Mo Junjiu didn’t have the patience to waste time here with Dong Hui, so he grabbed her collar and pulled her to him, cursing ruthlessly, “Do you think that I dare to do nothing to you?”
Dong Hui had known Mo Junjiu’s intention and didn’t fear at all. She even spat at him and sneered. “Never try to threaten my husband with me. I would rather die than make your wish come true.”
“You!” Mo Junjiu raised his hand in a rage and tried to slap Dong Hui in her face.
“Whoosh!” A long arrow was shot past in front of Mo Junjiu accurately.
Mo Junjiu was so scared that he loosened his hand instantly and moved a few steps backward before standing steadily with fear.
He hurriedly turned his head, to see Shi Qingxue on horseback was putting an arrow on the crossbow, ready to shoot the next one.
“Shi Qingxue, what are you going to do?” Mo Junjiu knew that Shi Qingxue was good at shooting, so he didn’t dare to irritate her. He immediately moved backward to dodge.
Shi Qingxue didn’t change her posture and stared at Mo Junjiu coldly. “Let go of my mother!”
Mo Junjiu finally realized that he had a good shield, Dong Hui, so he pulled her right away to stand in front of him and even grabbed a dagger, waving it on her neck. He threatened, “Shi Qingxue, you’d better be well-behaved. Otherwise, if I stab her, two lives would be lost.”
Shi Qingxue was terrified and her hand with the crossbow paused. She still pretended to be calm. “Let her go now!”
“I think it’s you who should put down the weapon and fold your hands for capture, or else…” Mo Junjiu put the dagger closer to Dong Hui’s neck, and a red sign could be seen. It appeared that if Shi Qingxue didn’t put down the crossbow, he would make Dong Hui bleed.
“Don’t hurt my mother!” Shi Qingxue shouted with fear and obediently threw the crossbow to the ground.
“Get off the horse’s back!” Mo Junjiu ordered again.
Shi Qingxue did as he said.
She stared at Mo Junjiu’s hand and forced herself to speak calmly. “What on earth do you want?”
Mo Junjiu played with the dagger in his hand indifferently and smiled slyly. “I have admired General Shi for a long time. Since he is heartless, I will have to ‘ask’ Madam Shi to persuade him.”
He just wanted to make use of Dong Hui to threaten Shi Junhe to tell the army to retreat.
He was so despicable.
Shi Qingxue gritted her teeth in anger but didn’t dare to act rashly. She just paid close attention to Dong Hui’s condition.
When she looked at her mother, she could hardly retain her composure.
Dong Hui’s face was ghastly pale, with cold sweat on her forehead. If she was not grabbed by Mo Junjiu, she might fall into a coma at once.
“Mo Junjiu, let go of my mother!” Shi Qingxue yelled in anxiety.
She walked two steps forward but then stopped under Mo Junjiu’s threatening eyes.
She shouted furiously, “Don’t you want a hostage? I will be your hostage!”
But Mo Junjiu snorted. “You are alone now, but I have a troop here. Do you think that you can escape from me?”
“It’s uncertain!” An unhurried male voice cut in.
Then they saw Mo Junhao on horseback come to Shi Qingxue rapidly, with Wei Zichao and more than ten guards following him.
There were not many people, but it was difficult to cope with them.
Mo Junjiu’s eyes got fierce again and he gazed at Shi Qingxue. “Shi Qingxue, do you think that you can save your mother after you bring so many helpers?”
Shi Qingxue took another step forward and negotiated with Mo Junjiu calmly. “You know that my mother is pregnant. Even if she stays at home at ordinary times, she has the risk to lose her baby. When you capture her, you can hardly move a single step, let alone taking her to see my father.”
“So what? Do you think I will care if she is going to lose her baby?” Mo Junjiu snorted, as if Shi Qingxue’s consideration was stupid.
Shi Qingxue’s expression didn’t change, and she just asked in reply casually, “My mother is carrying the future heir of Duke Shi. Your Highness, I don’t think that you want to become my father’s mortal enemy, right?”
Her last words had the hidden meaning of threat.
Mo Junjiu paused involuntarily. The assistant Cao Qicai behind him hurriedly stepped forward and advised in a low voice, “Your Highness, what Lady Qingxue said makes sense. If you bring a pregnant woman, it would cause much inconvenience indeed.”
“What shall we do? I finally capture a hostage. Can I let her go?” Mo Junjiu grunted in a fret and was unwilling to let her go.
Cao Qicai glanced at Shi Qingxue meaningfully and said, “There is more than one family member that General Shi cares about.”
Mo Junjiu’s eyes lit up all of a sudden, and he clapped joyfully, ordering Shi Qingxue, “Since you love your parents so much, I will satisfy you. You come over alone, and I will let your mother go back home. What do you think?”
Shi Qingxue nodded without hesitation. “Okay!”
“No!”
Mo Junhao’s voice was heard soon, and he grabbed Shi Qingxue’s arm anxiously, stopping her from walking forward.
“Don’t be silly. If you fall into his hands now, it would be difficult for you to escape!”
Shi Qingxue shook off his hand and responded coldly, “Since I dare to come here, I don’t plan to escape. No matter what happens, I can’t stand by and watch my mother being tied up and taken away.”
“But…”
Mo Junhao still tried to convince her, but Shi Qingxue looked at him seriously for the first time and suddenly expressed, “Mo Junhao, I owe you a favor this time.”
“What do you mean?” Mo Junhao frowned with displeasure.
It was not because Shi Qingxue called his name, but the way she spoke and her tone were distant, as if she wanted to stay away from him.
