TKTWC 15

Chapter 15

Xing’er’s Sachet**

In ancient times, when a man and a woman exchanged sachets, it wasn’t necessarily a formal betrothal, but it carried some romantic implications.

A girl would give a sachet to a man she fancied. If he was interested, he would accept it; if not, he would politely decline.

It was a graceful way to save face.

Xing’er was young and probably just beginning to feel the stirrings of first love. Using the sachet to hold the peace charm likely concealed some of her own private feelings.

The problem was, Liu Yi hadn’t realized that at all—

From her perspective, it was just an adorable little girl who had gone through great effort to get a peace charm for her big sister who was about to travel far.

Given the vast gap in their social status, no one would actually think Liu Yi would marry her just because she accepted the sachet.

But accepting it would inevitably make Xing’er think too much, lead the girl on, and wouldn’t look good if word got out.

Even someone as quick-witted as Liu Yi was completely at a loss for words.

“Oh? A secret rendezvous?” A sarcastic male voice suddenly came from behind.

Liu Yi spun around—before she could even see who it was, the sachet in her hand was snatched away!

It was Liu He!

While everyone’s attention had been on her and Xing’er, this man had somehow slipped behind her under cover of darkness!

And taken the sachet.

“Give it back.” Liu Yi reached for it.

But Liu He was faster—he immediately clenched it in his fist.

“I’ve heard that military secrets have been leaking badly lately. So it’s you people.”

As he spoke, a line of soldiers emerged from the shadows, surrounding the group.

How had he come back? When had he arrived? How much had he overheard?

Had he been there when Sister Sun and the others were speaking ill of him? If so, would he find an excuse to retaliate against them?

And if there really was a leak, who was responsible?

Liu Yi didn’t respond, but everyone was terrified… They huddled together, not daring to raise their heads.

“Search.” Liu He pointed at the bundles Liu Yi was holding.

Several soldiers closed in. To see better, they even lit torches. Seeing this, Liu Yi placed the bundles on the ground and opened them herself.

“These are gifts from the villagers to see me off—not military secrets,” she said as she displayed each item one by one.

But the soldiers ignored her, shaking out the bundles and tossing the inspected items aside carelessly, leaving a messy pile on the ground.

Liu Yi hesitated for a moment, then still stooped to gather them back slowly.

“Report to Master He—no abnormalities found,” a soldier reported.

“Is that so? Then it seems…” Liu He dangled the sachet from his finger. “The juicy secrets are in this fragrant little sachet.”

With that, he opened the sachet in front of everyone, taking out the peace charm and a neatly folded letter.

Liu He shook the letter—it was dusted with some fragrant powder.

“Let me have a look,” he grinned.

Several soldiers snickered.

“No!” Xing’er cried out from the crowd. “That—that’s not any secret.”

Of course it wasn’t any secret—what it was, everyone present knew very well.

But Liu He acted as if he hadn’t heard, unfolded the letter, cleared his throat loudly, and prepared to read it aloud.

At that moment, Liu Yi suddenly strode forward and snatched the letter straight out of Liu He’s hand!

No one expected her to act so abruptly—even Liu He was startled!

“How dare you!” He glared furiously. “Seizing evidence in broad daylight!”

“Don’t you know whether this is evidence or not, Master He?” Liu Yi looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “Or are you telling me that, knowing full well there’s a grain shortage, you openly violated the military’s ban on alcohol—and even got drunk and harassed an innocent young girl?”

“What if I report this to the court?!”

Yuyang was prosperous and had its own wine shops.

But wine was brewed from grain. When grain was in short supply, everyone in the military—especially the commanders—would voluntarily abstain from alcohol, so as not to dishearten the soldiers on the front lines.

Liu He wasn’t strictly on the march right now, but drinking was still highly inappropriate—it’s just that no one in Yuyang could stop him.

No one expected Liu Yi, who had been meek and nonresistant all day, to suddenly explode. Even the soldiers standing nearby instinctively stepped back half a pace.

Liu He, however, gradually shifted from rage to calm.

“I thought you were docile.” He tossed the empty sachet and peace charm to the ground. “Looks like you’d rather a toast than a forfeit.”

“The military forbids alcohol,” Liu Yi repeated. “I won’t drink anything.”

“Then I look forward to our journey to Guangyang even more.” Liu He sneered. “Let’s see how long you can hold out on your own.”

A blatant threat.

In Yuyang, Liu Yi had her father’s backing and the people’s protection.

Once she left Yuyang, she would have nothing.

“Come, let’s go rest.” Liu He turned, then as if remembering something, pulled a folded yellow paper from his bosom and raised it. “Don’t forget your military pledge.”

Watching the group walk away, Liu Yi quickly gathered the scattered gifts from the ground, all the while urging the frightened commoners huddled together around her.

“Take the shortcut home now—run as fast as you can!”

“It’s dark now—they might not have seen your faces clearly. Just to be safe, don’t go out for the next few days!”

She hung the bags and bundles on herself, paused, picked up the empty sachet and peace charm from the ground, and tucked them into her bosom.

Then she handed the folded letter back to Xing’er.

“No one read it,” Liu Yi said. “Here—keep it safe.”

“I’m sorry, I…” Xing’er’s eyes were full of tears.

She regretted it now—regretted it so much her whole body trembled.

She knew she wasn’t worthy of Master Yi, yet she had deliberately played dumb, using the sachet to hold the peace charm and slipping in a letter filled with her girlish feelings, wanting to satisfy her own affection and vanity—and now she’d caused a huge disaster!

For a moment, she even wished Liu He had read her letter out loud, let her be publicly mocked and punished—anything rather than dragging Master Yi into this.

“Don’t take it to heart.” Liu Yi pressed the letter into her palm. “It’s just the feelings of a young girl.”

—

Liu Yi returned to the residence. Governor Liu was already waiting at the gate. Seeing her safe, he was both relieved and anxious.

“You scared me to death, young lady.” He hurriedly pulled Liu Yi inside. “I heard from the returning soldiers that you got into another conflict with Master He?”

Liu Yi recounted the whole story to her father.

She glossed over the most serious parts and didn’t mention Liu He’s threats, but Governor Liu was still frantic.

“Why do you have to antagonize him? Let him search, let him read it out loud—what does it matter?”

“I have my pride too. He just won’t let it go.” Liu Yi pursed her lips. “Even if I gave way completely, he wouldn’t stop.”

Governor Liu slapped his thigh in frustration: “But this does you no good. What will you do if he tries to get back at you on the road? You’ll be all alone!”

“As long as I’m alive, the grain has a chance of safely reaching Guangyang,” Liu Yi said. “If he wants to destroy his own career and ten thousand lives in Guangyang just to take me down with him—so be it.”

That wasn’t wrong either. When someone had real skill, no matter how bad their temper, others had to put up with them.

But there were ways to torment a person beyond just taking their life—and those born into power knew plenty of them…

Did her daughter understand that?