Chapter 179 - Beginning of Nightmare! (1)

Xiao Huanxi stared blankly and froze where she was with her eyes wide open. The teacup rolled down from her hand and fell to the ground.

After the madams left, Xiao Fengjue walked to her from outside the door and said, “You can give up now. No matter how I plan, you will never have any chance to be with Chu Junyi again.”

“No…no, father, Eldest Brother, I was just…” Xiao Huanxi was so flustered that she didn’t know what to say. After a while, she finally put her ideas into shape. “Even if the rumors spread, it’s not a big deal. I just like Brother Junyi. Is it wrong for me to like someone?”

Xiao Fengjue closed his eyes. He was supposed to be furious, but now he didn’t have the slightest desire to vent the anger. He was completely desperate for this younger sister.

“Xiao Huanxi, you cannot be more stupid! Father, find a family and marry her far away.”

Xiao Jingran seemed to have aged ten years in a flash. His solemn face was full of sadness. “Huanxi, this time you…”

Xiao Huanxi knelt on the ground with a thud and shook her head crazily.

“Father, don’t listen to Eldest Brother. I don’t want to marry someone else. Why should I marry someone else? Shen Ninghua has already agreed to let me stay with Brother Junyi. My wish will soon come true. Why should I marry someone else?”

Xiao Jingran gritted his teeth and said, “Your mother died early. I was worried that you and your brother would suffer grievances so I never got married again. But now it seems like I’ve ruined you! Huanxi, do you know what it means for an unmarried woman to be out for a night?”

“What?” Xiao Huanxi shook her head in a daze.

“You stayed out for a night. If you were in an ordinary family, you would probably have been forced to die long ago because you have lost your reputation!”

Xiao Huanxi retorted sharply, “Nothing happened that night. I was just trapped. I was locked up in a courtyard in the suburbs for a night. Nothing happened!”

“Who can prove it?”

“I…” Xiao Huanxi was stunned in a panic. After a while, she suddenly raised her head and said, “Father, nothing really happened to me. Shen Ninghua ordered her people to lock me up outside. She let someone open the door for me only when dawn came!”

Xiao Jingran caressed her hair in pain.

“What’s the use if Shen Ninghua knows the truth? Will she speak up for you? Furthermore, if you hadn’t made such a farce today, I could make a careful plan for you and perhaps there is a chance for a change. But you actually wanted to hang yourself in order to marry Chu Junyi. You’ve forced yourself into a dead end!”

“Father, this is already the case. What has happened cannot be undone. Help me, help me! You are His Majesty’s most trusted official, and the Xiao family is Da’an’s protector. As long as you want to do something, no one dares to stop you!”

Xiao Jingran sighed. He turned around and walked out. “Keep watch over your miss. Don’t let anything happen to her.” This child was really blindfolded by passion. She couldn’t see the current situation of the Xiao family at all…

Parents were all indebted to their children! Even if Xiao Huanxi turned out to be good for nothing and had caused such a big trouble, he still had to think of a way to turn around the situation as much as he could. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t think of marrying this daughter far away. If the situation was really irreversible, he could only send her away from the capital.

Xiao Jingran left to think of a way, but Xiao Huanxi was almost in despair.

“Even when father was angry in the past, he wouldn’t leave like this…” Father really didn’t care about her…The fear of being abandoned made her heart almost stop, and she kept pinching her palm to calm herself down.

Her maid stepped forward and said, “Miss, get up quickly. The ground is cold.”

Xiao Huanxi’s expression was ferocious. She suddenly picked up the teacup on the ground and smashed it at the maid’s head. “It’s all your fault, you bitch. If you didn’t let me sit down to rest, how would I be in such an awkward situation? Someone, hurry up and drag her down! Beat her up!”

The maid’s forehead was broken, and blood covered her face. Xiao Huanxi was clearly going to beat her to death. Thinking about it, she suddenly stood up, took a piece of porcelain on the ground, and forcefully cut herself in the forehead. Then, she desperately ran towards the direction in which the madams had left.

“Help! Help! She’s killing me!”

Just as the madams arrived at the gate and were about to board their carriages, they saw a maid with a bloody face pouncing out from the Xiao Mansion. “Madams, save me. Miss wants to beat me to death to vent her anger. I had no choice but to escape. Please save my life!”

The wife of the Minister of War, Madam Shao, frowned tightly. “She was actually beaten like this. Although she is a servant, she shouldn’t be killed. After all, it’s a matter of human life.”

“You are right. I guess Miss Xiao couldn’t hang herself, so she vented her anger on this petty maid.”

“We can’t send her back. Otherwise, she will probably be beaten to death.”

The maid seemed frightened. “I won’t go back. I’ll die if I go back.” As she spoke, she crazily ran towards the outside of the mansion.

Xiao Fengjue rushed over with some guards but was stopped by the madams. “Young Master Xiao, that maid didn’t make any big mistake. Why do you have to kill her?”

“Ladies, that maid signed the life contract. Her life and death are at disposal of the Xiao family. My sister just lost control of her temper and accidentally injured her. She had wanted to take her to recover, but the maid escaped. She seems to be mentally abnormal. If she accidentally injured someone outside, it would be bad. Someone else, hurry up and bring her back.”

Since it was a life contract, then they couldn’t interfere.

