085. Stealing

It was a cold night with lonely stars. The lights were on in the ancestral hall. Rong Zhixu was kneeling on the cold and hard ground in thin clothes. In front of him were the ancestors of the Xi family.

“Squeak.”

The door was pushed open, Rong Zhixu did not turn around, only heard a cold scolding: "Bitch!"

Liu Ran walked up quickly, lifted Rong Zhixu's chin and slapped her, leaving a light red scratch on her fair cheek with her nails. As if not enough, she said gloomily: "If anything happens to my son, I will kill you!"

Rong Zhixu's lips were cracked and his mouth was full of the taste of blood, but he remained calm.

Over the past year, all she had learned was to endure and remain silent. No matter whether she defended herself or admitted her mistakes, she was only punished with endless beatings and reprimands.

Liu Ran loosened her chin, and a nail mark appeared on Rong Zhixu's pale and bloodless jaw.

"Someone, come and apply the family law!"

The servant immediately presented a thin and narrow bamboo stick. Liu Ran picked up the stick and whipped the kneeling Rong Zhixu hard. Suppressed and trembling groans of pain were immediately heard in the ancestral hall.

After a while, there was a sudden noise outside. The servant pushed the door open in panic and shouted, "Madam! Madam! The imperial guards have surrounded our house!"

Liu Ran paused. She was used to being arrogant in this family. Her husband was also an important official. She sneered and scolded, "Why are you panicking? Who dares to surround our house? Where is the master?"

"Yes, it was the governor of the imperial guards who brought people here personally, saying that they were following the order of the regent!" the servant said in panic, "They broke into the mansion without giving us any explanation and said they wanted to take the princess away. The master argued with them, but they have already detained her!"

When mentioning the Regent, fear and jealousy flashed across Liu Ran's face. Even a confined woman knew the Regent's reputation. She looked suddenly at Rong Zhixu, a ferocious look on her beautiful face.

"Okay, you bastard, you were raised in the Queen Mother's palace, when did you ever get in touch with the Regent?"

As he spoke, he swung the bamboo stick in his hand again, but this time the stick did not fall on Rong Zhixu. Instead, a soft whip was swung out, entangled with the bamboo stick and pulled it hard. The moment the bamboo stick slipped out of Liu Ran's hand, she let out a sharp scream.

"Ah! My hand! My hand!"

The bamboo stick cut a deep wound on Liu Ran's palm, blood gushed out immediately, and the ancestral hall suddenly became a mess.

Lan Ying, wearing a light blue swirling skirt, holds a soft whip in her hand, with servants lying on the ground at her feet. Her jacket with orchid embroidery and a front collar falls to her knees. Although it is a gentle outfit, it makes her look murderous and chilling.

Lan Ying hooked her braid in front of her chest with one hand and circled it twice, stepping on a servant's chest, and said loudly: "Old witch, don't say such harsh words. What do you mean by communication? Princess Xuanhe is my master's niece. Your Highness has been wronged in your house. How can our master's family sit idly by? Get out of here if you know what's good for you, otherwise the whip in my hand--"

Lan Ying swung the whip violently, and the soft whip made a crisp sound.

"The next one I want to entangle is your slender neck!"

Liu Ran covered her hands and cursed, "Where did this wild girl come from! She is the daughter-in-law of our Liu family. It is our family's business to enforce family rules. This girl is disrespectful to her husband and is unworthy of being a wife. If we tell the clan about this, she should be punished by family rules!"

Rong Zhixu was shocked by the series of unexpected events and sat paralyzed on the ground. Blood was oozing from the wounds on her light pink cross-collared shirt. Her face was pale and her eyes were weak.

She looked up blankly.

Lan Ying met those eyes, was silent for a moment, and then said: "Old witch, you seem to have made a mistake."

Lan Ying withdrew her foot from stepping on the person and walked forward step by step. Memories and reality kept overlapping, making her face increasingly cold and ugly. Her bright eyes made her look almost naively cruel.

"I told you, our master ordered to take Xuan and the princess away." Lan Ying smiled maliciously. She was not a good girl, but a famous Rakshasa who had killed many people in the martial arts world.

"I'm not here to reason with you."

Lan Ying walked while swinging the whip. Even though it was a soft weapon, it was covered with silhouetted barbed blades. Every whip was followed by a scream. She was like an invincible person. The last whip reached Liu Ran's ankle, and the spikes immediately rubbed the area into a bloody mess.

Liu Ran fell directly to the ground. When Lan Ying pulled back the whip, her wrist moved slightly and exerted hidden strength. Then, a scream of extreme pain that was so tragic that it was heart-wrenching was heard.

"How dare you! How dare you hurt me! My husband is the current Shangshu Ling, he will definitely not let you go!"

"My brother is the current governor of the imperial guards." Lan Ying sneered, "Your man is still in his hands. I advise you to say less, lest I get upset. If my whip gets around your neck, it will be easy to cut off your head."

Liu Ran was shaking in pain and collapsed on the ground, but she really didn't dare to say anything, like a duck with its neck strangled.

The world is quiet.

Lan Ying dragged her whip into the ancestral hall, swept down the tablets of the Xi family's ancestors with one whip, and said coldly: "You raised this family of unfilial descendants, how can you still have the face to set up tablets."

Rong Zhixu was stunned.

