Chapter 19 In a life-or-death situation, she instinctively risked her life to protect Xu Congjing. ...

Sheng Yan tightened his grip on Lou Yanxu's nape. Her hands were bound behind her back, forcing her to kneel, and a force pushed her head into the water.

A chill swept over her, and icy water poured into her mouth and nose, stinging her nasal passages. Her body trembled with cold, and feelings of grievance and despair overwhelmed her; she could see nothing, no hope at all.

But no! If she dies like this, it will mean that the Lou family has both spent money and lost their lives. The Marquis's mansion will do everything in its power to smear her and then marry Weng Chuchu in a grand ceremony.

On what grounds?

"Help!" she cried out, her hands flailing wildly, her voice broken and incoherent as she struggled to lift her head. "I...help..."

Sheng Yan's eyes reddened with anger. He grabbed her hair and forced her to tilt her head back. "Who do you think you are? How dare you disobey me, how dare you hit Chu Chu! What do you think you are!"

Lou Yanxu felt her scalp tingle from the pulling, hot tears slid down her cheeks, and she bit her lip until it bled, but she didn't soften at all. "I am nothing, I am the daughter-in-law of the Marquis's mansion, I am your wife."

"Why don't you just die? Your whole Lou family deserves to die!"

After he finished speaking, he ordered someone to bring a bucket of ice water and pressed it down on her head.

Icy water poured in from all directions. Lou Yanxu couldn't cry for help or breathe. Her mind went blank, and only one sentence echoed in her mind: Sheng Yan really wanted to kill her right now!

She didn't know where the strength came from, but in the chaos, she grabbed the drum stool, raised one hand, and smashed it hard on Sheng Yan's head. He felt the pain and finally let go.

"My lady!" Qingrui finally returned, grabbed the knife on the table and stood protectively in front of Lou Yanxu, her hands trembling but her eyes resolute.

“Divorce…” Lou Yanxu wiped away her tears again and again, choking back sobs, her voice barely audible, “I want a divorce from you.”

Unaware of what had happened, Sheng Yan was extremely angry and slammed his fist on the table. "In the Marquis's mansion, there is no such thing as divorce, only separation from one's wife. One day, I will definitely divorce you!"

After uttering those harsh words, he strode away.

Lou Yanxu's tears streamed down her face, her complexion turned pale and her lips turned white.

Sheng Yan refused to divorce her; he wanted to find fault with her, to divorce her, and to make her suffer eternal damnation.

Qingrui took out a cloak and draped it over her, then gently wiped her face with a towel soaked in hot water, which gradually helped her relax.

Two lines of tears streamed down Qingrui's face as she pouted and protested, "This servant will go tell the old lady..."

"Don't tell Grandmother! Don't tell Grandmother!" Lou Yanxu's teeth were still chattering as she spoke, her tearful eyes filled with fierce determination. "Give the order: anyone who's been gossiping, drag them here to see me!"

Grandmother must not be angered again.

Lou Yanxu didn't get out of bed that day. Fear and helplessness weighed heavily on her heart, and she was still shaken. Because of this incident, she caught a cold and coughed that night, and lost her appetite. It took her several days to recover slightly.

On that day, Lou Yanxu came to Lou Yunli's tomb.

“Brother, I’ve come to see you.” She pulled away the weeds around the tombstone, and her eyes fell on a bunch of fresh wildflowers in front of the grave. She couldn’t help but wonder. Besides her and her grandmother, who else in this world would come to see her brother?

She looked around carefully, but saw no one, only the rustling of leaves in the wind. Though she had her doubts, she dismissed them as mere speculation.

“I’ve had a terrible time since you left.” Overwhelmed with pain and resentment, she burst into tears. “They beat me and humiliated me… I… I want a divorce.”

But what will happen to the Lou family if she gets a divorce? Not to mention that if she manages to squeeze into the elite circles, she might face retaliation from the Marquis's mansion. How can she possibly withstand that alone?

Confusion and helplessness enveloped her like a cocoon; the sky above her suddenly collapsed, and she sighed, knowing she couldn't hold on any longer.

"Brother, am I particularly useless?" She smiled bitterly. Her eyes were swollen like peaches from crying for days, but she couldn't stop crying. She sobbed towards her brother, and when no one was around, she suddenly burst into tears like a baby crying at night, pounding on the tombstone and crying incessantly.

Brother, brother, what should I do?

"Brother, how could you be so heartless as to abandon me!"

Finally, she fell silent, her damp hairs clinging to her skin. She took out a handkerchief and wiped it clean, her emotions finally calming down. She brushed the dust off the tombstone, her eyes blurry with tears, sniffed, and forced a smile, "Rest in peace, I don't blame you anymore. All these years I didn't know where Sister Rou was buried, I only hope that you two are happy and healthy over there."

A gust of wind blew by, and a figure flashed vaguely behind her. Lou Yanxu's heart skipped a beat. "Who?"

She chased after him, and Qingrui followed. The wind was calm and the trees were still, and the two stopped.

"My wife, could you be mistaken?"

As they were talking, a figure leaped up from behind the fallen, withered tree. The person was extremely agile and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Lou Yanxu was still in a daze. She had no idea where that person came from, why he came here, whether he was friend or foe, good or bad, but she had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Xu Situ?"

Lou Yanxu stared at Qingrui's soft voice as she heard it.

When she saw him again, those words involuntarily echoed in her ears: "The world is vast, and there are always better places than the Marquis's mansion."

Does his statement imply that the place was beside him?

If she wanted to escape the Chenghua Marquis's mansion, she would have to find a stronger backer to save the Lou family from danger. Xu Congjing was indeed a good choice, but he was, after all, half a member of the Marquis's mansion, and she dared not trust him.

