Abandoned Princesses
The Man's Hand

Princess Lan was still curled up and lowered her head in the prison cell. Tomorrow morning, his life will soon be lost. He tried to hold his breath for as long as possible to avoid the fishy smell of blood attached to the prison walls due to cruel tortures to criminals.

But as long as he held his breath, the fishy smell of blood remained freely entering his sense of smell. It was as if it had stuck with him from a long time ago.

Princess Lan recalled the sisters she killed one by one according to her mother's instructions. Set a trap on anyone who gets in his way.

Princess Lan felt a deep sense of hatred for herself. Why would he have to experience something so horrible? Was he and Su Xiao indeed not allowed by the heavens to be together?

Qiao Lan's tears had already dried up from yesterday. He's tired already.

Slowly, the woman began to stick out her arms as both of her palms reached for her neck. He held her neck tight.

Tighter and tighter. Until his whole body trembled, he was afraid, but also wanted death. Why die at the hands of others? He would not let anyone take his life for granted. Who're they? Are they entitled?

Princess Lan became even more convinced. Now the oxygen reserves in Princess Lan's lungs are thinning. His eyes began to stare at the ceiling for the last time.

However, just now he had wanted to channel a powerful qi into his hand in order to instantly die without feeling any pain, a voice shocked him.

"Just like that? I thought you'd be more stubborn and have a lot of determination. Somewhat disappointing." A man's voice sounded from beside his body.

Princess Lan looked throughout the room. Slowly, the grip of his hand on his neck began to loosen.

Suddenly from next to him appeared a man out of nowhere. The man made him surprised because he immediately grabbed his neck tightly while his vigilance went down.

"Ughh! Ugh..!" Princess Lan's body began to lift up from the cell floor which was only a form of soil. Princess Lan's eyes widened looking at the man's face. Handsome, but ruthless.brutal, and all the nasty things he can't explain.

"Do you want to live?! Say it clearly!" The man nodded at him loudly. Surprisingly, all the guards inside and inside the prison were like they could not hear the man's screams. There was absolutely no collection of prison guard palace warriors directly storming her cell like Princess Lan had thought.

"Ak-us.. In-ing-inu.. Hii-du-h..." Princess Lan blurted out those words with her last breath. Just before he thought he was going to be out of breath and die, the man let go of his grip. Qiao Lan's body immediately fell to the ground.

The woman coughed as she inhaled deeply every oxygen she could breathe. Then he remembered the man again.

The stranger he had never seen before, did not know him, nor did he ever feel like he had crossed paths with him. But the man only looked at her with a cynical smile.

"Follow me. Once you receive this hand, you must leave everything behind. Your husband, your father, your mother, your identity. Everything was. You will be reborn." The man smiled at her. A little mocking smile and a little naughty smile.

Seeing the man stick his hand out to her, Princess Lan was hesitant for a moment. Will he accept it?

Can he leave everything behind just to stay alive?

But he remembered something again.

Qiao Lan was afraid of death. He cannot die, at least not now. With his father or mother, no one will come to his rescue. Just with this guy.. Yes, only with this man can he escape the dead end he is currently facing.

And Princess Lan received that helping hand.

"Welcome, my concubine." The man smiled, and a mysterious black fog enveloped the two of them.

*****

"Aren't you going to attend the execution?" Li Junyan asked curiously at the girl now in front of him, just sitting counting the new money this morning delivered.

The pile of checks as much as several tens of silver that had been neat now became somewhat messy after Qiao Rong calculated the total money.

Li Junyan could only sigh, weren't those words too cruel? Whereas today Qiao Rong had waited for so long.

"I mean, you'll be able to make fun of him right before he dies." Li Junyan began to argue.

"His mother and father didn't bother, why should I?" But Qiao Rong still replied with a chuckle. Finally Li Junyan who was lazy to argue entered back into the room of the Yin Yang Book.

The entire palace already knew how sorrowful Emperor and Consort Wu were who could not even attend the execution of their own daughter. However, still the law applies to everyone, not least the royal family. What would the people say if the Emperor tried to save his daughter?

Qiao Rong knew he had already cornered the two people all the way to a corner that ended in a stalemate. And he was satisfied because of it. However, it remained that his calculations with the Emperor and the Crown Prince were not finished yet.

Now one part of the problem is done, and he will continue to solve the other problem. Slowly.

These few days, Qiao Rong learned some easy and simple pill recipes due to the near death of boredom. However, to be honest he would not have learned the recipes and put them into practice if he knew that Li Junyan would scold him and be completely satisfied.

A moment later, Chu Yue knocked on the door of the room. Qiao Rong immediately told the girl to enter.

Chu Yue looked pleased to see all the checks piled up despite the mess. It seemed like the investment capital that Qiao Rong was doing had already fully returned the capital within a month. Isn't that a wonderful thing?

Whereas, Qiao Rong had only taken advantage of the wishes of those rich women who wanted to remain young-faced.

"You see Chu Yue, in a month we get eight hundred silver coins. In Nanshan Village, we can get a thousand six hundred sacks of rice and feed the entire village for months or maybe a year more." Qiao Rong was wondering.

Chu Yue only laughed at her non-existent thoughts. Of course he knew that Qiao Rong was very much in the village, let alone the man he had met there.

But, to be honest there was one thing that continuously bothered the girl's mind after the Four Seasons Competition ended. Therefore, he now ventured to discuss this topic with Qiao Rong.

"Your Majesty.." Chu Yue called out to Qiao Rong quietly.

"Yes?" Qiao Rong was now staring at the girl's face in confusion.

"Now that you have no fiancee, will not the Emperor choose someone else for you?" Chu Yue asked with a worried look.

Qiao Rong simply smiled.

"Let's see if he can. I believe he'll be here soon." Qiao Rong replied mysteriously and returned to his previous job, leaving Chu Yue who was confused.

*****

"Is everything ready?" Shen Haofeng asked without turning his head to Jiang Junwei who was behind him.

"Yes, Your Highness, but the elders still disagree with you having an official visit like this." Jiang Junwei replied with a worried tone.

"Oh? Looks like they forgot the position of the elder too much because of my grandfather's death?" Hearing Shen Haofeng's reply, Jiang Junwei could only beat awkwardly.

"Tell them, who can't stand it, please just join the Sky Sect or Sun Sect, and get ready to be hunted." Shen Haofeng said coldly and sharply.

In a moment, the entire room became concentrated with an enormous qi aura. Jiang Junwei had a bit of trouble breathing, fortunately the condition did not last long.

Jiang Junwei certainly left immediately to inform the elders of the threat.

"A little while more.just a little later.." Shen Haofeng looked out the window of the room with a smile.