After hurriedly exiting through the back gate of the courtyard, Concubine Fang paused briefly, glancing toward the direction of the temple on the mountain.
Nanny Yu, seeing her stop, also halted her steps and followed Concubine Fang’s gaze, puzzled. "Concubine? Is there something else?"
From her vantage point, she could only see White Dragon Temple and a corner of the eaves of White Cloud Nunnery, hidden among the dense treetops on the mountain not far away. She couldn’t tell what Concubine Fang was looking at.
Concubine Fang smiled faintly and shook her head. "It’s nothing. Let’s go."
She tightened her cloak, wrapping herself from head to toe within it, then took Nanny Yu’s arm and hurried toward the foot of the mountain.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Concubine Fang instructed Nanny Yu to find a carriage or oxcart. She needed to return to White Crane Town before those people could gather their wits.
Nanny Yu immediately complied and went off.
After Nanny Yu left, Concubine Fang first surveyed her surroundings. Seeing no one nearby, she walked over to a small, crooked tree not far ahead.
She traced the few carved marks on the tree with her fingers, then pulled out an ordinary hemp rope from her sleeve. Standing on tiptoe, she looped the rope over the lowest branch of the crooked tree and tied it into an oddly shaped knot.
Not long after Concubine Fang finished this, Nanny Yu returned riding an oxcart.
Without a word, Concubine Fang took Nanny Yu’s hand and climbed onto the oxcart.
The oxcart turned around and headed back toward White Crane Town.
Unbeknownst to Concubine Fang, shortly after she left in the oxcart, a tall, sturdy man dressed in black emerged from the shadows.
He walked over to the crooked tree where Concubine Fang had stood earlier, stroked his chin as he examined the hemp rope knot on the tree for a while, then untied the rope and tucked it into his sleeve.
After doing this, he raised his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle.
From a small path, two men and three horses appeared.
The tall, sturdy man in black gestured to the two men, who swiftly mounted their horses and galloped off in the direction of the oxcart Concubine Fang had taken. Their movements, from mounting to riding, clearly showed they were trained martial artists.
The tall, sturdy man in black mounted his own horse and followed them, chasing after the oxcart.
Not long after Concubine Fang and Nanny Yu left, the maidservant sent by Ren Shimin and Madam Li to accompany the carriage returned. By the time she realized something was amiss, there was no trace of Concubine Fang in the courtyard.
The maidservant asked Jinjú where Concubine Fang had gone. Jinjú only said that Nanny Yu had accompanied Concubine Fang to see a doctor and refused to say anything more.
The maidservant stamped her feet in frustration but could do nothing about Jinjú. She could only send someone to Yunyang City to report to Third Master and Third Madam while also searching for Concubine Fang’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, after boarding the oxcart, Concubine Fang began to ponder her next steps, thinking about how she could clear herself of the accusations from the Fifth House.
She thought that even if someone implicated her, without concrete evidence, she had nothing to fear.
As for evidence, Concubine Fang believed they would never find any!
As for witnesses, couldn’t she turn the tables on them?
But how to negotiate with Old Master Ren to make him stand by her side once again—this was something Concubine Fang felt she needed to think through carefully.After all, Old Master Ren wouldn’t stand by her side without reason.
Concubine Fang knew that in the Ren Family, whoever could bring tangible benefits to the family had the right to speak—this was something she had long since figured out.
Thus, it wasn’t until the carriage had traveled some distance that Concubine Fang suddenly realized something was amiss.
Sitting in the carriage, she felt the journey back was much bumpier than when she had come.
At first, she thought it was because ox carts were less stable than horse-drawn carriages, but when she quietly lifted the curtain to look outside, she was shocked.
This road didn’t lead to White Crane Town! Concubine Fang wasn’t someone who had never left home—she knew the route from White Crane Town to Yunyang City.
Nanny Yu, noticing Concubine Fang’s expression, also looked outside and saw the problem. She immediately sat beside Concubine Fang and shouted sternly, "Stop! Where are you taking us? This isn’t the road back to White Crane Town!"
But the driver outside remained silent, focused solely on driving, completely ignoring Nanny Yu.
Nanny Yu grew anxious and fearful, secretly regretting that she hadn’t been more careful when choosing the carriage.
Earlier, fearing that Concubine Fang’s prolonged absence might cause gossip, she had wanted to return quickly. Seeing an ox cart parked by the roadside that was cleaner, sturdier, and more spacious than the others nearby, and driven by a short, frail old man, she had chosen this one.
Now, seeing the driver take them off the main road onto a smaller path, clearly with ill intentions, and unsure of what he might do to them, Nanny Yu broke into a cold sweat just thinking about it.
