Chapter 9: I Don't Want to Perish With You

Two days later, Xiao Zhen heard the news of Prince Liang's death.

As for the cause of death, it was the same as in her previous life: a heart ailment.

Everything was exactly as it had been before; Prince Liang died on the tenth day of the fourth month, also due to a heart condition.

Although the Prince Liang Mansion had suppressed the news, Xiao Zhen knew that at this very moment, everyone within the mansion believed that the Prince had been murdered by the Grand Princess and her husband. Furthermore, her parents would, just as in her past life, be imprisoned at Zideng Villa and ultimately die at the hands of Zhao Yunnuan.

Of Prince Liang's three children, Zhao Tinghan was a sickly man from the start; upon hearing the news of his father's death, his condition worsened, and he died in less than a month.

The second son, Zhao Tingxuan, was incapable of great achievements and followed his sister Zhao Yunnuan's every command. Xiao Zhen had investigated and discovered that it was Zhao Yunnuan's idea to imprison the Grand Princess and her husband, and that the Prince's personal guard had been deployed by her. The one who could have ordered the killings was her, not Zhao Tingxuan.

At that time, everyone believed the Grand Princess had conspired with the Xiao family to murder Prince Liang. The Xiao family was exterminated, and the common people cheered, no longer remembering the family's past merits; to them, the Xiao family were nothing more than treacherous rebels.

Back then, Xiao Zhen could only lead Xiao Yuedong from hiding to hiding, living like a stray dog in terror, utterly powerless to seek justice for her parents or her family.

By the time they finally gained a foothold and were able to seek revenge, Zhao Yunnuan was already dead, and even that useless Zhao Tingxuan had passed away. The Emperor, weeping as he revoked the Prince Liang Mansion's "Iron Certificate of Immunity," saw the mansion—which had ruled the Liang lands for over a hundred and twenty years—become nothing more than history.

Thinking of these past events, Xiao Zhen did not dare to linger for even a moment. Gritting her teeth and enduring the pain in her body, she traveled toward the Liang lands day and night.

***

Two stories are being told at once.

Zhao Shiqing and Xiao Su had left Qingquan and were heading toward the Liang lands, but the weather was uncooperative; halfway through their journey, it began to rain.

It rarely rained this heavily in the fourth month, and the rain had come out of nowhere—the sky had been clear just moments ago, and now it was a torrential downpour.

"Why does it feel like the middle of June?" Xiao Su grumbled indignantly, wiping the rainwater from his eyes.

Zhao Shiqing didn't seem to mind. She had known it would rain; she had heard it from the swallows. She was simply in such a hurry that she would have kept going even if it were raining knives.

However, Xiao Yao was unhappy. The little creature cried out in dissatisfaction: "Cats don't like rain! Rain makes the cat feel unsafe!"

When Xiao Su heard that the meow was coming from inside Zhao Shiqing's arms, he asked curiously, "Zhao Xiao Si, did you give birth to a baby with a long tail?"

Xiao Su expected a strike from Zhao Shiqing's riding whip and was prepared to dodge, but she acted as if she hadn't heard him, appearing to listen intently to something.

"Hey, I say, Zhao Xiao Si, what are you listening to? I'm talking to you and you're ignoring me."

Zhao Shiqing raised a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.

Xiao Su shut up as instructed. He looked around, but aside from wild dogs scurrying miserably through the rain, there wasn't a soul in sight. He thought Zhao Xiao Si was just being mysterious, and that only the two of them were fools enough to be traveling in such heavy rain.

A moment later, Zhao Shiqing asked, "Is there anywhere nearby to take shelter from the rain?"

Xiao Su breathed a sigh of relief. So the female demon actually knew she needed shelter; at least she hadn't gone completely mad.

Xiao Su pointed with his whip. "Take that road ahead; not far along it, there is a private school. I know the teacher there."

Before he could even finish, Zhao Shiqing had already spurred her horse and galloped away.

Xiao Su hurriedly urged his horse to follow. This madwoman would just leave without so much as a word.

