Chapter 301: Danger, Night Attack
“Young Lady, let’s go back to the guest room; it’s not safe here.” After running to a safe place, Xinmei stopped.
Ning Xueyan was pulled along and was panting. Her originally pale face flushed slightly, and she was too breathless to speak, only nodding. This place was indeed not safe; it was too close to the fire, and everyone around was running. Many Young Ladies, escorted by their maidservants, had already gone to the back side rooms.
The Buddha Hall had already caught fire, so the so-called First Incense naturally couldn’t be burned.
After Ning Xueyan’s breathing had slightly calmed down, Xinmei and Qingyu escorted Ning Xueyan to the back. Only after they were a little further away from the fire did Ning Xueyan calm down. The guest rooms in the backyard were very far from the front main hall. Even if the front main hall was burning fiercely, it was impossible for the fire to extend to that scope in the backyard.
After turning another corner, they arrived at the guest rooms. Many Young Ladies had already returned and were waiting in their respective rooms. Those Young Masters, along with their boy servants, went to the front to help put out the fire.
The fire was burning so big that even after these Young Ladies had returned to the guest rooms, no one dared to sleep. They were all trembling with fear and guarding in front of the windows, only hoping that the fire would quickly be extinguished. This night was destined to be a sleepless night.
In this eerie atmosphere, Ning Xueyan didn’t sleep either. She sat in front of the bed and slightly calmed down before going to the window to check the fire outside.
After Xinmei came back, she went out to inquire about the news and hadn’t returned until now. Only Qingyu was left beside her in the outer room to make her tea.
“Young Lady, quick, something bad happened!” The door was “bang”ed open. Qingyu, with a pale complexion, rushed in, grabbed Ning Xueyan, and ran out, whispering breathlessly, “Young Lady, your servant saw a man in black rushing into the guest rooms.”
Before she could finish speaking, a sharp scream was immediately heard, coming from the neighboring garden.
“Young Lady, run.” Qingyu, upon hearing this, pulled Ning Xueyan and rushed out. Other Young Ladies who heard the sound also all rushed out. Some men in black who didn’t know where they came from, were holding double-edged swords and charged over. The women screamed and scattered.
The men in black also scattered and chased after them.
Assassins had come to the guest rooms, and no one dared to stay here. Moreover, it was all the women who had stayed behind, while the men all went to the front to save the fire.
Ning Xueyan tightly held Qingyu’s hand and didn’t run away, but shrunk in the shadow of the corner of the wall, not daring to move at all.
Just now, she saw Ning Qingshan, with her maidservants, also rushing out of the door. Her eyes showed a few points of pride. She deliberately looked at her own door, and then escaped into the group of women running for their lives with her maidservants. At that time, there was already an assassin pouncing on her own room. If she hadn’t dodged out early, she would have been blocked this time.
“Young Lady, what… what do we do?” Qingyu, although she had become more experienced than before, had never seen this kind of situation. If Ning Xueyan hadn’t tightly held her before, and she was willing to leave Ning Xueyan alone, she would have run away long ago!
At this moment, hiding in this shadow, she was shivering, her upper and lower teeth chattering.
Ning Xueyan already affirmed that this incident was premeditated. The fire started in the front, and those Noble Young Master and the boy servants with them, as well as the guards, would certainly take people to help put out the fire. The backyard only left some female relatives, and these female relatives were either Young Ladies from Good Family or those head maidservants who were also pampered on normal days.
None of them could withstand this.
Ning Xueyan even already affirmed that these people had been guarding here long ago; otherwise, how could they have rushed in when almost everyone had entered the guest rooms? Before, because she was in poor health, she walked behind everyone, and it could be said that she was the last to return to the guest rooms.
They only acted after everyone had returned to the guest rooms; what exactly were these people intending?
Running away in all directions was certainly a good method, but Ning Xueyan herself knew that her body was not good, and she would certainly not be able to run far. At that time, she would inevitably be caught first, so she would hold Qingyu’s hand to stop, turn around, and hide in the shadow behind this wall. There was a large fish tank there, and their bodies were small, and they wouldn’t be seen for a while.
They could only wait for the people in front to get the news and hurry over.
Her current situation, whether running or staying, was actually very dangerous. But running out, she would certainly be caught; staying might still have a chance of survival. Just now she looked, and there were about dozens of men in black, and most of them had chased after them, and not many were left.
The danger was relatively small. As long as they persisted for a while longer, the people in front would come back, and these few remaining men in black would certainly run away, and she would also be safe then.
But unfortunately, some things are not subject to her will. They heard a series of footsteps coming from that room, obviously someone was coming over. That kind of light and healthy footsteps, falling in their ears, almost covered the shadow of death. The direction of the person coming was undoubtedly her position.
Ning Xueyan squeezed Qingyu’s sweat-stained hand, trying to stabilize and lower her breathing, to conceal her whereabouts. Her heartbeat was abnormal. At this moment, she was really nervous. That person should be just a few steps away, not far away.
