She Rebuilt Her Fallen Country With Storage Space-Chapter 153: Caught Between Two Fires, Beasts in Front and Pursuers Behind

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Caught Between Two Fires, Beasts in Front and Pursuers Behind

Pang Niu wailed miserably, "Vice General, spare my life! How dare I force a female prisoner; it was her own choice!"

Jie Chen, of course, did not believe it.

In these times, women are treated harshly, especially under circumstances where there are significant disparities in status.

Violation of purity can also be portrayed by those of higher status as a willing engagement.

Jie Chen waved his hand, gesturing to Skinny Monkey and the others, "Break one of his fingers, as a warning to others."

Pang Niu squealed like a pig, struggling incessantly.

"It really was her own voluntary action; she traded a bag of jewelry for ten days of grain with me! The stuff is still in my belt!"

Hearing this, Jie Chen withdrew his sword, and Skinny Monkey bent down to search in Pang Niu’s belt.

Sure enough, a small purse was pulled out.

However, when the contents were spilled out, Jie Chen’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Because inside the bag, there was not only some earring jewelry but also half a short arrow.

After returning, Lady Xiang Qianqian went to boil it.

Seeing the food, Xiang Qianqian was quite happy.

"Mother, where did this come from?"

While combing her black hair, Lady coldly said, "Of course, I traded for it. I’ve promised team leader Pang Niu that tonight you’ll trade for some meat."

Xiang Qianqian was taken aback, her fingers turning slightly white as she held the bag.

"What shall I trade for the meat?"

Lady glanced sidelong at her, focusing and laughing, "What else could it be; naturally, you give what you have!"

Xiang Qianqian’s eyes reddened, "Mother, you don’t mean to let me... serve him?"

"Exactly," she put down the comb, taking Xiang Qianqian’s hand, "Qianqian, times are no longer what they once were. Mother tells you, a woman’s purity is not as important as her life. We’re struggling even to survive, so why cling to chastity?"

Tears streamed down Xiang Qianqian’s face, "I am a Princess! You want me to serve such a filthy man?"

Lady glared at her, "What Princess? Your Father Emperor himself has fled; we are without home or nation!"

Mentioning the Emperor, Lady felt an itching hatred.

She was a Favored Consort, and while escaping, the Emperor had still thought to take her along, for which she was particularly grateful.

But to her surprise, to delay the pursuers, the Emperor kicked her off the carriage.

Despite her heart-wrenching cries, he did not look back.

Were it not for Prince Xuan’s timely arrival, she might have been violated to death by those Nanyue soldiers.

Seeing Xiang Qianqian only weeping and unwilling to do anything,

Lady’s face turned cold.

"You are not as clever as Xiang Ying, even if she had to sacrifice herself, she sought out someone who had a say in this group. Now look at you."

"One Supervisor Ke, you’ve tried to win him over for many days to no avail. Since you value your purity above all else, then don’t eat anything of mine!"

With that, she pulled the bag of rice and flour back, causing Xiang Qianqian to stumble.

Lady did as she said, truly not giving her anything to eat, letting Xiang Qianqian shrink into a corner, weeping.

When Zhao Bingyang asked about it, Lady only said coldly, "She despises the little food I’ve traded for, so why should she eat? Don’t leave her a single bit!"

With no other choice, Xiang Qianqian went again to seek Supervisor Ke.

Pretending to be weak and crying, she got a bowl of meat porridge in exchange.

She had intended to bring it back to eat, but on her way back, just as she reached the doorstep, she heard Lady and Princess Consort De conversing inside.

Princess Consort De said, "How did Pang Niu come to fancy her specifically? If she doesn’t go, will we still have the promised meat?"

Lady sneered, "She thinks she can just refuse to go? Later we’ll knock her out and send her over. After the first and second times, she’ll get used to it."

"If it weren’t for Pang Niu insisting he likes her, we wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble."

Xiang Qianqian stood in the cold wind, yet felt as though the snow pierced straight through her heart.

On this journey, she had endured a lot of humiliation, supported only by a breath of air.

