Where the Mask Ends - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

With her mother-in-law’s permission, Lady Wang began preparing for the outing to Mount Yunwu. The clothes for both mother and daughter were already ready; what they lacked was an impeccable cover for a "chance encounter" with a noble scion.

Wang went to consult her mother-in-law again: "Mother, for tomorrow’s outing, I plan to call on Huizhu and Linlin to come along. It’s only natural for three sisters to enjoy the spring scenery together; others won’t harbor any wild suspicions."

If she only brought one daughter, her intentions would appear too obvious.

Lady Shou’an was both amused and annoyed. If one called her daughter-in-law foolish, it wasn't entirely true; she had a bit of petty cleverness, yet it was the classic case of being too clever for her own good.

"You are taking Huizhen to fish for a golden turtle-son-in-law. Even if you try your hardest to cover it up, your eyes and your behavior will expose your inner thoughts; anyone with a discerning eye can see it. I won't stop you because I know I cannot persuade you two, but Huizhu and Linlin are sensible and reasonable; they know what is good and what is bad. If you want to make a fool of yourself, do so on your own; don't even think about dragging them into it."

Lady Shou’an was never one to mince words with those who refused to listen to reason.

Having been stung by her mother-in-law’s sharp words, Wang dared not plot against Zhou Huizhu or Huo Lin again. As for Wei Rao, she was like a little enchantress who outshone Zhou Huizhen at every turn; there was no way Wang would invite her along.

The next day dawned clear and sunny. After secretly observing the caravans entering Mount Yunwu and spotting several outstanding young masters, Wang set off confidently with Zhou Huizhen, who was dressed to look like a celestial maiden.

Lady Shou’an sent Nanny Liu from her side to accompany them.

She was afraid that Wang and her daughter would do something so ridiculous that they would lose face entirely!

For the next few days, Wang and her daughter entered the mountain daily.

Wei Rao had no interest in scouting for a "golden turtle-son-in-law," but the scenery of Mount Yunwu in the third and fourth lunar months was truly beautiful—a perfect place for a spring outing.

Wei Rao came to the mountains every year and was already very familiar with the interior of Mount Yunwu. She knew where the tourists swarmed, and she also knew of places that, while not famous and ignored by others, held a unique, pure, and rustic mountain charm.

"Grandmother, are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

After Wang and her daughter departed that day, Wei Rao changed into her male attire and brought Zhou Huizhu and Huo Lin to bid farewell to Lady Shou’an.

Lady Shou’an laughed: "I would like to go, but I’m getting on in years. One must accept that they are old. You are all taking rugged trails and moving as freely as little deer; my old bones simply can't climb them."

Mount Yunwu was truly beautiful. Ever since leaving the palace, Lady Shou’an had visited the mountains every spring and autumn—sometimes to enjoy the flowers, climb to watch the sunrise, hunt for wild game, or offer incense at the temple. Because it was so close, she went whenever she pleased. The reason her health was better than Old Madam Wei’s was likely due to her habit of frequently going into the mountains to stretch her limbs.

Now that she was old and couldn't climb, strolling through the garden every day was also quite nice.

Lady Shou’an was very content.

With their grandmother staying behind, the three sisters each took a maid, mounted their horses, and set off, following the familiar narrow trail.

The trail ran parallel to the official road, separated by only two or three li, and could be seen by looking up.

The official road was filled with an endless stream of tourists, while the narrow trail was used only by rural folk busy with spring plowing. The sudden appearance of several fine horses immediately attracted attention.

Lu Zhuo was on horseback, following his grandmother’s carriage as it moved slowly forward. His field of vision was filled with spring scenery. Noticing the movement on the narrow trail, he turned his head and discovered the six horses belonging to Wei Rao’s party.

That narrow trail passed near Lady Shou’an’s Idle Villa. Since there had been no riders on the first half of the path, these six must have departed from the villa.

Lu Zhuo immediately thought of the Fourth Miss of the Cheng’an Earl’s Mansion whom he had encountered while hunting in the mountains not long ago.

Looking at the "young masters" on horseback, each was slender, and their posture in the saddle betrayed the caution and reserve of young ladies. The only exception was the "youth" in white running at the very front; the way she galloped along with such ease and grace did not lose out to any true man.

Lu Zhuo had a faint feeling that the "youth" in white was Wei Rao.

This Fourth Miss was truly wild.

