Chapter 628: All sincerity is always in vain

Those who remained at home watched them leave, and naturally each one was worried.

Especially Zhui Yu, who paced anxiously back and forth in the courtyard.

Sha Yi felt annoyed: "Can't you stop swaying back and forth? I can't sit still; I don't mind sparring with you to see whose sword technique is superior."

His eyes already showed killing intent.

Zhui Yu simply ignored him.

"The young lady must be hiding something from us."

"This is related to her condition."

"She is not just your young lady; she is also my household's princess consort."

"How could I not worry?"

"If anything happens to the young lady, even if I return with my head, I would have no face to face Your Highness."

After waiting a while, they returned in just half a quarter-hour.

They also brought back several wrapped buns, roasted chicken, and a large meat pie.

Everyone, having been hungry all day, rushed over upon smelling the aroma.

Each one was like a hungry wolf, with no manners, reaching out to grab.

Fortunately, Li Qingluo had already eaten her fill while shopping outside.

So she stood to the side watching them eat, and placed the things she had prepared earlier at the doors of Qin Ling's and Li Yunchu's rooms.

She knocked on the door, her voice cold as she said: "It's right at the door; come out and get it yourself."

Having said that, she left; by the time Li Yunchu came running out excitedly to get it, her figure was already gone.

Li Yunchu felt a bit disappointed, but upon seeing the fragrant food truly placed at the door, she was moved to the brink of tears.

"No one has ever..."

"It's just my two elder brothers; they wouldn't think of me this way, and they even knew to leave food for me."

Li Yunchu cried, her eyes red and unable to hold back the sourness.

Qin Ling lay beside her, saying: "My lady, could it be… that she showed us extra kindness today because she saw that I worked all day?"

Li Yunchu pretended not to hear.

She happily opened the two buns, half a roasted chicken, and a large meat pie.

"Ah, she really wanted to keep it all for herself, not even wanting to share with her husband."

"Seeing her like that, Qin Ling rolled his eyes: 'It's over; indeed, no matter how much sincerity I give, it can't compare to a smile from her blood relatives.'"

"Indeed, all sincerity is always in vain."

"Wuu wuu wuu…"

Meanwhile, everyone was still eating, while Li Qingluo and Xuan Cang once again quietly climbed over the wall and went onto the street.

"Junior Sister, I really just saw the Second Junior Sister."

The two emerged from the dark corner, walked onto the street with ease, and blended into the crowd.

Li Qingluo: "Is it that tavern over there?"

She gestured with her eyes toward the not‑far‑away, brightly lit, five‑story towering building.

The architecture of Loulan is also quite different from that of the Central Plains.

Almost all the walls are made of earth bricks.

There are few doors and windows, but they are more majestic and more splendidly colorful.

Moreover, Loulan has no curfew.

It is already the third quarter of the Xu hour, and the streets are still full of people.

Men and women, old and young, still leisurely stroll the streets as if it were daytime, enjoying the bustle and tranquility.

Moreover, the people of Loulan are also quite different from other Western Regions peoples.

Everyone wears light clothing; women going out have neither veils nor elaborate hairstyles.

Almost every woman lets her hair hang loose; some tie it low in a ponytail, and at most they use only one or two hair ornaments for adornment.

Between men and women there seems to be no avoidance; they freely stand on the street chatting casually.

Even when Li Qingluo and Xuan Cang passed by from the side, no one cast a curious or probing glance at them.

This Loulan is truly an oddity in this world.

Li Qingluo listened to their laughter and cheer, but all she heard was incomprehensible Loulan speech.

Even though she envied such a free utopia, she knew that if they were slightly careless and revealed a flaw, they would immediately invite trouble they could not handle.

So she and Xuan Cang kept their eyes lowered, daring not to look more or linger, and walked straight into the tavern before them.

The Loulan waiter came over to greet them; although he chattered in a language Li Qingluo didn't understand, she remained calm and held up two fingers.

She indicated that they were two people.

The rest, she didn't gesture any further.

The waiter had no suspicions, smiling as he led them to a corner table by the window.

Li Qingluo casually gestured for a few items, not expecting the waiter to actually understand.

He stopped chattering and quickly replied in sign language: "Coming right up, please wait a moment, sir—"

"Table West Six, one pot of tea, two kinds of pastries—"

Li Qingluo didn't expect that this sign language would be even more effective than speaking.

"Xuan Cang lowered his voice behind his tea cup and said: 'Can we consider ourselves to have temporarily blended in?'"

Their black eyes and brown‑green eyes are not much different in the night.

Unless they deliberately look into the light, at this moment they are indeed hard to distinguish from the surrounding Loulan people.

Li Qingluo: "Don't be careless. Try not to speak or communicate."

However, Xuan Cang couldn't use sign language, so he could only anxiously scratch his head.

Fortunately, seeing Li Qingluo's calm and composed demeanor, as if she had fully blended with the surroundings, Xuan Cang gradually steadied his footing.

"Senior Brother, please quickly check the surroundings to see if there's any sign of Senior Sister and the others."

