Su Xiaoliu tiptoed along the long corridor. When passing by the Alliance Leader's room, she couldn't help but take a couple of extra glances. Since there was no candlelight, he must not have returned yet.
Su Xiaoliu heaved a sigh of relief and rushed downstairs towards the backyard in a hurry.
In the mountain villa, there was a lantern lit at regular intervals. The farther she went towards the back, the fewer lanterns there were. By the time she reached the backyard, it was almost pitch - black.
Su Xiaoliu stood on the path in the backyard, looking around. Suddenly, a figure in black flashed by. Her wrist was grabbed tightly. Then, with a blur before her eyes, she was pulled behind a rockery and hidden.
"Were you spotted on your way here?" A serious and cold voice sounded above her head.
The hand on her wrist loosened. Su Xiaoliu looked up and saw a pair of fierce eagle - like eyes.
She recalled for a moment and shook her head, whispering, "No."
Chang He was dressed in black night clothes. He turned around, hands behind his back, facing away from Su Xiaoliu.
"Did the Alliance Leader say anything to you?"
Su Xiaoliu quickly replied, "He asked me to be his concubine."
Chang He let out a low chuckle and said, "As expected."
Suddenly, Su Xiaoliu remembered something and asked, "Who is Yun Ruo?"
Chang He turned back to look at her. His eagle - like eyes, revealed under the mask, glinted in the darkness. He tilted his head slightly and said, "She's the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world at this Pingshan Assembly."
"The most beautiful woman in the martial arts world?" Su Xiaoliu was stunned on the spot and couldn't help repeating.
Chang He glanced at her and sneered, saying, "Yun Ruo's beauty lies not in her appearance but in her heart."
Su Xiaoliu was just feeling a bit happy when a bucket of cold water was poured on her head, and her heart turned cold again. She muttered discontentedly, "Heart? How can a heart be beautiful? It's inside the body. Who can see it..."
Chang He heard her muttering clearly and answered her doubt, "People in the martial arts world all call Yun Ruo the 'Fairy Maiden'. She is highly skilled in medicine and has a kind heart like a Bodhisattva. She treats patients all over the world without charging a single cent. She even can't bear to hurt the flowers and plants. It's only natural that people respect and praise her."
The Fairy Maiden? A doctor?
Su Xiaoliu suddenly remembered that when she ran a teahouse in an old temple, there was a skinny man in a tattered robe who once said that the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world at this Pingshan Assembly was a girl with the surname Yun...
Could it be Yun Ruo?
Su Xiaoliu looked at Chang He uncertainly, pointed at herself, and asked, "Do I look like her?"
Chang He gave her a disdainful look and said, "The difference is as great as heaven and earth. You just look a bit alike."
Su Xiaoliu wanted to get angry but didn't dare to. She forced herself to swallow her anger and put on a flattering smile, asking, "The 200,000 taels of gold have been hidden properly?"
Chang He looked down at her and said, "As you instructed, they've all been buried behind the old temple."
Su Xiaoliu frowned and said, "Won't they be dug out by others?"
Chang He gave her a contemptuous look and said, "They're buried very deep. No one will know."
"That's good." Su Xiaoliu stroked her chest and let out a sigh of relief.
She didn't want the wealth she had risked her life for to be taken away by others.
Chang He ignored her and asked, "Has anyone mistaken you for Yun Ruo?"
Su Xiaoliu put down her hand, looked up at him, nodded, and said, "The Alliance Leader asked me to act as Yun Ruo." She was a bit confused and asked, "Why does he want me to pretend to be Yun Ruo? Won't Yun Ruo show up at this Pingshan Assembly?" What if people found out there were two Yun Ruos? As an imposter, wouldn't she be so embarrassed?
Chang He lowered his head, and his deep voice seemed to be talking to himself, "Sure enough, he would do this." After a while, he looked at Su Xiaoliu and said, "You don't need to worry about this. Yun Ruo won't come to the Pingshan Assembly. All you need to do is act as the Alliance Leader's concubine and pretend to be Yun Ruo."
Su Xiaoliu nodded and secretly despised the amorous Alliance Leader in her heart.
