Vallée Sauvage de Green Mountain (Transmigrée à la dynastie Song)

Chapitre 13

As soon as I stepped through the gate, a brightly colored "thing" suddenly pounced on me.

This "thing" hugged me so tightly I could hardly breathe. First, it kissed my face several times, then said in a voice so sweet it almost made me vomit my dinner from the night before, "Young Master Shang, I've been waiting for you so anxiously..."

I impatiently pulled the woman off me, shoved her towards Young Master Shang, and said irritably, "Please look carefully before you kiss and bite me. Your Young Master Shang is right here, not me!"

"Hahaha...hehe...Sister Yan Hong has hugged the wrong person..." I then realized that a circle of women dressed in red and green were standing around me, each one adorned in their finest attire, their perfume wafting far and wide. My nose itched, and I couldn't help but sneeze several times. Only then did I see clearly the woman hugging me. She was no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with fairly regular features, but her face was covered in a thick layer of rouge and powder. She wore a pink embroidered Xiang skirt, and her small feet were bound tightly. Her hands were wrapped around Shang Shaochang's neck, and she looked at him sweetly. Shang Shaochang, in turn, held my hand with one hand, while his other arm encircled her slender waist. He chuckled and said, "It's only been two months, and little Yan Hong has grown even more beautiful."

"Sister Yan Hong has been getting ready these past few days, just waiting for Young Master." "Young Master is biased. He only cares about that little vixen Yan Hong when he arrives, and doesn't even look at us sisters." "Now that Young Master Shang is here, he can't leave. He must spend more time with us..." The women chattered on and on. After about twenty sentences, a young girl in a light green dress exclaimed, "Oh, Young Master Shang has brought another sister with him."

"Ah, really!" "Hey, she's wearing black." "That black dress is so strange, it's not a skirt, it looks more like men's clothing." "Why is she so cold and silent?" Immediately, the discussion erupted again, a flurry of voices. I couldn't help but groan inwardly. My head started throbbing again.

The women here are worth more than ten thousand ducks!

A laugh came from Shang Shaochang's ear: "This sister is called Baiyi. Her name is Baiyi, but she loves to wear black clothes. Although she is a woman, she loves to wear men's clothes. Isn't that strange? Isn't that funny?"

A burst of giggling laughter immediately erupted from the surrounding area. Accompanied by comments such as "This is really funny" and "Isn't this neither male nor female?", another uproar ensued.

I took a slow breath, a graceful smile playing on my lips, and said gently, "There are many people in this world who are unworthy of their reputation, let alone someone like me in white. Why must Young Master Shang make such a fuss about me?" My voice was melodious and clear, instantly silencing the clamor. My cool and calm gaze swept over everyone, and the women I looked at stopped laughing. The courtyard fell silent in an instant.

A servant broke the silence, running to Shang Shaochang and handing him a small pigeon with a slip of paper tied to its leg. Shang Shaochang took the paper, glanced at it, and casually crumpled it in his palm; the paper transformed into butterflies. He turned to me and smiled, "So the young master of Guiyun Manor whom you serve isn't so incompetent after all. In less than a day, he's sent messages via pigeon throughout the states, offering half of Guiyun Manor's wealth to anyone who rescues the White-Clad Minister!" Shang Shaochang laughed heartily, "Then if I were to send you back to Guiyun Manor, I wonder if that young lad would be willing to give me 500,000 taels of silver?"

I smiled slightly and said calmly, "He will definitely give it to me. Because he knows that my wealth is far more than just 500,000 taels." I held up five fingers and slowly bent them. "Eight months ago, when I first arrived at Guiyun Manor, the manor, including its properties and land, was only worth 20,000 taels. Now it's worth over a million taels. He should know my value..." I held up one finger and laughed, "More than a million taels. Even if he took out 500,000 taels to take me back now, what would that be?"

After pondering for a while, Shang Shaozhang suddenly looked up and laughed, "You want to persuade me to send you back so you can get that 500,000 taels?"

I said casually, "That's right, your employer certainly wouldn't give you that much, would they?"

“That’s right, of course not.” Shang Shaochang suddenly grabbed my hand, laughing even more happily. “But if I kept you by my side, it would be worth far more than 500,000 taels of silver. So, it’s better for you to stay!” He beckoned to Yan Hong and said, “You and Bai Yi change your clothes, and then bring two veiled hats.”

Shang Shaochang turned to me, his eyes filled with an inscrutable smile:

"Now all twelve states in the north and south are looking for you for 500,000 taels of silver. Even if I run fast, I can't outrun all these people rushing at me. Yan Hong's figure is not yours. If she wears your black clothes and impersonates you, she will definitely fool a lot of fools. Don't you think so?"

