Chapter 30: The Prey is Right Before Our Eyes

Tomb-Sweeping Festival that day, Li pushed open the door of Zhan Lan's room.

"Lan'er, today we are going to visit your father's grave, get ready."

"Yes." Zhan Lan replied.

After all, Xue Wei was her father's lifesaver, every year on Tomb-Sweeping Festival and the death anniversary, she and Li would go to sweep the tomb and offer sacrifices.

Zhan Lan prepared the horse carriage, brought along paper money, candlesticks, and offerings, and left the house with Li.

Dugu Yan also followed along.

The coachman drove, with Zhan Lan, Li, and Dugu Yan all sitting in the carriage.

Li saw Gu Yan sitting in the carriage without closing her legs properly and sitting indecently, scolded: "Gu Yan, you must have manners in the mansion, sitting like this, what kind of decency is that!"

Zhan Lan, dressed in purple, smiled at Li and said: "The child is still young, I will teach her well!"

Li glared at Zhan Lan, "Keeping such a dog in your room is not the way, get rid of it quickly!"

Zhan Lan's smile faded, "Little Black hasn't taken anything from the General Mansion, I'm raising him, I'm responsible!"

Li angrily said, "You child, why can't you give your mother peace of mind, that dog is growing bigger, what if it bites someone in the mansion, can you afford that?"

Zhan Lan snorted coldly, "Dogs are the most loyal animals in the world, maybe even better than some people, like Qinglian!"

Li sighed heavily and said angrily, "Have it your way!"

"By the way, where did you get the silver?" She added another question.

Zhan Lan casually said, "Gathering some herbs on the mountain, selling them to the pharmacy, can also make some silver."

Li rubbed her temples, "You, a woman, all day long... never mind, as long as you don't cause trouble."

Zhan Lan listened to Li nagging all the way, she simply closed her eyes and slept.

Dugu Yan endured Li all the way, and finally lost patience midway up the mountain.

"Coachman, stop the carriage, let me get down!"

Dugu Yan jumped out of the carriage the moment it stopped and walked away angrily.

Li looked at Gu Yan's back, shaking with anger, "Look, such a coarse maid has such a temper, good riddance, just leave!"

Zhan Lan remained silent, listening to Li's nagging.

The mountain road was rugged, and a cold wind blew from behind Zhan Lan, chilling to the bone.

Zhan Lan shuddered, opening her feigned sleeping eyes.

"Oh, isn't that Miss Zhan Xuerou's carriage?" Li was pleased, lifted the curtain to look outside, and saw another carriage.

Zhan Lan sat upright, indeed, Zhan Xuerou had followed.

What she most enjoyed was seeing the struggling appearance of her rival.

So, today was the day, here on Xixia Mountain, Zhan Xuerou was going to make a move against her.

Perhaps, someone would seek her life.

"Stop the carriage, stop the carriage!" Li, seeing her own daughter, urgently called out to the coachman.

The coachman stopped the carriage, and Zhan Xuerou's carriage also halted.

Li got out of the carriage, and Zhan Xuerou also got out.

"Miss, are you here to pay tribute to our ancestors?" Li asked.

Zhan Xuerou, her face bare and dressed in a white dress, nodded with a smile, "Indeed, what a coincidence, auntie, we just happen to be on the same path, having some company!"

Li smiled affectionately, "Why didn't the Madam come today?"

Zhan Xuerou replied, "My mother caught a cold, it's inconvenient for her, so I brought Chunhua and two Protectors along."

Chunhua and the Protectors greeted Li.

Zhan Lan, inside the carriage, listened to their conversation but did not come out, Li and Zhan Xuerou boarded their respective carriages.

Two carriages proceeded one after the other along the mountain road.

The further they traveled towards the mountain peak, the fewer carriages they encountered.

Zhan Lan was familiar with the terrain of Xixia Mountain; she thought they were almost there, the terrain ahead was not conducive to escape, Zhan Xuerou would probably make her move soon.

Mrs. Li's gaze constantly looked towards Zhan Xuerou's direction. Even just a distant glimpse of her daughter brought her joy.

Zhan Lan observed Mrs. Li's every move from the corner of her eye, and smirked inwardly, sure enough, she wasn't her biological mother.

If she were her own, Mrs. Li's eyes wouldn't always be on someone else's daughter.

Mrs. Li noticed Zhan Lan watching and awkwardly coughed behind the curtain, saying, "We're almost there."

Zhan Lan did not respond, just kept a vigilant watch over her surroundings.

Sitting in another carriage, Zhan Xuerou also opened her curtain, her hands trembling.

Chunhua noticed and quickly grabbed her hand, saying, "Don't worry, miss, everything is arranged. Later, the eldest miss will testify that they fell off the cliff and died. No one will suspect anything."

In fact, Chunhua was mistaken, Zhan Xuerou wasn't nervous; she was just a bit excited, eagerly awaiting Zhan Lan's downfall.

"Me, nervous? The prey is right before my eyes, the real show is about to start!" Zhan Xuerou released Chunhua's hand.

"Sigh!"

Suddenly, the coachman shouted, and the carriage stopped.

The Coachman turned back towards Zhan Lan and Mrs. Li saying, "It's bad, Madam, Miss Zhan Lan, the road ahead is blocked by fallen rocks, the carriage might not make it through!"

Zhan Lan jumped down from the carriage, and Zhan Xuerou along with Mrs. Li and others also got down.

"What should we do, we are almost there, why don't we walk up!" Zhan Xuerou spoke up first.

"How could that be okay? This mountain road is so difficult, and the young lady's frail body..." Mrs. Li tried to object, but Zhan Lan said, "Okay!"

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Li scolded Zhan Lan.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping horses approached from afar, a group of men on horses, kicking up dust, rushed from mid-mountain.

Zhan Lan saw from a distance that their faces were covered, and they had sabers at their waists.

Zhan Xuerou exclaimed, "Oh my god, who are these people!"

Two Protectors immediately shielded Zhan Xuerou.

Mrs. Li also grew panicked, Zhan Lan glanced at Zhan Xuerou, quickly stepped forward, grabbed her, and ran.

While running, she shouted, "Quickly, protect the young lady!"

Zhan Xuerou didn't expect Zhan Lan to actually grab her and run together.

She silently cursed Zhan Lan, a fool—apparently, the other party hadn't realized that those assassins were here for her life!

"Sister, run fast." Zhan Xuerou tried to let go of Zhan Lan's hand, but despite using all her strength, she couldn't manage.

Zhan Lan firmly held onto her slender wrist.

"Run quickly!" Realizing something was amiss, Mrs. Li screamed towards Zhan Lan's direction.

She thought to herself: It's good that Zhan Lan has a conscience; she actually took Zhan Xuerou with her.

Zhan Lan knew martial arts and could surely protect the young lady.

Seeing their own miss being dragged away by Zhan Lan, Chunhua and the two Protectors also chased after Zhan Lan and Zhan Xuerou.

"Mrs. Xue, let's escape for our lives!" Two Coachmen grabbed Mrs. Li and ran in the opposite direction.

The masked men arrived, jumped off their horses, and the leader shouted, "After them!"

The horsemen chased in the direction of Zhan Lan.

Mrs. Li was extremely panicked; Zhan Xuerou was her biological daughter, if anything happened to her, she didn't want to live either!

She forcefully broke free from the two Coachmen and chased in the direction where Zhan Xuerou fled.

Seeing this, one Coachman stayed back, and the other hurriedly went to the General Mansion for help.