Chapter 65

Chapter 65: She Is Leaving

Chun Zhi was far more resolute than Huo Zheng had imagined.

He had once thought that after he settled the affairs in Nanzhou, he would tell her the truth about his identity and take her back to the Capital. Chun Zhi might be unwilling to leave Linshui Town, but she would probably go with him.

Now, not only would she not go with him, she did not even wish to see him.

“Chun Zhi…” he began, wanting to say more.

“Enough,” Chun Zhi said, cutting him off as she got off the bed, opened the door, and pointed outside: “Say nothing, and leave at once.”

Even if she was a lonely girl no one cared about, she would not be a toy for the powerful. Those wild days from before were only a long dream.

Huo Zheng opened his mouth, then lowered his voice and said: “You are angry now and will not listen to anything. I will not make you more upset. I will come to get you in a few days.”

He started toward the door.

As he passed by her, he paused and said: “When I told you I was Huo Qi, I did not lie. My family name is Huo, my personal name is Zheng. I am seventh in rank. My title is Prince Chang’an…”

He wanted to tell her everything about himself, but Chun Zhi still said nothing.

Huo Zheng looked at her for a moment, then, knowing that words were useless now, turned and left.

In the dark night, the sound of the courtyard gate opening felt harsh.

Only when he had gone far did Chun Zhi close the gate and set the bar.

She had already been unable to sleep. After Huo Zheng’s visit, sleep was even more impossible.

She did not sleep all night.

At first light, Chun Zhi got up.

With Lucky Fortune pulling the millstone, making tofu was not as tiring, but a sleepless night left her face drawn.

Because so many officials had come to Peach Blossom Lane the night before, almost no one dared to buy tofu today.

Business stayed poor for days.

Chun Zhi took down her sign and planned to sell tofu somewhere else.

She was now pregnant. If anyone found out, this child would be hard to keep. A noble like Prince Chang’an would never allow a child to be left outside. If he learned she was carrying his child, he would either force her to abort or take the child away.

Chun Zhi wanted neither result.

Although Huo Zheng had not come to Peach Blossom Lane in the last few days, there were always people secretly watching the gate.

More alert than before, Chun Zhi decided to leave this place, go where no one knew her, give birth, and start a new life. [I have to protect this child.]

Lucky Fortune could not be taken along. If she sold the tofu workshop, Huo Zheng would know she meant to leave, so she could not sell it either.

Chun Zhi spent three days working out what to do next.

She had nearly two hundred taels of her own silver, plus five hundred taels of silver from Huo Zheng and one hundred taels of gold from Gu Yuan Jia. With that money, she could live well anywhere.

Linshui Town was very good, and she could not bear to leave many people there, but even so, she had to go.

Chun Zhi led Lucky Fortune to her neighbor, Auntie Li, and said that Auntie Li should treat him well and never butcher him for meat.

Auntie Li was shocked and said: “You need a donkey to turn the mill for tofu, and you just give him to me like this? A good donkey costs quite a bit.”

Chun Zhi said: “I’m not giving him to you. I’m only keeping him at your house for now, and you can use him.” She did not want to say that she would not return to Linshui Town; she only said: “I want to find my family and leave Linshui Town for a while.”

Yesterday, so many officials had knelt at the tofu workshop’s gate that even watching from behind her door had frightened Auntie Li.

Auntie Li had learned that Chun Zhi’s husband was some kind of lord, that he had left with those officials, and that he had not taken Chun Zhi with him.

No one knew what had really happened.

In a small voice, Auntie Li asked: “If you are leaving Linshui Town, then your husband…”

“We have separated,” Chun Zhi said.

She did not want to speak about the fake marriage and left it at that.

Auntie Li sighed and said: “If only you had married my nephew. He is plain and not very rich, but he is a simple man.” But it was too late to talk about that now.

Chun Zhi said nothing more. After asking Auntie Li to care for Lucky Fortune, she went back to her small courtyard to pack.

There was little to pack.

She had always lived frugally, with only a few sets of clothes. With her gold and silver pieces, it made just one bundle.

The gold was heavy, so she threw away the box and wrapped it in clothing. On the road, you cannot show wealth; it draws thieves.

Before leaving, Chun Zhi touched everything in the tofu workshop once more.

When she had first bought it, she had been full of joy, thinking it would help her live a better life.

By her own labor, she had indeed lived well these last years.

She had never thought there would be a day when she would leave the tofu workshop behind.

She was very reluctant.

But she knew that if she wanted to keep the child in her belly, she had to leave quickly.

Chun Zhi walked every inch of the workshop, stroked the stone mill and the tofu baskets, then swallowed her pain, shouldered her bundle, and went out.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Lu Jing Yun.

“Why are you here again?” she asked in surprise, not knowing when he had come.

Lu Jing Yun did not answer. Seeing the bundle on her back, he asked instead: “You’re leaving? Where are you going?”

Chun Zhi said coolly: “None of your business.”

“Chun Zhi, do you know how many people are watching you now?” Lu Jing Yun said. “If you step through this door, someone will report to Prince Chang’an at once. You will not get away. I came to help you.”

Chun Zhi fell silent.

Lu Jing Yun added: “If not for me, you would not be tangled up with Prince Chang’an. I know you hate me. I only want to help.”

Chun Zhi knew that if Huo Zheng learned she meant to leave Linshui Town, he would never allow it.

Right now, no one else would help her but Lu Jing Yun.

After thinking a moment, Chun Zhi said: “I want to go to the ferry.”

Not long ago, she had arranged that path for Yu Zhu. Now she would use it herself. She would board a boat at the ferry and leave Linshui Town. The rivers were wide and the waterways open, and after that no one would know where she had gone.

“All right,” Lu Jing Yun said at once: “Wait a moment. I’ll have people draw away those who are tailing you. Close and bar your gate. Then go out through the side door. I’ll have a carriage there.”

“Okay,” Chun Zhi said.

Lu Jing Yun turned and hurried off.

She shut the gate and dropped the bar, then went to wait by the small side door. After a while, she heard the sound of a carriage pulling up. She opened the side door and stepped out.

A Lu Residence carriage had stopped at just the right spot.

Lu Jing Yun lifted the curtain and stepped down, holding out a hand toward her.

Chun Zhi did not take it. She climbed straight into the carriage and said: “Go faster.”

Lu Jing Yun followed her in and told the coachman: “Circle a few streets first, then head for the ferry.”