Mu Anxiao was clearly startled by Ouyang Ye's sudden move. "What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide with disbelief, still glaring at him.
Ouyang Ye lowered his head, meeting Mu Anxiao's gaze up close. "What I hate the most is being deceived," he said coldly. "Mu Anxiao, you cross my boundaries again and again. You really are..."
"What, do you want to kill me again?" Mu Anxiao interrupted, looking down at the hand Ouyang Ye had placed on her arm.
As Mu Anxiao spoke, Ouyang Ye immediately released her. "I've changed my mind," he said, still looking coldly at her face. "I'm not competing with you anymore."
"What do you want?" Mu Anxiao became wary.
Ouyang Ye: "That Gu Tie is with you, right? Since that's the case, I'll give you three days. If you can find Gu Tie's soul and the coachman, I'll let you go. If you can't find them, you'll have to cooperate with me and hold a wedding for Feng Qishi. How about it?"
"I'm just wondering why you're so concerned about Feng Qishi's marriage. Do you want to be his father that badly?"
"I'm doing all this for you. Now, I've seen clearly that you will never agree to marry me. Instead of this, I might as well break you two apart. That way, you'll be heartbroken, and seeing you like that will satisfy me."
"Are you sick?"
"Say whatever you want. In any case, you have three days," Ouyang Ye said. He smiled at Mu Anxiao, then added, "Oh, right. If I remember correctly, only Lin Zong is in that room right now, isn't he?"
"What do you mean by that?" Mu Anxiao's nerves tightened after Ouyang Ye's words.
Ouyang Ye smiled faintly. "Zhao Xiang seems to have a deep hatred for that woman. I just saw him heading that way. If Lin Zong dies, things will get even more troublesome. It's up to you." With that, he turned and vanished.
Mu Anxiao's body stiffened. She looked down at Shu'er's body and thought, If I leave now, what will Shen Fengzi and the others do if they can't find me? But if I don't go, Lin Zong will be in danger. What should I do?
As she thought, she scanned her surroundings and her gaze fell on a pile of dry grass in the corner. A sudden idea struck her. She walked to Shu'er's head, bent down, took Shu'er's arm, and kicked away stones that might hurt Shu'er, all while forcefully dragging Shu'er towards the pile of dry grass. She murmured, "Hiding her here should be fine." With that, she set Shu'er down and stepped forward to arrange the dry grass.
Unexpectedly, as if everything were prearranged, just as Mu Anxiao was about to hide Shu'er, the door was kicked open.
Hearing the sound behind her, Mu Anxiao's body froze. She slowly straightened up and turned to see Ouyang Ye, disguised as the coachman, approaching with several servants. "He's definitely doing this on purpose," she muttered, clenching her fists.
Ouyang Ye feigned surprise. "Isn't this Shu'er?"
First servant: "Cao Gen, what are you doing?"
"Yeah, are you going to..." The second servant, mid-sentence, quickly ran forward and then looked down at Shu'er's 'sleeping' face, exclaiming, "She's still here."
Third servant: "What happened? Is she dead?" he asked, not daring to approach.
Then, Ouyang Ye deliberately said, "She was trying to hide Shu'er. This proves that she's the one who harmed the girl." He pointed at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao was speechless.
And so, Mu Anxiao was framed without cause and was taken away by the servants who acted on their own initiative. As for Shu'er, she was also carried away.
Shortly after, unable to find Feng Qishi, the servants temporarily locked Mu Anxiao in the woodshed. To solidify Mu Anxiao's guilt, they intentionally placed Shu'er's body beside her.
However, in this cold, dim woodshed, there was nothing but firewood.
Standing by the wall, Mu Anxiao intentionally put Ouyang Ye out of her mind. She looked up at the woodshed's only window and, thinking of Zhao Xiang, who might have already taken action, her eyes darkened. She murmured, "I'm really unlucky to have fallen into Ouyang Ye's hands." Her gaze deepened, and she squatted down, staring at Shu'er's face.
At the same time, Ouyang Ye pushed the door open. "It gets very cold here at night."
Hearing his voice, Mu Anxiao clenched her fists and turned to face Ouyang Ye, who was intentionally framing her. "They've all left," she said.
"If they hadn't left, I wouldn't have come to find you like this," Ouyang Ye said, walking up to Mu Anxiao. "Your acting is quite good."
"Your acting is better," Mu Anxiao retorted, glaring at Ouyang Ye. "Ouyang Ye, you're deliberately ruining my plan. Is this interesting?"
Ouyang Ye's expression turned serious. "Mu Anxiao, your words are often so unpleasant. Of course, I didn't bring you here to chat. On the contrary, I just want to know why you did that."
"Why did I do that?" Mu Anxiao repeated, standing up. "Are you sick? What did I do? I don't even know."
"Stop playing coy. Now, I advise you to tell me the truth," Ouyang Ye said earnestly. "Where did you hide the coachman? If you don't tell me, I'll go find Feng Qishi."
"Why bring up Shen Fengzi? Speaking of which, you locked them up, and now you're asking me where I hid the coachman," Mu Anxiao narrowed her eyes. "What are you thinking about all day? And you, acting all the time, be careful you don't drive yourself crazy."
"After you left, they all disappeared," Ouyang Ye said coldly.
Mu Anxiao thought Ouyang Ye was deliberately trying to make conversation, so she said, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could he disappear?" She snorted, glared at Ouyang Ye, and continued, "Ouyang Ye, this is really boring of you."
Ouyang Ye said in a low voice, "I brought you here to make you tell me where you hid them, Mu Anxiao. Stop playing coy and tell me the truth."
"Playing coy, hmph, Ouyang Ye, your ability for self-direction is getting better and better. You framed me perfectly, brought me and Shu'er's body here together, and now you say the coachman is missing," Mu Anxiao snorted. "Ouyang Ye, if you're bored, go play chess with Gu Yan."
"Stop hiding it. I don't have time to play coy with you here. Now, just tell me where you hid the coachman. As long as you say it, I'll put in a good word for you and get them to release you," Ouyang Ye said seriously.
At this moment, Mu Anxiao realized Ouyang Ye was not joking.
So, she asked, "Are you serious?"