Chapter 23

Before the person behind her could speak, Qing Shuang kicked him aside from the side, deftly took the sword, and prevented the blade from grazing Jiang Yunshu's skin.

Unexpectedly, Qing Shuang kicked her away so easily. The woman was stunned for a moment, glanced at the two of them, and then headed towards the window.

Qing Shuang saw through her intention and grabbed her.

The man struggled, but due to his injuries, he was unable to break free from Qing Shuang's restraints.

She gritted her teeth in anger: "Do you think you can get away with this?"

"They killed my sister, and now they want to silence me."

The man chuckled twice: "As long as there is one member left in my Chen family, your master will never be able to rest easy!"

"That good-for-nothing she gave birth to dare to compare himself to my nephew? She'll live in my sister's shadow for the rest of her life. We, the Chen family, will haunt her even in death!"

Jiang Yunshu narrowed her eyes: "Knock him out."

With a swift movement, Qing Shuang brought down her knife, and the woman quickly fainted in her hand.

"Miss, this man seems unusual, perhaps we should..."

Just throw it out.

Jiang Yunshu wavered for a moment, but still shook her head.

"Never mind," she said, looking at the man. "Let's wait until Dr. Li comes and takes a look."

Qing Shuang nodded and carried the person to the small couch again. This time, she tied the person's hands and feet to prevent a repeat of the previous situation.

As soon as Qing Shuang stepped out, A Yao started making a scene.

Ayao was quite frightened. When she was called over, she was curled up in the quilt, with not a single hair showing.

A pang of sadness gripped her heart. She tiptoed over, her voice softening unconsciously: "Ayao, don't be afraid, Mother is here."

"We're home now, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."

She gently patted the bundle of bedding in her arms, and Ayao's trembling stopped. Like a lifeless wooden sculpture, she leaned on her.

She lifted the covers, and Ah Yao's expression was blank. Her lips, which were usually always smiling, were now drooping, and her long eyelashes covered the light in her eyes.

He was completely stunned and didn't say a word.

The little figure before her kept overlapping with the scenes she had seen in her past life, and she couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

Fear and unease spread through her heart, and she could only feel a little safe by holding Ayao tightly in her arms.

cannot……

She can't let this happen again.

Ah Yao is her life!

She could no longer sit idly by and wait for her fate. Since she couldn't escape, she would face Mo Yanzhou head-on.

Mo Yanzhou is not favored. In the current court, the Second Prince and the First Prince are still rivals. Mo Yanzhou is colluding with ministers of enemy countries, and the Emperor will not protect him.

"Don't be afraid, Yao, Mother will protect you."

Ayao raised her eyes, looked at her, then lowered them again, still remaining silent.

She carried Ayao to her room, preferring to take care of her herself for peace of mind.

After returning, Qing Shuang invited Doctor Li over.

The person on the bed was still asleep, their hands and feet were tightly bound, and their body was covered in blood, which was quite gruesome. Ayao screamed in terror after just one glance, and her whole body began to tremble.

She had no choice but to carry A-Yao behind the screen and gently coax her.

Doctor Li glanced at the person on the small couch, then looked at the person in her arms, and said in a deep voice, "Ayao can't be stimulated right now. You're still letting her see such a bloody scene!"

"go out!"

She glanced at Dr. Li, pursed her lips, and turned to leave.

"Who's on this bed? Don't give me any trouble."

She twitched her lips, indeed looking for trouble. Doctor Li was annoyed by her stammering, so he snorted and turned to go to the small couch.

Qing Shuang peeked out to look at her and nodded.

She then carried Ayao outside.

Once back in Ayao's own room, she calmed down considerably, sitting on the bed and hugging the blankets tightly without trembling anymore.

But he didn't say anything.

She sighed softly and fed the prepared medicine to the patient.

"I won't eat."

Ayao's soft, sweet voice rang out in a low voice, her face full of resistance.

His eyebrows were arched like a little worm.

She magically produced a piece of candied fruit from her person and said with a smile to Ayao, "Ayao, be good, you can eat candied fruit after you drink your medicine!"

Ayao glanced at the candied fruit, seemed to hesitate, then looked at her again and firmly shook her head.

"don't want!"

She noticed something was off about A Yao's expression, so she put the medicine on the table and asked softly, "Okay, we won't eat it."

"Did some bad people give Ayao something to eat before?"

As soon as Ayao nodded, a faint fear welled up in her eyes, as if she had seen something terrifying.

He nodded and then shook his head.

She looked so flustered she was about to cry.

"It's okay, it's okay, we're home now, no one will hurt Ayao anymore."

“Ayao, don’t be afraid.”

She patted Ayao's back gently, her voice growing softer and softer.

Ah Yao gradually relaxed as she listened to her voice. Her eyelashes were wet, and her eyes were moist, making her look truly pitiful.

