Divine Doctor Daughter of the First WifeDivine Doctor Daughter of the First Wife
However, for Lu Ping’s bath this time, it was the first time she washed off all the scented herbs on her body and did not apply it again. Then she took out a simple set of servant’s attire she had kept since some time ago from the cupboard, and after changing quickly, she did not have any smell on her body at all. She did her preparations properly, not only did she change her clothes, she applied black rogue to darken her face, then painted a mole at the corner of her mouth. In the blink of an eye, her otherworldly appearance turned into a normal and slightly ugly aged appearance.
She was satisfied with what she saw, then she picked up the bag she prepared beforehand, quietly approaching the door. The gap of the door widened slightly, the two yellow dogs raised their heads warily and looked at her, their noses twitching, but in the end, they did not make any noise at all, lying down again to sleep lightly. Lu Ping felt very satisfied, and at this moment, the servants in the courtyard were inside the houses, avoiding the sun, no one was willing to withstand the noon sun and work outdoors.
She left quietly and closed the room door. Without anyone noticing, she quickly left her own small courtyard. There were not that many servants in the Lu family, especially the year after tragedy befell Lu Yao, because Lu family suffered heavy economic losses due to restrictions from the Yao family, many servants were let go. Even though some vitality had been restored, they only cared about their businesses outside, the manor did not change too much in terms of manpower.
She felt lucky that there were very little people in the house and did not meet that many people on the way. She did pass by some guards, but once they saw her face, they thought she was one of the cooking servants in the kitchen or a girl in charge of maintaining the fire and did not pay that much attention.
She knew that the Lu Manor had a small gate, it was secretly made by Lu Cuo in the past to make it convenient for him to sneak out to look for prostitutes. For that small gate, Lu Song already got someone to lock it up and no one guarded it normally, but this did not obstruct her, that gate had not been maintained over the years, so even if it was locked, the blot could be pulled open easily.
Lu Ping left the Lu Manor like this. When Lu Song and Ge Shi were still fantasising that they could send her to the Sixth Prince’s side, she had already left the city quietly, quickly finding the maid Jian Er who was anxiously waiting there.
Jian Er wanted to leave together with Lu Ping, but Lu Ping felt that with one more person, there would be one more target. In addition, this road was fraught with danger, once the people of the Lu family chased after them, her getting captured and brought back was a small matter. Lu family still had a use for her and would naturally not do much to her, but it was different for Jian Er. As a servant, Lu family would likely beat her to death.
She stubbornly did not allow Jian Er to follow, giving Jian Er a silver note worth 200 silver taels, then warned her solemnly: “Go as far as you can, do not head towards the west, choose another direction, this silver is enough for you to live a normal life. I told you before to return home, but thinking about it now, it is not appropriate. It is easy for the people from the Lu Manor to go to your old home, you should go somewhere else. If you really do not have any place to go, then go to Yu Palace and find Princess Yu. Tell her that I asked her to help you. I have not interacted much with her, but she is a good hearted person and will definitely help. At that time, you can work at Yu Palace, the county manor or Yao Manor, so even if the Lu family knew about it, they will not dare to do anything to you.”
Jian Er listened to the arrangements Lu Ping made for her and sobbed heavily, kneeling down, constantly begging to be taken along. But Lu Ping still shook her head and quickly boarded the horse carriage, asking the driver to head off, leaving Jian Er behind.
The horse carriage moved quickly, the driver asked her: “Madam, where are you going? Your maid gave me ten silver taels, I can go very far!” Lu Ping blackened her face and wore a bun hairstyle of an older woman, and she looked like a madam close to thirty years old.
She did not think at all, opening her mouth to say: “Head in the direction of Ji An Prefecture, I want to go to Ji An Prefecture.”
“Huh?” That driver got a shock and could not control the horse well. He quickly adjusted the direction and then said: “That is too far, though ten silver taels is quite a lot, but it is not enough to go so far! And my home is in the capital, leaving for three or five days is alright, but it will take one month to head to Ji An Prefecture and return. The time is too long and I did not tell my wife.”
Lu Ping did not say too much to him, only telling him: “Go as far as you can manage, I will give you another ten silver taels, when you calculate the days and think that you should return, then leave me at a town, I will just hire another horse carriage.”
That driver thought that was fine, it was fair and reasonable, so he did not ask further, quietly driving the carriage.
Lu Ping sat in the horse carriage, feeling anxious the whole time. On one hand, she was worried about Jian Er. On the other hand, she was also worried at the people from the Lu family would quickly give chase. Even though she left the manor smoothly, that was because Lu Song trusted those two yellow dogs too much and the Lu family did not know that her hidden condition had been cured. In addition, there were very little people in the Lu family, that was why no one noticed her.
But with very little people, this did not mean that they could not spare anyone to chase after her. In addition, Lu Song had bet everything on her. In order to get her back, he would think of everything to send people out and it would definitely be someone skilled. Whether she could escape to Ji An Prefecture smoothly, it would be up to fate.
Lu Ping closed her eyes, thinking about these things. At the same time, she thought about what she should do after reaching Ji An Prefecture. Heading to Ji An Prefecture was something she thought about on a whim. The discussion she heard from the people when she was on the streets the last time gave her hope. She thought of going to that kind of place to live, but whether she could live on, she still needed to leave it up to fate.
In the end, it was fate. Lu Ping smiled bitterly. Currently, she only prayed that she would not be captured by the Lu family! She hoped that this journey would be peaceful and smooth, and hoped that Ji An could escape the pursuit by the Lu family.
