Chapter 67: The Madam's Handwriting is Truly Unique

Beside it lay another, slightly larger piece of letter paper. The moment Dongfang Jibai unfolded it, his face darkened completely.

He was green with jealousy!

Ji Ci had left a letter for Chusi!

Yet she couldn't even leave him a proper message! All those high-sounding words written to him weren't worth a single phrase: Upon receiving this token, deliver the mounts!

A low growl, suppressing thunderous fury, pierced through the wooden door: "Chusi, get in here!"

The figure outside the door stiffened.

A few seconds later, a series of deliberately heavy knocks sounded: knock, knock, knock.

Dongfang Jibai’s brows knitted into a deep vertical crease, and a surge of wicked anger rushed straight to his head!

What was the meaning of this? Did his subordinate have an attitude toward him, his master?

The door was pushed open cautiously, just a crack.

Chusi poked his head in, forcing a stiff smile onto his face, his voice dry: "Master, as you ordered last time, sub—subordinate knocked on the door..."

"Humph!"

Dongfang Jibai let out a heavy snort from his nose, forcefully suppressing the rage that was about to explode.

With a flick of his wrist, he accurately hurled the crumpled ball of paper right at Chusi's face. "Pick it up! Read it!"

The paper ball rolled to a stop at Chusi's feet.

Chusi cursed his luck inwardly, yet dared not delay in the slightest. He quickly squatted down to pick up the paper ball.

Then, with extreme care and even a hint of trepidation, he unfolded and smoothed it out.

When that handwriting, which could only be described as "appalling," came into view, even someone as well-trained as Chusi couldn't help but twitch his eyelids violently.

He muttered involuntarily, "Hiss... Whose ghost talismans are these? Incomplete strokes, loose structure, looks like a chicken's claw scratched it... Which shadow guard writes like this? They must..."

Before he could finish, a bone-chilling gaze locked onto him.

Dongfang Jibai’s voice squeezed out from between his teeth, laced with shards of ice: "My wife."

Chusi almost dropped to his knees.

Badmouthing the mistress behind her back—the mistress was petty, what if she sabotaged him behind the scenes!

"Subordinate only meant to say that the mistress's handwriting is truly unique."

"Finish the letter."

Dongfang Jibai flicked the hem of his robe, heavily reseating himself in the grand armchair, his knuckles impatiently tapping against the hard sandalwood tabletop.

"Tap! Tap! Tap!—"

Every single beat struck the very core of Chusi's heart like a death-knell drumbeat.

Chusi was startled so badly that his whole body shuddered. He quickly lowered his head, his eyes scanning the "heavenly script" at the speed of a high-tech scanner.

"Master, the mistress says she left hundreds of blood-sweating divine steeds for subordinate in Mount Dunhong, and Little Seven is guarding them."

Chusi was somewhat excited; as expected of the mistress!

She even knew to leave things for him!

"They were left for me."

"Right, right, right, left for Master. Subordinate will have someone take them away right now." Chusi made as if to leave. Their cavalry wasn't strong enough; with these horses, they could finally train a proper cavalry unit.

"Leave the horses to graze in the mountain. You will secretly train the cavalry there, and have the army send over five hundred soldiers," Dongfang Jibai commanded.

Chusi instantly understood his master's strategic intent—a divine weapon must be kept hidden within its scabbard!

Suppressing his excitement, he cupped his fists solemnly and said, "Subordinate obeys! I will certainly not fail the trust of Master and Mistress!"

With that, he retreated swiftly as if granted a grand amnesty, not daring to linger a moment longer.

He needed to immediately go and select the most reliable men; this would be a crucial bargaining chip concerning the future battlefield.

The study instantly returned to dead silence.

The cold moonlight outside the window spilled in. Dongfang Jibai’s earlier thunderous fury seemed to have been completely drained away, leaving only the crackling of candle flames in the vast study.

He leaned back against the chair, gazing at the intricate carvings on the ceiling beams, an indescribable sense of emptiness and fatigue quietly creeping into his heart.

