A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

3

No wonder the trafficker hadn't thrown her out in the last two days, he had probably seen some value in her.

Pingting shook her head and laughed, "I'm just a maid, not a runaway wife from a wealthy family."

"Tch, since when did servants get silk clothes?"

Pingting debated over what to say in her head carefully. It was highly likely that the King had already ordered all citizens to hunt for the people of Jing-An Ducal Residence, so she decided not to give away her real identity. So instead, she rolled her eyes and said, "I escaped out of the city to see my lover, but because I wanted to look pretty, I stole some of My Lady's clothes." Gui Le was a somewhat noisy place and therefore a lot of women really would sneak out to see their lovers.

The man frowned immediately at this and threw open the curtains, "Zhang Boy! Com'over here!"

"Coming." There seemed to be more than one trafficker, on the other carriage.

Not long after, a chubby face peered in from the window. "Fu Erge, wassup?"

So his name was Fu Erge.

"Wassup yer head! Didn't ya say this girl was a runaway wife from a rich family and could be swapped for a lot of money?" Fu Erge glared at Pingting and jabbed an accusing finger at her, "She's just a servant, dammit! And she slept for two days!"

Zhang Boy scratched his head and studied Pingting carefully. Then he laughed, "Fu Erge, don't be angry. What's done is done. She'll probably have some value anyway."

"Oh, so ya can sell off this rubbish?" sneered the man, jabbing an accusing finger at Pingting's nose.

True, Pingting's appearance certainly wasn't at all pretty. Even in the Jing-An Ducal Residence, her looks at most, had been average, probably even more common. One could only say that she was "tidy".

But everyone in the Jing-An Ducal Residence recognised how important she was.

However, as the stranger jabbed a finger at her and claimed she was worthless, she couldn't help rolling her eyes.

Fu Erge coughed two times and faked a depressed tone. "Ne'er mind, she should be at least worth around fifty coins. This robbing bitch really gave meh false hope; I even let her stay in my private carriage for two 'ole days. Dammit, take her to the other carriage with the others."

The moment she entered the other carriage, a terrible odour flooded her senses and Pingting realised why Fu Erge had been so angry.

In comparison to the first carriage, this one was tattered and crowded, dirty and sweltering hot.

There were seven or eight girls already crammed inside. Their hands had also been tied behind their back like Pingting and they were gagged, with fear evident in their eyes. All eyes landed sympathetically on Pingting, as she was now a new addition to these cluster of unfortunate girls.

"Move over! Here's another one." Zhang Boy pushed Pingting inside and began to ungag the girls, "At the moment, we're in the wilderness, so I'll let you talk. Some of you are bound to die in this heat anyway. Be good and stay put, okay!" After saying this, he ran off, probably to drive the carriage or something.

Pingting stumbled from Zhang Boy's push and sat down in a corner with much difficulty.

"Cough, cough...cough..." The carriage was shaking so hard and her throat felt very sore, so she'd coughed a few more times along the journey.

Suddenly, unease rippled in her.

Have I not recovered from that time I went with Master to the doctors? Pingting frowned, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the wall of the carriage.

As she felt a bit more comfortable, she couldn't help worrying.

Jing-An Ducal Residence, the place she'd been living all her life, was probably reduced to ashes right?

Prince Su, no, he was now the new king. The King's hatred of the military-rich House of Jing-An grew day by day. Recently her Master had triumphed in the war and the King had finally decided to take him down, framing her Master for rebellion on the day of his return.

Luckily the House of Jing-An had been wary, so the damage was not too great.

Her Master should have already found a good escape route by now.

Not that she would know where they'd hide but that was okay, as they'd be safe in a place where no one could guess. Their pursuers won't know where to look and therefore will never find them.