Mo Qi Qi quietly follows that person from behind before whispering, “Jiu Jiu, is that you?”
Mo Jiu Jiu turns around and smiles wide when she sees Mo Qi Qi, “General Bai Jiu greets the empress!”
Mo Qi Qi holds her forehead, suddenly feeling faint. She looks around and once making sure no one is watching them, she pulls Jiu Jiu to the side, “Why are you here, Jiu Jiu?”
“I asked General Han to bring me here,” Bai Jiu replies happily.
Mo Qi Qi wants to cry, “You shouldn’t have come! Do you know how smart the emperor is? He can probably read minds! Aren’t you scared that he will notice that you are a girl posing as a boy? The crime of deceiving the emperor warrants the death penalty!”
Mo Jiu Jiu has an optimistic view to everything: “Don’t worry, Second Sister! I will be very careful. The emperor can read your mind because you two are a pair of husband and wife. Both of you have telephatic connection with each other. I am different, we do not know each other well. He will not notice anything off as long as I keep my distance!”
“I do not have any telephatic connection with him! Anyway, since you are here, be careful. With you by my side, I feel a little safer.”
Bai Jiu smiles, “Don’t worry, Second Sister! I will protect you and His Majesty well.”
“Protecting me alone is enough. The emperor has enough people protecting him as it is.”
Mo Jiu Jiu laughs, “Yes, Your Ladyship. This General will put his life on the line to protect you!”
“Stop being so roguish! Go and do your work!”
“Alright, I’m leaving,” Jiu Jiu says before walking away.
It is at that time that Jun Yue Hen slowly makes his way towards Mo Qi Qi, “Qi Qi——–“
Mo Qi Qi turns to him in shock, “Yue Hen, why are you here?”
Jun Yue Hen smiles bitterly, “The edict to order me to join this trip suddenly came, last night. I had to stop waiting because of that. I was so worried about you.”
Mo Qi Qi looks at him, dispirited, “Don’t even bring it up. I got caught last night and got forced to join this trip as well.”
“The emperor now knows that you are trying to run away?” Jun Yue Hen anxiously asks.
“Don’t worry, Yue Hen. I didn’t tell him that I was trying to run away with you. I told him that I only wanted to look at the world outside the palace. I am scared. I think Jun Qian Che brings me along because he wants to find the opportunity to kill me,” Mo Qi Qi shares her thoughts with Jun Yue Hen.
“Don’t worry, Qi Qi. I am here. I will protect you,” Yue Hen comforts her.
Mo Qi Qi smiles at him brightly as she nods, “I have to admit, I was very relieved when I saw you earlier on.” Although Jun Yue Hen does not know martial arts, having him with her makes her feel safe. “I will leave first. I don’t want Jun Qian Che to see us. He will get suspicious.”
Jun Yue Hen nods and can only watch as Mo Qi Qi walks towards Jun Qian Che.
After getting down from the carriage, Jun Qian Che has been standing by the river with his hand on his back, looking very calm.
Mo Qi Qi stops by his side and follows his line of sight. “What are you looking at, Your Majesty? Is there a treasure inside the river? You are looking at it with such concentration….”
“Treasure?” Jun Qian Che looks at her?
“Treasure as in money! Gold, money, jades, they are all treasures!”
Jun Qian Che laughs at her in disdain.
“What are you laughing at? Did chenqie say anything wrong?” You rude bas*ard!
“From how zhen looks at it, things that can be compared to money and gold are not treasures,” Jun Qian Che calmly says.
Mo Qi Qi sneers at him, “You are the emperor, of course gold means nothing to you. You can get everything you want as long as you say it, of course you do not see the value of gold!”
Jun Qian Che looks at her quietly, not saying anything.
Very quickly, the Imperial Kitchen Department has finished cooking dinner. Eating the meals after such a long journey is very exciting.
After dinner, Han Yi Xiao invites them to rest. He is in charge of accommodation and has arranged to place the emperor and the empress under the same tent. Hearing that, Mo Qi Qi quickly objects, “No! Bengong does not want to stay in the same tent as the emperor!”
Everyone looks at the empress in alarm. The empress must have gone mad, she actually objects to staying under the same tent with the emperor.
In order to protect her own life, she quickly says, “Your Majesty must be really tired after traveling the entire day. I am a messy sleeper, what if I ends up bothering your rest? Perhaps, it is better if I share a tent with my maid, Ban Xiang. Please forgive my impudence, Your Majesty.”
Han Yi Xiao looks at Jun Qian Che with a difficult expression.
“Listen to the empress,” Jun Qian Che calmly says.
“Yes!”
Mo Qi Qi secretly sighs in relief. Being in the same room as Jun Qian Che feels really awkward after that incident, she really does not want to share a tent with him.
And so, Mo Qi Qi and Ban Xiang go to their designated tent.
After they enter the tent, Ban Xiang regretfully says, “Why did you refuse to share the tent with His Majesty, Your Ladyship? It is not easy for you to get the chance to cultivate your feelings with His Majesty. Back in the palace, His Majesty only favors Yang Guifei and never visits you. You must take this chance to win His Majesty’s affection and bear him a child! Only then will you be able to solidify your position!” Ban Xiang daydreams happily.
Mo Qi Qi knocks her in the head, “You are very good at writing fiction! Cultivating feelings with him? Hmph! No need! Bear him a child? I might as well die! You seem to like Jun Qian Che a lot, praising him at every chance you get. Why don’t you share a tent with him and cultivate your feelings together?”
Ban Xiang looks at her in grievance, “Stop making fun of this servant, Your Ladyship! This servant is just thinking for you! How can this servant ever bear any wishful thinking towards the emperor?”
“Neither do I, so let’s stop talking about him! Don’t ever try to praise him in front of me again! Go to sleep!” Mo Qi Qi walks towards the bed.
