Chapter 627

So, it's absolutely not just as simple as trouble showing up at our door and us being unable to fight back or talk back.

Originally, I thought that as long as we didn't go out last night and didn't provoke trouble, we could safely pass the test Loulan gave us.

But it turns out, Loulan never truly intended to let them enter the city from the start.

Letting them enter the city was merely a pretext to more justifiably drive them out!

As soon as they step out of this manor, the traps outside will surely have been prepared and waiting for them.

Que'er: "Then, what should we do?"

"This Loulan country is too sneaky! Either they should clearly say we're not allowed to enter the city, or they should clearly explain how we can truly enter."

"Now they let us in, yet they want to drive us out of the city completely."

"Isn't this just playing with us?"

Que'er was furious and, in one grip, tore the handkerchief she was holding into shreds.

Sha Er, standing nearby, was frightened stiff— is this the beloved treasure of Sha San?

Zhui Yu said calmly, "Loulan has its clever plan, but we also have a ladder to climb over the wall."

"Miss, for us few to stealthily steal some grain and bring it back without anyone knowing is not difficult."

"This task I'll assign to my subordinate and Sha Yi."

"If we stay here for ten days or half a month, by then the ones who will be anxious won't be us, but these Loulan people."

After all, with thirty-some people cooped up in one house, neither going out nor starving, can the Loulan people really sit still?

Li Qingluo, however, shook her head and rejected this idea: "This is not a long-term plan."

"Moreover, you know how to steal, but wouldn't the victims report it to the authorities?"

"These Loulan people will probably soon suspect us, and when they search the courtyard again and find those items, we'll just be playing right into their hands."

Xuan Cang also nodded and said: "Indeed, this method may temporarily relieve the urgent need, but it brings even more hidden dangers."

"Junior Sister, instead of that, why don't I sneak into the palace to check whether our master and Princess A Na'er are really here in Loulan?"

"If they are, we'll then think of a way to rescue our master."

"If they are not, then leaving Loulan would be meaningless."

"What do you think?"

Li Qingluo: "The Loulan palace and the Eagle King City Lord's mansion are clearly different. This city is certainly not as simple as you imagine, allowing you to come and go freely."

"I've looked at the merchant register of our Heavenly Wind Trading Firm in the Western Regions; among the Thirteen Kingdoms of the Western Regions, at least ten kingdoms have our firm's businesses and shops."

"This Loulan is the most difficult to conquer and occupy among the remaining three kingdoms."

"They find it hard to trust foreigners, and they never allow foreign businesses to easily enter their royal city."

"Their defenses against foreigners can be said to involve the whole nation, upper and lower, united in resistance."

"Senior Brother, just to be careful, I have another method."

Everyone turned their gazes toward Li Qingluo in unison.

Li Qingluo, however, looked toward Qin Ling at the back of the crowd and gave a faint smile.

"Uncle, it's time for you to show your skill."

All eyes then turned in unison toward Qin Ling.

Qin Ling shuddered all over.

Is she sick?

Uncle?

Is she wanting to go back on the one-year agreement?

Or does she think her life is too long and wants to simply scare herself to death?

Could it be that she wants her own life?!!

Qin Ling trembled with fear, hands and feet at a loss, anxiously pointing at himself: "Me?"

Li Yunchu excitedly took his arm: "Husband, you will surely be able to do it."

Qin Ling: "My dear wife, this Li Qingluo is full of scheming thoughts; aren't you afraid she'll have your husband killed for money? You think you can do it without knowing anything? Is it that now, as long as Li Qingluo says just one 'aunt, uncle,' you'd dare to pick up a knife and kill someone yourself?"

No hope.

A wife whose heart and eyes are filled only with thoughts of her relatives truly leaves Qin Ling feeling helpless.

Li Qingluo certainly wouldn't really have Qin Ling do something like killing for a living.

Anyway, he couldn't do it.

Li Qingluo only had him disguise himself for her.

"The appearance of a Loulan person?"

"You want to blend into the Loulan crowd?"

Qin Ling raised his voice again, thinking she must be crazy to come up with such a method.

"I saw it yesterday. The eyes of Loulan people are different from ours in the Central Plains!"

"Their eyes are like brown with a hint of green, looking like emeralds, very beautiful."

"Even if I could give you the appearance of a Loulan person, the eyes cannot be changed!"

"No, no, this method is too easy to expose; I don't agree."

He still doesn't agree?

Li Qingluo narrowed her eyes: "I call you uncle, and you actually think you're really my uncle, right?"

"Qin Ling, will you take a toast or face punishment?"

"Wait till I use some methods, you'll still have to obediently make it for me."

"You'd better listen early, so you don't suffer unnecessary hardship!"

Li Qingluo said this, and a faint killing aura already emanated from her.

Qin Ling was so frightened that his goat beard twitched.

"You, don't forget—what's the condition of your body right now!"

"If I were to say it, they wouldn't agree to you taking such a risk!"

