Chapter 10 Taken Captive

The room fell into silence.

Gu Yunxi was agitated, "Sister, clam down. Allow me to explain..."

"Yunxi, don't be fooled by that eunuch's treacherous words!"

Gu Yunyao replied fiercely, her fists pounding relentlessly on the wood door, rattling it. And her voice was sorrowful and angry.

"He's lying! Don't go with him! Don't—"

"Sister, please listen to me!"

Gu Yunxi was worried that her big sister's overreaction would attract the guards, so she patted the door from the outside, begging her to be quiet.

Finally, Gu Yunyao got so tired that she leaned on the door and panted. There was not so much energy left in a 16-year-old after almost no food in her belly for several days.

"Yunxi, you're so naive that you trust people easily. I've no clue what that eunuch wants. Nonetheless, you must not go with him. The Eastern Depot... is no fit place for a girl..."

Still unnerved and breathless, Gu Yunyao tried to persuade Gu Yunxi.

Gu Yunxi lowered her head sadly, and her despairing voice seeped through the door into the ears of Gu Yunyao.

"But, but... you are about to be summoned to the imperial palace... After that, who can I rely on besides him?"

Gu Yunyao opened her eyes widely at once, with her lips shaking. She wanted to say something but only ended in speechlessness. After a while, she closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Sister, trust me! I will learn some skills and then leave. As long as I can master the way to survive, I'll be able to feed myself wherever I go. You must wait for me in the Garden. And I'll ask the Master to let you go and never send for you again when he's in a good mood. You must wait for me!"

“Alas, my silly Yunxi...”

Gu Yunyao remained silent, with her almond-shaped eyes tearing up.

Gu Yunxi waited before the door yet couldn’t hear anything. She inferred that her big sister must really be angry, so she creased her lips in aggrievedness.

"Yunxi... Take care of yourself after you go there..."

Suddenly, out of restraints and compromises, Gu Yunyao let her words flow out of the door.

Gu Yunxi was immediately encouraged, and even her face was lighted up.

"Yes, sister, be assured!"

"I have another favor to ask..."

"Tell me, sister. I'll do it!"

"No matter when you leave for the Eastern Depot, should you have a chance, find Zhao An in the Royal Prison... Tell him. If he can ever get out, forget me... and live on!"

Gu Yunyao's voice was tired and shaking. All of a sudden, she halted and then finished her last sentence abruptly and decisively, showing her resolve.

"Sister..."

Gu Yunxi could not find a word for solace.

It was often heard that life brought two people together, but fate decided whether they were meant to be. In other words, a couple that admired each other would not necessarily stay happy ever after. At this moment, the intangible love between Gu Yunyao and Zhao An was quintessential of that old saying.

"Sister, rest assured! I'll find Zhao An when I get to the Eastern Depot. And there's still a chance between you and him..."

"Yunxi, tell him exactly as I just told you!"

Before Gu Yunxi could reply, Gu Yunyao repeated her farewell to Zhao An, this time in an even more grave tone.

"... Yes, I shall do as you said..."

Gu Yunxi shuddered, daring not to utter a word.

Inside the room, Gu Yunyao's voice fell back into calmness.

"Very well, do remember. Now leave. I'm tired and need some rest."

"Well... I'll be on my way. See you again soon, sister."

Gu Yunxi walked away from the door unwillingly. Just two steps down, she turned and looked back, yet heard nothing more from the room. Eventually, she left disappointedly.

—

Dusk came down rather early in pre-fall. A vague mist floated in the dark sky, beneath which the stars twinkled. And chilling winds were blowing through the grass that insects of the season inhabited.

At this hour, lights were being lit up around in the Youzhu Garden. Candles let out a special red shine through the crimson lantern cover, illuminating every eave and hallway in the royal courtyard.

Leng Qingtang was returning to the Eastern Depot after dinner at the East Hall. Several days not back, official duties had already piled up.

"Safe journey to you, my honorable Master."

Nanny Gu took Gu Yunjin and a few servants to walk him to the main entrance.

Outside, Chiliarch Cheng Wanli was already waiting with a sedan and guards.

Cheng Wanli had followed Leng Qingtang for years. This tall, robust, and square-faced man had been loyal and accomplished under the Master's command.

Seeing his master coming out of the yard, Cheng Wanli welcomed him with a hasty salute.

"My Master, it's all prepared. Please get into the sedan."

"Good."

Leng Qingtang replied curtly while striding down the stairs to the sedan. Immediately, a servant bowed to list the curtain.

As if preoccupied, Leng Qingtang took his time before sitting. Instead, he turned around to looked back into the Garden.

Puzzled, Cheng Wanli thought the Master was to task him.

