My bad father married a princess, my mother divorced me, and I became the group's favorite

"Miss, I just heard from the waiter that there will be a Qiqiao Festival Lantern Festival tonight and the city will be very lively. Let's go out and take a look tonight." Chunxi's words made Ye Xiaoxiao very excited.

"Of course I'm going!" Ye Xiaoxiao jumped three feet high, her little face full of anticipation, "Mom, let's get ready and go."

Liu Yunniang looked at her daughter's excitement, smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's pack up and go out.

Ye Xiaoxiao immediately took Chunxi's hand and urged, "Sister Chunxi, please help me pick out a beautiful dress. I want to dress up beautifully to go to the Lantern Festival."

Chunxi smiled and replied, "Don't worry, young lady. I will find it for you right away."

After a while, Ye Xiaoxiao put on a sky blue dress embroidered with butterflies, and tied two cute little braids on her head, with sparkling hair accessories, she looked like a little fairy.

Liu Yunniang was still wearing the same clothes as during the day, but she had a veil on her face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed. She was no longer as stunning as she was during the day.

"Mom, you are so beautiful!" Ye Xiaoxiao held Liu Yunniang's hand and kept praising her.

"Our Xiaoxiao is the most beautiful." Liu Yunniang smiled and scratched Ye Xiaoxiao's nose.

Chunxi went to call Liu Qing and Liu Yun, and the group went out happily. As soon as they walked onto the street, Ye Xiaoxiao was stunned by the scene in front of them.

The streets are lined with lanterns of all kinds, some in the shape of rabbits, some in the shape of flowers, and some in the shape of fairies, which are extremely beautiful. The streets are bustling with people, some selling snacks, some selling toys, and some performing acrobatics, making the place very lively.

Ye Xiaoxiao looked left and right, her eyes were not enough.

"Mom, look over there, someone is flying a Kongming lantern!" Ye Xiaoxiao pointed excitedly in the distance.

Liu Yunniang looked in the direction she pointed, and saw sky lanterns slowly rising into the sky, like stars.

"It's so beautiful!" Liu Yunniang couldn't help but exclaim.

There were many people releasing river lanterns by the river. When Ye Xiaoxiao saw this, she shouted that she wanted to release one too. Liu Qing then went to buy a river lantern, and the others went to the riverside in advance to wait.

Unexpectedly, before Liu Qing came back, he saw someone setting a fire on the other side of the river. In an instant, the flames shot up into the sky, illuminating half of the night sky. The crowd suddenly became panicked and pushed each other violently.

Liu Yunniang held Ye Xiaoxiao's hand tightly and wanted to pull Chunxi behind her immediately, but before she could stretch out her hand, the surging crowd separated them like a tide.

"Chunxi!" Liu Yunniang shouted anxiously, but her voice was instantly drowned out by the noisy crowd.

Ye Xiaoxiao's face turned red from being squeezed, and her eyes were full of fear: "Mom, I'm scared!"

While protecting Ye Xiaoxiao, Liu Yunniang tried hard to find Chunxi in the crowd, but there were panicked faces everywhere and Chunxi was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't be afraid, Xiaoxiao, mother is here!" Liu Yunniang comforted Ye Xiaoxiao loudly and tried to move to a place with fewer people.

People were pushing each other, and Liu Yunniang was nearly knocked down several times. She used her body to create a small space for Ye Xiaoxiao, preventing her daughter from getting hurt.

In the chaos, some people's shoes were squeezed off, some people's packages were lost, and there were cries and shouts. Liu Yunniang's heart was in a knot, and she only hoped to take Ye Xiaoxiao away from this dangerous situation as soon as possible.

Just at this moment, a strong man suddenly rushed over. Liu Yunniang staggered and almost let go of Ye Xiaoxiao's hand.

She tried her best to keep her body steady and held her daughter's hand tightly, not daring to relax at all.

"Mom, I can't walk anymore." Ye Xiaoxiao said in a crying voice.

Liu Yunniang gritted her teeth, held Ye Xiaoxiao in her arms, and continued to move forward in the crowd with difficulty.

The fire was getting bigger and bigger, and the smoke was so thick that people couldn't open their eyes. Liu Yunniang's forehead was covered with sweat, but she didn't bother to wipe it off. She just wanted to take her daughter away from this terrible place.

Liu Yunniang held Ye Xiaoxiao in her arms, constantly avoiding the crowds and looking for a way to escape. Ye Xiaoxiao hugged Liu Yunniang's neck tightly, her small body trembling.

"Mom, can we go out?" Ye Xiaoxiao asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes, Xiaoxiao, don't be afraid, mother will definitely take you out." Liu Yunniang answered firmly, her eyes full of courage.

