As he was speaking, there was a sudden sharp cry from outside, and a sharp voice shouted: "Well, you lowly slaves, you dare to steal things, don't you want to die?"
Lin Xi frowned and was about to go out, but Zhi Xiang grabbed him and whispered, "Go from the back quickly. Don't let anyone see you here, or the fourth young master will beat you to death."
"I……"
"Hurry up!"
Such a simple house actually has a back door. After pushing Lin Xi out of the door, Zhi Xiang grabbed Chu Qiao's arm and said in a deep voice: "Don't come out no matter what happens." Then he ran out in a hurry.
Screams and the sound of whips suddenly rang out. The fat-bellied woman threw back her arms and shouted viciously, "Aren't these the daughters of the Jing family? How could you have fallen to this point today? Your sisters are whores in the flower shop, and you are thieves here. You are really a bunch of lowly people!"
"Auntie Song, we know we were wrong, and we won't do it again." Zhixiang stood in front of the other children. Her face was whipped several times, and it was covered with blood. She knelt down and grabbed the woman's skirt, begging for mercy loudly, "We won't do it again."
"You know you're wrong? I don't think you'll learn your lesson unless you're punished!"
The whips fell fiercely on the children. Xiaoqi, who had two braids, was already injured. After a few whips, her eyes turned white and she passed out. The children burst into tears immediately, but the woman became more and more excited. She shouted and raised the whip high again.
There was a swish sound, but no violent scream was heard. Aunt Song looked down and saw a little girl in ragged clothes standing in front of her. She was thin but had a cold look in her eyes. Her dark little hands tightly grasped her whip. She said in a gloomy voice, "That's enough."
Aunt Song was furious, "You little bitch, are you looking for death?"
“Yue’er, Yue’er, let go!” Zhi Xiang crawled forward on her knees, desperately pulling at the corner of Chu Qiao’s clothes, crying and shouting, “Hurry up and apologize to Auntie Song!”
Chu Qiao was unmoved, she just looked at the woman coldly and said in a cold voice: "Try hitting them again."
Aunt Song raised her eyes and shouted, "I won't beat them, I'll beat you!" After that, she swung the whip and hit him hard. Chu Qiao sneered, grabbed the woman's belt, tripped her, and the woman's fat and huge body fell heavily to the ground!
The sound of a pig being slaughtered suddenly rang out. Chu Qiao slowly walked to the woman, bent over and sneered as she said, "Why don't you go and complain?"
Aunt Song jumped up and shouted, "Just wait for me!" Then she turned around and rushed out of the yard.
Zhixiang ran forward worriedly, tears streaming down her face, "Yue'er, you've caused a big disaster, what should we do?"
"You watch over them." Chu Qiao instructed, then turned around and followed the woman out.
When she came here just now, she had already memorized the road. After turning two corridors, she saw the woman running hurriedly on the stone bridge. She was obese and started to pant after running such a short distance.
Chu Qiao squatted in the grass, looked around, and after making sure it was safe, she picked up a stone, half-closed her eyes, and threw it at the woman's ankle at a high speed.
With a bang, the stone hit Aunt Song's ankle heavily. The woman screamed, slipped, and fell off the bridge.
It was already midwinter, and there was a thick layer of ice on the surface of the lake. After she fell in, she did not break the ice, but just lay there with her limbs spread out, crying "Ouch, ouch".
Chu Qiao stood up from the bushes, walked slowly onto the stone bridge, looked down at her, and shouted, "Hey, do you want me to call someone for you?"
The woman turned around and immediately said kindly, "Good boy, go and help me call for help. Ouch, it hurts so much."
Chu Qiao smiled brightly. She bent down, picked up a huge stone, and raised it above her head with great effort.
When the woman saw this, she was immediately horrified and shouted, "You, what are you doing?"
Without giving her time to yell, Chu Qiao gently loosened her hand, and the stone hit the ice with a bang, breaking it instantly. The woman screamed and was completely covered by the cold lake water. With only a few bubbles, she sank.
Chu Qiao stood on the stone bridge, her face calm, her eyes peaceful, and her expression without a trace of fluctuation.
This is a world of cannibalism. If you want to survive, you have to swallow the man-eating beasts first.
Without any more reluctance, she turned around and walked back. As soon as I stepped into the yard, the children ran up to me, all of them with injuries and tears in their eyes. Chu Qiao reached out and hugged Xiao Qi who had just woken up in the front. She took a deep breath and whispered, "Don't be afraid. It's okay."
In the lowest slave yard of Zhuge Mansion, a group of little female slaves who lived like pigs and dogs could no longer hold back their tears. During dinner time, the children of the Jing family were called out by the nanny in charge to do some work, even the injured Xiaoqi and Zhixiang went with them. Chu Qiao and Xiao Ba, who had injured his waist and was still sleeping, stayed in the house until late at night when the children came back tiredly. After dinner, the children climbed into bed obediently to go to sleep. Zhixiang squatted on the ground adding firewood to the kang. The scars on his face were red and swollen, and looked as hideous as little snakes.
The room was very quiet, and gradually the breathing of the children as they fell asleep could be heard. Chu Qiao put on the clothes Zhi Xiang had just given her, climbed up, and said softly: "If you don't take care of your face, you will be left with scars."
