The Birth Of A Villainess

After leaving Gu Yan's room, Shen Mo went straight to his mistress' courtyard, where three maids stood. These maids hadn't slept for two days after their young mistress disappeared and was worried that something had happened to her.

This was the first that Lin Xiaofei was away from them for too long. Ever since they were assigned to serve Lin Xiaofei by Great General Lin's order, they never stayed away from her unless it was inevitable.

They had grown too accustomed to being around their young mistress that just being away from her for an hour would make them flinch with worry. Bai Lu even had nightmares when she couldn't take it any longer and slept before abruptly waking up when the scene that Lin Xiaofei was abducted entered her mind.

Thus, when these three maids saw Shen Mo walking around the corner on his way to the courtyard, they latched on him as if they were some cavemen who didn't get to eat meat for a year.

"Guard Shen!"

"Where's my lady?"

"Guard Shen! What happened? Did you find my lady?" Bai Lu reached out to grab him.

Thankfully, Shen Mo was able to put some distance between them and stepped backward since he was afraid that he would be captured by these young maids and interrogated.

These maids were acting much worse than Senior Steward Gu Yan.

Bai Lu and along with the other two maids continued to shoot questions on his way without stopping. They kept asking and speaking non-stop that Shen Mo was slowly developing his fear of women.

Clearing his throat, he patiently and stiffly answered them. "My lady went somewhere else. You don't need to worry. My lady is safe and sound."

The maids heaved a deep sigh of relief after they heard him. Their minds have been quite disturbed at the realization that their young mistress disappeared, and they quickly started to make assumptions as to why she disappeared. For example, Lin Xiaofei was abducted by someone vicious, she met an accident and couldn't call for help, or Lin Xiaofei was taken by the Duke's enemies.

Unfortunately, every one of their assumptions didn't hit the target and was missed completely.

And when Shen Mo heard them, he was baffled as he thought that if his mistress were abducted, he would pity and send his condolences towards this villain who abducted her because he knew who would suffer the most. It was the same for the Duke's enemies who wished to take her. They will all meet a painful death.

As for meeting an accident and could not call for help...

Shen Mo wondered if Lin Xiaofei had a thick face to let go of her pride and do all that. At the very least, Shen Mo imagined that Lin Xiaofei would instead climb by herself or save herself from the pit she was in rather than rely on others.

However, Shen Mo was quite right about Lin Xiaofei's personality. In the short time he accompanied her, he completely had a total grasp on her character. Lin Xiaofei never wanted to receive another person's help, and even if someone did send help, she wouldn't try to trust them quickly.

Even now, Lin Xiaofei does not wholly rely on Qu Xing Xu because she didn't believe that she was that weak to be protected by her husband all the time.

Shen Mo bid his farewell to the young maids and swiftly moved to a small shack on the other side of the residence.

This shack was Prince Ziyin's current royal courtyard that Lin Xiaofei got for him while recuperating on his injuries. Days passed, and the prince was fully recovered and went back to his normal health status.

Hearing the familiar footfalls outside the shack, Prince Ziyin lowered his vigilance, knowing that the person who came to him was none other than the same guard who was always with Lin Xiaofei.

The door loudly creaked as Shen Mo pushed it open, and after stepping inside, he closed it back again after checking that no one was around to eavesdrop.

"You came again?" Prince Ziyin sounded disgusted as his eyes landed on the young guard. The notion that a man would constantly visit him made him uncomfortable. However, Prince Ziyin had no way to turn him away and could only swallow his dissatisfaction.

On the other hand, Shen Mo ignored the prince's glare and walked up to him. He lowered his voice as he said, "The mistress must be already on her way to the meeting place. We must make haste and come to her soon. I don't like that I am in here while she's outside."

Prince Ziyin had already heard of what happened in the residence since some servants couldn't keep their mouths shut and the walls to his shack were relatively thin, so words easily entered.

Of course, Shen Mo also told him about it. However, Prince Ziyin was rendered shock that some servants even assumed that Lin Xiaofei disappeared after not accepting that the Duke left her alone. Thus, venturing out to erase the feeling of missing someone.

Remembering those cold eyes that were like the coldest night of winter, Prince Ziyin found it difficult to associate her to someone who could be lonely and miss someone so much that she would mindlessly and recklessly leave.

"When are we leaving?" Prince Ziyin asked. He already knew the first half of the plan, which was to head over to the borders of the Rei Empire. However, he didn't know why they were headed towards that place and only knew they had to go there.

"Right now." Shen Mo stared at him.

"Now?" Prince Ziyin was shocked to hear that. "Won't there be people who will follow us and stop us?"

Now that Lin Xiaofei was gone, all attention and eyes were on Shen Mo. Prince Ziyin was even curious to know why Shen Mo waited until two days later after her disappearance did he finally acted.

"There's no need to worry about that." Shen Mo looked outside through the small window. He knew that someone was listening, but he didn't stop them from doing it. "I only follow my lady's orders. Followers or not, I don't care for as long as I can go to her."

And thus, Shen Mo and Prince Ziyin made haste to leave and rush towards Lin Xiaofei's side.

While the two were preparing to leave the capital city, at this moment, the young woman they were worrying and talking about was currently tied up.

Still wearing her riding clothes and mask, Lin Xiaofei calmly stared at the person before her as if her hands weren't tied behind her back.

Similarly to her, the person sitting in front of her was looking at her with a smile.

"I was wondering why my men were so scared last night and saying they saw a ghost passing by our vicinity. It was actually because of you." The person chuckled as he said this.

Lin Xiaofei lazily rolled her eyes and only heard the man chuckling once again as if finding her actions adorable.

"But still... I never thought that the person who has been exchanging letters with me could be someone like you." The man's voice trailed off when he said the latter part. A tinge of disbelief hung in his words as he glanced at her.

"Someone like me? What did you initially think when I started contacting you?" Although tied up and surrounded by armed soldiers outside the tent, Lin Xiaofei was not at all afraid as she called the man by his name. "Erkin, the Rei Empire's tyrant."

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Author has something to say: Next chapter, we will see a glimpse as to how Lin Xiaofei knew this new character and what kind of relationship they have. Also... I wonder what happens if Qu Xing Xu find out that she disappeared. Hehe.