Finally, they squeezed into a relatively sparsely populated corner. Liu Yunniang breathed heavily and relaxed a little.

At this moment, Liu Yunniang saw a group of people dressed in officials rushing towards this side not far away.

She was delighted, thinking that they were people sent by the government to evacuate the crowd.

But before she could carry Ye Xiaoxiao forward, the people in front of them seemed to have noticed them and suddenly ran towards the mother and daughter.

Liu Yunniang realized something was wrong, hugged Ye Xiaoxiao tightly, turned around and wanted to run.

However, those people were extremely fast and surrounded the mother and daughter in an instant.

"What do you want to do? You are not soldiers." Liu Yunniang glared at them and protected Ye Xiaoxiao behind her.

"Hmph, just follow us obediently, or don't blame us for being rude!" said one of the assassins viciously.

Ye Xiaoxiao was immediately frightened. What was going on? Did she meet a bad guy?

Isn't she wearing a sweet novel? How come even thieves are starting to appear?

Liu Yunniang pretended to be calm: "Don't be afraid, Xiaoxiao, mother will protect you."

Those people didn't care about that and just went forward to arrest people.

Liu Yunniang fought back desperately. If she was alone, she could easily break free and escape with the help of her lightness skills. However, she did not dare to let go of Ye Xiaoxiao. There were many of them and they were all well-trained assassins. She had no chance to use her lightness skills.

At this critical moment, a man arrived with his men.

Seeing the sudden appearance of the man and the large number of pursuers behind him, a man who should be the leader of the group of thieves stepped forward quickly, grabbed Liu Yunniang's neck directly, snatched Ye Xiaoxiao from her hands, and then threw her into the hands of his men behind him.

Before Liu Yunniang could step forward, she saw a knife at her neck.

Liu Yunniang, who was controlled by someone, watched helplessly as the leader put a sharp dagger directly against Ye Xiaoxiao's delicate neck and said to the man opposite: "General Xiao has always been kind, but don't take another step forward, otherwise this little girl will die!"

The man's eyes turned cold, he stopped and said coldly: "Let them go, mother and daughter, come to me if you have anything to say!"

The leader of the thieves snorted coldly: "Humph, you are lucky today. You discovered our plan. But as long as you let us go, the mother and daughter can survive."

The man gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "If you dare to hurt them, I will make sure you die without a burial place!"

The leader of the bandits laughed: "Stop talking nonsense and get your men to back off!"

The man clenched his fists, suppressed his anger, and signaled his followers behind him to step back.

Liu Yunniang was pushed aside and shouted anxiously, "Xiaoxiao!"

Ye Xiaoxiao was so scared that her face turned pale and tears kept flowing, but she clenched her teeth and didn't cry out.

The leader of the bandits held Ye Xiaoxiao hostage and retreated step by step. The man and his followers could only follow closely but did not dare to act rashly.

Liu Yunniang watched helplessly as the leader took Ye Xiaoxiao hostage and retreated little by little until they reached the city gate.

General Xiao said, "As long as you release the innocent people, I can spare your lives."

The man motioned to the person behind him, who quickly sent a signal to the sky and said, "You can release the big one, and they will take the small one away. Wait half an hour after we leave, and you can go to the pavilion five kilometers away to pick them up."

Liu Yunniang was standing behind the leader and couldn't see her daughter clearly. When she heard this, she lost her composure and shouted, "No! You can't take my daughter away. I'll be your hostage. Let her go!"

The leader of the thieves sneered: "You? Can you be of any use to this little girl? This little girl is very honest and easy to control."

Liu Yunniang said anxiously, "Please, she is just a child and can't stand it. I promise to be obedient and never resist. Take me as a hostage."

The leader said disdainfully: "Stop talking nonsense, this is not something you can decide."

Liu Yunniang burst into tears: "I beg you, as long as you let Xiaoxiao go, I will do anything."

Ye Xiaoxiao cried out, "Mom, please don't. Xiaoxiao is not afraid."

Liu Yunniang looked at the leader and begged: "My daughter is still young, she doesn't understand anything, it's meaningless for you to take her away, just arrest me."

The leader said impatiently: "Stop talking nonsense. If you continue to pester her, this little girl will die now!"

Liu Yunniang trembled and dared not say anything more. Her eyes were full of despair and helplessness.

Ye Xiaoxiao, who was being held hostage at this time, was filled with fear in her little heart, but she was more worried about her mother.

She thought to herself: "Oh, it's all my fault. I never thought that I would encounter an assassin while visiting a lantern festival."

But I couldn't help but shed tears.