Ban Xiang can only sigh.
They continue the journey on the next day and reach a place called ‘Qing Shui County’. They rent a huge courtyard that can place all of the entourage of the trip.
Since the purpose of this trip is to monitor the lives of the common people, Jun Qian Che does not wish to alert the local officials of their presence.
This is the first time Mo Qi Qi has ridden a carriage for this long. Even though her seat is padded, her butt still hurts. After the rooms are assigned, she quickly runs to her’s to rest. After last night, Han Yi Xiao rooms her with Ban Xiang again.
Mo Qi Qi lies on the bed with an appreciative sigh, “This bed is so comfortable!”
“You can sleep if you want to, Your Ladyship. This servant will wake you when it is time for lunch,” Ban Xiang considerately says.
Mo Qi Qi thinks for a moment, “I am so tired. If I wake up by lunch time, I will eat, but if not, no need to wake me. I just want to get a proper sleep. After that, I will stroll around the city for dinner!” Hehe, she saw a brothel on their way to this place, just now. It is not easy for her to get to this era, it is not easy for her to leave the palace, might as well give the brothel a look. Brothels are the place where modern people are most curious of.
Ban Xiang nods, “Alright! Then this servant shall not hinder you from resting.”
Mo Qi Qi lies on the bed and starts sleeping. By the time she wakes up, the sky outside is already dark.
When Mo Qi Qi notice that the room is already lit with lanterns, she jumps up from her bed. She runs to the window and when she sees the dark sky, she unhappily mutters to herself, “It is already so late.”
Ban Xiang walks in while carrying a tray of dinner. When she sees that Mo Qi Qi is awake, she smiles, “You are finally awake, Your Ladyship. You slept for a long time this time. The sky is already so dark.”
“I know! Hurry and help me change!” Mo Qi Qi quickly takes out a bundle of cloth that she has prepared from early on. It contains men’s clothing.
Ban Xiang picks up the clothes and looks at Mo Qi Qi curiously, “Are you going out disguised as a man, Your Ladyship? You told me to prepare this when we were trying to run away last night, what are you going to use it for?”
Mo Qi Qi smiles secretively, “To go to a brothel, ah!” Honestly, she asked Ban Xiang to prepare this so that she could run away from the palace easier, but who would have thought that they would get caught. At least, this clothings still has it’s use now. She can wear it to go to brothels.
Ban Xiang looks at her with bulged eyes, “Brothel? Have you gone mad, Your Ladyship? That is a man’s place, not ours! There are only prostitutes inside, women like us shouldn’t even enter that kind of place!”
“I am going in wearing men’s clothing,” Mo Qi Qi tries to persuade her.
“But, what if His Majesty finds out?” Ban Xiang asks in worry.
“He will not know! I will be careful. Once I left, you will stay here and pretend to be me, sleeping. If anyone asks, just tell them you are too tired and to not to bother you.”
“What if His Majesty looks for you?” Ban Xiang is still uneasy.
“He will not! The journey was so long, he is probably tired himself! He will not ask for me. Don’t worry, just help me change!” Mo Qi Qi excitedly says. If she manage to travel back to her own time, she will flaunt her experience to her professors and colleagues.
Ban Xiang helps her change and does her hair. Mo Qi Qi nods in satisfaction at the end result. “Not bad, a pretty gentleman! Just the type that women likes! Then, I will go first!”
“Ai, aren’t you going to eat dinner before leaving, Your Ladyship?” Ban Xiang asks.
“No,” Mo Qi Qi pats her money bag. “I have money. I will go first.”
Ban Xiang wants to stop her, but Mo Qi Qi has already left the room. She puts her hands together and starts praying, “I hope Her Ladyship will not get caught! I hope she will return in one piece!”
Mo Qi Qi uses whatever memory she has to successfully navigate her way to the brothel: ‘Guo Se Tower’. She looks at the people walking in and out and smiles happily, spreading out her fan and fanning herself like a dandy young master.
Just as she enters the premise, a gaudily dressed old woman greets her with a face-splitting smile.
Mo Qi Qi feels a shiver running through her back. This old woman! Can she not be so scary at night like this?
“Aiya! What a handsome young master! This must be your first time here! Our Guo Se Tower has the best kind of beauty there is! I assure you that you will be satisfied, young master!” the woman beckons her over like the devil herself. Heavy scent of powder radiates from her.
Mo Qi Qi is secretly grateful that she has not eaten anything. Otherwise, she would have thrown up already.
“Hehe, good. But I have only gotten here, I want to listen to songs first and then eat. And then, I want to see the beauties. I want two of them.” She takes out a gold ingot.
The old woman’s eyes become big. Although this brothel can be considered busy, it is nothing compared to the one in the capital. No matter how big her appetite for money is, there are few wealthy patrons here. She becomes momentarily stunned with the gold ingot in Mo Qi Qi’s hand. She quickly leads her to a room on the second floor where she can eat and watch the performance downstairs without getting bothered.
Mo Qi Qi nods in satisfaction. “This room is not bad. Please bring some meals over. The better you treat this young mis— this young master, the more tips you will get.”
“Yes, yes, yes! I will prepare everything now!” the old woman says with a huge smile before leaving. She secretly thinks: What a good night, this is. So many handsome rich men have come, on the same night. Haha, this is her lucky day!
Mo Qi Qi leisurely rests in her room, watching the performance downstairs in a laid-back manner. She hasn’t eaten lunch and dinner, she is so hungry.
“Drink some water, first,” she pours herself two cups of water.
On the room next to her’s, two handsome men are sitting there, watching the performance downstairs while chatting.
“Your Majesty, Mi Guo Chang really came to the brothel.”
Those two men are none other than Jun Qian Che and Han Yi Xiao.
