Chapter 22 The 22nd Kill

"How could that be? Big Brother definitely wouldn't think that way."

Xiaoyu stroked Qiutang's hand to comfort her:

"He loves you and wants to live with you. He was able to put down everything and leave you to go to an unknown place. This shows that he is a real man. Although I have never met him, I can guess from these things that Big Brother must be a very responsible man. A man like this must be wholeheartedly thinking about making more money and giving you a better life. He will never blame you for delaying him."

Qiu Tang blinked her eyes and the tears inside flowed down.

She couldn't tell these words to him, nor to Yun'er. She had kept them in her heart for such a long time, but now she spoke them out to Xiaoyu, a person she had just met.

"Really? He will never blame me?"

"Of course it's true. You should believe him, encourage him, give him the motivation to live, and run towards your beautiful future together."

Qiu Tang gained some confidence. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and smiled while crying: "I'm making you laugh. I don't usually cry."

Xiaoyu shook her head: "It's okay, as long as you and big brother are fine."

The whole day was spent talking to them.

In the evening, when it was dark, Xiaoyu went into the kitchen and cooked two dishes herself. Then she closed the gate and prepared to drink and chat with Qiutang, whom she had met too late.

Just as the two of them poured the wine, there was a rhythmic knock on the courtyard door outside.

Qiutang suddenly perked up and said to Xiaoyu, "Brother Jing is back! This is our secret signal. Come here, Xiaoyu, I'll introduce Brother Jing to you."

The two of them walked into the courtyard hand in hand. Qiutang opened the door impatiently and shouted to the outside, "Brother Jing!"

Xiaoyu stood behind her and heard her excited voice, then her voice turned anxious and worried: "Brother Jing, Brother Jing, what's wrong with you?"

Smelling the blood in the air, Xiaoyu saw two men standing outside. Qiutang was holding one of the men, who was bending over, and was anxiously checking his injuries.

The other man was still able to stand straight. He said to Qiu Tang, "Help him in first."

Xiaoyu stepped forward and supported Jingge's body together with Qiutang. Only then did they see that the man who came back with Jingge was actually Lin Kun.

Seeing the little fish, Lin Kun was also a little surprised.

He calmly withdrew his gaze, sent Jingge back to his room, and said to Qiutang, "He should have been treated in the palace, but he said he was worried about you and insisted on coming back. Do you have any medicine to treat your injury at home?"

Qiu Tang nodded: "Yes, there are medicines for wounds, fever and inflammation. There are ointments and herbs. I used to be a doctor, so I can treat it."

Lin Kun said, "That's good. Please check him first. I'm leaving now."

"Sir!" Qiu Tang saw the wounds on his waist and left arm and called him, "Sir, your wounds are bleeding too. Let me apply some medicine on you first."

Lin Kun glanced at the wound on his body and said nonchalantly, "It's okay, go take care of him first."

Qiutang was in a dilemma. She knew that Jingge respected this adult very much. If he knew that she only cared about saving him and ignored the adult, he would definitely be sad when he woke up.

Qiutang looked at Xiaoyu for help.

Xiaoyu scratched her head. She really didn't want to have much contact with Lin Kun, especially alone at such a late hour.

But looking at Qiutang's gaze, Xiaoyu still spoke: "I'll take Guard Lin back. Sister Qiutang, you take care of Brother Jing first."

Qiu Tang breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Xiaoyu."

Lin Kun also understood Qiutang's intention, and he did not reject Xiaoyu.

After the two of them left the courtyard, Lin Kun said, "You don't have to see me off. I can go back by myself."

Xiaoyu looked at the closed gate and said, "How about you give me some money and let me stay in the inn?"

Lin Kun touched his arms. The silver bag that was originally in there had been lost somewhere. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Xiaoyu. Now that he couldn't find the silver, he looked embarrassed and said, "Let's go back to the palace first."

The two walked forward. It was late at night and the streets were empty. Apart from the moon hanging high above their heads, the only sound was their footsteps.

Lin Kun asked, "Why aren't you with the prince?"

Xiaoyu wanted to say that his message synchronization was too slow, but he also thought that he had just returned from a mission and didn't know about his own affairs.

