Frightened, Mínghuì closed her eyes, she couldn"t believe she was going to be disfigured. Because of the tension, Mínghuì didn"t realize a woman"s hand was supporting her waist.
"This girl is really too ruthless." A magnetic voice that oozed of s.e.x appeal abruptly trailed to her ears. Dōngfāng Mínghu opened one eye, then opened another. A tall male dressed in blue appeared in front of her.
"Mind your own business." The girl struck again without a word.
The man in blue didn"t waste time showing face, the two figures exchanged blows within the narrow s.p.a.ce. Wherever the whip hit, items within the store suffered.
Mínghuì and Wǎn Yù sneakily withdrew their presence from the store. Mínghuì wanted make out the face of the man dressed in blue, but Wǎn Yù pulled her away, "Don"t join in on the fun, we can leave now."
Dōngfāng Mínghuì was slightly stunned, so she continued walking silently, unable to justify a reason to stay. After all, the man in blue was helping them.
Wait a minute, that man in blue. Holding a fan, handsome, tall, strong, like a tree blowing in the wind, didn"t he bear a striking resemblance to Lǐ Yùnán, one of the male leads?
She thought about it over and over. This place was where a hero called Lǐ Yùnán that came to rescue the beauty and thus, met with the lady of the house. They"d meet again on the road, both finding themselves in adversity. But since she didn"t want to let go of an opportunity to prevent her death, how could the hero rescue the beauty?
"What is it, did you take a fancy on the blue coated boy?" Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù coldly crossed her arms.
She was thinking about how the original Mínghuì died tragically after several attempts to rob the protagonist"s boyfriend. It was needless to say she didn"t want to have anything to do with the males near the main character"s side. Meeting one was simply a death wish.
Dōngfāng Mínghuì shook her head hurriedly, holding Wǎn Yù"s hand and said, "Seventh sister, let"s go."
Upon returning to the mansion, Mínghuì patted her chest with an unsettled expression, murmuring, "For now, I"ve avoided it."
"What are you hiding?"
Wǎn Yù was standing behind her when she suddenly asked.
Mínghuì was scared to death, why could this lady easily haunt her? "It"s nothing, seventh sister, why are you back?"
Wǎn Yù pushed a small porcelain into her hands, "This is a soul cleansing dan. For today"s event, we"re even."
Opening the porcelain bottle, a sweet and fragrant smell emerged. Inside the bottle, she discovered the culprits responsible for this attractive aroma, a total of three. They appeared to be of high quality, as the main character didn"t want to owe her any favors.
For her to draw the boundary lines so clearly, it wasn"t good.
Dōngfāng Mínghuì also had no knowledge on medicine, she knew little of how valuable these pills were to outsiders. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the bottle into her room.
As night came, Mínghuì slept soundly, her lips smacked from delight, as if dreaming of delicious food. She smiled with satisfaction.
"Get him, get that a.s.sa.s.sin!"
"Come on, catch him!"
In the dead of the night, the sounds were still. It was only until the cries came did a majority wake up.
Cui"er was sleeping outside, when she heard the noise, she pushed open the door and woke her lady from her slumber, "Miss, miss, wake up, something has happened."
Mínghuì jolted awake, sitting up, her eyes were still hazy from sleep, "What is it?"
Her maidservant pointed to the outside, "Miss, listen, it seems a.s.sa.s.sins have invaded the courtyard."
a.s.sa.s.sin?
Mínghuì immediately became more alert and cautiously peeked through the crack of the door. Outside were bright lights and shadows of figures overlapping each other, something did indeed happen.
"Miss, don"t go outside, it"s too dangerous."
"I"ll go look." Mínghuì dressed herself and slipped out.
Cui"er unaffectedly followed her, "Miss, the a.s.sa.s.sins haven"t been caught yet, where are you going, shall we request an escort to protect you?"
Dōngfāng Mínghuì shook her head, if the a.s.sa.s.sin was in the household, they"d likely be searching for the heroine. If she openly went to get an escort, wasn"t she seeking death?
"Too troublesome, you can go back first."
Cui"er stayed silent and marched along, finding herself in a little remote courtyard not long after. The courtyard looked as if it was in ruins, left alone for many years without any sort of management. Weeds and overgrown lush left little road to walk on.
Mínghuì stepped on a rotten branch on the ground, causing it to rattle. In the middle of the night, it was particularly frightening, so she ordered, "Cui"er, watch outside."
"Yes, Miss."
To actually let the main character live in such a dilapidated place, it was a no-brainer why she held no love for the Dōngfāng family and treated them so cruelly.
Dōngfāng Mínghuì debated on whether or not she should convince the protagonist to move out of the house, lest she felt too wronged.
"Seventh sister, are you there!?"
Not only was it too dark, she also didn"t know which room the seventh lady was living in. So she simply stood in the courtyard shouting at the top of her voice.
In a room, Wǎn Yù and a man in black were at even odds with each other. The sharp blade used by Wan Yu perched on the neck of the a.s.sa.s.sin, while the person in black clung to her vitals. It it wasn"t for Mínghuì"s shouting, they may have continued this far longer.
"Do you want to live or die?" sneered Wǎn Yù, adding on, "If I scream, the others will naturally discover you, it will not be easy to escape."