The madams got into the carriage and left, and their impressions of Xiao Huanxi became even worse.

Inside the princess mansion, Shen Ninghua was flipping through the chess manual in her room. Hong Ling quickly walked in and reported.

“Miss, our people have already started to act. Lv Shu has already escaped from the Xiao Mansion. But she was injured in the forehead.”

“Injured in the forehead?” Shen Ninghua paused. Lv Shu was the spy she had planted in the Xiao family. She had only intended to plant an extra spy there for use in case of an emergency, but she didn’t expect that Lv Shu would really play a big role. Without Lv Shu’s continuous encouragement and instigation, Xiao Huanxi would not have caused so much trouble for herself like this.

“Yes, news came that she was hit by Xiao Huanxi with a teacup. In order to enhance the effect, she cut her forehead with a piece of porcelain and jumped into the moat while the Xiao family’s guards were chasing after her. Now, the Xiao family’s guards are still fishing in the moat.”

Shen Ninghua’s heart moved. “Alright, I’ll prescribe some medicine. Ask someone to give it to Lv Shu so that she won’t have any scar. Also, arrange for someone to send her to Jiangnan. If she is still willing to work for me, you can arrange for her to stay at Huajun Pharmacy. If she wants to be free, give her enough money and let her arrange her own life.”

“Yes, Miss. You are very thoughtful.” Hong Ling smiled.

Shen Ninghua smiled and said, “Alright, hurry up and arrange it. Don’t let the Xiao family find it.”

Seeing Hong Ling leave, Shen Ninghua curled her lips slightly and said, “Xiao Huanxi is completely done this time.”

Not long after, news about Xiao Huanxi had been spread throughout the capital. Originally, there were still people who thought that the Xiao family was a hundred-year-old aristocratic clan, and Patriarch Xiao had a strict way of management, so it was impossible for his daughter to do those crazy things. However, once the news of Xiao Huanxi forcing her maid to death came out, no one spoke for her anymore.

That day, the Xiao family’s guards chased after a maidservant whose head was covered in blood. In the end, the maidservant even jumped into the river. They had witnessed this with their own eyes.

When Xiao Jingran heard all kinds of rumors, he was so angry that he fell ill.

After Xiao Fengjue fetched a doctor for him and settled down Xiao Huanxi, the rumors had reached an irreversible level.

Chu Junyi had been out to hear briefing on the business of Huajun Pharmacy. When he returned to the Xiao Mansion, the entire place was filled with an atmosphere of imminent storm.

Xiao Fengjue was waiting for him outside his courtyard. “You’re back?”

Chu Junyi stood still with his expression unchanged. “Eldest Brother, are you waiting for me?”

“To abandon the Xiao family for a woman, you are truly courageous.”

“I don’t understand what you are saying.”

“Today’s matters happened one after another, and the time arrangement was perfect. Before I could react, the situation was already irreversible. She is truly Princess Zhaohua personally bestowed by His Majesty. Her method is extraordinary. If you marry such a woman, I’m afraid your backyard will never be peaceful.”

Chu Junyi remained silent without responding to his words, but his expression did not change at all.

Xiao Fengjue’s eyes burned with anger, and he said with a monstrous amount of suppressed rage, “I don’t understand what kind of benefit you can have for destroying the Xiao family! Was it worth it for a Shen Ninghua?”

“Eldest Brother, you don’t have anything you really want to protect. When you find it, you will understand how I feel now. It has nothing to do with whether it’s worth it or not. It’s just because you want to do it.”

“Heh, I really can’t understand your so-called protection. After taking this step today, you can never turn around in this lifetime.”

“I have a clear conscience and have no regrets. There is no need to turn around.”

“What a clear conscience. You don’t care about the Xiao family’s kindness for bringing you up, father’s kindness for teaching you, and Huanxi’s affection with you. I…you can also ignore our brotherhood. Is this your clear conscience? Your clear conscience is only for Shen Ninghua, right?”

Chu Junyi’s expression turned cold as he stared at a bush on the ground. His eyes were filled with flames. “I remember the gratitude of nurturing, the kindness of teaching, the friendship of brothers and sisters, and I remember them clearly. If the Xiao family needs my help, I can repay it to you. But Shen Ninghua is the one and only. If I miss her, I will regret it for the rest of my life!”

Chu Junyi paused for a moment, then he said word by word, “So, I can let anyone down, but I can’t let her down!”

“Alright, this is truly deep love. Then let me see how long your love can last!” Xiao Fengjue’s eyes were sharp, like an unsheathed cold sword that carried an unstoppable power tempered with ice and fire.

Chu Junyi did not show any signs of weakness. His majestic momentum surged out, causing people to feel intimidated at a sight. “Watch carefully.”

In the room, the candlelight was affected by the imposing aura between the two of them and constantly flickered. After a while, it slowly became still.

Xiao Huanxi had a nightmare all night. In the morning, she suddenly woke up. She covered her chest and gasped fiercely to calm down the fear from her dream. However, she did not know that today was only the beginning of her nightmare.

She stood up and wanted to drink some tea. Suddenly, a loud noise came from the door, making her feel restless. Before she lost her temper, someone kicked the door open. Four old maidservants suddenly grabbed her, pressed her on the bed, and took off her clothes. Then, they started to inspect her body.

“Who are you? Let go of me, let go of me! Help!”