C129

Jin Lan took off all the jewelry on his body, and then broke the bun from Hibiscus Mutabilis. He wore a new flat bun like Wan Ju and the others, and changed his brocade clothes into an inconspicuous peachy jacket.

In this way, at first glance, it looked like an ordinary Little Maid from the Marquis Mansion.

The few of them cleaned up quickly, cleaning up the clothes and accessories they brought from the Yangzhou. The box was not easy to hold, and it was extremely easy to attract attention, so Jin Lan decisively made them divide the items into four parts and wrap them up in a bag. The Mama Shang and the Mama Zhu, as well as Wan Ju and Bi He carried each of them on their back.

"Miss, let's just leave like this. If the Old Ancestor finds out later, things might not end well." Although the Mama Shang didn't oppose Jin Lan's plan to escape, she was still worried about what Madame Chen would do next.

After all, leaving without saying anything was an extremely disrespectful action, especially towards the elders.

"Mama, don't worry." Jin Lan's heart was as clear as a mirror. Holding the teacup that still had half of its contents, she quickly walked to the desk and sprinkled half of the teacup onto the inkstone. Then, she picked up the ink stick and began circling it rapidly.

Usually, he needed clear water to grind the ink, but he could not use tea. Furthermore, he needed to grind it carefully to produce the good ink, but at this moment, he could not care less.

After grinding out a little bit of the ink, she put down the grindstone, took down a Bunny Hair from the pen holder, dipped it in ink, and quickly drew a few lines on the pure white of the heart paper. As she did so, she made a few brief points regarding her return home in the course of the night, and even secretly mentioned the matter of her eldest sister's filial piety.

In this way, regardless of whether it was due to face or infamy, she would still leave everything for the clan and would not be disrespectful to the ancestors.

Jin Lan stopped writing, and placed the paperweight on a blank spot. He looked at the people around the table, and then said with a worried expression, "Let's go!"

Just now, when she was keeping the ink, Mama Shang had already gone out to send off the old gatekeeper. As a result, they left the Lotus Root without any obstruction.

On the Madame Chen's birthday, the most lively places at the moment were the Dian Cui Hall and the Calming Incense Garden, but there weren't many people in the garden. Using the fact that the Mama Shang was familiar with the Marquis Mansion, Jin Lan and his entourage made seven or eight twists and turns along the way, hiding in secret.

However, just as they were about to continue walking forward, they realised that Mama Wu was bringing along a few servant girls and were hurriedly walking on the veranda. Fortunately, they did not have to walk on the veranda openly and instead traveled between the flowers, plants and trees in the garden, otherwise, they would have been caught red-handed.

Only, looking at the direction that Mama Wu was heading towards, it was towards the Lotus Root.

Jin Lan's heart sank, the Old Ancestor probably thought of the problem that he could think of, and now that she was being watched by the Mama Wu s, it also proved her conjecture that the Old Ancestor would not let her go.

It wouldn't take long for the small garden to walk along the walkway to the Lotus Root. As long as Mama Wu found out that they weren't inside the house, she would definitely know that she was escaping. When the time comes, under the orders of the Old Ancestor, it would be impossible for him to take advantage of the night to sneak out!

What should he do? At this moment, Jin Lan was completely flustered.

"Miss." Mama Shang's face was a mix of green and white. It was clear that someone who was familiar with the terrain of the Marquis Mansion was able to see through her, "What should we do?"

Jin Lan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She looked at Mama Wu who was gradually walking further and further away, her eyes filled with determination. "Let's go. No matter what, we have to think of a way to get out of here as soon as possible."

"That's the only way." Mama Shang clenched her teeth and nodded. The group of people did not dare to delay any longer and quickened their pace.

There were many times when he was almost discovered by the servant girls, but in the end, he was able to leave his Inner Court safely.

