Dongfang Huaizhu was both surprised and delighted by the three people's actions. She quickly supported the weak Dongfang Qinlan and said, "Can you let my sister and me go up now?"
Mei Sanniang looked at Zhili. After thinking for a long time, the latter nodded and let the two of them go up. The three of them followed closely behind. They didn't want to let the duck that was already in their mouth fly away.
Sure enough, they saw Dongfang Huaizhu open a room and take Dongfang Qinlan in. Dongfang Huaizhu settled her on the bed, pinched her little fleshy hand, and motioned for her not to worry.
"You should have something to say, right?" Zhili, the second-in-command, said to Dongfang Huaizhu, reminding her of the suggestion she had made before.
Dongfang Huaizhu nodded. "I wasn't joking about becoming your little brothers before. There are many benefits for you in this. It sounds better for the Sky-Stealing Bandit Group to take in the two young ladies of the Dongfang Family as little brothers than for the Sky-Stealing Bandit Group to kidnap a lonely young lady of the Dongfang Family."
Dongfang Huaizhu sat on the stool and calmly poured herself a cup of tea. At this moment, her words sounded even more convincing.
The three of them thought carefully about her words and fell silent for a moment. Dongfang Huaizhu seemed calm on the surface, but in fact, cold sweat had already soaked through her back. Mei Sanniang thought and thought, carefully considering the seemingly rigorous words, but for a moment, she couldn't tell what was wrong.
"You little girl have so many tricks up your sleeve! You said all these things, I'm afraid it's just to deceive the three of us brothers!" Mei Sanniang suddenly reached out and grabbed Dongfang Huaizhu's neck.
Dongfang Huaizhu was startled by her unpredictable mood. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she tried her best to control her body not to tremble.
"Cough, cough. Mei Sanniang, what are you doing?" Dongfang Huaizhu forced herself to be calm and managed to speak with difficulty while being choked.
"Humph, don't think I don't know your little plan!" Mei Sanniang increased the strength in her hand and tightened her grip on Dongfang Huaizhu's neck.
Just when Dongfang Huaizhu thought she was going to suffocate and her face turned red, Dongfang Qinlan beside her suddenly jumped out of bed and nimbly knocked Mei Sanniang's hand away. The little girl's move was fast and accurate, making Mei Sanniang's hand go numb.
Mei Sanniang was secretly shocked. This Dongfang Qinlan was really not to be trifled with!
"Don't bully my sister!" Dongfang Qinlan firmly protected Dongfang Huaizhu behind her.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Dongfang Huaizhu, who had been released, gasped for air and wanted to pull Dongfang Qinlan behind her, but the little girl didn't budge.
Mei Sanniang quietly put her numb hand behind her back. "It's you little girl again! You're quite bold!"
Dongfang Qinlan didn't show any weakness. She raised her head and stared fiercely at Mei Sanniang, as if she would pounce on her if she made any move the next second.
"Cough, cough, cough! Mei Sanniang, don't be angry. My younger sister is just hot-tempered by nature and lacks discipline." Dongfang Huaizhu spoke to ease the tense atmosphere and observed Mei Sanniang's mood at the same time.
"I'm ashamed to say, alas, my sister and I have lacked fatherly love since childhood. Our father has always been busy managing the affairs of the mansion and rarely comes to visit us. We've been living in that side courtyard until now. The people we see most often are the nannies." Dongfang Huaizhu stole glances at Mei Sanniang's expression and seemed about to shed tears, looking extremely pitiful.
Dongfang Huaizhu noticed that Mei Sanniang's tense body relaxed a bit, and there was a hint of sympathy in her eyes. She took out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe away the tears that were about to fall.
"Alas, forget it. You sisters are really pitiful people." Mei Sanniang sighed. She was moved by Dongfang Huaizhu's act of playing the victim.
However, Mei Sanniang didn't intend to let the two of them go easily. She took out a bottle of something from her bosom, slowly opened it, and said to Dongfang Huaizhu, "This is a kind of poison. Although the toxicity is slow, it will gradually accumulate in the body. In the end, it will suddenly flare up and kill the person poisoned."
Mei Sanniang played with the small porcelain bottle in her hand and winked at Zhili and Qimiao behind her. The two of them stepped forward without hesitation and controlled Dongfang Huaizhu. Dongfang Qinlan was thrown to one side and couldn't get up for a long time.
Mei Sanniang pinched open Dongfang Huaizhu's mouth, took out a pill of poison, and forced Dongfang Huaizhu to take it. "This poison needs to be detoxified once every half a month. Only I have the antidote. So don't do anything useless. Come to me obediently to get the antidote. Otherwise, you'll die from the poison!"
Dongfang Huaizhu was greatly shocked. The pill quickly slid down her throat. She lowered her head, and finally the three of them let her go. They swaggered out of the room and slammed the door shut.
"Sister, sister, are you okay?" Dongfang Qinlan got up from the ground and ran towards Dongfang Huaizhu.
"Cough, cough, cough! It's okay." Dongfang Huaizhu coughed a few times and found that the poison was already gone. She felt completely hopeless.
That night, Dongfang Huaizhu looked at Dongfang Qinlan's sleeping profile and quietly got out of bed. There were no stars in the sky that night, and most of the moon was covered by dark clouds. It was a good time to escape.
However, she definitely couldn't take Dongfang Qinlan with her when she escaped. It would be inconvenient for two people to act. She could only wait until she escaped and then call for reinforcements to rescue her sister.
Dongfang Huaizhu gently pushed open the door. Relying on her memory of coming in during the day, she planned to retrace her steps and escape from the inn. She had walked a few steps and was about to reach the stairs when a voice came from behind her.
"Miss Dongfang, where are you going?" The voice was cold, and a shiver ran through Dongfang Huaizhu's body.
Zhili!
Dongfang Huaizhu calmly turned around and pretended that nothing had happened. "What a coincidence, Second-in-Command."
"It's not a coincidence." Zhili stared at Dongfang Huaizhu's sneaky actions as if he wanted to pierce a hole through her. His face was full of a gloomy expression.
Dongfang Huaizhu half-covered her face. "Everyone has three urgent needs. I was just going to the toilet in the middle of the night. But it's so late that I can hardly see the way."
Zhili thought for a while. It was really pitch-dark that night, and the sky was very dim.
"Miss Dongfang, just don't do anything out of line. Don't forget, only the three of us brothers can give you the antidote. If you want to die, you can give it a try."
Hearing his words, Dongfang Huaizhu shook her head and smiled, which really surprised Zhili. "How could I, Third-in-Command? Who in this world would want to die? Am I right?"
In the dim light, Dongfang Huaizhu tried her best to hide the cold sweat on her forehead. She mustn't let Zhili notice.
"Moreover, my sister is still in the room. I can't just abandon her." Dongfang Huaizhu spread her hands, looking very matter-of-fact.
Zhili thought she was right. She wouldn't be stupid enough to run away and abandon the antidote. Even if she ran away, it would be a dead end.
Zhili nodded. "Go back to your room and go to sleep quickly! Don't wander around outside!"
Dongfang Huaizhu returned to the room as if she had been pardoned. Just now, in order to prevent herself from trembling, she had dug her nails into her flesh, but she didn't even notice.
Early the next morning, the three of them came to Dongfang Huaizhu's door. "Hurry up and come out. We're going to set off!"
Dongfang Huaizhu heard Mei Sanniang's voice outside the door. She opened the door and pulled Dongfang Qinlan out.
"Where are we going?" Dongfang Huaizhu asked carefully.
"To Longcheng to participate in the martial arts competition." Zhili's voice was emotionless.