Jia couldn't quite adapt to Fengqishi's gaze and then said uncomfortably, "I really wasn't looking at you." After speaking, he lowered his head.
Fengqishi, hearing Jia's words, shifted his gaze to the direction Mu Anxiao was heading.
Jia breathed a sigh of relief.
Over there.
Mu Anxiao looked at the servant standing not far away, who was keeping watch for them, and deliberately exclaimed, "Oh!"
Then, the servant frowned, turned his head to look at Mu Anxiao, who had stopped and was pretending to examine her injuries, and called out, "Who are you?"
"..." Mu Anxiao pretended not to hear the servant.
Seeing that Mu Anxiao didn't reply, the servant immediately walked towards her.
Conversely, Qiu Yan and Mu Yanxing by the lake paid no attention to what was happening here and continued to chat happily.
At that moment, the servant stopped in front of Mu Anxiao and said, "This is not a place you should be. Go away."
However, this was precisely the effect Mu Anxiao wanted. She looked up at the servant with a pained expression and said, "This is the only path. Where else should I go if not here? You tell me." She tilted her chin.
The servant, who was the same height as Mu Anxiao, looked at her arrogant expression, then glanced back at Qiu Yan and Mu Yanxing, who were not paying attention, and said, "Those two are the young master and young lady of the estate. If you go over there, be careful of punishment. I'm doing this for your own good."
"Young master and young lady..." Mu Anxiao said, deliberately peeking towards the lake, and asked, "Are those two married?"
The servant was struck speechless upon hearing this.
Seeing the servant's speechless expression, Mu Anxiao smiled, "I see. It's a secret meeting."
"Don't talk nonsense," the servant said in a low voice.
Mu Anxiao sneered, "The crime of secretly meeting outside the estate is not small, and the fate of those who know about it, I presume," she said, "you know it, right?"
"You wild girl, don't talk nonsense. If you continue talking nonsense," the servant raised his hand, "I'll hit you."
"Hit me..." Mu Anxiao glanced up at the servant's raised hand and said, "Go ahead and hit me. My status is not low either."
"You..."
"You know the Mu estate, right?" Mu Anxiao interjected intentionally.
Upon hearing this, the servant frowned, "Are you a maid from the Mu estate?"
Mu Anxiao smiled, "I am not a maid from the Mu estate."
"If you're not a maid from the Mu estate, why are you so arrogant," the servant said, scanning Mu Anxiao from head to toe, and continued, "Do you know the consequences of trying to associate with noble families?"
"Consequences? What consequences?" Mu Anxiao feigned ignorance.
The servant sneered, "With you like this, you're definitely not related to any noble family. Now, you insist on saying you're related to the Mu estate. If I spread your words, your consequence would be death."
"Death?"
"Yes, so," the servant, thinking he had the upper hand, said, "it's not too late to leave now."
"Why should I leave?" Mu Anxiao retorted.
"You've already made a mistake, and now I'm giving you a chance, you..."
"I am the young lady of the Mu estate."
"..." The servant froze and then laughed, "You? The young lady of the Mu estate? Stop lying."
"I am not lying," Mu Anxiao said, and glanced towards Mu Yanxing again, "Speaking of which, that woman really looks like my third sister."
"Third..." the servant repeated, frowning, "Who are you?" He realized that Mu Anxiao in front of him might indeed be related to the Mu estate, and thus he became nervous.
Mu Anxiao said, "Move aside for a moment, my eyes are not good." As she said this, she raised her injured arm and pushed the servant aside.
The servant moved two steps to the side.
Mu Anxiao continued to look at Mu Yanxing and Qiu Yan, who still hadn't shifted their gaze, and deliberately called out, "Third sister." Then she took two steps forward.
Mu Yanxing did not react.
The servant glanced sideways at Mu Anxiao's calm back, then at Mu Yanxing, who was not reacting, and asked, "Are you really the young lady of the Mu estate?"
"If you don't want to be hung on the city wall, then continue..." Mu Anxiao turned to look at the servant, "talking to me."
The matter of the small soldiers outside the city gate had also been widely circulated. Mu Anxiao believed that this servant must have heard about it, so she deliberately said this. She wanted to see what the servant's reaction would be.
The servant: "..." He frowned.
Mu Anxiao looked at the servant's suddenly serious expression and said faintly, "I haven't heard of it."
"Is that true?" The servant usually stayed in the estate and only heard about outside affairs, so he had never taken them seriously. Thus, hearing Mu Anxiao's question now, he was greatly surprised and half-believed.
