Chapter Ninety-Four: Silver

Awakened from a dream, Guo Furong broke out in a cold sweat across her brow. She had no time to wipe it away, for she kept thinking about the final scene from the dream.

That face of the crown prince in her dream seemed awfully like the guest who had come yesterday...

The thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. She immediately shivered. That was not the kind of idea one should toy with carelessly; if it were true, then the matter would be enormous.

She remembered the scene in the dream. It had been something that truly happened years ago, though the specific details had long since faded from memory.

If yesterday’s guest had been the crown prince from years ago, then wouldn’t he be the present...

At that point, Guo Furong truly did not dare to think any further. Yet the more she tried to stop, the more the thought drilled into her mind, relentless as an auger.

And because the matter was simply too serious, she also began to suspect that she might be overthinking it.

Dreams, after all, contained both truth and falsehood. Perhaps she was only frightening herself.

By then, the cold sweat on Guo Furong’s forehead had nearly dried. A chill breeze slipping through the crack in the window brushed against her skin and made her shiver.

She threw on an outer robe, climbed to the window, and opened a narrow slit to look up at the sky.

The heavens were still overcast, making it impossible to tell the time. The good news was that, though the rain still fell, it had grown much lighter.

The gale that had howled across the sky had also lost the ferocity it showed yesterday, becoming almost soft and weak.

In weather like this, one ought to lie in bed, listening to the sparse patter of rain, and catch a bit more sleep. Better still if one could do so while being paid.

With that thought, Guo Furong crawled back under the covers. But before long, she sat up again, visibly irritated.

She could not sleep, and every time she closed her eyes, that face from the dream would rise in her mind, then compare itself with yesterday’s guest until the resemblance seemed stronger and stronger.

It became a vicious circle. This time, Guo Furong was truly unable to sleep.

With no choice, she dressed, got out of bed, washed up, and prepared to begin a new day’s work.

But after washing, the only sounds in her ears were the wind and rain, and the breathing of the half-dead scholar in the bed. Aside from that, the place was eerily quiet.

The little drive she had possessed for diligence had all been spent on washing up, and now her lazy nature once again seized the upper hand.

In such surroundings, anyone would be unable to stop their mind from wandering, but Guo Furong did not want to think again of that face that had frightened her.

She shook her head hard. Zhu Yu’s face vanished, and in its place rose Tong Xiangyu’s broad countenance, along with the fifty-tael banknote she had taken from under Guo Furong’s very nose.

The more Guo Furong thought about it, the more pained she felt, and the angrier she became. Since leaving home, her purse had never been full. That was fifty taels of silver! How many fewer years of toil could that spare her?

At the thought, Guo Furong let out a cold laugh and muttered to herself, "Dare to take advantage of me? No. I have to get that money back."

No sooner had she thought it than she acted. Quietly, she slipped out of her room and headed straight for the inn’s second floor, toward Tong Xiangyu’s quarters.

The way was smooth and uneventful. Thinking of the fifty taels she was about to recover, Guo Furong could hardly contain her excitement.

But just as she stepped onto the second floor, two blades were suddenly at her neck, and her excitement vanished in an instant. Worse still, her legs went weak.

"What is this, you two brothers? Why are you lurking around in the middle of the night to scare people? Don’t you know fright can kill?"

Guo Furong trembled as she complained.

Normally, by her temperament, she would have gone straight to blows at the slightest provocation. But last night’s dream still clung to her, and with such a sudden ambush before her eyes, she had not the slightest urge to resist.

"You’re just a drudge. What business do you have coming to the second floor? Do you have some hidden purpose? Speak!"

One of the night guards from the Western Depot barked the question coldly.

Though his face was expressionless, he was inwardly delighted. At the same time, he kept praying that Guo Furong’s intentions were indeed unsavory. If that were so, then his own promotion would be within reach.

By now, Guo Furong had recovered somewhat. Though she still dared not lift a hand, she was not about to lose a war of words.

"What kind of talk is that? Is this your home or mine? Can’t I go upstairs to find my own innkeeper?"

The two Western Depot agents very much wanted to seize Guo Furong and claim credit, but they had no evidence in hand. In the end, they could only slowly lower their blades.

Yet Guo Furong had no route of retreat now. Under the watchful eyes of the two men, she walked to the door of Tong Xiangyu’s room, carefully picking at the lock while smiling apologetically and whispering to them.

"Didn’t your young master reward me with two banknotes yesterday? One of them ended up with our innkeeper. I’m here to get it back."

Tong Xiangyu’s door was rather sturdy and not easy to pry open. Guo Furong could only keep smiling awkwardly while working faster.

Before she had made any progress, the door suddenly opened. Tong Xiangyu stood inside and said coldly, "Come in."

She had been caught in the act. Yet sensing that the two people behind her had not left, Guo Furong could only steel herself and go in.

Only after entering did Guo Furong notice that Tong Xiangyu and Bai Zhantang were both neatly dressed, the bedding unrumpled. She could not help asking, "Innkeeper, Old Bai, neither of you slept last night?"

"Sleep? There were guards stationed at the stairway and at our room door the whole night, changing shifts every two hours. How could we dare sleep?" Bai Zhantang answered her in a low voice.

"Good thing you didn’t sleep, or how else would I have known that the bond between us sisters is worth less than fifty taels of silver?"

As soon as Bai Zhantang finished, Tong Xiangyu immediately followed with a sardonic remark before Guo Furong could speak.

"Heh, Tong Xiangyu, what kind of thing is that to say? Anyone who didn’t know better would think I’d done you some terrible wrong. Are you saying that fifty taels of silver weren’t mine?"

Now that the danger had passed, Guo Furong returned to her true self.

"How is it yours? This whole inn belongs to me. Besides, didn’t you already get fifty taels of silver? I didn’t even ask you to return it.

And don’t forget, you still owe me money. I even pay you wages every month, and this is how you treat me?

I was wrong. I truly was wrong. From the very beginning, I should never have married into this place. If I had not come here, my husband would not have died, and if my..."

"Stop! How many years have you been saying that? Fine, fine, I was wrong, all right?" Guo Furong slapped a hand to her forehead and admitted defeat.

"Good that you know you were wrong. Little Guo, how do you plan to spend that fifty taels? Why not leave it with me? I’ll even raise the interest for you."

Tong Xiangyu’s expression changed at once, her face blooming into a smile as she began to probe gently.

"Tong Xiangyu! Don’t force me to perish together with you!"