Cao Yuqing saw that Qin Yining's face was covered with tears. She was so nervous that her face was pale. Her slender hands were holding one of Duchess Ding's arms, but because the cold blade was right beside her neck, it seemed that she would immediately bleed if she moved an inch forward. Qin Yining didn't dare to move at all, and her face was extremely gloomy.
As early as when Qin Yining refused to kill her, she concluded that Qin Yining was not Duchess Ding's subordinate.
Now, looking at Duchess Ding's ruthlessness to her, Cao Yuqing was even more sure that Qin Yining had nothing to do with the Qingtian Alliance.
If it were any other girl in the Qin family who was being held hostage at this time, Cao Yuqing would not care about her life and death. She would directly order people to rush up and kill the rebels.
But the hostage was Qin Huaiyuan's most beloved daughter.
Qin Huaiyuan had no children. Obviously, he loved his legitimate daughter very much.
She was devoted to Qin Huaiyuan. If Qin Yining died at this moment, even if she didn't kill her, Qin Huaiyuan would hate her. Then, wouldn't there be an insurmountable gap between her and Qin Huaiyuan?
"It turns out that such a loyal person as Duchess Ding can be ruthless. I don't know that you implicated innocent people for your own selfishness and wanted to kill your own granddaughter. If Duchess Ding knew it in the netherworld, what would she think?" Cao Yuqing's hand, which was holding the sword tightly, had turned white.
"You people of the Cao family are the least qualified to say this." Duchess Ding gnashed her teeth and wished she could rush forward and eat her flesh.
The knife in her hand moved a little closer to Qin Yining's neck. "Get out of the way and let us out. Otherwise, I will kill her. At worst, another young lady will be buried with us. It won't be a loss for our Qingtian Alliance!"
Qin Yining cooperated and raised his head to scream. He sobbed, "Save me, save me, I don't want to die here!"
Cao Yuqing looked at Duchess Ding coldly. She slowly raised her left hand and stepped back step by step. The silver-masked spy behind her also stepped back and made a path in front of the courtyard door.
Qin Yining secretly heaved a sigh of relief. She grabbed Duchess Ding's hand harder and motioned for her to leave quickly.
Duchess Ding immediately escorted Qin Yining and ran out with the remaining six members of the Qingtian Alliance.
Seeing this, Cao Yuqing hurriedly took people to chase after them. But when she saw Duchess Ding pulling Qin Yining and running away, the knife was still on the girl's slender neck and the blood could be vaguely seen, Cao Yuqing didn't dare to chase after them. She was afraid that Duchess Ding would really kill Qin Yining.
Running along a path lined with wooden fences on both sides, they turned a corner and saw five horses hiding behind a haystack. Duchess Ding had ordered people to hide them here a long time ago.
"Get on the horses, quick!" Duchess Ding urged in a loud voice.
The men immediately obeyed the order, one man on one horse, or two men in a team.
At this time, Cao Yuqing had already caught up with them.
Duchess Ding reprimanded, "Don't come over!" She tightened the knife in her hand.
Cao Yuqing could see the madness and determination in Duchess Ding's eyes. She hesitated and didn't order people to come forward.
In the time of a breath, Duchess Ding pushed Qin Yining to the ground. She turned around and took a man's hand and jumped on the back of a horse. The five horses immediately galloped on the official road.
"Go after them!" Cao Yuqing waved her hand, and the people behind her immediately chased after them.
Qin Yining was lying on the ground. Her palms and elbows were bruised. She was crying and trembling all over.
Cao Yuqing arrived in front of her in a few steps. Seeing that the pine hairpin in her hair was late and she was in a sorry state, crying like a pear blossom in the rain, she sheathed her sword and helped her up with both hands. She asked softly, "How are you?"
Qin Yining looked at Cao Yuqing with tears in her eyes. Her red eyes and nose made her look even more pitiful against her white and tender skin, which was as white as fresh snow.
Cao Yuqing lifted her chin to check the wound.
Her snow-white collar was stained red with blood, and there were two cuts on her jade neck. Obviously, she had scratched her skin when she was nervous. At this time, it was no longer bleeding.
"Fortunately, it's not a big deal." Cao Yuqing sighed and patted Qin Yining's shoulder.
Ignoring the fact that she was Qin Huaiyuan's most beloved daughter, Qin Yining's face was very similar to Qin Huaiyuan's when he was young. Cao Yuqing couldn't bring herself to harden her heart. She only felt that this girl was brought out by her own scheme, and she was innocent enough to go through all of this.
"Concubine Cao, you …" Qin Yining sniffled, then said, "You're so good at martial arts. Are you really the emperor's secret agent that my maternal grandmother said you were? "
Cao Yuqing nodded.
Qin Yining asked again, "Last time, when the assassins tried to assassinate the emperor and my father, I saw a silver-masked man come to the emperor's rescue. There was an extremely skilled woman among them. Was that you?"
"Yes." Cao Yuqing calmly nodded again.
Qin Yining's feelings towards Cao Yuqing became incomparably complicated. In the end, she said, "Then my father knew about your identity from the beginning?"
Cao Yuqing raised her eyebrows and said with a smile like a flower, "Why do you say that?"
"Because you didn't hide your identity in front of me today."
Qin Yining lowered her head and used her sleeve to wipe her tears, "I really didn't expect maternal grandmother to be like this." It was as if her tears couldn't be wiped clean, so they fell down again.
Seeing her cry so pitifully, Cao Yuqing no longer had any doubts in her heart. Instead, she hugged Qin Yining's shoulder and comforted her.
