Seeing the sword right in front of him, Shen Xining closed his eyes and felt great sadness.
But at this moment, the sound of a flute hitting the table came into his ears. Shen Xining was stunned for a moment, and then the whole person was embraced in a warm embrace, still the familiar temperature. Shen Xining opened his eyes, and the man snatched the sword from the guard's hand. He raised his hand and the sword fell down, and the guard fell to the ground unwillingly.
Xie Zhaoan took Shen Xining out and sat her on a tree branch. Shen Xining was a little panicked, but didn't want to show it. Xie Zhaoan handed her a wet handkerchief, looked at her and curled his lips.
"Miss Shen, if you are afraid, you can just say it. There is no need to hold it in. Xie is not the kind of person who will laugh at you."
Shen Xining pretended to be calm and held on to the branches beneath her. Her toes were tense with fear, but there was scrutiny in her tone.
"The Fourth Prince is a man of great power. I can always meet you no matter where you are."
Xie Zhaoan did not deny it. He raised his eyebrows and looked at her teasingly.
"You're right, but shouldn't Miss Shen thank me? Otherwise, what we're seeing now is Miss Shen's corpse?"
Shen Xining pursed her lips and was about to thank him when Xie Zhaoan slipped and nearly fell down. Shen Xining subconsciously went over to grab him, but Xie Zhaoan grabbed her hand and flipped her up again. Shen Xining was hanging on the tree in a mess, and her whole body was stuck between the branches of the tree, unable to go up or down, which looked very ridiculous.
"Xie Zhaoan, let me go."
The man still looked calm and composed. He looked at Shen Xining hanging on the tree, his voice filled with determination.
"Miss Shen, I came here to travel. Everyone in the royal family knows that I have no great ambitions in this life. I just want to travel around the beautiful mountains and rivers of my motherland while I am still alive. I just met you on the way. I hope Miss Shen will forgive me."
Shen Xining didn't believe a word of this nonsense.
Last time at the horse riding and archery competition, his behavior was very strange. If he was really an idle prince as he said, and his life was only about traveling around the beautiful rivers and mountains of his motherland, and he had no other ambitions, then how would he know that there were those refugees around the horse riding and archery field, and why did he react like that when he met those refugees
Xie Zhaoan’s purpose is definitely not simple.
"Fourth Prince, we are not fools. I am not the daughter of a royal tutor, but the daughter of a guilty minister. You should also know that my father's crime is not groundless. At least, it is enough to show that the current emperor must have some opinions about my father. Why don't we speak frankly?"
"Yes, Miss Shen is indeed not a fool. It's just that what you insist on and the country you love nowadays are no different from the behavior of a fool in my opinion."
Shen Xining frowned and wanted to ask something, but the smile on Xie Zhaoan's face was getting bigger and bigger. Seeing the smile on his face, Shen Xining felt that something was wrong. Sure enough, the next second, the man stood up and stomped his feet hard, and the tree, which was not very strong to begin with, collapsed instantly.
Shen Xining fell directly down. Fortunately, there was a haystack below, so she didn't fall very hard, but she was really in a mess. Shen Xining pursed her lips. She really hated Xie Zhaoan to the extreme. She bit her lower lip and stood up. Chun Xing ran over with tears and snot. Shen Xining supported her. She had heard what happened in the house before.
The leading guard threw the woman up that night.
It was still those bright and charming eyes, but they were completely different from the clear and transparent eyes a few hours ago. Now her eyes were full of hatred. The hatred surging in her big eyes made Shen Xining's heart tremble.
She wanted to say something, but the woman threw the thing in her hand at Shen Xining's face again.
Shen Xining reacted in time and dodged it. The thing fell on the grass, which instantly caught fire.
The woman spoke viciously.
"Why don't you just die! Why don't you just die!"
Haruki frowned.
"Do you know what you are saying? It was our young lady who saved you. If it weren't for our young lady, you would have died somewhere by now!"
"If it wasn't for your young lady, how could my father have died? Blame your young lady! Blame this damned world! My father and I just wanted to escape from the famine and make a living, but we ended up like this. What about you? You have luxurious clothes and delicious food, are we born to die?"
The leading guard drew his sword and pierced the woman's body without hesitation.
"stop!"
Shen Xining stopped screaming, and the guard pulled the sword out of the woman's body. There was blood at the corner of the woman's mouth, but her whole face was smiling, and she slowly fell down.
Shen Xining looked at the guard and said sternly.
"Who told you to kill her?"
The guard half-knelt, but there was no sign of weakness in his gaze.
"Ms. Shen, because of this man, we lost a camp and a lot of our food and fodder was destroyed here. More importantly, the brothers didn't get a good rest the whole night and we also lost a brother. This man deserves no death!"
Shen Xining felt a lump in her chest. She wanted to say something, and all the other guards knelt down.
"Miss Shen, this man's death is not a pity!"
Without waiting for Shen Xining's response, the leading guard said, "Miss Shen, your life is precious, and the lives of our brothers are not. But you must understand that everything you have now may be lost one day. It is better to leave a way out for yourself, and your brothers will also have a good explanation for you!"
This is a threat, naked!
Although Shen Xining left the palace with the imperial edict, who doesn't know that the reason Shen Xining left was to find evidence to clear the Shen family's name? So these people were actually looking down on Shen Xining, especially since they were actually the prince's personal soldiers.
The prince hopes that the Shen family can clear their grievances, but he also hopes to grind away the arrogance in Shen Xining. If she really marries into the royal family in the future, Shen Xining's life will surely be easier.
As he spoke, the guard stood up and looked at Shen Xining, with mockery clearly in his eyes.
"Miss Shen, if you don't have any other instructions, the brothers are tired after a night of work, so we're going to rest first."
After saying that, the guard left immediately, and Chun Xing threw the handkerchief in his hand angrily.
"Who are these people? They are just barbarians in the wilderness. How dare they treat us like this? Do they know who we are? We are from Kyoto..."
"alright."