"I had a fight with your future mother-in-law in the garden, and the prince punished me and kicked me out. Steward Zhu felt sorry for me because I had nowhere to go, so he let me stay here."

He and Minglu are an engaged couple, and Nanny Zhao is Minglu's mother, so Xiaoyu is not wrong to call her that.

Lin Kun felt that the matter was not that simple, so he asked, "Why fight?"

This question hits the nail on the head.

Xiaoyu gave him a thumbs up: "Lin Shiwei, I didn't expect you to be such a thoughtful person, able to grasp the key to the problem, much better than the prince. Now your position in my heart is equal to that of Zhou Shiwei. I promise that I will never say bad things about you in front of Sister Minglu again."

Although it was dark, lanterns were still hung on the doors of the shops on both sides of the road, and Xiaoyu easily saw the shyness that flashed across his face.

The next moment, he returned to his usual cold expression: "You haven't told me yet, why are you fighting?"

Xiaoyu said, "It was your future mother-in-law who scolded me first. She said I was fooling around with Manager Zhu and that I was a scumbag. Do you think I could tolerate that?"

Lin Kun nodded.

Xiaoyu didn't notice his little move and raised her fist to threaten him: "You can't be like the prince, helping your parents but not helping others."

Lin Kun said: "Of course not. I will talk to Minglu about it when I get back. If there is any misunderstanding, it is better to resolve it as soon as possible."

"What kind of misunderstanding could there be? It's just that Madam Zhao doesn't like me. You don't know, the prince punished me yesterday by using that~~" Xiaoyu spread her hands to measure the length, "~~long ruler to hit my palm, and he hit me dozens of times, almost killing me."

Lin Kun apologized, "I will investigate this matter thoroughly. If it is Madam Zhao's fault, Minglu and I will persuade her."

"Forget it. I won't be returning to the palace anyway. I don't think we'll ever see each other again in this lifetime. Even if she wants to find me again, she won't be able to do so."

"You're not going back? Was it the prince's order? He punished you so severely?" Lin Kun said in surprise.

However, before Xiaoyu could reply, Lin Kun stretched out his right hand to stop Xiaoyu's steps, his face gloomy: "Someone is coming."

Xiaoyu looked around. The night wind was blowing, but she didn't see anyone. She asked, "Who is it?"

Lin Kun looked around with vigilance, "These are the assassins raised by Cao Shipeng. I didn't expect them to follow us. I'm sorry, it's all my fault that you got involved. Miss Xiaoyu, I'll deal with them first, and you run back to the palace to get help."

He treated her so cautiously that Xiaoyu did not dare to relax: "What nonsense are you talking about? I am not as fast as you. If I go to get help, we might both die faster. Besides, I have nothing to do with this matter, and they might not know me. If you protect me, I will die. Go back now and find someone to save me."

"No, I..."

"Don't waste time, just go forward, maybe you can help me attract some people! Go!" Xiaoyu pushed him on the back, then ran in the opposite direction of him.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two was more than two meters.

Lin Kun gritted his teeth, drew out his sword and slashed it across the ground, making a sound to attract the opponent, while running forward quickly.

Xiaoyu was running in the opposite direction from him and heard the harsh sound getting farther and farther away.

She thought that those assassins were attracted away by Lin Kun, and she couldn't tell whether she was worried or relieved.

It was not until a silvery-white light fell on her neck and Xiaoyu realized that she had also attracted some assassins over that she finally felt relieved.

She immediately stopped, raised her hands, and begged for mercy with a trembling voice: "Don't kill me, don't kill me, I don't know anything."

The person behind me didn't say anything.

The sharp sword stopped at her neck. If she moved even slightly, the tip of the sword would pierce her neck.

The little fish dared not move.

Then she felt a pain in the back of her neck, and her vision went dark, and she passed out.

Before fainting, he did not forget to roll his eyes.

To express disdain for the other party's sneak attack tactics.

Obviously, the eye roll was not well-directed.

The little fish was awakened by a splash of cold water.

The cold water kept pouring on her. Even after she woke up and opened her eyes, the cold water was still poured on her body recklessly.

Some water even splashed into her mouth.

