Chapter 622: Beauty at Night
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S T E L L A R C L O U D
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O R A N G E S T A R
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G O L D S T A R
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T H E S U N
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CELESTIAL CONQUEROR
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After toiling away for half a day, Gu Jiao finally got out of the estate, only to find that it was already dark.
Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been a big deal even if it was dark. Shengdu was so bustling that there was business to be done even in the middle of the night. But, as luck would have it, she encountered a curfew.
Pedestrians on the streets began to decrease rapidly, and the shops on both sides started closing one after another.
Gu Jiao was bewildered.
What on earth was going on?
Did she forget to check the Chinese almanac before going out?
She had inquired and found out that the inner gates of Shengdu would not close until the second quarter of the hour of xushi(7-9 pm). Right now, the hour of xushi had just begun, so she still had thirty minutes.
It seemed she wouldn't have time to inquire about the medical halls today.
She needed to leave the inner city as soon as possible; she couldn't walk, or she would never make it.
Gu Jiao quickly targeted a carriage parked in an alley.
It had been a long time since she had done such things as robbery, but she had done it all day today.
The coachman was not present.
She didn't know if he had gone to do something else, but there was someone inside the carriage, and the candlelight cast the shadow of a man.
Gu Jiao planned to put on her mask, but when she reached for it, she realized it was missing.
It seemed to have fallen somewhere.
Forget it, no mask meant no mask. Gu Jiao grabbed a handful of wall dust and smeared it on her face, then clenched the dagger in her hand and climbed onto the carriage, pressing the dagger against the man's neck.
"Don't move."
She threatened in a low and unsteady teenage voice.
The other party was a young man, dressed in a plain white robe with a navy blue gauze coat over it, his waist wrapped with a jade belt. His side profile was elegant and delicate, with long and slender eyelashes.
Even having seen someone as stunning as Xiao Heng, she still couldn't help but admit that this was a handsome young man.
The young man looked to be about the same age as Xiao Heng, exuding an aura of noble elegance. Despite having a knife held to his neck, he remained utterly composed, without the slightest hint of panic.
Gu Jiao said, "Take me out of the inner city, and I won't harm you. Take the southern city gate."
The young man didn't say whether he agreed or not.
Just then, the coachman returned, "Young Master, I asked, but the boss said it's not ready yet. He told us to come back in a couple of days. Are we going back now?"
Gu Jiao, sitting next to the young man, pressed the dagger closer to his neck, the threat very clear.
The young man said, "I need to leave through the southern inner city gate."
Even through the curtain, Gu Jiao could feel the coachman's shock, "Didn't we just get back? Why are we leaving again? There's a sudden curfew in the inner city tonight. If we go out, we won't be able to get back in."
The young man didn't speak again.
Perhaps used to interpreting the man's silence as a form of intimidation, the coachman muttered a few words, "Alright, alright, can't argue with you."
The coachman took his place on the front seat and drove the carriage towards the southern inner city gate.
But as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.
Though it wasn't yet the second quarter of the hour of xushi, the inner city gate had already closed due to the curfew.
"We can't go out, Young Master." The coachman said.
The young man still didn't speak. Gu Jiao understood; he was waiting for her answer.
With one hand holding the dagger against him, Gu Jiao opened a gap in the curtain with the other, looking for an inn along the way.
The young man suddenly spoke, "I advise you not to stay in an inn easily. Without a tally, you'll be arrested."
"What's this tally?" Gu Jiao asked.
The young man calmly replied, "It's the credential for people from the outer city to enter the inner city."
Gu Jiao was about to ask how he knew she was from the outer city, but she felt it was unnecessary. If she were from the inner city, she should have gone back home when the curfew was enforced, not hijacked a carriage to leave the inner city quickly.
Gu Jiao glanced at him and asked, "Do you have a tally?"
The young man responded, "People from the inner city have fish tokens; they don't need a tally."
Gu Jiao knew about the State of Yan's fish tokens; it was a form of identification.
Gu Jiao looked at him, "Where's your fish token?"
The man didn't move.
Gu Jiao glanced at his waist, took off his money pouch with one hand, and pulled out a bronze fish token from it.
"Young Master?" The coachman asked from outside, "Who are you talking to? Is there someone on the carriage?"
Gu Jiao's dagger moved slightly, signaling him with her eyes.
The young man said calmly, "Where is there an inn nearby? One that's still open."
The coachman thought he heard a voice, but if the Young Master wouldn't say, he couldn't press further. He replied, "If we go back about two miles, there seems to be an inn there."