"You"re a Dōngfāng, will you really let me off so easily?" The person in black expressed some doubt. Wǎn Yù could recognize the feminity within the person"s voice.
"Believe or not believe, it"s not up to you. If you refuse to scram on a count of three, I will shout, be afraid you won"t get away with it when that time comes."
When Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù finished speaking, the person in black really began to the count the seconds, "One, two——"
"Seventh sister, are you asleep?" Mínghuì heard no response, so she decided to perform a room search.
Examining this situation, the a.s.sa.s.sin acted first, letting go of Dōngfāng Wan Yu"s vitals and taking the chance to escape.
"What"s with the noise? You woke me up while I was still asleep." Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù slightly tidied herself before opening the door, looking displeased.
"Seventh sister, did something happen here? There was an a.s.sa.s.sin in the household this night. Father is on a full search." Mínghuì ran her widened eyes over Wǎn Yù.
As dark as it was, Mínghuì could still make out the dress of the lady in this house, it was the same dress that she wore today that shone in the moonlight.
Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù gave her a complex look, "Well, I"m afraid there won"t be anyone visiting this broken place except for the rats. Now that you"ve seen it, you should be relieved."
"Seventh sister, living by yourself is too dangerous. Why don"t you come and rest within my courtyard for the night, while I"ll send someone to clean your place up." Mínghuì kind-heartedly suggested.
"I want to rest, you should leave." Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù did not care for her schemes and instantly bid goodbye to the visitor.
"Ah, if that"s the case, I"ll sleep here with seventh sister, in case anything happens, we can both look after each other." Mínghuì pretended to misunderstand and gave another suggestion.
Wǎn Yù narrowed her eyes, staring at her as she responded, "This little temple can"t hold you, lady nine. If scandal were to emerge from this incident, how could I bear it? Get out, or else—— I"ll have to be impolite."
The female protagonist was becoming wrathful, Dōngfāng Mínghuì felt her stomach churn as her legs started to shake uncontrollably.
She was despondent when she left, the blocking plan was a failure.
The a.s.sa.s.sin, a bosom friend to mother"s side of relatives, came in search of a woman to tell her about herself.
The seventh lady was not a member of the Dōngfāng family, but was fostered here and raised by her aunt, the fourth wife of the Dōngfāng family, Qiān Bèiyīng. Because the fourth wife was childless, she took the role as the mother of the seventh lady.
Once the lady knew that she wasn"t a Dōngfāng, she would soon find a way to leave this place. She was fearful that when the heroine returned, she would come to settle scores with the people of Dōngfāngs. She has offended the main character as cannon fodder, after all.
Dōngfāng Mínghuì retreated back to her room, requesting Cui"er for a pot of tea as she pondered over what to do.
It would be wonderful to stay in her comfortable home, served by a servant girl and being loved by her mother, but once the woman turned back to clean the family up, she"d certainly die.
However, if she wanted to live, she"d have to tag along with the heroine and brush her with good will, enough for the heroine to overlook the idiotic actions she had done to her before.
But she was a spiritual supporter, she had no combat effectiveness, considered to be useless and abandoned waste. Going out to train was the equivalent of living through nine deaths.
"So difficult."
Dōngfāng Mínghuì couldn"t help but sigh, why was it so hard to survive?
If she followed the female protagonist, would her chances of survival be higher?
Once her decision was made, Mínghuì acted at once, she set about preparing for her own journey. She packed silver, a necessary need, as well as bottles and jars. Jewellery as well, for the unexpected days.
She waited for Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù to leave the household, following her.
Dōngfāng Mínghuì looked forward for the next few days until at last, she saw the fourth wife Qiān Bèiyīng and her father.
She sneaked in and hid behind the doorway, lending an ear to eavesdrop.
"Wǎn Yù, you"re young, it"s unsuitable for you to go out. Don"t follow what other people say. Besides, don"t you know your qualifications are mediocre?" The fourth wife was vexed, how could she talk when the other seemed deaf? The infant that was once swaddled in cloth had grown into a graceful figure. Her face was near-identical to that particular person, which was eye-catchingly unpleasant.
Qiān Bèiyīng took a deep breath to hide her wrathful eyes, replacing to match the image of a loving mother.
Lord Dōngfāng looked at his wife and disapproved, "Bèiyīng, Wǎn Yù isn"t that small. If she wants to, let her try. If she fails, she can always come back."
Everyday, Qiān Bèiyīng neglected her attention towards Wǎn Yù, but now she wanted to go to the Royal Inst.i.tute, wanting to train. Even Lord Dōngfāng agreed to it, but Qiān Bèiyīng rejected it, feeling there was something was fishy.
"Papa, fourth wife." Dōngfāng Mínghuì abruptly emerged from the outside and greeted them. Then she said, "Since seventh sister wants to try to train at the Royal Inst.i.tute, the fourth wife well might as well agree. If you"re really worried about her safety, why not have father send off with two elite escorts?"
Her father laughed heartily at the sight of Mínghuì. Hearing her suggestion, he agreed, "As always, little nine is intelligent, so quick to think of a solution."
"Alright, Bèiyīng, just follow what little nine says, the matter is settled."
Mínghuì"s father gave his final word with a beat of a gong. As Dōngfāng Wǎn Yù withdrew from the hall, he glanced at Mínghuì.