“This…” Dong Qiao stared at her in a daze. Her eyes held inquiry, confusion, and unease, as she was uncertain what she meant.
“If my dowry is so excessive that even you’re helping give it away, wouldn’t it save you the trouble if I simply gave it all away? Then you wouldn’t have to exhaust yourself persuading me to curry favor with others on my behalf anymore. Wouldn’t that be a good idea?”
Dong Qiao’s face instantly paled. She hurriedly knelt before her and said in panic, “Please calm down, Miss! I wasn’t helping you give away your dowry. I only didn’t want you to be bullied because of your worldly possessions. I’m doing everything for your sake. Please see the truth of the matter, Miss!”
Night Shishu pouted. “If I give away a dowry worth hundreds of thousands, then no one will bully me over it anymore!”
Dong Qiao began knocking her head against the floor. “Miss, that truly wasn’t what I meant! Your dowry is yours to give to whoever you want, or keep if you want to keep it. This servant has no right to interfere!”
Night Shishu bent down and helped her up. “Dong Qiao, what are you doing? I only think that the dowry is too ostentatious and liable to attract covetous eyes, so I wanted to give away some wealth to avert disaster. I wasn’t blaming you.”
Dong Qiao cautiously glanced at her, but after looking her over from every angle, she saw no trace of anger on her face. Only then did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Before she had even steadied her breath, however, she heard Night Shishu instruct her, “Go to Marquis Yufeng’s Residence in my place and tell Older Cousin that I’ll be attending the engagement tomorrow. But given my current situation, I have no way to give her that golden buyao hairpin. Ask her to wait a little longer, and tell her not to be angry with me over it.”
Dong Qiao cautiously looked at her again. After confirming that she truly had not lost her temper and was still as gentle and considerate as usual, she nodded and replied, “Yes, Miss. I’ll explain everything properly to Cousin Miss.”
Although the mistress and maid had come to Prince Cheng’s Residence to serve as servants, Prince Cheng had issued them no restrictions. Dong Qiao left Prince Cheng’s Residence without difficulty.
After she departed, Night Shishu also went to ask about Prince Cheng’s whereabouts. The people in the residence merely told her to find something to do for herself and said nothing else.
Night Shishu was happy enough to have nothing to do.
The next day.
A carriage arrived punctually at Prince Cheng’s Residence at a quarter past seven.
After greeting the guards at the gate, Night Shishu boarded the carriage.
What she did not know was that just after the carriage she was riding in left Prince Cheng’s Residence, another, much more luxurious carriage arrived.
The coachman dismounted, identified himself to the guards at the residence gate, and said that he had come to pick up Night Shishu.
When the guard heard this, he said, puzzled, “Third Miss Ye was just picked up by someone. Weren’t they sent by Marquis Yufeng’s Residence?”
The coachman was astonished. “Third Miss has already been picked up?” He then looked disappointed and continued, “Since Third Miss has gone out, then please wait until she returns to Prince Cheng’s Residence and tell her that our Miss will arrange another meeting with her on a different day.”
With that, he bowed and took his leave.
After the carriage departed, the guard felt more and more that something was wrong. He therefore found Wen Yan and told him about the strange matter of two carriages arriving one after the other to pick someone up.
Upon hearing this, Wen Yan immediately ran to the study—
Meanwhile, Night Shishu, in the other carriage, realized as soon as they left Prince Cheng’s Residence that it was heading in the opposite direction from Amethyst Jade Villa.
But she made no sound.
Only when the carriage gradually reached a remote area did she suddenly pull open the curtain and press a dagger against the coachman’s neck!
The icy touch terrified the coachman. He immediately pulled hard on the reins—
“Whoa!”
“Swallow this!” Before he could react further, Night Shishu quickly forced a pill into his mouth!
Everything had happened so suddenly that the coachman seemed never to have imagined she would make such moves. After being forced to swallow the foul-smelling pill, he was both shocked and frightened. Trembling, he asked, “Third Miss… what… what are you trying to do?”
Night Shishu sneered. “I should be the one asking you that! Where are you taking me? What are you planning to do? Who ordered you to do this?”
