Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister’s Scheming Daughter - Chapter 339

When Baili Jinchuan received the news, he quickly rushed over. At this time, the outside of the courtyard was already in chaos. Cold-faced guards in armor were holding military batons in their hands and mercilessly attacked the people besieging the courtyard. There was no hesitation in their movements.

“Stop!” Baili Jinchuan shouted coldly. The guards stopped what they were doing and stood in a neat row without any intention of moving away.

“How dare you! How can you treat innocent people like this?” Baili Jinchuan’s face was full of anger, and he felt extremely heartbroken. He knew that the guards dared to make such a move because of Shen Ninghua’s order. Was it because Baili Junyi was unconscious that Shen Ninghua did not care about her reputation at all?

The guards exchanged glances, but no one answered his question.

Baili Jinchuan’s tone became more and more aggressive, “Answer me! Who gave you the order to beat the innocent people?!”

When the people who were beaten saw that someone came to support them, the courage that had just dissipated came back again, and one of them swayed the sickle toward the motionless guards. One of the guards couldn’t dodge in time, and the sickle sliced his chest, causing blood to ooze out immediately.

Baili Jinchuan frowned. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the door behind the guards open.

Shen Ninghua was dressed in a dark red Jasmine-patterned dress with a colorful phoenix hairpin on her head. She was dressed to the nines with delicate makeup on her face, making her already beautiful face even more soul-stealing. Her slender and slick eyebrows arched, exhuming a cold and noble aura.

“I ordered them to do so. Is there anything you’re not happy with, Second Royal Brother?”

Baili Jinchuan’s heart trembled, and he forcefully shifted his gaze away from Shen Ninghua. “These people are innocent. How can you let the guards be so ruthless to them?”

Shen Ninghua coldly swept her gaze over the crowd at the side. “They’re innocent? Second Royal Brother, are you sure they are innocent?”

Baili Jinchuan sucked in a breath. These people were innocent, but they shouldn’t have brought sickles and hoes to attack Baili Junyi’s and Shen Ninghua’s residences. If she was serious about it, they would be held accountable.

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Shen Ninghua smiled coldly. Her smile was full of ridicule. “Why didn’t you speak? Are they innocent like you said? Haha! Look at where they are standing. This is the residence of Prefectural Prince Yi and his family. What are they doing with sickles and hoes here? Are they trying to assassinate us?”

“No, no, we just want you to release the Zhou Family. We don’t have any intention of assassinating you!” Someone couldn’t help but shout out.

Shen Ninghua’s gaze was like a blade, carrying a cold chill. “You want me to release the Zhou Family? Who do you think you are? Even the Second Prince behind you, with the title of Royal Prince De that His Majesty personally bestowed upon him, didn’t dare to directly ask me to release them. Who are you? How dare you order me around?!”

“I… I… The Zhou Family is innocent. Even if you’re noble and powerful, you can’t just randomly arrest people, right?”

“Zhou Jingshu has come to my house and been rude to me. Just based on this alone, the Zhou Family is not innocent!” Shen Ninghua stood firm with a domineering demeanor. “Hmph, do you think you can run amok just because you represent justice? Don’t you see how much blood and filth are hidden behind the justice you want to represent!”

“Uh…”

The people present all lowered their heads, not daring to look straight at Shen Ninghua. The courage they had just gathered had completely dissipated, and they finally realized how reckless they were.

Shen Ninghua turned to look at the guard whose chest had been cut. Half of his clothes were dyed red with blood. “Do you remember who injured you?”

The guard quickly reached out and grabbed a person. “It is him.”

“Attacking Her Highness’ personal guard! You’ve committed a serious crime. Take him down and flog him thirty times as a warning to others!”

“No, I’m innocent! I did not do it on purpose. I’m innocent!”

Baili Jinchuan extended his hand to stop her. “Stop it! Ninghua, I saw what happened just now. He didn’t do it on purpose at all. He’ll die from flogging! You…”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyebrows slightly. “Second Royal Brother, I gave a slightly lenient punishment because of you. That person attacked my guard. He should count his blessing because I didn’t charge him for the crime of assassinating me! Drag him down and flog him!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Shen Ninghua blinked her eyes, her clear and cold eyes shining brightly. “Is there anything else, Second Royal Brother? If there is nothing else, I will go in and take care of my husband.”

Baili Jinchuan secretly gritted his teeth. Shen Ninghua was taking revenge for Baili Junyi. Wasn’t she afraid of arousing public resentment by doing this?

Shen Ninghua took two steps inside before stopping. She turned to the guards and ordered, “Stand guard. If anyone dares to cause trouble, just hit them with the baton. It’ll be on me if someone is killed.”

Some of the people had left quietly when Shen Ninghua had just stated the punishment on the man. Now, they left even faster. After a while, they all scattered. In short, they were a bunch of cowards who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Previously, they dared to go against them because Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi didn’t resist their advancement. Now that Shen Ninghua was serious, they were frightened.

Baili Jinchuan held the sword at his waist tightly. After a while, he slowly released his hand and suppressed the bloodthirsty and brutal emotions in his heart. He whispered, “Shen Ninghua, you are really driving me crazy.”

