Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 158 Who exactly is unlucky?

In fact, Chunyu Shuang and Xie Mingchen were currently experiencing a life-or-death race against time. They were waiting peacefully outside the Binyang Prince's residence, keeping quiet because they knew their martial arts skills were limited. But who would have thought that the Binyang Prince's residence, which had initially appeared calm, would suddenly erupt like boiling water, with many people splashing out. Each one of them looked ferocious, with eyes like hawks, as if they wanted to capture anything unusual within a ten-mile radius.

Chunyu Shuang even overheard the leader's instructions.

"Not even a single cat can get away from me! Catch them all!"

Is it really necessary? She wanted to ask, is it really necessary? But then she thought, with the guards inside making such a commotion, maybe Jiu Que and the others had done something big. Thinking of this, Chunyu Shuang was no longer sleepy.

Perhaps it was just bad luck for the two of them; just as they were obediently pretending to be law-abiding citizens, an orange cat, perhaps startled by the commotion, darted towards them from some obscure corner. The guards, already on edge, caught a glimpse of something darting past out of the corner of their eyes and were immediately drawn to the sight, rushing towards them one after another.

Chunyu Shuang and Xie Mingchen exchanged a glance and quietly walked deeper into the mansion. However, being scholars, they lacked any martial arts skills, and even with their increased pace, they were no match for the ferocious guards pouncing behind them. The footsteps behind them grew more rapid and closer, and beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads. No, they had been quietly blocking the way outside the mansion, so why were they still so unlucky as to be discovered? The troublesome little cat had already darted away somewhere. This was truly unfortunate for the two innocent bystanders. Moreover, Chunyu Shuang had clearly seen even ordinary people who happened to be passing by being seized by those wolf-like guards; how could they, two strangers, possibly escape?

Unfortunately, all they could see was a wall; the alley was a dead end. The two men exchanged a worried glance. Their muscular men had all gone into the palace to distract the others, and the several skilled guards who had accompanied them had been sent to buy medicinal herbs. The herbal shop was only a few steps from where they had been; who would have thought such an unexpected turn of events would occur so quickly?

"Next time, I won't let them leave my side for even a moment, no matter what. When someone's unlucky, even drinking cold water can cause them to choke. Doctor Xie, who's really unlucky, you or me?"

"I think we're both pretty unlucky."

Xie Mingchen spoke slowly, his eyes darting around, trying to find a way out of this dead end. He had agreed to send the guards to buy medicine earlier, after all, the pharmacy was so close to them, how long would it take to buy medicine? Less than half an incense stick's time, right? But who would have thought they would be so unlucky? Almost the instant the guards stepped into the pharmacy, a whole bunch of guards from the Prince's mansion rushed out.

They really can't blame anyone else for this.

The sounds behind her grew closer, and just as the guards were about to appear at the alley entrance, Chunyu Shuang's ankle suddenly tightened. Her expression tense, she instinctively tried to resist, but when she looked down, she froze. There was a hidden dog hole at the base of the wall to her right, and a little girl's face emerged from it, nervously gesturing to them.

With time running out and in this critical moment, the two of them didn't care whether crawling through a dog hole was proper or not. Besides, they didn't care about such things at all. These two people, who were weak as they were, unleashed all their strength at this moment and quickly crawled in. The little girl picked up a flat stone next to her and blocked the entrance to the hole the instant Xie Mingchen crawled in.

Chunyu Shuang listened intently to the sounds outside. The guards following behind glanced around, saw no one in the alley, and, not paying any attention, turned to search the alley ahead.

After confirming there were no more sounds coming from outside, the two breathed a sigh of relief. Then, looking down, they met the bright eyes of a slightly familiar-looking girl. Wait a minute, why does this girl look so familiar?

Chunyu Shuang quickly recognized the girl; wasn't she the daughter of the noodle shop owner from before? The little girl was staring at them curiously with her bright, large eyes, her right hand gently stroking one of her...

A huge black dog, almost as tall as a person?!

Chunyu Shuang probably shuddered. She was fearless, daring to fight in the male-dominated officialdom, daring to argue and even break ties with her parents. But the one thing she feared most was dogs! Because she had been bitten by a dog when she was very young, and ever since then, she had been terrified of even small dogs, let alone a dog this big and fierce. Now, her face was pale, her lips trembled slightly, her pupils dilated, and she was almost fainting.

It was Xie Mingchen, a doctor, who noticed Chunyu Shuang's abnormality. He quickly pinched her philtrum hard, which woke Chunyu Shuang up from her near fainting spell.

The little girl noticed the older girl's unusual behavior and quickly told the big black dog to leave.

"Big Black, go! Go find Mom first. Sister, don't be afraid. My Big Black looks fierce, but it's actually very well-behaved. Look, it hasn't made a sound."

As the saying goes, a barking dog doesn't bite. The big black dog had remained silent the moment they entered, its fierce, beastly eyes fixed on the two strangers. This little girl was better off not explaining; any explanation would have made Chunyu Shuang want to collapse to the ground.

Fortunately, the big black dog stared at the two of them for a while, and after realizing they posed no threat, it wagged its tail and slowly went to the front yard.

Once the big black dog had walked a sufficient distance, Chunyu Shuang finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had come back to life.

"This dog is quite nice, very loyal to its owner. Is it yours, young lady?"

"Sister, aren't you scared? Dahei was picked up by my dad when he went hunting in the mountains. I heard it was born from a mother wolf. I don't know what breed it is, but Dahei has always been very well-behaved since it was a puppy. It's just that this little guy keeps growing bigger and bigger. This dog hole was made for it."

No wonder. Chunyu Shuang was just wondering what kind of family would leave such a big dog hole; turns out they have a vicious dog. Of course, she also had to thank Dahei, as the hole was big enough for two adults to squeeze through.

But why did this little girl suddenly offer her help out of the blue? Wasn't she afraid that the two of them might be bad people?
Chunyu Shuang thought so, and asked so. The little girl was very cheerful, quite different from how she was on the street before. Perhaps she was more relaxed at home. She led them to the front yard while explaining with a smile.

"I remember you. You came with the lady who bought noodles from our store before. That lady gave us a lot more money when she paid, so you must all be good people!"

(End of this chapter)