Traveling through time and space to become a lady of a noble family, but she only wants to escape

The two stood before the gate for a long time. Chu Yunchuan's fingers kept stroking the mechanism, his gaze unfocused, his eyelashes fluttering like wings. This mechanism belonged only to the present; it could neither lock away the past nor the future.

Bai Zhi looked up at the stars in the sky and patted Chu Yunchuan: "Look, the stars are beautiful tonight."

Chu Yunchuan also looked up. The sky was filled with countless stars, vast and boundless. He held his breath for a moment, and inexplicably felt that his heart was also vast and boundless. It was as if with this glance, the sky expanded in his heart, stretching to the boundless horizon.

Bai Zhi said leisurely, "What are you afraid of? Tell me, there's no harm in speaking your mind."

Chu Yunchuan opened his mouth, but no sound came out; he looked somewhat bewildered and at a loss.

“Then I’ll say it for you.” Bai Zhi leaned lazily against him. “You’re afraid I’ll get involved in dangerous messes again and disappear from your sight, but you can’t watch over me every second of the day like a prisoner, so you can only add a mechanism as a consolation.” She pointed to the giant ladle in the sky. “Do you know what that’s called?”

After a brief moment of embarrassment at having his thoughts exposed, Chu Yunchuan calmed down and replied softly, "That's the Big Dipper."

"You are so learned, Your Majesty. Farmers rely on the stars to decide when to sow and when to harvest. Spring brings forth life, summer fosters growth, autumn brings harvest, and winter brings storage. All things in the world have their own rhythms, and so do you and I. Our rhythms are almost at the point where we can lie at home and live a carefree life, oblivious to worldly affairs, sleeping until the day is over. At that time, you will no longer be King Jing, and I will just be the wife of an ordinary commoner. We will no longer be able to be tricked by anyone."

Chu Yunchuan turned his head to look, just as Bai Zhi was also looking over. She had a light smile on her face, and her eyes were sparkling. Chu Yunchuan's heart stirred, and he pressed his lips to Bai Zhi's forehead.

The touch beneath his lips was cool and warm, and the stray strands of Bai Zhi's hair brushed against his cheek, causing a slight itch.

He asked in a low voice, "Are you afraid in the Southern Barbarian lands?"

The topic changed so suddenly that Bai Zhi was taken aback for a moment before replying, "I'm not afraid, but I'm really anxious. Things were alright in Taka; the food and lodging were good every day. Later, I went to Salam to find the potion to remove the mask. Although the food and lodging were even better there, I kept seeing Ge Zhen, which was incredibly annoying."

Chu Yunchuan was genuinely stunned: "You went to Salam on your own?"

“Yes,” Bai Zhi said honestly, “This mask is so sturdy, I won’t be able to go back for a month without the potion. But your informant doesn’t have any potion at all. I should have stayed in Taka for a month and enjoyed good food and drink.”

Chu Yunchuan chuckled for no apparent reason, and then his laughter grew louder and louder. Bai Zhi watched as he laughed until two lines of tears streamed down his face.

Tears flowed inexplicably, yet the laughter was undeniably clear and bright. Bai Zhi hesitated for a moment, then reached up to wipe away her tears, saying nothing, frantically trying to recall what she had said wrong.

Chu Yunchuan hooked her finger and traced it upwards along the tear stains, his eyes, clear as a lake after being washed by water: "Come, let's solve the mechanism together."

Bai Zhi: "?"

Immediately afterwards, Chu Yunchuan's warm palm enveloped her hand, and she pressed the mechanisms on the door one by one, just like he was teaching Qiaoqiao to write.

Pressing the final button caused the doors to rattle and creak. Chu Yunchuan, holding Bai Zhi's hand, gently pulled, and both doors swung open. He did so willingly, a knowing smile on his face.

Now it was Bai Zhi's turn to be confused.

"The door is open," Chu Yunchuan said with a smile. "It's late now. I don't have any official business tomorrow, so let's go out for a walk."

Bai Zhi took the initiative and grabbed his hand: "Why postpone it until tomorrow? Let's go now."

The next morning, Chu Yunchuan sent someone to invite Lu Jiliang over for a long talk that lasted an hour.

Bai Zhi was still asleep at that time, because the shops in Ningzhou at night were so diverse that she ate and drank too much while shopping the night before and couldn't sleep until she finally drifted off to sleep around 5 a.m.

However, Lu Jiliang didn't ask any questions. He left promptly after finishing his business and didn't linger for a moment.

Only after leaving the mansion did he turn back and take one last deep look.

When Bai Zhi woke up, it was already noon. Her stomach hadn't digested her previous meal yet, so she only drank some water and then lay down in the yard with Chu Yunchuan to bask in the sun.

It's almost November, and we've had a rare sunny day.

With her eyes closed in rest, Bai Zhi lazily asked, "Is Qiaoqiao still at the White Tiger Army's camp?"

Chu Yunchuan said, "After returning to Ningzhou City, I wrote to Qiaoqiao to let her know I was safe. If she wants to come over, she should arrive in the next couple of days."

At this time, Qiaoqiao was in Lanyang County, which is adjacent to Wuxian County.

With a sack of bricks in her left hand and another in her right, she argued fiercely with the foreman: "We agreed on seventy coins, how can you try to raise the price like this!"

The shopkeeper, with his legs crossed, said, "Hey, little brat, what are you glaring at me for? Don't you know what time it is? We're at war! Prices change every day. Yesterday it was seventy coins, today it's a hundred."

Qiaoqiao retorted angrily, "Yesterday there was news that the war was almost over, and today you're raising prices! Aren't you just taking advantage of everyone needing to repair their houses to charge exorbitant prices? Besides, we agreed on seventy coins. You should keep your word, or who will want to do business with you in the future!"

"I'm not going to waste my breath on you. It's just one hundred coins. Take it or leave it. There are plenty of people waiting to take it."

"you!"

The boss turned his head and went to greet other customers.

Qiaoqiao gritted her teeth in anger, picked up the sack to test its weight, took only one sack, and carried it away.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" The boss caught up and grabbed her wrist, glaring at her with a fierce expression. "You brat, what are you doing stealing?"

"Aren't you going to raise the price on the spot? I'll watch over this bag of bricks for you first, and I'll pay you when the price drops back to seventy coins."

Enraged, the boss lunged to snatch the sack, but Qiaoqiao clutched it tightly and screamed, "Help! This is indecent assault!"

Several passersby glanced at him, and the shopkeeper quickly withdrew his hand, glaring at them and saying, "You brat, you're trying to shift the blame! Folks, be the judge. This girl stole my bricks, and I was kind enough not to report it to the authorities and just take them back, but she's shouting about indecent assault."

"Hmph, it's clearly you who broke your promise and raised the price on the spot!" Qiaoqiao stood up straight with her hands on her hips, her voice louder than the shopkeeper's. "We agreed yesterday that it would be seventy coins for two bags of bricks, and you raised it to one hundred coins the next day. I'm being lenient by not reporting you to the authorities. You still want to report me to the authorities?"

The two started arguing in the street, and more and more people gathered around. Finally, a narrow path was cleared through the crowd, and Qiao Yuanshan squeezed in.

He rushed to Qiaoqiao's side and asked the boss, "Boss Jiang, what's wrong?"

Qiaoqiao was taken aback: "Brother Yuanshan, do you know him?"

"Oh my, isn't this General Qiao?" The shopkeeper quickly rubbed his hands together and smiled apologetically. "You see, there's been a misunderstanding between your friend and me. She came to buy bricks, but we couldn't agree on a price..."