CH 84

Fluttering Hearts (Senior Sister‘s Mad Switch to a Crazy Dog )

In the diligent pursuit of burning her life to make money…

Song Shu Qing finally managed to repay the debt owed to Murong Yan within a year, reclaiming her identity as a partner in the teahouse.

And unsurprisingly, the first thing she did was hire two temporary assistants for the shop, and then she hastily left overnight with Zi Yan.

Oh no.

I mean, they went on a vacation.

Completely ignoring the pitiful cries and pleas of Wang Wei, who clung to her legs, Song Shu Qing finished her assigned report and left a resignation note without looking back, choosing to accompany Zi Yan back to her ancestral home in Jiangnan.

On their journey, Song Shu Qing remained calm, relying on the network she had built during her time as a shadow guard.

Oh no, I mean connections.

They traveled at a leisurely pace, not indulging in extravagant mountain adventures, but certainly not missing out on good food and drink.

However, following the peculiar and extreme rule that 『shadow guards will always be intercepted by foolish dogs when accompanying relatives』, just two days away from reaching Jiangnan, the carriage driven by Song Shu Qing fell prey to bandits.

“No way…”

“No way, no way!”

The shadow guard, riding on horseback, glanced back at the modest and unassuming horse-drawn carriage. Song Shu Qing, with her hand on her forehead, couldn’t believe her eyes and exclaimed, “Are they really going to rob this shabby little carriage? Can’t these bandits have some ambition? Can’t you choose a more impressive and wealthier carriage?”

With the group of men brandishing large cleavers and wearing fierce and menacing expressions, Song Shu Qing murmured softly, her shoulders slumped, “If only I had known, why did I open a teahouse in the first place? It would have been so much easier to run an escort agency, practice against sandbags, and make some money from the wealthy… Curse it, why didn’t I think of that?”

“What are you talking about, you crazy woman?” One of the tall and sturdy men, with fury in his eyes, couldn’t contain his anger as he pointed his blade at her nose and cursed.

“Hey, listen, you’ve really got the wrong person. I truly don’t have any money.” Song Shu Qing reached into the pockets of her robe, only to find a few pieces of trash and a wisp of cotton floating in the wind, which happened to drift in front of the leader of the bandits’ nose. “See, I really don’t have any money.”

Song Shu Qing helplessly shrugged, showing her empty palms. Although she sounded extremely submissive, it inexplicably made people feel like giving her a beating.

“Hmph, even if you don’t have any money, I’ll still take you away and give my brothers some fun,” the leader of the men gruffly exclaimed, about to command his subordinates to move forward.

“Miss Song?”

Knowing the strength of the shadow guards, but still worried, Zi Yan inside the carriage quietly lifted the curtain with a finger, anxiously watching her beloved.

“It’s alright.” Upon hearing the voice, Song Shu Qing turned around, dropping her artificial expression and revealing a reassuring warm smile. She whispered, “Kiss, my dear Zi Yan, behave and stay inside. Just wait a little longer.”

Though only revealing her eyes and brows, Zi Yan’s beauty as a former courtesan was captivating. The sight of a woman inside the carriage made some of the men struggle to contain themselves, uttering indecent words.

As the vulgar language reached Song Shu Qing’s ears, the nonchalant woman tilted her head.

A concealed aura of hostility spread through the woods, but no one noticed.

“Oh dear, this is bad.”

“I’ve been caught off guard…”

Subconsciously biting her right hand with neatly trimmed nails, Song Shu Qing straightened her spine and sighed expressionlessly. “Seems like the 『mad dog switch』 isn’t exclusive to Qin Qin, huh? I guess I shouldn’t use that joke on Qin Qin again next time.”

“What nonsense are you spouting, woman?!”

The leader of the men, unable to tolerate her audacious and fearless demeanor, gave the order for a few of his men to drag the woman off the carriage seat.

“…But you should consider yourselves fortunate that you encountered me.” Surrounded, Song Shu Qing remained indifferent as she simply unfastened her hairpin, gripping a black, long spike between her fingers. Her jet-black hair swayed with the gentle breeze in the woods. “After all, I usually, at the very least, leave behind intact corpses.”

As she uttered those words, she flung her hand forward.

In an instant, two men closest to Song Shu Qing had holes appearing on their foreheads, and blood trickled down their noses before dripping along their jaws.

