Xiao Hua and Liu Yao followed behind Ma Sao, once again weaving through the courtyard of the horse gang.
“Hey yo!”
Xiao Hua, basket in hand, trailed behind, looking left and right, occasionally tugging at Liu Yao’s hem so she wouldn’t get left behind.
The girl, drawn by her little movements, turned her head in confusion, looking at Xiao Hua and asked:
“Xiao Hua, why are you following me? I thought you’d go back after reporting.”
“And… why are you still holding that basket?”
Xiao Hua put her hands on her hips indignantly, pouting.
“Young Master, what are you saying? I’m a member of the Wang Family too. What’s wrong with caring about how Miss’s commission is going?”
“As for this basket…” Xiao Hua shrunk her head, glancing at Ma Sao humming ahead, and after confirming she wasn’t turning back, lowered her voice. “Madam Ma didn’t take it just now, so I felt awkward just putting it down and leaving.”
“If Miss finds out, I’ll have to clean the courtyard for a whole month again!”
Xiao Hua was usually on standby outside the study for the masters. Dirty, tiring work like cleaning was normally handled by the servants.
Although servants like Xiao Hua generally had different duties from the menials, they were still the Wang Family’s subordinates.
So a maid like Xiao Hua would still do chores like disposing of odd items.
But doing something willingly versus being forced to was different—after all, everyone wanted to slack off now and then, even Xiao Hua.
Liu Yao nodded repeatedly, confirming Xiao Hua’s words.
“You’re right. With your Miss’s temper, she might even make you clean the outhouse too.”
After their brief meeting last time, the girl felt that Wang Huaiyu completely fit her stereotype of a young lady.
Arrogant, unreasonable, impatient… all the flaws of a spoiled heiress could be found in Wang Huaiyu.
But actually, Liu Yao didn’t really hate Wang Huaiyu, because in her eyes, this Miss Wang was the type who could be reasoned with—though that wasn’t the main point.
The main point was—
‘The Wang Family really isn’t stingy with their money…’
‘Thirty silver taels at once! And that’s three times what that old pervert Wang Chengle gave!’
‘Ten silver taels is thirty strings of copper coins. Thirty taels is…’
‘Heh… I’ve been wandering the Jianghu for so long. Is my luck finally turning around?’
‘Just thinking that some small tasks like finding people and bodyguarding can net me so much money…’
‘Hehehe…’
Watching the young hero suddenly sink into thought mid-conversation and then start giggling to herself, Xiao Hua felt her mental image shatter.
‘Uwa… So Master Lu is this kind of person?’
‘I really learned something new today…’
‘Miss was right. You can’t judge a book by its cover.’
Xiao Hua leaned close to Liu Yao, who was still walking while daydreaming about a bright future, stood on her tiptoes, and lowered her voice:
“And what about you, Young Master? Earlier you said you were looking for an acquaintance. Why didn’t you mention it just now?”
Snapped back to reality by Xiao Hua’s words, the girl shuddered, coughed dryly, and her eyes drifted.
“…Incidentally, incidentally. Besides, finding the acquaintance isn’t urgent. The main business comes first.”
“Ohhh—” Xiao Hua drew out the tone, blinked, then resumed normal walking without pressing further.
Seeing Xiao Hua like that, Liu Yao knew she clearly didn’t believe this perfunctory excuse.
‘Damn it! Master, I wish you had taught me how to lie back then!’
The girl silently complained about her master, who was far away.
“What are you two chattering about back there? Having fun?” Ma Sao turned around, looking puzzled.
“N-nothing…”
“Right, right! Nothing…”
Xiao Hua and Liu Yao both waved their hands, saying it was nothing, but their guilty looks were obvious to anyone.
“Hmm…” Ma Sao frowned slightly, looking baffled, but finally turned back and gestured for them to keep up.
“Forget it, you young people handle your own affairs…”
“Follow closely, don’t get lost, okay?”
With that, she turned a corner and disappeared.
The two, one big and one small, could only stare at each other. Coming to their senses, they quickly hurried after her.
Inside the cage, Niu Xingfa lay on his side, picking dirt from his belly button, staring blankly at the bright sky outside.
He brought his dirt-picking hand to his nose and sniffed, but had no reaction. Finally, he let out a long sigh, lamenting the unpredictability of life.
Niu Xingfa didn’t want to be so bored that he’d become a idle bum like this.
After all, no one could be so bored as to become a prisoner for no reason.
Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?
But last night, his older brother’s words had given his restless heart a hard kick—
“Are you an idiot?! You’ve already endured so many days. What’s a little more?”
“If we mess up the mission from above, the boss’s big palm will land on our heads!”
“And I’ve calculated it. With Lord You’s carriage speed, they’ll arrive in about two days.”
“Just stay put here. Drink water when you’re thirsty, eat locusts when you’re hungry. Don’t keep whining in my ear every day, got it?!”
His brother’s scolding voice echoed in Niu Xingfa’s mind, barely managing to bring him to his senses.
He only sat up slightly, switching from lying on his right side to his left side, continuing to laze around without moving.
“F-feels like…”
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph…”
Behind Niu Xingfa, a shirtless young man was lying on the floor, writhing desperately.
His mouth was stuffed with something, and his hands and feet were tightly bound with torn cloth.
From a distance, he looked like some kind of maggot crawling out of somewhere.
“Mmph your grandpa!”
Behind the young man, Niu Xingwang kicked him hard, cursing.
“Damn it, don’t you see everyone else is staying quiet?!”
“You’ve got so much energy, you eat so much! I’ll kick you to death!”
Niu Xingwang kicked the young man a few more times. When he stopped moving, he withdrew his foot and spat on the ground.
The kicked young man finally quieted down. Thanks to those kicks, the noise in the cage gradually subsided.
As for Niu Xingfa, he maintained the same side-lying pose, like a Ji Gong statue, staring blankly.
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard.
Not the hurried “tap-tap” of horse gang disciples running, but steady, slow footsteps mixed with voices.
“This is the place.” A woman’s voice, sounding middle-aged, with a casual tone.
“The batch the Yamen sent a few days ago is all locked up here.”