s.h.i.+ Qingxue anxiously took out all the food from the bowl and found a note at the bottom as expected.

She read the note, and it was Xia Mang's writing.

“His Excellency is not in the capital city. Madam has burnt the reply to your letter given by Mr. Qu. I don't know what is in it.”

“Ah!” s.h.i.+ Qingxue howled sadly and almost shed tears.

Her last hope was Mo Junyang. She thought as long as she sent a letter to him, he would surely find a way to take her out.

Unexpectedly, Mo Junyang left the capital city at this crucial time, and Dong Hui had burnt the only letter he left.

She didn't even want to live.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't have appet.i.te and then went back to lie on the bed. She mumbled, “What should I do?”

“My Lady, have you finished your dinner?”

Fen's voice came from outside the door. Qingxue suddenly sat up on the bed and hurriedly hid the note. Then she put the food back in the bowl and answered, “Come in!”

Fen pushed the door open and entered the room. Seeing that the food on the table was still the same as before, she frowned.

Before Fen knelt down, Qingxue said, “I lost my appet.i.te when seeing these dishes. Take it out and tell them to cook again. Ask Dong Shuang to come in. I am used to her serving me at dinner. Without her, I can't eat anything.”

Her excuse was bossy but reasonable. Dong Hui didn't allow the servants in the Luotong Boudoir to stay with her alone, but she didn't say that they couldn't serve her at dinner when Fen was here.

Fen hesitated for a while but had to do as Qingxue said.

The more beautiful and delicious food was served to the table, and Fen brought Dong Shuang with her.

The two maids stood at the table like the guards.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue had dinner while Dong Shuang served her. When she was eating, she ordered, “Fen, go to make tea. I will have tea after dinner.”

Fen looked hesitant and remained unmoved, looking at Dong Shuang who was carefully putting the dishes on the table.

s.h.i.+ Qinguxe lost her temper. “It will take about ten minutes to make tea. Can't I order you?”

“Yes. But Madam told me to…”

Qingxue didn't listen to her explanation and said crossly, “There are so many people in the house, and I can't run away. Why are you nervous? Do you want to disrespect me? Be careful. I will ask my mother to sell you.”

She accused her of many crimes, and Fen didn't dare to resist but had to obey.

“My Lady, you know that Fen just does everything under orders. Why do you make things difficult for her?” Dong Shuang glanced at s.h.i.+ Qingxue helplessly.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't even have time to talk. After the door was closed, she pulled Dong Shuang into the bedroom. “Take off your clothes.”

She started to unb.u.t.ton her clothes.

Dong Shuang was puzzled. “What? My Lady, what are you going to do?”

“Let's interchange clothes, and then you will stay in the room dressed up as me so that I can run away.” s.h.i.+ Qingxue soon took off her coat. Seeing that Dong Shuang was still confused and unmoved, she reproached in a low voice, “What are you doing? Take off your clothes now. Time is limited.”

“Ah? But…”

“Objection overruled,” s.h.i.+ Qingxue interrupted Dong Shuang without thinking.

And then she said, “It's inconvenient for me to take luggage now, so I will go to your room and get some of your clothes and necessities later. I will make it up for you after coming back.”

Seeing that, Dong Shuang knew her lady was going to run away from home and said miserably, “If Madam blames me, what should I do?”

“It's no big deal. I will leave a note to her. She won't get you in trouble.”

While speaking, s.h.i.+ Qingxue took something valuable and some money. Since Dong Shuang still did nothing, Qingxue took off her maid uniform and put it on. Then she pointed at the brocade clothes on the stool. “Put them on.”

Dong Shuang did that obediently.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue got everything ready quickly. As soon as she finished the note, there were footsteps outside the door. The two inside got nervous.

Dong Shuang was almost going to cry and hinted, “We will be found.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue shook her head and gestured for the maid to hide in the inner room and stay still. She hid herself behind the door and said gently, “Come in.”

Fen walked in and didn't see anybody. She shouted in an instant, “My Lady!”

“I have just made my clothes dirty. Put down the teapot. Come in to help me get changed.”

Fen didn't doubt anything and quickly walked into the inner room after putting down the plate. But as soon as she saw a yellow figure in the room, she felt a severe pain on her neck and then fell into a coma.

“My Lady!”

Dong Shuang shouted in fear and goggled at s.h.i.+ Qingxue and the wooden hairpin in her hand.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue made a gesture to tell Dong Shuang to shut up. “Or I can't leave.”

Seeing that Dong Shuang was still petrified, Qingxue explained, “Don't worry. I hit her at an acupuncture point. She will wake up later. I am leaving now. Wait for her to wake up and then play to the score.”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue couldn't afford to delay, so she packed up at night and then left the mansion.

In Mo Country, the city gates were closed at night, so she couldn't get out of the city before dawn. She found a hotel to stay for a night and employed a waiter to prepare everything she needed.

Early in the morning next day, as soon as the city gates were opened, the servants from the s.h.i.+ Family guarded at the south gate and didn't dare to say anything. They just carefully checked every pa.s.ser's face, but they got nothing till the gates closed at night.