The firelight from the kang shone on Zhixiang's face. Her face was so thin that her eyes looked even bigger and darker. She raised her head and said, "Yue'er, slaves cannot use medicine. Last time, Xiaoqi secretly used the medicine that Linxi brought. We don't know how much risk we took. If we are found out, we will all die. My wound is on my face, so we can't do anything rash."
As they were talking, there was a sudden noise from the kang. They turned around and found that it was Xiaoqi who kicked off the quilt while sleeping. Zhixiang hurriedly ran forward, covered Xiaoqi, then wiped the sweat from his forehead and went back to the kang to light the fire.
Chu Qiao looked at Zhi Xiang, moved her lips, but ultimately said nothing. This child is only about ten years old, but he has such a heavy burden on his shoulders. Among all the children in this room, the oldest is only ten years old, and the youngest is only five or six years old. What does the wealthy Zhuge family need so many five or six-year-old children for?
"Sister Zhixiang," Chu Qiao got off the kang and sat next to Zhixiang, saying softly, "Have you been to Jiangnan?"
"Jiangnan?" Zhixiang frowned and turned around. "What is Jiangnan?"
"Then do you know Huangshan Mountain? Or do you know where the Yangtze River is?"
Zhixiang shook her head and said, "I know that to the west of Hongchuan is Hongshan, and there is a Cangli River at the foot of Hongshan. Yue'er, why are you asking this?"
Chu Qiao looked a little stunned. After thinking for a long time, she shook her head and said, "Nothing, I just asked casually. By the way, Sister Zhi Xiang, what is the name of the current emperor? Do you know?"
"The emperor is the emperor. How can we call him by his name? But I know that the black-clothed prince who often comes to our house is the emperor's seventh son, Zhao Che, the youngest prince in Daxia to be crowned king."
A stern and mocking face suddenly flashed into her mind. Chu Qiao narrowed her eyes slightly and repeated, "Zhao Che?"
"Yue'er, what's wrong with you? You acted strangely when you came back this time. What did you say to Aunt Song? Why would she let us go without a resolution like this?"
Chu Qiao turned around, smiled faintly, and said, "I'm fine, don't worry. Aunt Song didn't let us go, but fell into the icy lake and drowned. I saw her die with my own eyes, so don't tell anyone that Aunt Song came to our place."
"Dead?" Zhi Xiang was horrified and shouted loudly.
Chu Qiao covered her mouth with her hand, looked around, and saw that the children of the Jing family were still asleep. She said in a deep voice, "This matter is known to heaven and earth, you and I know it, don't tell anyone else. She is so cruel and vicious that she deserves to die. If she dies, she dies. Don't bother with her."
"Yue... Yue'er," Zhi Xiang said tremblingly, "You didn't... you didn't kill her, did you? She fell into the lake by herself, didn't she? Her... her son is the head of the guards in Qianyuan, we can't afford to offend him."
Chu Qiao smiled, pointed at her chest, and said, "Do you think I can kill her? Well, don't think too much. She has done so many bad things. Even if no one kills her, God will take action. You are tired after a day, take a good rest."
Zhi Xiang quickly shook her head, "No, I still have to light a fire."
"I'll just come. I'm injured and can be lazy tomorrow. You go ahead."
Chu Qiao sat quietly on a small stool, adding a piece of firewood to the kang from time to time. The firewood crackled and burned, making her face turn red. She raised her head and glanced at the children in the room, and her heart suddenly felt a little sour. It's a pity, what can she do? She came to this unknown dynasty inexplicably and was trapped in Jing Yue'er's tiny body. She had lost all her skills in martial arts and had such a low status. She could hardly take care of herself, so how could she save others? Everything she did today was to repay Lin Xi’s kindness for sending her meals for the past three days. Next, she had to leave immediately.
Chu Qiao slowly closed her eyes. When dealing with people and doing things, one must do things within one's ability. Right now, she did not have the strength to carry such a heavy burden.
The roosters crowed at dawn and the sky gradually brightened. The children of the Jing family got up on time, put on servants' clothes, and began to prepare for the day's work. Chu Qiao watched them leave with a smile on their face, feeling a little sad.
Taking out the food she had just stolen, Chu Qiao took a deep look at Xiao Ba who was still lying unconscious on the bed, then turned away resolutely.
Although the agile body is gone, the clear mind remains. Although Chu Qiao is not a super agent from the Ninth Operations Department, she is at least a professionally trained soldier of the country. Although Zhuge Mansion covers a large area and has a large population, it still looks like an unguarded playground to a short person who is less than eight years old but has super logical analysis ability and keen sense of space.
Within half an hour, she quietly walked out of the servants' inner courtyard and came to the front garden. The security here is relatively tight, and guards with swords can be seen everywhere. The Zhuge family is different from ordinary aristocratic families. This can be seen from the fact that Zhuge Huai can be on good terms with royal children such as Zhao Che and Zhao Jue.
Chu Qiao straightened her back, her small body like a small tree. She straightened her clothes and walked forward with her chest held high.
"Stop! Are you looking for death? Is this a place where you can just walk around casually?"
A tall security guard suddenly came forward, with a fat face and a fat body. Chu Qiao stopped and looked up. Her face was white and cute, her pupils were clear and black and white, and she said in a sweet and childish voice, "Big brother, I was ordered to go to the old master's outer house. The messenger said that my head would be taken in less than an hour."