tioned in any city. The number of soldiers accompanying Your Excellency... is there over ten thousand" As he realized that his point was valid, Sun Xingzhi's voice grew even louder.Ye Li did not get a...12.傾城舞 (Part 2)

12. Enchanting Dance (Part 2)

In a secluded courtyard outside the capital city, a woman of stunning beauty but slightly thin and pale sat under a tree with a baby in her arms. The child was already over three months old; compared to its crumpled appearance at birth, it now had a round face and bright eyes, gurgling happily while looking at the woman holding him.

The woman looked down at the baby and a faint smile appeared on her face, which was originally hesitant.

"Miss Yao Ji, Madam and Lady have arrived," a maid-like woman announced solemnly from the doorway. Although she called herself a servant, there was no respect in her eyes when looking at the woman under the tree; instead, they were full of disdain and loathing. Such looks, Yao Ji had long been accustomed to and did not care about. In their eyes, she was just an indecent woman who had entangled with the Young Master of the Mu Yang Marquis Manor.

<

Yao Ji lowered her head as if she hadn't heard her words. Ever since she was pregnant and brought back in June, when the Mu Yang Marquis Manor's in-laws or the marquis manor itself took away all her possessions, she had lost her freedom. Even during childbirth, there was almost a deadly avalanche. Not even Yao Ji could have imagined that Lady Madam of the seemingly gentle and well-read Mu Yang Marquis Manor would be so vicious. After going through so much, Yao Ji became increasingly disillusioned with these so-called high-ranking noble families.

The servant girl said she was here to report but didn't seem like it; seeing that Yao Ji neither spoke nor cared, she directly left. As expected, a group of people entered shortly after. The Mu Yang Marquis Manor's madam frowned as she looked at the elegant and movingly beautiful Yao Ji in white clothes, her eyes full of loathing. She came from a high-ranking family and naturally despised such flirtatious women, especially since this woman had captured her son’s heart.

The new wife of the Mu Yang Marquis Manor, who had only been married for a few months, was even more filled with envy. Yao Ji's stunning appearance ranked among the top five in the entire capital city; back then, she bewitched the world wearing a red dance costume in the Enchanting Beauty Pavilion and also garnered praise at the imperial banquet at night. Even now that she had lost weight, dressed entirely in white without any makeup, she still exuded a clear beauty like a lotus emerging from water, which was more imposing than ever. How could such looks be compared to the merely elegant Miss Sun who married into the Mu family

Initially, this new wife also had an educated and refined demeanor that earned a silent admiration from Ye Li. However, after marriage, her life full of jealousy and malice had long since abandoned even her last advantage; now she appeared to be nothing but a petty young woman.

"Rude! Don't you know how to pay respects" the Mu Yang Marquis Manor's madam sternly rebuked.

Yao Ji looked up and said indifferently, "If you two don’t come personally to greet the owner, then why should the owner bow"

Mu Madam shouted shrilly, "What makes you think you’re the owner! This is Mu Yang Houfu’s annex!"

Yao Ji said, "I’m not the owner indeed. But it seems that neither are you, Mu Madam. This annex belongs to Mu Yang personally; clearly, he hasn’t acknowledged your right to possess private property. Do you remember When you nearly starved me and Qing’an to death, Mu Yang forbade you from entering this place. As for me… If Lady Mu is willing to let me go, I would be most grateful. And it looks like the money you’ve taken from me should cover these months’ rent."

Mu Yang Houfu and Mu Madam’s faces alternated between green and white; Mu Madam was purely out of anger while Mu Yang Houfu was more embarrassed and humiliated. The Zhang family had taken all of Yao Ji's property, a large part of which ended up in her hands. Over the years, Yao Ji had naturally earned quite a bit of money, and when Ye Li sold傾城坊to Ding王府earlier on, she didn’t take advantage of Yao Ji; the price offered was fair indeed. Additionally, there were various precious treasures given to Yao Ji by famous scholars, nobles, and high-ranking officials, which would be worth at least thirty or forty thousand taels if appraised. Even for a noble family like Mu Yang Houfu’s, such an amount of money could easily be considered a large sum.

After some time, Mu Yang Houfu finally regained her composure and gritted her teeth, saying, "If you want to leave, then go! But you must leave the child behind!" Although the child's mother was not from an illustrious background, he was still their first grandson. Despite Mu Yang’s long marriage with Lady Sun showing no signs of any children, Mu Yang Houfu naturally valued this child more and couldn’t bear for their lineage to be left outside.