Li Qingluo clenched her fist: "Qin Ling!"

"If you break the agreement first, while you're by my side there will still be eight years before you can get away."

"You'd better think this through, okay?"

Li Yunchu quickly grabbed Qin Ling's arm tightly: "Do it, he'll definitely do it!"

After speaking, Li Yunchu yanked Qin Ling and turned: "Why did you provoke her?"

"Don't keep angering her. Hurry away…"

Li Yunchu dragged Qin Ling back to the room.

Turning around, Zhui Yu and Sha Yi Ying Shen stepped forward.

"Miss, you really aren't hiding anything from us, are you?"

"Why would Qin Ling say that if we knew your condition, we wouldn't agree to your reckless approach?"

"What on earth is wrong with you?"

Li Qingluo was startled by them.

She, of course, would not expose herself.

She quickly turned the corner, taking Que'er, and fled in haste.

"Absurd, when would this miss ever need to hide from you?"

"Keep an eye on Qin Ling; he must produce two human‑skin masks by today!"

Though Qin Ling huffed in anger, he still handed Li Qingluo two human‑skin masks before sunset.

Li Yunchu carefully presented the box to Li Qingluo.

"Here, he's lying there exhausted and hungry, nearly collapsing, so he can't deliver them himself."

"I—I didn't tamper with anything. If you're uneasy, you can test for poison first."

She knew she would be wary of anything she handled, so she explained earnestly.

Li Qingluo nodded, took it, and placed it on a stone table nearby.

She opened the box and picked up a mask to examine.

Zheng Mama, anxious and ignoring that Li Yunchu hadn't left yet, whispered, "Miss, you really aren't testing it? This is something that goes on the face!"

Li Qingluo: "In front of everyone's eyes they still dare to tamper—are they jealous that their lives are too long?"

"Moreover, they need us to leave Loulan again, so they wouldn't be foolish enough to corrupt such an item."

Zheng Mama only then realized, "Right, indeed."

She said so bluntly in front of Li Yunchu, both for those nearby and as a rebuke to Li Yunchu.

Li Yunchu, standing aside, also understood and kept nodding, "Yeah, Qingluo is really clever."

"And, I really won't… be unkind to you."

She knew her words wouldn't be believed, so she simply didn't bother to continue.

She only gave a bitter smile, standing aside wanting to see how Li Qingluo's appearance would change with the mask, so she lingered.

Li Qingluo ignored her, lifted her hand, and affixed the mask to her face in the proper way.

Que'er: "If I weren't so unstable and not as tall as you, I would have taken it myself."

"I don't even know what effect this human‑skin mask might have on you…"

Zheng Mama looked at her wrinkled, calloused hands and felt regretful.

Li Yunchu hurriedly explained, "It's absolutely non‑poisonous and harmless."

"I watched my husband make it with my own eyes; he knows Qingluo's condition and would never… never harm Qingluo again."

Li Qingluo reached for her own face.

Unlike the last time they completely swapped faces, this mask felt somewhat unreal to the touch.

Thinking of Duan Rongshi having worn such an uncomfortable human‑skin mask for months, Li Qingluo instantly felt empathetic pain.

She didn't know how his situation was now.

The Western Regions are far away; although she said she'd write him often after leaving, in fact she hadn't written a single letter.

When she returns, she doesn't even know how he'll be angry.

However, she also has a huge surprise for him, which should ease or even offset his emotions, right?

Li Qingluo absentmindedly touched her lower abdomen and nodded at Li Yunchu, accepting her goodwill.

Li Yunchu, flustered by the favor, turned quickly, biting her lip, a grin of uncontainable joy spreading across her face.

Que'er and Zheng Mama eyed her retreating back suspiciously, thinking she was being a bit sneaky.

"How about it? Does it look like a Loulan person?"

Li Qingluo had already pulled out a silk ribbon and bound her eyes.

Her stunning exotic visage, now covered by blackened eyes, who could say it doesn't look like it?

If Que'er and Zheng Mama hadn't seen the miss change with their own eyes, they'd doubt whether a Loulan person truly entered this courtyard.

"It looks… no, not just looks like—it is exactly a Loulan person!"

"Miss, so this is your method."

"But covering the eyes, aren't you blind? Can you see?"

Li Qingluo swiftly pulled the silk ribbon down again.

If you must travel during the day, then use this.

It's already late at night; who would stare with their eyes? As long as from a distance you look similar to the Loulan people, you can temporarily bluff your way through.

Tonight, let's first solve the immediate problem of getting a full meal.

Senior Brother, come in!

Xuan Cang entered from outside, saw that Li Qingluo had already changed her appearance, and was secretly shocked: so the imperial physician by her side, who is always hopping and a bit unsteady, is actually a master of disguise!

Xuan Cang also quickly put on another male human‑skin mask.

The two waited for the night to fully fall, then silently and swiftly climbed over the wall and left.