She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

"Was this found in Butler He's house?"

It was late at night when Yun Cong hurried back. The journey was smooth at first, but after he got the things out, he was suddenly followed by someone. He had to go around half of the city before he could shake off the tail behind him.

In order to prevent being traced to his private residence, Yun Cong disguised himself as the person who collected swill every evening, and managed to sneak back.

"Yes." Yun Cong stood under the dim light, with the young marquis and his new wife sitting in front of him, looking equally exhausted. "I'm not sure what this is used for, but I just thought the pattern on it was unusual, so I brought it back."

The word "smooth" is too light. In fact, it was stolen by all means.

Hengzhi held the wooden ornament in his hand and looked at it under the lamp.

Ah'an came closer, tilted her head, and also looked at him.

"It seems to be Zhuyan?" Ah's voice was a little hoarse as she said softly, "Look here, it looks like an ape, with a white head and bare feet. This is a ferocious beast that portends chaos in the world. How can ordinary people carve it for decoration?"

After returning to the banquet from the red-leaf plum tree, Ah-yi was forced to drink a few more glasses of wine. On the way back, she rushed out of the car and vomited violently.

I still feel nauseous, so I drank something to sober myself up and hunkered down in my chair, trying to stay awake.

"Madam, do you recognize him?" Yun Cong asked.

The books of sages are boring, so Ah-yi loved to read some strange stories when she was young. When she was a child, she read the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and watched Huai Chengbai draw these strange monsters on paper while reading the text.

Huai Chengbai is knowledgeable and his explanations are often more thrilling, interesting and fascinating than those in the books.

But the old man was not so kind. After hearing his stories, Ah-yi had to copy the appearance of the monster according to his paintings. Sometimes he was so exhausted from painting that he even dreamed of the monster's face.

After doing this for a while, I remembered the appearance of many monsters very clearly.

Zhu Yan is one of them.

"This is made of banyan wood." Heng Zhi stroked the patterns around the wooden sign with his fingers and said, "Ordinary people are superstitious about banyan trees, thinking that they are unlucky, so even for hanging ornaments, only peach wood is used. It is both an unlucky tree and an ancient vicious beast, so they chose to put unlucky things together."

Ah-yi followed and nodded.

"Trace this pattern and send it back before it fades away." Heng Qi threw the thing to Yun Cong, "Follow Steward He closely these few days and don't let him find out."

Hengzhi inexplicably associated this thing with a place, but since he had no evidence at the moment, he had to act with caution.

"Hey!" Ah'ao stretched out her hand to stop Yun Cong from plugging the wooden sign. "Let me copy it. I know how to do it. It will be done soon."

"Do you know who is following you?" Hengzhi asked.

Yun Cong frowned and thought for a moment, then replied uncertainly, "She walks lightly, without attracting any wind, and has a slender figure. But her breath doesn't sound like a woman's, but rather like..."

Heng Zhi raised his head and glanced at him. "Like a eunuch in the palace?"

"Exactly."

That was strange. Ah-yi pondered over it, but couldn't figure it out. She had entered Butler He's room, so how could it be related to the eunuchs?

The imperial palace was the only place in the world that had eunuchs, and all the eunuchs in the palace were supervised by Changqiu. In other words, they were either Xue Ping's men or the emperor's good uncle's men.

They are good at tracking and have excellent martial arts skills, but their hand and foot skills are poor and they cannot withstand fighting.

Why do you come all the way to Kezhou when you have nothing to do?
"You go down first." Heng Qi turned around and cut the candle flames to make them brighter. "The Spring Banquet was extravagant. Butler He will definitely stay at the Chu Mansion to finish it. Come to Madam's place tomorrow morning to get the wooden sign."

Yun Cong took the order and tiptoed out of the room.

Ah-yi raised her head from the table full of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, "Why don't you ask about the origins of the people following this group?"

Glancing at her, Heng Qi pretended to be serious and stern, like the bastard who put a knife on someone's neck again, "What is there to ask? We are all here to find the wanted princess. Are you curious?"

When she heard the word "wanted", Ah-yi gritted her teeth in dissatisfaction. Half a year had passed since she didn't have to hide from people, and she almost forgot that she was still wanted.

I thought the marriage had been done without anyone knowing, so I should move on to the next place.

"The princess is not stupid, but you can't treat the people in the court as fools, right?" Heng Qi saw that she had listened to him and chuckled, "The man was lost in Kezhou. Even if the soldiers didn't chase him, there are still people who want to take the credit."

The pen was clenched in her hand, and Ah-yi seemed a little hesitant. "Are you saying that the Changqiu Prison and the officers and soldiers were fighting in order to capture me first and take credit for it?"

At this point, she seemed to find it funny and shook her head.

Those who didn't know thought that the new emperor valued friendship and wanted to find his niece as soon as possible. Those who knew that the order received was to tie her up and bring her back to the capital or kill her on the spot, which depended on the mood of the new emperor.

"If soldiers want to investigate cases and people in local areas, they have to hand over to the guards of various prefectures. I haven't seen soldiers in the city for such a long time. I guess the young marquis blocked them for me?" A'erxiang glanced at Hengzhi, who didn't know what to think, then lowered his head and continued to copy the pattern.

The young marquis was silent for a while before he continued in a frivolous tone, "Yes, once you leave Kezhou City, the streets will be full of pursuers."

The implication of this is exactly what Sima Zhao intended.

A'an curled the corners of her mouth.

After a long time, so long that Hengzhi almost thought the conversation had passed, Ah'ao finally replied softly.

"Got it. I won't just leave like that."

Doesn't he still have the upper hand?
Even though I've forgotten my name, if one day I leave here and no longer see Hengzhi every day, but hear Princess Da Chong Yuanning crying at other people's graves regardless of status in a restaurant, that would be a bit deadly.