The school was built within a two-courtyard residence. The children were studying, their rhythmic chanting echoing against the sound of the rain outside.

The teacher was a scholar named Zhang. As Zhao Shiqing and Xiao Su stood under the corridor to avoid the rain, the scholar's wife brought over dry cloths. After they wiped themselves down, they told her not to worry about them and that they would leave once the rain stopped.

The rain came quickly and left just as fast. In less than half an hour, it gradually ceased. The children finished their lessons and stared curiously at the two "drowned rats" with bright eyes.

As Scholar Zhang exchanged pleasantries with Xiao Su, asking about the health of Great Uncle Xiao the Fifth, Xiao Su answered each question while frequently glancing at Zhao Shiqing out of the corner of his eye.

The rain had stopped, so why wasn't the female demon in a hurry? Shouldn't she be rushing on her way? Instead, she had pulled out a cat and was attracting all the children's attention.

Just then, the scholar's wife hurried over and said to Scholar Zhang, "Something happened on the bridge just now. Uncle Wang asked if we had any spare planks and called for everyone to help."

Before Scholar Zhang could speak, Xiao Su interjected, "What happened?"

The wife replied, "Uncle Wang only said that someone traveling had an accident, but he didn't know the details."

Xiao Su remarked, "In such heavy rain, who would be traveling? They must be truly—"

Xiao Su wanted to say "truly tired of living," but the words caught in his throat as he suddenly realized that if the female demon hadn't suddenly changed her mind, weren't the two of them also traveling through heavy rain?

Xiao Su instinctively looked at Zhao Shiqing, only to see that she had already tucked the cat back into its bag. Seeing him look over, she said, "Come, let's go take a look."

When they arrived, they realized the bridge had collapsed.

Xiao Su cursed, "Our Xiao family built that bridge! It was only repaired last year, and it collapsed after just one year. The craftsmen must have cut corners!"

Fortunately, no one was on the bridge when it collapsed. However, the road was obscured by the curtain of rain. Two travelers on horseback approached and only realized the bridge was gone when it was too late; both horse and rider fell in.

By sheer luck, it was a dry bridge, and the riverbed below had been diverted years ago. The man had not been swept away by the current, though he was seriously injured; fortunately, he was still breathing.

The crowd worked together to rescue the man and sent him to a nearby clinic.

Xiao Su took out twenty taels of silver and handed it to Uncle Wang and Scholar Zhang. "If the money isn't enough, come to the Xiao residence to collect it. Tell them I promised it."

The crowd thanked them profusely; the Xiao family truly lived up to their reputation of performing good deeds for the village.

Because the bridge had collapsed, Zhao Shiqing and Xiao Su had to walk through the dry riverbed. Having just rained, the abandoned riverbed was full of mud. By the time they finally made it back to the main road, both the two people and the two horses were a mess.

It was only then that Xiao Su suddenly realized something was wrong.

Zhao Xiao Si was the thickest-skinned person he knew. Shouldn't she be gloating or boasting about her divine foresight?

But she said nothing. That wasn't normal.

"Zhao Xiao Si, did you know that bridge was going to collapse? Wait, don't tell me you're the one who collapsed it?"

Zhao Shiqing lashed out with a whip, and Xiao Su shut up.

"Use your pig brain to think. If I really wanted to do that, I would have waited until after I crossed the bridge myself."

Xiao Su looked at the mud covering Zhao Shiqing and thought it made some sense.

"But did you know in advance that the bridge would collapse? Otherwise, why did you suddenly decide to seek shelter?"

Zhao Shiqing glanced at him and told the truth: "Yes. I heard it from the wild dogs. They said someone had tampered with the bridge. I didn't want to perish along with you, so I went to seek shelter."

Xiao Su spat. "Zhao Xiao Si, stop talking nonsense. Claiming the wild dogs told you? Why not say a lion or a tiger told you?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiao Su suddenly remembered that he actually *had* seen wild dogs today. But so what? Zhao Xiao Si was still talking nonsense.