“Little sister, how can you say one thing and do another? It really hurts your sister’s heart,” Yan Rumei said with a face full of grievance, resembling a jilted woman, as she wiped away nonexistent tears with a handkerchief after hearing Meng Xiaoyu’s angry words.
“Where did I go back on my word? It’s you who didn’t understand my request!”
Meng Xiaoyu retorted angrily, glaring at the woman in front of her who was pretending to cry.
“Then let me ask you, isn’t the person I took you to see beautiful?”
Yan Rumei put away her act and returned to a smiling demeanor.
“She is beautiful!”
Meng Xiaoyu admitted honestly this time.
Although the woman in white named Ye had forcefully hugged and kissed her upon their first meeting, Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t deny that she was indeed an extremely beautiful woman.
“Hehe, since you also said she is beautiful, why did you just tell me you don’t acknowledge her as a beauty?”
Yan Rumei asked with amusement.
“Beauty isn’t just about appearance; it also includes inner qualities. From the way that woman named Ye rushed over to me and acted so forcefully, I can conclude that she is merely a woman with external beauty but no inner beauty. Therefore, I won’t acknowledge such incomplete beauty,” Meng Xiaoyu said, making up excuses.
“But you saw just now that she mistook you for someone else, which is why she acted that way!”
Originally very angry, Meng Xiaoyu suddenly realized after hearing Yan Rumei’s words.
“Oh! Now that you mention it, I remember. Were you doing it on purpose?”
“What do you mean on purpose?”
Yan Rumei feigned ignorance.
“I mean, you took me to meet that woman named Ye because you saw that I look very much like that person named ‘Xiaoyu,’ right?”
As Meng Xiaoyu said this, she became angry again, already convinced that “Yan Rumei is doing this on purpose.”
“Not just similar, but identical. If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes that she was already dead, I would have thought you were her,” Yan Rumei murmured sadly after hearing Meng Xiaoyu’s words.
“What did you say?”
Meng Xiaoyu didn’t catch what Yan Rumei had said because her voice was too soft.
Seeing the curiosity in Meng Xiaoyu’s eyes, Yan Rumei quickly changed her sad expression to a smiling one and said, “Little sister, let’s both take a step back! How about we reduce our original agreement of performing for half a month to just three days?”
Seeing Yan Rumei’s sudden change in expression, Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t help but feel a sense of disbelief.
“Has this woman learned Sichuan face-changing? This change is way too fast! And your topic shift is way too obvious!”
After mentally complaining about Yan Rumei’s quick change and obvious topic shift, Meng Xiaoyu became curious again.
Did that person named ‘Xiaoyu’ really look exactly like her?
“How about it, little sister?”
Yan Rumei asked, amused, noticing that Meng Xiaoyu not only didn’t answer her question but seemed lost in thought.
“Oh! Sure!”
Meng Xiaoyu, still in a daze, heard Yan Rumei’s words and absentmindedly agreed without understanding what she was saying.
When she finally came to her senses, she asked, “What did you just say?”
“Little sister, you just agreed!”
Yan Rumei said with a playful smile.
“What did I agree to?”
Meng Xiaoyu felt a bad premonition.
“Please don’t tell me I agreed to something while I was dazed! Oh heavens, please no!”
However, it seemed that the heavens did not hear Meng Xiaoyu’s plea.
“You just agreed to perform for three days at my ‘Wuchun Pavilion,'” Yan Rumei said, finding it amusing to see Meng Xiaoyu’s shocked expression after hearing her words.
She thought to herself, “Although they look alike, their personalities are completely different.”
In a room on the second floor of the inn, Han Rubing and her sister sat on a stool, listening to Ye Han and the innkeeper talk about how Meng Xiaoyu had managed to send away those hidden protectors one by one, and how she had disguised herself as another innkeeper to slip past Ye Han’s eyes and escape the inn, and had yet to return.
After hearing the innkeeper’s words, Han Rubing took out a silver ingot from her bosom and handed it to the innkeeper.
“Alright, I understand. You can leave now!”
“Ah! Thank you, guest!”
The innkeeper, holding the fifty taels of silver given by Han Rubing, quickly nodded and bowed, while internally apologizing to Meng Xiaoyu.
