At night, the small courtyard was quiet. The lights in the room had long been extinguished. In the darkness, Yu Shu sat on a chair, bored to death as she looked at the figures standing by the window. She said softly, "I'm just afraid that they won't come tonight. If I have to wait here all night, Xiaoxiu will be anxious to death."
Xue Rui was watching the movements in the courtyard through a crack in the window. Hearing the voice, he turned his head and laughed in a low voice, "Who told you to hide it from him."
It turned out that when Yu Shu left Qiu Gui Fang, she did not return to her own home. Instead, she asked Xue Rui to find an empty house for her. In this courtyard, there were two rooms with a dozen highly skilled soldiers lying in ambush, waiting for the group of people to walk into the trap.
With so many people protecting her, it was hard for Yu Shu to be nervous. She coughed lightly and said, "Ai, isn't this an abuse of personal power?"
She did ask him to find a few thugs, but she didn't ask him to find a group of soldiers from the yamen.
"How is this an abuse of personal power?" Xue Rui sternly said, "This robbery case has a record in Feng Feng prefecture. As an official of the Supreme Court, I have the duty of supervising unjust cases. Of course, I have the responsibility to help solve the case and arrest the real culprit."
Yu Shu curled her lips. Did he think she didn't know what the Supreme Court did? A case that happened in Feng Feng, how could he, a Jing official, be in charge of it?
"I — —"
"Shh," Xue Rui waved his hand at Yu Shu. His eyes narrowed and he said in a low voice, "They're coming."
Yu Shu's expression instantly became serious. Afraid of making a sound, she sat motionless on the chair and pricked up her ears to listen to the movements outside the window. Just as she heard some light footsteps, before she had time to be nervous, she heard the sound of a teacup shattering in the room. The next moment, there was the sound of breaking doors and windows in the courtyard, followed by several shouts and the clanging of cold weapons.
Hearing that there was a fight outside the courtyard, Yu Shu froze. She hurriedly stood up. Just as she took a step forward, Xue Rui raised his hand to stop her. "Let's wait a little longer."
Yu Shu stopped and silently counted to the twenty-third count in her heart. Then she heard a loud voice outside the door reporting, "Milord. The intruders have all been captured. "
Only then did Xue Rui light the candle on the table. He turned to Yu Shu and said, "Let's go. Let's go take a look. "
Yu Shu had a strange expression on her face. She had originally thought that there would be a fierce battle. How could it be resolved before she even had the time to wash her face? To think that she had been prepared to put herself in danger. What a waste of time.
Xue Rui noticed her expression, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. Did she really think that he would let her take the risk? If that was the case, then he was too incompetent. Just in case, the people lying in ambush in the courtyard were not ordinary soldiers. He said that to Yu Shu, but this group of people was actually a group of elite soldiers that he had borrowed from the military office.
Yu Shu followed Xue Rui out of the house. The small courtyard outside was not bright. The moonlight was not bright and there were dark figures everywhere. Soon, someone lit a torch. As soon as the courtyard was lit up, Yu Shu could clearly see the scene in front of her —
It was difficult for two people to fight against four people. There were a few swords and ropes on the ground, but there was not much blood. The people who were still standing were all soldiers in regular clothes. The four masked men who were kneeling on the ground were obviously here to kill them. Yu Shu's eyes lit up when she saw a figure who was being restrained by two people and was still struggling.
It was a pleasant surprise. Yu Shu pursed her lips and walked forward. She pulled off the mask on his face. When she saw the signature beard, the anger that she felt when she was forced to jump into the river for a long time came back. She immediately sneered: "Captain Qiu, how have you been? In the middle of the night, you broke into a private house and even brought a sword. Did you enter the wrong house or do you want to commit crimes?"
Qiu Biao knew that he had fallen into a trap. His face turned red. He was shocked and angry. He looked at the young man who was sneering in front of him. He did not know where the martial artists in the courtyard came from. For a moment, he couldn't find anything to say.