That was because she believed her mother followed Father and would sooner or later make a comeback and reclaim her as Princess.

By then, she’d still be the high-ranking Fifth Princess, even elder Princess Xiang Ying would have to look up to her.

But unexpectedly, her dear mother treated her purity as a bargaining chip for materials.

From the time when she was pushed forward by the Lady at the home of the Mangzhou City Garrison to serve him, Xiang Qianqian saw it clearly.

The current mindset of her mother consort had completely distorted.

If in this world, not eating others meant being eaten by them, then she would be the one to devour.

Xiang Qianqian wiped away her tears and, holding a bowl of meat porridge, walked towards another place.

Dusk.

Jie Chen came to Xiang Ying’s room.

He sat down and spread a simple topographic map in front of Xiang Ying.

At that moment, Xiang Ying was holding a bowl of black rice porridge, sipping it spoonful by spoonful.

This body was too weak; replenishing blood was very important.

Jie Chen pointed to several landforms on the map.

"The insider in our team has been mostly confirmed. It should be that some remnants of the defeated Xizhou army have gathered a force and followed the trail left by the insider, tracking us all this way."

"The places where they are most likely hiding are these few points. I’ve already cast a long line out there, and they should show up tonight."

Xiang Ying licked her lips, her phoenix eyes dark: "Do you think there’s a chance that they’re coming to rescue me?"

Jie Chen sneered: "Impossible. If they truly cared about your life, they would find someone close to you to be the insider."

"Besides, only after you released the false information about the Imperial Jade Seal did these people start to make new moves. It’s not for you, but for the Jade Seal."

Xiang Ying furrowed her willow eyebrows, her fair complexion glowing faintly pink in the firelight.

"I don’t understand, Xizhou is already a fallen state, even if they get our Imperial Jade Seal, what can they do?"

Jie Chen stared at her, his eyebrows slightly raised: "Do you really not know?"

Xiang Ying shook her head honestly.

Jie Chen chuckled: "Seems like besides men, there really isn’t anything else in your head from the past."

In his inexplicably angry tone, there was a sudden surge of light resentment.

It left Xiang Ying puzzled.

But it didn’t stop her from teasing Jie Chen.

"If my head is filled with you, and only you, does that satisfy you?"

Jie Chen glanced at her coldly: "Let’s stick to the important matters. They’re going to make a move tonight, so you will sleep in my place."

Xiang Ying paused for a moment: "Just me? What about the children?"

"I’ve asked the Scholar to arrange for someone to protect them. I’m betting that these people are either here to steal the Jade Seal or they will make a move on you. So you must stay with me."

Xiang Ying thought it over and didn’t object.

She also thought of Xiang Li.

"My brother is the only legitimate bloodline left from Xizhou besides me, should he also be protected? What about sending him to Lu Feiyi?"

"Be more cautious with Lu Feiyi. He’s not as simple as you think," Jie Chen outright rejected.

In the end, the two agreed that Skinny Monkey would lead people to protect Xiang Li.

Just then, the sound of panicked footsteps from a soldier came from outside the door.

"Bad news, Deputy General, Li Fenghai was carried away by a wild beast, and only a pair of feet were left at the original binding place!"

Upon hearing this news, Xiang Ying nearly lost her grip on the bowl.

Jie Chen’s quick reaction caught the bowl.

"Stay in the room and don’t go out, I’ll go check it out."

Xiang Ying quickly stuffed a packet of medicine powder into his hand: "Take this, just to be safe."

Jie Chen didn’t say anything, nodded, and left.

Xiang Ying frowned, looking out the window at the sky that had not yet turned completely dark.

Although the heavy snow had turned to light snow, the beast had come out to eat people before nightfall, indicating that it was desperately hungry.

Now they were facing enemies on both fronts.

There was a group of enemies hiding in the darkness, with an unknown number of people; there were also beasts lurking in the nearby woodlands, eyeing them greedily.

Xiang Ying pondered for a while, then entered into a space and began to load her firearms.

In critical moments, it was still reassuring to have a weapon on hand.