18 Sudden Appearance

After the surroundings turned quiet, YuLi's eyes snapped open.

"I'm sorry XiaoJie. This servant only wants to have a good life. By marrying into second young master's place as his concubine, this servant's life will change for the better." YuLi whispered silently as she stared at the door where XuanRong left a while ago.

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XuanRong was currently reading a bunch of books to relieve her boredom.

The carriage was slowly moving forward towards the mountain. Since there was nothing outside but trees, XuanRong felt bored watching the area and decided to read leisurely.

They had been traveling for two sichen[1] already but the temple was still far. The temple was at the peak of the mountain and in order to reach the temple, visitors had to travel for six to seven sichen which could be considered as traveling for half a day.

Because of what happened to YuLi, when XuanRong left the manor, it was already late in the afternoon.

"XiaoJie, do you want to eat some confectionaries?"

When YuYing saw XuanRong feeling stuffy and bored inside the carriage, she immediately grabbed different kinds of sweets and a freshly boiled tea.

Since there was nothing to do, XuanRong nodded and decided to eat the sweets YuYing offered. A light mixture of sweetness and sourness assaulted her taste buds.

"These are sour plum candies soaked with green lemons. One of the temporary kitchen helpers knows how to make these and since the manor were able to receive a lot of lemons from the small farm, this servant decided to use the lemons to improve the taste. How was it, XiaoJie?"

'Lemon...' A thought suddenly flashed inside XuanRong's mind.

"YuYing, how many catties of green lemons did we harvest?"

"Ah? Zou mama said that since the lemon trees are well taken care of and the soil is very favorable in raising lemons, we were able to harvest a large amount of green lemon. Wang Min Jue was arrested before he was able to send someone to harvest the vegetables and plants inside his small farm, so when the servants went, the harvest was good. I guess it was fifty catties or more."

XuanRong suddenly shouted, "Stop the carriage!!" After she finally confirmed her speculation about YuLi's 'sickness', XuanRong immediately ordered to stop the carriage without explaining everything to YuYing.

YuYing was surprised when she heard XuanRong's shout. She did not know the reason why her Young Miss wanted to stop the carriage.

"YuYing, go back and return to the town immediately. Once you reach the town's entrance, go to the yamen and ask for Fei Bai Zhu. Once you arrive, tell them that we saw someone lurking in the mountain. Do not forget to mention that my father's enemies might send assassins to hurt me. Here, hold this and give it to him. It is almost the hour of rooster[2], you must make haste. Hurry." She then gave some gold coins to YuYing.

XuanRong's face was dead serious without any hit of laziness. There was something that has been bothering her since YuLi fell sick, but she could not point out what. Luckily, YuYing mentioned their great harvest of green lemons and she was able to connect the dots.

Too much intake of lemons could make one puke. It could also make one's face pale especially the lips due to the sourness. People were not fond of lemons and would only use it to improve the food's taste and as food preservatives. So why would YuLi 'eat' the lemons until her stomach twist in agony?

She fell sick when it was time to leave the manor. Obviously, she made a huge sacrifice in order to avoid visiting the temple.

Why would she avoid visiting the temple? Simple--- because something was bound to happen, a trap someone carefully laid out for XuanRong... and YuLi obviously knew about it or to be exact, she was involved in the scheme.

Thinking about the trap the scheming mother and daughter duo prepared for her, XuanRong sneered in anger. It seemed like even if she wanted to escape her destiny, she was not able to run away and completely alter her fate.

Things that were bound to happen would definitely happen and no matter how much a person struggles, that person wouldn't be able to escape.

If she couldn't escape, so what? She could only face it head-on and forcefully change the wheel of her destiny.

She, XuanRong, was not a pushover. If someone schemed behind her back, she would not sit down, wash her neck and offer it without a fight.

'For a nobleman to take revenge, ten years is not too long[3]. I crawled from the depths of hell and returned to the past. Even if I must struggle to avoid my demise and has to walk slowly step by step in order to successfully get my revenge, I would.'

"What? XiaoJie saw some people behind the trees?! XiaoJie… W-why don't we return together? Just postpone your visit to the temple." YuYing paled. She was afraid of XuanRong's safety.

"Do not be afraid. Just follow my order and everything will be okay. Do you understand? Go."

Carrying the gold coins, YuYing reluctantly left together with the two guards XuanRong selected for her safety.

After instructing YuYing, XuanRong fell into deep thought. She was thinking of how to avoid the trap once she arrive at the temple.

Tonight, she feared that without a proper plan, she was bound to fail no matter how hard she struggled.

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*neigh!*

XuanRong felt her body fell forward and almost hit the edge of the table when the horse suddenly stopped running.

"Watch out!!"

The coachman could not help but scream when he saw that someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere and staggered towards the horse.

The person was almost hit but luckily, the coachman had a good reflex and was able to stop the horse before the person was trampled to death. The person was currently lying on the ground, unmoving.

"What happened?"

XuanRong lifted the curtain to see the commotion. Her eyes sharpened as she stared at the front, trying to look at the person who suddenly appeared in the middle of the mountain.

This scenario was definitely suspicious. In her previous lifetime, something similar like this never happened. In this lifetime, she went to the mountain few months earlier than before, so, she was not sure whether this situation was staged or not.

Was this a coincidence or was the trap her Er Niang prepared changed? XuanRong was contemplating whether to leave immediately or to help the person who fainted.

In the end, her curiosity won. Whether it was a trap or not, it was already too late since her carriage already stopped moving. Even if she remains inside the carriage, if someone was planning to kill her, they would still attack and enter the carriage to end her life. Might as well as see the person who suddenly appeared out in thin air.

She opened the curtain and went down the carriage. She slowly walked to the person who fainted in front of the horse. When she arrived, she saw that the ground around that person was tainted with blood. It was starting to spread out, creating a small pool around the person's body.

That person was deeply hurt.

XuanRong's brows knitted. When looking at the person lying on the ground, a distant memory suddenly floated inside her mind. She suddenly saw herself…. Her previous self. The 'XuanRong' who was humiliated to death.

She saw that 'she' was lying on the ground, naked and dying. Her body felt cold, but she was unable to move and could not cover her nakedness.

After recalling the horrible memory of that cursed night, XuanRong's face paled and her lips involuntary quivered. Her hands tightly clenched into fists inside her long sleeves. It took her a great effort to calm herself. She had to close her eyes and count slowly to regulate her breathing.

XuanRong stared at the person on the ground. She noticed that the person was not a man but a middle-aged woman. She squatted and tried to reach out to touch the woman's body and inspect her injuries. But before XuanRong's fingers could touch the hem of her clothes, the woman suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed XuanRong's wrist.

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[1]. Two sichen is four hours.

[2]. 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Modern Time

[3]. A Chinese idiom which means 'one should bide one's time and wait for the right opportunity to seek vengeance'.

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Author's Side Note:

I know you want to read more. You are waiting for a mass release or double/triple chapters a day like a normal novel in webnovel (This is not a contacted novel unless I sign a contract, forcing me to update regularly but WITH PAYMENT). Unfortunately, Bengong also have a life and of course it is the same with my editor too... so the only thing Bengong can offer is ONE CHAPTER per day.

DO NOT PRESSURE BENGONG OR ELSE, BENGONG WILL WATCH KOREAN DRAMA AND STALK OPPA. HAHAHAHA! (I am shamelessly trying to portray myself as a dignified Imperial Concubine LOL)

No. seriously guys, I can only promise you that during Christmas, I will release a bunch of chapters (since it's holiday and I'm free~)but for now, please wait patiently every 11 pm PST (GMT +8)... 'kay~?

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