When Shen Xining woke up again, people from the Shen family were being taken to prison. Shen was crying so hard, as if a loved one had died in the family.
Master Shen followed behind the crowd. He was a calm and composed man in the past, but today he looked a little disheveled.
Shen saw Shen Xining from a distance and staggered over.
"Shen Xining, why does our whole family have to go to jail, while you can still live such a glorious life outside? This is not fair, Shen Xining, it's not fair! I beg you, please take us all out, please!"
As she said this, Shen was even about to kneel down, but Shen's father pulled her up with a dark face.
"That's enough. Stop embarrassing yourself here."
He pushed Shen's mother into the carriage, with his back to Shen Xining. Although he was such a tall man, he inexplicably gave people a decadent feeling.
"You and your mother have always been the same kind of people. Xining, you are a member of the Shen family after all. When you go this time, remember that if there are many things that really cannot be solved, you might as well stay out of it."
"Father, is this the reason why you beat me at home that day? For you, keeping yourself safe is more important than the future of this country, right?"
"One day, you will understand, Xining, that not everyone in this world can live as freely and unrestrainedly as your mother."
It was her mother again.
Shen Xining clenched his fists.
"Father, the day I was born, my mother's expectation for me was to uphold justice and fulfill my ambitions for this country, not to just take care of myself as you said. My mother also suffered hardships. My grandfather passed away and the family became increasingly small. These were the reasons for her downfall, but my mother never complained from beginning to end."
Father Shen moved his lips, said nothing, then turned and left.
Shen Xining watched the carriage slowly leave in the dark night and clenched her fists. She put on her hat again and spoke in a low voice.
"Let's pack up as well. We'll be on the road tomorrow."
The next day, Shen Xining was accompanied by only Chun Xing, a maid, and most of the people who followed him were sent by the emperor. They were said to be there for protection, but in fact they were there for supervision. Shen Xining was not surprised at all by this.
It would take 10 days to travel from Kyoto to southern Beijing by horse and carriage. Shen Xining was secretly worried and could only hope that nothing would happen on the road.
I don't know how long it took, but there was a noisy sound outside, and the leading guard drove away the intruders with a knife.
"Why don't you get out of here? Do you think you can just stop this carriage?"
Outside were a group of refugees. Shen Xining lifted the curtain and took a look. Those refugees were no different from the ones he saw on the grassland that day. They looked at the carriage with longing and deep fear in their hearts. Shen Xining lowered the curtain and felt sad in his heart. However, the experience that day told Shen Xining that these people could not be solved by giving them porridge or preaching. Their problem did not lie here.
However, at this moment, voices begging for mercy were heard from outside.
"Sir, Sir, please let us go, Sir! We know we are wrong!"
"Grandpa, my grandpa is old, please don't treat him like this, we were wrong, we would never block the road, we just did this just to pick up something."
Shen Xining frowned and got out of the car.
"What is it?"
The guard's expression changed slightly. He signaled his men to take the girl and the old man away, still looking respectful on the surface.
"Miss Shen, I'm sorry to disturb you. These two people just blocked the carriage and we had no choice but to do this."
Although the girl was wearing tattered clothes, her eyes were clear and her big eyes were so clear that one could see through them. Shen Xining's heart shrank.
"Don't stop them, it's not a big deal, just let them go."
The guards nodded repeatedly. Shen Xining thought the matter was resolved and turned to mount his horse, but he did not notice the sarcasm in the guards' eyes.
In order to save time, the carriage did not stop along the way. Finally, it was night. Shen Xining reluctantly got off the carriage to rest for a while, but he heard a faint cry for help not far away.
"Help! Help!"
"Shut up! Don't yell at me!"
"ah!"
Shen Xining originally didn't want to meddle in other people's business as she was busy with her own business. However, in her mind, Shen's father's "keeping himself out of trouble" kept echoing in her mind, and her experience outside the military camp that night also came to her mind. Shen Xining paused for a moment and went to the bushes over there.
"Who is here!?"
The guard who was still moving suddenly stopped and his body became stiff. Shen Xining was shocked to see that the man was the guard from the daytime. The woman lying on the ground was the same woman from the daytime. She still had the same clear eyes, but the clothes on her shoulders had been taken off. If he had come a few minutes later, she would have been stained.
"You don't want to live anymore, do you? The soldiers did this to a common woman. Once the matter is reported, you won't have enough lives!"
As he said that, Shen Xining helped the woman up and was about to scold the soldiers and tell them to get out, but he didn't expect the soldiers behind him to suddenly push her to the ground and then came up to her. His big hands rubbed her body fiercely twice.
"As expected of the eldest daughter of the Grand Tutor, the skin on her body is indeed different from that of the man below. Since you want to let her go, why don't you stay and keep me company? I've already taken a few glances at you today. You have a curvy figure, and you have grown in every place that should be grown!"
The woman stood aside, her clothes still in disarray. She widened her eyes, frightened by the scene before her. Shen Xining looked over and saw the woman biting her lower lip, stamping her feet, turning around and running away without looking back.
The guard was very strong. Shen Xining had been sitting in the car for a whole day and was already very tired. Now she had no strength to use. Seeing the guard's hands about to tear off Shen Xining's clothes, Shen Xining pulled out the pearl hairpin on her head and poked it directly into the guard's throat. Her voice was cold and hard, like a poisonous snake.
"You are really so bold. If you don't want to die, stand up now and tell me everything."
The guard wanted to struggle, but Shen Xining unceremoniously pushed the pearl hairpin into his throat, breaking the skin. Shen Xining's strength proved that what she said was true.
The guard quickly got up, somewhat flustered.
"I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything."
Shen Xining stood up and kicked the guard in the ankle. The guard knelt on the ground. She pulled out the knife the guard carried with him and put it on his neck. Then she took out fireworks, lit them, and waited for the crowd to arrive.
"Tell me, where do you get such courage?"
This woman was met in the afternoon, and she was still there in the evening, which means that she had been arrested in the afternoon. The guard was so skilled in his work, it was probably not his first time, and he must be a repeat offender.