Not long after, the dozen or so silver-masked men dressed in black rushed back.
Cao Yuqing didn't wait for them to speak and said, "Did you let them escape?"
"Yes." The leader of the men said.
"Understood. I'll explain this matter to the emperor. You're dismissed."
"Yes."
The men cupped their hands in salute and quickly retreated.
Only then did Cao Yuqing hug Qin Yining's shoulder and walk back to the courtyard from before.
Someone had already prepared a carriage for them, and there was also an unfamiliar coachman waiting outside.
Bing Tang and Senior Servant Lu were beside the carriage and anxiously craned their necks to look around. When they saw Cao Yuqing and Qin Yining walking back so intimately with their arms around each other's shoulders, and Qin Yining's eyes were red and swollen from crying, their hearts skipped a beat.
They had been knocked unconscious and didn't know what had happened.
However, the masters of the carriage were two beauties. If they fell into the hands of bandits, even if someone came to save them, they would inevitably suffer.
Bing Tang's face was pale with fright, but he still forced himself to remain calm. He went forward to support Qin Yining and said, "Miss, you're injured!"
Qin Yining shook her head, "I'm fine."
Bing Tang's expression became even uglier when he saw that Qin Yining's arms and elbows were injured and that there were bloodstains on his neck. However, since Cao Yuqing was present, he didn't ask any further questions.
After they got into the carriage, Cao Yuqing ordered the coachman to set off for the Marquis of Anping's estate. She then leaned against the pillow and closed her eyes to rest. Her lazy and delicate appearance was the same as when they first arrived. Even Qin Yining's treasured sword was nowhere to be found.
Qin Yining knew that people who practiced martial arts had sharp senses. If he looked at an expert like Cao Yuqing for too long, it would definitely cause unnecessary trouble. Therefore, he only lowered his head and didn't say anything. It was as if he had been greatly wronged and frightened, but he still forced himself to be strong.
Bing Tang's heart sank as he bandaged Qin Yining's arms and elbows. He had a few bad guesses in his heart, but he couldn't get to the bottom of it. He was afraid that he would rub salt into Qin Yining's wounds, so he could only whisper some dry words to comfort her.
In the evening, the carriage stopped in front of the Marquis of Anping's estate.
Qin Yining and Cao Yuqing got off the carriage. Cao Yuqing smiled and said, "Fourth Young Miss, this concubine is tired from the journey. This concubine will go back to rest first. Fourth Young Miss should also rest early." Her behavior was no different than usual.
Qin Yining knew that Cao Yuqing hoped that today's matter could be kept a secret.
She deliberately cried until her eyes were swollen. At this time, she forced a strong smile and said, "Concubine Mother, take care. I still need to go to father's study to borrow a book to read. Since we're not going the same way, I won't be going with Concubine Mother."
Cao Yuqing raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect Qin Yining to directly tell her that he was going to see Qin Huaiyuan. "Yes, then Fourth Young Miss, please go ahead."
Qin Yining smiled and nodded. After exchanging greetings with Cao Yuqing, they parted ways.
After entering the estate, Qin Yining directly went to the study in the outer courtyard. He asked a servant and confirmed that Qin Huaiyuan was inside. He said, "I'll have to trouble you to pass on the message for me. Just say that I want to borrow a book from father to read. I don't know if it's convenient for father right now."
When the servant heard this, he smiled and agreed. He happily went to pass on the message.
At this time, Qin Huaiyuan was sitting cross-legged on the arhat bed next to the window and reading a book. When he heard the servant's reply, he felt that it was a bit strange.
The Shuoren House had a rich collection of books. If Qin Yining wanted to read any book, the Shuoren House would be more than enough. Today, Qin Yining and Cao Yuqing went to the Fairy Lady Temple to perform rituals. They probably just came back. Something must have happened on the way back.
"Invite Fourth Young Miss in."
The servant immediately went to respectfully invite Qin Yining in.
However, when he reached the brighter part of the corridor, he was able to clearly see Qin Yining's sorry state. The servant's heart trembled. He was afraid that he would get into trouble for prying into his master's secret. He hurriedly bowed his head and retreated.
Qin Yining left Bing Tang outside and entered the room by himself.
As soon as Qin Yining walked past the screen of the Four Gentlemen of Plum Blossom, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum Pavilion, she met Qin Huaiyuan's eyes.
When Qin Huaiyuan saw that Qin Yining's eyes were red and swollen from crying, he was stunned. "Sister Yi, did you suffer?" His first reaction was that Concubine Cao had bullied his daughter.
Qin Yining took off her cloak and hung it to the side, revealing her dirty clothes and bandaged hands. She said, "I encountered some things when I went out today. Is it convenient for father to talk here?"
Qin Huaiyuan nodded. His long eyebrows were tightly knitted as he sized up Qin Yining. He saw that her hands and elbows were simply bandaged. Other than her swollen eyes, there were bloodstains on her snow-white collar!
Qin Huaiyuan put down his book and strode over without even putting on his shoes. He lifted Qin Yining's chin and carefully examined her neck.
"You're injured? Who hurt you? Madam Cao? "
"It seems that father already knew Madam Cao's true identity."
Qin Yining's words made Qin Huaiyuan look at her in surprise. After a while, he said, "You knew?"
"Yes."
Qin Huaiyuan frowned and said, "Are your injuries serious? Do you need a doctor first? Are you hurt anywhere else? "
"I'm fine. Miss Tang already treated my injuries on the way back."
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