Xiao Mu on the opposite side had already recognized the little girl. He frowned and stared at Ye Xiaoxiao who was held hostage by the thief. There was a complex emotion in his eyes, including worry and confusion.

The attendant beside the man couldn't help but whispered: "Master, this is the little girl who almost fell down in the inn today! That woman should be her mother."

Liu Yunniang was helpless. The man holding her roughly brought her to the front little by little, and then pushed her hard. She lost her balance instantly and fell forward. Fortunately, General Xiao was quick-witted and stretched out his arms in time to catch her steadily.

As soon as Liu Yunniang stood firm on her feet, she looked back anxiously, only to be shocked to see that the thieves had already mounted their horses and were about to take Ye Xiaoxiao away.

She was horrified in her heart. She must not let them leave so easily! A strong determination and fearless courage arose from the bottom of her heart. At this moment, she no longer cared about her own safety.

Her eyes suddenly became extremely determined, her gaze was like a torch, and she quickly reached out and snatched the sword from the waist of the guard beside General Xiao. Then her figure flashed and she flew forward like a flash of lightning.

Her figure was as light as a dancing butterfly and her movements were as agile as a cheetah striking quickly as she rushed straight towards the leader.

Liu Yunniang swung the knife in her right hand without hesitation and slashed at the man fiercely. The knife light flashed coldly under the moonlight.

At the same time, her left hand accurately and quickly grabbed Ye Xiaoxiao, who was tightly controlled in front of him, and hugged her tightly in her arms. This series of actions was smooth and seamless, without any drag.

Then, she stepped quickly and lightly on the horse's back, and with the help of the reaction force, she flew a long distance like an arrow.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that people could hardly react.

When Xiao Mu saw such a sudden and extremely fast change, he was stunned at first, his face full of surprise.

But he soon reacted, waved his hand, and shouted solemnly: "Go, we must not let the thieves escape!" Then he led his men to fight bravely without hesitation.

For a moment, shouts of killing shook the sky, and the sounds of swords clashing were endless.

Xiao Mu led the way, the long sword in his hand flashing a cold light under the moonlight. Every time he swung it, it carried a sharp momentum, making the thieves dare not approach easily.

Liu Yunniang held Ye Xiaoxiao and landed in a relatively safe place. She gently comforted her daughter who was still trembling in her arms: "Don't be afraid, Xiaoxiao, mother is here, and will not let anyone hurt you."

Ye Xiaoxiao hugged Liu Yunniang's neck tightly and sobbed, "Mom, I'm so scared."

Liu Yunniang patted Ye Xiaoxiao's back and said, "Xiaoxiao, be good. It's all right now."

Not far away, General Xiao's followers were all brave and fearless, and they fought fiercely with the bandits.

Gradually the thieves could no longer hold out and began to lose ground.

One of the thieves, seeing that the situation was not good, tried to launch a sneak attack on General Xiao, but Xiao Mu dodged it by leaning sideways and stabbed the man in the vitals with a backhanded sword.

Before he could draw the sword from the thief, he felt a fierce murderous aura attacking him from behind. He quickly dodged, but found that the man who had attacked him from behind had a thin bamboo leaf stuck in the neck. A large amount of blood gushed out and he fell heavily to the ground.

Xiao Mu quickly turned around and glanced in the direction of the mother and daughter not far away.

The bamboo leaves are coming from over there.

Another thief tried to take the opportunity to escape, but was discovered by one of General Xiao's followers, who jumped up and pulled him off his horse.

The battle was in full swing and the ground was stained red with blood.

Finally, under the fierce attack of Xiao Mu and his followers, the bandits fell one after another, either dead or injured.

Xiao Mu looked around and after confirming that there was no danger, he strode towards the direction of Liu Yunniang and her daughter.

He looked at Liu Yunniang, and saw that her eyebrows were as dark as distant black, and her eyes were as bright and moving as autumn water. Her eyes were firm and brave, yet gentle, and full of praise: "Madam, you are very skilled. Thank you for your help this time."

Liu Yunniang stood up holding Ye Xiaoxiao, bowed slightly and said, "General, you are too polite. I would like to thank you for your help. If it weren't for you, my mother and I would be in great danger."

Xiao Mu waved his hand and said, "Madam, you are too polite. Madam was implicated by me. These people's target was me from the beginning. Madam and Miss were implicated by me."

Liu Yunniang shook her head and said it didn’t matter. As long as Xiaoxiao was fine, nothing else mattered.

Ye Xiaoxiao had stopped crying at this time. She blinked her big eyes and said, "Uncle General, thank you for saving us."

Xiao Mu smiled slightly and reached out to touch Ye Xiaoxiao's head: "The little girl is so brave."