Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 146 - 144: Rescue

Chapter 146: Chapter 144: Rescue

"Xi’er!!" Mrs. Liu cried out in alarm, forcefully pushing Mrs. Lan. Mrs. Lan, caught off guard, stumbled and fell off the carriage. Mrs. Liu didn’t pay her any mind, and jumped off herself.

Jingrui, Jinghao, and Fang Wenri quickly followed suit, jumping off too.

The others were too scared to leave the carriage, they didn’t even dare to poke their heads out for a quick peek.

Mrs. Li secretly hoped that they would all jump off the carriage. If the wolves believed that everyone was gone, they might stop attacking the carriage.

Xiao’er, upon hearing the panic in Mrs. Liu’s voice, caught sight of something flying out of the carriage out of the corner of her eye. When she turned to look, she saw Xi’er falling, taking the trajectory of a parabola.

A wolf was running right beneath her, eagerly chasing after her.

Xiao’er quickly moved to catch her.

But time was off the essence. Suddenly, ten people dressed in black appeared from the forest. One of them deftly caught the falling Xi’er, while slashing a sword across the neck of the pursuing wolf with his other hand, effectively kicking away the wolf.

The other black-clothed figures engaged themselves in the battle against the wolf pack.

Relieved, Xiao’er rushed over, quickly thanked the stranger, and took Xi’er, who was guffawing in his arms. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the oblivious, laughing child.

"This dim-witted little guy," she thought, "Almost became a wolf’s dinner and here he is, laughing without a care in the world!"

By this time, Shen Chengyao and Mrs. Liu had also rushed over.

Mrs. Liu took Xi’er from Xiao’er while Shen Chengyao positioned himself protectively before the two, holding a hoe smeared with poison and faced the encroaching wolves. His posture clearly implied a threat, If you dare come closer, I’ll kill you.

Some of the wolves seemed to get the hint and didn’t dare to advance further. Many of them had already been felled by the weapons in the hands of humans, a small wound being enough to bring them down.

With the intervention of the black-clothed individuals–those with extraordinary martial skills–the dozens of wolves were soon completely vanquished!

Only after the wolves were almost wiped out did the three generations of the Shen family crawl out from under the carriage. Shen Chengzong even made a show of hacking at a motionless wolf with his hoe, "Stupid wolf! How dare you approach me! You deserved what you got!"

On hearing this commotion, Xiao’er turned to glance at Shen Chengzong. "Second Uncle," she said icily, "some of these wolves are just unconscious from the poison. You wouldn’t want to wake them up."

On hearing this, Shen Chengzong flung his hoe aside and scampered over to their side.

Xiao’er lowered her eyes, hiding the contempt in her gaze.

Shen Chengyao turned to the black-clothed individuals and made a formal expression of gratitude.

"Marquis Shengping, there is no need for gratitude. We were merely carrying out orders. Excuse us!" The leader of the black-clothed individuals returned the gesture, gave a nod to Xiao Fuzi, and then, along with his group, disappeared swiftly into the forest.

Jingrui, Jinghao, and Fang Wenri watched the swiftly disappearing figures with stars in their eyes, full of admiration and envy.

Mrs. Lan, trembling, finally managed to crawl out from under the carriage.

Her skirt was soaked, and her body was covered with mud from lying under the carriage. She was a pitiful mess!

She nervously approached Xiao’er’s family: "Brother and sister-in-law, I didn’t mean it earlier, I was just too scared, so I picked up the first thing I saw and threw it, trying to distract the wolf. I didn’t know that it was Xi’er, I thought it was... a bundle."

Mrs. Liu simply lowered her head and gently played with Xi’er cradled in her arms, not even giving her a sideways glance.

Bundles! The luggage was in another carriage! Where did a bundle come from? She would rather fill the carriage with bundles rather than having her there! No, even a pig or a dog would be more preferable to her!

"Brother, sister-in-law, I didn’t mean it earlier, I was just too scared! If the wolf had gotten in, we would all be dead! At that moment, I just wanted to save everyone’s life! Xi’er was wrapped in a quilt, so my first thought was that it was just a bundle... Besides, she’s just a little girl, and you have so many daughters... And your mother was in the carriage, too... I was also worried about my mother’s safety..." Mrs. Lan’s fear had not completely dissipated, making her speech irrational, but her expressions were instinctively perfect! It was almost a natural talent for her.

Her hair was messy, her clothes dirty, and her whole appearance was pitiful and timid, she looked extremely wretched. To those who didn’t know better, it would appear that she was the victim.

This woman! The more Shen Chengyao and his family listened to her, the more furious they became!

Seeing their state stirred their anger too! They hadn’t even said a word, yet it was as if their family had already bullied and verbally abused her!

Furthermore!

What kind of apology was this? Was it remorse? No, it was shifting blame! It was to make matters worse for them! Save everyone in a hurry? Concerned about Mrs. Shen’s safety? It sounds so beautiful! So basically, throwing Xi’er out was right, saving everyone’s life?

"Thinking it was a bundle? She’s just a little girl? Mrs. Lan, do you think other people’s daughters are burdens? But not every girl in this world is as precious as your daughter! Even if I have the most daughters in the Shen family, even if I give birth to ten or more, each of my daughters is unique in this world! Each of my children is my treasure! They’re not burdens! They’re not something you can just dispose of at will!"

Not to mention thinking it was a bundle, she probably would have thrown her out even if she knew it was Xi’er, thought Mrs. Liu angrily.

"No, I didn’t mean that..." Mrs. Lan shook her head, wiping away tears, realizing she’d said the wrong thing.

"Third aunt, my mother was also just acting out of desperation. Now, isn’t Xi’er fine? If my mother hadn’t thrown Xi’er out, we don’t know what would have happened to us all. My mother also saved our lives! Weren’t you also in the carriage at the time?" Shen Bao’er, looking down on her mother, could not bear to see her mother begging in front of people she always considered beneath her, and her tone was a bit confrontational.

Heartless!

This was the only word that came to Xiao’er’s mind at the moment.

Saving lives? No idea whose life was saved!

"Heh..." Mrs. Liu laughed bitterly.

"So, we should thank aunt for throwing Xi’er to the wolves to save our lives, but our family has always believed in sharing fortune and adversity together. Even if everyone in the carriage had died, we wouldn’t have suspected someone to save our own lives. As the saying goes, ’Incompatible paths do not seek each other’, so dear, we cannot continue to travel together!"

"No... don’t travel together? What does that mean?" Mrs. Lan’s voice trembled, and she was in a complete panic, fearing that Xiao’er’s family would abandon her and her daughter in these desolate mountains and wilderness.

"It means we can’t take you to the Imperial Capital with us anymore. This time it was a wolf, and we narrowly escaped, but I worry that next time, someone might be thrown to the tigers as a ’bundle’. Xiao Fuzi, will we pass through more mountains and forests on the way? Is it possible we could encounter more beasts?" Xiao’er deliberately turned her head and asked Xiao Fuzi.

"We still have a stretch of such a path." Xiao Fuzi also had no liking for these relatives of the Marquis Shengping. Marquis Shengping was a good sprout out of a rotten root?

He solemnly nodded in agreement. Of course, he was also speaking the truth, as the land route was not as safe as the water route. Initially, they could have opted for the faster water route to the Imperial Capital, but Mrs. Shen was afraid of water and had adamantly refused to take a boat.

"Brother, you can’t just abandon us two mothers and daughters!" Mrs. Lan no longer sought mercy from Mrs. Liu and her daughter. Instead, she turned to Shen Chengyao.