Chapter 44: The Minor Cannon Fodder Has Her Wits About Her

A carriage had been standing at the entrance of Qiushu Lane for two full hours, with neither its owner nor the coachman anywhere in sight.

The surroundings were dead silent. As the sun gradually sank, the occasional cry of a stray cat added a chilling, eerie atmosphere to the dusk.

Sheng Mingyue took a light breath and slowly opened her eyes. Before she could even move, a sharp pain at the back of her neck instantly cleared her mind. Her eyes widened involuntarily as she clearly saw the thick hemp rope tightly binding her hands.

Sheng Mingyue twisted her body, only to discover that her feet were also bound, leaving her completely immobile.

[Oh heavens! Thank goodness the little cannon-fodder woke up, that had me so stressed out!]

[Same here, I was terrified the little cannon-fodder was going to kick the bucket just like that!]

[If anything were to happen to the little cannon-fodder, the Prince would probably fall apart too.]

[Since the little cannon-fodder hasn't returned and Song Guo is also missing, the Prince has already gone mad and is sending troops to search the entire city for them. I just don't know if the little cannon-fodder can survive this ordeal.]

[With this kind of cliché plot, I know how it's going to play out without even watching—the classic damsel-in-distress rescue! This cannon-fodder doesn't need to do anything, just wait for someone to come save her, right?]

Reading the words one by one, Sheng Mingyue felt her heart turn half cold.

She and Song Guo had actually been abducted to completely different places!

A gentle breeze blew past, slightly lifting the carriage curtain. Through that narrow gap, Sheng Mingyue caught sight of a plaque hanging at the entrance of the alley.

Qiushu Lane.

Seeing this, Sheng Mingyue felt completely and utterly hopeless.

She had heard rumors while serving by the Prince's side: the imperial court intended to build a large-scale academy in the capital. Qiushu Lane stood right in the way, so the court had distributed a sum of silver to the residents living there and relocated them to the southern part of the city.

Today, Qiushu Lane was completely deserted, surrounded by demolished buildings. Shouting loudly for help was practically hopeless and might even attract the mastermind behind the scenes.

She must not alert the enemy!

A cold gleam flashed in Sheng Mingyue's eyes as she dug her fingernails fiercely into her palms. The stinging pain in her hands helped her regain her composure even more.

What cliché plot, what damsel-in-distress rescue... those were clearly things reserved for the protagonists!

As a mere cannon-fodder, how could she dare to dream of such things?

If she wanted to stay alive, her only option was to save herself.

Having made up her mind, Sheng Mingyue pondered for a moment, shifting her body as much as possible until she edged against the carriage wall, continuously adjusting her posture.

This carriage had been poorly maintained for years, and the wooden panels were peeling. She had already noticed a splintered crack near the back left.

As long as the height was right...

Sheng Mingyue strained her body upward until a slight lightness on her head told her she had achieved her goal.

There was a missing corner on the carriage wall, and a wooden splinter caught the butterfly on her hairpin. As Sheng Mingyue shifted, the silver hairpin, which had already been somewhat loose, fell off entirely, landing softly on her long skirt.

Wriggling her body, Sheng Mingyue stretched out her fingers, struggling to reach the silver hairpin behind her. After quite a while, she finally grasped the hairpin in her hand.

By now, Sheng Mingyue was covered in sweat from exhaustion, her breathing coming in rapid gasps.

Yet she dared not stop, nor did she dare to relax, fearing that the slightest carelessness would cost her her life.

Sheng Mingyue reversed the direction of the hairpin in her hand, pressing the sharp tip against the hemp rope and rubbing it back and forth.

Unable to tell the time, she numbly repeated this single action until the gap grew wider and wider, and the tight constriction around her wrists finally eased.

The next moment, her hand felt light—the hemp rope had snapped!

Without even time to rejoice, Sheng Mingyue hurriedly set to work untying the rope around her feet.