Xiaoyu made a "Pooh" sound, raised his arms to cover his face, and shouted, "That's enough! I'm awake and you're still splashing!"

The cold water finally stopped.

The pain on the back of his neck came intermittently. Xiaoyu shook off the water on his hands, twisted his sleeves, and then pressed the back of his neck.

At this time, a superior voice finally came from the front: "It's good that you woke up. Otherwise, I'm afraid you are not sober enough and can't see the road ahead."

The voice sounded familiar. Xiaoyu looked ahead, and it was dark. She asked tentatively, "Is it Cao Gong?"

Cao Shipeng waved his hand and asked people to light torches.

Xiaoyu then saw clearly that she was imprisoned in a place similar to a woodshed. The stone slabs on the ground were hard and cold. She wanted to move to a clean place, but as soon as she moved, the silver sword light was pointed at her again.

Xiaoyu immediately stopped, looked at Cao Shipeng, and said pitifully: "Mr. Cao, why did you arrest me? I didn't offend you."

Cao Shipeng sneered, "Stop pretending."

"Why am I pretending? Tell me clearly, don't let me die in confusion."

Cao Shipeng sat on the chair, gripping the armrests tightly with both hands, his fingernails almost carving into the wood.

"Don't you know? If you and Zhou Xunran hadn't blocked the gate of the mansion the day before yesterday, would I have been able to get out? If I had gone out, the imperial edict from the palace would not have been issued! You want to waste my eight years of hard work, why don't you take a piss and look at yourself to see if you have the ability to do it!"

Xiaoyu was confused. "What nonsense are you talking about? The prince and I are here to visit the wounded!"

"Visiting injuries? Is that what Zhou Xunran told you?" Cao Shipeng mocked.

Watching the sword light leave, Xiaoyu straightened his back and said, "Of course, the prince heard that Cao Ming's hands were unable to move freely, so he felt pity for him and dragged his sick body here."

Upon hearing this, Cao Shipeng threw his head back and laughed out loud.

"Zhou Xunran actually has a compassionate heart? Hahahaha, this is the funniest joke I have ever heard in my life."

Xiaoyu thought to herself, you are really ignorant.

After Cao Shipeng finished laughing, the skin on his face tensed up again. "You came to visit the wounded, but did you bring any expensive herbs? Or a famous doctor?"

Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment. She was only concerned about the prince's health at the time, so she didn't think about so much. She didn't know if Guard Zhou was prepared.

"Of course...there should be some."

Cao Shipeng said, "Then let me tell you, Zhou Xunran came to 'visit' me' because he wanted to block the door of my house and prevent me from leaving. Because at that time, his people in the palace tricked the emperor into issuing an imperial decree to get rid of a child who was not even eight years old. As for you, you cooperated with him to shout outside my house, so you are also an accomplice."

Xiaoyu suddenly thought of the conversation between Zhou Shiwei and the prince that she had overheard in Qingwu Courtyard. It seemed that Zhou Shiwei was asking the prince if Cao Gong was blocked at home and that they had succeeded, and then asked about the candidates for the action.

Then the prince chose Guard Lin.

Then Lin Shiwei disappeared for two days and one night. When he appeared again, he was at Sister Qiutang's house. Lin Shiwei sent Brother Jing back home.

Afterwards, she was captured by the assassins.

She stood by her statement: "I don't know what you are talking about."

Cao Shipeng has lived for most of his life, so how could he not see that she was being stubborn?

He stood up and walked in front of Xiaoyu, trying to make his voice gentle, "I know that you are just a maid, and you can't touch anything deeper. I promise you that as long as you tell me Zhou Xunran's physical condition, you can leave here safely."

Xiaoyu squinted at him and said, "Don't play this kind of trick on a three-year-old kid in front of me."

With new grudges and old grievances, Cao Shipeng's patience was already running out. Now being looked at with such contempt by Xiaoyu, he became furious and raised his hand to slap Xiaoyu in the face.

Xiaoyu leaned back with her upper body, and kicked Cao Shipeng's lower body directly: "I really gave you face, but you dared to hit your mother, Yu Niangniang!"

At the same time, the door of the room was pushed open, and a man who looked like a guard ran in, "Lord Cao, the Regent's men have broken in!"