"Kind people inside, my son is injured and it's dark out in the suburbs, can you give us a place to stay for the night?"

"The old man has money in his hand, so he won't live here for free. Please be kind to the girls inside!"

A slightly hoarse voice sounded, the words were sincere and the tone was full of worry.

If it were an ordinary family with a kind heart, they would naturally open their doors to welcome guests.

But Sheng Xiuran stepped back with fear on his face, and his whole body was shaking violently!

I won’t admit my mistake!

She will never admit her mistake!

Although the man outside the door had half of his face covered with a black cloth, she still recognized him at a glance.

That is Zhufeng, the guard beside the second prince!

How could...how could he get here?

Moreover, although she had never seen the old man who traveled with Zhufeng, she would never forget this voice!

He was the old man who burned paper money for Concubine Yu’s adulterer in the rockery that day!

Did they...did they find her whereabouts and follow her to the poorhouse?

Sheng Xiuran was extremely scared. If she was caught, she would have no chance of survival!

and......

She looked back with tears in her eyes. In the warm light, there were still fragments of laughter and joy from the children...

Will she kill these children...

Boom boom boom!

Seeing that the person inside the door did not respond for a long time, the person outside the door did not seem to have much patience and raised his hand and knocked several times.

"Miss Xiaolan, what's wrong? Who is it?"

When Rong's mother saw that the knocking on the door never stopped, she walked out with a puzzled look on her face.

When she saw Sheng Xiuran's frightened look in the light, she was immediately shocked.

"Miss Xiaolan, what's wrong with you?"

Sheng Xiuran hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Rong's mother, gently covered her mouth with her right hand, and shook her head with a pale face.

At this time, the person outside the door may have heard the noise and knocked on the door even more urgently. The banging sounds scared the children in the room.

At first there were only a few sparse cries, but that's how children are. When they see others crying, they open their voices without caring about anything else, and the room is suddenly filled with crying.

"Open the door! Girl inside, please be kind, my son can't hold on any longer!"

Zhou Bo's voice outside the door also rose, with a hint of impatience.

Sheng Xiuran knew clearly in her heart that no matter what Zhufeng's intention was, this door must not be opened.

She and the other mothers in the orphanage were powerless, not to mention those ignorant children. Once Zhufeng came in, all of them would be like fish on the chopping board!

Thinking of this, Sheng Xiuran breathed quickly, leaned close to Rong's mother and whispered:

"Mother Rong, the people outside the door are bad guys, we must not let them in!"

She looked around, then quickly walked to the corner and lifted a thick wooden stick to prop it against the door.

Mother Rong was stunned when she heard this. She had been doing good deeds all her life and had always been dealing with children in this orphanage, but she had never met any bad people!

This...what should I do!

Sheng Xiuran was leaning against the wooden stick behind the door, his hands still shaking, but he mustered up the courage to say:

"My dear guest, our orphanage has a rule that we will not open the door after dark. If you and your son need shelter, you can go to the Huguo Temple not far away!"

She had to find out what Zhufeng and the others were here for!

“Tsk…”

Sheng Xiuran heard an extremely impatient click, and her heart instantly rose to her throat.

If Zhufeng and the others just happened to pass by here, they should have left after being rejected. If they insisted on coming in, there must be something fishy going on!

"My dear girl, my son is injured and can't walk far. The Huguo Temple is still some distance away and he really has no strength left. Please have pity on us, father and son!"

When Sheng Xiuran heard this, his whole body trembled violently and he thought to himself: It's over!

She stepped back hastily, walked to the bewildered Mother Rong, and lowered her voice and asked:

"Mother Rong, can you contact the Qiao family? There really is someone outside with bad intentions!"

Mother Rong was so anxious that her face turned blue. She cried and said, "Miss Xiaolan, there are thieves outside the door. How can we get past them to find the Qiao family?"

"What should I do? Do they want money or something else? I can't let them hurt the child!"

When Sheng Xiuran saw that Rong's mother had completely lost her mind, she knew that she had to rely on herself in this crisis.

She clenched her hands, her conscience burning in her heart, and finally decided to tell the truth to Rong's mother.

"Mother Rong, listen to me, they are most likely here to arrest me."

"I'm sorry for lying to you this year. My real name is Sheng Xiuran, and I'm the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Qing, whose entire family has been executed!"

Mother Rong was startled when she heard this.

There were tears in Sheng Xiuran's eyes.

"Mother Rong, thank you for taking me in over the past year. I used to be such a selfish, vain and useless person, but over the past year I really feel like I've lived a new life."

"If it's really impossible, as long as they promise not to hurt you, I will go with them!"

When Mrs. Rong heard this, she was startled and instantly came back to her senses from Sheng Xiuran's words.

“No!”

Mother Rong held Sheng Xiuran's hand tightly and started crying too.

"Miss Xiaolan, my God, how could this happen? If you go with them, will you die?"

Sheng Xiuran's throat choked with sobs, and the pain in her heart was indescribable.

She had barely survived this life. If the Third Prince had not taken the risk to send her out of the palace, she would have died quietly in Chonghua Palace!

Now...now there are only two regrets. One is that there is not enough time to teach more children to read and write.

Another thing is...she has not yet been able to avenge the entire family of Duke Qing!

Fortunately... Fortunately, she had prepared a plan early on.

Thinking of this, Sheng Xiuran held back her tears and said, "Mother Rong, please don't worry about me. I only ask you to promise me one thing."

"Under the kang in my room, the third stone from the left is movable. I hid a letter inside. It is extremely important, more important than my life!"

"If I am really taken away tonight, Mother Rong, please hand the letter to the Qiao family and say... say it is Xiu Ran's last letter. I swear on my life that everything in the letter is true!"

When Sheng Xiuran said this, the person outside the door seemed to have lost his patience, and an old voice rang out:

"Zhu Feng, there's nothing to hesitate about. It's just a relief house, just burn it down!"

"If the Qiao family is really kind-hearted and sees the flames rising to the sky, and we send someone to leak the news, they will come no matter what."

"That will be our real chance!"

"No!" Zhufeng's voice finally rang out, extremely hoarse, and revealing a hint of weakness.

When Sheng Xiuran heard the word "Qiao family", her heart suddenly moved. She quickly suppressed her sadness and went to the door to listen carefully.

At this time, Uncle Zhou spoke again. It was obvious that he was full of disdain for this orphanage, so he didn't even bother to lower his voice.

"Zhu Feng, do you feel compassion now? Don't forget, this is His Highness' death order!"

Zhufeng coughed lightly a few times. His voice was still very low, but also very persistent.

"Uncle Zhou, this is a relief home. The children here are from our Yong Dynasty. They are homeless now. Do you still want to kill them all?"

"You and I are both working for His Highness's great cause, but you can't take the opportunity to vent your dissatisfaction with my Yong Dynasty by doing things for His Highness!"

"We want to deal with the Qiao family, but why should these children die? If we want to lure the Qiao family here, I have other ways!"

"Zhufeng, how dare you look at me like that!" Zhou Bo's voice sounded a little anxious.

"Just break the door open. Why do you have to knock politely? Is this your way of achieving great things?"

Sheng Xiuran heard a few words intermittently, and she was stunned even though she had already made up her mind to die.

From what the old man said, they came to the orphanage today to deal with the Qiao family?

Could it be that Zhufeng didn't even know she was here?

They were going to use the orphanage to lure the Qiao family in? And they were going to set it on fire?

Sheng Xiuran was even more shocked. She finally realized why Zhufeng and the others came. She kicked the door with great force, causing a loud "bang"!