The two seemed to have noticed her long ago.
The three of them stared at each other warily from the rooftop. Seeing that none of them intended to make a move or leave, they began to probe each other.
At that moment, someone whispered, "A gentleman on the thief's back?"
Fang Ruoxi nodded and replied in a low voice, "A fellow traveler?"
The other person nodded and then asked, "Where are you from?"
Fang Ruoxi said, "Jiangnan."
One of them nodded and said, "The Song family is in Jiangnan; it's not easy to get by there."
Upon hearing this, Fang Ruoxi nodded in strong agreement and said, "Yes, there's a Song Zixing in the Song family of Jiangnan who's too strict. I couldn't make a living there anymore, so I came to Jiangling. Seeing the people suffering and the poor, I actually came here to rob the rich and help the poor..."
Before Fang Ruoxi could finish speaking, she stopped talking. She noticed that the two people opposite her were looking at her with increasingly strange and bright eyes as they listened to her. Their eyes were widening and shining as if they were thieves who had seen gold and silver treasures.
Fang Ruoxi felt a sense of familiarity when she saw those eyes, and couldn't help but scrutinize the two people opposite her. Just then, she heard someone call out, "Flower Bud."
Fang Ruoxi subconsciously responded with an "Ah?", and then suddenly pointed at the two people in front of her and shouted as if she had gone mad: "It's you!"
Just then, a guard downstairs shouted, "Who's on the roof?"
"Run! We've been spotted!" The three ran together.
Fang Ruoxi never expected that she would encounter Gongzi Yi and Gongzi Qi on the roof of the stage in the Prince Jin's mansion by such a coincidence.
The three fled the Prince of Jin's residence.
On their escape, the two of them hunted two rabbits and found a spot where the three of them roasted the meat. However, Fang Ruoxi did everything herself, from starting the fire to preparing the meat to roasting it. Perhaps she was used to it, because Fang Ruoxi didn't complain. On the contrary, she felt happy to be sitting with them at this moment.
The two young masters stared at the rabbit roasting over the fire, asking Fang Ruoxi questions here and there.
Gongzi Yi said, "Hua Wuduo, come back and continue being my bodyguard. Alas, look at you, you've fallen so low as to become a thief after leaving me. It's too pitiful, I really can't bear to see you like this."
Gongzi Qi chuckled softly beside him.
Fang Ruoxi said, "I'm robbing the rich to help the poor!"
Gongzi Yi said, "Then you can't become a thief!"
Fang Ruoxi said, "Aren't you the same!"
Gongzi Yi said, "I didn't go to steal money!"
Fang Ruoxi asked, "Then what did you go to steal?"
Gongzi Qi chimed in with a smile, "We're definitely not going to steal money." Gongzi Qi didn't explain what they were going to do, and Fang Ruoxi didn't press further, only saying, "No matter what you steal, you're still a thief!"
Gongzi Qi chuckled, and Gongzi Yi and Fang Ruoxi chuckled along with her.
The moonlight flowed gently like water, and a long-lost sense of familiarity and warmth spread with their laughter, as if everything had returned to the past.
At this moment, Gongzi Qi suddenly said, "Wudu, after you left, the teachers often mentioned you in class, especially Teacher Xu. Every time he plays the Lin Yuan zither, he sighs. I think he must have thought of you."
Upon hearing this, Fang Ruoxi was speechless, a bittersweet feeling lingering in her heart. It turned out that everyone hadn't forgotten her.
She tossed her head, as if trying to shake off that complicated feeling, and suddenly said loudly with a hint of grievance, "I haven't paid my monthly allowance yet!"
Gongzi Qi was surprised that she would suddenly bring this up, and couldn't help but laugh.
Upon hearing this, Gongzi Yi replied, "If you agree to come back and be my bodyguard, I'll give it to you right away."
Fang Ruoxi said, "Give it to me first!"
Gongzi Yi said, "I don't have that much on me right now." He then asked Gongzi Qi beside him, "Do you have two hundred taels of silver notes? Can I borrow them?"
Gongzi Qi said, "I didn't bring any either. Don't forget we're here to be thieves today."
Upon hearing this, Gongzi Yi and Fang Ruoxi recalled the scene of the three of them on the rooftop just now, and couldn't help but look at each other with a hint of a smile in their eyes.
