Edited by Tnyhy

At the other side, in the Shen mansion, the Imperial Physician from the Palace finally came.

The oncoming person was wearing white and holding a folding fan. If he was not carrying a medical box, he would seem like some gentle and warm gentleman of some n.o.ble house. He did not seemed to be here to save someone but more like coming here to appreciate flowers.

However this was the young Imperial Physician from the Palace, Gao Yang.

Luo Xue Yan and Shen Xin had looks of doubts on their faces. Even though Gao Yang"s medical skills were commendable in the Palace, but those who went for treatments were all the consorts and females often like flowery exterior with no substance. One would not know if it was because Gao Yang looked good, that everyone praised him or for his medical skills. As for medical professionals, everyone would have an image in which those that were older would have remarkable medical techniques, and those younger ones only had some inconsequential knowledge.

Shen Xin had not expect that the Imperial Physician who was invited from the Palace would be Gao Yang, and momentarily was unable to decline him. If they were to go invite again then there would be a significant delay of time.

This rumoured Imperial Physician Gao understood the affairs of life and since he was invited by others, he walked in in an exuberant manner to the unconscious Luo Tan to take her pulse.

Everyone"s gazes were on him. After a while, Gao Yang then shook his head and sighed, "Breathing is weak, pulse is in disorder, wound is very deep which impacted the lungs and even lost a lot of blood. Difficult."

Luo Xue Yan immediately said, “Another quack doctor. Qiu-er, go and take your Father’s tally to invite a doctor over.”

“Wait.” Gao Yang said unhappily, “I am only said it is difficult, and did not say that the condition is serious and cannot be treated. You all had invited me to do a house visit and now look for another doctor, General Shen, what is the meaning of this?”

“You really can save Biao Younger Sister?” Shen Qiu took a step forward and asked.

“If there is any more delay, there would be no use even if one were to step in.” Gao Yang said.

“Alright.” Shen Xin said, “Do not suspect people one can use, a suspect cannot be used. I trust you. If Imperial Physician Gao can cure Tan-er, the Shen family will definitely reward handsomely.”

Gao Yang laughed and said, “One dare not. One dare not. A healer has the hearts of parents so money is not needed. Luo Young Lady is at death’s door and one cannot delay anymore. This humble one will first apply acupuncture on Luo Young Lady. May everyone wait outside.”

Luo Xue Yan was still somewhat hesitant but Shen Xin had already head out. He had travelled extensively and knew that some people with ability would have some weird habits. Moreover medical skills were something that would not be pa.s.sed down externally, so he thought that Gao Yang was afraid to be seen by others.

Shen Qiu and Luo Ling also followed closely behind Shen Xin. When Luo Xue Yan saw this, no matter how worried she was, she could only follow out.

When only Gao Yang and the unconscious Luo Tan were left in the room, Gao Yang put his medical box down and mumbled to himself as he open it up, "What does all this got to do with me? Now I have become the person who needs to put in effort."

He took out a clothed bag and spread it out, displaying dozens of golden needles of different sizes and shapes.

Gao Yang said, "Never mind fawning over Shen Miao, now you moved one to have to please the family members." He shook his head and reached out to untie Luo Tan"s clothes and said resignedly, "Apologise for offending. This one does not wish to do so and if one want someone to be accountable for it, then go to the Prince Rui"s residence and look for that one with the mask."

Time pa.s.sed very quickly and two days went by in succession.

In two days, that Imperial Physician from the Palace, really demonstrated his outstanding medical skills. When all the Physicians were overwhelmed, Gao Yan only inserted two acupuncture needles, and let others feed Luo Tan two bowls of medication, Luo Tan"s breathing gradually calmed down and her pulse was much stronger than before. If any other physician take a look, they would at least said that a life was saved.

Changing from being initially skeptical about Gao Yang, Luo Xue Yan honoured Gao Yang as a valuable and honoured guest, and because of fearing that Luo Tan"s condition would repeat, Gao Yan had to complete the acupuncture treatment twice before it was considered finish, thus Luo Xue Yan let Gao Yang stay in the Shen mansion, so that it was more convenient for him to check up on Luo Tan"s condition on a daily basis.

Luo Tan"s condition was stabilised but at Shen Miao"s end, there were no good news at all.

When Emperor Wen Hui knew of the matter, he was extremely furious. Not mentioning the prejudice of Shen Xin, someone dared to kidnap an official"s Di daughter at the feet of the Heaven"s Son, especially when the Qin country and the Great Liang had not left, it was a clear indication that traitors were creating chaos, and the common people were unable to work and live in peace. Thus he was acquiescing of Shen Xin"s great fanfare search of his daughter.

