This was the first time since her rebirth that Song Chuyi had faced a death threat. If not for Ye Jingchuan and Zhou Weizhao appearing quickly, she might very well have died again.
Died before avenging Cui Shi, before seeking justice for Lianyi and the others.
She had never been this tense and filled with hatred before—so much so that her hands clenched into fists, completely unaware that her fingernails were digging into her palms.
From the moment of her rebirth, she had told herself: whoever wants me dead, I will take their life!
Miss Chen met her gaze and faintly shuddered. When she pushed Song Chuyi out just now, it was completely a split-second decision made in a flash of lightning and thunder. The Tatar raiders fundamentally didn’t have bows and arrows, so these people weren’t Tatars. And since they weren’t Tatars, yet precisely knew which specific courtyard Song Chuyi lived in, and even knew which specific room Song Chuyi was currently in, they must have been coming for Song Chuyi. At that moment the situation was already so critical—with the slightest inattention, one could lose their life. The reason she had shamelessly stayed overnight at Song Chuyi’s place was precisely to seek safety. After all, Song Chuyi was a young lady of the Song family—Song Ren and Song Jue would certainly protect her residence airtight. So after sending her younger brother to Song Jue’s place, she went directly to Song Chuyi’s.
But she hadn’t expected that Song Chuyi’s place would actually be attacked by mysterious people of unknown origin! At that time, the room was full of women without the strength to truss a chicken. If they didn’t push out the target, everyone would just have to wait for death!
It didn’t matter who died—she absolutely could not die. So in that split second, she made her decision—to push out their target, Song Chuyi, to use as a shield.
But she hadn’t expected that Song Chuyi would actually be rescued again by Ye Jingchuan and the Grand Prince. She had played the villain for nothing.
Miss Chen’s thoughts spun rapidly. After hesitating a moment, she quickly walked several steps to grasp Song Chuyi’s hand, pretending not to see her gaze, and explained with concern and urgency, “A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! Just now I was dizzy and disoriented. I thought I was pushing you into the hidden room next door.”
Song Chuyi was too lazy to continue dealing falsely with such a person. She hooked the corners of her lips mockingly and shook off her hand.
“Sixth Miss!” Miss Chen’s eyes flashed. A trace of embarrassment crossed her face, immediately replaced by a face full of worry. Her voice even broke as she called out, “You must believe me! I truly didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Whether it was on purpose or not, we all know very well in our hearts.” Song Chuyi didn’t buy her act at all. She only felt that these young ladies from noble families—what they appeared to be on the surface was one thing, but what they were like inside, only heaven truly knew.
The commotion outside gradually lessened. Ye Jingchuan was shouting loudly, “Don’t let anyone escape!”
Song Chuyi couldn’t be bothered to continue entangling with Miss Chen. She quickly walked several steps, pulled open the door, and shouted at Zhou Weizhao’s back, “Capture them alive!”
This matter absolutely couldn’t be separated from Lady Li. Previously she had a premonition that Lady Li and Old Madam Li would likely take advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters and take her life. Now it seemed the origins of this batch of mysterious people were highly suspicious.
She wanted to capture someone alive, to firmly nail Lady Li to the execution ground!
It was precisely at this moment that she suddenly noticed that surrounding the Grand Prince Zhou Weizhao weren’t Imperial Guards, but actually seven or eight young Daoists!
This person was truly extraordinary.
She paused, then saw Zhou Weizhao actually leap into the air and kick the approaching burly man squarely in the chest, directly kicking him into a somersault.
Ye Jingchuan had already led the Imperial Guards to surround this group of people. He seemed to have already guarded against someone committing suicide, having people uniformly seal everyone’s mouths first with torn cloth.
Song Chuyi breathed a sigh of relief, then saw Ye Jingchuan looking over with a smug smile. “Did you even need to say that? I’ve long been guarding against this move.”
After speaking, he frowned again looking at Song Chuyi, jerking his chin. “What was going on with you just now? Couldn’t you see it was so dangerous? If you couldn’t see it, couldn’t you at least hear it? Why did you suddenly run out?! If we hadn’t arrived in time, you would have lost your little life, you know?!”
Before Song Chuyi could speak, Miss Chen rushed forward to grasp Song Chuyi’s right hand. Her almond eyes held a brimming pool of tears as she nodded continuously. “I said so too! Just now was truly too dangerous, but younger sister absolutely wouldn’t listen to my advice. Younger sister was also doing it for my sake—”
This person could twist black into white without even blinking an eye. Lying in front of the involved parties, she spoke with such righteousness. If not for the fact that she had truly been pushed, she might even think what just happened was an illusion.
Song Chuyi laughed coldly, then saw Zhou Weizhao had already turned around, his footsteps not pausing as he brushed past her and went directly into the adjacent main hall.
Miss Chen abruptly turned to look, her voice low as she called out once, “Your Highness.”
Zhou Weizhao’s footsteps didn’t stop. He waved his hand at Ye Jingchuan, and Ye Jingchuan had people throw all dozen-plus of these people into the granary to be guarded.
“What’s your situation?” Ye Jingchuan also sensed something was wrong. He was rarely serious for a moment. “How is it that out of nowhere, someone wanted to come for you? If we hadn’t come quickly, you really would have died. Who has such a huge grudge against a young lady like you who’s been raised in a deep inner courtyard?”
Miss Chen hurriedly interjected, “They even knew which room younger sister was staying in. It looks more like an acquaintance.”
A guess arose in her heart. She felt this Sixth Miss Song wasn’t as calm and unruffled as she appeared. After all, she had just pushed her out to wait for death—she must still be filled with resentment and indignation. At this point, she could only first direct the spearhead toward someone she hated even more.
This Miss Chen was not only deeply calculating but also quite capable of being thick-skinned. Such a person was not fit to associate with. Song Chuyi glanced at her coldly. “Miss Chen seems very interested in my affairs?”
Even without considering her frightening mindset, Song Chuyi found the determination and courage she had just shown in pushing the Earl’s young lady out to die in her stead to be terrifying.
Such a person—she absolutely must not let her know any of her weaknesses.
Ye Jingchuan also realized there was still an outsider present. He couldn’t help but look at Miss Chen once more, then frowned. “It’s so late—why is Miss Chen still in her room? Things are quite chaotic here right now. I’m afraid it’s not convenient?”
Qing Tao came out at just the right moment, smiling. “Miss Chen was just saying she wanted to leave. I’ve already prepared the lanterns.”
With the conversation reaching this point, and more than one person driving her away, no matter how thick Miss Chen’s face was, she didn’t dare continue to linger. She could only reluctantly glance into the main hall where Zhou Weizhao was located before forcing a smile and leaving with Qing Tao.
However, halfway there she stopped again, looking back one last time at Song Chuyi’s courtyard from afar. This Song Chuyi seemed to not only have a good relationship with Ye Jingchuan, but even with Zhou Weizhao, their friendship appeared quite deep.
And anyone who dared to set their sights on her prey—all were enemies. Previously she had felt somewhat annoyed at having played the villain for nothing, but now she felt her only mistake was not being ruthless enough, not striking fast enough.