spoiled brat

Chapter 108 107. It’s hard to calm down (7)
With a swift release of the bowstring, the arrow pierced the wind with a thud. Zhao Zhao opened her eyes and saw the arrow embedded in a tree not far away, its tip actually piercing a flying flower.

She was stunned. This actually worked? Even if you were to stab someone with an arrow right in front of them, it wouldn't be this miraculous.

Although Xiu Yi was blindfolded, he could sense that Zhao Zhao's breathing was slow, as if she were a mayfly seeing the blue sky.

Fearing she might feel inferior and give up on herself, he said, "You are fourteen years old now. If you concentrate on your training for ten years, even if you can't catch up with Ye Chuanhua by the time you are twenty-four, killing anyone you want will be a piece of cake."

Ten years is too long, Zhao Zhao muttered in response, and tiptoed to remove the blindfold from his eyes.

Her breathing was heavy, Xiu Yi thought, and he would probably see her dejected face and her usually bright eyes dimming.

Before the towel could be untied, something touched her lips, warm and soft, light and gentle...

In a flash, Xiu Yi took a step back, his usually indifferent expression showing a change: "You're being presumptuous."

Something indescribable surged within him. He pulled open the handkerchief and saw Zhao Zhao holding up her hand, a petal drifting from her fingertips.

"What did I do to you?" Zhao Zhao looked bewildered. "You have flower petals on your lips."

Xiu Yi coldly turned his head away, unable to explain.

Just then, rain began to fall from the sky, pouring down like pillars and waterfalls in an instant. Unable to return to the village in the rain, he turned and left, saying to Zhao Zhao without looking back, "Let's take shelter from the rain first. Why bother looking for us later?"

Not far away, they found a large tree with lush foliage. The ground beneath the tree was dry, and there was a blue stone where they could sit.

Xiu Yi sat down, staring blankly at the rain and mist. There was no movement beside him for a long time. He turned his head and saw that Zhao Zhao had taken off her boots at some point and was sitting cross-legged barefoot and leisurely.

He remembered what had just happened and abruptly looked away: "Put your shoes on properly."

"How can I wear it if it's all wet?" Zhao Zhao refused.

Xiu Yi said coldly, "No manners. Don't stand next to me."

Zhao Zhao cursed under her breath, "What nonsense! Why are you telling me rules when I'm just a peasant? Who wants to be near you?" She put on her shoes, squatted down, picked up a twig, and started drawing on the ground. The drawings weren't anything special; they were mostly turtles and tortoises.

Xiu Yi asked, "Are you insulting me?"

He suddenly became meddlesome and critical, and Zhao Zhao said impatiently, "Last time, the princess said she would help me find my childhood friend, but I drew someone I've known for over ten years like a ghost. Don't you know what kind of drawing skills I have? If I deliberately drew a turtle or tortoise to insult you, the heavens would immediately send lightning to strike me down—"

Before she could finish speaking, a thunderbolt crashed down with tremendous force, and Zhao Zhao awkwardly shut her mouth.

Xiu Yi found it amusing and asked, "How's your calligraphy practice going?"

“If you refuse to teach me, I’ll still be the same old dog-digging creature,” Zhao Zhao said. “Last time I sent a message back to the manor, the princess wrote to ask if you hadn’t taught me. I covered it up and just said that I was too stupid and beyond redemption.”

"Thank you so much." Xiu Yi flattened the turtle she had drawn, "and wrote your name on it."

Zhao Zhao wrote it down on a twig. Xiu Yi glanced at it and said, "This is her name. What about her courtesy name?"

“I don’t even have a surname, so how could I have a given name?” Zhao Zhao’s tone darkened. “That’s something for you rich people.”

Nickname.

Zhao Zhao added two strokes to the end of her name, and Xiu Yi said, "Zhao Zhao'er?"

He disliked the name, saying it sounded like the names of the cats and dogs in the manor. He frowned and said, "It was fine before, but now you're being called names like cats and dogs? Why don't you change it to a proper name?"

This was meant well, but Zhao Zhao took it wrong. She threw down the branch in her hand and said, "I'm just a nobody. I can't cause any big trouble. Why bother with such a complicated and meaningful name? Nobody will bother to remember me anyway."