But even digging three feet into the Ding capital, one was unable to discover Shen Miao"s whereabouts.

It was as if those people had disappeared into thin air. All the commoner"s households were searched through one by one, and if one were to continue searching, than one could only search the officials" residences of the Ding capital. But the relations.h.i.+ps between officials were complicated, one carelessness would lead to a great chaos, so Emperor Wen Hui was not willing.

Thus this became a stalemate situation. The soldiers patrolled the streets all day, and even though the public security of the Ding capital had improved a lot, for the Shen family, it was tantamount to lighting a fire in their hearts, and they were even more anxious.

In the study of the residence of the Marquis of Lin An, Xie Chang Wu and Xie Chang Chao were chatting.

Xie Chang Wu said, "The Shen family is watching too tightly, we have no ways of moving Shen Miao out. If this carries on, Princess Ming An would start to push the blame down."

In fact, Princess Ming An was already angry. Although the Xie brothers succeeded in kidnapping Shen Miao, Princess Ming An"s hatred on Shen Miao had ingrained deep into her bones, and she could not wait to see Shen Miao fall into prost.i.tution today, and into a life that she could neither live nor die. Who knew that because of Shen Xin"s great fanfare search, Xie Chang Wu and Xie Chang Chao dared not act rashly, and kept Shen Miao hidden in the secret chamber of the residence of the Marquis of Lin An. With Princess Ming An impetuous personality, how would she be patient? Early today morning, she sent someone over to warn Xie Chang Wu that if he did not move Shen Miao out, the deal before would be invalid.

With Shen Xin"s subordinates searching and taking stock of each household search in front, and with Princess Ming An pus.h.i.+ng without caring of rights and wrongs of the matter, no matter how shrewd Xie Chang Wu was, it was unavoidable to have a headache.

"Second Older Brother must not be anxious. No matter how how Shen Xin check, let us first ensure that we are not exposed." Xie Chang Chao said.

"I am not in a hurry but Princess Ming An"s side is pressing." When Xie Chang Wu said till that, he could not help but complain, "She did not think that at such a time if there was any flaws, she would also be unable to escape?"

"Alright." Xie Chang Chao said, "The Princess only want to see Shen Miao being humiliated by others. Even if we are unable to move Shen Miao out, one would be able to send people in. For the residence of the Marquis of Lin An to recruit some rough servants, it would not be illegal or suspicious."

Xie Chang Wu was dazed for a moment. It was correct. All Princess Ming An want to see was that someone would humiliate Shen Miao, and now that the situation outside was tense, one was unable to move Shen Miao out, but it was possible to bring outsiders back and make Shen Miao into an exclusive consumption for other. Could this satisfy Princess Ming An?

"Third Younger Brother." Xie Chang Wu said, "You had already thought about it."

"Today Father has a social interaction with an official of the Ministry of Revenue, and if both of us were absent at the same time, it would arouse suspicions in others." Xie Chang Chao said, "Second Older Brother, you go first and I will let the MaMa in charge buy some people before reporting it to the Princess.

These days because of the matter of confining Shen Miao, both of them had declined many social interactions that Xie Ding had rarely arranged. If this continued, it would be just too abnormal. Xie Chang Chao said, "I understand. Third Younger Brother, you must be even more careful and not leave anything for others to leverage."

Xie Chang Chao complied. After Xie Chang Wu left, Xie Chang Chao took the secret chamber"s key out from his sleeves, and a trace of a weird light appeared in his eyes.

Shen Miao had stayed in the secret room for two days, and although she did not know how long had pa.s.sed, from the number of times the meals were send over, she was able to guess it. Her heart could not help but sink. It had been two days and these people did not even touched her, and that meant that Shen Xin"s actions were just too huge. But even with such a huge fanfare, no one was able to search till here, that meant that the leverages that the Xie brothers mentioned were correct, it was difficult for anyone to thought about this place.

Just as she was thinking, she heard someone coming in from outside who pushed open the doors.

In the dim light, the other person looked straight into Shen Miao"s gaze, and was first startled for a moment before smiling, "These few days you were feigning sleep so why are you not faking it today?"

Xie Chang Chao had some similar features as Xie Chang Wu, but upon comparing to Xie Chang Wu"s ability to endure silently, he was more impatient. At this moment he walked nearer to Shen Miao and had seen that she already ate half of the clear water and rice before slicking her tongue. He then said very regretfully, "Not only Her Princess Highness, I too really want to see how a Young Lady would eat like a dog. Why did you not wait for me?"

Shen Miao looked at him coldly.

