Su Mian's body trembled like a sieve.
She vowed never to scold Thirteen again.
"What are you shaking for? Need to pee again? You haven't even drunk anything, how can you be so frequent?"
Thirteen's voice came from behind again.
Still that annoying tone, Su Mian almost thought she had misheard.
Slowly turning around, she looked down at the ground.
The man had been pushed to the well wall, his back to them, but his head was hanging low.
"He, you..." Su Mian's teeth chattered, she couldn't even form a complete sentence.
Thirteen was shaking a stack of silver notes in his hand, along with a pile of bottles and jars on the ground, a dagger, jewelry, and half a roast chicken.
"Dead! A bandit dares to impersonate a hunter and show off in front of me, truly a dog biting the moon, unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth. Here, want some?" He offered the roast chicken forward.
Su Mian was still shocked by his words. Seeing the roast chicken, she instinctively swallowed, and just as she reached out, she immediately remembered that the chicken had come from a dead person.
She recoiled a step in fright.
"No! No!"
"Fine if you don't want it!" Thirteen took a bite of the meat. "Look at you, you were so fierce just now. If you weren't Concubine Qu's maid, I wouldn't bother with you."
Thirteen finished the roast chicken in a few bites and heard Nan Xing whimpering and crying again, apparently crying from hunger from the smell of the roast chicken.
"Little Princess, we shouldn't eat it. If we eat it, worms will grow in our stomachs," Su Mian coaxed her.
Alright then.
Thirteen wiped his mouth, picked up the rope in his hand, and then picked up the dagger to start working.
Su Mian was now a little afraid of him. With a dead body lying there, she felt the well was even colder.
"You, how did you know he was a bandit?" she asked, trying to divert her attention.
"He was covered in human blood, what good person could he be? If you had gone up first, you would have been violated and then killed. Believe it or not?"
Su Mian thought about the situation just now. If it were as he said, it really would be. So, she had misunderstood him earlier.
However, the way this guy spoke was truly unpleasant.
Thirteen threw the rope in his hand upwards a few times, stuck the knife into the well wall, and after tugging it a few times, he began to climb up.
Su Mian dared not look at the corpse. She stared at Thirteen's climbing figure, praying he would get up quickly.
Finally escaping, Thirteen first took everyone to a restaurant for a big meal, and then was intercepted by Wei Hu.
Back at the mansion, Qu Linglong cried profusely while hugging Su Mian and Nan Xing, and even wanted to thank the hidden guard Thirteen.
"No need to thank him, it's his duty. If the little princess had been in trouble, he wouldn't have survived. If you want to thank someone, thank the Prince."
It sounded like Su Mian didn't like Thirteen very much?
Did something happen in the meantime?
Ling Yao had been diligently taking care of Xing Ran for seven days. Xing Ran couldn't stay any longer; she feared that if she stayed longer, she would be even more reluctant to leave.
"Princess, this servant wishes to return home to recuperate," she said hesitantly.
Where did she have a home? She lived alone.
"Are you uncomfortable staying here?"
Of course, as a servant, how could she let the princess serve her every day? She couldn't bear it, she wasn't that delicate, but the princess treated her like a fragile doll...
She needed to recover quickly and return to the Immortal King Sect to continue taking on missions.
If she stayed any longer, she would develop many unwarranted greedy thoughts.
"Alright, I'll send someone to take care of you."
Ling Yao thought it would be good for her to be alone, as her emotions could be more easily expressed. She had noticed her restraint these past few days, fearing it would be detrimental to her mood recovery.
"No need, I have an old woman who cooks for me at my place. Princess, please don't worry about this servant."
"Alright."
Ling Yao didn't insist, but there was something she wanted her to know.
"Xing Ran, there was a rule in the sect before that you did not have free will. But from today onwards, you are free. Take good care of your health, don't worry about anything else. When you are well, you can return if you wish, it's all up to you."
"This servant will return. The Immortal King Sect is this servant's home," Xing Ran said eagerly.
"Then go back, but if you don't take care of your health, the Immortal King Sect won't want you."
"Yes, this servant will definitely get better."
After Xing Ran left the palace, Emperor Mingde came to Fengque Tower. "Do you truly not care about Wen Tang's life or death?"
Ling Yao sneered, "Didn't you forbid me from seeing him?"
"I just wanted you to say a few lies to give him some hope of survival. Is that so difficult?"
"And after the lies? Isn't it greater despair? Or will you make that lie come true?"
She had no doubt that her imperial brother would do such a thing.
Emperor Mingde was disappointed again. He chuckled with a smile that was both happy and sad, "Sometimes I wonder, the imperial sister who returned to the capital back then, was she truly the imperial sister who grew up with me since childhood?"
"Just consider her dead!"
The brother and sister parted ways unhappily once more.
...
After leaving the palace, Xing Ran finally revealed her lost and dejected appearance.
Just as Ling Yao had thought, how could she not be hurt?
Such disgusting things, endless torment. Even when she was still among beggars, she had never suffered such abuse.
So dirty!
Unknowingly, she returned to the small courtyard she had bought.
So tired. In front of the princess, she dared not show it. Now she just wanted to lie down, do nothing, think nothing.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the courtyard, a figure pounced towards her.
"Wife!"
Her body was not as strong as before, and with such a pounce, she fell to the ground, while the person on top of her was flustered and at a loss.
"Wife, I'm sorry, are you hurt? Wife?"
She had forgotten about this person in the courtyard during the days she was away!
He clumsily got up, his hands inevitably touching Xing Ran's body, and that feeling of disgust returned instantly!
"Get lost!"
Xing Ran pushed him away and ran towards the house, quickly returning with a long whip.
Lu Yanmo had not suffered during this period. Apart from the scar on his forehead, his former elegance had returned. Even in rough cloth clothes, he exuded an air of noble grace.
He looked at Xing Ran blankly, not understanding what had happened.
Xing Ran's eyes turned red, and she looked at the person in front of her with increasing hatred.
"Qi Rong dog! I will kill you!"
She whipped Lu Yanmo again and again, with all her might.
The minds of fools are very sensitive. He sensed the undisguised killing intent emanating from Xing Ran and didn't know what he had done wrong. These days, he had been obedient, not running outside, not leaving the courtyard.
He had also learned a lot of cooking skills.
He didn't dodge, curling himself up, enduring the whipping.
"Oh dear! Miss, what are you doing!"
An old woman ran out from the kitchen. She was the one hired to look after Lu Yanmo. Hearing the commotion, she came out and saw this tragic scene.
He was already bleeding from the whipping, how could she hit someone as soon as she returned!
Even though this child was a bit foolish, he was pure and sincere. She couldn't beat him to death!
"No! You'll beat him to death! You are his wife after all, and he waits for you to come back every day. Why are you like this?"
"Who is his wife! Get out! Get out! You're not needed here anymore! Hurry up and get out!"
Xing Ran's mad appearance scared the old woman.
"Madwoman, who, who wants to stay here!"
The old woman threw down the apron in her hand and ran out the door.
Xing Ran looked at the bloodstain on the ground, still not satisfied, and took out a dagger again.
"You are the offspring of a Qi Rong person, you are despicable, dirty, a beast, not worthy of living!"