บท 50: Silly creativity

"What?" Madam Hong said with alarm.

"It must be Xixi! The poor cat… She was killed very cruelly, she must have felt very unsatisfied and ended up as a ghost!"

Madam Hong's face instantly became pale. "That… That is impossible! Even if Xixi became a ghost, she is supposed to haunt and chase after you! Not disturb me like this…"

TAK!

"Oww!" Another pebble hit Madam Hong. She instantly trembled and glanced at Xixi's dead body on the ground. She recalled how she cruelly ordered the servants to kill Xixi. When they tried to tie Xixi up in order to shoot her with the arrow, Xixi was screeching and trying to run away. She seemed to be in a lot of pain when she died. Madam Hong gulped. "Someone! Someone, bury this cat's body, hurry!"

"Heh." Qing Guang laughed inside, enjoying Madam Hong's terrified expression.

But then, Madam Hong said, "Put this wretched girl in the shed for tonight!"

Qing Guang's eyes widened, her smile gone.

"But… but, Madam, the Left Prime Minister said…"

"He only said not to leave any marks in a place where someone could see, right? Putting her in the shed will only make her feel a bit cold, not leaving a mark or anything. We will treat her hair tomorrow."

-----

From the roof, the grey clothed man could only curse as he watched them drag Qing Guang to the shed that was located at the backside of the residence

Talking to himself, he said, "If only I could show myself and beat that old woman up. But who am I to do that? I'm merely a servant that can throw pebbles as an act of protest… If I were to show myself, that annoying Old Master would definitely give Young Master Bo trouble. I can't put Young Master and Miss in any more danger. I will wait until they go away before I free my Miss and treat her wounds. Tomorrow, I'll bring her back to the shed early in the morning so that people won't get suspicious."

He patiently waited until all of the servants were gone before he went down the roof and approached the shed, but before he could reach the door, he heard the trees rustle.

'Someone is here!' He thought in alarm.

His feet moved on their own, bringing him to a spot behind the bushes. A shadow slipped down from the tree.

'A kid?'

The grey clothed man squinted his eyes to get a better look.

That kid. Isn't he the Hu residence's Young Master? I recognize him from the graduation ceremony. But what is he doing here?

-----

Hu Ye carefully tiptoed from the tree to the shed. He peeked inside the shed from the gaps between the bars on the upper side of the door.

From inside, he heard someone say, "Ugh… At least they're not planning to lock me up for days, which is what I was expecting anyway."

Hearing the familiar voice, he said, "Guang, it is me, Ye."

"Ye?" Qing Guang's body was hidden under the shadows so Hu Ye could not see her clearly. "Ye, why are you here?"

"I was waiting for you in the promised place but you did not come, so I thought I would pay you a visit." Hu Ye sighed. "I heard your voice when they dragged you here so I jumped over the fence."

"..." Qing Guang looked up to the bars, glad that the light from the bars' gaps did not illuminate her figure. "Sorry…"

"Huh?" Hu Ye opened the box he was carrying. "Why are you sorry?"

"I didn't fulfill my promise to go to the festival with you."

"...No, it's alright. I should be the one saying sorry. I did promise that I would let you eat as much meat as you wanted." He held up the opened box. "Anyway, can you come over? I made this meat dish myself. I want to feed it to you."

"Come over there? I… I can't." There was hesitance in her voice.

He was confused. "Why not?"

"I just can't, okay?" she said harshly.

"..." Hu Ye made a questioning look then glanced at the door. Lucky for him, the lock on it was very simple, only a small plank of wood that was placed horizontally between the frame and the lock trail. To unlock the door, Hu Ye simply needed to spin the wood. One of the edges of the wood was nailed to the frame so it did not drop down when he removed it.

"Ye? What are you doing?" Qing Guang frowned because there seemed to be a weird noise coming from the door.

"I'm coming in," Hu Ye said as he opened the door.