Xue Rui stood behind Yu Shu and did not interrupt. He wanted to see what she would do.
"Why don't you say anything?" Yu Shu stretched out her hand and used the back of her hand to slap Qiu Biao's face. The slap was not light nor heavy, but it was enough to humiliate him: "Are you afraid after seeing so many people? Ha, so you only have this little guts."
"Hmph!" Qiu Biao turned his head angrily and dodged Yu Shu's slap: "It's my bad luck to fall into the hands of a brat like you again!"
Thinking back on the ship, Qiu Biao attacked Xia Mingming and locked him in a bucket in the warehouse. It was Yu Shu who saw through him.
Xue Rui's brows raised in displeasure when he heard this insult, whereas Yu Shu started laughing instead, and she fiercely grabbed Qiu Biao's beard with her fingers, forcing him to face her. "It's not that you're unlucky, it's that you're stupid. Compared to that old fox, Bi Qing, you're his dog, and you're a stupid dog."
Qiu Biao glared at Yu Shu with fire in his eyes. He wanted to eat her.
"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for seeing me on the street a few days ago. What do you think? Do you regret it?"
Qiu Biao's beard was in pain from being pulled by Yu Shu. He roared with red eyes: "I only regret that I didn't kill you on the ship that day, you bastard, and let you live until today!"
Hearing this sentence, the corner of Xue Rui's mouth moved. What a stupid thing.
Yu Shu's eyes turned cold. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear: "It's too late to regret it. For the sake of ill-gotten wealth, you killed so many innocent people. You deserve to die."
Qiu Biao shivered. He was about to pounce on Yu Shu, but he was pulled back by the soldiers behind him. He could only sneer: "Do you think you can escape? You still have to — —"
Before he could finish his words, his mouth was blocked by someone. He could only make muffled sounds.
Yu Shu stood up and retreated to Xue Rui's side. She shrugged and said: "So many people saw and heard it. He came to kill me. I'll have to trouble Lord Xue to make another trip to the Thai Heng Chamber of Commerce to capture his accomplice, Bi Qing."
Xue Rui nodded. He maintained his dignity in front of outsiders. He didn't respond to her teasing words. He pointed at several soldiers in the courtyard and said sternly: "Send them to the yamen and put them in prison first! The few of you go to the Thai Heng Chamber of Commerce to arrest them! "
"Yes, Lord!"
Seeing the officers take the people away, Yu Shu was suspicious: "You're not going?"
"It doesn't matter. I've already arranged people to keep an eye on the Tehen Guild. They won't let anyone run away." Xue Rui's face was still serious. He leaned over and whispered in her ear: "It's too late. I'll send you back first, okay?"
His voice was in her ear, with a faint fragrance of tea. Yu Shu's ear itched. She slightly lowered her neck, lowered her eyelids, and responded softly.
"Okay."
***
She caught Qiu Biao. Although she didn't see Bi Qing tonight, Yu Shu was relieved. She believed that this time the two of them couldn't escape. She asked Xue Rui to send her home.
Because they lured the snake out of the hole, there were no carriages. Fortunately, the house that Xue Rui found was not far from Huixing Street. The two walked along the way, discussing tomorrow's matters. Soon, they arrived at Huixing Street.
At the end of the street, Yu Shu didn't ask Xue Rui to send her any further. "Let's stop here. It's so late. Xiaoxiu might come out to look for me. It'll be hard for him to explain if he sees you. I told him that I'm going to help the security company look after the house when I went out in the morning."
Xue Rui looked at the alley in front of him. It was only a few steps away from her house. There weren't many people on the road, so he said: "Okay, I'll come and pick you up tomorrow."
After saying goodbye here, Yu Shu took a few steps forward and turned back. She scratched her ear and said: "You're going back alone. Be careful on the road."
Xue Rui looked at her and nodded. There was an inexplicable emotion in his eyes. He had to hide it.