"The food tonight was terrible. I spent so much money, and they couldn't even spare a drop of lard for me!"

"Cut the complaints, keep your voice down, and don't draw anyone here. Aren't our troubles already big enough?"

"Fine, fine, fine..."

People were coming!

The conversation of two men drifted in from outside, growing closer and closer.

Moving faster than her brain, Sheng Mingyue hid the scattered hemp rope beneath her skirt, covered her feet with the hem of her dress, and then twisted her hands behind her back, feigning unconsciousness.

Her right hand, gripping the silver hairpin tightly, trembled uncontrollably. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her breathing was ragged. Fortunately, the sky was growing dim, masking any signs of abnormality.

The next instant, the carriage dipped noticeably as someone climbed aboard.

"You drive, I'll go inside to check on that little wench. We're leaving the city the moment it gets dark."

As soon as the words fell, Sheng Mingyue felt light fall upon her as one of the kidnappers lifted the carriage curtain.

Immediately after, her chin was hooked and forced upward.

"What a pity, she's quite a looker." The man looked her up and down, his gaze dropping to her legs wrapped in the long skirt. His brow furrowed slightly as he crouched down, intending to check the ropes on her feet.

The moment he was distracted, Sheng Mingyue suddenly opened her eyes, aimed the silver hairpin at his neck, and thrust it downward with all her might.

"You—" The man's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the young woman before him.

A chilling light flashed in Sheng Mingyue's eyes as she forcefully pulled out the hairpin. A spray of warm blood splashed across her face, giving her a fierce, ruthless look.

A muffled thud came from inside the carriage, sounding like a heavy object hitting the floor. The man outside immediately lost his composure, pulling tight on the reins and turning his head to shout, "Huzi! Huzi, what are you doing in there?"

When no response came after a long while, the man hurriedly dropped the reins, drew the dagger from his waist, and leaned over, daring only to lift a corner of the curtain. "Huzi?"

The scene before him left the man utterly panicked. Inside the carriage, only Zhang Huang was lying motionless on the floor, a bloody hole in his neck still gushing blood and staining half his body.

"Huzi!" The man gripped the carriage curtain tightly, his gaze falling upon the torn window fabric, and gritted his teeth. "You wretched bitch, you still dare to run... I'll skin you alive!"

"Why don't you go die first."

A woman's voice came from directly above him. The man trembled violently, but before he could look up, a heavy blade slashed viciously into the back of his neck.

"Ah!" The man managed only a miserable cry before collapsing to the ground, falling completely still.

Hiding behind the carriage curtain, Sheng Mingyue gripped the long blade as the veins on her hands bulged. The next instant, she dropped the knife onto the already lifeless body of Zhang Huang and parted her lips to whisper, "Returning it to you."

After all the turmoil, Sheng Mingyue's clothes were drenched in sweat, yet she felt no trace of the joy of surviving a catastrophe.

In a life-or-death crisis, she had fought back desperately and killed two men. Now that the adrenaline was fading, sheer terror gripped her soul. Her legs could no longer support even a shred of strength, and she sank to her knees in a pool of blood, propping herself up with her hands as she gasped heavily for air.

[No way... nobody told me cannon-fodder sis was this badass!]

[A double kill! And my sis doesn't even know martial arts. With this kind of capability, why on earth do they call her cannon-fodder?]

[This has my blood pumping! This sister has high IQ, she even knew how to intentionally expose a flaw to fake a clumsy escape, lowering the killer's guard to deliver a fatal blow!]

[Too powerful! Can the heroines of romance livestreaming rooms take notes and improve based on cannon-fodder sis from now on? I am so sick of damsel-in-distress rescues, we want to see this kind of action!]

[Can Yun Shengxuan sit nonchalantly beside a corpse after a double kill like my sis can? I think not!]

Sheng Mingyue had no spare energy to heed the praises floating in the air. She slowly closed her eyes, trying her absolute best to calm herself down.

The next second, the sound of horse hooves rang out from outside once again.