“I’m sorry, beautiful young master. I didn’t mean to betray you; it’s just that these two guests in front of me are too terrifying. If I revealed anything, they would kill me and my sister! So I had no choice but to sell you out! Please don’t hold it against me when you come back!”
As the innkeeper mentally apologized and prayed that Meng Xiaoyu wouldn’t seek revenge, he quickly pulled his sister, who was pretending to be Meng Xiaoyu in the room, out.
After the innkeeper left the room, Han Rubing turned to Ye Han, who was kneeling on one knee in front of her and her sister.
“Ye Han, you can get up! This isn’t your responsibility.”
“No, it’s Ye Han’s negligence. Ye Han failed to protect Miss Meng. Please punish me, both palace masters,” Ye Han insisted, still kneeling.
“Get up! My sister is right; this isn’t your fault. It’s Yuer’s mischief,” Han Rushuang, who had been sitting next to Han Rubing with a cold expression, added.
“But…”
Ye Han, still kneeling, wanted to say something but was interrupted by Han Rubing.
“There are no buts. You can leave now!”
“Yes.”
Hearing her somewhat stern tone, Ye Han responded and then got up to exit the room.
“Sister,” Han Rushuang said, looking anxiously at her sister after Ye Han left.
It was already so late, and Yuer still hadn’t returned, making Han Rushuang feel worried and anxious.
Seeing her sister’s worried expression, Han Rubing chuckled softly to reassure her.
“Don’t worry, the little one is very clever. She shouldn’t get into any trouble.”
While comforting her sister, Han Rubing was also planning how to punish the disobedient little one once she found her.
“How dare she sneak out while both of us were away, and now she hasn’t returned so late! Once I find this little one, I must give her a good lesson.”
Just as Han Rubing was plotting how to punish Meng Xiaoyu, the person she had sent to find her returned.
“Great Palace Master, Second Palace Master,” a woman dressed in dark attire entered the room and knelt on one knee.
“Ying, have you found her?”
Han Rubing asked, looking at the woman in dark attire kneeling before her.
“Yes,” the woman known as Ying replied, raising her head.
“Where is she?”
“Wuchun Pavilion.”
“…Are you sure?”
Han Rubing fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“My subordinate is certain.”
“Alright, I understand.
You can leave now!”
“Yes, I take my leave.”
With that, she walked out.
“Shuang’er, let’s go pick up the little one!”
Han Rubing said, revealing a very enchanting smile.
“The little one has quite the nerve, not only sneaking out but also going to the Wuchun Pavilion to play.
It seems that if we don’t punish her properly, she won’t know the heights of heaven and depths of the earth.”
Thinking of this, Han Rubing’s smile became even more alluring.
After Han Rubing and Han Rushuang learned that Meng Xiaoyu was at the Wuchun Pavilion, the two quickly changed into men’s clothing, preparing to go there to bring Meng Xiaoyu back to the inn.
Meanwhile, Meng Xiaoyu, with a face full of resentment, had changed into a pink floral gauze dress, while Yan Rumei looked on in surprise.
“I didn’t expect that after you put on this dress, you really are an absolute beauty!
Why don’t you just stay here at my Wuchun Pavilion instead of going back to the inn?
I promise to make you the flower queen of my Wuchun Pavilion,” Yan Rumei said with a charming smile as she looked at Meng Xiaoyu, who was now in women’s clothing.
“Pfft, I’m not interested in your Wuchun Pavilion’s broken flower queen position!”
Meng Xiaoyu scoffed, sitting on a stool while a maid helped her style her hair.
“You really hurt my feelings!”
Yan Rumei exaggeratedly said, pretending to wipe nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes while lamenting.
“Stop pretending!
I’ll say it clearly, I’ll be on stage for three days, and after that, we’ll go our separate ways,” Meng Xiaoyu said with an unhappy expression, secretly cursing herself for daydreaming.
Now look where it got her?
She had sold herself into free labor.
“Don’t worry, sister, I’m a person of my word. Three days is three days,” Yan Rumei said with a smile.
Then she noticed Meng Xiaoyu turning her head and ignoring her, so she continued, “Alright, sister, I’m going to greet the guests in front.
You get ready for your performance; I’ll be waiting for you!”
With that, Yan Rumei pinched Meng Xiaoyu’s delicate face and then turned to leave the room.
