As night fell and everyone in the Meng Household went to sleep, Lu Chi quietly opened the door, carrying a bundle on his back, and then carefully closed it again.
Turning around... and letting out a loud "Aww..."
A woman with disheveled hair was holding an oil lamp under her chin, her eyes fixed on him. The lamplight made her face appear as pale as paper.
Lu Chi clutched his chest, groaning repeatedly... He was nearly scared to death. " Qing He, what are you doing standing at my door so late at night instead of sleeping?"
As soon as he finished speaking, people came out of each house, each holding an oil lamp, as frightening as if the corpses in the cemetery had risen from the dead.
Qing He parted her hair and said in a sinister tone, "I knew you were up to no good. Chopping wood is as painful as chopping you, but today you went crazy and chopped all the wood. Sure enough..."
She suddenly moved closer to Lu Chi, nearly setting his hair on fire from the oil lamp.
Each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, "Your master treats you so well, yet you want to become a runaway slave."
Qing Yang's expression also turned somewhat grim. " Gouya, runaway slaves will be beaten to death if they are caught by the authorities."
Lu Chi's face turned ashen. "Fine... fine! You were calling me 'Lu Chi Lu Chi' all day, but now you're spouting ' Gouya ' all you have! You heartless bunch! If I weren't afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?" Jin Shanyao coldly.
Lu Chi paused, gritting his teeth and remaining silent. Now that he was caught, it was too late to say anything... So be it, he was a runaway slave. It was better than being killed to silence him after they found out he was the heir of the Marquis of Zhenyuan.
Lu Chi adjusted the bundle on his shoulder. " Jin Shanyao, I'm leaving."
"No!"
Lu Chi didn't expect her to refuse so readily. "I... I've done a lot of work for you lately, you won't lose out if I leave."
Jin Shanyao lazily, "I've cured your poison."
Lu Chi choked, then stubbornly said, "I've already taught my two children the Six Arts of a Gentleman."
"I've detoxified you."
"I... I even helped the child sever ties with the Meng Household..."
"I've detoxified you."
Lu Chi was nearly driven mad by the Jin Shanyao. "Is that all you know how to say?"
Jin Shanyao her head and said, "I spent seventy taels of silver to buy you. I never do business at a loss."
"Seventy taels of silver? Ha, I'll return it to you." He tried to reason with Jin Shanyao, but he seemed to have forgotten that Jin Shanyao never reasoned.
Seeing her walking towards him step by step, Lu Chi felt a sense of foreboding and instinctively took two steps back.
His hand was already on the door, and he was still shouting.
"Fine, fine... I gave you a chance. Don't regret it if you don't let me leave."
After saying that, he suddenly opened the door, rushed into the room with lightning speed, and slammed the door shut.
Because of the excessive force, he blew out Qing He's oil lamp. Qing He glanced at the remaining sparks, then at the tightly closed door, and turned to look at Qing Yang.
"Sis, come pick me up, I can't see the road."
Lu Chi sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) angrily, thinking, "Damn it... all martial arts moves are just fancy moves in the face of absolute power."
That damn woman, I don't know what she ate to grow up like that.
He angrily threw his bundle aside, collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) without even taking off his shoes, and pulled the quilt over his head.
If they're not going to leave, then they're not going to leave. If they're going to die, they'll die together. Kill them all, kill them all... that'll be perfect for him to be buried with.
The following day, the introductory class at the Green Mountain Academy began.
Jin Shanyao was about to see Meng Anci out when she saw Lu Chi come out of the side room. His face was covered with a floral cloth, leaving only his eyes showing.
Jin Shanyao's expression was indescribable. "So, you failed to escape last night, and now you've become a notorious bandit?"
Lu Chi remained unfazed, not bothering to look at the village woman. "The sandstorms have been fierce lately; it's making me choke."
As he spoke, he walked to the well, threw the wooden bucket into it with a thud, and began drawing water to feed the cattle and horses, as if nothing had happened yesterday.
Jin Shanyao looked at his slightly stiff back and reassured him, "You're mine, no one dares to touch you."
