La princesa del condado intrigante

Capítulo 1

001 Failing to provide assistance to someone in distress

"Li Xue, I love you!"

The deep, magnetic male voice sent chills down one's spine. What was clearly an ambiguous love confession seemed to carry a deadly poison, causing excruciating pain.

Boundless pain and intense resentment rushed into her mind. Shen Lixue suddenly opened her eyes, but was stunned by what she saw.

The withered grass stretched to the horizon, and a cold wind blew, causing the dry grass to sway and form waves. The sky was gray and gloomy, as if a massive rainstorm was brewing.

What place is this?

Shen Lixue frowned. She was lying on a beautiful Hawaiian beach, basking in the warm sun. How did she end up in this desolate and barren wasteland after waking up?

A strange memory suddenly flooded her mind and quickly merged with her original memories. Shen Lixue frowned. Although she was very unwilling to believe it, she had to admit that she had transmigrated.

The body's owner was also named Shen Lixue. She had lived with her frail and sickly mother since childhood. Two months ago, her mother passed away. With the help of her most trusted neighbor, Mu Zhengnan, she prepared to go to the capital to find her father. Little did she expect that the night before, Mu Zhengnan tricked her into opening her door, said "I love you" affectionately, but tightly strangled her slender neck with a white silk ribbon, coldly watching her stop breathing in pain...

Haha, Mu Zhengnan, is your love just strangling the person you like with your own hands?

"Thump, thump, thump!" The stable ground suddenly shook. Shen Lixue felt a pain in her chest and a wave of dizziness. What was happening? Was it an earthquake?

She quickly stood up and looked around. At the horizon, a row of leaping gray lines was rapidly moving towards her.

As the gray lines drew closer, Shen Lixue could see them more clearly. They were a group of people dressed in ancient costumes, including strong men, the elderly, women, and children. Their common feature was that they were disheveled and ran forward recklessly, crying as they ran. Behind them, a large number of wild boars, bison, and many other wild beasts that she couldn't name were running, their eyes wide open as if they were angry, charging straight forward, their iron hooves kicking up dust and shaking the ground.

What's going on?

As Shen Lixue wondered what was happening, an old woman accidentally fell to the ground. A wild buffalo that had caught up with her trampled on the old woman's head, and blood splattered everywhere. The old woman's head was crushed, and her mangled body was instantly swallowed up by the surging herd of wild beasts...

"Don't close the city gates... wait a minute..." The shrill cry startled Shen Lixue from her shock. Shen Lixue turned around and saw that not far away, two ancient city gates were rapidly closing in on each other.

Damn it, what are the city guards trying to do? Lock the people out and let them be trampled to death by wild beasts?

A heavy hoofbeat landed behind her, and a scorching heat sprayed onto her back. Shen Lixue was startled. Oh no, there was a wild beast.

Turning swiftly to avoid the bison's attack, Shen Lixue grabbed the bison's horns and flipped onto its back. With a light touch of her feet on the bison's head, her slender body leaped rapidly towards the city gate. Once inside the city, she would be safe!

"Bang!" The moment Shen Lixue landed, the two thick doors slammed shut, blocking her view into the city and shattering everyone's hopes of survival. Shen Lixue gritted her teeth in anger: Damn it, she was only a few steps away from the city gate...

On the empty city walls, countless soldiers suddenly emerged, clad in armor, their eyes filled with murderous intent, holding ancient bows and arrows, the tips of which were naturally aimed at the wild beasts below the city walls.

Above the city gate, a young man reclined on a chaise lounge, half-closing his eyes, leisurely enjoying the services of three beauties massaging his legs and shoulders and feeding him fruit. He looked languid and seemed oblivious to the horrific trampling below the city wall.

"Ahhh..." A series of screams rang out. Shen Lixue looked back and saw that the wild beasts had caught up with the running crowd. People were being trampled to death from time to time, with arms and other limbs hanging from their iron hooves. As they ran, the ground trembled and swayed.

"Open the city gates... open the city gates now..." The people screamed frantically and desperately, but the soldiers on the city walls ignored them, drawing their bows even tighter.

"As soldiers, you are obligated to protect the safety of the people. Yet now, the people are being trampled by wild beasts and their lives hang by a thread. Not only do you stand on the city wall and watch indifferently, but you also keep the city gates closed and refuse to help. If the Emperor finds out, it will be a capital offense. Can you bear the consequences?"

Simple cries for help could not move these hard-hearted soldiers. In ancient times, imperial power was supreme, so Shen Lixue took a different approach, using the emperor as leverage to make them think twice and open the city gates.

The soldiers were somewhat moved, but did not act. Their questioning gazes all turned to the enchanting man who was leisurely drinking. They did not want to bear the death penalty, but they were just soldiers and had to obey their general's orders in everything they did. They could not act on their own.

