“Miss—”
The first person to dash toward Sheng Mingzhu was Xia Zhi.
Xia Zhi knelt on the ground, hugging Sheng Mingzhu’s thigh, and checked Sheng Mingzhu’s breath.
“Miss, why have you fallen into such a deep sleep?
“Where else are you hurt? Please wake up—”
Xia Zhi wailed and cried.
Her sobs echoed throughout the entire courtyard.
Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought Sheng Mingzhu was dead.
Because Zhu Qisheng had brought his men to Furong Court first. The lock on the main gate of Furong Court had been smashed open, so Xia Zhi had followed Zhu Qisheng out.
Zhu Qisheng himself still looked a bit dazed.
When he entered the gate and recognized Sheng Mingzhu, he felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
He couldn’t believe that the person lying there unconscious like a pile of mud was his beloved Sister Mingzhu.
And Sister Mingzhu’s nose… was crooked too…
As if it had suffered some severe trauma…
Her face was swollen, and her head was wrapped in a turban…
Her whole being radiated tackiness and decay, without a trace of her former elegance and freshness…
This was nothing like the heroic-rescuing-the-damsel scene Zhu Qisheng had imagined.
During his afternoon nap today, he was suddenly woken by a strange sound.
When he got up, he noticed a note on his desk.
It had three characters on it: “Sheng Liu Wei” (Sheng Six in Danger). Instantly, all his drowsiness vanished. He panicked and rushed over with his men to rescue her.
In Zhu Qisheng’s imagination, even if his Sister Mingzhu had been bullied and looked a bit disheveled, she would still be beautiful in her distress.
At the moment he appeared, Sister Mingzhu would flutter over to him like a beautiful butterfly, throwing herself into his arms…
Sister Mingzhu would look at him with tears streaming down her face like raindrops on pear blossoms, hoping he would seek justice for her…
In short, Sister Mingzhu was supposed to be very beautiful.
That was the perfect hero-rescuing-the-damsel scene in Zhu Qisheng’s heart.
Not this current mess…
He knew he should go over and show concern for Sister Mingzhu, but his feet felt rooted to the spot.
Zhu Qisheng was both horrified and furious.
Aside from the reason that his beloved had been harmed, this horror and fury had other causes too…
He didn’t know what it was; it felt like something was stopping him from thinking deeper…
“What did you do to them?
“You’re slaughtering innocents like this, so vicious and ruthless. If anything happens to them, I will kill you—”
Rage churned in Zhu Qisheng’s heart as he glared fiercely at Huang Yaning.
Huang Yaning furrowed her brow slightly.
Before making her move, she had already figured out how to get herself out of this.
The things she had done today ultimately meant that only Sheng Yong and Minmin had the authority to “discipline” her.
Minmin wouldn’t actually punish her. That left only Sheng Yong.
But consider this: during that incident outside the city and again today, she had faced two major crises.
The first time, Sheng Mingjian schemed to have Liang Mingcheng ruin her virtue. Today, she had nearly lost her life again…
After suffering so much, wasn’t she allowed to get revenge?
As long as she acted tough enough, arrogant enough, and was willing to go all out.
When Sheng Yong returned to the mansion, afraid that she would blow things up and expose Sheng Mingjian’s plot to harm his own sister, Sheng Yong definitely wouldn’t dare do anything serious to her.
Moreover, Sheng Yong would also restrain Sheng Mingzhu, not allowing her to “air the family’s dirty laundry.”
Even if Sheng Mingzhu found a way to secretly send a letter out, for now, Master Dà Lè and Lin Zhijing were both busy praying for rain everywhere and had no time for Sheng Mingzhu.
The only person she could ask for help was Zhu Qisheng.
But, currently, Prince Qi’s mansion was under the control of Princess Jing, so Zhu Qisheng didn’t have much money or many people under his command.
Zhu Qisheng also held no official position. He was essentially a young man with an esteemed but empty title and no real power.
Huang Yaning wasn’t afraid of this kind of Zhu Qisheng either.
She just hadn’t expected him to arrive so quickly and witness all this with his own eyes, which made things a bit troublesome.
She didn’t know who had tipped off Zhu Qisheng, but Huang Yaning suddenly felt like she was being watched.
That feeling was very unpleasant, but for now, she needed to deal with the immediate crisis first.
If worst came to worst, she could go stay at the Eldest Princess’s manor for a while. The princess would surely protect her.
“Your Highness, this humble daughter merely killed two servants who betrayed their master and beat a few disobedient underlings—”
Zhu Qisheng didn’t yet know about the assassination attempt on Huang Yaning, but he didn’t care at all. He bellowed,
“Why did you tie up your elder brother and sister? And why did you injure them so severely?”
“Your Highness, this is a family matter of the Sheng family. I’m afraid it’s not convenient for you to interfere!”
This retort landed like a sharp slap on Zhu Qisheng’s face.
It instantly made Zhu Qisheng so angry that his eyes turned bloodshot, as if he was losing his reason.
“You have incredible audacity! How dare you disrespect me?
“Guards! Seize her and give her fifty heavy strokes—”
How was this a punishment?
This was clearly a death sentence!
The aura around Huang Yaning instantly turned ice-cold. Her eyes were like two daggers crafted from thousand-year-old ice, stabbing into Zhu Qisheng’s body.
This made Zhu Qisheng shiver, and he slightly regretted uttering those words.
Because the Emperor governed with benevolence and compassion, Zhu Qisheng, lashing out in shame and anger to punish an official’s daughter, and so severely, had no solid ground to stand on.
Given Duanmu Rui’s friendship with this country girl and the Emperor’s favor towards Duanmu Rui, if this were brought before the Emperor, there would be no good outcome for him…
So, when his men were intimidated by Huang Yaning’s aura and didn’t act, Zhu Qisheng didn’t dare say anything more either.
He deeply felt how utterly suffocating it was to be a prince like himself!
No power, not much money, no capable people, and lacking the Emperor’s favor as a backbone…
Even the daughter of a lowly fifth-rank official dared to look down on him.
At that moment, Zhu Qisheng developed the desire to enter officialdom and pursue power and influence!
The atmosphere in the courtyard was tense and stifling.
Just then, Sheng Minmin appeared.
She had received the news back when Huang Yaning was “closing the door to beat the dogs.”
She knew Huang Yaning was about to go berserk, so she pretended not to know and stayed hidden inside her room.
Earlier, Qing Ying reported that Prince Qi had “stormed” into the mansion. Only then did Sheng Minmin tidy herself up and “rush” over.
After first paying respects to Prince Qi, Sheng Minmin’s gaze fell on the three unconscious siblings.
As a “mother,” naturally she had to step forward to “show concern for her children.”
“Eldest, Fifth, Sixth girl… What’s wrong with you?”
