Old Xu thought for a moment and said, "Boss Cheng went to Shanghai to meet a gentleman who had returned from Japan."
"A gentleman who just returned from Japan?" Shen Qing asked in surprise. "Is he here to discuss business?"
Old Xu shook his head: "I don't know."
What happened after you returned from Shanghai?
"After returning from Shanghai, Boss Cheng moved from the prefectural government office to an inn."
"Wasn't he staying at Lord Qi's place perfectly fine? Why did he suddenly move to an inn?"
"I don't know."
Shen Qing sat back in the car.
Her intuition told her that Cheng Zhiwen's sudden change in attitude towards her was related to the gentleman who had returned from Japan.
Moreover, he no longer lives with Qi Zhenheng, which seems to indicate that he has fallen out with Qi Zhenheng.
Shen Qing couldn't figure out what she and Qi Zhenheng had done wrong to make Cheng Zhiwen suddenly turn her back on them.
However, not being able to understand it didn't stop her from being angry with him.
The memory of Cheng Zhiwen mocking her for selling herself for ten thousand taels of silver made her furious.
If it weren't for the fact that he had helped her many times, she would have retaliated with the most vicious words in the world.
Instead of running away crying.
Thinking back to the day she actually shed tears because of him, Shen Qing wished she could gouge out her own eyes.
Just then, the carriage suddenly braked sharply. She lost her grip and was thrown forward, almost being thrown out of the carriage.
She struggled to her feet, her hand barely touching the curtain behind the door, when she heard a man's rough roar from outside: "Wanshou Gang! Don't move if you're going to die!"
At the same time, a knife was thrust through the curtain.
Shen Qing was so frightened that she bounced backward, her back hitting the back of the carriage.
The blade parted the curtain to the side, and a scarred face peered in.
The man shouted excitedly, "Boss! There's a beauty here! Boss, come quick! Hehehe..."
Shen Qing's mind went blank.
They've run into bandits!
The feeling of impending death spread instantly from her heart to every part of her body. She felt numb, filled with extreme fear, yet unable to move.
"Where are the beauties?" a fierce voice boomed from outside. "All the females are mine! Don't let me touch any of them! I'm going to enjoy them first!"
"The boss goes first! We'll go last! Hehehe..."
Shen Qing calmly pulled the hairpin knife from her hair and hid it in her palm.
Kill them one by one!
The curtain was lifted again, and another scarred, fleshy face peered in.
This person looks like a bandit leader.
The bandit leader's eyes widened at the sight of her, and he climbed onto the carriage: "Little beauty, don't be afraid, come back to the mountain with me and enjoy a life of luxury!"
Shen Qing gripped the hairpin knife in his hand, ready to stab him in the heart as soon as he got close.
The bandit leader crawled in: "Little beauty... little beauty... I'm here..."
Shen Qing instantly raised his right hand and thrust it forward, but missed his heart; instead, the hairpin knife pierced his chest.
The bandit leader had thick pectoral muscles, and even though the hairpin knife was fully inserted, it only went in three to five centimeters, missing a vital spot.
"You bitch!" He clutched his chest and raised the knife in his hand.
Shen Qing closed her eyes.
Am I really going to die this time?
Is she finally going to leave this world that she can't overcome?
"Boss! Boss!"
A chorus of wails could be heard outside the car.
The carriage then shook violently a few times.
The expected pain did not occur, and Shen Qing opened her eyes.
The bandit leader had already gotten off the carriage, and the curtain had been completely torn off, allowing her to see outside at a glance.
Old Xu squatted on the ground, holding his head, with several corpses beside him.
Two slender, black figures fought with the bandits.
Shen Qing climbed to the car door.
Several more bandits fell, and one of the two men dressed in black also fell.
Another man in black was engaged in a final struggle with the bandit leader who had just climbed onto the carriage.
The bandit leader wielded a large scythe, was at least two meters tall, and had a body covered in thick, muscular flesh.
He held the large scythe against the black-clad man's neck. The two were vastly different in strength, and the black-clad man was quickly pushed against the car by the scythe, which was about to slice into his thin neck...
A gunshot rang out.
The bandit leader collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from the back of his head.
Shen Qing looked in the direction the projectile was launched.
Cheng Zhiwen was seen sitting on his horse, holding the reins in one hand and a gun in the other.
Horses galloped over and stopped beside the injured man in black.
Cheng Zhiwen put away her gun, jumped off her horse, and together with another man in black, lifted the injured man onto the carriage.
Shen Qing quickly moved away.
She stared at Cheng Zhiwen, still shaken, but Cheng Zhiwen didn't look at her at all. After checking the injured man's injuries, he shouted loudly out of the car, "Old Xu! Take Jiang Shen back to the concession!"
Old Xu immediately got into the front seat of the car.
He remained calm and fearless, a stark contrast to his usual honest and simple demeanor.
Shen Qing stared blankly.
Thinking she was going to Shanghai too, Cheng Zhiwen grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of the car.
The carriage sped away, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.
Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, Shen Qing belatedly felt fear.
He covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes filled with fear.
Cheng Zhiwen roared, "What are you standing there for? Get on your horse!"
Shen Qing's limbs were completely numb, and he couldn't move them at all.
Cheng Zhiwen was so angry that he grabbed her, lifted her by the bottom and helped her onto the horse, and then mounted the horse himself.
Shen Qing was held in his arms, sitting on the horse, galloping back towards Jiangzhou.
Back at the inn, Shen Qing was still shaken.
Cheng Zhiwen paced wildly in the room, neither speaking nor looking at her.
It wasn't until late at night, when someone knocked on the door and handed him a note, that he calmed down.
Shen Qing guessed it might be news about the injured man, and quickly asked, "How is he?"
"I've had surgery, it's fine."
Shen Qing felt relieved.
"What are you doing in Tianjin?" Cheng Zhiwen crumpled the note in her hand, sat down on the round stool opposite the bed, and looked coldly at her sitting on the bed, as if she was going to settle scores later.
She was tired and didn't have the energy to argue with him. She calmly said, "I'm taking a few bolts of rayon to deliver to a merchant. He might be willing to support my new fabric, so I'm going to pay him a visit."
"You've already forgotten what I just told you last night?"
He mentioned last night, and Shen Qing felt a sharp pain in her heart before suddenly coming to her senses.
Looking at him with disappointment, she said, "Besides your sarcastic remarks, belittling, and slandering me last night, what else did you say?"
"I told you not to go into men's rooms casually! Whether you're discussing business or asking about a case! Be down-to-earth and don't try to take shortcuts! The price of shortcuts is something you can't afford!"
Shen Qing closed her eyes and let him scold her.
Her lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes.
The pent-up grievances she had been holding in for days, coupled with her current desperate situation, brought her to the brink of collapse.
Cheng Zhiwen's scolding was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
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