The speech Hailan gave to the supervisor at the Tower family's administrative office today—including her identity and her requests—was, of course, all masterminded by Milady.
Gathering information, creating a plan, preparing a script, resolving to go to sea... None of these things were difficult for Milady, even with the time crunch. The truly difficult part, in fact, was convincing Hailan.
Hailan had never done anything so out of line in her entire life, yet today she had carried out a deception for her late friend's daughter. Filled with gratitude, Milady poured her some hot tea and comforted her softly for a while. But Hailan remained deeply anxious, repeatedly saying, "I'm never doing this again."
"There won't be a next time," Milady said with a smile, patting her hand. "If the family administrative office is efficient, I'll be at sea by next week."
Hailan looked up, her face full of worry.
"I don't understand. If you don't want to clear the contamination, couldn't you just hire someone to take your place? I know the Tower family doesn't pay much, but we could find a way to add a little more... Why must you board a Red Velvet Ship? You're only seventeen. I can't bear the thought of you going to sea alone. Do you have any idea what life is like on those ships? The crew you'll be with day and night... who knows what kind of people they are... No, the more I think about it, the more I regret this. If your mother knew, I can't imagine how she would blame me."
Milady truly wished she could tell her everything, but in the end, all she could offer were a few vague words of comfort and assurance. "Auntie Hailan, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. There's no point in me staying with the family anyway... Leaving for a year is the best thing for me."
'Just hiring someone to take my place clearing the contamination would stop the administrative office from coming to my door, it's true. But the risks I face would be far from gone. As long as I'm still in Haidu, I'm one of the suspects.'
'Since the heat is on, why not be decisive and use this chance to disappear completely from Aunt Hong's sight and legitimately become an outsider? During the year I'm "forced" to be away from Haidu, the investigation into the secret letter will naturally fizzle out from lack of progress. Even if, by some misfortune, it leads to me, I'll be long gone by then. After that, whether I return to the Tower family will be my decision alone.'
Besides, while the Red Velvet Ship was certainly dangerous, her fate would be no better if she stayed and was discovered. Milady would rather risk her life on unknown sea routes, throwing herself to the mercy of the raging waves, than fall into Charos's hands and suffer a silent, unjust end.
With Hailan's help, many of the details were finalized.
The wages from the Tower family were pitiful, so Milady gave all her money to Hailan, entrusting her with hiring people for the contamination clearing. She kept only a tiny amount for emergencies. Thankfully, with the contribution from Terry's boyfriend, Wei Lian, there was just barely enough to cover a year's worth of wages for the job.
As long as there were no issues with the contamination clearing, the Tower family wouldn't bother Hailan. Hailan also said she would do her best to hire different people as day laborers—that way, the chances of any one person falling ill would be much lower.
Hailan brewed some of her treasured Chang'an Tea for Milady, and the two of them sat opposite each other in silence for a good while.
When she returned home that evening, Milady cleaned the house meticulously, making it look as it did back when her mother was still alive. Her fingers brushed across every piece of furniture and every object, bidding farewell to each one.
'I wanted to dethrone Charos, but instead I'm the one forced to flee to the sea...' Milady closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
'This isn't the worst possible outcome.'
She would be back. And when she returned, Charos would pay the price. No one could harm her family and get away with enjoying their life unscathed.
Ever since learning the news, Milady had not made a single move.
Only when the notice from the administrative office arrived did she begin her preparations to leave. She did everything assuming Aunt Hong's dark eyes were watching her from the shadows; she couldn't let Aunt Hong realize that she knew about her sea assignment before the official notice came.
The Red Velvet Ship that Hailan requested the Tower family assign to Milady was one that Milady herself had carefully chosen.
Her luck hadn't run out completely. Among the many Red Velvet Ships, this one was an ideal choice: tasked with searching for exotic treasures and resources, its route ran primarily through the Warm Ocean Zone. It stopped at a good number of islands and ports, and it even had a record of several safe return voyages—though not every crew member had made it back alive.
But Milady didn't care.
Her mother was there, in the vast sky and the wide sea far away.