Chapter 29

Ryuji pulled back his hand when Lu Qing didn't take it. He stood there with his thumbs hooked into the straps of a strange, dark bag on his shoulders. He looked down at the cherry he had plucked and then back at the high stone wall of the Lu estate.

"So," Ryuji said, his voice dropping to a low volume. "I'm guessing you didn't just jump off a ten-foot wall for the exercise. Are you okay?"

Lu Qing stood up on her own, brushing the grass and dirt from her dark trousers. She gripped the strap of her bag tightly. "I am fine. I just need to move away from this wall. It is not safe for me to be standing here."

"I get that," Ryuji said. He started walking alongside her as she moved toward a dense patch of trees away from the main road. "I'm a bit lost myself, to be honest. I was traveling, my stomach started making noise, and I saw those cherries hanging over the edge. I figured nobody would miss a few. I had no idea I was standing in front of a fortress."

Lu Qing glanced at him. His hair was cut short in a style she had never seen on a man, and he didn't have the topknot or the long flowing locks common in the province. "You have no idea where you are standing?"

"Not a clue," Ryuji said. He popped the cherry into his mouth and tossed the pit away. "I’ve been seeing different lands for a while now. This place looks pretty fancy from the outside, though. Big walls usually mean big money or big trouble."

Lu Qing almost laughed, but the sound died in her throat. She looked at the dark outline of her family home. "You picked the worst place to pluck a cherry. This is the Lu estate. My father owns everything you can see from here to the river. If the guards had caught you, they wouldn't have just asked for the cherry back."

Ryuji shrugged lightly. He didn't seem bothered by the threat. "Well, at least I stumbled upon an angel like you. Makes the risk worth it, right?"

Lu Qing stopped walking and looked at him with a confused expression. "Don't say that. I am a human being."

Ryuji blinked, then a small grin spread across his face. "Well, I know you are. It’s just a way of speaking where I’m from. It means you’re nice to look at."

Lu Qing didn't smile back. She didn't understand why he was being so casual while she was risking her life to escape. She looked at him again, really taking in his presence. There was no fear in his eyes. He didn't look at her with the calculation her father used, or the pity Lu Ren showed. He was just there, standing in the dirt.

"Where is your home?" she asked. "Your clothes and the way you talk... you aren't from the capital or the borderlands."

"Far away," Ryuji said. "Probably further than you can imagine. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I just dropped into this place from the sky. Everything here is so different. The houses, the way people dress, the way they talk about 'lords' and 'honor.' It’s a lot to take in."

"You speak like a commoner, but you carry yourself like you are a prince" Lu Qing noted. She moved further into the hidden spot behind a cluster of thick oaks. The leaves were dark and heavy, providing a screen from the estate walls.

"I just don't see the point in acting like I'm smaller than I am," Ryuji replied. He leaned his back against a tree trunk and crossed his arms. "Life is too short to bow every five minutes. So, Lu Qing, what’s the plan? You got the bag, you got the map. Where does a girl like you go when she jumps off a wall at midnight?"

"I go anywhere that isn't here," she said. She looked at the silver Lu Ren had mentioned, hidden near the roots of the cherry tree. She had already grabbed it. "I have enough to get to the next town. After that, I will find work."

Ryuji looked at her hands. "You don't look like you've worked a day in your life. Your skin is too smooth. You'll stand out like a sore thumb in a regular village."

"I will learn," she insisted. "I have to learn."

"Who's there?"

The voice cut through the night like a physical strike. It came from the direction of the wall, near the spot where Lu Qing had landed.

Both Lu Qing and Ryuji froze. Lu Qing’s hand flew to the handle of her dagger. She wanted to run, to bolt into the deep woods and never look back, but her legs felt like they had turned to stone.

"I saw someone move," another voice said. This one was familiar. It was sharp, clear, and lacked the formal stiffness of the estate guards.

Lu Qing’s eyes went wide. She knew that voice. It was Lu Chen.

She looked at Ryuji, who had straightened up, his eyes darting toward the sound. He didn't look panicked, but his body was tense.

"Is that one of your family members ?" Ryuji whispered.

"Yes my brother ," Lu Qing breathed out. "If he finds me, it's over."

Footsteps crunched on the dry leaves nearby. A lantern light flickered through the trees, throwing long, distorted shadows across  ground.

"Lu REN?" Lu Chen called out. He wasn't yelling, but his voice loud in the quiet darkness. "I know you're out here. I saw the branch move. You might as well come out before the actual guards decide to start shooting arrows into the bushes."

Lu Qing backed away, her heart hammering. She looked at Ryuji. "You have to go. If they see you with me, they will kill you instantly."

Ryuji didn't move to run. He stayed where he was, watching the light get closer. "I'm not really good at leaving people behind, especially when they're hiding from their own family."

"You don't understand," Lu Qing said, her voice trembling. "My brother... he isn't like other people. He's dangerous."

The light broke through the last line of trees. Lu Chen stood there, holding a small lantern in one hand and his other hand resting casually in his pocket. He wasn't wearing his formal robes; he was in a simpler tunic, looking more like a modern man out for a stroll than a historical villain. His eyes scanned the darkness until they landed on the two of them.

Lu Chen didn't look surprised. He didn't look angry either. He just looked bored.

"Well," Lu Chen said, raising the lantern slightly to see Ryuji better. "I expected Lu ren with a getaway horse or maybe a boat. I didn't expect a guy in a tactical jacket together with my sis. Who are you supposed to be?" And why does he look so modern Lu Chen thought

Ryuji stepped in front of Lu Qing, shielding her slightly. "Just a traveler. Who the hell are you?"

L

Lu Chen laughed,he also speaks like I do this is amazing . He looked at Lu Qing, who was trembling behind the stranger. "Well since you asked I'm the guy who’s going to decide whether you two get to leave this forest or get dragged back to my father in chains. So, talk fast. I don't have all night, and the guards are due for their next round in five minutes why are you out here with my little sister."

Lu Qing stepped out from behind Ryuji. "Brother, please. I won't go back. I won't marry Lord Wei."

Lu Chen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. " what do you mean marry lord Mei that old man??."

Just then he remembered an important scene he was missing from the book, his sister was married out to an old man who later killed her wait I thought I changed the scene and story why is it recycling back?

“Father wants me to get married to lord Mei”