Chapter 1.3

Xiao Youning had only set a section of the partition door on fire. Lifting her hand again, she went and ignited another section. She turned around, looked toward the inside of the room, and smiled at the crowd of people fleeing out of the house in disarray.

Wearing the crimson wedding robes, standing amid the raging flames, she looked incomparably gorgeous. Below the corner of her eye was a cinnabar mole, shaped just like a hanging teardrop, seemingly sad as if she were sobbing. And yet, the contrast of the mole against that bright and beautiful appearance supplied an even more beautiful and sensuous appeal.

Li Qingzhi gazed at her from a distance, suddenly feeling a pang in his heart as if he were seeing her for the first time. That brash, yet tender and charming young lady made him absent-minded, not at all aware of his surroundings.

“She’s insane! Wishing to die, yet still wanting to drag us with her! This little slut!” Madam Li was being supported by someone as she staggered along, trying to escape. Turning around, she saw her son still staring blankly at that place. She reached out and went to pull on her son, sharply scolding him.

She had said, long ago, that this daughter of the Xiao Family marrying over was just like an evildoer.1

From childhood to adulthood, she had always been pampered by the older generation. Her ancestors were all in the military, she was raised with no mother to teach her manners and even grew up to have a face as charming as a fox … What kind of virtuous upbringing could she have?

The people in the wedding room, in the blink of an eye, ran away. Xiao Youning grabbed the candlestick and exerted a bit of strength to toss it, throwing it on top of the thousand day bed. As she looked at the quilt and saw the flames engulf the pair of mandarin ducks completely, she, for some reason, felt a burst of pleasure surge from the depths of her heart. The corners of her mouth rose slightly but the fumes choked her to the point she couldn’t help but cough.

The fire was already burning the edge of her foot. Turning her head, she saw a long table near a window. Lingering no longer, she climbed atop the long table, immediately pushed open the window, and jumped out.

Die?!

She’d have to be sick in the head to kill herself! How could she just die like this and let off these cruel, unscrupulous, and nauseating people?

The window had the height of half a person. Madam Li perhaps didn’t consider that she could just set the fire then jump out the window, as there was not a soul guarding outside. Actually, this made things easier for her to run away.

Xiao Youning jumped down the window, easing the fall by rolling a full circle forward in the garden. The phoenix crown fell from her head, her body wreathed in extremely painful scratches from the rocks and pebbles under. Even so, she didn’t have the leisure to pay attention to these things now. Lifting her skirt, she immediately made to run away.

“Miss!” A pleasantly surprised voice could be heard. Xiao Youning looked up and saw that it was her own dowry maid, Yuan Guo.

Yuan Guo saw her and happily ran over, taking hold of both her miss’s bloodstained hands.

“How did this happen?!” Xiao Youning hurriedly wanted to pull both her hands to examine them closely but Yuan Guo paid no attention to it and waved it away. “Miss, first, no matter what, we must run! When the Li Family locked me up I immediately knew something was going to happen!”

Yuan Guo stopped talking, immediately pulling her away to evade the people jogging by.

Outside, there were voices shouting loudly to put out the fire, while the bedroom had long turned into a sea of fire. Even the window she crawled through was starting to burn. Shadows stacked on top of each other and the chaotic noise mixed with the sound of running footsteps and wind entered Xiao Youning’s ears.

Her heart started pounding frantically.

Yuan Guo already found a courtyard wall they could climb over to escape. Nimbly climbing to the top of the wall, she then reached out her hand to grab her mistress’s hand and dragged her up. When Xiao Youning went down the wall, Yuan Guo steadied her, protecting her from even the slightest injury.

Today on, perhaps nobody would be able to protect her like this again … Xiao Youning thought of her father and elder brother, who had suffered a mishap, and the corners of her eyes warmed up, almost shedding tears again.

The Li Family’s back alley was connected to the bustling long street outside and the two people held each other’s hands as they rushed into the crowd. Xiao Youning, however, suddenly stopped in place at that moment.

“Miss?” Yuan Guo couldn’t pull her forward. Astonished, she turned around and saw her family’s miss unexpectedly raising her skirt and moving forward toward the Li Family’s gates.

“Miss!”

Yuan Guo was going to be scared to death by her lady. They had escaped with great difficulty, what did her miss want to do by going to the Li Family’s place again?!

Xiao Youning had never before run that quickly. The common people on the road were all baffled as they watched her. Someone was even pointing at her. But her steps didn’t stop even for a moment until she reached the Li Family’s gates.

When she stopped walking, she raised her gaze toward the Li Family’s gates, not at all afraid of the strange gazes from passersby, and shouted: “Today, your Li Family was ungrateful. Seeing my Xiao Family meeting with misfortune, on my wedding day you betrayed me, requesting that I, Xiao Youning, divorce you! I, Xiao Youning, am a criminal official’s daughter but I’m not as shameful as you, this disgusting Li Family! Today, with the Heavenly Emperor as my witness, my Xiao Family and your Li Family shall break all ties!”

The young miss’s voice echoed loud and clear, alarming the bodyguards stationed inside the door. In a rush, they came out to check the situation. The common people on the road were already in an uproar …

Within the capital, who didn’t know that the Li Family, during that time, was depending on the Xiao Family to turn over a new leaf and achieve a hundred years of good fortune?

Footnotes

Does things that are illegal and/or hateful.