"I'm not human?" Xiu Yi's face turned cold. "Xiu Ning isn't human? Your real sister isn't human?"

“Yes.” Zhao Zhao glared at him, her arrogance suddenly vanishing: “But not the person who grew up with me.”

Xiu Yi wouldn't let her sit, so she remained squatting, turning away to reveal her small, lonely figure.
"...You are high and mighty, and you despise this name, but this is all I have left. I would rather someone call me this every day, to remind me not to forget my old relatives and friends, and not to go astray or grow up with the wrong heart."

Xiu Yi, accustomed to being pampered and privileged, never considered anyone's feelings. His tone softened but remained cold and hard: "I just don't want you to be addressed so respectfully."

Zhao Zhao still had her back to him, poking at the mud on the ground with a twig: "I'm not tall to begin with."

“You’re not tall, so why isn’t someone else here with me sheltering from the rain?” Xiu Yi couldn’t stand her saying that, so he added, “Besides, Xiu Ning likes you.”

"Oh," Zhao Zhao replied perfunctorily. Her mind was in turmoil, and she fell silent, not uttering another word.

Amidst the cacophony of the downpour, the clatter of hooves approached. He must have brought his attendants with him. He dismounted, opened an umbrella, and leaned close to Xiu Yi, whispering a few words in his ear.

After listening, Xiu Yi remained silent for a moment, then looked at Zhao Zhao: "Your friend has been found."

Seemingly sensing that something was wrong, Zhao Zhao's expression darkened: "...What's wrong with him?"

Xiu Yi regretted saying those words earlier: "He escaped on his way to exile but was caught and brought back. According to the law, he was to be executed immediately."

Zhao Zhao froze like a stone sculpture or a piece of wax, silent and still, her expression deathly still. After a full ten thousand years, she slowly nodded and said, "Okay."

A few warm raindrops fell on the back of her hand. Zhao Zhao was stunned for a moment before realizing that she was crying. Tears fell drop by drop, like rain. She wiped them again and again, but she couldn't wipe them all away... Seeing her bewildered look, Xiu Yi said softly, "I shouldn't have said those things."

He disliked her name, but no one else would call her that anymore.

Zhao Zhao wiped her face and forced a smile: "It doesn't matter anymore." Then she asked, "What happened to his remains?"

What else could they do? A lowly, displaced person; the constables wouldn't even bother burying him after killing him. Why not speak the truth? He gave a wink to his men behind him, and someone immediately handed him a bundle.

Zhao Zhao opened the box and saw a clean, tattered prison uniform and blood-stained handcuffs inside... Was Xiao Duo really dead? Her ears were ringing, as if she had been thrown into a bottomless, icy pool. The road ahead seemed endless, and she was truly all alone to walk it.

Zhao Zhao looked up at Xiu Yi and said, "...Young Master, I want to go home and build a grave for him."

"Alright." Xiu Yi avoided her tearful eyes and instructed He Bi, "Give her the token and lead her a fast horse."

The world was in turmoil, and many checkpoints were set up on the roads. The counties also did not easily allow outsiders to enter.

Zhao Zhao took the sign and reins from He Bi and slowly climbed onto the platform.

She was all alone, so why worry? "Little girl, do you need someone to keep you company?"

Zhao Zhao strapped the bow and arrows to her back, put the quiver into her satchel, shook her head and said, "No. Those two uncles who escorted me home last time died mysteriously... I'm so unlucky, I'd better go alone."

Why be speechless? Xiu Yi didn't try to persuade her, but said calmly, "Go quickly and come back quickly."

Qingyang County is not far from here, and Zhao Zhao replied, "At most two days." With that, he spurred his horse.

-

The night rain poured down, and thick clouds obscured the moon.

Just after dawn, the gatekeepers were dozing off when they were startled by a loud knocking on the door. Amidst the cacophony of the downpour, a childish voice cried out, "Open the door!"

The gatekeepers, suspecting they had misheard, lowered the heavy bolt and saw a man and a horse stepping out from the wind and rain.

A young woman sat on horseback, holding a gilded plaque with cloud patterns. She said coldly, "I'm on a mission from the Prince of Ning's residence. Take me to the county government office."

