“And, why are we running? Can’t we just surrender?” asked Ning Shu. Prime Minister Mu had quite a high status in the state of Donghua, so if he surrendered, he would likely be allowed to live.
Prime Minister Mu’s handsome face turned stern as he said, “Your father, I, am a scholar. How can I do something so dishonorable?”
Ning Shu: …
If you were so concerned about honor, why were you running? Just stay and declare your resolution to live and die with the state of Donghua, you’d definitely go down in history as a brave and unyielding scholar. However, the plain truth was that you were afraid of dying if you stayed, wasn’t it?
“Master, Miss, I’ve finished packing the things.” The little maid was hugging a cloth bundle.
Ning Shu didn’t want to leave with Prime Minister Mu so she said, “Father, you should leave first with Mother. Let’s take different routes.”
“How can we do that? We’re a family. If we split up, who knows when we’ll be able to find each other again. In addition, if we split up in such chaotic times, we might not have the chance to see each other again even once before death.” Prime Minister Mu’s brows were tightly furrowed. It was clear that he disapproved of Ning Shu’s suggestion.
So Ning Shu said, “Mother and Father should leave with Eldest Brother and Little Brother first. This way, the Mu family can preserve its bloodline. Daughter will go a different way.”
Prime Minister Mu thought for a bit, then said, “That works.”
Ning Shu: …
He was sure broadminded. Wasn’t he worried about leaving his daughter by herself? However, it was probably something the storyline required. After all, any randomly picked scene had bed-wrestling involved. If the father-in-law was around to see, that situation would be too terrible to imagine. Thus, in the storyline, Mu Yanmeng was always by herself.
“Here, keep this money on you.” Prime Minister Mu took out a bunch of banknotes and handed them to Ning Shu. Ning Shu took them and said, “Thanks, Father.”
“Father will leave you someone to protect you. This is Father’s personal bodyguard. From now on, he’ll protect you from the shadows.” Prime Minister Mu pointed at a certain bodyguard that was holding a sword.
Ning Shu looked towards the bodyguard. This guard had quite a unique appearance. His face was seriously square and his chin was very broad.
This guard wasn’t part of the original storyline though? Ning Shu thought back through the storyline and realized that this guard had actually appeared once. However, he had never appeared again after that. Either he had run off or a male lead had secretly killed him off.
“He’ll protect you from the shadows. This maid will stay with you as well.” After Prime Minister Mu finished hastily saying everything, he gazed towards Ning Shu with sorrow in his eyes. “Daughter, this father will be leaving now. Make sure to take care of yourself. The general is about to break in, so you should hurry and run as well.”
Once he finished saying this, he ran off and soon disappeared from sight.
The guard that was left glanced at Ning Shu, then jumped out of the window. He was probably looking for a place to hide so that he could remain concealed while watching over her.
So how come he felt completely unreliable?
Ning Shu put away the money that Prime Minister Mu had given her, then said to the maid, “You should leave as well. You don’t need to follow me.”
“This servant will follow Miss, this servant isn’t scared!” However, as the little maid spoke, her teeth and even her legs were trembling from fear.
Ning Shu sat down on the bed and said mildly, “You don’t need to follow me since I’m not leaving.”
“This servant will follow Miss! In life, Yue Lan will be Miss’s servant, in death, Yue Lan will be Miss’s ghost!” said Yue Lan staunchly.
Ning Shu waved. “Fine, do as you like.”
“Get some food, I’m a little hungry,” said Ning Shu.
Yue Lan put down the cloth bundle and went off to get food for Ning Shu.
From the window, Ning Shu could see that the city entrance was brightly lit as screams and shouts filled the air. The stench of blood drifted very far and made it seem as if the entire state was in turmoil.
“Um, that guard, are you still there?” Ning Shu shouted towards the window.
She waited for quite a while but there was no reply from the guard. She wondered gloomily, did he really run off?
“Here.” A voice suddenly appeared.
Ning Shu: …
It felt like this guy’s reflex arc was quite long. It took that long for him to reply?
“How am I supposed to contact you?” Could it be that in the future, every time she called him, she had to wait for the tea to cool before finally getting an answer?
In addition, she didn’t even know how loyal this guard was.
Sigh. Life was so depressing.
A black figure appeared in front of Ning Shu, startling her. His face was covered with a black cloth that left only his eyes showing.
“Miss, it’s me,” said the guard.
Ning Shu patted her chest. “Why are you covering your face?”
“This is the rule of us hidden guards,” said the guard.
Ning Shu: …
With your looks, no one would even remember your face. You probably attract even more attention by putting on a mask.
“This is a whistle. As soon as Miss blows the whistle, I’ll appear.” The guard handed Ning Shu the whistle. As Ning Shu took it, she asked, “You can hear it no matter where you are?”
This question seemed to be a bit tough for the guard as he was silent for quite a while. In the end, he said, “As long as I’m by Miss’s side and Miss blows the whistle, I’ll be able to hear it.”
“Thank you.” Ning Shu put away the whistle. For better or for worse, she felt a little safer with it.
#comment: Haha, dis guard, dat honesty.