The backdrop can also be propped up.

363. Escaping the Huang Mansion 29

Xu Qinying was stunned when she heard what the maid outside said. She asked the maid again, "Are you sure it's now and not tomorrow morning? It's the middle of the night..."

“That’s right,” the maid replied from outside. “Madam said it has to be now. You two should hurry up and set off, or the carriages will be rescheduled again.”

"Then, then go and call the young lady. I need to say goodbye to her," Xu Qinying said to the maid outside the door while putting on her clothes.

"Yes, Miss Xu, it's just that the young lady is a heavy sleeper and might not be able to wake up the girl outside," the maid said.

"Go call them first. I need to get dressed and pack my luggage, it won't be quick." Xu Qinying said as she put on her coat.

The maid outside responded, and then the sound of footsteps came from outside the window—the maid must have gone to call someone.

Xu Qinying finished dressing, picked up her suitcase, got up and pushed open the door to the guest room, where she saw a maid carrying a lantern standing at the door.

"Miss Xu, please follow me," the maid said, leading the way with a lantern.

Xu Qinying looked left and right but couldn't see Huang Muyan. Somewhat puzzled, she asked the maid in front of her, "Where is Huang Muyan? Didn't she come?"

“Someone else went to fetch the young lady,” said the lantern-bearing maid. “Let me lead you to the door first.”

The two hadn't walked far when Zhou Hefang came out following a maid. He was also carrying a suitcase full of things. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and muttered in dissatisfaction, "What's going on... They said they couldn't get the carriages and horses during the day, but now they're telling us to leave in the middle of the night. Aren't they trying to kick us out? I don't even know if there are any hotels open in town."

"Forget it, Xiao Zhou, they went to great lengths to get the car out," Xu Qinying comforted Zhou Hefang. "Besides, we've been through similar hardships before."

"Oh, I know, I know, Miss Xu." Zhou Hefang muttered a couple more times, then yawned and followed the maids to the door and got into the carriage.

The coachman sat in front, ready to crack the whip at any moment, while Madam Wang's personal maid, Wuchou, stood at the carriage entrance and said to Xu Qinying, who was sitting inside the carriage, "Miss Xu, our Madam is not feeling well and it is inconvenient for her to come out to see us off tonight, so I will come out instead."

"It's alright. Mrs. Wang is getting on in years, so it's best for her to take care of her health," Xu Qinying said. Then she asked Wuchou, "Where is Miss Huang? Has she not come yet?"

The two lantern-bearing maids exchanged a glance, and one of them said, "The young lady has always been a very deep sleeper, and she is extremely difficult to wake up when she is asleep."

"Besides, it's so late now. If the First Madam finds out that we disturbed the young lady's sleep, I don't know if we will be punished."

"Is that so? I understand." Xu Qinying said as she rummaged through her suitcase for paper and pen, wrote a few lines on the letter, folded the paper several times, and handed it to Wuchou, saying, "Please give this to Miss Huang, Miss Wuchou."

Wu Chou agreed, took the paper from Xu Qinying, and then gestured to the coachman to take Xu Qinying and Zhou Hefang away.

"Wait a minute!" Suddenly, a little girl's voice broke the silence of the night, "Miss Xu! Our young lady is here!"

The coachman was so startled that he immediately reined in his horse. As soon as Xu Qinying heard the voice, she knew it must be Huang Muyan coming to find her—because the girl's voice was none other than the voice of Huang Muyan's little maid.

Sure enough, as Mu Wanqing's voice appeared, Mu Wanqing was carrying a lantern in front, followed by Huang Muyan walking quickly behind.

Huang Muyan was clearly in a hurry to get dressed, and she rushed over without even tucking the hem of her clothes properly.

"Mu Yan!" Xu Qinying immediately got off the carriage when she saw Huang Mu Yan arrive, walked up to Huang Mu Yan, and took her hand, saying, "You've come!"

"Yes, that's right, I promised Sister Xu." Huang Muyan also held Xu Qinying's hand tightly.

“I’m leaving now, and I don’t know how long it will be before we see each other again,” Xu Qinying said, glancing at Wuchou. “I thought you wouldn’t make it in time, so I wrote down what I wanted to say to you on a piece of paper and asked Wuchou to give it to you. Now that you’re awake, there’s no need for Wuchou to deliver it to you.”

Seeing that Xu Qinying was looking at her and hearing what Xu Qinying said, Wuchou, who originally wanted to give the letter written by Xu Qinying to Wang Shi, had no choice but to take out the letter and hand it to Huang Muyan.

Huang Muyan took the letter and carefully put it in her pocket. Then she continued to hold Xu Qinying's hand and said, "Sister Xu, wait for us. We will meet in Beiping later."

“Okay,” Xu Qinying said with a smile, “I’m really looking forward to that day.”

After saying this, Xu Qinying got into the carriage and left.

Huang Muyan watched Xu Qinying leave for a moment before turning around and seeing Wuchou bow to her: "Young Miss."

Huang Muyan nodded and said, "Get up. Talk to your mother next time and tell her not to make such a commotion at night. You woke me up. I'm going back to sleep now."

"Yes, Miss." Wuchou replied.

On the way back, Huang Muyan looked around and, seeing that no one was around, affectionately took Mu Wanqing's free hand and said, "Luckily you woke me up, otherwise I wouldn't have known that Sister Xu had left."

"Didn't Sister Huang say goodbye to Sister Xu? I can't let Sister Huang be a person who goes back on her word." Mu Wanqing knew that no one was around now, so she immediately relaxed.

"It's just that Miss Xu and the others left so suddenly, and Sister Wuchou and the others are guarding the door. We originally planned to leave with Miss Xu, but now we can't leave. What should we do?" Mu Wanqing then began to worry about whether they could escape successfully.

"It's alright. There are only two days left until Father's burial. We'll take advantage of that time to escape," Huang Muyan said as she unfolded the letter.

The letter contained only a few casually written words, seemingly just ordinary questions between good friends, but Huang Muyan could tell that Xu Qinying was reminding her.

Xu Qinying wrote down all the places in town that were suitable for Huang Muyan and the others to stay in order to make arrangements after their escape.