Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 241: That Kid’s Sweetheart

Zhou Cangyan took a step forward, closing the distance between them, as if trying to gauge the truth in her words.

Finally, he let out a soft laugh.

"Forget it."

With just that, he turned and left.

’That’s it?’

Song Lianhe gathered her skirts to chase after him, but he was tall and long-legged. In the time it took him to round a corner, he was gone.

She stomped her foot in anger.

’Hmph, so what if he won’t take me? I can find my own way back!’

「The next day.」

Zhou Cangyan was dressed and ready to depart.

The most common traffic from Sui Bei to Ling’an consisted of merchant caravans, especially since the local spices were a favorite among the nobles of Ling’an City.

A merchant caravan was therefore the best disguise.

The men from the Qiongqi Escort Agency resumed their roles as Escort Masters, guarding the caravan’s flanks.

Zhou Cangyan sat ramrod straight atop his tall steed, reins in hand, and glanced back toward the manor one last time.

Luo Fubang, his hands on his hips and his belly pushed out, also glanced back. He then turned, a hint of gloating in his voice as he asked, "Had a fight?"

Zhou Cangyan lowered his gaze, remaining silent.

"Heh, she’s just a young girl. You have to be the one to give in! When it comes to handling women, you’re no match for your grandfather. Why, back in my day..."

"Grandfather, take care."

Zhou Cangyan shouted, "Move out!" and with a tug of his reins, led the party away.

"Hey! That brat..."

Luo Fubang shook his head. Just as he was about to lead his men back into the manor, a voice drifted from the distance. "I’ll trouble you to take good care of her, Grandfather."

It was followed by a sharp "Yah!", and the procession moved farther and farther away.

Luo Fubang stood at the gate, watching Zhou Cangyan’s retreating figure. He stroked his beard and clucked his tongue. "He doesn’t even show that much concern for his own father. What an ungrateful whelp!"

With a grand wave of his hand, he led his men back into the manor.

When they reached a fork in the path, he pursed his lips and sighed with resignation. "Ah, well. Let’s go check on that brat’s precious darling."

Arriving outside Song Lianhe’s door, he immediately spotted Da Xi.

Da Xi, who had now been promoted to Vice Manager, was not only learning to manage the manor’s daily affairs from Nanny Gui but also continued to serve as Song Lianhe’s personal maid, just as before.

Da Xi was one to repay her debts.

That was precisely why no one found it suspicious that she was now blocking the doorway.

"Still not up?"

"My Lord Warlord, the Young Madam was up until the dead of night dealing with matters for the clinic."

Luo Fubang suspected nothing.

"Why doesn’t she take better care of herself? If that brat finds out, he’ll accuse me of mistreating her," he muttered, then frowned and ordered, "Have the kitchen stew some chicken soup. A little thing like her needs proper nourishment!"

"Yes."

Only after Luo Fubang and his men had left did Da Xi’s body go limp. She sagged against the doorframe, panting, and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Where exactly did she go?"

The sudden, deep voice behind her made her face drain of all color.

"Sh-she didn’t go anywhere!"

She spun around to meet Zhong Shimin’s cold gaze. Da Xi immediately forced herself to remain calm. "I told you, the Young Madam is just exhausted..."

Before she could finish, Zhong Shimin simply pushed the door open...

——

"Halt! We’ll rest here!"

At the Shadow Guard’s command, the caravan pulled over to rest. The men went about their duties, starting fires and preparing to cook.

They were now far from Sui Ning City. Tomorrow, they would cross the pass and officially enter the territory of Da Cheng.

As a merchant caravan, their pace was slow. By their calculations, the supposedly "poisoned" Prince Qing, who was being brought back from Yu State to Ling’an City, should be able to rendezvous with them at Li Zong Pass...

As the aroma of cooking food wafted through the camp, the men, tired from a full day of travel, felt their stomachs begin to rumble.

’I’m starving!’

Song Lianhe lay flat on the bed of the cart, rubbing her stomach. With a sigh, she pulled a homemade compressed biscuit from her satchel.

Thankfully, she had been thorough in her preparations, staying up through the night to make them.

She broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth. The texture was nothing to write home about; one bite was enough to make you never want a second. This was especially true with the smell of roasted chicken and fish wafting in from outside. Even though the biscuit had curbed her hunger, her stomach now rumbled even more insistently.

The biscuit was so dry, she felt herself starting to choke.

Song Lianhe was about to reach for her waterskin when she suddenly froze.

’This is a disaster!’

’I forgot to bring water!’

The moment her brain registered this fact, the dry biscuit suddenly became impossible to swallow. It felt lodged in her throat, refusing to go down.

"COUGH..."

The sound escaped before she could stop it, and she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, terrified of being discovered.

Luckily, the men outside were eating and making a racket. She was hidden inside a crate tightly wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin, so no one should have heard.

But the piece of biscuit was well and truly stuck. She couldn’t swallow it, and she couldn’t cough it up. Caught in an impossible situation, Song Lianhe’s face turned beet red as she held her breath, her body writhing in the cart like an eel.

Someone outside told a joke, and a burst of laughter followed.

’Hang on,’ Song Lianhe told herself. ’I can’t be discovered now! It would be a disaster if Zhou Cangyan sent me back!’

’I don’t trust him enough to place all my hope for the rescue in his hands!’

’But...’

’This is agony!’

’The air in the cart is getting thin... I’m going to suffocate!’

Just as she was struggling to hold on, the lid of her crate was suddenly flung open.

Before she could open her eyes to see what was happening, someone hauled her upright. A sharp slap landed on her back, the force perfectly controlled to compel her to spit out the object lodged in her throat.

Air finally rushed into her lungs.

In that instant, the world was a wonderful place again.

But before Song Lianhe could even begin to savor the feeling, she became aware of an eerie silence around her.

Song Lianhe opened her tear-blurred eyes, and the first thing she saw was the man’s grim, forbidding face.

Zhou Cangyan stared at her, his expression radiating a cold fury that seemed ready to explode at any moment. She instinctively recoiled. She wanted to explain, but her throat was too raw to make a sound.

Zhou Cangyan reached a hand back. "Water."

"Yes." A Shadow Guard handed over a waterskin.

He took it and threw it at her with enough force to make her stagger backward.

It was the first time Song Lianhe had ever seen him so furious. Timidly, she pulled out the stopper and brought the waterskin to her lips for a small sip.

The water burned her raw throat as it went down.

She let out a silent hiss, the pain bringing fresh tears to her eyes. When she looked up at him again, his gaze was fixed elsewhere.

A sudden sense of grievance washed over her.

The rims of her eyes turned red and her nose began to sting. She clutched the waterskin tightly, forcing her tears back.

’I chose to run away like this. No one forced me. Who am I crying for? Do I expect someone to pity me?’

’Song Lianhe, oh, Song Lianhe, show some backbone, will you!’

Still, now that she had been discovered, she had to explain herself.

Just as she was about to speak, she saw Xuan Mei kneeling on the ground.

Song Lianhe’s heart sank. ’It’s over,’ she thought. ’We’re all going down.’

She ignored her dizziness and scrambled to climb out of the cart.

But the more she rushed, the less her limbs would cooperate. She struggled for ages, flailing like a drowning moth.

Finally, a Shadow Guard who couldn’t stand to watch any longer discreetly stepped forward and pulled her out.

From beginning to end, Zhou Cangyan merely watched with cold detachment.

Watched her helplessness.

Watched her humiliation.