Duke Jing's younger sister

Shen Li held Shen Zhiyan's hand, and the two of them turned around and ran back, holding up their skirts, with Zi Yuan and Bao Zhu following closely behind.

It's a pity that they have always lived a life of luxury at home and never have to walk on the ground when they go out. How could they possibly outrun the eunuchs who have been doing rough work in the palace all year round?

They had not run a few meters before they were caught up by the people behind them.

Shen Li felt someone push her from behind, and her body fell forward uncontrollably, landing heavily on the bluestone ground. She felt a burning pain in her palms and knees.

Shen Li hurriedly looked for Shen Zhiyan, but found that she was held tightly by Yang Lijun. She struggled to shout, but the eunuch beside her covered her mouth and she could not make any sound.

Ziyuan and Baozhu were also controlled by someone and could not make any sound. They could only look at their master with anxious eyes.

Shen Li took a deep breath, endured the pain in her knees and struggled to stand up.

Before she could stand firmly, Xiao Wushuang quickly raised her hand and slapped her in the face, using all her strength.

Shen Li was unable to dodge and felt a bloody smell coming out of the corner of his mouth. He staggered back two steps and held on to the rough trunk of the willow tree beside him before he could barely stand firm.

Xiao Wushuang was arrogant and looked down on her, not treating her as a human being.

"Where are you going? Don't forget, this is the imperial palace. It would be as easy for me to crush you to death as it is to crush an ant!"

"Heh..." Shen Li sneered, and her usually gentle gaze gradually became fierce, "Really? I want to see what good end the Fourth Princess will get if she crushes me to death?"

"How dare you talk back!"

Xiao Wushuang's eyes were about to burst, and he shouted, "Someone! Bring the things up!"

Two eunuchs held her on the left and right, and the rest of them brought over a black sack.

There seemed to be a living thing in the sack, moving up and down, trying to break out of the sack.

In the dim moonlight, Shen Li stared at the looming, slender, and constantly surging outline of the body, and couldn't help but take a breath.

They were snakes! They were bulging and looked like there were a lot of them, at least seven or eight!

Seeing the fear on her face, Xiao Wushuang sneered, "Are you scared already? Don't worry, there are things that are even scarier!"

Xiao Wushuang waved his hand gently, and the eunuch holding the cloth bag bent over and approached Shen Li.

The cloth bag opened in front of her, revealing the cold snake body inside. The snake body glowed coldly in the moonlight, which was chilling.

"Help... wuwu!"

The eunuchs beside her covered up her cries for help. Two of them held her arms tightly and stretched her white and tender hands into the open cloth bag.

Shen Li's eyes widened. She was afraid of even insects, let alone snakes. For a moment, the hairs on her body stood up and she struggled desperately with almost all her strength.

Seeing Shen Li in such a miserable state, Yang Lijun felt extremely relieved. All the new and old grudges were put together, and she finally got rid of the anger.

Xiao Wushuang chuckled twice. The sound was as clear and pleasant as a bell, but it concealed an indescribable terrifying power.

It was like a ghost seeking revenge, or like a gust of cold wind, bitingly cold and creepy.

"Do you think that you can take Brother Beiqi for yourself just by relying on your face and your proximity?"

"Do you think that you can do whatever you want just because Brother Beiqi is protecting you?"

Xiao Wushuang took two steps closer and sneered, "Even if it's him, he can't protect you tonight!"

"Really?" A cold voice came from behind him, "You can give it a try!"

Before Xiao Wushuang turned around, he saw a crimson-purple figure approaching quickly, like a falcon hovering with its wings spread above a cliff, aiming at its prey and attacking quickly.

The screams like the screams of a night owl came one after another. In a moment, more than a dozen eunuchs were kicked away one by one, and fell in a mess at Xiao Wushuang's feet.

The cloth bag containing snakes fell to the ground, and countless snakes crawled out of the bag. The scene was simply terrifying.

