Chapter 212 It's not shameful to be afraid of death
The sound of wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs suddenly became chaotic and urgent. The frightened horse raised its head and neighed, charging wildly through the street like a wild beast that had broken free of its reins.
The stalls on both sides of the street were smashed to pieces, and the flags hanging at the entrance of the shops were also broken.
Screams and the sound of horses' hooves mingled together, and the whole street descended into chaos.
Li Nanke clung tightly to the brass ring on the inside of the carriage, thus avoiding being thrown out.
The carriage door was already half open, and a cold wind rushed in, stinging her face and making her heart pound.
no!
You can't just sit and wait to die in the carriage. A frightened horse is hard to stop and will either be thrown out of the carriage or hit a tall object and be thrown out of the carriage.
No matter which path she chose, she could not escape the fate of being thrown to her death.
She struggled to catch her breath, her face pale, one hand clutching the brass ring, her body half-prone on the cart, inching her way out.
The carriage was jolting violently, and her head hit the door several times.
Finally reaching the doorway, she gripped the door tightly with one arm and tried to pull the reins on the carriage shaft with the other.
But she was too weak; the reins wore her palms raw, and the horse was already galloping forward with all its might.
A tearing pain shot through her palm, and her hand gradually gave way. Just as she was about to be thrown off the carriage, Li Nanke let out a desperate scream.
At the critical moment, a silver-white figure descended from the sky and landed steadily on the galloping horse.
The cold wind whipped his clothes, making a rustling sound. The boy bent down and quickly and accurately placed his hand on the horse's neck.
The horse, which had been going berserk just moments before, let out a whimper and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The carriage lurched forward due to inertia, and Li Nanke was thrown out of the carriage.
The boy, who was on horseback, leaped up the moment the horse fell to the ground, caught Li Nanke with one hand, and then landed steadily with her in his arms.
The moment his foot touched the ground, Li Nanke's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.
Warm hands supported her arm and lifted her up steadily.
Are you alright?
The boy's voice carried a hint of awkward concern.
She turned around, her pale face meeting Xie Xuanxiao's dark eyes.
She forced a smile, "So it was Brother Xie who saved me. I am extremely grateful."
Xie Xuanxiao glanced down at her, a hint of mockery rising in his eyes.
"Your smile looks worse than your tears, so you'd better stop smiling."
"That day in the refugee camp, I saw you coldly directing Mr. Zhou to commit suicide. I thought you had seen through life and death at such a young age. How come when it happened to you, you were so scared that your legs went weak?"
"Li Nanke, so you're afraid of death too!"
Li Nanke patted her chest with her small hands, trying to calm her racing heartbeat.
Looking up, her clear, grape-like eyes still held lingering fear, and her voice trembled slightly.
"I'm only eight years old, of course I'm afraid of dying. Isn't Brother Xie afraid of dying?"
Xie Xuanxiao pursed his lips and tilted his head back.
"What a joke! I, the second son of the Xie family, am a man of integrity and uprightness. If I were afraid of death, I wouldn't be worthy of being a man of the Xie family!"
Li Nanke gave a thumbs up and muttered to himself.
“Brother Xie, you are great, but I am not a man of the Xie family. I am a young woman of the Li family. Being afraid of death is not a shameful thing.”
She smiled slightly.
"I'm much better now, Brother Xie, you can let go of me. Thank you so much for saving my life. I will definitely prepare a generous gift to express my gratitude when I get back."
Xie Xuanxiao snorted and then let go.
"I'm not doing this to save you; I would save anyone who's in the carriage."
"But you saved me today. One cannot be ungrateful, especially for a life-saving grace."
As Li Nanke spoke, she bowed to him again with great seriousness.
Xie Xuanxiao seemed quite uncomfortable with her behavior, waving his hand and saying gruffly, "Whatever!"
He then pointed with his chin at the overturned carriage on the street.
"What's wrong with you? A runaway horse in the middle of the street can easily injure someone."
Li Nanke looked completely bewildered.
"I don't know what happened. I was just sitting in the carriage when suddenly the horse got spooked."
Just then, a gentle voice came from behind.
"Thank you, brother!"
"Huh?"
Li Nanke turned her head and saw Xue Shu running over with a concerned expression, lifting her skirt.
She subconsciously reached out to pull Xie Xuanxiao, but paused halfway and withdrew her hand, her eyes filled with worry as she looked at Xie Xuanxiao.
"Brother Xie, are you alright? I heard the horse was startled, so I came to see if I could help, but I didn't expect it to be you. Are you hurt?"
Xie Xuanxiao's eyes were burning with desire.
"I'm fine. It was Miss Li's horse that got spooked. I helped tame it. By the way, Shu'er, what are you doing here?"
Xue Shu looked at Li Nanke, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
He then explained softly, "My third sister is being sent back to her hometown of Jinzhou. Jinzhou is bitterly cold, and I'm worried she won't be able to adapt, so I came out today to buy some food and supplies for her to take with her."
When Xue Ting was mentioned, Xue Shu couldn't help but glance at Li Nanke again.
She had already heard about what happened on the day she was chosen to study with her aunt, who gritted her teeth when she mentioned Li Nanke.
The third sister, Xue Ting, became the laughingstock of the entire capital because of Li Nanke, and her reputation plummeted. Helpless, her father had no choice but to grit his teeth and send her back to their hometown in Jinzhou.
Once she went back, her third sister would never be able to return to Bianjing again in her lifetime.
Father has already written to the clan chief in our hometown, asking him to take care of our third sister there and to find her a suitable marriage when she reaches the right age.
My mother was so heartbroken that she fainted several times and is still in bed.
As the eldest sister, she could only suppress her grief and go out to buy and pack her younger sister's belongings, hoping that her sister would suffer less when she returned to her hometown.
Thinking of all this, Xue Shu couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Li Nanke.
His words were a bit sharp: "Miss Li is still young and doesn't understand the principle of leaving room for maneuver in her words and actions. I wonder who she offended that would try to kill her on the street."
I advised Miss Li to be more careful in the future, lest she constantly worry about retaliation, in case...
"Shu'er!"
Xie Xuanxiao interrupted Xue Shu in a deep voice, his brows furrowed so deeply they almost formed a "川" shape.
"Shu'er, why are you speaking so harshly today?"
"I......"
Xue Shu's expression changed; she wanted to explain but felt wronged.
"Brother Xie, why do you always side with her?"
"I'm not trying to side with her, but what you said just now was indeed a bit harsh."
"I didn't!"
"Excuse me, I need to interrupt for a moment."
Li Nanke raised her small hand and placed it in front of Xue Shu and Xie Xuanxiao at the same time.
Then, looking up at Xue Shu, she asked, "How can you be so sure that someone was retaliating against me today, Sister Xue?"
Xie Xuanxiao's eyes flickered slightly as he carefully examined Xue Shu.
"Yes, Shu'er, how can you be so sure it was deliberate revenge and not an accident?"
Xue Shu panicked and quickly waved her hand.
"I... I just said it offhand, I don't know anything about it."
As soon as he finished speaking, a cold, mocking laugh suddenly rang out from behind him.
"What you said casually turned out to be true; it really wasn't an accident, it was deliberate!"
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