She said softly, "Mother won't ask anymore, Yao, don't be afraid, we're home, we're home."

Ah Yao leaned against her for a long while before finally letting out a muffled sound.

"Ah Yao is scared..."

"What's wrong?"

Ayao said in a trembling voice, "The food they gave me was eaten by birds, and then..."

Her face turned cold. Mo Yanzhou actually wanted to poison A Yao!

In order to control the Jiang family, Mo Yanzhou went to extreme lengths.

Since that's the case, she must tie herself to the Second Prince as soon as possible.

She needs a powerful backer to protect the Jiang family and Ayao.

After coaxing Ayao to sleep, she went back to her room.

Doctor Li had already left, and when Qing Shuang saw her return, she hurried over to report.

"Miss, Dr. Li just examined this person and said she's fine. She'll recover in three days after taking the medicine."

She nodded and poured herself a cup of tea, feeling agitated.

"Miss, is something troubling you?"

She turned to look at Qing Shuang: "Qing Shuang, what do you think of the Second Prince?"

Qing Shuang was taken aback and looked at her incredulously. Then she glanced at the person on the small couch, closed the door, and whispered.

"Miss, wake up! The Second Prince's side is a black hole even deeper than the Shen family mansion!"

"That's the royal family's gourmet food. Even if you don't think about yourself, you should at least consider A-Yao. She won't be tolerated by the royal family!"

"Miss……!"

She was both anxious and angry, and her hairpin kept shaking.

“If Miss really cares about A Yao, I think Young Master Ling is the most suitable. He has no family background or relatives, his character is decent, and he grew up in the Jiang family. I think Young Master Ling is good to you, and he seems to be treating A Yao well as well.”

"Miss, please stop fooling around!"

Qing Shuang was so angry that her mouth was dry from talking, and she almost couldn't catch her breath.

She was speechless at the sight of Qing Shuang's dry mouth, realizing that her image in front of Qing Shuang was even worse than her image in front of her father.

That's not what I meant.

She weakly argued that she simply loved reading storybooks and that her mind hadn't been damaged by them.

Qing Shuang clearly did not believe it.

She stopped talking when she heard noises coming from the small couch.

He got up and went over. The woman on the bed woke up and looked at the two of them with a wary expression.

“We won’t kill you, and we’re not interested in your deep-seated hatred. You can stay here for three days. The doctor just came and examined you.”

"We won't care what you do after that, whether you seek revenge or whatever, as long as you don't involve us."

Before she could speak, Jiang Yunshu blurted out everything in one go.

Qing Shuang snorted lightly: "It's only because you met our young lady that you're still alive, otherwise you would have been dead long ago!"

"You'd better not repay kindness with enmity, or I, Qing Shuang, will not let you off!"

The man looked at the two of them, his eyes darkening. He pursed his lips and finally said only, "Thank you."

Jiang Yunshu didn't want to get into any more trouble, so she didn't even ask the man's name.

Fortunately, Dr. Li's medicine was very effective, and the person actually recovered in three days.

Although she still had some injuries, her complexion had returned to a rosy hue, and she seemed to be alright.

The person disappeared without saying a word.

Qing Shuang snorted coldly: "Really, they made such a fuss when they came, but left so quietly."

She chuckled: "I don't think that person is a simple person. You're not happy that she's gone?"

Qing Shuang didn't say anything more.

That person clearly had enemies; it's good that he left.

I just felt uncomfortable. I took care of them for several days, but they didn't even say thank you in the end.

"It's better for this kind of fugitive to leave, so as not to implicate my Jiang family. Perhaps her hasty departure was because her enemies found her."

Jiang Yunshu said calmly, "This kind of thing happens often. Usually, when people are being hunted down in the martial arts world, they kill the whole family."

The person left in a hurry, perhaps because they didn't want to implicate the Jiang family.

She didn't really care about that, after all, she had only seen her own powerlessness reflected in that person.

She died young in her previous life and could only helplessly watch Mo Yanzhou bully A Yao. She wished she could tear Mo Yanzhou to pieces, but there was nothing she could do.

She took a deep breath; she was going to see the Second Prince.

She remembered that the second prince had been deposed three times, and this was the first time.

The emperor's favor towards the second prince was common knowledge, but unfortunately his mother died early and he had no truly capable advisors by his side.

After Ling Jingchu's death, his position as crown prince was completely transferred to someone else.

Her eyes were deep and thoughtful as she pondered something when a sound came from outside.

"Miss, the Second Prince and the Third Prince have arrived and said they want to visit Miss A Yao."

"The master and mistress are waiting in the front hall."

Jiang Yunshu gets a headache just hearing the name Mo Yanzhou.

Of course, she wouldn't take Ayao to the front hall. Ayao was on edge at the moment, and if she saw Mo Yanzhou, she might get agitated again.

