Chapter 22.2 – Cat, Fish and a Bowl of Soup (2)

Lu Qipei sighed and propped herself up from the chair. She was about to dispose of the soup inside the bowl, but seemed to have suddenly thought of something and changed her mind. She divided the soup inside into two – half of them were poured away as usual, and the other half was poured inside a tea cup. The soup with meat and bone broth was then placed in a hidden corner of the courtyard.

After living here for a few days, Lu Qipei discovered that some stray cats lived near her courtyard. The stray cats’ meows in the middle of spring night sounded rather ominous, and sometimes the sound was so close it seemed to have come from under the window.

The stray cats had to look for food outside, and was fine with almost anything. There was an eighty percent chance that this soup would be eaten by the cats tonight.

Lu Qipei put down the tea cup without thinking about the consequences – she was just tired of being on guard and wanted to feel at ease. She also didn’t think that anyone would be after her life at this time, so giving the soup this time was purely just feeding the cats.

The day’s exhaustion was gradually soothed after soaking inside the hot water, followed by an irresistible feeling of drowsiness. No matter if someone was having pleasant thoughts or being on guard, no one could resist the feeling of drowsiness that surged like a tide.

Lu Qipei didn’t mind either. After taking a bath, she dried her long hair, and soon laid in bed and fell asleep.

She had a dream that night – inside, there was Qi Yang and the peach blossoms. Time seemed to have returned to the first time they met that year, on the bank of Qingshui river. In her dream, she seemed to understand why Qi Yang liked peach blossoms, but when she woke up, she felt a sense of loss…

What ‘first time they met that year’? After her rebirth, their first meeting was basically just recently. Their beautiful first meeting in the peach blossom forest was gone. In this life, Her Royal Highness The Princess simply happened to pass by and found a ragged “cow-herding boy” by the roadside. Thinking about it like this, she regretted disguising herself that day. She was afraid that she didn’t make a good impression because she was so slovenly!

As soon as she woke up the next morning, Lu Qipei sat up with her blanket on her arms, a lot of things going through her mind.

But before she could come to her sense and realize what she had been thinking about, she heard a sudden cry from the courtyard. She was momentarily startled, and the daze from just waking up instantly disappeared.

It was still early in the morning, and it was only slightly bright outside the window. A lot of people was still like Lu Qipei and had not woken up yet. She was obviously not the only one startled by this cry – voices could soon be heard coming from outside in broken sentences, disturbing people’s minds.

Lu Qipei was now completely awake. With some doubts on her mind, she got up, changed her clothes and tied her hair. Then, she went out to check without summoning Ah Yu.

The weather on early spring fluctuated between warm and cold, and it was still cold from evening to early morning. Especially when one had just exited their warm bed then got blown by the morning wind, no matter how sleepy they were, all those drowsiness would be instantly gone.

When Lu Qipei opened the door, the cold morning wind blew onto her face. She blinked, then stepped out of the door. At a glance, she could see two or three people surrounding one corner of the courtyard, all of them servants who just arrived to clean. But the point was not those onlookers, but the place they surrounded. Lu Qipei recognized it with a glance – it was the corner where she placed the tea cup to feed the cats last night.

But it was just a cup of tea. Was it worth making such a fuss when you saw it?

Lu Qipei’s heart inexplicably sank. She frowned and walked over, her thin lips unconsciously pressed tightly against each other.

It was very quiet early in the morning, and the sound of her footsteps soon alerted the others. When the people crowding the corner saw her coming, they voluntarily moved away. So before she made it closer, she could already see what was in the corner – the tea cup she placed last night was still there, but there was also a calico cat lying on the ground in front of it… and there was a pool of dark red blood on its mouth!

The cat lying there was obviously dead. Just at this moment, another gust of morning wind came, and it felt like there was a cold chill blowing on her face.

Lu Qipei’s pupil instantly shrank when she saw this scene. She didn’t know what to think, and her face turned pale in no time. She tried maintaining her composure and took a deep breath, but the morning air was so cold her lungs felt like they were freezing.

The servants didn’t know what she was thinking inside. Lu Qipei hadn’t said anything after they waited for a while, so one of them took the initiative and said, “Young Master, I don’t know who put this tea cup here. I saw this dead cat this morning when I was going to sweep.”

Someone on the side added in a low voice, “The blood is black. It looks like it might have been poisoned…”

The word “poison” seemed to have finally snapped Lu Qipei’s tense nerves. Her slightly pale lips trembled, and all color of blood finally disappeared from her face.

She abruptly turned around and walked out of the courtyard. She didn’t care about her messy appearance and just wanted to escape as soon as possible.

He had started taking action towards her again, he wanted her to die! Even after she went back in time, nothing had changed!

Lu Qipei couldn’t think of anything else; the only thing left in her mind was to stay alive. She was young and had a good life ahead of her, so why should she stay with them? What’s more, they wouldn’t even give her a chance to stay alive!

This was really a terrible place! They raised her and taught her the Five Classics, but all along they never cared about her!