Li Qingluo had just written this line with water on the table when the waiter arrived.

She quickly smeared the characters away with her hand, then deliberately drew a flower on the table.

The waiter naturally had no suspicions.

After bringing up the tea and pastries, he also used sign language to tell Li Qingluo: "Sir, if you need anything else, just tap the table and I'll come over."

After saying that, he withdrew without further disturbance.

Li Qingluo's heart stirred; she immediately noted these small, thoughtful details, intending to implement them in their own tavern when they returned to the Central Plains.

Thinking of the customers, she did not overlook any patron who seemed insignificant.

She was silently observing whether there was anything else of value when Xuan Cang suddenly grabbed her wrist.

He pointed toward the stairs.

Indeed, Li Qingluo saw several Central Plains people who stood out conspicuously in the crowd!

She immediately glanced at Xuan Cang, asking: "Are they the ones?"

Xuan Cang nodded heavily, worry showing in his eyes.

Because that group of Central Plains people was being shoved and made difficult by a group of Loulan people.

"Don't think that just because you've been pardoned to stay, you can bully us Loulan people at will! Get out!"

"Get out!"

Do these Loulan people speak Chinese?

Although their pronunciation wasn't perfectly standard, Li Qingluo could understand every word.

She was surprised in her heart; these Loulan people really are not simple.

Because, not everyone among us Central Plains people can speak the Western Regions language, let alone this Loulan language.

Xuan Cang almost couldn't stay seated and wanted to rise, but Li Qingluo reversed her grip and locked his wrist onto the table.

She lightly shook her head, signaling him not to act rashly for the time being.

Second Senior Sister: "You!"

"Who exactly is bullying others too much?"

"We just wanted to go up to the third floor to take a look, yet you guard against us like thieves, not letting us explain before driving us down—are we murderers or have we broken the law?"

"You Loulan people were never sincerely accepting of us, and you deliberately target us everywhere."

"No matter where we appear, your kindness toward your own kin turns into deliberate nitpicking and targeting when it comes to us!"

"This is the true face of you Loulan people!"

Second Senior Sister's furious tirade only earned the cold indifference of all the surrounding Loulan people.

"Cut the nonsense!"

"If you really can't stay, then go."

"What are you doing clinging to our Loulan?"

"You foreign peoples always harbor ulterior motives and will never bring any good to our Loulan."

"Either you find our ways displeasing, or you vainly try to change our Loulan customs and habits—that's why we dislike you!"

"A bunch of hypocrites."

"We are fundamentally unsuited to live on the same land."

"You, you are fundamentally unsuited to our Loulan!"

"Exactly, get lost!"

"Get lost—"

Second Senior Sister and her group, covered in dust and dirt, were driven out of the tavern.

Li Qingluo also exchanged a glance with Xuan Cang; the two placed down silver, and Li Qingluo didn't forget to take two cups of tea and wrap up all the pastries, then she rose and quickly left the tavern as well.

Outside the tavern, Second Senior Sister and her group actually got into another dispute with passersby.

It looked like they were arguing with passersby.

Because they accidentally bumped into a stall, knocking the goods off the shelf onto the ground.

Therefore, the stall owner demanded that Second Senior Sister and her group compensate ten taels of silver.

Ten taels of silver seemed nothing to the Loulan people, but to this group of martial artists from Second Senior Sister's circle, it felt like they were being forced to eat human flesh raw.

They had already brought all their silver on this trip.

But upon arriving in Loulan, it was still far from enough.

Loulan's prices were more than several times higher than in the Central Plains, and these Loulan people constantly schemed against them.

Feeling their already withered money pouches, a group of people could no longer bear it.

"Why don't you just go rob?"

"Staying in your Loulan lodgings, eating your Loulan food, the usual prices are outrageously high—not to mention they're also several times higher than what you Loulan people yourselves charge! On what grounds do you bully us like this?"

"Now it's just a few broken items, and you demand ten taels of silver—this money is so easy to make, yet you don't even look at your own greedy faces!"

"That's quite a nice thought!"

"This time we won't just swallow our anger and let you bully us! We won't pay!"

The vendor, angry, slapped the stall: "What's the matter? Do you still think you're in the right?"

"You didn't damage my goods, did you?"

If we can't survive in Loulan, then don't keep clinging to staying here—quickly get out of the city——

Get out of the city!

Following that, a group of Loulan people began shouting in unison.

Both sides could see that a fight was about to break out.

The Loulan people crowding the street kept growing in number.

Second Senior Sister and the others were also completely surrounded by the Loulan people.

Xuan Cang could no longer stand by and do nothing; he rushed into the crowd and flung his money bag in front of everyone.

I'll give!

After saying that, he quickly pulled Second Senior Sister and the others out of the crowd and swiftly disappeared into the darkness of the street.

Li Qingluo shook her head: "It's over."

By the time she found Xuan Cang and his group, they were still grumbling.

Xuan Cang had no choice but to reveal his identity.

Enough!

Can't you still recognize my voice?

If it weren't for me, how would you all manage to escape today?