She had been in hell for a year, and those who dared not resist humiliated her wantonly, controlling her fate on the grounds of fatal responsibility. However, a girl who looked almost the same as her easily broke her out of the deadly situation.

"Princess Xuanhe?" Lan Ying supported her knees with both hands, bent down and approached Rong Zhixu to examine her for a moment, fearing that she would scare this noble princess. She withdrew her murderous aura, and childishness and innocence reappeared between her eyebrows. She lowered her head as if answering a question to herself, "It's you, Princess Xuanhe? You are so pretty - the master said he would take you back to the Regent Palace, can you still get up?"

"You guys..." Rong Zhixu couldn't believe it.

"These are all orders from the master."

Lan Ying frowned and urged, "Yun Zhi can't hold Xi Yan for long, don't waste time, let's go quickly, as long as we return to the palace, no matter how powerful the Xi family is, they can't catch you back, don't waste time."

Rong Zhixu nodded blankly and tried to stand up, but she had been kneeling for too long and was about to fall down as soon as she stood up.

"careful!"

The expected pain did not come.

Rong Zhixu gradually came back to her senses and found that Lan Ying was holding her steadily with one arm. Just as she was about to thank her, she met a pair of bright black eyes. The owner of those eyes looked worried and asked her, "How long have you been kneeling? Oh, forget it, just hold me tight, let's go quickly."

Lan Ying could lift a man with one hand, and it seemed so easy for Rong Zhixu to do so. She casually threw the man onto her back, and just after taking two steps, she turned around and looked at Liu, who was leaning against the frame and wishing she could curl herself up, with a bright and cruel smile.

"Old witch, we are leaving. Today I am going to break one of your legs. Just consider it as an appetizer. Just wait and see."

Her whip was sharp and could break tendons and bones. It did not cut smoothly like a sword, but instead shattered the bones directly, making it impossible to break them.

After saying this, without paying any attention to Liu Ran who was suddenly stunned and asked questions like crazy, he walked briskly with Rong Zhixu on his back and quickly disappeared out the door.

The entire Xi family was surrounded by lightly armored imperial guards until Lan Ying, who had sneaked into the mansion, walked out in broad daylight. The barbed whip was already covered in flesh and blood, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

"Second brother! We found Xuan and the princess!"

Lan Ying was overjoyed, "Let's go back!"

When Yun Zhi saw Lan Ying carrying a woman out, he nodded slightly and waved behind him.

Soon, someone came out with Xi Yan, who was tied up.

Xi Yan's face was extremely ugly, and he scolded: "Yun Zhi! So what if you are the governor of the imperial army? How dare you be so presumptuous in my mansion!"

"I said, I am following the order of the Prince Regent." Yun Zhi signaled his men to release the man, staring at Xi Yan expressionlessly, and said calmly, "I am sorry for the offense, but today's matter concerns the reputation of the royal family. If the princess is humiliated, the Rong family will be humiliated. Lord Xi, just wait and see."

With such a big fuss, it's obvious that this won't end peacefully.

Especially when Xi Yan saw the girl who came from nowhere directly stuffed the eldest princess into the carriage they brought, his face looked extremely ugly. Unfortunately, before he could say anything, Yun Zhi had already ordered the imperial guards to retreat, and he himself jumped on the horse and walked away.

.

In the Regent Prince's Palace, Rong Se sat in the reception hall with a bad look on his face. The flickering candlelight made his complexion dim and unclear.

Liang Shenyu keenly noticed that Rong Se was in an unstable mood. He sat next to him and gently held his hand which was holding the corner of the table. Only then did he realize that his fingertips were cold.

"Don't you ask me?"

Rong Se raised his eyes, and saw peace in everything, yet inexplicably sad, hiding a desolate and desolate loneliness.

"What do you want to ask?"

Liang Shenyu asked gently.

"Ask me why I must help Xuanhe." Rong Se pulled the corners of his lips in self-mockery. The flickering candlelight reflected in his eyes, making his dark eyes look deep. He whispered, "I am meddling in other people's business. She said she didn't need my help, but I couldn't help but intervene."

"She sent someone to ask the prince for help." Liang Shenyu said slowly, "There's nothing wrong with that. That's how the prince is. The prince may not know that you don't fit in with this Jin capital. It's full of power struggles and intrigues. The prince is the only pure land in the midst of filth. You are kind and sincere, and you have an open mind. From the first time I saw you at the palace banquet, I knew you were different."

Rong Se was a little stunned and embarrassed, and finally smiled.

"How can I be as good as you say?"

"It's just that the prince himself has not realized it." Liang Shenyu shook his head and said solemnly: "Everything you did was right. The most rare thing in this world is a saint. The prince can distinguish between good and evil and acts honestly. It's just that-"

"Just what?"

Liang Shenyu smiled slightly, with a hint of complaint: "It's just that the prince is so concerned about Xuanhe, and I am a little jealous of her."

"…Why are you being jealous?" Rong Se shook her head lightly, interlocked her fingers with his, turned her head to look at the lights that lit up the endless night, and said softly: "I didn't save Xuan He, not just her."

"... and my past self, Saburo. I saved my past self."

The past self was trapped in the quagmire of darkness, powerless to do anything, and could only live with hatred.

He tried desperately to grasp the light and struggle to escape from the darkness, but no one helped him.

Although he failed to save the desperate mother who committed suicide, he was able to save another innocent girl.