Gongzi Yi deliberately asked in a low voice, "A gentleman on the thief's roof?"
Fang Ruoxi nodded solemnly and replied in a low voice, "A fellow traveler?"
"Haha..." Suddenly, the three of them looked up and burst into laughter.
Unexpectedly, the three of them would meet again in this way today.
As the laughter subsided, Fang Ruoxi suddenly chuckled and said, "Let's go to the Prince of Jin's mansion together to borrow some money later."
Gongzi Yi and Gongzi Qi exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Alright!"
Then, Gongzi Yi stood up, pounded his chest, and said confidently, "As long as it's what Hua Guduo says, even if it means going to heaven or hell, Qi and I will do it without hesitation."
Gongzi Qi also stood up, head held high and chest puffed out, saying, "As long as we don't say another word, even if it's the imperial palace or a den of dragons and tigers, Yi and I will still brave it without hesitation!"
The two of them were clearly imitating the way Fang Ruoxi spoke on the rooftop of the stage in the Prince of Jin's mansion.
Fang Ruoxi burst into laughter, a laugh like that of a bandit leader who had just committed murder and robbery. She stood up, patted the two men on the shoulders, and said heartily, "With one word from me, you two deserve to die!"
Hmm? Upon hearing this, Gongzi Yi and Gongzi Qi glanced sideways at Fang Ruoxi, only to see Fang Ruoxi laughing wildly with exaggerated gestures, looking rather terrifying...
But when she turned around, Fang Ruoxi obediently sat back down and went to roast rabbit meat for the two young masters.
The rabbit meat was roasted, and the three of them chatted while eating. After finishing their meal, they returned to the Prince of Jin's residence.
The number of guards patrolling the Prince of Jin's residence has clearly doubled compared to before, probably because the three of them had alerted the enemy earlier.
Facing the shadowy buildings in the darkness once again, Fang Ruoxi's heart seemed to be filled with something, and she no longer felt lost. Looking at the two people beside her, she felt that at this moment, everything could be ignored and everything could be trampled under their feet.
The three of them climbed onto the wall, with Fang Ruoxi in the middle. Suddenly, she asked softly, "Am I pretty?"
Upon hearing this, the two immediately turned around, one to the left and one to the right, one with disdain and the other with contempt, as if she had just asked a ridiculous and stupid question.
Fang Ruoxi glared back defiantly, and the two of them calmed down slightly.
Fang Ruoxi seemed to have a sudden thought and asked softly, "Um... if Qi Xin and I were both in danger, who would you save first?!"
Gongzi Yi snapped impatiently, "Why are you asking so many questions at a time like this!"
Gongzi Qi then replied gently, "Brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothes."
Upon hearing this, Fang Ruoxi's eyes suddenly lit up, her gaze fixed intently on Gongzi Qi, as if twinkling with starlight, seemingly moved, as if about to cry... Then, she heard Gongzi Yi say coolly beside her, "Qi said you're clothes, what are you so moved about?" As soon as Gongzi Yi finished speaking, a scream was heard, and Gongzi Yi was knocked off the wall by Fang Ruoxi's palm.
Ruoxi and Gongzi Yi started fighting at the corner of the wall. Just then, someone inside shouted, "Who's on the wall!"
"Hey, run! We've been caught again. You're going to beat me up!" Gongzi Qi complained. "I'm never stealing with you guys again!"
"Haha..." The three of them suddenly burst into laughter.
At this moment, the crescent moon in the night sky seemed to be laughing along with them.
As night fell, the three men, their boisterous and fearless laughter echoing through the night, gradually turned into three ink dots.
Cleverness backfires
The three of them ran together to Gongzi Yi's villa. Their unexpected reunion made them forget their original plans for the night, and now it seemed that nothing mattered anymore.
Young Master Yi has a villa in Jiangling, with servants and a cook. Even after receiving the money, Hua Wuduo was still willing to move in and enjoy such a life. Young Master Yi's page, Du Xiaoxi, and Young Master Qi's page, Zhao Zhen, also came along. In addition, eight guards accompanied them; wherever Young Master Yi went, bodyguards were indispensable.
The three chatted all night until the next morning when they went back to their rooms to sleep.
Hua Wuduo naturally asked the two of them about the purpose of their trip to Jiangling.