Such a gentle and kind Fairy Maiden was taken under his name as a concubine. If Yun Ruo herself and the people in the world knew about it, they would surely be furious.
But since this man with eagle - like eyes was so certain that Yun Ruo wouldn't show up at the Pingshan Assembly, there should be no problems.
After the Pingshan Assembly, she would just leave quietly. Who cared about being a concubine or a small wife?
Thinking like this, Su Xiaoliu looked up, only to find that the place in front of her was empty.
"He left without saying a word. Is having good light - body skills something to be so proud of? People who leave without saying goodbye are the most despicable." Su Xiaoliu stamped her foot angrily and turned around to walk back.
After walking for a while, she suddenly remembered that something she had said before seemed a bit strange...
She shook her head and continued walking forward.
When Su Xiaoliu reached the second floor, the candlelight in the Alliance Leader's room was already on. She crouched down and walked past his room to her own.
She pushed the door for a long time but couldn't open it. Su Xiaoliu was a bit confused. Looking down, she saw a lock on the door.
What was going on?
Su Xiaoliu paced back and forth on the spot with her hands on her hips. She wanted to go to the West Small Building to find Xia Liu but thought it was too far. After thinking for a while, she hit her palm and walked towards the Alliance Leader's room.
There were two motionless guards standing in front of the Alliance Leader's room. They didn't stop Su Xiaoliu when she walked over. She gathered her courage and knocked on the door.
The next second, the door creaked open.
Then, a hand reached out and suddenly pulled her in. With a bang, the door was closed again.
Su Xiaoliu sprained her foot and gasped in pain. She angrily withdrew her hand and glared at the Alliance Leader who was looking at her with a smile on his face, saying angrily, "What are you pulling for? You're in your own territory but acting like you're having an affair."
As soon as she said it, Su Xiaoliu regretted it.
When she was in the Su family, she often wandered the streets and alleys of the capital. She had heard those words that the old ladies would whisper with a sly smile to each other. She had blurted them out without thinking.
The Alliance Leader looked down at her and smiled enigmatically.
Su Xiaoliu blushed and stammered to change the topic, "Was it you who locked my room?"
The Alliance Leader glanced at her sideways and said with a light smile, "My wife didn't return late at night. As her husband, of course, I have to discipline her strictly."
Wife? Who's your wife!
Su Xiaoliu was angry but dared not show it. She secretly glared at him and looked up with a smile, saying, "I just went to find Xia Liu. And now I'm back."
Xia Liu was someone on the side of that Chang Protector. The Alliance Leader shouldn't notice anything. Su Xiaoliu thought.
The Alliance Leader didn't continue on this topic. He let out a light laugh and said, "I locked your room just to make you come to me obediently."
Sure enough, it wasn't because of that stupid reason of strict discipline that he locked her room. There was another purpose.
Also, this Alliance Leader was really smart. He knew she would avoid him and actually came up with such a trick...
Su Xiaoliu straightened her body, looked up at him, and said with a gentle smile, "What does my husband want to talk to me about?"
The Alliance Leader was stunned for a moment, and his smile became even broader. He said, "I want to talk to my wife about which auspicious day we should choose to hold the wedding banquet for you."
This time it was Su Xiaoliu's turn to be stunned. She twitched the corner of her mouth, put away her smile, and said, "No need. I don't mind..."
The Alliance Leader looked at her with a smile and didn't continue on the previous topic. He said, "Do you know who Yun Ruo is?"
Su Xiaoliu was stunned for a moment and suddenly remembered what Chang He had told her before.
She pretended not to know and looked up at the Alliance Leader, asking curiously, "Who is she?"
The Alliance Leader glanced at her, thought for a while, as if considering whether to say it directly. After a while, he said, "She's the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world at this Pingshan Assembly." Then, looking at her, he added, "But this beauty is not about appearance."
Su Xiaoliu's face darkened. She moved her lips and said, "It's my honor to look similar to the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world..."
The Alliance Leader looked at her and smiled. He said, "Now that you know, you should know what you need to do, right?"
Su Xiaoliu looked at him in confusion and asked, "What should I do?"
The smile on the Alliance Leader's lips became even more pronounced as he replied, "You should show up at the Pingshan Assembly."