For a moment, Shen Miao felt that she was able to understand why Xie Jing Xing would hate these two Shu younger brothers, as they were just like Shen Qing and Shen Yue. Shen Qing and Shen Yue still wanted to conceal their own evil hearts, but Xie Chang Wu and Xie Chang Chao looked just like villains, and did not even disguise their malicious words.

Seeming being angered by Shen Miao"s gaze, Xie Chang Chao violently held Shen Miao"s chin and forced her to look at him. Xie Chang Chao said, "Young Lady Shen still do not know that now General Shen and Shen Furen are still searching for your whereabouts in the entire Ding capital, with ten of thousand of gold taels as a reward but it is unfortunate that no one had claimed it yet. You say, if I send you out, would one be able to get that ten of thousand of gold taels?"

Shen Miao did not speak.

"It is a pity that I am working for others and naturally cannot let you off so easily." Xie Chang Chao smiled again, "Do not worry, from today onwards your days would be slightly better. Her Princess Highness planned to sell you to the lowest ranked brothel, but unfortunately General Shen is watching tightly, thus we can only bring the brothel to the Marquis" residence."

Shen Miao"s gaze got slightly heavier.

Seeming extremely satisfied with Shen Miao"s reaction, Xie Chang Chao got closer to Shen Miao and was almost beside her ears whispering in a weird low voice, "In the morning I had instructed the MaMa in charge to recruit some rough men, particularly those strong vulgar ones. You say, after tonight, would you have the energy to glare at me?"

Shen Miao"s eyes hung down but she was secretly holding onto the hooked hairpin in her hands. These two days she has not being idle and with an unimaginable perseverance, she hand manage to wear off the ropes that bound her hands and feet. She reckoned that at the moment the ropes at her feet were only connected slightly, and would have severed after a little struggle. At that time she would use the hairpin to stab Xie Chang Chao"s eyes.

The roads of the world were walked by oneself. The so called dead-ends were only considered so, when one did not have the courage to try.

Xie Chang Chao said, “But I am not willing to hand over such a delicate little beauty to others. A fine and tender Di daughter of an official.” He had emphasised heavily on the two words ‘Di daughter’ and smiled, “It would be better for me to first have a taste.”

“At the beginning, Xie Jing Xing, that little b.a.s.t.a.r.d seemed to treat you differently.” Xie Chang Chao’s smile became uncouth, “I have been brothers with him for over ten years and understood his character. One fear that the relations.h.i.+p between you and him was not normal. Why? Was Shen Young Lady, Xie Jing Xing’s mistress?”

Xie Chang Chao words had become so horrible to listen to, that even Shen Miao displayed a bit of anger. However this anger seemed to have pleased Xie Chang Chao as he laughed out, “It is alright if you were his mistress. That little b.a.s.t.a.r.d had suppressed us brothers in the residence of the Marquis of Lin An for so many years, there would not be any disadvantage when I sleep with his woman.” He laughed wickedly, “Shen Young Lady should thank me. By having your first time given to a Young Master like me, is better than with those farmers that are rolling in the mud. After going through with them, you will then know what a beast truly is."

He violently jerked up Shen Miao"s head and his thumb caressed Shen Miao"s face. The somewhat intoxicated look that appeared on his face, made one feel disgusted.

Shen Miao"s gaze was calm, but she was scheming on when she would stab an eye of Xie Chang Chao, and how would she be able to stab the other. Lets see how could he run away after stabbing both his eyes out.

Xie Chang Chao’s eyes slightly cleared up. His face suddenly got serious as he looked towards Shen Miao and said, “Why are you not afraid?”

Shen Miao stared at him.

Xie Chang Chao face was serious and seemed to be unhappy with her unresponsiveness, “Why are you not afraid? Are you waiting for someone to save you?”

Shen Miao said, “What exactly do you want to do?”

Xie Chang Chao suddenly leaped and Shen Miao was not in time to avoid him, and was thrown onto the ground. This time she no longer cared about anything as her hands and legs were struggling to break the ropes apart. Before she could have time to pull out the hairpin in her hands, Xie Chang Chao started to bite randomly on her body. It was like he had gotten insane as he started to mouth off randomly, “Who are you waiting for? Could it be that dead Xie Jing Xing?”

Shen Miao felt the hairpin while struggling, and just as Xie Chang Chao turned towards her while burying his face in Shen Miao’s neck, and was about to tear her clothes apart. Shen Miao’s gaze became cold, raised her hands and was about to stab his back.

But when her gaze swept across the door, her hands paused.

“Do you think that Xie Jing Xing will come and save you?” Xie Chang Chao roared, “That little b.a.s.t.a.r.d was already skinned and beheaded, that there was not even any bones leftover.”

A calm and majestic voice with a slight irritation lightly sounded in the empty secret chambers.

“Really?”