Exactly two weeks had passed and Lin Xinglan was still in a house arrest. She had tried multiple times to convince Qiang Jingyi but he didn't budge at all. If Lin Xinglan wouldn't tell him then he had no reason to let her go out. He didn't want to be cruel towards her but he felt that if he didn't hold her tightly, she would one day disappear and that thought frightened him a lot.
He needed her to understand that he had feelings for her and only thought of her safety but at the same time he was afraid to confess to her so he decided to show his affection through his actions. Seeing her acting obedient these past days, he felt relieved and calm. On contrary, Lin Xinglan was secretly figuring out a plan to sneak out.
She knew how serious Qiang Jingyi was but she was still not mentally prepared to tell him everything yet. Every time she opened her mouth to tell him, she couldn't let out a word. Lin Xinglan wanted to go out and clear her head but with Qiang Jingyi's surveillance, it wasn't possible for her to simply step out of his manor without getting stopped.
In addition, she swore she could bet he even ordered his hidden guards to keep an eye on her. She had never seen one but she was certain there were hidden guards all over the places, it was her instinct. Even if there were none, it was better to be careful.
As if the Heavens listened to her, she finally found a way to sneak out. She had overheard servants talking about food carriages coming here to deliver tomorrow morning. Lin Xinglan planned to pretend to go into the kitchen and then in one way or another jump onto a carriage and hide herself until she was out of Qiang Jingyi's estate.
Not exactly the smartest and most original idea but she couldn't think of better ones so she could only pray for her luck.
Eventually the next morning came and Lin Xinglan walked to the kitchen until a servant stopped her.
"Young miss, where do you plan to do in the kitchen? It is a busy and messy place, young miss shouldn't go in."
Lin Xinglan smiled and said, "Please don't tell anyone..." Then she whispered into his ear, "I was going to cook for his highness, I want to make it a surprise so keep it a secret, okay? I'm sure his highness will become happy."
The servant looked at her as if he observed her but then he gave her a toothy grin, "Alright, this servant is sure Master will be really happy."
Before he walked away, he said, "Good luck, young miss."
Sorry for using you, Jingyi. I'll pay you back.
Lin Xinglan nodded and walked into the kitchen, there were many people inside, they were busy with their work so they didn't notice the small figure.
As stealthy as she was, she walked into a room and not only did she found out it was a storage place, she also found spare clothes. It was a simple manservant clothes. Quickly changed her clothes and fixed her hair, she casually walked out of the room and towards the backdoor. Because of her attire, the other people only thought she was just another servant and didn't bother her.
Lin Xinglan saw a few carriages outside and checked her surroundings before she jumped onto one of them. She placed the vegetables in another place, once she had enough of space to sit on, she covered herself with the vegetables from before. Now all she had to was to wait.
After a short moment, she could feel the carriage moving slowly and then it picked up its pace and ran in a much faster speed. During the ride, Lin Xinglan's heart was beating heavily, she was both anxious and nervous, she silently prayed she wouldn't be found.
The carriage she was on stopped moving, she peeked into a tiny hole she created and saw that they were possibly in the capital city. When she made sure the coast was clear, she quietly jumped off and ran away from the scene as fast as she could, afraid she would alert the carriage driver.
Feeling she was already far away, she halted her running to catch up with her breath. She looked around to find out she was close by the teahouse she worked at. She was gone for a very long time so she wasn't sure if Old Bao had already fired her but either way, she needed to get her things.
She entered the teahouse and as soon as she stepped on the stairs leading to the third floor, a high pitched voice rang.
"Dear customer, you are not allowed to go the third floor. Please understand."
Lin Xinglan turned around and saw that it was Moyu who spoke.
She giggled and said, "I didn't know I was a customer, Miss Moyu."
Hearing the familiar voice, Moyu cried out, "Little Xinglan! You have been gone so long, where did you go? Owner told us to not worry about you."
"I'm currently busy with something important. I won't come here for awhile, I'm just going to get my things before I go again."
Moyu frowned, "But.... Alright, please don't forget to talk with owner before you go again.."
Smiling, Lin Xinglan said, "Thank you for worrying about, it makes me feel warm."
Not waiting for the flustered waitress to speak, she walked towards Old Bao's study room.
Once she knocked, there was a calm but hoarse voice telling her to come in. As she walked in, the owner looked up with a dissatisfied face.
He clicked with his tongue and said, "So you do remember you still work here?"
Lin Xinglan gave him an awkward laugh, "I'm sorry, Old Bao. Things had been.... Busy lately."
"Hmph. What are you doing here then?"
"Old Bao... I'm here to resign from working here. I can't work here anymore, I don't have the time. I came here to get my things and I have a favor to ask Old Bao."
Hearing the serious tone in her voice, Old Bao looked at her carefully and said tiredly:
"What is it?"
"Can you take care of Xing meanwhile I'm gone? Also, actually, I wanted to ask you if you can please give me the map you have in your hands." Lin Xinglan bowed down deeply before the owner.
He was startled, "You...."
"Currently, the fourth prince has two maps and the other two are in the hands of his enemy. The last remaining one is in your hands, Old Bao. Xinglan knows Old Bao doesn't want this but please, this one needs it."
As she was bowing, she suddenly collapsed down to kowtow instead. She hit her head hard on the floor as she continued to kowtow. The owner felt helpless when he was watching her and could only stop her from kowtowing.
"Little child, do you guarantee that everything will turn out alright if I give you it? Can you promise me, If this old one hands over the map to the fourth prince, he will make sure it won't turn for the worse?"
With widened eyes, Lin Xinglan raised her head to look at the owner.
"Well, what do you have to say?" The owner spoke again, with a trace of impatience.
Her eyes lit up, she nodded her head excitedly, "I promise! Xinglan promise!"
"Then this old one will give the fourth prince the map when he will get someone to come to see me."
Lin Xinglan gave the owner a hug while she thanked him.
The owner only snorted, "Just leave the stingy cat here."
After he said that, he kicked her out of his study room, leaving her to go to her room and get her things.
Lin Xinglan didn't own many things, also, it wasn't like she was going to leave the capital so she only took half of the money she had in her room. After she had changed the servant clothes she wore to a casual male clothes, she immediately exited the teahouse to wander around the capital.
That was her original plan, to clear her head and think things out thoroughly but she first wanted to have fun to reset her mind and after that, she would go to the forest she first met Qiang Jingyi to think in a peaceful nature.
However, luck wasn't on her side as usual. On the way to the forest, she suddenly got knocked out by someone as she could feel she was losing her consciousness and the last thing she saw was a blue sleeve around her waist. Probably catching her before she fell down on the ground.
"To think you made my task easier, little brat."
The next thing Lin Xinglan knew, she woke up in a room she didn't recognize. While she rubbed her eyes, she could hear distant noises coming from outside. She got up from the bed that she slept on and slowly exited the room.
The bright light instantly hit her face as she opened the door, making her move her hands to cover her eyes. Then she withdrew her hands when she had gotten used to the sudden bright light. There she saw two men sitting on the garden playing Chinese chess.
The blue figure turned his head around to look at Lin Xinglan, "Seems like you're finally awake, little brat."
Lin Xinglan froze at seeing the blue figure, she widened her eyes in shock as she exclaimed: "Yu Shun!"
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I updated the "Characters" chapter again! I added pictures of Lin Xinglan and Fu Hanyu(the one she's acquaintance with) from her past life. I also changed Lin Xinglan's picture of the current her.
Not forgetting to mention, I added two short behind the screen scenes under the past life pictures.