The purple-clothed woman suddenly said something in a low voice, seeming to advise her. Lian Xin frowned slightly, appearing quite respectful toward this purple-clothed woman. The red-clothed woman beside her let out a low laugh and snatched the bow from her hands.

Before Su Zhen could react in shock, the young man ahead had already fallen with a cry, having tightly protected his sister in his arms…

The little girl sat stunned on the ground, staring blankly at her brother’s face, twisted in fear and terror.

Su Zhen thought: to protect her safety, her brother had given his place to Leng Xue. On that day, had he also faced death with such composure?

“Xin’er, how was elder sister’s archery?”

The red-clothed woman laughed as she asked, lowering her bow. This person’s ruthlessness was no less than Lian Xin’s.

Lian Xin laughed loudly, but her eyes grew increasingly sharp, “Brother Lian Yu loves elder sister, and elder sister’s archery was personally taught by brother. Even Chancellor Quan has written poems praising it. Is elder sister now mocking Lian Xin for needing multiple arrows to take a life? Today I want to see if the one worthy of Quan Feitong’s praise is truly only elder sister alone?”

Lian Yu’s beloved? And with her face covered by a veil, preventing anyone from seeing her features—Su Zhen shuddered. Could these two women be Lian Yu’s consorts? Suddenly she remembered the last sentence on the white-clothed woman’s paper, seemingly playful yet terrifying: Perhaps everything is really because His Majesty has fallen in love with Chancellor Quan’s unbetrothed wife, Gu Shuangcheng…

As Lian Xin spoke, she snatched back the bow and arrow, immediately aiming at the little girl. The child didn’t know to dodge, still staring stupidly at the corpses of her mother and brother in her tattered clothes.

Su Zhen saw that the surroundings were already in uproar. Gritting her teeth, she knelt down, lifting her robe, and called out loudly, “Imperial grace is boundless! I beg the princess to spare the child’s life, let her see her father once more, to resolve the regrets of life and death.”

“This matter cannot be helped. Are you mad?”

Leng Xue shouted angrily, and the crowd also fell deathly quiet. Lian Xin and the others looked in their direction. How could Su Zhen not be alarmed? Suddenly, with a thud, a scholar beside her knelt down, followed by others kneeling in succession, until hardly anyone remained standing on both sides of the street.

“Zhen’er, don’t move.”

Leng Xue’s startled voice had just brushed past her ear when an arrow swiftly grazed past her ear and fell.

“All of you get up! Anyone who disobeys won’t have such luck next time!”

Lian Xin’s cold voice came from the middle of the street. Su Zhen broke out in a cold sweat—this princess was warning the common people and didn’t want to take her life yet, but if she had moved even slightly just now, she would have died instantly.

The kneeling people rose one by one, leaving only a few young men who looked like scholars. Scholars could sometimes be pedantic, but at this moment they showed some backbone.

Su Zhen’s heart had grown half cold, but then she thought that she too feared death greatly—how could she blame the common people?

The situation didn’t allow for much deliberation; she had almost immediately made her decision.

However, Lian Xin moved too quickly. One arrow ended, another was already released, shooting swiftly toward the little girl.

After all, she couldn’t save her. Let her see her father one last time? Su Zhen thought dazedly, but the arrow suddenly fell to the ground in front of the girl’s face.

It had been knocked down by a sleeve dart!

“Brother Huo, what do you mean by this?”

Lian Xin was startled and turned to look at the men beside her—the phoenix-eyed man whose appearance was not outstanding.

Brother Huo? This person was Marquis Xiao Yao, Huo Chang’an?

Su Zhen hesitated no longer. She tugged at Leng Xue’s sleeve, “Quickly, take the child to the execution ground and let her meet Minister Liu one last time. I’ll find a way to meet up with you later.”

Leng Xue was shaken.

Su Zhen smiled. At this life-and-death moment, he understood her persistence, and she understood his questioning look: This child would die anyway—was it worth risking her own life for this one meeting? Zhen’er, you’re just a woman, even men wouldn’t stick their necks out like this. Aren’t you being foolish?

Not asking if it was worth it, she only knew that her brother had once protected her like this young boy, and that the border general had protected the country year after year. Today she absolutely couldn’t let the Liu family have any regrets.

Leng Xue finally let out a long whistle, coldly dropping the words, “Feng Suzhen, don’t force me to hate you. Find a way to survive and meet me at the execution ground,” before leaping out to gather the little girl in his arms.

The incident happened so suddenly that by the time Lian Xin realized what was happening and cried out in anger, Leng Xue’s figure was already racing madly into the depths of the crowd. Huo Chang’an’s expression changed as he commanded sternly, “Immediately lead men to pursue. If you cannot retrieve her, you’ll face military justice.”

As soon as he finished speaking, two young men at his horse’s side signaled to the soldiers behind them and gave chase like lightning.

At the same time, Su Zhen felt pain in her body as his whip coiled around her and threw her before the horses.

Countless gazes shot toward her.

She knew she would certainly die this time.

Quan Feitong was at the nearby execution ground, and Li Zhaoting, having joined his faction, might also be there. Would she say farewell to him forever like this? Lian Yu, her enemy, was also there—how could she not see him once! But how could she escape to get there now?