The Eunuch Has A Wife - Chapter 45

“Husband?”

A soft inquiry reached her ears, the trailing tone casual and lazy.

Bai Zhi secretly clenched the hem of her robe, trying hard to suppress her chaotic breathing. Her voice was calm but betrayed a slight tremble: “This… this is just right.”

Don’t come any closer. If you do, she felt like she might be scorched by an unnamed flame at any moment.

Wei Ziwan, who had been lightly biting her lips, silently relaxed her jaw and said ambiguously, “That’s good then. Let’s sleep early.”

The air suddenly fell silent. Both of them stopped speaking, each calming their breathing, and eventually drifted off to sleep at some point.

Outside the window, the moonlight was silvery. Inside, when did the soft murmurs begin? (A bold hint)

Four days later, Manager Xi arrived at Lingjue Manor again with people and carriages. This time, however, besides the seven or eight carriages without compartments, the one he rode in had a compartment.

Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan exchanged glances. After exchanging pleasantries with Manager Xi, they boarded the carriage and headed to the vegetable shed.

The carriage curtain fell, blocking the view from outside.

Manager Xi lifted the curtain and glanced outside before turning to them: “Everything is arranged. It’s just a pity about the last batch of seedlings.”

Bai Zhi also felt it was a shame, but compared to those seedlings, people were more important: “We can harvest three batches of seedlings. The safest way is to leave in the middle, but Manager Xi, don’t give up on the last batch. We’ll write it down clearly, and when the time comes, you can pretend not to know and bring people to harvest. That way, you can avoid suspicion.”

Manager Xi chuckled: “Brother Bai makes a good point.”

Soon, the carriage slowly came to a halt, and the three of them got off and entered the vegetable shed.

Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan walked inside, followed by two slender men. In terms of height, the four of them were almost indistinguishable.

In the corner were clothes that had been brought earlier. The two men, following Manager Xi’s instructions, removed their outer robes. Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan calmly took off their outermost robes and put on the ones the men had been wearing.

Wei Ziwan took out a wooden comb and styled the men’s hair in the same way she and Bai Zhi usually wore theirs.

“Manager Xi won’t be coming again.” she said casually as she combed their hair.

Bai Zhi was momentarily stunned, then asked, “Why?”

Wei Ziwan glanced at her and said indifferently, “Once we leave, the manor will surely suspect Manager Xi of helping us secretly. No matter what he does, it won’t make a difference.”

As for the last batch of seedlings, there was no need for them anymore. The amount harvested from these two batches was enough for all the branches of Lou Shang Lou in Ninglin Prefecture.

The method of building vegetable sheds in winter wasn’t hard to learn, and more people would likely imitate it in the future, including Lou Shang Lou.

So there was no need to make another trip, to avoid unnecessary complications.

Bai Zhi pondered for a moment and nodded quietly: “So, was Manager Xi just humoring me earlier?”

Realizing she had been brushed off, she felt a bit embarrassed. It seemed she needed to think more carefully before speaking in the future to avoid being dismissed like this again.

“Manager Xi saw that Husband still had some innocence left and kindly didn’t remind you. Don’t take it to heart.” Wei Ziwan said, putting away the comb and examining the men’s hairstyles. They looked fine.

Bai Zhi’s face turned even more awkward. This woman might as well have not spoken—her words of comfort sounded more like mockery.

She wanted to retort but remembered their interactions over the past few days and inexplicably felt her anger fade.

Forget it, she wouldn’t argue with this woman.

After the four of them swapped clothes and hairstyles, Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan joined the others in harvesting vegetables, while the two men watched from a distance.

When Manager Xi and his group were about to leave, they emerged from the vegetable shed and stood by the roadside, bowing as they saw them off.

One carriage after another moved out. The two figures outside the vegetable shed watched for a moment before entering the shed again, just like last time.

One figure in snow-blue, the other in moon-white, they disappeared from sight.

At the manor’s gate, Bai Li led the group in seeing them off once more.

This time, Manager Xi only lifted the carriage curtain, poked his head out, and exchanged a few words without even getting off the carriage before leaving with his group.

Someone in the crowd made a gesture, and two inconspicuous figures followed, one after the other.

Inside the vegetable shed, the two slender men counted the time. After about half an hour, they took off their snow-blue and moon-white robes and changed into the gray cotton clothes prepared earlier before leaving the shed.

From a distance, a manor servant saw the two figures emerging from the vegetable shed and felt a pang of alarm. He quickly stepped forward to intercept them: “Who are you two? Why are you coming out of our manor’s vegetable shed?”

The man in front smiled and replied, “We’re day laborers hired from the neighboring town. We stayed behind to help tidy up the fields, and now that we’re done, we’re heading back.”

So they were hired laborers. The servant relaxed and stepped aside to let them pass.