Remembering the pill he had just swallowed, the coachman knelt on the carriage floor in terror and begged for mercy. “Third Miss, I only took someone’s money to bring you to the City Moat. As for who the other party is, I truly don’t know… Please, Third Miss, be magnanimous and give me the antidote!”
“I can give you the antidote, but you must do as I say!” Night Shishu jumped down from the carriage and pointed coldly toward the road ahead. “Keep going. I’ll follow behind you. Once we arrive, I’ll naturally give you the antidote!”
Believing that he had been poisoned, the coachman dared not disobey.
He quickly sat back down, grabbed the reins, and drove the carriage onward.
Night Shishu did indeed follow behind, but not openly. Using qinggong, she took cover behind the houses and trees along the road while keeping an eye on the carriage and surveying her surroundings.
When the carriage reached the City Moat, a group of black-clad men burst out from the grass and trees beside the riverbank.
Seven or eight men carrying sharp swords charged straight at the carriage. Without even waiting for the coachman to speak, they crouched beneath the carriage and stabbed viciously into the compartment—
The sight made the Night Shishu, who was hiding in a tree some distance away, burn with rage.
Judging by the ruthlessness of these men, if she had been in the carriage, she would have been crippled even if she had survived!
When the black-clad men heard no screams from inside, they immediately sensed that something was wrong. One of them swiftly lifted the curtain and saw that the carriage was empty. His expression changed drastically as he seized the coachman and demanded furiously, “Where is she? Didn’t you go pick her up? Why isn’t she here?”
The coachman trembled so violently that he was nearly in tears. He looked around, but could not see any sign of Night Shishu. He could only shout toward the sky, “Third Miss, come out quickly! You said you’d give me the antidote!”
The moment the black-clad men heard this, how could they fail to understand?
One of them viciously dragged his sword across the coachman’s neck, killing him instantly.
“Search everywhere! She must still be nearby!”
However, Night Shishu had already flown away without a sound while they were angrily interrogating the coachman.
She was hesitating between returning to Prince Cheng’s Residence and going back to the General’s Residence when killing intent suddenly surged toward her from ahead—
Seeing the masked men dressed in gray martial attire, she had no choice but to land and steady herself. She pulled the whip hidden against her body from her robes and glared at them warily.
“Who are you? Why are you blocking my way?”
These masked men were clearly different from the men who had wildly stabbed at the carriage earlier.
Their auras were cold and heavy, and the eyes revealed beneath their masks were uniformly sinister and ruthless. Even the way they gripped their swords was identical. It was obvious that they were highly trained—not ordinary thugs or assassins!
The masked leader had no intention of speaking with her. He merely raised a hand and ordered in a cold, hard voice, “Take her alive!”
Night Shishu was horrified.
She had always been a well-behaved young lady. When had she ever offended anyone?
She had only offended the Wei Family yesterday. She could believe that the black-clad men earlier had been assassins hired by the Wei Family, but assassins with such a cold and vicious presence could not possibly have been trained by the Wei Family…
Who else wanted her dead?
She had confidence in her own abilities, but the situation before her clearly put one against many. Besides, the other party’s origins were unknown. If she fell into their hands, she might end up in an even worse state than in her previous life—and she might not even know how she died!
Without hesitation, she leaped into the air and flew toward the City Moat—
The seven or eight black-clad men who had viciously stabbed the carriage were searching for her nearby. After a long while without finding anything, they were all as dejected as defeated roosters.
After all, they had accepted a substantial reward. They would only receive the generous remainder after completing their employer’s instructions.
When they suddenly saw Night Shishu flying toward them, the black-clad men felt as if an enormous pile of silver were dropping straight into their arms. Their spirits soared in an instant.
However, Night Shishu used every bit of her qinggong to fly over their heads, landing behind them. She shouted loudly, “Hurry and kill them!”
Her command was quite something. Seeing the murderous gray-clad men, the black-clad men assumed they were reinforcements Night Shishu had brought with her.
Meanwhile, when the gray-clad men saw the black-clad men blocking Night Shishu’s path, they assumed the black-clad men were her subordinates.
The two groups exchanged glances. It was like flint meeting lightning, and their killing intent erupted to its peak. With furious roars, they immediately fell into a vicious melee!
Night Shishu seized the opportunity to activate her qinggong and fly toward the City Moat. She plunged headfirst into the unfathomably deep river—