77 Ambush

XuanRong had been talking with her Eldest JiuMu[1] and Second JiuMu ever since she arrived at her Second JiuMu's courtyard. The two Chen Furens were very fond of her. As they continued talking, the two elders noticed the changes in XuanRong's attitude and bearing.The two Chen Furens were very happy to know that she became a matured young lady, very different from her previous self, an arrogant but sweet child.

"Rong'er, Eldest JiuMu is very happy to know that you have grown into a fine young lady."

First Chen Furen grabbed XuanRong's hand and placed a beautiful bracelet on her wrist.

"Eldest JiuMu…" XuanRong was startled when she saw the bracelet. It was an aqua-blue jade that was decorated by a coral-green colored pearl. She knew that the bracelet costed more than a small fortune. In her previous lifetime, her Eldest JiuMu also gave the bracelet during her hairpin ceremony[2] as a gift. Unfortunately, XuanFei took a fancy of it and conned XuanRong, hoodwinking her into giving the precious bracelet to XuanFei.

"Hush, Eldest JiuMu will get angry at you if you will not going to accept it."

"But…"

"Rong'er ah! Why are you acting shy eh? We are family, Eldest Sister in law gave it to you because she knew that the bracelet suits you more. Us, old women, are now unable to wear fancy and youthful things. Ai. Look, Second JiuMu will give this to you. You better not decline or else, Second JiuMu will get angry at you and will treat you indifferently."

Second Chen Furen chimed in and supported First Chen Furen's words. she then beckoned her maidservant to move forward, presenting a small box. After she grabbed the small box, she opened it and fished out two emerald-colored thumb rings. She smiled at XuanRong pulled her left hand.

"Second JiuMu can only give you this. These thumb rings were owned by my maternal grandmother's maternal grandmother until it was passed on repeatedly till it was given to my mother, and later on, this pair of thumb rings successfully reached my hand. Second JiuMu wanted to pass this to my future daughter but unfortunately, Second JiuMu was not able to give birth to a girl. Now that you are here, Second JiuMu is very happy to see you. Rong'er ah, Second JiuMu and Eldest Sister in law are very glad that you came back safely. You are such a dear child, and both Eldest Sister in law and me, love you dearly and wanted to treat you as a daughter. You would not want to make us sad, right? So please accept these small gifts from us."

When XuanRong heard her Second JiuMu's words, she could not help but tear up a little. Although she was close to her Maternal Aunts in law in her previous life, she could feel that she was closer to them in this lifetime. In the past, Xiao Lou would often brainwash her and would repeatedly emphasize that she should not visit the Chen residence in order to avoid disturbing her maternal grandfather and maternal uncles. But now, it was different. She was no longer Xiao Lou's puppet.

Few Shichen[3] passed before her maternal grandfather, maternal uncles and maternal cousins returned to the Fu[4].

"Biao Mei[5]!!! You are back!!"

Chen Yu Ji laughed and patted XuanRong's back gently. XuanRong inwardly inhaled but she still tried to remind herself that they were family, that she should not feel any repulsive feelings towards them.

"Ge! Hands off! Can't you see? Rong'er Biao Mei is now a lady, you should not touch her like you are touching a small child!"

Chen Fu Hao criticized Chen Sheng for acting improper. Chen Di, XuanRong's Third JiuJiu[6] glared at both his sons, making Chen Fu Hao and Chen Sheng stop bickering. In order to get even, Chen Sheng slapped Chen Fu Hao's head. He then looked apologetically at XuanRong.

"You---!"

"Please forgive your Fu Hao Biao Ge, he was only speaking nonsense few minutes ago."

Looking at the two people who were bickering each other, XuanRong could not help but laugh. She shook her head and said, "No worries, Fourth Biao Ge. Rong'er knows you are only glad to see Rong'er and does not think that way."

Hearing XuanRong's words, Chen Sheng laughed out loud and slapped Chen Fu Hao's head once again.