"Big Brother, there seems to be a trail up the mountain over there, too." Lu Zhuo’s cousin, Lu Cong, also noticed the activity on the narrow trail and was extremely envious of the youths on the other side who could run their horses wild. Today, his grandmother and the women of the household had come to Mount Yunwu to play, and they had tapped him and his elder brother to accompany them. Lu Cong had been happy at first, but upon discovering that the two brothers could only follow the carriages at a snail’s pace and could not do as they pleased, he regretted accepting the task. Had he known the trip would be this dull, he would rather have stayed at the estate and practiced martial arts with his master.

"So what if there is?" Lu Zhuo, who had already averted his gaze, asked with a smile.

Lu Cong rubbed his nose and whispered: "Big Brother, Grandfather has been strict lately, and I haven't been out of the city to trot my horse in a long time. Moving this slowly is so unsatisfying. Why don't you stay behind to attend to Grandmother, and I’ll take the small path for a loop and meet up with you all at the foot of the mountain?"

Lu Zhuo: "Inappropriate."

Lu Cong wailed: "Why is it inappropriate?"

Lu Zhuo thought of Qi Zhongkai’s fawning, slavish behavior before Wei Rao and highly suspected that if Lu Cong met Wei Rao, he would turn into the same fawning mess.

"I’ve heard there are fox spirits lurking in the mountains. I’m afraid you’ll have your wits charmed away by a fox spirit," Lu Zhuo said coolly.

Lu Cong never expected to hear such superstitious talk from his scholarly and upright elder brother; he was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the ground.

Lu Zhuo said no more. In short, without his permission, Lu Cong dared not go anywhere.

Lu Cong truly didn't dare. He was afraid this elder brother, who was not as righteous as he appeared, would go and complain to their grandfather, who would then toss him to the borderlands for training, for seven or eight years at a time.

The carriage moved slowly. In the short distance of five or six li, Wei Rao and her group had already vanished into the mountains, while the Duke of England’s caravan hadn't even covered half the distance.

Moving at such a crawl, it was no wonder Lu Cong couldn't stand it; he shifted restlessly on his saddle, as if he had a rash on his bottom.

Lu Zhuo, however, remained indifferent, enjoying the scenery of the various peaks of Mount Yunwu with great ease.

In the fields beside the official road, commoners in plain clothes were busy with spring plowing. Lu Zhuo’s gaze swept over those busy figures, yet not long after Wei Rao’s group entered the mountain, Lu Zhuo suddenly noticed two farmers in straw hats rise from the edge of the field on the side of the small path and walk side-by-side in the direction Wei Rao’s group had taken.

The two moved with vigor, exchanging no words as they walked. Mixed in with the other farmers, they were like two wolves who had broken into a flock of sheep.

The two were already close to Mount Yunwu and moved so swiftly that in the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the mountain forest.

Lu Zhuo’s expression remained normal. He continued along the path for a bit before approaching the carriage window and tapping lightly.

A young maid opened the curtain, and the Duchess of England looked out with loving eyes.

Lu Zhuo whispered: "Grandmother, I have some matters to attend to, so I shall go ahead into the mountains. I will come to accompany you to enjoy the flowers when I am finished."

A smile played on his lips, and his eyes were clear, as if he had only encountered a minor trifle.

The Duchess of England looked deeply at her eldest grandson and nodded.

Lu Zhuo exchanged a few words with Lu Cong before increasing his speed, galloping along the official road toward Mount Yunwu.

Lu Cong was so jealous he could bite his tongue; well played, Lu Zhuo! He wouldn't let him ride his horse, but he slipped away himself!

Wei Rao, Zhou Huizhu, and Huo Lin were not the types to be quiet or follow the rules. Whether through practicing martial arts or constant movement, their stamina far exceeded that of noble ladies who spent their lives in deep courtyards, so they climbed the mountain very quickly. In half an hour, they reached their destination—a secluded valley far from the main peak of Mount Yunwu.

In the valley, there was a waterfall and a pool; the banks were lined with soft white sand, and the nearby thickets and forests were covered with all sorts of unnamed wildflowers.

Huo Lin, who was visiting for the first time, was amazed: "It’s so beautiful here; I don't want to go back."

Wei Rao smiled: "If you really think so, we’ll come back tomorrow. We’ll bring a tent and invite Grandmother over to camp for the night."

She had done such things with her master, staying in the mountains for over a month at a time.

Recalling those years, Wei Rao suddenly missed her master. Alas, her master had the heart of a free crane in the clouds. Once her health was restored and her sword skills reached the level of a master, her master had bid farewell—a single sword and a single horse, how incredibly free and easy.