"Precisely because we must protect the safety of the people, we must not open the city gates!" Pushing aside the beauty, the young man lazily straightened up: someone had accused him of a crime, so of course he had to respond.

The man was around twenty years old, with a handsome face and fair skin. A magnificent brocade robe wrapped around his tall and slender figure, making him appear even more noble, elegant, and graceful.

The weather in the wasteland was very cold, yet he was actually gently waving a folding fan, a slight smile playing on his lips as he looked at Shen Lixue. His devilishly handsome face was so striking that it was impossible to look away, but the words he spoke were as cold and ruthless as the wind.

“Beasts are faster than humans. Even if we open the city gates, it won't save you. Instead, it will allow the beasts to break in. If they go berserk and attack anyone they see, thousands of people inside the city will be in danger. Then, we will truly be guilty of a capital offense…”

The implication was not that he was heartless and would stand by and watch people die, but that for the safety of the people inside the city, he had to sacrifice Shen Lixue and the others outside the city. The lives of these few dozen people were insignificant compared to the thousands of people inside the city.

“Young lady, you are a woman of great virtue and righteousness. You would never disregard the thousands of people in the city for your own selfish reasons, nor would you force us to commit a capital offense!” The young man lightly waved his folding fan, a smug smile on his devilish face.

Shen Lixue snorted coldly. She was truly quick-witted and eloquent. In just a few words, she not only extricated herself from the predicament but also shifted the blame onto herself. If she forced him to open the city gate, she would be seen as a cowardly coward who would sacrifice thousands of civilians to save his own life, and she would be ridiculed and cursed by thousands...

A pack of wild beasts surged forward, engulfing the fleeing crowd. The two mingled, indistinguishable as human or beast. Archers lined the city walls, their bows drawn, ready to fire. Shen Lixue clenched her slender hands tightly, her nails digging into her flesh: If the battle broke out, even if she wasn't trampled to death by wild beasts, she would be shot to death by arrows! Was she really going to die here?

In a moment of quick thinking, Shen Lixue spotted a large tree not far away and her eyes lit up: I've got an idea!

Shen Lixue leaped forward, plucked a leaf, quickly brushed off the dust, and placed it to her lips, whereupon a clear and beautiful melody began to play.

"Thump thump thump!" A ferocious beast was right next to her, about to trample her, but Shen Lixue ignored it and played a rapid tune with a leaf in her mouth. The music suddenly rose several notes higher than before.

"Thump!" The bison charged towards Shen Lixue, while the devilishly handsome man smiled slightly, waved his folding fan, and watched coldly.

The bison raised its front hooves and stomped heavily on Shen Lixue, but stopped abruptly when it touched her clothes. To everyone's surprise, it slowly lowered its hooves and quietly took a few steps back.

The devilishly handsome man stared at Shen Lixue, his sharp eyes narrowed slightly, his folding fan swaying lightly, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips. Heh, what an interesting person!

As the bison retreated, Shen Lixue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Ignoring the cold sweat on her forehead, she continued playing. The music was like the tinkling of a clear spring, or the babbling of a brook, making one feel as if they were in a mountain forest, refreshed and natural. The ferocity in the wild beasts' eyes gradually dissipated, and they stood quietly on the grass, gently wagging their tails…

"Release the arrows!" At the command of the monstrous man, countless black arrows flew over Shen Lixue, raining down on the beasts. One after another, the ferocious behemoths were riddled with arrows and fell to the ground dead...

The sound of arrows whistling through the air gradually weakened until it was completely silent. Shen Lixue knew the massacre was over, so she stopped playing, looked up, and met the young man's devilishly handsome face: "What tune were you playing just now?"

"The Melody of Tranquility!" As the successor of a century-old family, playing the Melody of Tranquility was a trivial matter for Shen Lixue.

There was no point in saying more than necessary. Both the beast and the people were dead. Shen Lixue had no mood to talk to the cunning and treacherous man. She turned to leave and said, "Clatter!" A wooden plaque and a jade pendant fell out of her sleeve. Before Shen Lixue could bend down, the man had already picked them up.

"Your name is Shen Lixue?" The devilishly handsome man looked at Shen Lixue with a half-smile, toying with the jade pendant and wooden plaque.

"How did you know?" Shen Lixue was somewhat surprised. She hadn't mentioned her name to anyone since entering this new world, so how did this extraordinary man know?

"It's written here!" The devilishly handsome man handed the wooden plaque to Shen Lixue. It was actually a nameplate, made of high-quality willow wood that was very smooth. It read 'Deceased Mother Shen Shi Lin Qingzhu', with a line of small characters in the lower right corner: "Standing by Shen Lixue, the Daughter!"

Shen Lixue raised her eyebrows slightly: I didn't expect Shen Lixue to always carry this nameplate with her!