“Do you know who I am? If you dare touch me, do you have a death wish?”
Being threatened by a woman left Tang Wen both furious and humiliated. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill Shen Xia.
“Young Master Tang, we’re only acting in self-defense,” Shen Xia said coldly.
We’re?
“You and Li Xiao are together? Prefect Murong threw Li Xiao into the Shen Residence, and you’re from the Shen Family?”
Tang Wen’s mind worked quickly, and he immediately guessed Shen Xia’s identity.
The realization that she was likely from the Shen Family only made him angrier.
After all, the Tang Family and the Shen Family had a deep-seated rivalry. Being threatened by a woman from the Shen Family was an unbearable humiliation.
Shen Xia glanced toward Li Xiao. Once she was sure he was ready, she suddenly drove her foot into Tang Wen’s groin.
The next moment, she shoved the pain-stricken Tang Wen into the crowd and rushed over to grab Li Xiao’s hand.
“Run!”
Tang Wen was in so much pain that he nearly suffocated. Tears welled up in his eyes as he pointed toward the direction in which Shen Xia and Li Xiao had fled and roared at his men.
“What are you idiots standing around for? Chase them! Catch them for me! I’m going to kill them!”
“Yes, Young Master! We’re going!”
By then, Shen Xia and Li Xiao had already slipped away. After weaving through several twisting alleys, they finally hid themselves.
“That was close. We almost didn’t make it out.”
Shen Xia wiped the sweat from her forehead. Fortunately, her body had held up well enough and had not become a burden.
It also helped that Tang Wen’s subordinates were simple-minded and slow to react.
Li Xiao stood silently beside her, looking at her from the corner of his eye.
His expression was complicated, and conflict churned in the depths of his gaze.
Soon, however, that hesitation was replaced by coldness.
Clenching his fists, he demanded coldly, “You did it on purpose!”
“Hm?” Shen Xia looked up at him.
“You deliberately brought me out, made such a conspicuous display of it, and lured them here. Offending Tang Wen won’t end well for you, me, or the Shen Family. You wanted… I’m dead, aren’t you?”
By the end of his accusation, the corners of Li Xiao’s eyes had turned slightly red. Anger and disappointment both swirled in his gaze.
He had almost believed that she genuinely wanted to help him.
Who would have thought that she was even more vicious than everyone else?
Shen Xia felt a headache coming on.
He had actually guessed part of her plan, though not all of it.
“I…” she wanted to explain.
But Li Xiao gave her no chance.
He shoved her away forcefully.
“You’ve made such a huge scene that no one will let this go. I may be someone everyone can bully, but at least the blood of that man in the capital runs through my veins. I won’t die. But you… that’s another story.”
With those words, he turned and left without hesitation.
He never should have softened his heart.
The first two times, he should have stabbed her to death with that wooden hairpin.
Then none of this would have happened today.
Pressing her fingers against her temple, Shen Xia felt her head throb.
A wolf cub that was too clever was not necessarily a good thing.
Forget it.
Once she finished refining her plan, she would explain everything to him.
…
Half an hour later, the moment Shen Xia stepped through the gates of the Shen Residence, someone immediately appeared before her.
“Seventh Miss, you’ve finally returned. Master has been waiting for you.”
When she arrived at the study, she was practically dragged inside.
“Let go of me. I can walk by myself.”
As soon as she broke free, a loud bang echoed through the room as an inkstone came flying toward her, narrowly missing her body.
Looking up, she saw Shen Duancheng standing there with a face flushed red from rage, looking as though he wanted to strangle her on the spot.
“I never should have listened to your nonsense last night. I never should have shown you mercy. I should have crushed you back then! Do you even know who you offended today? If the Tang Family hadn’t come to me, I wouldn’t even have known what you’ve done!”
“You wanted to keep Li Xiao around? Fine. He’s nothing but a lowly slave, so do whatever you want with him. But you actually dared to take him outside and even injured Tang Wen in front of so many people for his sake!”
The more he spoke, the angrier he became.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Shen Duancheng strode forward and swung a vicious slap toward her.