Back in the room, Shen Ninghua sat down next to Baili Junyi. Bai Ruo walked in from the door. “Miss, the people at the door are all gone. The guards are guarding the courtyard now. You should take a rest too.” In just a few days, Shen Ninghua was very thin, and her chin was sharper, making her already small face more delicate and smaller.

“I’m fine. How are Qing Que and Hong Ling?”

“They’re okay now. Yesterday, they could already get out of bed and wanted to apologize to you, but I stopped them. They are now being taken care of by Xia Rouqin.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “Tell them that this matter is over. Ask them to rest well, and when they recover, they need to help me capture the mastermind behind this and avenge His Highness and their Little Masters. Take the Skin-Revitalizing Ointment over and smear it on their bodies. Girls can’t have scars on their bodies.”

“Yes, Miss.” Bai Ruo was extremely grateful in her heart. She hurriedly kowtowed and slowly retreated.

Shen Ninghua raised her hand and touched Baili Junyi’s face. Her entire heart slowly tightened. “The injuries on your body are too serious. I’m afraid that even Skin-Revitalizing Ointment can’t remove all the scars. Will you be mad? If you do, wake up and scream at me, okay?”

After waiting for a long time, the person on the bed still had his eyes closed. His breathing was steady and there was no reaction at all. After a long time, Shen Ninghua raised her head and suppressed the tears in her eyes.

Zhou City’s atmosphere was gloomy. Three days were about to pass, but there was no news from Ye Yi.

Bai Ruo asserted, “Miss, there is still no news from Ye Yi.”

Shen Ninghua combed her hair neatly in the mirror and then carefully tied it with a phoenix hairpin. “Isn’t there still two hours before the appointed time? There’s no hurry.”

“Miss, it’s too dangerous for you to go. Let’s wait until it’s absolutely safe…”

Shen Ninghua picked up the cosmetic brush and carefully drew her eyebrows. “Absolutely safe? When will it be? No one is absolutely confident anyway.” Junyi had suffered such a heavy injury and was still unconscious. If she had not punished someone to vent her anger first, she would have driven herself crazy.

Qing Que and Hong Ling walked in from outside and knelt down at the door. They kowtowed to Shen Ninghua and lowered their heads, waiting for Shen Ninghua to speak.

“Have you recovered from your injuries?”

“Yes, Miss, we have already recovered.”

“It’s only been a few days, and you’ve already recovered?” Shen Ninghua asked in a flat tone, making it hard to tell if she was happy or annoyed.

Qing Que answered, “Helping you kill people is no longer a problem.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyelashes trembled. “Alright, since that’s the case, come with me today. You can vent your frustration too.”

Hearing this, the two of them knew that Shen Ninghua forgave them, so they immediately jumped up from the ground happily and stood behind Shen Ninghua.

The loud sound of a gong resonated across the entire Zhou City, causing the people of Zhou City to come out to check. Seeing that the crowd was running in the direction of the city gate, they also ran over. As they ran, someone asked, “Little brother, what is going on? Where are you all heading?”

“Prefectural Princess is going to interrogate the Zhou Family at the city gate. We’re going to watch the show.”

What? Interrogating the Zhou Family? No one wanted to miss out on the chance. More than half of Zhou City’s people had gathered at the city gate.

At this time, on the open space outside the city gate, there was already a platform that was half the height of a person. The members of the Zhou Family were tied up and kneeling on the platform.

Someone couldn’t stand it anymore and went home to fetch a bowl of water for Zhou Ziqing to drink.

Zhou Ziqing took a sip of water, his cracked lips trembling slightly. “Thank you. You should not bring me water, lest you get implicated by me.”

As soon as he said this, it immediately attracted the sympathy of the surrounding people. Originally, they wanted to help cry out for injustice, but when they saw the military baton in the hands of the guards at the side, they pursed their lips reluctantly. Previously, they had learned Shen Ninghua’s ruthlessness and were shocked by it. The man, who hurt the guards with the sickle, was flogged thirty times. After the punishment, he was severely injured. Now, the people did not dare to provoke the majesty of the royal family anymore.

Zhou Ziqing swept over the surrounding people, and his eyes darkened slightly. Originally, he wanted to borrow the strength of these people. It seemed that he would not be able to have his way this time. These people cherished their lives dearly. It seemed that Shen Ninghua had scared them. Princess Zhaohua, what a good method!

“Prefectural Princess is here!”

Baili Jinchuan stood on the stage at the side and looked at Shen Ninghua, who was dressed in splendid clothes. She radiated with light that was like the sun in the sky, shining brightly and dazzling. It took him a lot of effort to cover up the crazy desire in his eyes.

Five hundred guards cleared the way and the four maids followed closely. No one dared to stand out to stop her.

Shen Ninghua walked up the stage step by step and looked down at the crowd below. Her dark eyes were cold. “Junyi, just you wait. Now I will help you get rid of the Zhou Family first, then catch the real murderer and avenge you! Whoever bullied you and our children will pay for what they did!”