Chapter 282: Chilling
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Jiang Shanshan shook off Mu Di’s drag, gaining her freedom. She acted swiftly, bending down and sweeping towards the person holding her horse’s reins. With just one strike, scorching red blood sprayed from the person’s neck. Prepared in advance, she kicked the horse’s belly hard with both legs, causing it to neigh loudly, rear up its front legs high, and step on Mu Di’s body with its hind legs, avoiding the spraying blood.
As the horse’s hooves touched the ground, the person trying to stop Jiang Shanshan had already lost consciousness, kneeling on the ground with wide eyes before collapsing entirely.
Jiang Shanshan glanced at the chaotic crowd and rushed towards the gate, shouting sharply at the guards converging on her, “What are you waiting for?”
Hearing her voice, some guards finally came to their senses and rushed over, finding the horse, abandoning the mess, and protecting her as they ran outside. Jiang Shanshan sat on the horse with guards surrounding her, feeling more confident. Regardless of whether those people could hear her or not, she shouted hoarsely, “The officials are on their way! Do you want to become bandits and outlaws?”
Since she couldn’t be killed anymore, there was no need for these people to continue causing trouble. If things escalated, it wouldn’t benefit anyone. No matter how young the emperor was, he was still the emperor. Despite her lack of power, she was still the legitimate daughter of the Changxing Marquis’s estate. The royal family and nobles wouldn’t turn a blind eye.
Indeed, as she escaped to safety, the boiling crowd gradually calmed down, replaced by a dead silence. Jiang Shanshan’s gaze swept over the crowd with hatred, as if she wanted to remember everyone who dared to offend her. However, the rain was too heavy, and she couldn’t see the faces clearly.
No matter how many guards she brought, they couldn’t withstand the numerous craftsmen and apprentices, especially when there were many enemies mixed in waiting to cause trouble. They couldn’t linger any longer; they had to hurry back to the capital. Jiang Shanshan made a decisive decision and urged the horse forward, “Go!”
In the midst of the storm, Mu Di struggled to raise her upper body from the muddy pool of blood. Her leg bones had been crushed by Jiang Shanshan’s horse, and the pain was unbearable. “Miss…”
Jiang Shanshan glanced at her coldly, feeling that she was not worth pitying. But if she didn’t die and leaked her secrets, it would be troublesome. She waved for a guard to come over and whispered, “Go check. If you can save Mu Di, then save her. If not, don’t leave her here to suffer humiliation and pain.”
The guard was one of the Changxing Marquis’s trusted aides and understood what to do upon hearing this. Mu Di’s condition was already a huge burden; whoever took her would be unlucky. Since her mistress didn’t want to save her, who else would? When Jiang Shanshan and her entourage were far away, he rode back on horseback. Mu Di thought he came to rescue her and reached out to him excitedly, but he expressionlessly drew a long knife and swung it down towards her.
In a flash of blood, Mu Di’s wide eyes fell lifelessly into the cold mud. She couldn’t understand until her death why her usually kind young mistress would take her life. She had been so loyal, always thinking for her mistress, even when her mistress stabbed her hand with a knife and her leg was broken by the horse’s hoof, she didn’t blame her mistress. But now, why did she still have to die? Even if she couldn’t take her away, couldn’t she let her live or die on her own?
Jiang Shanshan rode her horse wildly, the rain pouring down heavily, and the howling wind and rain almost suffocating her. She persisted, urging the horse to gallop frantically, but the muddy road was difficult to traverse, and the horse was afraid of the storm, finally refusing to move.
She looked up at the dark sky, as if the rain would never stop. She gritted her teeth and squeezed out a sentence, “Fu Mingzhu, with you without me with me without you!”
As the night approached, the rain finally subsided. Mingzhu sat on the veranda, leaning on the handrail, staring blankly at the courtyard. The rainwater collected into streams, flowing down from the eaves, forming a water curtain illuminated by the lanterns, shimmering and magnificent. The flowers and trees in the courtyard were all battered by the storm, with branches and petals scattered all over.
“It’s getting colder.” A gust of cold wind blew, making Mingzhu shiver. She suddenly remembered that Yuwen Chu had left early in the morning and called the maids over to ask, “Did His Highness bring an oil coat and cloak when he left?”
Su Lan smiled, “Didn’t Wangfei forget who reminded you not to go out today?”
Mingzhu smiled and thought, indeed, Yuwen Chu was as agile as a ghost; nowhere could the rain reach him. Besides, as the distinguished Ying Wang, even if the sky fell, it wouldn’t hurt him.
“Let the kitchen make ginger soup and prepare a pot of good wine. When His Highness comes back, I’ll accompany him for a few drinks.” Mingzhu was in a good mood, so she thoughtfully said, “Take out the fine velvet robe made for His Highness a few days ago. It’s getting colder, it’s time to change into autumn clothes.”
Su Lan and the others busied themselves orderly. Zheng Momo held an umbrella, wore an oil coat, and wore wooden clogs as she hurriedly walked through the courtyard. She cleaned the water stains off her body first, changed her shoes, and then dared to come up to pay her respects and inquire about Mingzhu’s well-being.
She was tasked with waiting for news at the city gate, sitting in an inconspicuous carriage, sheltering from the rain under someone else’s eaves. She witnessed how Jiang Shanshan, in a sorry state, managed to escape back to the city: “She was completely disheveled, lying prone on the horse’s back. Several times she nearly slipped off, but the Changxing Marquis’s Mansion sent a carriage to pick her up directly. It’s said that dozens of people accompanied her, including maids and guards, but when they returned, only she and three or four guards were left, looking very miserable. It seems we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for news from the village.”
“Don’t worry, let’s stick to the original plan,” Mingzhu thought of Jiang Shanshan as the person responsible for her family’s downfall, so she couldn’t help but feel resentment. However, she couldn’t quite understand why. In her past life, she had never had any grievances with Jiang Shanshan, and even in this life, it was only because Yuwen Chu refused to marry Jiang Shanshan and chose her instead.
The hatred of taking someone’s husband was indeed a great grievance that must be avenged. But what was it for in the previous life? And how did those confidential bed crossbow drawings end up in Yuwen You’s hands after falling from Jiang Shanshan’s? She couldn’t understand.
Mingzhu was lost in thought when she heard someone announce, “His Highness is back.” She stood up, smiling, waiting in the corridor for Yuwen Chu to enter. According to her thoughts, Yuwen Chu usually traveled in carriages, with loyal attendants like Wei Tiande meticulously serving him but how could he end up drenched like this?
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