Divorced woman with child travels through time

"No! Don't come out..." Li Qingshan had just shouted these words when his voice stopped abruptly. The soft sword at his waist was only half drawn and not yet fully pulled out.

Two arrows came flying at him; one struck his abdomen, and the other pierced his heart with deadly precision.

"Brother..." Li Baozhu ran frantically towards Li Qingshan. Two ordinary-looking strong men who were rushing towards them from a distance strolled over at a leisurely pace, as if they were taking a walk, or as if they were preparing to hunt down prey that was already locked in a cage.

Li Baozhu threw herself onto Li Qingshan, hugging him and pulling him close. Li Qingshan had completely lost consciousness, his eyes were starting to glaze over, but he kept staring at her, his mouth agape as if trying to speak to her.

Li Baozhu was already in tears. She knew her brother meant "run away," but she also knew she couldn't run away and didn't want to. She had no family left.

“Brother…I’m sorry, it’s all my fault…” Li Baozhu completely ignored the two masked men approaching, and just held Li Qingshan, who kept slipping to the ground, and cried out in anguish, “Brother, wake up, I will never go out and play around again…I know I was wrong…wake up…”

Li Baozhu kept adjusting Li Qingshan's fallen body, constantly crying out. The snow started falling again, and the fierce wind cut like knives on people's faces. Li Baozhu, pale-faced, cried in the cold wind and snow, looking exceptionally pitiful.

"What a pity..." one of the burly men sighed, "It concerns the young master's future, otherwise we could have used it for fun."

The other burly man nodded in agreement.

"Don't blame us, it's your own fault for messing with the wrong people..." the burly man said to Li Baozhu.

Li Baozhu looked up at him resentfully, "So what? Do you think I deserve this?"

“Ignorant woman, you’re courting death…” The burly man said no more, drew his sword, and stabbed Li Baozhu through.

"Ugh..." Li Baozhu spat out a mouthful of blood, "You! I, I will haunt you even as a ghost..." Li Baozhu stared at the two of them with wide eyes.

"It doesn't matter. I can kill you as a human, and I can kill you as a ghost." The burly man stepped on her chest for leverage, pulled out a sword, and wiped the blood off her clothes with the knife.

Li Baozhu could no longer support Li Qingshan and collapsed. The two of them fell to the ground in the snow. Li Baozhu convulsed, and blood gushed from her mouth and abdomen, quickly staining the snow red and mixing with Li Qingshan's blood, slowly seeping into the white snow.

Upon seeing that Li Baozhu was dead, the two burly men leaped and quickly disappeared into the snow. A quarter of an hour later, the snow fell heavier and heavier, and the sound of horses' hooves rose. They stopped abruptly when they saw the two men lying in the snow.

Zhao Qi dismounted and, accompanied by several attendants, galloped over.

"Baozhu!" Zhao Qi helped Li Baozhu up; her body was still warm. Her large eyes stared at the sky with resentment, as if she had died with her eyes wide open. Zhao Qi covered her eyes with his hand, holding her and grieving uncontrollably. He sobbed, unable to hide his pain, and complained, "Why did you do this? I told you I didn't mind, why did you go and provoke her?"

Zhao Qi couldn't explain why his feelings for her were so unique. He had been with many women, but none like her. He thought he was just indulging in something new. But when he really wanted to take her into his family and give her a proper status, he knew he wanted to keep her by his side, to make her his flower, blooming only for him. He never wanted to despise her, nor was he willing to. But in the end, it was because of his favoritism in bringing her home that she suffered this undeserved misfortune.

"It's all my fault, I didn't protect you..." Zhao Qi cried, then roared weakly, "But why didn't you listen to me? Why were you so stubborn?" He knew he could never stand against the Duke of Liang's mansion, and all he could do was writhe in impotent rage...

Snowflakes fell gently onto Li Baozhu's face, melting with her body heat, and sliding down her cheeks like tears.

After a while, Zhao Qi felt a little cold. He wiped the tears from his face, put Li Baozhu back on the ground, took the umbrella that Yingzi had been holding for him, and said, "Find some people and give her a proper burial."

Just as Shadow was about to say something, another man on horseback appeared not far away, with another horse beside him and a child of about ten years old sitting on it.

They arrived quickly. The man was indeed Dali, and the child was the one who had climbed over the wall of the Li residence to get money to write a letter to Li Qingshan. Li Qingshan had been worried about being followed, so he had stopped his horse elsewhere and walked over, but he hadn't expected that someone would still find his trail.

Dali had accompanied Li Qingshan to Zhao Qi's villa before, so she naturally knew Zhao Qi. She bowed and said expressionlessly, "No need for the general to worry, I will take good care of my young master and young lady."

Zhao Qi disliked the man's sour face, rolled his eyes at him and said, "Very well, let's go!" With that, he tossed the umbrella back to Shadow, mounted his horse, and left without looking back. The others also mounted their horses and left. After a series of hoofbeats, they disappeared without a trace, as if they had never been there.

"You heartless and ungrateful people, young master, rest assured, I will definitely avenge you." Li Dali knelt in the snow and kowtowed three times to Li Qingshan before getting up, carrying Li Qingshan's body into the courtyard.

Following suit, Xiao Ding silently shed tears, kowtowed three times, and led the horse into the courtyard. Xiao Ding was originally an orphan adopted by Li Qingshan, who named him Xiao Ding out of pity for his loneliness.

Li Dali silently carried the two of them into the courtyard and placed them properly on the soft couch. Xiao Ding wrung out a handkerchief to wipe their faces. Inside the room, the charcoal fire that Li Qingshan had added not long ago was burning brightly. The snowflakes on Li Qingshan and Li Baozhu's bodies had all melted, staining their clothes red. Xiao Ding wiped them while crying silently. There was too much blood; a basin of water was stained red in an instant.

The young master has always treated him very well. He entrusted him with the key to the secret room of the house and the valuables inside. He also values ​​him highly. Apart from worrying about Li Baozhu and being obsessed with calligraphy and painting, Li Qingshan doesn't like to worry about anything else. Xiao Ding takes care of everything.

Li Dali had stopped crying and told Xiao Ding to keep a close eye on him. He went to the government office to report the case, and soon brought two constables over. The constables were used to this kind of revenge, especially since it involved the Duke of Liang's mansion. In the face of power, human life was as cheap as grass, nothing at all. They went through the motions and left without a word.

Li Dali didn't say anything. He knew he was outnumbered and outmatched. He instructed Xiao Ding to find someone to take care of the two of them, then went to order two coffins, rented two carriages, and hired three drivers to pull the coffins of the two people to Lijia Town.

The weather was cold, so there was no worry about the corpses rotting. However, the snow was thick and the roads were slippery, making it very difficult to walk. Li Dali gave them plenty of silver and bought a lot of strong liquor and food, which satisfied the drivers. Even so, it still took them five or six days to reach Lijia Town.