"Sister Rao is so different from what I imagined."

Watching Wei Rao take off her shoes and socks to walk barefoot on the soft sand, Huo Lin said, half in envy and half in marvel, "Before I came to the capital, I thought Sister Rao would be like the official’s daughters I’d seen in Taiyuan—more concerned with following the rules than anyone else. I was even worried we wouldn't get along."

Wei Rao stood at the boundary between the pool water and the dry sand, bending over to roll up her pant legs as she asked with a smile: "And now? Do you look down on this cousin of yours for being too wild?"

Huo Lin burst into a giggle. Her gaze shifted from Wei Rao’s bright, dazzling face to the two segments of snow-white, beautiful legs exposed beneath her trousers, and her heartbeat unexpectedly accelerated a few beats. Wei Rao’s behavior in the mountains was indeed a bit wild, but for a beauty like her, everything she did was beautiful, and she couldn't be associated with "coarseness" in the slightest.

"Come on, I’ll teach you all how to spear fish," Wei Rao invited with a smile.

Zhou Huizhu and Huo Lin both walked over, full of excitement.

Baochan and the other two maids remained on the bank, chatting while keeping an eye out for anyone nearby. By all accounts, no one should be able to find this place, but one still had to take precautions.

Behind a cluster of waist-high bushes, two masked assassins hid with great caution. One of them had a pair of sinister triangular eyes, and the other had a black mole on the bridge of his nose.

The three young girls frolicking in the pool were like celestial maidens descended to earth—beautiful of appearance and pleasant of voice—but as assassins charged with a task where failure meant death, neither man had the mood to admire the beauty.

They were waiting. Waiting for the Fourth Miss to be alone.

Further away, Lu Zhuo hid behind a tree. From this angle, he could see the two assassins but remained hidden from the three girls in the pool.

He was curious why the two assassins had been tracking the girls for so long but hadn't yet made a move.

If they didn't intend to kill, then Lu Zhuo had no reason to kill them.

If they did intend to kill, Lu Zhuo would wait for them to make their move before revealing himself. He would let the little girls be scared out of their wits and remember this lesson, lest they continue to wander into the mountains alone without their entourages in the future.

The girls caught a few fish, handed them to the maids to clean, and were just about to light a fire to roast them.

The sun was getting a bit hot. As Wei Rao took off her hat and tilted her head to tidy her hair, her peripheral vision caught a bush that suddenly shifted, only to return to stillness in the blink of an eye.

Wei Rao continued to smooth her hair, which had been dampened by the splashing water of the pool. She put on her shoes and socks, and as she stood up, she said to Zhou Huizhu and Huo Lin: "I’m going to relieve myself."

Zhou Huizhu wanted to go, too.

Wei Rao smiled and said softly: "Wait a moment. You can go after I return. I don't want to see anything I shouldn't."

Zhou Huizhu’s face flushed slightly. Why is Sister Rao getting worse and worse?

Wei Rao patted the little girl on the head and turned to walk into the woods, keeping a distance from that clump of bushes.

She looked straight ahead, but her ears were tuned to the movement behind her. Two people were following, and there were only two.

She had left her sword on the bank, but she did have a bracelet on her wrist for emergencies.

In truth, Wei Rao had a chance of winning if she acted directly, but the commotion would be too great and would frighten her cousins.

Resolve it silently.

When they were sufficiently far away, Wei Rao crouched down, presenting a wide opening. The two assassins saw this and struck at once, like tigers pouncing on a sheep.

At this very moment, Wei Rao suddenly rolled to the side and pressed her right hand against the mechanism on the bracelet on her left wrist. Two small silver needles shot out one after the other, sinking into the space between the brows of the two men.

With that, the danger was resolved.

However, as the two men who had pounced on her collapsed with muffled groans, another tall figure—who had been blocked by their bodies—appeared in Wei Rao’s line of sight. If it weren't for the fact that Lu Zhuo’s beauty was so breathtaking that anyone would remember it, and which allowed Wei Rao to identify him in time, her bracelet would have been aimed at Lu Zhuo.

Too shocked, Wei Rao remained kneeling, forgetting to move.

Likewise, because the figures of the two assassins had blocked the view, Lu Zhuo hadn't seen the hidden needle attack that Wei Rao had launched.

Lu Zhuo assumed both men had died by his own hand. Therefore, in his eyes, Wei Rao had become a brainless beauty, stunned by fear and reaping the consequences of her own recklessness.