"Madam Lou, you're blocking my way." Xu Congjing saw her swollen eyes, lowered his head, and felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. He slowly approached her in his wheelchair. She followed his gaze and looked back, only to find that there was a tomb behind her. The tomb belonged to Xu Jingzhi, her father.

It seems that no one in the court knew anything about Xu Congjing's father, so no one expected that he would be buried in Suzhou.

"You...I..."

Lou Yanxu stammered, hesitating about how to speak, when suddenly there was a noise from the depths of the forest. Dozens of masked men in black drew their swords and leaped out, immediately chasing after them as soon as they landed.

Yun Lu stood guard beside the three, his eyes narrowed warily. The three exchanged a glance, and in an instant, swords clashed. Dry leaves in the forest were shaken and swirled with the swords, landing stained red with the splattered blood.

The opponent's martial arts skills were not low. It was fine for Yun Lu to protect himself, but if he also protected three people, he would inevitably be distracted. Xu Congjing's eyes were sharp and full of killing intent. He stood up and kicked one of the men away, then flew over to seize the knife. With a swift movement, the knife fell and the man's head fell to the ground.

Fortunately, the other party's target was Xu Congjing, so they did not threaten Lou Yanxu's life. She was afraid of attracting attention, so she dared not move or shout. She could only cover her mouth and swallow her fear and panic.

Xu Congjing gripped his sword and slit the throats of the two men in black who were right next to him. Finally, someone reacted and turned to chase after the two defenseless women, forcing Xu Congjing to be distracted and fight back.

Xu Congjing turned his head slightly to confirm that there was no enemy behind him, and then focused on dealing with the blades pressing in front of him.

Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow moving swiftly like a ghost, appearing before her in an instant.

Am I... going to die?

Her voice trembled as a sharp pain shot through her as she realized she had pinched herself. Turning her head, she saw Xu Congjing's cold, stern face.

She was still alive and unharmed.

Xu Congjing slit the other man's neck with his sword, then used his other hand to snatch the man's broadsword. He then stabbed backward with the blade, which passed right through Lou Yanxu's waist and pierced the assassin's abdomen.

Lou Yanxu's legs went weak and she swayed uncontrollably, watching helplessly as the two young men killed the remaining assassins.

With the final burst of adrenaline, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

In just a few days, she experienced two life-or-death battles, which nearly caused her soul to leave her body.

"It's alright now." Xu Congjing helped her up, and as she came to her senses, a teasing voice reached her ears, "Madam Lou, just now, were you risking your life to protect me?"

Lou Yanxu looked up abruptly, only then realizing that she had instinctively risked her life to protect Xu Congjing.

They help each other, at most they're even, so it's impossible for her to risk her life to protect them.

She brushed away the unease in her heart and told herself again and again: anyone would have done the same.

Xu Congjing's wound reopened during the fight. Her gaze fell on her blood-soaked legs, and she dared not linger any longer. "I...I'm leaving now."

She grabbed Qingrui's hand and ran away quickly, followed by the cheerful voices of children, "Lady Lou, my husband is waiting for you!"

Xu Congjing punched him playfully, scolding, "Stop talking too much."

Yunlu felt wronged, "My lord, you are clearly very happy."

Are you happy?

Lou Yanxu never imagined that her sister Rou was right in front of her.

In the following days, the old lady's complexion improved, and Lou Yanxu devoted herself to staying with her at the mansion for several days. Now that the famine had subsided and the torrential rains were no longer frequent, everything was gradually returning to normal, which also indicated that they would soon be leaving Suzhou.

The journey was long, and the group agreed to travel back to the capital together. Sheng Yan, concerned about his reputation, naturally did not want to part ways with Lou Yanxu on this trip back to Chang'an, so he added Weng Chuchu to the group as well. Lou Yanxu made all the arrangements and bid farewell to her grandmother for a while before setting off.

However, when passing through the Xiangzhou area, several burly bandits suddenly appeared.

"?" Here we go again?

This was the third wave of "deadly assassins" on this trip. Lou Yanxu felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She dared not stay in the carriage and in her panic, she rolled off the driver's seat, grimacing in pain.

But she still ran forward desperately, her body reacting quickly as she rushed towards Xu Congjing. Not wanting to implicate Wan Qing'an, she swiftly chose Xu Congjing from among the group.

Xu Congjing smiled as he saw her rush over without hesitation.

Soon they heard that Sheng Ling had been kidnapped by bandits, and they had no choice but to go with her.

The group was unfamiliar with the area, and it took them quite a while to find Sheng Ling halfway there. She was sitting alone on the ground.

"What about the bandits?"

Sheng Ling, panting heavily, replied, "I hit him with a stone and he ran away."

Lou Yanxu and Wan Qing'an exchanged a glance, both feeling puzzled.

These bandits came and went quickly, not after money, but after the beauty. They were scared away by the beauty halfway there. If Sheng Ling hadn't been skilled in martial arts, that would have been really strange.

Even so, no one asked any questions, and each went into the city with their own thoughts hidden.

After settling into an inn, Lou Yanxu and Sheng Yan continued to live separately as usual, both tacitly avoiding mentioning the Suzhou matter, though neither showed any pleasant expression.

After dinner, Xu Congjing brought Lou Yanxu a roast chicken, but she didn't show up, so he waited at the door.

After a stick of incense had burned, she finally appeared, but unexpectedly, there was another person by her side.

She chatted and laughed with Lu Hengzhi as she walked straight past him.

Without even a glance, Xu Congjing gritted his teeth and sneered, stomping the roast chicken under his feet.