Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 434 - 432

"Madam, spare me. Here! I’d relinquish the reins to you!" The old coachman tearfully handed over the reins. He had almost reached the end of his servitude, with only two days left to retire with dignity! How unlucky he could be!

Shen Bao’er couldn’t care less about his grief-stricken state! The urge to escape was so strong that she forcefully kicked the old coachman down from the carriage.

The pitiful old coachman broke his leg in the fall, and suffered multiple scrapes, screaming for help.

Shen Bao’er then went back to the carriage and removed the purse and jewelry from the maid, pushing her off the carriage too.

After a long while, an ox cart came and saved the old coachman and the maid, taking them back to the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Fortunately, around the spot where the old coachman landed, there were some blood-clotting herbs growing, which he recognized, picked, crushed, and applied to the maid’s wounds, stemming her bleeding, otherwise she would have been doomed.

When Prime Minister found out about Shen Bao’er’s escape, he was furious. He immediately sent men to bring her back, vowing to tear her to pieces!

Xiao’er, hearing of this, couldn’t help but admire Shen Bao’er, a tough one who wouldn’t be easily crushed, even managing to escape.

But the Prime Minister held supreme power and had many people under his command. If she were to be captured, what would happen?

Desiring wealth and status, she willingly became a concubine, her cunning plots led her to manipulate Li Yun Ning in her schemes against Shangguan Xuanyi and Xiao’er’s family. But it ended up backfiring on her. The two sons of Prime Minister Li were in such a dire situation because of her! The Prime Minister couldn’t have been ignorant of this, how could he simply let her off!

But how would Prime Minister Li retaliate against Xiao’er’s family? A creased furrowed her brow.

...

Days passed quietly. It had already been more than two months since Shangguan Xuanyi left.

Refugees outside the town had received relief silver from the government, and one after the other, they had returned to their homes.

Xiao’er hadn’t received a letter from Shangguan Xuanyi for ten days.

She sent out letters, but received no reply.

Something wasn’t right!

Xiao’er would receive a letter from Shangguan Xuanyi every other day. freēwēbnovel.com

Although the letters contained only a few words each time, sometimes it was: Miss you; sometimes it was: What are you doing; sometimes it was: Do you miss me; he even wrote: Did you eat yet?

Xiao’er would sometimes be amused, sometimes touched by these few words, but at least she knew he was well.

A bad feeling welled up in Xiao’er’s heart.

"Xiao’er, did your father send back any letters today?" After dinner, everyone was still busy with their own things in the big study. Mrs. Liu suddenly remembered that she hadn’t received a letter from her husband for two days and asked.

"Yes, he did. He wrote that everything is fine. Our elder brother also bought two shops and a villa over there." Xiao’er snapped back to reality, found the letter, and handed it to Mrs. Liu.

Mrs. Liu glanced at it and finally set her mind at ease: "I wonder if your father and brother are having proper meals."

"Mother, rest assured. My father might starve himself but would never let our older brother starve. Our elder brother is definitely there reminding father to eat in time. He won’t go hungry!"

"That’s comforting," Mrs. Liu said, reassured by these words.

Shen Chengyao always said that it was time for Jingrui to grow taller, and he couldn’t starve. Otherwise, he would not grow tall.

He even said that back in his day, when he was Jingrui’s age, he was so hungry that he had to go up and down the mountains and rivers to find food, which helped him grow tall.

Xiao’er felt a bit messy in her thoughts. She found an excuse and retreated to her room.

That night, the weather was extraordinarily hot, and in the middle of the night, heavy rain started pouring.

Xiao’er, feeling restless, tossed and turned in her bed unable to sleep. Finally, when she fell asleep, she dreamt of Shangguan Xuanyi, staring at her coldly and ruthlessly before plunging a sword into her chest without warning....

That brief scene startled Xiao’er so much she woke up and sat upright on her bed. Only then did she realize that it was just a dream!

Regrettably, instead of feeling relieved, she became even more worried.

The feeling was too real, so realistic that it sent a cold sweat down her spine, soaking her clothes with sweat.

Xiao’er took a set of clothes to the bathroom for a bath before leaving the space.

Dawn was approaching, while the heavy rain was still falling. The endless ’tick-tock’ sound of the rain further confused her thoughts.

Something had happened to Brother Shangguan! Xiao’er was certain of it in her heart!

Xiao’er opened the door and walked out.

"Miss, why did you wake up so early? It’s raining today, shouldn’t you sleep a little longer?" Seeing the dark circles under Xiao’er’s eyes, Yang Liu couldn’t help but ask.

"I’m not sleeping anymore, get Zhao Yong for me, I have something to discuss with him." Xiao’er stood under the eaves, lost in thought as she watched the raindrops falling one by one.

"Yes." Yang Liu respectfully bowed before hurrying off.

Zhao Yong arrived very quickly.

"Miss, what do you need me for?"

"I’m planning to find Brother Shangguan. Prepare for this. After I leave the palace today, we will set off immediately."

Zhao Yong was shocked by her sudden announcement: "Miss, why this sudden move?"

"Have you received any messages from Brother Shangguan?" Xiao’er inquired, ignoring his question.

"Yes, we just received a message via Pigeon Post. All those treasure hunters have been rescued. More than ten thousand people have been controlled by the insects. We don’t know if the procured antidotes will last until they can get back." Speaking of this, Zhao Yong couldn’t help but think those people were stupid for venturing to find treasures only to end up being controlled by insects. It was a first for him!

"Perfect, we can help them by leading those insects out. Go prepare for this. Don’t let this slip in front of Mrs. Liu, just say that the Empress would like me to keep her company in the palace for a few days."

Then Xiao’er gave Zhao Yong some more instructions before dismissing him.

Zhao Yong nodded his head, bowed, and left to make the necessary arrangements.

Today, Xiao’er would accompany Ming Jingya to see the Empress. Once that was done, she would set out to find Shangguan Xuanyi.

Di Shaowei too was at the palace today, he was accompanying Ming Jingya as he was worried she would be nervous being her first time visiting the palace.

After leaving the palace, Xiao’er asked them to keep this from Mrs. Liu, as she needed to find Shangguan Xuanyi.

Upon hearing this, Di Shaowei frowned: "Did something happen?"

Xiao’er shook her head: "Nothing happened. The commoners were rescued, I’m going to help lure out their night elves."

If she had told Di Shaowei that she felt something had happened to Shangguan Xuanyi, he would have definitely gone with her.

How could she delay him from eagerly awaiting his wedding day?

Moreover, this was just her intuition, it was still unknown if it was reliable.

Upon hearing her explanation, Di Shaowei finally relaxed: "Hurry back and don’t miss the day of my wedding! If you do, I won’t spare you."

Xiao’er nodded with a smile: "Then, I should take my leave."

After saying that, Xiao’er jumped onto the carriage, waved at them and the carriage set off.

This time, Xiao’er only took Yang Liu with her and left Yang Mei at home to help protect and hide this from Mrs. Liu.

After lowering the curtains, Xiao’er immediately changed into men’s clothing, thickened her eyebrows and darkened her skin to a wheat color with make-up.

Yang Mei also changed into men’s clothing. Then, at the city gate, the three of them switched to riding the horses prepared by Zhao Yong, and took the quickest route to the border town.