"Go there." The young man ordered.
"Yes." The coachman drove the carriage to that inn.
Upon arriving, the young man said, "Stop the carriage here, and you go nearby to see if there are any other inns."
"Okay."
The coachman did as instructed.
He even knew to use this method to keep the coachman away. However, Gu Jiao didn't think he was considering her well-being, most likely, he was worried she might knock out the coachman.
He was quite clever.
Thinking of something, Gu Jiao asked again, "Are you going to report to the authorities?"
The young man said casually, "Do you think the officers can check every inn in the inner city overnight?"
"True." Gu Jiao nodded.
It seemed he guessed she wouldn't stay in the inn he found for her.
He really was a smart one.
And handsome too.
Gu Jiao couldn't help but size him up again, inadvertently catching a glimpse of a hint of a beautiful jade fingertip peeking out from his wide sleeve.
Gu Jiao wasn't, strictly speaking, a hand fetishist, but his hands were simply begging to be grabbed——
Gu Jiao couldn't help but think of the hand she saw at the post station.
Could it be the same person?
No, the surname on the fish token was Mu, while the person at the post station was the Young Master of the Su Family.
Gu Jiao got off the carriage.
She wasn't sure if the man would report to the authorities, but she still didn't go to the inn he found for her.
Instead, she went to a brothel.
The other party shouldn't guess that she would spend the night in a brothel, right?
……
Gu Jiao stayed in the inner city for one night. When the inner city gate opened at dawn, she slipped out of the inner city under a carriage using the same method.
Lady Nan hadn't slept all night, waiting in the courtyard. When she finally saw Gu Jiao return, she grabbed Gu Jiao's arm with relief, "You scared me, I thought something happened to you... Where did you go last night?"
Not wanting Lady Nan to worry, Gu Jiao casually said, “I got caught in the curfew last night and was stuck in the inner city. I ended up staying the night there after stealing someone's fish token."
"Curfew in the inner city?" Lady Nan was surprised, "Shengdu rarely enforces a curfew. Something big must have happened in the inner city."
Gu Jiao thought, could it be because I was caught sneaking into that person's residence that the entire inner city was alarmed?
Who could that person be to cause a citywide curfew?
Anyway, nobody knew it was her.
Lady Nan continued, "I didn't tell Xiaoshun. I let Xiaoshun sleep first. When he woke up and asked where you went, I told him you went to buy vegetables. But Yan'er knows."
Gu Yan was the hardest child to deceive in the family. Besides having poor health, his mind was sharper than anyone else's.
The fact that Gu Jiao didn't return home for one night couldn't be hidden from him.
Gu Jiao went to Gu Yan's room, sat down beside the bed, and looked at Gu Yan's moist and reddened eyes. She smiled softly and said, "I'm fine."
Gu Yan slowly rested his head on Gu Jiao's lap.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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Description:
In the suspenseful supernatural novel “Records of Mortals,” Jiang Baiyan, once a solitary and impoverished youth, finds refuge in the Shi family of Chang’an due to his extraordinary bloodline. With his clear and captivating peach blossom eyes, this seemingly innocent young man conceals a fanatical and malevolent lunatic within. Destined to succumb to darkness amidst hardship and degradation, he becomes a harbinger of chaos.
When Shi Dai suddenly transmigrates, she takes on the role of the Shi family’s young lady, the one who subjects him to countless trials, eventually leading to her demise.
The twist? She never got to finish reading the novel.
From what she knew of the plot, Jiang Baiyan was just a silent, timid, and often bullied pitiable character.
***
Jiang Baiyan had never encountered someone like Shi Dai.
After he had slaughtered all the evil creatures in the garden, the blood-stained young man, exuding a murderous aura, approached her step by step, his lips curling into a malicious smile, "Scared?"
Shi Dai responded, “You’re really amazing! I applaud you until I spin like a spiral and fly around the moon three hundred times! And also——you have dimples when you smile!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
After seeing her at a lantern festival with another man, Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes, his fingers twirling her hair. He said in a mocking and sinister tone, "The mansion in the western suburbs...if I hide you there, no one will find you, right?"
Shi Dai replied, "Does it come with meals and lodging? Can I sleep in everyday? Oh, and your cooking is the best!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
Jiang Baiyan was supposed to dislike her, even hate her, but as their separation drew near, his eyes turned red and he grabbed her sleeve, pleading, "Don't abandon me, alri—”
Shi Dai responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll only have you. Mwah."
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
He hasn't finished his lines yet though…