The smile on my face gradually faded.

Yan Hong giggled, "Young master, what a brilliant idea! Let's switch places, young lady." She then tugged at my sleeve. My eyes turned cold, and I shot her an icy glare, coldly saying, "Who are you calling a young lady?"

Her crimson hand froze in mid-air.

Shang Shaochang chuckled, "Little Yiyi, you'd better change with Yan Hong, otherwise..." He smiled leisurely and slowly said, "Or I can help you change, okay?"

Looking at his smile, I sighed and said, "No, I... I'll go with her to change."

With a smile, Yan Hong led me through several flower halls to a small inner room, saying, "Alright, take off your clothes and let's start changing."

My eyes flickered, and a charming yet gentle smile appeared on my face. I said softly, "What's the rush? Look at your face, it's all covered in dust. That's not good. Here, let me wipe it off for you..."

"Ah, the ash, where? Where?" Yan Hong exclaimed anxiously, quickly bringing her face close to mine. "Quick! Quickly wipe it off for me!"

Her smile vanished without a trace, and her powdered face turned as white as a powdered wall.

A small knife was pressed precisely against her neck, and I held it in my hand. My smile was even brighter than before:

"Don't scream, or else..." I tightened my grip on her neck, "I'm the worst at using knives, and if I panic, I can't guarantee what might happen."

“Miss…no, no, heroine,” beads of crimson sweat rolled down her forehead as she stammered, “You…I’ll do anything…as long as…”

I rolled my eyes a few times and laughed, "How could I bear to kill you when you're so obedient? Here, swallow this." With that, I took out a pill from my pocket and threw it into Yan Hong's wide-open mouth just as she opened her mouth to scream.

"Cough cough!—" Yan Hong clutched her throat, gasping for breath, but the pill had already been swallowed. Her face had turned ashen, and tears streamed down her face. She finally managed to utter, "This...this...what is this..."

I asked with a half-smile, "What is this?" I gently patted her face and said sweetly, "It's the Heart-Corroding and Bone-Corroding Pill, of course."

Two figures wearing face-covering straw hats, one in black and one in red, emerged from the inner room one after the other.

The dark figure walked out of the manor, while the red figure walked into the manor and stood before Young Master Shang.

Shang Shaochang laughed and said, "Little Yiyi, you look much prettier in red than in black."

"Little Yi Yi" stood in the middle of the field, her body trembling, without saying a word.

Shang Shaozhang gradually stopped laughing, then suddenly moved, removing his bamboo hat. He was utterly shocked! His once rosy face, heavily made up with rouge and powder, was now streaked with red and white, tears streaming down his face, smearing his thick makeup. Suddenly, Yan Hong burst into tears:

"Young Master Shang, help me—" Yan Hong cried out incessantly, "That...that...that man in white held a knife to me and gave me poison! Waaah—I'm not going to live—"

"Poison?" Shang Shaochang frowned, his hand already on her wrist, then released it after a moment, saying, "You haven't been poisoned at all. Even if Bai Yi is extremely knowledgeable, she has never heard of using poison. What's going on?"

Shang Shaozhang patiently listened to Yan Hong's tirade of curses and sobs for a while. After getting the gist of it, he quickly stood up, his face pale, and exclaimed, "Oh no! Bai Yi must have escaped!" He hurriedly followed Yan Hong to the inner room, only to find it deserted. Only seven large, still-wet ink characters, written in my flamboyant style, remained on the pink wall:

Shang Shaozhang is a complete idiot!

Shang Shaozhang stared at the words for a long while, then suddenly, ignoring the surprised looks of the women, he burst into laughter:

"How lovely the white dress is!"

Unfortunately, I won't be hearing Young Master Shang's effusive praise.

I dressed in my black clothes, went out, hired a carriage, and headed towards Guiyun Manor.

Sitting in the carriage, a joyful smile involuntarily crept onto my lips:

Hmph, Young Master Shang, you're still a long way from catching me.

Chapter Nine: The Lingering Ghost

I jumped off the carriage. It was getting late, and the setting sun cast a red glow on the horizon, illuminating the Guiyun Manor.

I looked toward Guiyun Manor and immediately saw a tall figure standing in front of it—it was Yun Yiyang, the sincere boy who always called me "Sister Bai" so affectionately. He was standing alone in front of the somewhat dilapidated gate of Guiyun Manor, looking around from time to time, as if waiting for someone to return from afar.

I knew he was waiting for me. He sent a message by carrier pigeon and offered a huge reward, all in an attempt to rescue me from Shang Shaozhang.