The gatekeepers dared not delay, leading the horses and providing shelter from the wind and rain. After a few claps of thunder, they arrived at the yamen and hurriedly called for people to come and greet them.

First, several clerks came out, and then an old man with white hair knelt before Zhao Zhao's horse: "Your esteemed messenger has arrived suddenly. What brings you here? Should we summon the magistrate to receive your orders?"

"No need." Zhao Zhao dismounted and said calmly, "Is your chief clerk here?"

The old man bowed: "That's me."

"Take me to the back office archives."

Zhao Zhao took off her straw raincoat and hat, stepped across the threshold, and said as she walked, "A few months ago, there was a bandit attack in the county, and a large number of houses were burned down. Has reconstruction begun yet?"

"...Not yet." The registrar, carrying a lantern, quickly caught up: "After such a huge upheaval, it was only with great difficulty that things stabilized. The county allocated funds to purchase all the stone and timber, and repairs will only begin next month."

As they spoke, they arrived outside the archives. The registrar took out his key and opened the door. Zhao Zhao glanced back at the dark night behind her, felt a chill, and lowered her gaze.

The storeroom door creaked open, and the registrar gestured for her to enter. Zhao Zhao squeezed in sideways.

She lit a few candles, glanced at the various official documents on the shelf, slid a silver note out of her sleeve, and held it up to the registrar: "I want to buy a plot of land. Please find out the land deeds for the streets in the south of the county so I can choose one."

The registrar took the silver note and cautiously asked, "Judging from your accent, are you from this county?"

"Correct."

Zhao Zhao walked around the wooden shelves as if it were nothing, her eyes scanning the booklets one by one—last August, that beast had not yet passed the imperial examination and was just a minor staff member. He accompanied his master back to his hometown after his retirement and stayed in Qingyang County, where he met Yao Niang—this was the root of the trouble.

"Having been away from home for so long, I want to buy a house as a memento, so I won't forget my roots."

When has anyone from this county ever climbed the social ladder to the Prince of Ning's mansion? Why would buying a piece of land require such an honorable visit on a rainy night?
The registrar suppressed his doubts and buried himself in searching through the registers and land deeds.

"Do you have any requirements regarding the location, orientation, and size of this house?"

"……No."

Zhao Zhao's gaze fixed on a courier document in front of her, which recorded the dispatch of carriages and horses and the number of people accompanying the visiting officials. It was from August or September of last year.

"Your esteemed request is unnecessary if you are only buying one house..."

As the registrar was muttering to himself, the window behind him suddenly swung open, and wind and rain rushed in, instantly extinguishing the candles on the desk.

"Heavens above!"

The documents in the archives couldn't withstand the dampness, so the registrar got up in the dark, stumbled to close the window, and then took out a flint to relight the candle.

As soon as he turned his head, he saw Zhao Zhao emerge from the shadows and say calmly, "There's really no need for that, is there?"

For some reason, the registrar felt a chill when stared at by those bright eyes, but he smiled and brushed it off, bowing to invite her to sit down first.

A moment later, a stack of land deeds was placed in front of Zhaozhao. She casually flipped through a few books before finally pointing to a piece of land.

The registrar took a closer look and hurriedly advised, "No, sir! There used to be a brothel on this ground, full of filthy, rotten prostitutes. A few months ago, there was a banditry, and these prostitutes suffered the most. Few of them were even alive. They are filled with resentment, and I'm afraid it's bad feng shui."

Zhao Zhao patiently listened to him finish speaking: "I want this land. Go get the deed."

About two incense sticks later, the storeroom door opened a crack, and Zhao Zhao squeezed out by candlelight, wearing a straw raincoat and hat, and rode away from the county office.

The clatter of hooves splashed up a trail of silvery white, and the puddles on the ground, which had just settled, were lightly trampled by people.

The boy moved as quietly as a cat, almost disappearing into the night, chasing the figure at a distance that was neither too close nor too far—Old He had said that this person was naturally suspicious and sensitive, and that he should be handled with caution and not be careless.

He was extremely worried the whole way, ready to hide at any moment, but the girl never turned around once.