The eunuchs were so terrified that they didn't care about the pain from being kicked and crawled away in all directions. Two eunuchs were so panicked that they fell into the lotus pond like headless flies, splashing water everywhere.

"Be careful--"

Before Shen Li could react, Shen Beiqi picked her up from the air. She felt dizzy and unconsciously raised her hands to hug his shoulders.

As his purple robe spun, Shen Beiqi casually pulled off a willow leaf from the hanging willow branch, as if it was not a leaf but a blade shining with cold light.

He shot out willow leaves from his fingertips at high speed. The leaves flew past like lightning in the moonlight, and a pitch-black poisonous snake was instantly split into two.

The venomous snake with its head and tail severed jumped on the ground for a long time, its body twisting continuously as if it was performing a terrifying and weird dance.

Shen Li hugged him tightly and buried her head in his chest. Shen Beiqi stood firm but had no intention of putting her down.

With anger raging in his bright peach blossom eyes, Shen Beiqi stared at Xiao Wushuang and said through gritted teeth,

"Obsidian snake? The fourth princess actually used such a poisonous thing to deal with my sister? Could it be that she thinks the lives of my family are worthless and can be killed at will?"

Xiao Wushuang was stunned by the shock just now, and only gradually came to his senses after hearing Shen Beiqi's voice, which was as cold as the freezing cold weather.

"Wh…what obsidian snake?"

When Emperor Hongyang and his men rushed to the scene following the sound, the poisonous snake on the ground was already dead, lying motionless on the ground, its pitch-black body faintly glowing with cold light.

There are countless snakes lurking somewhere in the Imperial Garden.

Shen Beiqi put Shen Li down. Han Yunning stood behind the crowd and saw Shen Li being protected by Shen Beiqi. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes bursting with uncontrollable jealousy.

"What happened?"

Emperor Hongyang asked, looking at the venomous snake that was broken into two pieces on the ground, wondering, "How could there be such a poisonous thing in the palace?"

When the Queen saw Xiao Wushuang's pale face and Shen Beiqi protecting his adopted sister behind him, she was suddenly startled and asked immediately,

"Is Miss Shen San okay? Are you hurt by this poison?"

Shen Beiqi smiled coldly, not even giving the Queen face, and replied in a deep voice, "If my sister is injured by this poison, I'm afraid she won't live to stand here and reply to the Queen!"

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the disaster was caused by the Fourth Princess. The Queen knew she was in the wrong and was too embarrassed to be angry because of his disrespect.

Because Concubine Zhao was pregnant, she walked slowly and was left behind. She had just walked through the peony bushes with the help of her personal maid when she heard a cry of surprise from the palace maid holding the lamp.

"There's a snake - protect the imperial concubine! Come and protect the imperial concubine!"

Emperor Hongyang was just about to call Shen Li forward to find out what happened when he was interrupted by a cry for help from behind. His face instantly became panicked and he quickly turned around and ran towards the source of the shouting.

A large number of Royal Guards rushed forward like a tide, and the lanterns fell to the ground and were trampled out by the messy crowd.

For a moment, there was only faint moonlight and a blurry figure flickering like a ghost under the moonlight.

The personal maid was bitten on the ankle by an obsidian snake while protecting Concubine Zhao and died instantly. An imperial guard saw an opportunity and chopped the obsidian snake into two pieces with his sword.

In the chaos, Concubine Zhao felt that she was tripped and her body lost weight and fell to the ground. As her figure swayed, someone stepped hard on her stomach.

Concubine Zhao cried out in pain, and an intense pain spread from her abdomen, with a hot current gushing out uncontrollably.

"It hurts...my child..."

Concubine Zhao's face turned pale instantly. When Emperor Hongyang arrived, he only saw Concubine Zhao who had fainted from the pain and a pool of glaring red blood that had not yet dried up on the ground.

Upon seeing this, the second prince Xiao Wenche immediately knelt down beside his mother and shouted in a sharp voice, "Imperial Physician—Quickly call the Imperial Physician!"