Consort of a Thousand Faces

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The horse carriage continued throughout the night when Liu Yinyin suddenly called out.

Su Xi-er asked in concern, “What’s wrong? Feeling unwell?”

“I have a tummy ache.” Liu Yinyin held her stomach and looked like she was in a lot of pain.

Su Xi-er asked the driver to stop.
“She probably needs to relieve herself after we’ve been traveling all day.
Stop the carriage here.
I’ll take her to the nearby forest.”

The guard looked at her and shook his head.
“Stay in the carriage.
She goes alone!”

Liu Yinyin pretended to be afraid and said, “No, I’m scared!”

“Are you going or not? We’ll continue if you’re not going.” The guard said impatiently.

Su Xi-er quickly relented.
“I’ll stay here.
You go ahead.” She shot a purposeful look at Liu Yinyin.

Liu Yinyin understood her and hopped off the carriage, holding her stomach as she did so.

Though the only guard they could see was their driver, Yun Ruofeng would definitely have stationed men around the route.
Su Xi-er looked at the surroundings carefully, biding her time for the best chance to strike.

Su Xi-er pretended to get anxious after Liu Yinyin still hadn’t returned after being gone for quite a while.
“I’ll go and take a look.
What if something happened to her?”

“No!” The guard refused.

Su Xi-er stared at him.
“She’s just a little girl.
I’m worried!” She then hopped off the carriage even though the guard tried to stop her.

Seeing the guard follow her, she shouted at him, “What if the little girl is still relieving herself? Is a grown man like you going to watch?”

This made the guard stop in his tracks, leaving Su Xi-er to go ahead on her own.

Su Xi-er entered the forest and called out for Liu Yinyin before hearing a soft voice say, “I’m here.”

“Stay there and don’t move,” Su Xi-er looked around her as she spoke.
There was likely to be another route if they cut through the forest.