“Hey!”
Chu Zhao, who hadn’t chased after him, was immediately surrounded by Qi Leyun and the other two.
“You, you two—”
Qi Leyun looked at her, then at the young man’s retreating figure. He walked so fast—in the blink of an eye he was gone.
Chu Zhao cut off her words: “What about us? I’ve entered the Xie family home and met Xie Yanfang, so of course I’m also familiar with Xie Yanfang’s younger brother.”
Qi Leyun made an acknowledging sound. That seemed right, but—
“He—”
Chu Zhao pressed her hand back down: “Stop with all the ‘he’ this and ‘he’ that. Tomorrow we’re going to Wangchun Garden. Think about yourself first. Are your clothes ready? Don’t wear the same thing as someone else.”
This was really underestimating her! Qi Leyun glared: “My family may not be extremely wealthy, but we have our means. We have our own embroiderers.”
Chu Zhao pushed them: “Then hurry back and try on your clothes.”
She had great strength and pushed all three of them at once. Then, without waiting for more conversation, she dropped a line about going to prepare her own clothes and ran off.
Qi Leyun stood in front of the carriage and came to her senses, annoyed: “Chu Zhao and Xie Yanlai definitely have something going on!”
The girl beside her wasn’t angry though, thinking about the young man they’d just seen: “So that’s what Xie Yanlai looks like. If that’s the case, it’s not impossible for Chu Zhao to like Xie Yanlai and give up on Xie Yanfang.”
Qi Leyun struggled briefly, then finally waved her hand: “Third Young Master Xie is still better. That Xie Yanlai looks too fierce.”
He was clearly very good-looking, but somehow made people afraid to look at him too much. Look at him once more and it felt blinding—a fierce light that was blinding.
Yet Chu Zhao could smile at him like that.
But it wasn’t really strange either.
“Chu Zhao is also very fierce.”
……
……
Chu Zhao didn’t care how the girls speculated, nor would she bother explaining. With the upcoming turmoil in the capital, these were all trivial matters.
As soon as day broke, Chu Tang had the carriage ready. Chu Lan and Jiang Shi also rarely came out to see them off—mainly to admonish.
“You must remember, you’re not just yourself. If something happens to you, it will implicate the whole family,” Chu Lan said sternly.
Chu Zhao smiled: “I remember. Uncle should also remember to protect family members. Don’t be like how you treated my father before—when something happened, you just hid. If you as the elder won’t stand up for me, how can you expect others to believe I’ve done nothing wrong?”
Chu Lan was so angry his face turned green. Who was lecturing whom? He’d only said one sentence!
“You should go quickly. Others can arrive late, but we cannot,” Chu Tang said timidly from the side.
That’s right. Chu Zhao was already hated to the bone by the Third Prince. Poor Chu Tang still had to go along and would be implicated. Jiang Shi quickly pulled Chu Lan back: “Alright, alright, enough said. You should go now.”
Chu Tang gave Chu Zhao a quiet smile, signaling her to get in the carriage.
Chu Zhao didn’t make things difficult for her and did as told, getting in the carriage.
Watching the carriage drive away, Chu Lan looked up to the heavens with a sigh, not knowing what fate awaited the Chu family.
What karmic retribution.