Chapter 46 - Being Followed
"Young Mistress, is it really okay to run away like this?" Xiao Yu asked meekly. She was afraid of the stern Zhang Mo Mo. Unladylike behavior like this would certainly make the old woman frowned, even worse scold them.
"She might tell the matriarch, but she could do nothing to me. I ran away after the lesson had finished, right?" Yao Ling brushed Xiao Yu"s concern off like it was nothing. It was the truth though! As long as the matriarch was favoring her, a simple thing like this wouldn"t become a significant matter at all.
Xiao Yu couldn"t find fault on her logic. She was afraid of Zhang Mo Mo because her rank was higher than her, however, Yao Ling was currently their young mistress. Yao Ling was more powerful because of it. Xiao Yu felt relieved and calmed herself down. "Young Mistress is correct."
Yao Ling laughed at that and said, "Of course! As long as you loyally follow me, I won"t make you regret it. I would never mistreat you."
"Since I"d been given to Young Mistress, my loyalty would be given only to Young Mistress. I promise that I will serve you wholeheartedly," Xiao Yu made a promise and she intended to honor it. She felt lucky because she had a nice mistress.
"Good!" Yao Ling felt satisfied with Xiao Yu"s answer. "Let"s go to "Fu Rong"! I need to check a lot of things there."
"Yes, Young Mistress," Xiao Yu quickly followed her young mistress. As a servant or maid, usually, they had to follow their master from behind. However, Yao Ling was an exception. She wanted Xiao Yu to walk beside her and talked to her like an equal. It made Xiao Yu feel that she was being valued by her young mistress. This was one of the reasons why her loyalty to Yao Ling was increasing. She treated her kindly.
"What time did Young Master go out this morning?"
"Er… just before the sunrise. One of General Lin"s soldier picked Young Master up and it was by the general"s order. Young Master told me not to wake Young Mistress up," Xiao Yu explained.
Yao Ling sighed. She was accustomed to waking up beside him. When she felt the cold bed where he was supposed to sleep in, it made her feeling disappointed. "I guess I will miss him more each morning," Yao Ling mumbled to herself.
"What did you say, Young Mistress?" Xiao Yu couldn"t hear clearly what Yao Ling said.
"Nothing. I"m just talking to myself," Yao Ling smiled at her.
Suddenly, Yao Ling"s smile was gone. Xiao Yu was surprised by the sudden change of expression. Before Xiao Yu could say anything, Yao Ling stopped her by shaking her head softly. Xiao Yu gulped down her words, obeying her young mistress.
Yao Ling could feel that someone was following her. At first, she thought it was just a mere coincidence. She couldn"t see where her followers were, but she could feel their eyes on her. Yao Ling used to go to the mountain alone to collect herbs. It had trained her senses to be more keen and sensitive to predatory behavior. There were a lot of wild beasts in the mountain. Without a good sense, she would become an easy target and probably had been killed a thousand times.
When she was less than ten years old, her mother always accompanied her to the mountain. Both didn"t have a keen sense, but they met a kind hunter from her village who taught them how to survive in the wild environment for a few months. He accidentally saved them from a big bear and took pity on them. The kind man taught them until they could survive by themselves. After she was twelve, her mother finally let her go by herself because she noticed that Yao Ling could sense any danger miles away.
Yao Ling always trusted her instinct. She could feel someone stopped when she stopped and walked along with her when she walked. She pretended to look around a stall while taking a subtle glance toward her followers, but she couldn"t see anyone. She felt paranoid, however, she was a hundred percent sure that the person was still there.
"Who"s following her? And for what purpose?" Yao Ling thought to herself. Yao Ying and she never offended anyone, unless… it was someone from "w.a.n.g Fu"? If she remembered correctly, w.a.n.g Luo Hai also had an enemy. No one bothered to tell her about it and she probably should dig more about it. If the news of w.a.n.g Luo Hai taking in stepchildren was heard by the enemy, they would probably curious and try to find out more about them.
Yao Ling wasn"t really sure which one of them was targeting her, but this was just her own guess. She calmed herself down. She was standing a few steps away from "Fu Rong". Her followers probably wouldn"t dare to follow her inside.
She felt that there was no use for pretending, so she walked again after buying a hairpin that she didn"t even need.
"Young Mistress, what"s wrong with you?" Xiao Yu could feel that Yao Ling was feeling agitated. Young Mistress even bought a hairpin without seeing or choosing the design. She just randomly took it and paid without a proper glance.
Xiao Yu broke Yao Ling"s trance with her question. Yao Ling didn"t intend to make Xiao Yu worried along with her, so she was only smiling and giving the newly bought hairpin for Xiao Yu. "Nothing. I bought this for you."
Xiao Yu smiled happily at Yao Ling. Although the hairpin was only randomly chosen, the intricate design was still pretty. It was an ordinary lotus blossom spiral hairpin, but she still liked it nonetheless. "Thank you, Young Mistress."
"Do you like the design? If not, we can choose again." Yao Ling felt guilty for randomly choosing without thinking of Xiao Yu"s preferences. She didn"t plan to buy in the first place, so she gave it to Xiao Yu without a second thought.
"No, this is so pretty. I will treasure it!" Xiao Yu"s eyes were twinkling with happiness.
Yao Ling laughed at childish behavior, while her eyes still moving around warily. Xiao Yu -who was feeling happy- didn"t pay any attention to Yao Ling, so she didn"t notice her anxiety. Feeling uneasy, Yao Ling urged Xiao Yu to walk faster. She wanted to go to "Fu Rong" as soon as possible. It was the safest place for them.