What's more, Shui Changdong has just earned back his capital, and he still has a long way to go.

For several days, Yuncong kept trying to avoid being followed, and kept repeating the vicious cycle of following others. On the morning of the second day, Ah-yi heard someone talking outside in a dream, and then she realized that Yuncong had taken the things away. After that, she never saw Yuncong again.

Only Yun Cheng and Yun Cong were personal guards around Heng Zhi. Ah Yi didn't know Yun Cong well, she only knew that he and Yun Cheng had different roles. Yun Cheng had to be a personal guard, while he was mostly sent out to do things, becoming Heng Zhi's eyes, ears and feet.

In terms of temperament and fighting ability, Yun Cong is also the more stable one.

East Street is bustling with traffic. The sky has cleared up after the rain these past few days and the sun is warm.

A'ao sat in the hall, counting the accounts from the previous day.

"After you left that day, the deal was done. But this is a full-moon banquet." Mrs. Zhou got up early and is now eating hot fried hu xuan next to A'ao. The food is so crispy that it falls apart when you bite it.

"A full-moon banquet is also fine." Ah-yi counted the abacus in her hand a few times, making crisp sounds. "This cake smells so good. Did you buy it from the new street stall?"

"Yes!" Mrs. Zhou swallowed it in two mouthfuls before explaining, "I heard that it was made by a man who had done business with Hu Shanghang, and it tastes much better than what others sell. Can I break off a bite for you?"

Seeing that Zhou's wife was about to break off most of the oil-fried scrambled bread, Ah-yi stopped her with a smile, "No, no, I've already had breakfast."

"Oh." This was a roundabout way of saying it, and Mrs. Zhou couldn't help but sigh, "Oh, it's good to have a family. There is someone to accompany you to eat in the morning."

Ah-yi couldn't help but scold her, "What are you talking about!"

Mrs. Zhou nodded, "Not bad, really good. Seeing how harmonious you two are, it's worth it for me to betray you during the Lantern Festival."

It is said that when she returned home that night, Ah'ao saw Yunli holding the Yuanxiao that had been placed in the shop and had not yet been taken away, and she knew that it was sent by Mrs. Zhou.

She didn't feel tired at all. She used the excuse of watching the lanterns to arrange a meeting between herself and Hengzhi. Ah'ao was so amused that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I saw your husband on the other side of the river when I went to pick him up. If it can be a good thing, why shouldn't I go with the flow and accumulate some good karma?"

See, I can't argue with her.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have something to tell you." Mrs. Zhou wiped her hands and said seriously, "Didn't we go to look for the funeral director we work with? Not only did I find him, I also found a group of funeral directors who worked with him."

When the last stroke was placed on the paper, A'an almost wrote the wrong word.

"There's a team here?" she asked in surprise, "I thought it was all private work."

"Yes." Mrs. Zhou frowned in worry, "But they have such a large group of people, about 30 of them, I don't think we can afford to support them now."

It was certain that he couldn't afford it. Ah-yi nodded and began to think about it.

After attending several wedding banquets, they also wanted to handle funerals on the other side during this period.

The surrounding shops had also called in advance. This was all because Zheng Da and several other servants usually treated the neighbors with kindness. They would help out if there were any difficulties.

Over time, after persisting for a few months, I gained a lot of good reputation. When it comes to running funerals and making paper-made things, no one will refuse.

When a funeral is held, mourners are definitely needed, as well as people who cry at the grave. Shui Changdong is just a bridge between these people and the victims, and earns some referral fees.

It would be fine if the business was bigger, but now I really can’t afford it.

"Well, let's go meet with Wanlang today and have a talk. I don't even know his name yet. Let's talk about the current situation and then discuss it. It's a money-making business anyway, so I think they'll be willing to do it."

There were too many businesses that the shopkeepers had to negotiate in person, so this huge store was handed over to Zheng Da again.

Several waiters in the hall used red ropes to tie up the red silk to be used for the boss's full-moon banquet. The dazzling red color was spread on the table, making every day seem festive.

Ah'ao and Mrs. Zhou went to Anpingfang to look for Wanlang, but unfortunately they met him because he had gone out to perform meritorious deeds that day.

To put it bluntly, funerals don’t happen every day, and it’s not good to expect funerals in other people’s homes. So this livelihood is not stable. In the surrounding villages, if there is a funeral in a wealthy family, he will be hired.

After returning empty-handed, A'ao and Mrs. Zhou had no choice but to turn back.

When passing by the bulletin board, Ah'an saw the portrait on it and stopped in her tracks.

Mrs. Zhou also took a look and said, "Hey, this is really strange. Why does a princess like her have to come out and live a hard life?"

Even Zhou's wife couldn't tell. Ah-yi felt mixed emotions when she heard her words. She smiled meaningfully and said, "Who knows? Everyone has something they want. The princess may not be happy."

This portrait, apart from showing a young woman, doesn't resemble me at all.

Remember Yunli had asked this question before, aren't you afraid of being recognized when you go out every day? Ah'an asked her to go out and take a look at the wanted poster portrait, and Yunli never asked this question again.

Those pursuers are not good at painting at all.

"Let's go." Ah'ao pulled Mrs. Zhou, unable to bear to watch any longer.

Everything seemed normal, but when they were almost at the door of the shop, a person carrying a child on his back suddenly collapsed in front of the two pots of orange saplings that Ah-yi had just bought.

People were coming and going all around, and soon they gathered together to watch.

"Make way, make way." Ah'ao pushed through the crowd and walked closer to see what was going on.

This look was definitely beyond her expectations.

This ragged, unkempt man turned out to be Zhao Zhuo!
(End of this chapter)