Lu Chi curled his lip. The ignorant woman didn't realize she had one foot in the grave. Did she think this group was the same group from Little River Village? They could settle things with a few words.
This is a matter of life and death. You have a family to support, yet you dare to protect him? You're courting death.
" Gouya, pour a bucket of water into the pot," Qing He's voice came from the kitchen.
Enraged, Lu Chi kicked the well, angrily picked up the bucket, strode into the kitchen, and poured the water into the pot.
He wanted to give Qing He a hard time, but Qing He was squatting by the stove adding firewood. "The slop bucket is full, so empty it."
Lu Chi put down the water bucket, picked up the swill bucket, and walked outside.
Qing He got up, poured some baking soda into the pot, and started washing the dishes with a rag.
After washing the dishes, the slop bucket still hadn't returned. Qing He, her hands still wet, shouted towards the door, " Gouya, where did you pour the water? Bring the slop bucket back to me right now!"
Receiving no reply, Qing He kicked the wood into the stove pit, wiped her hands with her apron as she walked out, muttering, "I told you not to be so slow just to pour water..."
Turning to the back of the house, I saw the slop bucket standing alone in the corner. I went over, picked up the slop bucket, and walked back.
Seeing her storm in, Qing Yang chuckled and said, "What's wrong? Did Lu Chi upset you again?"
Qing He picked up a ladle to scoop up the dirty water, and said angrily, "I asked him to empty the slop bucket, and guess what? He finished emptying the water and ran to the outhouse."
Qing Yang's eyes narrowed. "You saw him go into the outhouse?"
"What are you talking about? I could watch a grown man go to the outhouse, I guessed..." At this point, both of them were stunned, Qing He dropped the water ladle and ran outside.
They stopped near the outhouse. " Lu Chi... Lu Chi, speak."
Qing Yang rushed straight into the outhouse... but it was empty; Lu Chi was nowhere to be seen. " Qing He, quickly go to the front yard and see if Lu Chi is there."
Upon hearing this, Qing He ran towards the front yard. The Xiaoli, who was lying in the shop, sensed something was wrong with the airflow and instantly stood up, leaping lightly to Meng Anzhi's side.
Qing He rushed into the shop, "Miss, have you seen Lu Chi?"
Meng Anzhi was completely bewildered. She had spent the whole morning memorizing prescriptions and was still not fully awake, so she had no idea what was happening in the backyard. "Didn't you see? Isn't Master in the backyard?"
Qing He slapped her thigh, "That bastard, he actually became a runaway slave..."
Meng Anzhi instantly realized the meaning behind her words, got up and rushed to the backyard, pushed open Lu Chi's door, and found that nothing had changed inside.
She looked around and saw the bundle Lu Chi had carried the night before lying on the kang (a heated brick bed). She quickly went over to check and found two sets of clothes, several military books, and a pair of shoes.
" Qing He, when did you realize she was missing?"
Qing He clutched her apron, trying hard to recall, "About 15 minutes."
Meng Anzhi quickly returned to her room, opened the wardrobe and began rummaging through it. After a moment, she took out a wooden box, opened it, and three contracts of indenture and a stack of silver notes suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Meng Anzhi collapsed to the ground, clutching the wooden box, her mind racing, unable to grasp the main point.
Just when everyone was at a loss, Jin Shanyao returned from outside, "What's going on here?"
As if she had found her pillar of support, Meng Anzhi instantly threw herself into Jin Shanyao's arms and burst into tears, "Auntie... Master has run away!"
The Jin Shanyao slightly, causing a sudden, nameless anger to surge within him.
She raised her hand to wipe away Meng Anzhi's tears, "Don't cry, I'll find him for you."
Really?
"Really," Lu Chi was someone she had bought with her money, he was her person, how could her person just leave like that? After comforting Meng Anzhi, she slowly released Spiritual Power through the Jin Shanyao.
In the blink of an eye, she pinpointed Lu Chi's location. He hurried off somewhere, Jin Shanyao Xiaoli called for Xiao Li to stay by Meng Anzhi's side.
Then they led out a horse and headed directly towards Lu Chi's direction.