Chapter 142 Fearless and Reliable

Sheng An and Xu Jinnian heard this news from the shopkeeper when they went downstairs for breakfast early in the morning.

Seeing the stunned couple, the innkeeper kindly reminded them, "The city has been rather unsettled these past few days, so it would be best if you two stayed at the inn."

Sheng An and Xu Jinnian exchanged a glance, seeing worry in each other's eyes.

After the shopkeeper left, the couple slowly finished their meal, got up, went upstairs to their room, and closed the door.

Without saying a word, Sheng An opened the wardrobe, took out two bundles and began packing his clothes: "We have to leave quickly, otherwise the government will impose martial law on the whole city and we won't be able to leave."

Xu Jinnian also had this idea, and said in a deep voice, "You pack first, I'll go to the dock to hire a boat."

Sheng An urged, "Go quickly, go quickly. As long as you can leave before noon, it doesn't matter if you get a little more money."

After saying that, he counted out two hundred taels from a stack of silver notes he had brought and handed them to Xu Jinnian: "Go quickly and come back quickly."

Xu Jinnian took the silver note and squeezed her hand: "Don't go out, wait for me to come back."

Sheng An nodded, signaling him to hurry to the dock.

After Xu Jinnian left, Sheng An quickened her pace of packing, and in a short while, she had packed all her clothes into her bundle.

Perhaps due to nervousness, she felt parched and quickly poured herself a glass of water, gulping it down in one go.

Looking out the window at the warm winter sun, Sheng An felt a chill in her heart.

The Chi family is a large family with a history of thousands of years. Even though they have declined, they are not to be easily offended.

As a result, the Chi family's get-out-of-jail-free card was taken away last night, and Master Chi was killed by having his throat slit. The Chi clan will definitely do everything in their power to find the real culprit.

Such a big case cannot be ignored by the government. Even if they are just pretending, they have to give the Chi family an explanation. Nine times out of ten, they will find a few scapegoats.

Sheng An didn't know who the real culprit was, and was too lazy to guess whether it was related to Princess Shanmin.

She and Xu Jinnian were outsiders with no connections or background in Pingzhou. Their timing was also very unfortunate; once the government imposed martial law throughout the city to apprehend the murderer, they wouldn't be able to leave even if they wanted to.

If you were to run into the line of fire and become a suspect, that would be a real disaster.

After about half an hour, Xu Jinnian returned.

He picked up two bundles in one hand and led Sheng An out with the other: "We've found a boat, let's set off now."

Sheng An was overjoyed: "Then let's go quickly. I've been away from home for several days and I miss home too."

Xu Jinnian settled the room fee before going upstairs, and handed the room card and key to the manager as she passed the counter.

Even after walking quite a distance, Sheng An thought of the Zheng siblings and couldn't help but turn back for a glance: "I wonder how those three children are doing."

Xu Jinnian comforted him, "I just asked that guy named Erniu, and he said that the three children woke up yesterday and are not in any immediate danger."

Sheng An breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're alright."

The couple walked down the street and noticed that there were very few pedestrians, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry, indicating that the government had already taken action.

They quickened their pace to the dock, where they saw only a few boats moored. One of them was particularly luxurious, with two stories high, making it a behemoth compared to the other smaller passenger boats.

Sheng An couldn't help but take a few more glances before following Xu Jinnian onto a slightly old-fashioned boat.

Just then, a group of people came running from not far away, cursing and swearing as they ran:

"Damn it, what bad luck! I finally managed to get ashore to rest, but the government imposed martial law because of a dead man, so I have to get back on the boat before I've even had a chance to recover."

"Stop cursing! Luckily we got the news in advance. If we don't leave before noon, we won't be able to leave."

"With such a large-scale operation, I wonder who will be the unlucky one. It's a good thing we're leaving now."

"..."

Hearing their discussion, Sheng An breathed a sigh of relief and said thankfully, "Luckily we were quick, otherwise we would have been stuck in the city and wouldn't have been able to get out."

In a few days, Shengyuan will open for business. There is a sick person in the neighboring courtyard. If I can't get back in time, losing credibility is not a big deal, but my three elders at home will be worried.

Soon, the passenger ship left the dock and headed towards Qingzhou City.

Sheng An watched as the merchants boarded another passenger ship, and then a large and imposing group of people appeared in his field of vision.

Upon closer inspection, the woman in splendid attire on the back of the white horse was none other than Princess Shanmin, whom I had met once before.

From a distance, Sheng An couldn't see Princess Shanmin's expression, but she heard her indignant shouts: "He's dead, so be it! It's not like I killed him! If he had been sensible that day and handed over his pardon to me, perhaps he wouldn't have died!"

The man beside her said something, and Princess Shanmin raised her voice even louder: "Let them file a complaint with the emperor, do you think I'm afraid of them? If they anger me, I'll have them all dragged to the execution ground and beheaded!"

Sheng An clicked his tongue in amazement.

Princess Shanmin is really fearless!

However, given her arrogant and domineering nature, she wouldn't lie about something so trivial to her. The reason why the Chi family's pardon was taken away and why Master Chi died had other causes.

On the shore, Princess Shanmin dismounted, her face extremely gloomy.

The Sixth Young Master scolded, "Since it has nothing to do with you, why are you running away? Why don't you stay and cooperate with the Pingzhou government in investigating the case so that we can catch the real culprit and clear your name as soon as possible?"

Princess Shanmin scoffed, “I am innocent. What right does the government have to ask me to stay? I have not punished them for any dereliction of duty. It is all because I am magnanimous.”

Looking at his stubborn cousin, the Sixth Young Master couldn't help but shake his head inwardly: "You didn't do the things that happened to the Chi family, but you can't deny that you rode your horse wildly in the street and injured three children."

Upon hearing this, Princess Shanmin's face once again showed disdain: "Three lowly commoners died, so be it. Are you going to punish me for such a trivial matter?"

She even beat up the young lady of the Marquis's mansion, so what are three commoners compared to her?

Seeing his cousin acting so recklessly, the Sixth Young Master took a deep breath: "If you keep going like this, you'll get into big trouble sooner or later, and even your aunt won't be able to protect you then."

Princess Shanmin said nonchalantly, "If Mother can't protect us, there's still our Imperial Uncle."

As long as she doesn't cause a major disaster, her imperial uncle can protect her.

The sixth young master shook his head helplessly: "My aunt can protect you in this matter, but I will be punished by my father."

If he fails to perform his duties well and neglects to protect Shanmin, his brothers will surely take the opportunity to speak ill of him to the Emperor, and he will inevitably be reprimanded upon returning to the capital.

Princess Shanmin didn't care about any of that. She strode onto the two-story ship and ordered her maid to make her tea. She was very unhappy.

The so-called Jiangnan region is nothing special, far less prosperous than the capital. Fortunately, some of the men are quite good-looking, especially the one I met in Qingzhou.

Thinking of that fleeting glimpse that day, Princess Shanmin felt a little better, and then glared fiercely at the head of the guards, Wei Ming: "You can't even find someone, you good-for-nothing!"

Wei Ming bowed his head and admitted his mistake: "It is my incompetence. I hope the princess will forgive me."

How many people have been harmed by this man? He's had enough of being an accomplice, so he deliberately didn't investigate properly that day.

As the ship sailed further and further away, Sheng An could no longer hear the cousins' conversation. He patted his chest lightly and said, "We almost crashed into each other head-on."

Xu Jinnian also saw Princess Shanmin, a hint of fierceness flashing across his face. He put his arm around the frightened woman and gently comforted her.