Lu Ping escaped towards the west. As for Jian Er, she knelt outside the city. Watching the horse carriage leave quickly, she made a decision. She could not leave, she could not escape to the outer provinces, she had to stay in the capital and think of a way to help her Young Miss. Just now, her Young Miss said that she could look for Princess Yu, so she would go look for her and talk about Lu family’s schemes, then beg Princess Yu to help her Young Miss, at least obstructing Lu family’s process of obstruction and interception.
Once Jian Er thought of this, she immediately became motivated, quickly getting up from the ground. Patting the dirt of her body, she returned to the capital quickly, then jogged towards Yu Palace while keeping up her guard.
But it was unfortunate, when she arrived, the people of Yu Palace told her: “Master took Princess out of the city, they have left for two days already, we do not know when they can return.”
Jian Er was stunned, left the city? Do not know when they could return? What should she do? If she could not meet Feng Yuheng today, not only did she have nowhere to go, the people from Lu Manor might catch up with her Young Miss. The two of them escaped like this, Lu family would find out quickly, right? She was anxious, and constantly walked in circles at the gates of Yu Palace. The servant of Yu Palace asked in confusion: “You said that you are the servant of the Eldest Miss of the Lu family, but what urgent matter does your Eldest Miss have to look for Princess Yu? If it is urgent, you can tell Madam Zhou first. Master and Princess Yu have instructed before they left, every big and small matter in the manor can be handled by Madam Zhou with full authority.”
Jian Er did not know what Madam Zhou represented, she was a normal servant and rarely interacted with the outside world. She thought that what she wanted to tell Princess Yu was an important matter. not only was it related to Lu Ping’s safety, it was also related to the secret plans of the Left Prime Minister Lu Song. She had to say this to Princess Yu directly, she could not trust anyone else.
Seeing that Jian Er did not say anything, the door guard of Yu Palace shook his head, not caring about her anything, preparing to close the door. At this moment, someone shouted from the east side of the path: “Over there! Quickly capture her!”
Jian Er got a huge shock. Turning her head slightly, the people who came were wearing the attire of Lu family’s guards. Under the lead of the housekeeper, they ran in her direction, looking very fierce.
Her legs trembled from fright. She did not expect people to come so quickly and did not expect that they would be so accurate, catching her so quickly. She wanted to run, but unfortunately, due to being too frightened, her legs were weak. Without even running two steps, she fell on the steps in front of Yu Palace with a “Plonk”. Very quickly, those guards approached, pressing her to the ground.
“Let go! What do you want to do?” Jian Er shouted, struggling constantly, but she could not release herself from the vice like grips of the guards. “Help! Help! Let go of me! I am not a servant of the Lu family now, my contract is with me, you do not have the right to capture me!”
Who knew, that housekeeper from the Lu family immediately replied: “Whether you are a servant of the Lu family or not, it is not up to you to decide. It is useless even if the contract is in your hands, the authorities have not removed the records yet! Hmph! Damn girl, actually letting Eldest Miss go, after bringing you back, let’s see how Master and Madam will deal with you.” After saying this, he said to those guards: “What are all of you waiting for? Even if you have to carry her, bring her back!”
When she heard this, Jian Er was so afraid that she lost her soul, using all her power to be free of those people. She even used her mouth and teeth, opening her mouth and biting down on the hand of one of the guards. That guard let go in pain and she crawled with all her might to the gates of Yu Palace, begging as she crawled: “I am begging you, let me see Princess Yu, I came to see Princess Yu.”
The gates of Yu Palace were only half closed. The commotion outside also caused the door guard to feel unhappy and opened the gate again. The one who spoke to Jian Er before walked out, looking at the housekeeper of Lu family, asking, “Speak, where are you from?”
No matter how arrogant the people from the Lu Manor were, that was only their attitude towards Jian Er. They did not dare to create conflict with anyone from Yu Palace, even if it was just a lowly door guard, they could not afford to offend him. Therefore, that housekeeper stepped forward quickly, even bowing and said: “Mister, This Servant is the housekeeper from the Left Prime Minister’s Manor, this is a maid from the manor, because she ran out due to making a mistake, This Servant is bringing her back.”
“Oh?” That door guard frowned: “You capture people and yet you will do this in front of the gates of Yu Palace? Even making such a huge ruckus, what kind of place do you think Yu Palace is?”
That housekeeper trembled and could not help but glare at Jian Er. Many nasty thoughts swirled in his mind, but he still replied: “Please forgive us, we were also anxious, that was why we did not consider things and disturbed the quiet of Yu Palace. This Servant will take this person away now. We hope that you will be more tolerant. We will settle things quickly and will not disturb Yu Palace’s peace anymore.”
The door guard looked at the housekeeper, then at Jian Er, unsure if he should get involved in this. After all, this girl said that she came to find Princess Yu and even gave the name of the Lu family’s Eldest Miss. Princess Yu had some private interactions with some young misses in the capital, but he did not know what her relationship with Lu family’s Eldest Miss was like. However, just by looking at this, the people of the Lu family were not in the wrong, capturing a maid who ran away from the manor, Yu Palace did not have any right to interfere. He thought about it for a while and nodded, only saying: “Then do it quickly!” After saying this, he turned and entered the manor, acting like he was going to close the gate.
Seeing this attitude from Yu Palace, the guards from Lu Manor no longer held back, really grabbing Jian Er’s limbs and lifting her up. Ignoring Jian Er’s shouts and struggles, they prepared to head back.
At this moment, on the other side of the path, a woman’s voice was clearly heard, the voice said: “Who is so brave, daring to capture the person This Princess has arranged to meet?”