Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 354 - 352

A sigh of relief washed over Xiao’er and her companions after they managed to distance themselves from Lan Yue.

Just the memory of Lan Yue calling her ’sister’ made Xiao’er’s skin crawl.

"I must not think about it, I must not," she thought, shaking her head, fearing the chill that the mere thought brought her.

"How much must the Empress Dowager despise the First Prince to have chosen such a wife for him?" questioned Mrs. Lu, who had already been living in the Imperial Capital for approximately a year. She had not seen a lady as plain as Lan Yue among those of high nobility.

She firmly believed that a princess consort should be stunningly beautiful! She needed only look at Xiao’er as proof.

"Choosing the First Prince’s wife doesn’t depend solely on looks or temperament," explained Mrs. Ruan.

"If not on looks or temperament, then what does it depend on?" Mrs. Lu inquired, puzzled.

"The eight characters of one’s birth."

"So, how robust is the First Prince’s life to still be incapable of securing a decent-looking girl?"

Laughter erupted among the group after they heard Mrs. Lu’s comment.

Xiao’er, having heard some inside information from Shangguan Xuanhao, added, "Master Yunfa had advised the First Prince to marry a girl born in the year, month, and day of the Monkey."

"That makes sense, but Miss Lan does resemble a monkey. The Empress Dowager not only matched them in terms of birth characters but apparently in appearance as well, such painstaking effort!"

The others couldn’t help but laugh as they recalled the image of Miss Lan Yue, nodding their heads in agreement, "Indeed, she really does."

"There are many loose lips and ears around here; we’d better stop discussing this matter," interjected Ruan Weizhen, finding the topic about the First Prince inherently distasteful.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Since we can’t visit Yueyun Tower, we might as well head back," Xiao’er said regretfully.

Her primary purpose coming here today was to visit Yueyun Tower.

Just before, Lan Yue had proposed that they ascend Yueyun Tower together after the fortune telling, which had all been accounted for.

Upon hearing her words, all their intentions of continuing the climb had been extinguished.

All they desired now was to hasten home and avoid Lan Yue.

The way back was less congested than during their arrival.

Xiao’er, Mrs. Liu, and Mrs. Lu rode together in one carriage.

Mrs. Ruan had to attend to something in the villa, so they parted ways outside the city.

As the carriage smoothly entered the city, a boy suddenly somersaulted across the road.

Zhao Yong, acting immediately, yanked the horse’s reins just in time to prevent the horse from stepping on the boy.

"Yang Liu, catch him!" he instructed, suspecting something amiss about the boy’s hasty escape.

Yang Liu swiftly leapt from the carriage.

Sure enough, the moment the horse’s hooves hit the ground, the horse went out of control and started charging recklessly.

While controlling the horse to prevent it from harming anyone, Zhao Yong struggled to halt the horse.

Unfortunately, the horse was acting as if it were deranged.

The townsfolk screamed and rapidly scurried out of the way upon seeing this.

Just as the horse was about to trample over the stall of an elderly man in his sixties, Xiao’er shot out a poison needle, promptly stopping the horse.

Mrs. Liu gripped the side of the carriage tightly with one hand, and held Mrs. Lu with the other, who was holding Xiao Yue’er in her arms. Mrs. Liu was concerned that Mrs. Lu might lose her balance and tumble out of the carriage.

Even after the carriage came to a halt, Mrs. Liu’s heart was still racing, and she dared not let go of her grip.

"Mother, it’s all right now. You and the Fourth Auntie should stay in the carriage while I go take a look," Xiao’er assured.

Still shaken, Mrs. Lu merely nodded subconsciously.

As soon as Xiao’er descended from the carriage, a group of townsfolk huddled together, commenting and exchanging whispers:

"What kind of carriage driver is this? Nearly caused a fatal accident!"

"I feel bad for the owners of those two stalls. They won’t be able to sell their goods anymore; I wonder how much money they’ll lose! Have these people ever paid for the things they’ve broken?"

"Say less, do you think you can afford to offend these people? Be careful not to bring trouble upon yourself!"

...

Zhao Yong stepped forward to help the elderly man who had been so frightened he had fallen to the ground.

"Sir, are you alright?"

The elderly man waved his hand and shook his head: "I’m fine, this old bones are used to hardship, I’ll be alright after a few days!"

Xiao’er also came over.

She noticed that the old man was continuously rubbing his lower back, pretending as if nothing was wrong, most likely because he was afraid of causing more trouble, he didn’t even dare to tell the truth.

Xiao’er first apologized to the old man, and then handed him a small bottle of healing pills: "I’m very sorry my horse went out of control and caused you harm. This bottle contains healing pills. Take one pill every morning and evening. When you finish the medicine, your injury should be healed."

The old man looked at Xiao’er but hesitated to take the medicine. Could he really just take any medicine? Who knew if it was poison!

Xiao’er saw his concern, opened the bottle and took a pill into her mouth and swallowed it.

"This medicine isn’t poisonous, you can take one now in full view of everyone. If it’s poison, there’s no way I could escape under so many watchful eyes, right?"

Only after hearing this, did the old man take the medicine and, still a little suspicious, swallowed a pill.

Everyone was watching him, not saying a word.

Xiao’er evaluated the goods from the two stalls that were knocked over by the horse and compensated them five taels of silver each.

The stall owners were overjoyed at this point, they couldn’t have made five taels of silver selling all their goods!

Zhao Yong was examining the reason why the horse suddenly became uncontrollable.

"Miss, look!" Zhao Yong pulled a large thumbtack from the horse’s hoof.

Zhao Yong smelled it, "It has the scent of ecstasy."

Xiao’er nodded.

At this time, the old man who had taken the medicine had also stood upright: "Thanks to the young lady, that medicine is indeed miraculous, my back doesn’t hurt as much anymore! It’s really a miracle drug."

"As long as you are not hurting," Xiao’er gave him a smile.

By now Yang Liu had also brought back the boy.

"Miss, caught him!" Yang Liu brought him to Xiao’er and with a push he kneeled down.

"Oh, isn’t this the boy who was tumbling around and nearly got trampled by the horse?" A woman recognized him.

"Why did you place a thumbtack on the road, causing my horse to lose control?" Xiao’er looked down at him from above, the elegant and icy demeanor she exuded contrasted sharply with the approachable personality she had shown just moments ago!

Even the bystanders felt a bit of fear.

"I don’t know what you are talking about! I was just picking up a silver coin that had fallen on the ground!" He argued.

"Lies. The thumbtack had the juice of ecstasy on it, the fragrance of the ecstasy plant is unique and long-lasting. If you don’t believe me, I’ll call the officers right now and get you arrested!" freēwēbηovel.c૦m

The boy sniffed his hand and sure enough, there was still a strange fragrance lingering on it.

How could he have miscalculated like this!

He immediately confessed, "Miss, please spare me! Someone paid me silver to do this. My old grandmother is bedridden at home and I was desperate to make money to support her! Please forgive me for considering filial piety!"

"So someone deliberately framed this miss! This miss is kind-hearted. When she got off the carriage, she was instantly apologetic."

"The boy is also driven by life..."

...

Xiao’er didn’t pay attention to the discussions of the bystanders.

"Tell me who instructed you to do this, and I will spare you!"

The boy kept his head down, and at Xiao’er’s words, his eyes swiveled around.

"I don’t know who he is, but he had jug ears."