Shi Qingxue didn’t have the energy to consider Mo Junhao’s sensitive thoughts and explained in a hurry, “My mother is frightened and should see a doctor right now. Later I will replace her. Please immediately send her to King Rui’s mansion and ask Doctor Shen to take care of her till my father returns. Can you?”
Mo Junhao was upset as Shi Qingxue would turn to Mo Junyang and go to King Rui’s mansion every time she was in trouble, and he wanted to find an excuse to refuse her.
Shi Qingxue added at once, “Your Highness, if you can help me, I will owe you a favor, and I will repay you for your kindness someday.”
Mo Junhao paused for a while and furrowed his dashing eyebrows involuntarily as he was thinking.
Soon he made a decision. It was difficult to hear Shi Qingxue’s promise. Moreover, if he kept Dong Hui with him at this critical moment, it would be useless, so he nodded in agreement.
However, at this time, Wei Zichao disagreed and said forcefully, “No! My Lady, His Excellency told me to protect you regardless of my own life. I can’t let you take a risk!”
Afterward, he even wanted to grab Shi Qingxue and take her away.
Shi Qingxue certainly wouldn’t listen to him. She took out a dagger from her pocket and held it between them, ordering in a low voice, “Don’t move!”
Wei Zichao stopped as expected, but he looked at Shi Qingxue with disdain and surprise which could hardly be concealed in his eyes.
They were not at the same level on martial skills. Shi Qingxue showed a dagger to Wei Zichao, like a kid threatening his parents with a knife.
It was dangerous and useless.
Wei Zichao could restrain Shi Qingxue easily with only one hand.
With no fear in her eyes, Shi Qingxue even smiled at Wei Zichao and stated indifferently, “I can’t defeat you indeed, but if I want to do something to myself, you probably can’t stop me, right?”
While speaking, her hand turned around, and the sharp blade of the dagger pointed to herself.
Wei Zichao was shocked and shouted in a hurry, “My Lady, don’t be impulsive. I will listen to you.”
It was no joking matter. If Shi Qingxue injured herself by accident, it would be not enough even after he killed himself in front of Mo Junyang.
He finally understood what Qu Yuebai meant before he left.
“After you see Shi Qingxue, act according to circumstances. If you have a conflict, no matter what happens, just do as she asked.”
At that time, he had thought that Qu Yuebai worried too much, but now he realized that Shi Qingxue was forceful and stubborn and liked to risk her life. Nobody could persuade her.
Wei Zichao had to obey Shi Qingxue and meanwhile promised that he would send Dong Hui to King Rui’s mansion in safety.
Mo Junhao was afraid that Wei Zichao would take the credit for himself, so he said in a hurry, “Qingxue, since you leave it to me, I will naturally do it as my job and won’t let you down.”
Shi Qingxue put away the dagger and slightly nodded at them to express her thanks.
“But my brother takes a wrong way now and it is dangerous. I am worried about you…” Mo Junhao showed his concern hypocritically to express that he cared about Shi Qingxue.
Shi Qingxue ignored him and turned to walk to Mo Junjiu.
Under all people’s watchful eyes, Shi Qingxue replaced Dong Hui.
Both sides didn’t act rashly even after Dong Hui was replaced with Shi Qingxue. After Mo Junjiu captured Shi Qingxue, he led his troop to the imperial palace.
Although Mo Junhao’s subordinates were skilled in martial arts, the two sides had a great difference in number of members, and they couldn’t stop or even defeat Mo Junjiu, so they had to make way obediently to protect themselves.
After Mo Junjiu controlled Shi Qingxue, he didn’t dare to be careless and when he headed to the imperial palace while fighting, he let her follow him all the time.
Shi Qingxue couldn’t move freely, but she wasn’t mistreated.
She followed Mo Junjiu, and it was smooth on the way. They tried to attack the city, but in fact, they seemed to lead the soldiers to walk at night. Even if they were resisted, they could handle it easily in an instant.
They came to the imperial palace, as if entering a place with nobody in.
After a short while, Shi Qingxue found something wrong. The City Guardian Army stopping them was too weak. The opponents were like the crispy chickens which would be broken after being poked. It was obvious that they were cheating.
However, as long as she thought that the top leader of the City Guardian Army was Prime Minister Liang’s follower, it seemed that everything was understandable.
When they were less than two or three kilometers away from the imperial palace, the darkness of night faded and it was before dawn.
Suddenly Shi Qingxue felt the pain in her head, and then she was dizzy, as if the sky and earth were spinning round.
“Hmm!”
She covered her forehead with one hand and grabbed the rein with the other, so she wouldn’t fall off the horse’s back as she was leaning downward.
Her movements attracted Mo Junjiu’s attention instantly.
“Are you okay?”
Mo Junjiu asked with insincere concern but showed an expression that he would watch a good play.
He added at leisure, “Do take care. If you are injured, I am afraid that Yuzhen would blame me.”
Shi Qingxue shook her head and got rid of the dizzy feeling. She insisted and sneered at Mo Junjiu.
She exposed his insincerity without mercy. “If you are really afraid that Yuzhen would feel sad, how would you do something rebellious?
“You are rebelling. Gee, her father and brother become enemies. How would she face you two in the future?”
Mo Junjiu exploded, like a cat whose tail was stepped on.
He lifted the broadsword with one hand and aimed at Shi Qingxue’s vital part. “Believe it or not, I will kill you now if you say more?”
The killing intent in his eyes was fierce, and he even wanted to kill Shi Qingxue to vent his anger regardless of anything after that.