One step, one step, and another step…
Ning Xueyan let go of Qingyu’s hand and reached for her hairpin. If she remembered correctly, the hairpin she was wearing was the one she usually used the most. That seemingly ordinary hairpin with beads, its most special feature, was that it was very sharp at the end, and almost when she saw this inconspicuous hairpin, Ning Xueyan fell in love with it.
Because it gave her a sense of security.
She tightly clenched the sharp hairpin in her hand, sensing the distance of the footsteps. That moment was really close, almost right before her eyes. Warm, fishy smell came out from the corners of her tightly bitten mouth. A trace of determination flashed through her eyes. The footsteps were close to her ears; she couldn’t sit and wait for death.
She couldn’t be like her previous life, without even a struggle, she was already dead!
This time, no matter who wanted her life, she would make them accompany her in burial.
But a sudden change occurred. Qingyu suddenly jumped out, her body heavily collided with a man in black, while screaming at somewhere in front, “Young Lady, run!”
The man in black didn’t expect a maidservant who wasn’t afraid of death would suddenly jump out, and was knocked back two steps. Her foot was tripped on something on the ground, and she actually fell. When she wanted to get up, she was tightly held down by a maidservant.
Qingyu, while desperately hugging the man in black, kept trying to scream urgently in front, the man in black jumped up fiercely, pulling Qingyu and rushing to the front, chasing after the “Young Lady” who didn’t even exist.
How could Qingyu, how could she do this! Falling into the hands of this unknown man in black, she almost had no way of life.
Ning Xueyan’s brain was almost blank. How could Qingyu do this? Almost subconsciously, she ran out of the shadow to chase after Qingyu, who was pulled away by the man in black. She ran out the door, and in a hurry, she only saw Qingyu being pulled to the backyard.
Ignoring the concealment of her whereabouts, and also ignoring her own lack of physical strength, Ning Xueyan chased after her. She couldn’t let Qingyu be captured by those people, and she couldn’t let the people beside her die again to protect her. In her previous life, she watched Xiang’er die, her life and death unknown, because Xiang’er protected her, and then they were drowned together in the lotus pond.
In this life, she no longer wanted the people beside her to lose their lives to protect her!
Her breathing was rapid, and the pain in her chest was almost tearing her apart. Tears kept falling down, flowing down her cheeks, as well as the fresh blood from the corner of her mouth, dripping down, falling on her plain-colored clothes, on the ground…
She didn’t know where the strength came from, she desperately chased out, all the way to the Back Mountain.
“I didn’t expect that one was missed here.” A hoarse voice came from her ears, and then a man in black appeared in front of Ning Xueyan, looking at the exquisite beauty before her eyes, with tear marks flowing down her snowy and tender face. The man in black was stunned, and then he was overjoyed. He didn’t expect his luck to be so good; he actually found such a beautiful, city-toppling woman.
“Get out of the way!” Ning Xueyan’s attention was on Qingyu. Seeing that she was blocked, she scolded.
At this time, she was thinking only of Qingyu and had no fear of the man in black in front of her.
“Little beauty, even when you’re angry, you’re so beautiful. I didn’t expect to be so lucky today; what a treat.” A trace of lustful light flashed in the man in black’s eyes.
“You want to be enemies with all the aristocratic families, don’t you want your lives!” Ning Xueyan understood his meaning, filled with hate and anger, and sternly scolded.
“Little beauty, don’t worry, no one will know. After we sell you to a brothel, without us doing anything, your own family will execute you; who will care about what you experienced before.” The man in black smiled proudly. Aristocratic families valued innocence the most, and if they lost their innocence, that would be a dead end.
Who would care how she lost her innocence.
Of course, saying that she would be sent to a brothel was just to scare Ning Xueyan. Their original order was to kill a few maidservants by the way, but this one looked good, so he didn’t plan to let her go. Anyway, at that time, he would just push the blame on the maidservants; it was normal to make a mistake in the dark.
Although it was a pity for such a flower-like appearance, compared to his own life, he still felt that it was best to kill the person, which was the most secure.
“People from Duke’s Mansion, you dare to touch them!” The hairpin in her hand was once again tightly clenched. Ning Xueyan forced herself to calm down, speaking to distract the man in black’s attention while nervously widening her eyes to find an opportunity.
“Duke’s Mansion, which Young Lady from Duke’s Mansion are you?” The man in black was stunned and didn’t come closer.
“Yes, I am the Young Lady from Duke’s Mansion.” Ning Xueyan also didn’t expect that this sentence could actually make the man in black stop. She was slightly stunned and immediately stated firmly.
“Looking at you, you’re only thirteen or fourteen years old, right? You should be the Fifth Miss from Duke’s Mansion! It’s a pity, this beautiful appearance!” The man in black sized up Ning Xueyan a few times, first in a daze, then he laughed nonchalantly, “Even if you are the Fifth Miss from Duke’s Mansion, it’s useless. Except for that one, any other one is useless.”
Saying this, he reached out to pull Ning Xueyan.