Looking at Yu Shu walking away and disappearing at the end of the alley, Xue Rui took a step back and turned around with his hands behind his back. He took a step forward and brushed past the hunchbacked night watchman. When he didn't see him, the night watchman raised his head and touched the knife scar on his face. He hit the gong in his hand and quickened his pace. He disappeared at the end of the alley in a flash.
After solving a problem, Yu Shu walked briskly. She felt strange that she didn't see Yu Xiaoxiu on the way. When she heard the night watchman not far away, she realized that it was so late. She couldn't help but quicken her pace. Perhaps she was too happy to be sad. She didn't see where she was going and sprained her ankle on the stone platform in front of her house. She screamed in pain and fell on the steps in front of the door. She knocked her knee. She gritted her teeth but didn't scream in pain. She tried to stand up twice but couldn't. She just sat on the ground and raised her hand to hit the door. "Jing Chen, Xiaoxiu, open the door. I'm back!"
Her back was facing the west entrance of the alley, so she didn't see a black shadow quietly approaching her. When the shadow was about a dozen steps away from her, he quickly took out a dagger and raised his arm. With the help of the faint moonlight, he aimed at her back —
"Shu!"
"Creak —"
At the same time, a loud roar came from the entrance of the alley, drowning out the sound of the door opening behind her. Yu Shu subconsciously turned her head and saw a flash in front of her eyes. She saw a cold glint and the sound of wind rushing towards her. Her pupils shrank and she held her breath as she watched the sharp weapon stabbing towards her face. But the next moment, the cold glint stopped. It was less than half an inch away from her eyebrows. Time seemed to be strangled by someone and stopped.
"Drip."
One drop, two drops, a slightly sweet drop of blood landed on the tip of her nose. Time was broken by this small sound, and only then did she clearly see what had caused that fatal dagger to stop. She took in a deep breath, her voice trembling. Without even turning her head, she said, "Jing, Jing Chen."
At the entrance of the alley, Xue Rui had returned after noticing that there was something off about the night watchman, and he'd chased him here before he saw the dangerous scene from before. He was unable to stop it in time, yet he saw a white sleeve stretch out from the door behind Yu Shu, and it didn't hesitate in the slightest to grab onto the dagger.
At this moment, both inside and outside the alley, even the killer was stunned for a moment. Xue Rui was the first to react. With a serious face, he rushed forward and without saying a word, he slapped the shoulder of the killer disguised as the night watchman, forcing him to throw away the sharp weapon in his hand and dodge backward.
Xue Rui rushed forward and the two of them immediately fought. Looking at Yu Shu again, she turned her head with a pale face and looked at Jing Chen who was standing behind her unknowingly.
"Are you okay?" Jing Chen asked.
"…" Was she the one who was in trouble now?!
Yu Shu shouted in her heart, but a gush of anger was stuck in her throat and she could not say a word.
Seeing that she was fine, Jing Chen loosened his fingers and threw the dagger aside. He looked at the two people who were fighting on the side. Seeing that they were in a deadlock, he flashed around Yu Shu and rushed forward to join the fight.
Two against one, there was no suspense at all. The night watchman was kicked in the chest by Xue Rui, and his shoulder bone was broken by Jing Chen's palm strike, causing him to be nailed to the wall. He spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the ground.
Seeing that he was lying on the ground, the two of them stopped fighting. One turned around and the other looked back. Their eyes met in the air, one squinted and the other frowned.
After a moment, Xue Rui spoke first, "Your hand …"
Jing Chen looked down at his finger and shook his head. "It's okay."
Xue Rui raised his eyebrows slightly and turned his head to look at the person sitting on the steps of the door. He was about to ask who the person who blocked the knife was when he saw her trembling shoulders. He thought that she was frightened and walked forward with concern. He squatted down and asked, "Shu, are you okay?"
"Okay … Okay my foot!"
Yu Shu raised her hand and wiped the blood off her face. Her teeth were chattering and she just wanted to curse!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