Gongzi Yi said, "Don't you know? There's a 'Phoenix Boat Race' in Jiangling in a few days, and that's why we've come here."
"Phoenix boat race?" Hua Wuduo was completely bewildered. She had only heard of dragon boat races, never phoenix boat races.
Gongzi Qi laughed and said, "It's natural that Wudu doesn't know, since the Phoenix Boat Race is something that men enjoy."
"A man's thing?" Fang Ruoxi looked at the two men in front of her, their expressions mysterious and amused. She understood immediately. The Phoenix Boat Race was definitely related to women. But why were these two sneaking into the Prince of Jin's residence at night?
They didn't wake up until the hour of You (5-7 PM) the next day.
After bathing and changing, the three had dinner and then reunited.
Hua Wuduo, also known as Fang Ruoxi, briefly recounted her experiences after leaving the capital. She naturally mentioned Song Zixing, but only said that she witnessed how Song Zixing wiped out the Qionglong Mountain bandits, leaving the rest unsaid.
When Gongzi Yi heard her talk about Song Zixing, he asked, "Wudu, what kind of person do you think Song Zixing is?"
Upon hearing him mention Song Zixing, Hua Wuduo looked disgusted and replied dismissively, "He's not a good person!"
"Oh?" Gongzi Qi was drinking tea when he heard Hua Wuduo's evaluation of Song Zixing. He put down his teacup and asked with feigned interest, "What do you mean by that?"
Hua Wuduo replied, "His martial arts style is ruthless. He always cuts people in half at the waist when he kills them. The scene is so gruesome that it's disgusting. Just from this, you can see that he is a vicious and ruthless person."
Gongzi Qi and Gongzi Yi exchanged a smile upon hearing this. Gongzi Qi then asked, "Is there anything else?"
Hua Wuduo nodded and continued, "After seeing how he kills people, and then looking at his appearance, you'll find that there's a word that perfectly describes him."
"What word?" Gongzi Yi asked.
Hua Wuduo's expression was serious, yet he spoke slowly and deliberately: "Human, face, beast, heart."
Upon hearing this, and seeing Hua Wuduo's expression, Gongzi Yi and Gongzi Qi laughed. Hua Wuduo also chuckled softly.
Gongzi Yi asked, "So, Song Zixing really is a handsome man?"
Hua Wuduo nodded and said, "A typical femme fatale."
Gongzi Qi laughed and said, "Nothing much, it seems you have a very bad impression of him."
"Yes, it's very bad," Hua Wuduo nodded repeatedly.
"Wu Duo, is there something you're hiding from us?" Gongzi Qi asked.
“No,” Hua Wuduo replied immediately.
"You answered so quickly, so you must have it." Gongzi Yi smiled, his eyes filled with Hua Wuduo's undisguised scrutiny.
"..." Hua Wuduo was speechless.
"Speak, and if you do well, I will reward you!" Gongzi Yi hit her sore spot, and slammed a silver note on the table.
Hua Wuduo stared at the silver notes on the table, the four characters flashing before his eyes: "People die for wealth." But then he shook his head and sighed inwardly, thinking, "A man should have integrity; he shouldn't bow down for five pecks of rice." Just as he thought this, he saw Gongzi Yi snap up another silver note and add it to the table. Hua Wuduo's eyes began to glaze over. Then he heard Gongzi Yi sigh, "Not going to talk? Fine then." He was about to put the silver notes away, knowing full well it was a trap, a temptation, but Hua Wuduo's hand suddenly reached out and pressed down on the silver notes. Looking at his disobedient hand, Hua Wuduo was speechless and sighed, "Fine, I'll talk."
Hua didn't say much, but she held back, omitting the part about the Taihu Lake incident, including the loss and theft of the painting. She only started from the bird droppings that unexpectedly fell from the sky that morning, during which Song Zixing tied her up with a rope. She did explain, but to avoid being ridiculed by the two men, she only said that she was no match for Song Zixing and was tied up by him to take him back to the governor's mansion to apologize to his deputy, Wu Zheng. After that, he released her.
Upon hearing this, Gongzi Yi and Gongzi Qi exchanged a glance, both seemingly lost in thought.
Gongzi Yi said, "I didn't expect that Song Zixing's martial arts skills would be even higher than Wu Duo's."