happy now. She had just left the palace and hadn't left the capital yet. She told Gu Huai that she was two days late, which was enough time for her to go anywhere, as long as she didn't run into him or anyone she knew.
She first went to Hengshun Bank to deposit the more than 300 taels of silver she brought from the palace, leaving only 1 tael of silver and a few dozen copper coins on her for food and lodging.
When she went to the money shop, she was the only customer, and the mustache-wearing shopkeeper kept rubbing his closed eyes with his hands.
There was only one steamed bun shop open on the road, and there were few pedestrians. She bought a vegetable steamed bun to fill her stomach, and then hurried to the place where she hid the silver last time. At that time, she inspected many places and carefully buried the package under a willow tree under the city wall, and made a mark with stones that no one knew. As a result, when Lin Qianqian bent down to dig up the soil, she found that the money she earned from drawing blueprints in the Marquis' Mansion, the princess's reward, and the jewelry and hairpins were all gone.
She squatted on the ground, holding a thick branch, and shoveled the soil into pieces, making several large holes. She also dug next to the small tree like a gopher digging a hole.
It's gone, and all the money she had buried here is gone.
Not knowing whether it was stolen by someone or taken away by accident, she was so angry that she beat her chest and stamped her feet.
No matter what, she still has money anyway, fortunately she received many rewards in the palace.
Lin Qianqian estimated that the city gate was about to open, so she changed into ordinary cotton clothes in a deserted place. She also tied her hair into a bun, the most common hairstyle for women on the street, put away her earrings and hairpins, and hurried to the city gate with her bag.
When I got there, there were already more than a dozen people queuing up, and two military officers holding spears at the door were checking their passes one by one.
The people in front passed by one by one, and when it was almost her turn, Lin Qianqian's heart tightened and her hands unconsciously tightened the bag in her arms.
"You! Take out the pass."
Lin Qianqian carefully took out the pass hidden in her sleeve and showed it to him.
"Let's go!" The soldier pushed Lin Qianqian's shoulder impatiently and began to check the next person.
She walked over happily, and when she was out of the capital, she turned around and looked at the two big words "Capital" on the towering city wall, her heart filled with excitement.
She is free.
Whoever wants to stay in that mansion can stay there. From now on, she is a free person!
Lin Qianqian jogged happily for a while, but suddenly, her body froze like a stone and the smile on her face disappeared instantly.
She was wearing cheap black cotton shoes, stepping on the yellow earth ground, taking one step at a time, then two steps back.
Zhang Qi, who had been waiting here with a sword in hand, smiled at her and said, "I said, I'm worried about your safety."
"If you don't let someone protect you, I won't let you leave the capital. Who knows what you'll encounter out there alone."
"This is my brother who I once fought through life and death with. He handled a major case for the emperor and was dismissed for his violent methods."
Lin Qianqian shook her head slightly in resistance.
She just wanted to get away from everything in the capital, whether it was the Marquis' Mansion, Gu Huai, or the man in front of her.
She wanted a fresh start.
Unexpectedly, even though she got up so early, she still couldn't avoid this person.
Zhang Qi took a step forward and reached out to touch Lin Qianqian's cheek, but she turned her face away. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Be obedient and be good."
The next second, his tone became extremely stiff, and his gentle eyes changed. "If you don't agree to me, I will tell the prince about your whereabouts. He will definitely question the guards guarding the city. When the time comes, don't blame my men for not keeping their mouths shut."
"I hate it most when people threaten me!" Lin Qianqian said to him angrily.
Zhang Qi smiled, and a trace of contempt flashed across his stern face. "For someone like you who won't respond to any soft or hard tactics, I can only threaten you."
He suddenly reached out his hand, pinched Lin Qianqian's chin, and lifted it up suddenly. "I advise you to listen to me. I don't want you to leave the capital. Your safety cannot be guaranteed. If you don't listen, I can only use necessary coercive measures. If you don't let this person protect you, I will directly send you to the Marquis' Mansion."
After a long stalemate, Lin Qianqian gritted her teeth coldly and said, "Okay, I compromise."
She looked up at the half-masked man in navy blue clothes standing beside Zhang Qi, and noticed that he had a pair of slender eyes and was holding a large broad knife wrapped in coarse cloth in his hand.
Lin Qianqian stepped forward and said to the man, "Good man, let's go."
"Yeah." The man's voice was so low that it was almost inaudible and quickly disappeared in the wind.
Seeing Lin Qianqian turn around and leave with her bag on her back, Zhang Qi couldn't help but ask, "Are you just leaving like that?"
"You don't want to say a word to me?"
Lin Qianqian took a deep breath and couldn't think of anything else to say to him.
She thought for a moment, then suddenly turned around and said, "Your interest in me was born out of lust and should end with lust. For a man, which woman can't satisfy his desires? A man can go to a brothel at will and marry four or five women to keep at home. For you, my leaving just means you lose a woman to sleep with. As long as you want, any woman, any number of women can be your lover. For me, it is the freedom I want most. You don't have to hold on to me. I think this bad relationship should end here."
Lin Qianqian left these words and walked away.
Zhang Qi was still standing there.
He turned around and watched her figure getting farther and farther away and smaller in the flat field.
She was actually severing ties with him just now?
She not only wanted to leave that prince, but also wanted to leave him.
Since he had a way to let her go, he had a way to get her back.
……
Lin Qianqian felt that the man next to her was a spy.
In the name of protecting her.
If she doesn't get rid of him, she will never escape Zhang Qi's clutches.
She decided that she would find a chance to get rid of him.