"My Master, anything wrong?"

"... Nothing. Let's go."

Leng Qingtang turned back, with a seemingly lonely expression. Only before he stepped into the sedan did a crisp call reach him from behind.

“My Master, please wait... Master Leng...”

The slim figure of Gu Yunxi emerged from the crowd, and she quickly ran towards the sedan. Her abrupt appearance lighted up his eyes and replaced upsets with delights.

Before his eyes, the girl was slender. Her hair was tied up sideways into a simple Huanshan style, with a plain silver pin in the bun.

Autumn had come, yet she wore nothing but a cyan blouse and a white pleated dress. The outfit was inappropriate for the cold weather and the sight of her long bare neck would chill a beholder even more. Her thin frame shivered slightly in the breezy night as if it would have been gone with the wind like a light paper kite.

"My Master, I... I..."

Failed to find him in the East Hall, Gu Yunxi ran all the way to the main entrance. Now she could hardly catch a breath.

"Girl, don't hurry. Take your time..."

The moment he lay his eyes on her, Gu Qingtang's heart fluttered, full of sympathy.

"I... I'm willing to follow you to the Eastern Depot!"

Gu Yunxi spoke quickly and then looked up at the handsome face of Leng Qingtang. Her eyes were shining like stars and her look was determined.

"Hey, what are you talking about…"

Nanny Gu's wrinkled face was long with displeasure. And she moved fast to the sedan before Leng Qingtang could respond.

"The Master got more important things to attend to. Do not trouble him and come back now!"

Before her hand could reach Gu Yunxi, she was deterred by Leng Qingtang's sharp stare and froze on site.

Leng Qingtang took off his black silk cape lined with red fox fur and wrapped it closely around shivering Gu Yunxi.

"Let's depart now!" He commanded firmly.

"Now...?" Gu Yunxi did not expect that.

She was merely following his direction to give her reply at night but never thought that he would decide so abruptly.

"Yes! We now leave for the Eastern Depot!" Their eyes met while he was talking in a formal and decisive manner.

"Yes," She nodded. Under the circumstances, she could only answer to his command. It was only a matter of time before she went with him, so what was the difference between today or tomorrow?

Nanny Gu beheld the sudden change of event, realizing that Leng Qingtang was not joking. She managed a smile and stepped forward.

"My lord, I do not understand. I've done everything as you told, and asked servants to furnish the girl's room. Now you suddenly decide to take her away... What... I..."

"Nanny Gu, it was I, the Master, who personally brought these girls to the Garden. Now I want her back, can't I?!"

Leng Qingtang lifted his beautifully folded eyelids, and his words were cold.

It was not that he was angry because Nanny Gu wouldn't let Yunxi go, but that she had been mistreating the girl for long. Should not be for Gu Yunxi's relapse, he would never have entered her room. In that case, he could not tell how much suffering the poor girl would have to sustain in the Garden.

"No, no, I do not mean that..."

Nanny Gu felt his anger and soon diverted the conversation.

"My lord, you know that Yunxi was unwell. She can hardly care for herself... How can she care for you..."

"How do you know that the plain kitchen girl cannot make it by my side?"

Leng Qingtang stared at Nanny Gu, with his eyes blazing with sternness. Seeing that she dared not to speak back, he gave Gu Yunxi a hand.

"Girl, go sit in the sedan."

The sedan was too small to fit two people. Now that Gu Yunxi was seated, Leng Qingtang waved at the servant to put down the curtain.

"Bring a horse here," he told the guards behind.

Xiao Xiaoshen, the close guard, wanted to lead his horse to the Master, but Chiliarch Cheng Wanli stopped him, whose face was dark with discontent.

"My Master, this... is truly unbecoming!"

Leng Qingtang grasped the reins and glanced at him,

"You dare to oppose me?"

"I dare not..."

Cheng Wanli bowed down his head, backing away resignedly.

Leng Qingtang mounted the horse and the trip started. Xiao Xiaoshen asked for another horse from a rider and hopped on, convoying the Master and the sedan with the troop.

When the group disappeared in the distance, Nanny Gu felt lightheaded and slumped onto the ground.

Gu Yunjin began to rant and rave by her side,

"Oh dear Nanny Gu, how could you sit still? Didn't you make a promise to Mr. Li, the owner of the rouge and powder store Fufangzhai? You said you would marry that silly girl to Mr. Li's epileptic son and had already taken half of the bride-price. How are you gonna deal with him without the bride?"

Nanny Gu beat her breast in regrets,

"How the hell am I supposed to know? You saw it yourself. The Master was gonna eat me alive if I was against him! It's bizarre of the Master, though. What's going on with his taste? How did he take a liking to her?!"