In the outer court, there were less maids but there were more stewards in the Attendant. Fortunately, there were many distinguished guests today, so everyone was alert and carefully served the Duke, who was still talking and laughing merrily. As a result, they had neglected the sneaky 'maidservant', Jin Lan.

The arrangement of the outer courtyard was much harder than Inner Court. There were fewer flowers, plants, and trees, but the fake mountains and special stones were visible to the eye. Jin Lan and his group were hiding behind the fake mountains, and not far ahead was a corner gate that allowed them to leave the mansion.

It was likely that the Inner Court had already discovered their escape, and would affect the outer courtyard in a short while. Although the Old Ancestor did not dare to fly into a rage in front of all the distinguished guests, he would definitely have people secretly search for him.

There was no longer any place for them in this mansion.

There was no time to lose. Everyone looked at each other and decisively moved towards the Horned Gate. However, in the middle of it all, they quickly returned to the fake mountain.

There were actually four Attendant s guarding the corner door!

Jin Lan couldn't help but take in a breath of cold air. She had thought that there would definitely be people at the gate, but she didn't expect that there would be four Attendant s guarding it.

This time, he was in big trouble!

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, it would be hard for even a single mosquito to fly out, let alone the five of them.

"Miss, what should we do?" Bi He trembled, with a faint sound of him crying.

At this moment, even the Mama Shang didn't know what to do as she looked at Jin Lan, who was lowering his head in deep thought with a pale face.

You can only accept your fate? Jin Lan bit his lower lip, which was gradually losing its color.

No, there must be another way. She definitely could not give up!

Her mother was still waiting for her to return safely, so, no matter what, she couldn't stop here!

"Miss." Suddenly, Wan Ju extended her hand and covered Jin Lan's cold hand. Her eyes were filled with determination, "This servant will go and lure them away, miss will take the chance to leave!" He was about to get up.

Jin Lan's heart skipped a beat, and he grabbed onto Wan Ju, "No!"

She could not imagine, if she were to leave just like that, what kind of ending would Wan Ju, a maid, have with an angry ancestor?

If Wan Ju lost her life because of this, she would never be able to forgive herself!

"But …"

Wan Ju wanted to say more, but Jin Lan shook his head and interrupted him, "You don't need to say anymore, we will all come at once, and then we will all go back together. Otherwise, it would be better to just obediently stay within the Lotus Root and wait for fate. "

Mama Shang and Mama Zhu also solemnly nodded their heads, while Bi He pulled at Wan Ju's hand, her tears kept rolling down.

Wan Ju's eyes immediately turned red, she did not dare act blindly without thinking.

Just as everyone was at a loss on what to do, the faint sounds of messy footsteps came from the fake mountain, causing them to feel as if their hearts had fallen into an ice hole.

The Old Ancestor sent people to find him!

Although the Outer Academy was extremely spacious, the fake mountain that they were hiding in wasn't any place to hide. As long as they had the intention to search, it would only take a few minutes.

The five of them were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, but the more this happened, the more confused they became. They simply couldn't think of any way.

"Don't rush, don't rush! Heaven will not kill you, there will definitely be a clever plan to get out of this. " Jin Lan clenched the handkerchief tightly as he muttered to himself.

Wonderful plan... A brilliant plan! Mama Zhu's eyes suddenly lit up, she hastily rummaged through her waist pouch, pulling out a small and exquisite sachet from within. She could not help but exclaim in a low voice: "Young lady!"

Everyone was shocked by the shout, and looked at Mama Zhu.

"Miss, this is the sachet that the North Prince Jing's Consort gave me before I entered the residence. He said that he will only open it when he sees Miss." Mama Zhu passed the sachet to Jin Lan. Seeing Jin Lan unable to hold himself back for a moment, she had actually forgotten one thing.

North Prince Jing's Consort? Jin Lan paused for a moment. Without hesitation, he picked up the scented sachet and opened it. He stuck his two fingers into the scabbard and gently took out a small paper folded into a square.

