Chapter 14 Waking Up in Qingzhou
When I woke again, I was in Qingzhou.
My once high, rounded belly had flattened.
No familiar faces around me. After searching my clothes, I found a Household Register Document hidden in the inner pocket of my undergarment.
Xu Aoyao, Commoner, Qingzhou resident.
Tucked together with it was a hundred-tael banknote.
Holding the papers, excitement and confusion warred inside me.
The Commoner Registry Paper I had longed for all these years suddenly felt heavier than a thousand pounds.
I didn’t know what method Lin Xi had used to steal me out of the Lin residence.
With the hundred taels he left me, I opened a small tea stall outside Qingzhou city.
Travelers coming from the capital always stopped to rest here.
From their scattered words, I caught fragments of news about the Eldest Young Master.
They said Lin Xi’s literary talent was outstanding and he was sure to place in the palace examination.
They said the Lin family had arranged an excellent match for him.
The more I heard, the more some parts I believed and some I refused to.
Later I couldn’t bear it anymore and secretly went to the capital for a look.
I had only planned to glance from afar and leave.
But I saw that familiar figure, now gaunt and emaciated.
The handsome face I had thought of day and night had thinned until I almost didn’t recognize him.
“Eldest Young Master—”
“Eldest Young Master, this is the soup I stewed myself. Please have a taste.”
My words were drowned by another young woman’s voice.
I hid behind the wall and watched her walk inside with him.