Tao Lengshuang watched as Sheng Li, whom she had been holding by the jaw, was suddenly dragged away. She was then shielded by the secret guards.
Immediately, dozens of masked figures in black, wielding sharp swords, appeared. Their intense killing intent was directed straight at Tao Lengshuang and Xiao Feng.
Tao Lengshuang stuffed a handful of medicinal powder into Xiao Feng's hand and whispered a few instructions. Then, she heard Sheng Li's hoarse, furious roar.
"Capture her for me! Capture her alive! I want her to wish she were dead, to witness firsthand how that bastard child dies miserably before her eyes."
Tao Lengshuang shielded Xiao Feng behind her, her eyes filled with murderous intent as she stared at Sheng Li, "I'd like to see who dies in the end, you or my child and I."
Sheng Li clutched her outer garment to cover herself with one hand, while angrily pointing at Tao Lengshuang with the other, as if they shared a mortal enmity. "Bitch, you lowly thing, you can only be smug for now. Soon, you'll be kneeling and begging me."
Turning, she ordered the assassins to capture Tao Lengshuang and her son alive, and to kill all the secret guards.
However—
"The master's order is to eliminate Tao Lengshuang and her son," the leading assassin said coldly and mercilessly.
These words made Tao Lengshuang's eyes darken. She stealthily sprinkled various medicinal powders, and then heard Sheng Li clamoring. A smile flickered across her lips.
"You are not allowed to! Do you hear me?"
Sheng Li, in a tone used to scold a servant, pointed at the assassin leader's nose and cursed, "Even your master has to obediently grovel at my feet. You, a lowly slave, dare to speak to me with such an attitude? Kneel and apologize to me."
*Crack.*
The assassin leader slapped her to the ground, then ordered his subordinates to deal with Tao Lengshuang and her son. "Tao Lengshuang and her son must not escape. They must be killed."
The killers obeyed and charged at Tao Lengshuang and her son with extreme speed, their fierce expressions suggesting they would tear the mother and son to shreds.
Tao Lengshuang and Xiao Feng, protected by some of the secret guards, ran into the distance, while the remaining secret guards were responsible for blocking the assassins.
Tao Lengshuang glanced back and happened to see the assassin leader forcefully administer some medicine to Sheng Li. Sheng Li struggled and cursed, her eyes changing slightly. What were the hidden hands planning to do to Sheng Li?
She didn't dare to think further, sprinkling more medicinal powder as she and Xiao Feng fled.
Unexpectedly, a large group of assassins appeared ahead, charging at them with swords.
Now, they were caught between a wolf and a tiger.
Tao Lengshuang and her group stopped. Tao Lengshuang and Xiao Feng were protected in the center by the secret guards, and Tao Lengshuang, in turn, protected Xiao Feng.
Seeing the assassins drawing closer, Tao Lengshuang handed many medicinal powders to the secret guards and sprinkled more around. "It's enough if they can be held back, even if they can't be killed."
Two secret guards were left to protect Tao Lengshuang and her son, while the rest were responsible for fending off the assassins.
Tao Lengshuang pursed her lips, fine beads of cold sweat appearing on her forehead. She regretted bringing Xiao Feng out.
She had thought Xiao Feng had been cooped up at home for too long and that there wouldn't be any danger today, so she brought him out for a stroll. Who knew such a thing would happen.
She quickly scanned the surroundings.
The area was covered in thick snow. The trees, adorned with white snow, exuded a chilling aura, as if they wanted to keep people there forever.
"Capture Tao Lengshuang and her son for this young lady! Capture them alive!"
Sheng Li commanded furiously, "If you dare to disobey my orders, see how I deal with you."
Hearing this, Tao Lengshuang immediately had an idea. She shouted loudly, "Sheng Li, look how pathetic you are. Your parents are estranged from you, you've been expelled from the family, and even the only one helping you doesn't obey your orders. What's the point of your living?"
"Shut up!" Sheng Li roared at Tao Lengshuang, then turned and stared menacingly at the assassin leader. "You must obey my orders, or I'll make you pay."
The assassin leader, extremely impatient with her, directly incapacitated her acupoints, rendering her unable to move or speak.
Seeing that the assassins had not yet dealt with Tao Lengshuang and her son, he cursed, "Trash! Why aren't you quickly killing this mother and son? Do you want to be punished when we get back?"
Perhaps spurred by the mention of punishment, the assassins attacked the secret guards like madmen. This caused the already outnumbered secret guards to gradually falter.
Seeing this situation, Tao Lengshuang became very anxious.
She glanced at the contorted face of Sheng Li, and a flash of inspiration struck her, giving her another idea.
She asked the secret guards to design a way to release Sheng Li's acupoints, and the secret guards took the opportunity to attack the assassin leader.
Tao Lengshuang estimated the time for the medicine to take effect and said in a drawn-out tone, "You want to kill me, isn't it to protect that secret?"
"Sheng Li became like this entirely due to your schemes. If she knew her true relationship with General Sheng and his wife, she probably wouldn't listen to you anymore."
She pointed to her face, "Look at my face. Doesn't it feel very familiar?"
Looking at that beautiful, tender, and pale face, Sheng Li felt a strong sense of familiarity. She felt as if she had seen this face often somewhere, but for a moment, she couldn't recall where.
Upon hearing Tao Lengshuang's mention of a secret, she inexplicably felt a sense of panic, as if something bad was happening, yet she knew nothing about it.
This feeling made her extremely agitated. "What secret? Even you, a lowly thing, know it. Hurry and tell me, what exactly is this secret that makes my parents treat me like this?"
Could it be because of this secret that her parents expelled her from the family and disliked her so much?
Tao Lengshuang noticed that many secret guards were injured and were about to be unable to hold back the assassins. She raised her voice, "Ask him. But he might not tell you."
Sheng Li grew more uneasy and panicked. She urgently asked the assassin leader, who was being pursued by the secret guards, "Hurry and tell me, tell me what the secret is."
Just as the assassin leader was about to say he didn't know, his body suddenly went limp, and he fell straight into the snowdrift.
He struggled to get up, but couldn't muster any strength. He knew he had been poisoned by Tao Lengshuang's medicinal powder.
Despite all precautions, he couldn't prevent it.
Damn it!
Tao Lengshuang saw that all the assassins, including Sheng Li, had been taken down. The heavy stone weighing on her heart lifted slightly, but she did not let down her guard.
She took out healing medicine for the secret guards.
The secret guards were divided into three groups: one group was responsible for protecting Tao Lengshuang and her son, another for healing, and the third for dealing with the assassins to prevent any further incidents.
"Ah! Why is this happening? Why is this happening?" Sheng Li, lying in the snowdrift and shivering from the cold, roared madly. "It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this."
Tao Lengshuang wanted to take this opportunity to deal with Sheng Li, but she knew it wasn't the right time. Firstly, she hadn't figured out what happened back then. Secondly, she needed to use Sheng Li to investigate the mastermind. However, she could teach this woman a lesson.
She handed a packet of medicinal powder to a secret guard and asked him to help administer it to Sheng Li.