bookcurios Chapter 222 Facing the Truth (Part )
Chapter 222 Facing the Truth (Part )
"This time I'm not just sending something, I'm also sending a person."
Tao Yao grinned, and seeing the shopkeeper's stunned expression, she quickly pointed at herself and said, "It's me. I'm going to the capital. Shopkeeper, find me the fastest groom. I'll give you whatever silver you want."
The shopkeeper's expression changed, and he whispered, "You're quite arrogant... You've made a lot of money these days..."
"That is."
Tao Yao's face suddenly brightened up a lot, and he took out a shiny white silver ingot from his waist bag and put it in front of the shopkeeper.
As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. When the shopkeeper saw the three ingots of silver, he stopped talking nonsense and quickly arranged a carriage for Tao Yao and a driver who looked very reliable at first glance.
Tao Yao jumped onto the carriage carrying her small package. Just as she was sitting firmly on the carriage, the driver said from the front, "Little sister, sit tight."
Before he could finish his words, the coachman had already raised his whip and hit the horse's butt. The whole carriage seemed to fly up and rushed out like a meteor.
Tao Yao's butt, which had just settled firmly, was thrown out unexpectedly.
In this way, Tao Yao suppressed the urge to vomit due to motion sickness and rushed to the capital city on a bumpy journey.
When the coachman lifted the door curtain and called her to wake up, Tao Yao slowly woke up from her fainting. She opened her eyes and looked out the window, and it was still dark.
The driver, beaming with excitement and pride, boasted, "When it comes to speeding, no other driver in Qingshui Town can match me. Little sister, all in all, it only took us half an hour to get to the capital, an hour and a half less than planned. How's that? Fast enough, right?"
Tao Yao forced a smile, as if the breakfast and lunch she had eaten yesterday had already risen to her throat. She rubbed her slightly frightened heart while counting the change in her palm.
"Thank you, coachman. Here's a tip... Ugh..."
Unfortunately, before she could finish her words, Tao Yao really vomited out all the breakfast and lunch she had eaten yesterday, and it was a projectile vomiting.
The driver, who was clearly a seasoned man, remained expressionless when he saw Tao Yao vomiting all over his carriage. He simply approached Tao Yao with concern, "Hey, sister, you're not used to riding in express trains, are you? Are you okay?"
Tao Yao reluctantly shook her head and said, "It's okay."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. But my carriage is already dirty. I'm sure to be scolded by the shopkeeper when I get home. Big sister, please be kind and pay the cleaning fee. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain myself."
"Cleaning fee...?"
"Oh, sister, I see you are a foreigner, so I won't charge you so much. Just give me fifty gold coins."
"Fifty gold?!"
Tao Yao's eyes widened - this was a shady place. Without a second thought, she turned her head away and pretended to vomit again.
"Brother Driver, I was feeling better, but I was really scared when you said that. Now I'm about to vomit again."
As Tao Yao spoke, her body softened and she fell firmly on the driver's body, and then aimed her mouth at the driver's clean clothes.
The driver quickly pushed Tao Yao away and shouted, "Oh, sister! No, no, you don't have to pay for the cleaning fee. I'll just consider myself unlucky today!"
As soon as the driver finished speaking, he and his carriage disappeared at the end of the road like a flash of lightning.
The long-lost capital was still the same as I had left it: a dazzling display of lights on the surface, yet a hollow and desolate emptiness beneath. The outlines of the towering city walls and towers, submerged in the night, resembled hollow puppets, silent and still.
Tao Yao was wandering alone on the avenue. It was late at night and there were few people on the street.
It was only a few steps from here to Prince Yi's Mansion. Tao Yao originally wanted to rush to Prince Yi's Mansion immediately after getting off the car, but suddenly she felt that this might be too abrupt, so she found a clothing store and bought a new piece of clothing that fit her.
After changing into new clothes and getting her hair done, Taoyao looked at her reflection in the dressing mirror again and again, feeling as if something was missing.
In a flash, Tao Yao suddenly remembered the gold hairpin, and hurriedly took it out from the package, put it on solemnly, and inserted it in the most conspicuous position on her bun.
"Oh, this hairpin is so beautiful," the shop owner praised. "I can tell the girl has extraordinary taste as soon as I see her. The workmanship of this hairpin is so exquisite that it must be the work of a palace craftsman."
"Really..." Tao Yao smiled knowingly, feeling warm inside. She was now in the capital, and vaguely felt that she was getting closer to him. They would meet soon, so she was already feeling happy.
"This dress suits the girl very well. She looks like a fairy from heaven."
The enthusiastic proprietress, in order to get Tao Yao to pay the bill, praised her with all the compliments she could think of. Tao Yao smiled, paid the bill, and walked towards Prince Yi's Mansion in her new clothes.
During the days away from the capital, Tao Yao learned a lot of things, and the most advanced one was how to climb over walls and break into houses.
Normally, Chu Huanjun's palace was heavily guarded, and Tao Yao would definitely not be able to get in with her skills. However, tonight, Tao Yao climbed over the outer wall and sneaked all the way to the door of Chu Huanjun's bedroom. Surprisingly, she had no obstructions along the way. Apart from a few maids and servants serving tea and water, she didn't see a single guard.
Tao Yao didn't think much about it. She looked up and saw that the window of Chu Huanjun's bedroom was dark, so he must have fallen asleep.
I don’t know when the spring hunt will be - if we don’t meet this time, I don’t know when we will meet again.
She said such harsh words last time... If he is unwilling to forgive her and never takes the initiative to look for her again, it will be harder than climbing to the sky for her to see him again.
Thinking of this, Tao Yao no longer cared about anything else. He climbed over the wall, gently pushed open the window, and jumped into the house.
The room was pitch black, with no lights on. Fortunately, Tao Yao had prepared well. She pulled a tinder from her waist bag, deftly lit it, and then lit an oil lamp on the elevated platform.
The situation in the house suddenly became brighter. Tao Yao looked around, but found that there was no one in the house.
Chu Huanjun is not here.
Tao Yao walked around the house again, not believing it. Apart from the talkative starling in the birdcage by the window that kept chirping at her, she didn't see any other living creature.
"Damn it!"
Tao Yao stomped her feet in frustration, "Where can I go at this hour of night?"
At this moment, Tao Yao could no longer care about anything else and simply pushed open the main door and went out. The two maids who happened to be passing by were both shocked when they saw this.