Mu Anxiao: "You really are an ignorant brat."
"You..."
"I am the lady of the Mu estate who was found, Mu Xiao." Mu Anxiao interrupted, mimicking the servant's earlier gaze as she scanned him from head to toe, and said, "Those people said one sentence to me and were then hung up, and it was only three days. Do you want to try?" She tilted her chin.
The servant's expression stiffened, and he asked, "Is this true?"
"If you don't believe me," Mu Anxiao glanced around and continued, "you can go and ask when we return to the city later."
"Ask..." The servant shook his head, "They are soldiers. I dare not."
"You dare not? Then shall I take you to ask?" Mu Anxiao asked deliberately.
The servant gave a dry laugh, "It's better not to."
"Now you believe me, right?" Mu Anxiao said again.
The servant nodded.
"Very good," Mu Anxiao said, turning to look at Mu Yanxing, who still hadn't turned around, clicked her tongue, and said sideways, "Don't speak, it's good for you."
Hearing this, the servant turned his back.
Mu Anxiao's lips curved upwards, and she stepped towards Mu Yanxing and Qiu Yan.
Hearing Mu Anxiao's footsteps, the servant's heart sank. He turned around and followed Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao, sensing the servant, stopped and turned to look at him, asking, "What are you following me for?"
The servant grinned foolishly, "I'm here to keep watch for them. You have to consider me too."
"For me?" Mu Anxiao snorted coldly, "I haven't seen you consider me either."
The servant chuckled foolishly.
Mu Anxiao stared at the servant's face and asked, "Looking at your honest appearance, tell me, what do you want?"
"At least let me act."
"Act... What do you want to act?"
"To block you."
"Block me..." Mu Anxiao pointed to herself, thought for a moment, and said, "If I agree, won't I be wronged later? No, I disagree."
"You... What do I have to do for you to agree?" The servant sensed that Mu Anxiao had an ulterior motive.
Mu Anxiao smiled, seeing that the servant was reasonably smart, "Your salary isn't much, is it?"
The servant shook his head.
"How much a month?" Mu Anxiao asked again.
The servant dared not defy Mu Anxiao and directly stated, "Twenty taels, not much, not little."
"Twenty..." Mu Anxiao sneered, "I didn't expect you, a mere servant, to have quite a salary."
"Compared to other servants, it's considered little."
"So humble. Very well," Mu Anxiao smiled, "I can cooperate with you."
"Really?" The servant's eyes lit up.
Mu Anxiao maintained her smile, "Yes, but you have to give me two taels of silver." She held up two fingers.
The servant froze.
Mu Anxiao: "It's okay if you don't agree, anyway, I haven't..."
"I agree. Do I pay now?" The servant, afraid of being expelled from the Qiu family because of this, was willing to agree to Mu Anxiao's 'unreasonable' request.
Mu Anxiao: "Now, it's better to avoid any trouble if things go wrong and you renege."
"I won't," the servant said, pulling out two taels of silver from his sleeve and handing them to Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao casually took the silver and said, "Alright. If I get hurt later, you'll have to add more silver."
"You..."
"What 'you'?" Mu Anxiao raised the corners of her mouth, "As you said, am I a wild girl? Naturally, I'll play by the wild rules." After speaking, she moved aside.
The servant looked confused, "What are you doing?" He felt wronged.
"I'm a wild girl, giving you a chance, what can I do?" As she spoke, she voluntarily extended her arm.
The servant looked down and asked, "Do I need to add silver for this?"
"No, but your tone cannot touch my bottom line, otherwise, you'll have to add." Mu Anxiao said, putting the silver into her sleeve.
The servant looked at Mu Anxiao's serious expression, took a few deep breaths, and said, "I understand." He then stepped forward and grabbed Mu Anxiao's arm.
Unexpectedly, the moment the servant grabbed Mu Anxiao's arm, he pressed on her wound. But for the sake of the mission, she endured it.
"Let's go," she said.
The servant nodded and began speaking loudly and nervously, "Young master, something's wrong!"
Mu Anxiao was also startled by the servant's acting.
Qiu Yan didn't want to bother with the servant, so he remained silent.
Seeing this, the servant intentionally tightened his grip on Mu Anxiao, and while quickly walking towards the lake, he loudly repeated his previous words: "Young master, something's wrong."