Before the two could even react, they stiffened and fell backward simultaneously.

Launching the remaining spikes in her hand once again, within a mere three breaths, two more men fell. Song Shu Qing stood up from the carriage and reached for a dagger at her waist, swiftly aiming the tip at the remaining three.

“Hush.”

With an outstretched index finger, the woman gestured for the panicking men to silence their cries.

“You guys are making such unpleasant noises, do you realize how frightening it can be?”

“If my dear Zi Yan has nightmares tonight, I’ll feel sorry for her.”

Bending down to dodge a swinging blade aimed at her, Song Shu Qing, who was just about to sever the man’s neck as she closed in, suddenly hesitated.

Shifting her weight and taking three or four steps back, she looked at the weapon in her hand with a pained expression.

The three men, observing her sudden inaction as she stood still, exchanged glances and raised their blades, preparing to take her down together.

Just as they were within a foot’s distance, Song Shu Qing, who had been standing still, suddenly sank her body and swiftly rolled to the side, using her hand to support herself. Then, with a forceful throw, she launched the dagger in her hand, impaling the man farthest from her onto a tree. The blade pierced through his chest, and crimson blood slowly seeped out, staining his clothing.

Without even glancing at the scene, the shadow guard grabbed the blades from the hands of the initial two corpses and hurled them towards the remaining two men, who were attempting to flee.

One of the throwing knives happened to sever the head of one man, instantly ending his breath, while the other lodged itself in the back of the other man, causing him to writhe and howl in agony on the ground.

“Oh dear, as expected, using unfamiliar weapons affects accuracy.” Song Shu Qing took a shallow breath, furrowing her brow. “Even the dagger… If it were Qin Qin, she would have aimed for the forehead without fail.”

Casually picking up a weapon from the ground, the woman approached the panting and disheveled man, but midway, she halted and threw the weapon from a distance.

This time, she didn’t miss her shot, and the tranquility returned to the forest once again.

After checking herself to ensure she hadn’t been stained with a single drop of blood, Song Shu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

Brushing off the dust from her hands, she returned to the side of the carriage and reassured the woman inside, “It’s all taken care of now.”

There was a sound from inside the carriage, and just as Zi Yan hurriedly opened the door, intending to step out of the carriage, she was stopped by Song Shu Qing’s hand covering her eyes.

Stepping onto the carriage, Song Shu Qing gently guided Zi Yan backward, placing her on the cushioned seat inside the carriage. With a smile, she said, “You don’t need to look, Zi Yan. It’s just some irredeemable trash, dirty and unpleasant to the eyes.”

The person in her arms was not the fiery princess who could breathe fire; she was likely someone who had never witnessed a bloody scene before. Compared to Qin Qin’s aversion to blood, her own 『beloved wife Zi Yan’s fear of blood』 sounded more convincing, didn’t it?

“It’s all over. Once I take care of the traces, we’ll set off,” Song Shu Qing said as she released her hand and stood up, blocking the view outside the carriage door. She tidied her disheveled hair from the battle.

Zi Yan blinked her eyes, confirming that the person before her was unharmed. She took out a silver hairpin from her own hair bun and gestured for Song Shu Qing to lower her head. Carefully, she reattached it for her.

“There we go.” Zi Yan lightly parted her lips and gestured to the slightly bent figure, “This way, it’ll be more convenient for you to drive.”

“Tsk, as expected, my dear Zi Yan is the best to me.” She squinted her eyes, not mentioning the dozens of familiar long nails still hidden in her bag. “Those bloody things truly don’t deserve to be in Zi Yan’s sight.”

Song Shu Qing kissed the cheek of the person before her and closed the carriage door.

Peeking through a corner of the curtain, Zi Yan watched the woman outside cleaning up the bloody traces.

She didn’t tell Song Shu Qing that she had observed the entire situation outside the carriage from beginning to end.

She didn’t tell Song Shu Qing that she wasn’t afraid of the splattered blood and dismembered bodies because every moment her gaze was focused on the gallant figure of her beloved.

The billowing robe in the wind, the resolute silhouette throwing blades, the determined expression when taking action.

And when she turned around, her brows furrowed with concern, she checked the bloodstains before putting on a gentle expression and speaking with a thoughtful voice.

Today, Zi Yan was once again reminded of the intoxicating feeling of being deeply moved.