"Forget it!" Yao Ji stood up while holding the baby, glaring at Mu Yang Houfu warily. Suddenly she sneered, "If I don’t want to go, then why should I! I’m not afraid of you! Living here without any official status, Mu Yang still provides me with a luxurious life. One day if I decide to become a secondary wife in the mansion, would there be a problem With my beauty, am I afraid of an ordinary-looking woman Who knows… Would it make people laugh that Mu Young Master married a dancer"

"You... you’re shameless!" Mu Madam’s face changed instantly. Since Mu Yang started spending less time at home because Yao Ji was living in the annex, if she brought this mother and child back into the mansion, where would she have a place to stay

Yao Ji smiled coldly, her incomparably beautiful smile making everyone around her speechless. "Your flattery is excessive; I’m not as good as someone else."

Mu Yang Houfu could not pretend that she didn’t understand the contemptuous tone in Yao Ji’s words. She had always looked down on Yao Ji, how could she endure such mockery now Fuming with anger, she said, "You bitch! I’ll see if you can really be controlled by me! So what if Mu Yang indulges you; I am still his mother!"

Yao Ji sneered, "So what if you’re Mu Yang’s mother Is that something special" If it were in the past when her feelings for Mu Yang were still strong, she might have hesitated to hurt him. But now… Ever since she almost died from childbirth due to Young Madam Mu's sabotage and recently nearly starved to death with her child, she had already lost all hope in Mu Yang. It wasn’t because he wouldn’t avenge them; Mu Yang considering the Mu Yang Marquisate and Sun Family’s interests, she understood that much. What she hated most was that despite knowing how dangerous it was for her and her child to stay in the capital city of Chu, he still refused to let them leave. She didn’t know or want to know if this was because Mu Yang believed he could protect their safety or because in his eyes, their lives were simply not as important. But now… she had completely lost all affection for him. The past sweet and tender feelings between them paled in comparison to her son’s well-being long ago. They had already become a thing of the past.

"Servants! Drag this woman out and beat her severely!" Mu Yang Marquis’ wife ordered.

“Who dares!” As the servants were about to act, Mu Yang quickly entered from outside and shouted fiercely. He walked into the courtyard and glared at Young Madam Mu standing next to his mother, fuming, "You again!"

Young Madam Mu hung her head in sorrow; although it was indeed she who had provoked her mother-in-law, seeing her husband immediately rebuke her without even asking a question hurt her deeply. She had wished to be a virtuous wife too, but when Yao Ji went missing back then and Mu Yang left for war without saying a word, and after his return from retrieving Yao Ji, he married her anyway; no matter what she did, his attitude towards her remained cold and distant. As just a teenager newly wedded, how could she bear such treatment

Yao Ji scoffed sarcastically, "Is Young Master blind It was not Young Madam Mu who wanted to hit me."

Mu Yang frowned and looked at Yao Ji with some helplessness, saying, “Yao Ji, you…”

The amiable Yao Ji suddenly turned grim and slapped Mu Yang hard across the face. Not only did it cause his head to turn to one side, but also made both Mu Yang Marquis’ wife and Young Madam Mu gasp.

"Yang! Wretch! You…!" Mu Yang Marquis' wife was enraged beyond measure. Mu Yang quickly held back his mother who wanted to explode with anger and said to Yao Ji with a gloomy expression, "Does this make you feel better"

Yao Ji smiled coldly, her smile icy, “Feel better Young Master Mu really is joking. Since Young Master Mu says he wants to welcome me into the family, even if I am of low birth, there’s still something I wish to ask.”

Muyang was delighted, thinking that Yao Ji had finally given in and hurriedly said, "Ask me if you want."

Holding the child with one hand, Yao Ji pointed at Lady Muyang and asked, "If there ever comes a day when Yao Ji is killed by Muyang Hui's wife, what will Young Master Mu plan to do"

Muyang's expression changed slightly. "Yao Ji, what nonsense are you talking How could my mother…"

Yao Ji gave a cold laugh and raised an eyebrow. "Young Master Mu might as well ask Muyang Hui's wife if she was planning to kill me just now." Muyang turned around to look at Lady Muyang, but saw her turn away with a stiff expression on her face, causing his heart to sink. Yao Ji smiled brilliantly. "If you want to take me in as your concubine, Young Master Mu, I will give my life for it based solely on your sincerity. As long as you swear in front of everyone in the capital that if something happens to Yao Ji…you will personally kill those who were still loyal to me at my shrine. How does that sound"

"Yang'er!"

"Young Master Mu!" Lady Muyang and Young Madam Mu both spoke up to stop him.