Was she... really leaving because she couldn't handle his insatiable demands?

He thought with a trace of vexation, but this notion lingered for only a moment before being suppressed by an even greater sense of grievance and resentment.

—Could he be blamed for that?

Wasn't she the one who poisoned him! She didn't even know how to pity him!

How could he possibly know that Ji Ci running away had nothing to do with him being "insatiable"!

It was purely because he had tried to bind Feng'er with the conventional expectations of a "proper young lady of a noble family"!

Ji Ci, that little firecracker, was ready to explode at the slightest touch.

Why should women only be allowed to act like caged songbirds?

She refused to be one!

At this moment, on the official highway.

The crisp moonlight poured down like liquid silver as two spirited horses galloped past, shattering the night.

Zhao Qiaofeng wore a crisp, vermilion riding suit, closely following behind Ji Ci.

On her back, a pink, plump crossbody bag swayed gently with the bouncing of the horse, lending her a touch of playfulness amidst her heroic bearing.

As for Ji Ci, she wore a deep blue riding suit. The matching, peculiarly textured cloth bag on her back, though seemingly small, held all her confidence and capital.

This bag was a meticulously prepared cover story to conceal her retrieval of items from the "System Space."

The sound of horse hooves clattered rhythmically.

Zhao Qiaofeng finally couldn't help it; she spurred her horse to catch up with Ji Ci, riding side by side with her.

The night wind ruffled her bangs, carrying a trace of hard-to-conceal trepidation in her voice: "Sister-in-law, if we just run away like this without a word, will big cousin be violently furious?"

After all, she was a young lady raised in the lap of luxury and strict rules within the Dongfang estate, and she had never done anything so bold.

Except for last time, she was always a good girl!

Ji Ci pulled on the reins and turned her face slightly. The moonlight outlined the soaring, radiant smile on her face, and her gaze was resolute yet comforting.

"With your sister-in-law here, there is nothing to fear! Wherever you want to go, your sister-in-law will accompany you."

This ringing promise acted like a reassuring pill for Zhao Qiaofeng.

Looking at her sister-in-law's fearless expression, the sense of suffocation caused by her cousin's rigid rules seemed to be truly blown away by this breeze of freedom.

Light rippled in Zhao Qiaofeng's eyes as she murmured softly, "Along the way from Bianjing, I was only ever worried about big cousin's safety and never truly looked at the scenery along the road. Sister-in-law, I'm starting to miss my aunt a little..."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ji Ci made a bold gesture, cracking her riding whip in the air to produce a crisp sonic boom. "Destination Bianjing! Sister-in-law will take you back!"

Before her voice had even faded, laughter as crisp as silver bells drifted into the silent night sky.

Two figures, one blue and one red, shot forward like arrows leaving the bow, vanishing into the distance once more.

The official highway late at night was desolate and eerie, with only the hurried sound of hooves striking the ground.

A pitch-black, windy night that ordinary women would avoid at all costs had been turned by them into the prelude of a free and unrestrained martial world.

After all, Zhao Qiaofeng was a delicate maiden raised in a boudoir.

After several rounds of galloping at full speed, her stamina gradually failed, her waist and back ached, and her hands gripping the reins began to grow weak.

Panting, she called out, "Sis... Sister-in-law! Slow down, I'm so tired, can we find a place to rest our feet?"

Ji Ci nodded; her original intention had been to rest in the latter half of the night anyway.

She had been spurring her horse like mad all the way simply because she was afraid Dongfang Jibai would catch her!

That was why she had been running for her life.

Under the moonlight, at a fork in the road ahead, nestled amidst a grove of trees, a few dim, flickering lights faintly gleamed.

Ji Ci looked around. "Look over there! It looks like a post station."

She pointed with her riding whip. "Let's go, we'll rest there!"

"Okay." Zhao Qiaofeng quickly followed in Ji Ci's footsteps.