Having given birth before, Li Wanzhi naturally understood the implication in the officer’s words.
Having lived a second life, Su Yanxi wasn’t so naive as to miss the crude meaning either.
“Yanxi, they… they…”
Li Wanzhi, who had just let go of Su Yanxi, gripped her tightly again out of fear.
Only Shen Qingyan remained clueless.
She plopped down boldly on the ground, “If you need to dig a hole, hurry up and do it! Once you’re done, we can fetch water…”
Before she could finish, Sun Hao pounced and grabbed her, “I’ll take this one! The other two are yours to share however you want!”
“Ah—”
Shen Qingyan screamed, instinctively struggling.
Meanwhile, Du Qiang and Feng Shan leered at Su Yanxi and Li Wanzhi, cracking their whips menacingly.
“You two, come here quietly and serve us well. It’ll save you some pain…”
Li Wanzhi was on the verge of tears, tugging at Su Yanxi’s sleeve and frantically asking, “What do we do? What do we do? Yanxi, should we run?”
Su Yanxi’s expression remained calm. “Run where? If you run, they’ll just label you as fugitives. You wouldn’t have enough heads to spare even if you had ten!”
Li Wanzhi’s face fell into utter despair. “Then… are we just supposed to…”
Over there, Shen Qingyan was both resisting and ranting, “You filthy, lowlife scum! Don’t touch me! I am the future empress…”
Su Yanxi didn’t know if anyone else heard her, but she found the remark utterly ridiculous.
So, even though Shen Qingyan died early in her previous life, she still knew what happened afterward. Did she really think reclaiming her status as a daughter of the Shen family would make her empress? No wonder she hadn’t seemed particularly upset or angry during the exile—she was probably still hoping to run into Xiao Lingyou on the road and transform into a phoenix.
How laughable and foolish.
But now wasn’t the time for mockery. Escaping was the priority.
Her gaze shifted to the dense mountains behind the officers. The timing was almost right!
Just then, a strange noise echoed from the forest.
As Du Qiang and Feng Shan turned to look, a wild boar with bloodshot eyes charged down the mountain toward them. Its two tusks, each about a foot long, gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
Su Yanxi grabbed Li Wanzhi. “Run! Go back and alert the other officers.”
Li Wanzhi took a few steps, then remembered Shen Qingyan. “Yanxi, what about Qingyan…”
Su Yanxi shook her off sharply, her voice cold and stern. “If you want to play the saint, go back and save her. I have no desire to be one!”
The only reason she’d brought Li Wanzhi along was that she hadn’t made things difficult for her in the Shen household. Even though Li Wanzhi held little influence, she’d still spoken up for her. This was merely returning a favor.
Li Wanzhi gritted her teeth and glanced back toward where Shen Qingyan had been assaulted. It was hard to see clearly now, but the enraged roars of the boar and the sounds of struggle were unmistakable.
“Officers, hurry! On our way to fetch water, we encountered a wild boar. Three of your colleagues are under attack!”
Su Yanxi rushed back to the resting area at the graveyard, feigning panic as she delivered the news.
Liu Bantou and the remaining Chen Ding and Meng Jiang immediately stood up. “Wild boar? Where?”
“Over there…” This time, Li Wanzhi pointed out the direction for the three constables.
The three constables’ faces clearly showed excitement as they hurriedly prepared to go together.
Their dried meat rations had run out over the past two days.
Having to eat coarse black steamed buns with the prisoners every day, they felt like they were about to grow feathers from the blandness in their mouths.
A wild boar meant meat to eat!
After taking a few steps, the three remembered the prisoners were still there.
They turned back and threatened fiercely, “Stay put here, don’t run around.
Anyone who dares to run will be treated as an escaped convict!”
After the constables left, Shen Hongxing from the Shen family finally frowned and asked Li Wanzhi, “Where’s your sister?”
Li Wanzhi, thinking of how Shen Qingyan had her clothes torn by Du Qiang, trembled with fear. “Qingyan, Qingyan she…”
Slap!
Yang Shi slapped Li Wanzhi across the face. “What happened to Qingyan?”It wasn’t that they particularly cared about their daughter Shen Qingyan, but rather that Shen Qingyan was their last bargaining chip and means of turning their situation around.”
A delicately raised young lady from the Marquis Family—just her figure alone was worth a considerable amount of money.
Just then, Shen Qingyan returned with dazed eyes, her clothes somewhat torn and tattered.
Yang Shi immediately went up to her. “Qingyan, you… what happened to you?
Did those beasts… violate you?”
“No!”
Shen Qingyan seemed stimulated, responding sharply, “No! I didn’t let them violate me!”
Yang Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
But Shen Qingyan’s venomous gaze turned toward Su Yanxi. “Su Yanxi, you bitch, why didn’t you save me?”
When the wild boar charged down from the mountain, she saw Su Yanxi pulling Li Wanzhi and running away.
But clearly, the two of them could have worked together to pull that beast off her and take her along as they ran.
Su Yanxi only gave her a cold look.
Su Qinghuai had already spoken up with a cold sneer. “Why should we save you? Because you’re an ingrate?”
“Third Brother, you…” Shen Qingyan habitually called Su Qinghuai, tears welling up in her eyes.
Su Qinghuai made a face as if he’d swallowed a fly. “Don’t call me Third Brother, it’s disgusting!
My only sister is Xixi, not some ingrate!”
Shen Qingyan still didn’t give up. “Third Brother, when I went to find Sister to swap back identities, it was only a temporary measure.
I thought that after all these years with Mother, I’d met many noble people. If I could stay in the capital, I might be able to pull some strings and help you return to the capital sooner.
But I never expected…”
“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, we’re the ones who grew up together since childhood.
Now that we’ve all been exiled, wouldn’t it be good if we helped each other along the way?”
As she spoke, her tear-filled eyes looked pleadingly at the three Su brothers.
This time, even Su Qingyu couldn’t hold back. “Shen Qingyan, do you think we’d believe your nonsense?
Do you take us for fools?”
Su Qinghe also glanced at Shen Qingyan, his voice cold and clear. “Shen Qingyan, since you’ve already chosen the Shen family, it’s not appropriate for you to maintain ties with our Su family.
As for your suggestion of mutual help…
Sorry, but we Su family members don’t associate with ungrateful and heartless people.”
Shen Qingyan hadn’t expected the Su family to truly show her no consideration at all.
Her face changed colors several times. “Fine, then don’t come begging to me in the end!”
She knew that along the way she would inevitably save the Third Prince, the Shen Family would rise to prominence, and she would become the Empress reigning over the realm.
Now she had already given the Su Family a chance.
It was the Su Family themselves who failed to cherish it.
In the future, they shouldn’t blame her for being heartless!
After dismissing Shen Qingyan, the Su Family all gathered together.
Su Qingyu shook all the waterskins—there was no water left.
The food they had carried with them had all been traded for that little girl, and now they had nothing to eat either.
The medicine Doctor He had given them was already used up.
But there were still two people lying on the ground.