"See?! Even Rong'er Biao Mei knows it! You dirty minded person!"

The Chen family ate happily while talking with each other. Looking at the people who were very happy to see her, XuanRong vowed to protect the happiness that she was seeing right now. Unfortunately, the thread of fate worked on its own way. There were things that no matter what you do and no matter how much you tried, you could not get the result that you wanted.

The entire Chen Fu became lively once again and XuanRong could not help but stay for a couple of shichen before deciding to return to the XiangFu[6]. She wanted to talk privately with her maternal grandfather but seeing him behaving like a small child after becoming drunk, XuanRong could only sigh.

'Well, I have plenty of time to spare later. Letting him sleep should be the best course.'

After bidding farewell, XuanRong left the Chen residence together with YuShen and YuShang. An Wei was originally a shadow guard. He seldom showed himself unless it was her who would ask for his presence. So when the carriage went out of the gate, An Wei once again vanished in thin air. After leaving the residence, XuanRong sat inside the war carriage together with her maidservants.

While travelling towards the XiangFu, XuanRong could not help but think of what happened this morning. She suddenly realized that because of her interference, there were some changes in the entire flow of fate. In her previous lifetime, she did not meet Baili Chen in the narrow road because she entered the capital fifteen days later. Thinking of different possibilities, XuanRong suddenly felt uneasy. She did not know why but she could tell that her alteration of the events would lead into a different path that was different from the previous one. XuanRong could not tell if the changes she created would bring positive results or not. Only time could tell.

After traveling for quite some time, she noticed that there was something wrong with the surroundings. She could not point it out, but she felt like something bad was bound happen. Although it was just a hunch, XuanRong decided to be alert.

Few minutes later, the long silence was broken by a very loud scream.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Suddenly, XuanRong and her maidservants were thrown forward. The carriage suddenly stopped after the coachman screamed. In an instant, the entire surroundings turned into chaos and XuanRong could hear that someone was fighting outside the carriage.

"An Wei!" Remembering An Wei and the other guard who was with her, XuanRong suddenly felt anxious. Although she was confident of An Wei's qinggong[7], she was still nervous for his own safety.

She had to help him!

No matter how good one's qinggong was, one would still not be able to win the fight especially if one was being trapped by the enemies using unscrupulous methods.

"YuShen, YuShang, follow me!"

XuanRong jumped and pulled the soft sword on her waist. The soft sword was very unique. Only few people knew that the belt XuanRong was wearing was not a simple accessory, instead, it was a customized soft sword. When she started learning qinggong, An Wei told her that she should always prepare herself from the worst situation and decided to gift her the soft sword.

When XuanRong jumped out of the carriage, she saw that there were twenty-eight assassins trying to kill An Wei while he was trying to defend the carriage. Although An Wei's qinggong was a little bit higher, he was unable to break free from being surrounded by the enemies.

XuanRong immediately ran towards him, killing the assassins who were trying to take advantage of the situation and was planning to kill her.

"An Wei!" XuanRong shouted. She pulled back the sword that was sticking out from the assassin's chest.

She saw that someone sneakily raised his sword, aiming for An Wei's back.

"NOOO!! Behind you!!"

XuanRong wanted to stop the assassin from stabbing An Wei's back. She ran forward, trying to block the sword when her arm was pulled away by someone else. Startled, XuanRong turned her head and saw a very deep pair of eyes looking back at her.

"You…" XuanRong could not help but inhale deeply due to shock. A faint lotus scent suddenly assaulted her nostrils.

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[1]. Your Maternal Uncle's Wife

[2]. Coming of age ceremony for girls.

[3]. One Shichen is equivalent to two hours.

[4]. Residence

[5]. Younger female cousin with different surname

[6]. Your mother's brother

[7]. Prime Minister's Residence

[8]. Chinese martial arts

[Unedited Chapter]