Once outside the courtyard, there is a long corridor, and when you reach the front hall, you can hear laughter and cheerful voices coming from inside.

She paused and slowed her pace.

"I've long heard that Master Jiang is a devoted man. Despite his vast fortune, he has never taken a concubine or married another woman. He is truly admirable."

To her, Mo Yanzhou's voice sounded hypocritical and sinister, and she almost instantly became worried about her mother's safety.

She stepped into the front hall and bowed to the two people above.

"Where is A-Yao?"

Mo Yanzhou asked in a low voice, as if he were worried.

“Ah Yao has lost weight, which is irritating. She had just fallen asleep when the Third Prince arrived, and I really couldn’t bear to wake her again, so…”

"Please forgive me, Third Prince."

She spoke earnestly, her eyes filled with sorrow, yet it was impossible to discern anything amiss.

A cold glint flashed across Mo Yanzhou's eyes as he looked at her meaningfully.

The Second Prince waved his hand: "Since he has just fallen asleep, don't wake him up. The child is still young and has just experienced something like that; he must be very scared right now."

"Let her rest well. My third brother and I are just here to check if the child is alright."

Mo Yanzhou smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right. You don't need to be so flustered. We just felt sorry for the child. Since he has already fallen asleep, there is no need to wake him up to see us."

After thanking the two, she stood behind her mother.

After speaking for a while, Mo Yanzhou suddenly mentioned Jiang Yunzheng.

"I've long heard that the young master of the Jiang family is dashing and debonair, and seeing him the other day confirms it."

Jiang Jinhong glanced at Mo Yanzhou without making a sound, then smiled and said nothing.

Mo Yanzhou smiled and said, "A few days ago, I asked them to investigate the case from back then, and I didn't expect that they would bring the person back in just a few days. Jiangzhou is truly efficient."

Jiang Yunshu clenched her fist silently, without looking up at Mo Yanzhou.

Mo Yanzhou, however, calmly observed her expression, finding it utterly amusing.

"Young Master Jiang's talent is astonishing, and I am truly fond of him. So I sent him to interrogate that human trafficker. I just wonder what such an arrogant scoundrel can say?"

Jiang Yunshu's heart skipped a beat.

She suddenly looked up, and Mo Yanzhou's gloomy gaze met hers.

Even though she moved away quickly, she felt a chill down her spine.

The second prince, standing to the side, seemed detached from the situation, staring blankly into a certain direction, remaining silent for a long time.

It wasn't until the two left the Jiang residence that Mo Yanzhou realized something was wrong with him.

"Royal brother."

"Royal brother?"

After being called twice, Mo Tingyu finally came to his senses.

"Ah?" He blinked his eyelashes and looked at Mo Yanzhou. "Third brother, I suddenly remembered something, so I'll head back to the manor first."

After saying that, he turned around and got into his carriage and left.

Mo Yanzhou squinted and stared for a while before giving the order in a deep voice.

"Let's see who the Second Prince has been associating with lately."

If that fool Mo Tingyu gets his hands on the Jiang family's prize first, he'll make sure the Jiang family disappears right now.

As Mo Tingyu rode back to his residence in a carriage, his mind was filled with thoughts of the woman in the house.

He actually ran into his aunt in Jiangzhou?!

"Siqing, it's hard for your aunt to believe that I know about this, but I've been investigating my sister's death for eight years. It wasn't an accident; the Empress poisoned her!"

“Siqing, my Chen family has been ruined by the Empress and can no longer hold official positions, leaving you without any confidants in the court. She is only thinking that the eldest prince can ascend to the throne. You cannot let them succeed.”

Chen Yanyan gritted her teeth with hatred as she spoke of how favored her sister had been and how glorious the Chen family had been back then.

It was all because of the Empress. She tricked her father into writing a rebellious poem, which led to the destruction of the Chen family. If it weren't for her sister's plea, the whole family probably wouldn't even have a complete corpse!

She escaped death because she was playful, but soon after, news of her sister's death came from the palace, leaving only her and Siqing in the Chen family.

The Empress did not expect that the Emperor was so devoted to his sister. Even though she brought down the Chen family, the Emperor still did not depose the Crown Prince.

"Siqing, you were still young back then, and your aunt never had the chance to meet you. There are many things you don't know. The Chen family... was completely destroyed by the Empress!"

Mo Tingyu was so shocked that he didn't even know whether he should believe it or not.

He had forgotten many things from his childhood. Having always grown up by his father's side, he knew that his two older brothers and younger brothers both envied and resented him.

He had always felt that the Empress was not very kind to him, but he never expected that it would be because of these things.

"Auntie, I..."

"Second Prince, Miss Jiang is outside requesting an audience, saying she has important matters to discuss with you."