Another half-hour later, as the sky was almost dark, there was still no movement from the vegetable shed. The servant guarding the roadside suddenly realized something and ran toward the shed.

The shed’s door was slightly ajar. He called out but got no response, so he pushed the door open and looked inside—it was already empty.

Meanwhile, Lou Shang Lou’s carriages entered the city one after another and stopped at the back door of Lou Shang Lou.

With only two quarters of an hour left before the city gates closed, a figure following the carriages quietly left.

Manager Xi glanced at the retreating figure and quickly had everyone unload the seedlings from one of the carriages.

Bundles of seedlings were unloaded, revealing a layer of tied wooden planks. After untying the ropes and removing the planks, Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan were revealed inside the carriage.

The middle had been hollowed out, leaving only a small vent at the top.

“The carriage is ready. You can still make it out of the city now. The tail has left, hurrying to get out before the gates close. You should go quickly.” Manager Xi said, then turned to give the coachman some instructions.

Bai Zhi clasped her hands in gratitude and hurriedly boarded the carriage with Wei Ziwan. If they didn’t leave the city today, Lingjue Manor might have people watching the gates tomorrow, so they couldn’t afford to delay.

The coachman flicked the reins, and the carriage sped toward the city gates.

Inside Lingjue Manor, Bai Shu listened to the report and said coldly, “Useless. Quickly take some men to the prefectural city and keep an eye on Lou Shang Lou.”

“Yes.”

“Wait. By the time you get there, the city gates will be closed. Let’s wait and see. Hopefully, they didn’t leave the city today.” Bai Shu rubbed his forehead. Things were getting out of control. It seemed they would have to activate the second backup plan.

That reckless girl, did she know what she was giving up?

Heaven’s will, it must be heaven’s will!

The next day, Bai Shu sent people to watch both Lou Shang Lou and the city gates, though he held little hope.

Bai Li, looking indignant, said, “Father, let me go to Lou Shang Lou and demand Manager Xi hand them over.”

“Lou Shang Lou will just brush you off. Without catching them in the act, it’s all speculation. We can’t confront them over this.”

Bai Shu’s expression was cold. Halfway through his sentence, he turned to Bai Li: “Tomorrow, announce to the public that Bai Luo is not part of our Bai family. You and she will marry before the New Year.”

Bai Li was stunned: “Father—I only have brotherly feelings for Second Sister—”

Marry Second Sister? Impossible. Although he had long known she wasn’t his bl00d sister, he had never even considered marrying her.

Seeing this, Bai Shu clutched his chest and said with difficulty, “I don’t want to force you, but Bai Zhi has run away. We have no way out now. Don’t you understand my pain? Think of your grandfather, your grandmother, and the clansmen who died with them. Li’er, we have no other path.”

Bai Li’s breath caught, and his face gradually turned pale.

He clenched his fists and finally lowered his head.

Sometimes, silence was compliance.

He had no choice.

The north wind howled as the carriage left Ninglin Prefecture and entered the prefectural city of Jintian.

Bai Zhi looked out at the somewhat familiar buildings and murmured, “Last time, I was determined to stay away from the capital. After months of wandering, I never thought I’d be back.”

Wei Ziwan also looked out the window: “Yes, but the most dangerous place is the safest. Lingjue Manor won’t expect us to head back toward the capital.”

Though they didn’t know if Lingjue Manor would continue searching for them, it was better to be cautious.

Bai Zhi nodded: “Let’s find an inn to rest tonight and leave the city tomorrow morning. Manager Xi prepared identity documents for us as his distant nephews returning home to pay respects to our ancestors.”

Manager Xi’s ancestors were from Songjia Village near the capital. If all went well, they would settle in the village under the guise of Manager Xi’s nephews.

Wei Ziwan was silent for a while before nodding slowly. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Manager Xi’s attitude when he first agreed to help them was different from when he saw them off.

It was a strange feeling.

Initially, it had been a straightforward transaction, nothing more.

But when he saw them off, it felt like there was something else, a sense of caution as if he was completing an important task.

After another moment of silence, she couldn’t help but ask, “Husband, what do you think of Manager Xi?”

What did she think of Manager Xi?

Bai Zhi pondered: “I used to think he was a reliable businessman. Now, I think he’s also a man of loyalty and righteousness.”

Wei Ziwan’s eyebrows twitched: “Since when did you think he was loyal and righteous?”

Bai Zhi replied casually, “Since he helped us this time. When he saw us off, it felt like he was very… very…”

“Very invested in whether we could leave safely, right?” Wei Ziwan softly interjected.

“Exactly, that’s the word—invested.” Bai Zhi looked at Wei Ziwan. She hadn’t been able to find the right word, but Wei Ziwan had nailed it.

That sense of being invested.

Wei Ziwan pursed her lips. If one person’s feeling could be wrong, but if two people felt the same, it wasn’t an illusion.

Manager Xi’s attitude had indeed changed.