Chapter 76 - There Are Things Out of Your Control
She has heard of the Qian family's name.
The second richest in Nanling, second only to the richest Liu family in the capital in terms of luxury and wealth.
Qian Baihao, the current head of the Qian family, and the Qian family's businesses were all over the country. The reason why Qian Wanjin would personally oversee a wine shop in Xiangshan County was probably because his mother, Lady Qian was from the Wan family in Xiangshan.
With the inextricable relationship between a wine shop and the Qian family in the capital, Wanrong didn't even know if this was luck or not.
The Qian family wasn't like an ordinary family. If they got curious about her, it wouldn't be hard to find out her details. By then…
"Qian Baihao is smart and cautious. He's very good at keeping his head above water. He won't get himself into trouble, so Mother doesn't need to worry too much." Axiu faintly replied.
"I hope so." As things stood, unless they escaped again, they could only take chances.
Looking at the small figure walking in front of her, Wanrong sighed inwardly. If they were to leave this place, she was afraid that Xiu'er wouldn't be willing to do so.
He really liked Nannan.
Arriving at the door of the hut, Wanrong was just about to reach out and push the door open, when Axiu pulled her back.
"Xiu'er?"
Axiu dragged her back hard, and under the dark of the night, his eyes penetrating into the courtyard were grave and cold. "Mother, run!"
"Xiu'er…" Wanrong's face instantly turned ashen. She vaguely realized what was happening, and her retreating steps turned weak.
"Run!" Axiu shouted, while reaching out and pushing her out hard. "Leave me alone, they wouldn't dare hurt me!"
Unable to care about anything else any longer, Wanrong gritted her teeth and turned to run out. She couldn't stay. If she did, she'd become Xiu'er's weakness instead!
Under the moonlight, four shadows leaped out of the hut and surrounded Axiu, ignoring the fleeing woman.
"16th prince, enough of this nonsense. It's time to go back with us." One of the present chuckled lightly, his tone completely devoid of respect.
"Dream on!"
"The Prince mustn't put us in a difficult position. Otherwise, if we hurt your little arms and legs, we won't be able to answer to our master." The man gestured as he spoke, signaling those around him to go after the woman.
Axiu's eyes turned glacial. He shot without warning, stopping his opponent in his tracks. Regardless of his reckless stance, or this desperate fight, the stunned four experts were firmly trapped in the square footage.
They were scrupulous and didn't dare lay a heavy hand on him. This was his only leverage.
He had to stall for time so that his mother could escape further.
More and more tiny and not-too-fatal wounds on his body increased. Blood oozed out and stained his coarse clothes, and his strength was draining away extremely fast in the fight.
Until he could no longer hold on, Axiu jumped out of the fighting ring with a backward flip and locked one hand around his throat. "Get out of here, all of you, or I'll die here!"
The four men froze. Their eyes that were locked on him in the dead of the night were eerily cold.
There was no compliance to leave, and the silence around them was panic-inducing.
The sound of light footsteps became especially abrupt when they rang out in the silence.
"Young Lord is worthy of being praised even by the Grand Tutor for his wisdom, delaying us for so long just to give a slave a chance to survive." In the other direction, there was a shadow slowly approaching, restraining the woman who had just escaped. "Too bad you didn't get what you wished for."
In the hands of that black-clad man, Wanrong stumbled. Her hair was messy at her temples and tears of panic swam on her face, reflecting the luster under the moonlight. "Xiu'er…"
She choked with sobs, torn apart.
Axiu's heart sank. He didn't even notice that there was a hidden enemy! "Let go of my mother!"
"16th Prince, you called the wrong mother. Your mother is the Empress." Said the man in black, brandishing a dagger to Wanrong's neck. The black-clad man tailed off. "Please be merciful, Prince, or I might miss."
"Xiu'er, don't listen to them. Get out of here! Mmm…" The sharp dagger pierced through her skin and into her flesh, and bright red blood immediately gushed out from the wound.
Seeing Axiu lowering the hand locked on his throat and letting another black-clad man restrain him, Wanrong closed her eyes in despair. In the end, she still became his burden.
The binding ropes almost cut into Axiu's flesh, but he seemed oblivious to it. He stared straight at the black-clad man across from him. "Let my mother go, or I'll make sure you get nothing!"
The man locked eyes with Axiu for a moment and suddenly chuckled. He turned the dagger and ruthlessly stabbed Wanrong hard in the chest. He withdrew it, and slowly sliced along the corner of her mouth outward, extending to the base of her ear!
A scream cut through the night sky and Axiu's black eyes turned scarlet, "Stop it!"
"The prince is used to being proud and sometimes doesn't know that there are things out of your control. We just want you to live. As for how you survive, we don't care." After that, he threw the bloody Wanrong into the courtyard, "A lowly healer dared to abduct the royal heir, her crime is unforgivable. The master has issued orders to catch her and kill her on sight."
"How dare you! I won't let you go! You beasts!" Axiu struggled desperately, but was unable to break his restraints. He was held down by a death grip and watched as the man in black lit a torch and set the hut ablaze, along with the person in the house.
The fire blazed into the sky, and miserable screams echoed from the courtyard. The black-clad man who turned around, tugged on Axiu's hair, forcing him to raise his head to witness the woman who fell to the ground in the courtyard tumbling in pain, struggling in despair, and finally being engulfed by the sea of fire.
"MOTHER…MOTHER…AHHH! AAAHHHH-!" Shrieking with pathos and despair, Axiu's eyes were wide open, dense blood shading his pupils!
The air in his chest felt like it was being sucked out of him. He couldn't breathe, he was cold, he was heavy, and his mind was blank.
How he broke free of those forces, he didn't know. He stumbled into the courtyard, and knelt beside the woman who had become a charred mass. His eyes were wide, without focus.
A violent force struck him at the back of his head, and someone stepped on his head, pressing him down hard on the top of the coke.
The residual heat instantly burned his skin, making a slight stinging sound, but Axiu felt no pain. He only breathed rapidly and his eyes became more and more dispassionate, losing vitality.
All that was left in his mouth was an unconscious shriek, like a small beast on the verge of death.
A faint chuckle cackled, ringing low around them, eerie and treacherous in the dark of night.
"Chief, will it work this time?"
"It's the last straw that broke the camel's back, heh. If it wasn't for this b*tch, he would have gone crazy by now. How could he have jumped to the present? Now, it's just a matter of letting her take the final step and take the credit for it." After a pause, the man in black turned around. "Bring him with you and return to the capital, and report on the completion of the task."
The others were about to make their move, grabbing up the child who had fallen into madness, when the sound of sharp blades broke through the air.
Seeing the people approaching, the black-clad men's complexion changed drastically!
"Protect the Prince, spare none of these people!" A cold subdued tone, along with the sound of blades clashing, resounded once again in the ruined courtyard.
The fight lasted for half the night, and when the dust settled, only the bodies of the black-clad men remained, as well as the devastation all over the ground.