Zhong Li was awakened by a cacophony of roars and screams.
At first, she was disoriented, her mind sluggish from exhaustion.
It wasn't until she came to her senses, cautiously pulling back the carriage curtain to look outside, that she realized the Qifu residence, serene just two cups of tea earlier, was now consumed by flames.
If there was no smoke, it meant no fire, so the light must have come from torches or lanterns. Given that Qi Lei was entering the mansion for Tian Huafen so discreetly, he certainly wouldn't have lit so many fires. That left only one conclusion...
Something had happened!
The thought flashed through Zhong Li's mind. She shoved the carriage door open, jumped out, and quickly entered the Qifu's back gate, the one Qi Lei had disappeared through earlier.
Qi Lei's courtyard was not large, with three separate residences in the back. Zhong Li followed the direction of the flames towards the central courtyard.
Fortunately, it was summer, and the bushes and large trees were lush. Zhong Li wound her way along the rockery until she stopped near Qi Lei's study.
"Speak, where is it?"
Just as she found a patch of bushes to conceal herself, a voice rang out in the open space before the study.
Zhong Li peered through the gaps in the bushes towards the source of the sound.
Qi Lei was kneeling on the ground, his hands tied behind his back. Behind him stood a woman of similar age, holding two children, one on each side, both seemingly no older than three.
Zhong Li could guess these were the twins Qi Lei had mentioned.
"I don't know," Qi Lei shook his head, looking up at the more than a dozen black-clad men facing him with swords.
"You don't know?" the black-clad man sneered sarcastically. He gently raised his sword, lifting Qi Lei's chin. "My people saw Zhong Sicheng entering your carriage with their own eyes. She searched for the medicine all day with no result; you must have given it to her, right?"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li's heart sank. It seemed the group holding Qi Lei hostage was the same one that had tried to kill her.
Qi Lei let out a chuckle. "I don't know what you're talking about. I returned to my residence after finishing my public duties today and didn't go out. This so-called Zhong Sicheng, perhaps your subordinates mistook..."
Before Qi Lei could finish, the man with the sword raised the flat of his blade and struck him on the back.
Qi Lei, already frail, coughed up a mouthful of blood from the blow.
"Qi Tongpan," the man sneered, his blade tracing along Qi Lei's neck. "Don't try to deceive me. My subordinates searched all your rooms and found no Tian Huafen. Where is it? Take it out!"
"I don't have it anymore!" Qi Lei roared in anger. "My daughter traded her life for that Tian Huafen. It was a reward from my master! How dare you..."
"No, master!"
Before Qi Lei could finish, the man delivered a kick to his chest. Madam Qi, kneeling nearby, couldn't bear it and scrambled to the black-clad man's feet. "Please, I beg you, don't kill my husband, please!"
The black-clad man looked down at the woman groveling at his feet. He gently lifted her chin with a black boot stained with Qi Lei's blood. "Tsk, tsk, Madam Qi, you're over forty, aren't you? I wouldn't have thought you'd still have such charm."
Qi Lei recovered and struggled to rise. "If you want something, come at me. Don't touch my wife."
"Hahahaha!" The black-clad man burst into laughter and turned to his subordinates. "Brothers, it's been a while since we had some fun. Let's have some tonight. Drag her into the study behind us."
"No!" Qi Lei roared, his eyes burning red, but he couldn't stop the men who lunged at Madam Qi.
The room was filled with the woman's heart-wrenching screams and the black-clad men's lecherous laughter.
"Master Qi!" The black-clad man crouched down, gripping Qi Lei's neck. "Where is the Tian Huafen?"
Qi Lei's lips trembled, and after a moment of whimpering, he said, "I told you, I don't have it..."
"Thwack!"
Before Qi Lei could finish his sentence, the black-clad man plunged his blade into one of the children standing behind Qi Lei.
The child, not yet able to react, tilted his head and died.
The other child, standing beside the first, began to cry loudly in terror.
"Master Qi, I'll ask you one last time, where is the Tian Huafen?"
Qi Lei's eyes glazed over. He looked at the child who had just been killed behind him, and two streams of bloody tears slid down his face.
"Will you tell me or not?" The black-clad man raised his sword, issuing his final ultimatum.
Watching the scene unfold, Zhong Li felt a surge of grief and indignation. As the sword was about to fall upon the child, she stood up, ready to rush forward. However, at that very moment, two hands covered her mouth.
"Mmph... mmph..."
"Miss Zhong, it's me, Lin Jin!"
Zhong Li stopped struggling and turned, looking at the familiar face. "Lin Jin, we have to save her, we..."
"Miss Zhong, we cannot go."
Zhong Li froze, her lips trembling uncontrollably.
"Miss Zhong, you are always calm and perceptive. If they truly wanted the Tian Huafen, would they have allowed you to enter so smoothly just now?" Lin Jin asked.
Zhong Li suddenly understood. It seemed these black-clad men were waiting for her to walk into their trap.
"But Qi Lei..." She couldn't bear to see innocent people implicated.
Lin Jin's throat bobbed. He pulled a wrapped object from his怀 and placed it in Zhong Li's hand.
Zhong Li opened it and sniffed. "Tian Huafen?"
Lin Jin nodded. "I guarded the Prefect's mansion all day and couldn't find Miss Zhong. I had no choice but to search along the streets, visiting various herbal shops. I dared not ask too many questions and relied on instinct. By chance, I saw you get into a carriage. I didn't want to alert them, so I waited for Qi Lei to get out of the carriage to deliver a fatal blow.
Unexpectedly, he told me the reason and led me to his study to retrieve this Tian Huafen. Coincidentally, these black-clad men also found us. Qi Lei told me to take you and leave through the back. When I went out and didn't see you in the carriage, I feared something had happened to you, so I returned to the residence to find you, and then I met you here.
He also gave me this."
As Lin Jin spoke, he produced a piece of paper and handed it to Zhong Li.
Zhong Li put away the small packet in her hand and didn't immediately open the note. Instead, she glanced back at the man who was still pressuring Qi Lei for the whereabouts of the Tian Huafen. She wanted to rush out, but her reason told her she couldn't. She couldn't let Qi Lei's sacrifice be in vain.
"Miss Zhong, these people were previously guarding the Prefect's mansion. Now, most of them have been transferred to Qi Fu. If we want to save the Crown Prince, this is our only chance. Hurry!" Lin Jin urged Zhong Li.
Zhong Li bit her lip, suppressing her guilt and grief, and followed Lin Jin back the way they came.
Along the way, she heard Qi Lei's heart-wrenching scream. When she looked back again, the child who had been crying under the black-clad man's blade was now decapitated. His head rolled to the side, his face still etched with a look of terror.
Zhong Li turned away, unable to bear it, and a tear slid down her face as she closed her eyes.