The handwriting was delicate and pretty, probably written by the North Prince Jing's Consort himself, but what exactly did this "West" mean?

"Could it be the Western Horn Gate?" The Mama Shang guessed that the west gate was a side gate for servants entering and leaving the residence. Normally, masters would not go through this gate.

The Mama Zhu heard this and nodded her head, "That's right, just now when this servant followed the wangfei into the mansion, there were already many precious carriages parked outside. If the wangfei found it noisy, she would have people drive the carriages to the west side and wait."

In other words, the North Prince Jing's Consort was helping them escape?

Jin Lan didn't have time to think about the twists and turns, and didn't think about why the North Prince Jing's Consort was so wholeheartedly helping her. He only folded the letter, stuffed it into his scented bag, and said to the Mama Shang: "Let's go, to the Western Corner Gate."

The west corner of the gate was located in the most remote corner of the outer courtyard. Usually, apart from the stewards and servants, very few people would come here.

For today's birthday banquet, all the well-known maids and servants were well off. Only these crude servants received a bit of the reward, and were not even worth a third-rate banquet.

Although she was unwilling, she did not dare to leave her duty. She could only swat at the mosquito while swearing softly. As she was swearing happily, she caught a glimpse of a figure from the corner of her eyes. She could not help but shout in alarm, "Who is it?"

"Yo, sister has such sharp eyes." Mama Zhu walked over openly.

The old gatekeeper looked at the lantern hanging on the door with suspicion, "Who are you? Where do you work? It's the middle of the night, why are you here? "

The Mama Zhu did not panic and said while beaming: "I was on duty at Longevity Hall, following the orders of the Old Ancestor, to send money to elder sister for me."

Upon hearing Mama Zhu mention that she was working in the Longevity Hall, the old gatekeeper's face suddenly changed, looking full of flattery, "So it's actually my older sister who was working in front of the Old Ancestor. Speaking of which, didn't I only reward her before?"

As you say, the Old Ancestor was very kind and considerate. He thought that it would be hard for us to work as servants, so he gave us a reward and even set up a third class table in the evergreen garden. I came here in a hurry to reward you and inform you. " As she spoke, Senior Servant Zhu took out a piece of silver that was less than fifty grams, and shook it.

The old servant woman's gaze immediately fell on the silver figurine, unwilling to move away from it. After getting the money, she finally believed in Mama Zhu's words. With a grin and a smile, she bowed towards Mama Zhu and said, "Thank you, Big Sister."

Mama Zhu dodged hurriedly and said, "Why are you thanking me? Thank you, Old Ancestor."

"Yes, yes, sister is right." The old gatekeeper kneeled in the direction of the Longevity Hall, with her head like garlic, and kowtowed before standing up. After putting away the silver nakedness, she rubbed her hands together and said hesitantly, "Then the mask …"

"It's already open. There's a lot of people there." Mama Zhu intentionally glanced at the Evergreen Garden. She remembered that Mama Shang had specifically pointed this out just now.

Ah!" The old woman couldn't help but take two steps forward and back away. She looked at the door with hesitation.

Mama Zhu knew that she was done with her work, so she smiled and said to the wife: "Originally, I wanted to go to the main gate to send some rewards to the Attendant. On account of elder sister's kindness, I will watch over you for a while, just for a bit! You have to come back early. Don't miss my job. "

That old woman was extremely grateful and repeatedly answered. She impatiently ran away and soon disappeared into the night.

Once she left, Jin Lan and the others hurriedly came out from behind the fake mountain, opened the Western Corner Gate, and smoothly exited the Marquis Mansion.

There weren't as many lanterns outside the west corner of the city compared to the ones outside the main entrance. Under the dim light, a tall and wide horse carriage with a luxurious body was parked not far away.

With the support of Wan Ju and Bi He, Jin Lan got on the carriage, and pushed aside the curtain as he was about to go in. Unexpectedly, the moment he raised his head, he met with a pair of deep starry eyes.