Seeing their awkward expressions, Yao Ji gave a mocking smile and turned around with the child in her arms, heading into the room without caring about the noise outside caused by Lady Muyang and Young Madam Mu.

When Muyang finally sent his mother and wife away, he returned to the room and saw Yao Ji standing by the window, seemingly deep in thought. A hint of guilt flashed across Muyang's eyes as he sighed softly. "Yao Ji, why are you doing this Why say such things I know…you're not like that."

Yao Ji sneered coldly. "You're wrong. That is exactly who I am. If I'm suffering, nobody can expect to be happy! Should anything happen to me, don't count on you to avenge me. I've given 50,000 silver notes to the Lord of the Netherworld's Pavilion; if anything happens to me, they will naturally seek revenge for me."

"I don't believe it." Mu Yang shook his head with a smile.

Yao Ji remained silent. Mu Yang wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and whispered, "Yao Ji, you'll live here from now on. Don’t worry, no one from the House of Mu Yang will come back here again after this. No one will bother us; let’s just live our lives."

More than a year ago, when he embraced her like this, she felt tender affection, but now it was as if a cold and wet snake had wrapped around her, chilling her to the bone inside and out.

No one disturbed them for two whole months. During these two months, Yao Ji neither resisted Mu Yang nor insisted on leaving. Gradually, Mu Yang seemed to relax somewhat and visit less often than before. After all, he was a young and ambitious person who couldn’t possibly spend all his time with just one woman. When Yao Ji learned that Mu Yang would be occupied with something entrusted by Mo Jingqi for some days, she knew her chance had come.

The servants in the villa did not respect Yao Ji, but seeing that she showed no intention of running away, they gradually eased their guard. Finally, on an evening when the lamps were just lit up, Yao Ji managed to escape from the villa with her child.

After escaping the villa, Yao Ji took only a few valuable pieces of jewelry and immediately exchanged them for silver notes. She didn’t know when Mu Yang discovered she was missing, but during the days before her escape, no one had chased after her. Yao Ji traveled day and night towards the west, yet ten days later, people from the House of Mu Yang caught up with her.

A lone woman with a child found it hard to flee everywhere; on the fifteenth day, Yao Ji finally saw those chasing her. Unlike before, these chasers meant to take her life. Just when Yao Ji was almost in despair, several carriages appeared at the edge of the woods. Without much thought, she held her child and ran towards the carriages while shouting for help, "Someone! Help me!"

Leading the group, a gray-clad man paused in surprise before swiftly leaping forward. The pursuers weren’t professional killers or experts; it was no trouble to deal with them.

Holding her child, Yao Ji sat on the ground, momentarily unable to process what had happened. Was she… safe now

"Miss Yao, are you alright" A deep male voice sounded nearby. Yao Jie raised her eyes blankly and saw a tall man with a composed expression standing in front of her.

"Qin Feng," Qin Feng said coolly. He had been sent to escort the two wet nurses and maidservants of the Princess Consort of Chu King, but he hadn't expected to encounter Yao Jie who was being pursued. Furrowing his brows, Qin Feng asked, "Who is chasing you"

Yao Jie somewhat disinterestedly replied, "It's probably someone from the Marquis Mu Yang’s residence." She had just escaped a dangerous situation and these days of hiding and traveling had already exhausted her. Suddenly feeling relieved at that moment, she didn't feel like dwelling on it.

Qin Feng looked down at the child in her arms; the kid hadn’t even cried despite being carried away by Yao Jie’s frantic running just now. "Is this your child"

Yao Jie nodded, smiling faintly and said, "Yes, he's my son, Shen Jing'an."

Qin Feng raised an eyebrow but didn't ask why the boy wasn’t named after the Mu family. Looking at Yao Jie, he asked, "What are your plans"

Yao Jie somewhat shyly replied, "I plan to head west."

Qin Feng thought for a moment and said, "We're heading back to Li City; Miss can travel with us."

Yao Jie was pleased. She had originally planned to go to the Prince Ding’s place as well. Although she didn't necessarily have to go to Li City, once they entered Feihong Pass, people from the Marquis Mu Yang’s residence would likely be more cautious in their pursuit. However, since the journey to Li City was long, if she could travel with them it would definitely be better. Thinking this over, Yao Jie didn't refuse and nodded, saying, "In that case, I'll have to thank Commander Qin."’t a major matter, being captured by Ding王府 and having his martial arts abilities restrained meant that as long as he was still in Ding王府’s custody, whether imprisoned or not, he wouldn’t be able to c...