Concubine Fang, however, gradually calmed down. She immediately removed the pearl earrings, jade bracelets, and gold hairpin she was wearing and handed them to Nanny Yu. While signaling with her eyes, she raised her voice and said, "I have some jewelry here, along with fifty taels of silver. Take it all. Stop ahead and let us off."
Nanny Yu took the jewelry from Concubine Fang, added the fifty taels of silver she was carrying, and tremblingly held them out through the curtain.
But the driver outside paid no attention and didn’t reach for what Nanny Yu offered.
Concubine Fang frowned, thought for a moment, and added, "This is all we have. If you’re after money, take these and leave quickly. I’m just a weak woman and won’t report you to the authorities. If you’re after something else…"
She paused, then continued calmly, "One of us is an old woman in her fifties, and the other is a disfigured woman of no use to anyone. Even if you wanted to sell us, you wouldn’t get a good price, and you’d risk my family reporting you and sending people after you. It’s not worth it."
If it were an ordinary robber, seeing the valuables and hearing Concubine Fang’s words, they would at least hesitate, if not release them immediately. But the person outside seemed deaf, showing no reaction at all, not even slowing down the carriage.
Only then did Concubine Fang realize the situation was far more serious than she had thought.She immediately changed her tone, coldly rebuking, "Was it Madam Lin who sent you? Or Fifth Master? Since you're working for them, you should know who I am. If my master finds out, you and your entire family won't live to see another day! If you let us off the carriage, I'll give you all the valuables I have on me, and I won't hold today's matter against you! As for Madam Lin, don't worry about having trouble explaining yourself—I'll handle it."
At Concubine Fang's words, the driver outside snorted with laughter and said cheerfully, "For a concubine, you sure have a big mouth."
When Concubine Fang had boarded the carriage earlier, she had glanced at the driver out of caution. Seeing that he was a short, thin old man with white hair and beard, she had felt reassured enough to get on the oxcart. But now, the voice sounded like that of a boy who hadn't yet grown up, making her increasingly suspicious.
"Who are you really? What do you want?"
The boy outside, however, fell silent again, refusing to answer.
No matter what Concubine Fang said to probe him, he wouldn't speak, only occasionally giggling when he heard something he found amusing. In the end, even the resourceful and cunning Concubine Fang was at a loss.
Concubine Fang touched the dagger hidden in her sleeve, wondering if she should risk a desperate struggle.
Ever since she had suffered at Madam Lin's hands that time, Concubine Fang had kept a dagger hidden in her sleeve at all times, never leaving it even when she slept.
Listening to the voice outside, the person sounded young and not particularly robust. If she and Nanny Yu worked together, there might still be a chance to escape.
Just as Concubine Fang was silently steeling herself, she heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats from outside.
Both Concubine Fang and Nanny Yu felt a surge of hope.
Nanny Yu immediately raised her voice and shouted, "Help! Help! Murder and robbery! Someone save us!"
Sure enough, the driver outside slowed the horse's pace.
Before Concubine Fang and Nanny Yu could even breathe a sigh of relief, they heard the driver outside giggle and say, "Brother, why did you take so long? This woman is so annoying—I was about to go in and knock them out! Oh, right, she really is vicious. She threatened to kill my whole family!"
A hearty male voice laughed and said, "Alright, hand them over. You go back first."
The young driver threw his whip onto the carriage shaft, jumped down from the cart, and scurried over to the black-clad man's horse, grinning. "It's so far. Are you making me walk back, Brother? Let me come with you—I can even drive the carriage for you."
One of the two men who had arrived with the black-clad man teased, "Little Tiger, who was it that threw a tantrum and insisted on coming along? Who said they weren't afraid of hardship, exhaustion, or even fierce women? And now you're complaining about the distance?"
"Alright, stop teasing him. Let's get these people back first," the black-clad man scolded with a laugh.
Inside the carriage, Concubine Fang's heart sank further. Regardless of the fact that the people outside were all men, she abruptly pulled open the carriage curtain.
She saw a tall, sturdy man with dark skin sitting on a horse, grinning to reveal a set of bright white teeth. Behind him were two other men on horseback, who, at the black-clad man's order, were dismounting and striding toward her.The coachman, whom she had previously mistaken for a shriveled old man, took off his tattered felt hat and fanned himself with it. He also tore off the fake beard he had used for disguise, revealing a youthful face—though one still marked with wrinkles.
Concubine Fang frowned.
The young man turned and saw Concubine Fang. He made a face at her, then grinned and rubbed the wrinkled areas of his cheeks. Some dirt, like mud, came off, and beneath the "wrinkles," smooth, dark, and shiny skin was finally exposed.
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