At the same time, a young man dragged a post-horse with a bow on his back and slowly walked out of the city from the north gate.

“Madam, they didn't see Lady Qingxue. Perhaps she hasn't left the city. Do you need to send someone to King Rui's mansion and ask?”

Dong Hui showed a grim face and grabbed her handkerchief with both hands. After a long while, she loosened her hands and seemed to feel frustrated. “No need. We can't act rashly and alert her. You send somebody to guard the Luotong Boudoir and forbid anyone to enter or leave. If somebody asks, tell them that I am worried about Qingxue's safety.

As for Dong Shuang, just let her stay in the room, dressed up as Qingxue and don't let anybody else find anything wrong.”

Mammy Zheng knew how serious the matter was and nodded in an instant. “Do they still have to guard the south gate? If…”

Dong Hui rubbed her forehead with one hand and shook her head with a bitter smile. “Qingxue is always smart. We can't stop her doing whatever she wants to do. I'm afraid that she has left the capital city and is on the way to the Qingluo Mountain.”

Mammy Zheng was worried. “The Qingluo Mountain is 500 kilometers away and it's dangerous on the way. Lady Qingxue is a weak girl. How can she endure the hards.h.i.+p?”

Dong Hui felt a pain on her chest but could do nothing. “It's my fault. I know she is not an unreasonable child, but I acted willfully when she stressed Junhe's danger repeatedly and forced her to make such an unwise decision.

Now it's useless to regret. I will write a letter later to explain what happened. You find someone to send it at high speed to Junhe. I just hope that Qingxue can take good care of herself and reach the Qingluo Mountain safely.”

“Then what Lady Qingxue said…”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue's determination and anxiousness had showed s.h.i.+ Junhe's crisis to a certain degree.

But Dong Hui was just a woman and had no choice but to send a letter.

At last, she could only depend on s.h.i.+ Qingxue. “If there is someone who can bring Junhe back home safely, I believe Qingxue is the only one.”

Dong Hui forced herself to cheer up and smiled. “Fine. What we need to do now is keep Qingxue leaving the capital a secret and try to protect her fame.”

An unmarried woman ran away from home without telling her parents. If the news spread, s.h.i.+ Qingxue's fame would be ruined.

Mammy Zheng accepted the order and left in a hurry.

Neither of them found that a person under the window outside the room left secretly after that.

One day later, a servant from the s.h.i.+ Family was robbed in a forest on his way to the Qingluo Mountain. He died in the wilds and everything he took with him was gone.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't know what happened in Duke s.h.i.+'s mansion. After she left the capital city from the north gate, it took her a long time to get back to the right way.

She left from the opposite direction, but at least, she had managed to escape from the chasers.

The men's suit gave her a lot of convenience. Every time she stopped for refreshment when travelling or stayed in a hotel, n.o.body looked at her with a weird expression in the eyes.

She estimated that with her current speed, if she sped up a little, she could get to the Qingluo Mountain in five days, but then the s.h.i.+ Army would have been on the mountain for more than half a month. She didn't know how her father was.

“If only I can reach there in time.”

Every day, s.h.i.+ Qingxue started her trip at dawn and found a hotel to rest in the evening. Riding a horse for a long time made her miserable.

She endured it. As she knew she didn't have the experience of a long trip, she was cautious. She would rather make a detour than pa.s.s through the deep mountains and forests where there was n.o.body, even if it was a shortcut.

Even so, when she left a small village and headed to the next town on horseback, a long arrow was suddenly shot to her from the right.

It was so fast that it could take her life. She happened to take a look at the right and dodged the long arrow. Then several long arrows came to her successively. She had to jump off the horse and find a big tree to hide.

The sounds of the sharp arrows inserting the trunks made her tremble with fear. The change happened all of a sudden. Her only experience similar to a battle was when somebody tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate Mo Junyu last time. She didn't know how to deal with it, so she had to find a best hideout by instinct. Then she took out the long arrow from her back and found a crack to shoot the enemy.

She didn't know if she hit the target but could only wait quietly and meanwhile find a way to escape. She could never fight back under the circ.u.mstances.

“Come out!”

A man's voice came from not far away. s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't move and then several long arrows shot to her, pa.s.sing at her side. It seemed that as long as she came out, she would be shot.

“Get out!”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was still motionless and looked around. She found a big tree one meter away.

She took a deep breath and grabbed the bow tightly. Then she waved to the right first and then quickly shot an arrow from a crack on the left. Later, she rolled and then hid under another tree.

This time, she shot the left arm of the a.s.sa.s.sin in black outside. He must be unable to use the bow anymore. As long as she found a chance to ride her post-horse, she could probably run away.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue cheered up, and her horse was not far away, but this time, the a.s.sa.s.sin in black didn't give her a chance to play the same trick. When she tried to pull her horse, two stones were shot and hit her both hands.

Her bow fell on the ground.

Her only defensive weapon left her, and the a.s.sa.s.sin in black jumped to her. He had a sword in his hand and abruptly tried to stab her.

Apparently, he would kill her at one blow.