Chapter 469: Xie Chuantang
The Divine Capital was not her Divine Capital. That was the feeling Xie Chuantang had when she first set foot on Vermilion Bird Street, back when she was half a head shorter than she was now. She had worn tattered straw sandals and loose cloth clothes, her eyes distant and wary.
She had lived here for nine years now, yet that feeling still refused to leave her. Sometimes, even as she experienced its splendor and decay, witnessed its grandeur and romance, she felt only like a bystander, unable to feel any deep affinity.
She had neither been born here nor wanted to come here. She had been sold here.
She had spent an unknown length of time being carried by a packhorse screened with curtains, entering the city along some covert route late one night. But on her third day in the city, shouting, flashing blades, and torches shattered the dungeon's darkness. Amid the blades and firelight, the man at the forefront of the attack had blood running down his face. He wore an imposing uniform, his iron waist badge gleaming. He wiped the blood from his blade on his boot and slid it into its sheath.
Later, she learned they were the Rapid Hands of Chang'an County.
Her rescued companions were sent home one after another. Some had family members come weeping with excitement to collect them. Only she watched blankly, not knowing where she should go.
It was not that she had forgotten where she lived. She remembered the place's name and appearance clearly, as well as the little courtyard and the man and woman.
But "going home" was not an option for her, because they were the ones who had sold her.
Twenty taels of silver had settled their relationship. At the very