Hearing the servant's voice, Qiu Yan, unable to bear it any longer, threw down his fishing rod, turned around, ignored Mu Anxiao, looked at the servant who had stopped, and said, "Do you want to die?"
"This servant doesn't want to die, but..." the servant said, pulling Mu Anxiao to his side, "Young master, she saw it." He then let go.
Mu Anxiao felt the blood seeping out and deliberately placed her injured arm behind her back.
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yan finally looked at Mu Anxiao and asked coldly, "What did you see?"
Mu Anxiao said, "You are the young master of the Qiu family, Qiu Yan." She didn't want to beat around the bush anymore.
Qiu Yan frowned, "It seems you don't want to live."
The servant dared not speak and lowered his head. He inadvertently saw bloodstains in his palm, was startled, and quickly put his hand behind his back.
Mu Anxiao paused for a few seconds, then said, "Hearing Young Master Qiu's words, are you planning to kill me?" As she spoke, she deliberately shifted her gaze to Mu Yanxing, who dared not look back.
Seeing this, Qiu Yan deliberately moved to block in front of Mu Anxiao and said, "If you keep looking around like that, be careful, I'll dig your eyes out."
Mu Anxiao heard this and laughed, "If you have the ability, come on!" She held her head high.
Qiu Yan looked down at Mu Anxiao's brazen demeanor and said angrily, "You damned girl, do you think I don't dare?" He brought his fingers close to Mu Anxiao's eyes.
Mu Anxiao knew that Qiu Yan wouldn't dare, so she looked at him calmly.
Qiu Yan looked down at Mu Anxiao's appearance, and his hand began to tremble.
Immediately, Mu Anxiao glanced at the fingers pointing at her and laughed, "It seems you don't dare." As she spoke, she used her good hand to push away Qiu Yan and looked directly at Mu Yanxing, who stood by the lake, not daring to move, and said, "Third sister, shouldn't you be entering the palace by now?"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yan's eyes widened.
Mu Anxiao continued to stare at Mu Yanxing.
Mu Yanxing suddenly recognized Mu Anxiao's voice and slowly turned around, losing her usual arrogance, and said, "Mu Xiao, why are you here?" She wanted to find fault with Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao replied, "Oh, thanks to Madam and your fourth sister, I almost died."
"What do you mean?" Mu Yanxing sensed danger.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly and said, "For three months, you've been trying to kill me at every moment, like today, when I accused my father at the estate gates, he locked me in the woodshed, and then..."
"I don't want to know these things about you," Mu Yanxing interrupted heartlessly.
Mu Anxiao knew Mu Yanxing would say this, so she smiled and asked, "Don't you want to know why I'm here?"
"I do, but can you make it short?"
"No."
"You..."
"Third sister, haven't you already broken off with the young master of the Qiu family?" Mu Anxiao asked deliberately.
Mu Yanxing dodged her gaze and said, "Wild girl, I advise you not to meddle in too much. Otherwise," she said, "I will kill you."
Hearing this, the servant glanced at Mu Anxiao fearfully and dared not speak.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao felt no fear and remained calm, "It would be even better if you killed me."
"You..."
"Third sister, remember my words, paper cannot wrap fire. If this matter reaches King Jin, everyone in this family will die. So, whether you die early or late, you will die. I'll just consider it," Mu Anxiao smiled, "paving the way for you."
"You're quite open-minded."
"Naturally. Of course," Mu Anxiao said, and then shifted her gaze to Qiu Yan's face, "At that time, your family will also be ruined. Think about it, so many people dying with me is quite worth it."
Qiu Yan had heard everything about Mu Anxiao from Mu Yanxing.
Therefore, he was not afraid. Instead, he sneered and said, "So you're that life-preserving wild girl? Trying to scare us with this now," he pushed Mu Anxiao's shoulder, "you're quite cunning."
"I'm not trying to scare you," Mu Anxiao said faintly.
Qiu Yan sneered, "As long as you die, won't no one know?" As he spoke, he took out a dagger from his chest.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Qiu Yan's dagger and said, "You're going to make a move now."
"Otherwise? Are we supposed to wait for you to go back and report?" Qiu Yan said, pointing the dagger tip towards Mu Anxiao's neck.
Mu Anxiao lowered her head and glanced at the dagger, saying, "What do you plan to do after you kill me?"
"That's not for you to worry about," Qiu Yan said, gently poking the dagger tip onto Mu Anxiao's skin.
Mu Anxiao deeply felt the coolness of the dagger tip and inexplicably started laughing.