A Lovely Girl Turning into a Rat

Night fell and a chill shiver rippled over Ci’s skin.

Liao Yong was dead.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

He died such a terrible death that one could hardly bear the sight of it. Blood oozed from his eyes, nose and mouth. His intestines and stomach putrefied and turned into a pool of yellow water.

Ci had sent a letter to Nima who was in the capital. However, he didn’t receive it. The messenger was killed on the way to the capital. The cause of his death was the same as Liao Yong’s.

In a restaurant, Ju Juxian looked coldly at Ci who was eating at the table. Ji Jing taunted and jeered at Ci. But Yang Zhen disregarded their bad attitudes towards Ci and put food in Ci’s bowl.

When they returned to Nima Mansion, Yang Zhen took Ci’s hand and pulled her into the bedroom. After closing the door, Yang Zhen whispered in Ci’s ear, “You can’t stay in Nima mansion anymore. Last night I overheard them discussing how to kill you. Now pack up your things and go to my personal house. You can hide inside it until Master comes back.”

Ci frowned, seemingly skeptical of Yan Zhen’s words. “I have done nothing harmful to them. Why do them regard me as an enemy and want to kill me?”

Yang Zhen helped Ci pack up her things while answering, “Master is obsessed with you. He doesn’t take them seriously at all…”

“Sister, why are you protecting me?” Ci asked.

“Because we are both ill-fated.” Yangzhen gave a bitter smile.

Ci nodded, “I want to change into casual clothes. Sister, can you please go out somewhere for a while?”

Yang Zhen replied, “Okay. I’ll come to you at 10 p. m. tonight and bring you to my house.”

After dinner, Ci went out to take tea in Autumn Wind Teahouse. She hadn’t played the lute for a long time. A lute string had broken and without Nima, no one in Nima Mansion wanted to listen to her play. San served her a cup of scented tea. The tea leaves were newly picked and processed. Ci secretly stuffed some ingots of silver into his hands.

Li Qiufeng asked, “How are you, lady?”

“Not bad. Thank you for your concern.” Ci took a sip of tea and felt refreshed. “I’ve come to ask San to do me a favor.”

Li Qiufeng said, “No problem. Lady, he is at your disposal. My business is bad lately. He has enough time to run errands for you.”

Ci took out a letter and said to San, “Please go to the capital and give this letter to Master Nima. Er, tell him it’s a letter from home. You should be careful on the way.”

San took the letter and immediately prepared to set off to the capital. Li Qiufeng looked carefully at Ci. There was a hint of faint black in the top of her nose bridge connecting the eyebrows. He shook his head and said, “Take care of yourself.”

Ci smiled, “Don’t worry about me. It is my destiny.”

There were several lines on the letter:

“In autumn, I sit at the window with the lute in my arms. The third day after you left, a lute string broke.

The things are still there, but you are no longer by my side. My sister tells me that you will come back soon.

To a woman in love, one day apart seems like three years. Nobody knows how much I miss you.

The moon is rising in the inky sky, emitting cool light through clouds. Is everything all right with you?”

San was soon ready. Ci gave Li Qiufeng some bank notes and said, “This is the money for San’s journey. There must be some surplus. Please accept the remaining money.”

At approximately 10:00 p. m., the wind slapped at the door. Ci thought that Yang Zhen was outside the door, but when she opened the door, there was only a white cat lying prone on the ground, mewing sadly.

“You can rest assured that I will not die,” Ci said to the cat. “I know you’re worried about me. I promise you that I will not die.”

On hearing this the cat quietly climbed up to the roof like a ghost. Ghosts lived inside cats and cats were ghosts.

Yang Zhen walked over swaying her hips and said, “Let’s go. My house is commodious. I’m sure you’ll enjoy living there.”

Ci removed the hairpin from her head and pinned it in Yang Zhen’s hair. “Sister, it’s your hairpin. Please take it back. I don’t need it anymore.”

Yang Zhen was dazed for a second.

All the servants turned a blind eye when Ci and Yang Zhen walked out of Nima Mansion. Maybe they saw Ci but had no intention of stopping her. Maybe they were afraid of getting into trouble, so they kept quiet. After all, the primary duty of the domestics and guards was to guard Nima Mansion and prevent outsiders from entering the mansion. As for the people living in the mansion, the servants had no right to stop them from leaving.

Ci had no idea how long she had been walking with Yang Zhen. A stretch of barren land spread in front of her. She couldn’t help but ask, “Sister, how far is it to your personal house?”

Yang Zhen smiled, “It’s not too far from here. If you are tired, we can stop and have a rest.”

“I’m not tired. I once travelled enormous distance on foot.” Ci gazed up at the moon overhead. A dark cloud drifted by and covered the moon. The fields were shrouded in darkness. A chilly wind blew hard across the open spaces and will-o’-the-wisps blinked in the darkness. Ci was not afraid of ghosts. She thought that humans were more horrible and crueler than ghosts.

Yang Zhen pushed open the door and led Ci to the bed. The room was elaborately decorated. Ci lay down on the bed and said, “Thank you, Sister Yang Zhen.”

“You can set your mind at rest and have a good sleep tonight. I’ll bring you some daily necessities tomorrow,” said Yang Zhen.

Ci stared at the hairpin in Yang Zhen’s hair and nodded.

Yangzhen returned to Nima Mansion and went to Ju Juxian’s bedroom. The light was on. Ji Jing was sitting at the table with a big belly.

“Have you taken her to your house?” Ju Juxian, who seldom smiled, now wore a big smile, her face creasing.

Yang Zhen answered, “Yes. I have done as you wished.”

Ji Jing asked, “What if Master comes back and knows everything we have done and are going to do?”

Yang Zhen touched Ji Jing’s belly and said, “As long as you give birth to a son, everything will be fine.”