Chapter 17 Goodbye Mary

  "Ah~ Finally arrived!"

  "It's been decades since he last came down from the mountain, but Wang is still the same! It's really disappointing."

  The city walls of the capital are high and strong, with majestic gates that can accommodate ten war horses passing through in a row. The people coming and going are dressed more luxuriously than elsewhere, and the soldiers guarding the gate outside are mighty and formidable. Just one gate alone can show the majesty and dignity of the capital.

  Charlotte and Xiao Bai were waiting at the end of a long queue to enter the city. For some reason, the guards today seemed to be checking very strictly, even examining the goods that came and went, so the queue was moving forward very slowly. A big man in front of them was getting impatient, scratching his ears and cheeks anxiously, occasionally bursting into loud curses with foul language.

  "Who would have thought that even I, a white-collar worker, would one day have to queue up to get into the city, sigh!"

  Xiaobai and others also started sighing with anxiety.

  "Get out of the way!"

  Behind him, a coachman was driving away the people in front of him with rough movements. The coachman was driving a three-horse carriage with the crest of the Edward family on the head of the carriage. The person who was whipped did not dare to resist and gave way to make room for the carriage. Charlotte didn't want to cause trouble, so she hid far away as soon as she saw the carriage.

  Everyone feared the power of the Edward family, holding their breath and yielding to let them pass. The big man who had been scolding in the street earlier refused to give way. The coachman, accustomed to relying on his master's prestige, saw someone dare to defy him and, without saying a word, struck out with his whip. However, before the whip landed on the big man, it broke into several pieces. It turned out that the big man was quite skilled, and the coachman's whip seemed like a toy to him, not worth mentioning!

  "You wretched commoner! Where did you get the audacity to offend the House of Edward!"

  The groom was so angry that he insulted the Great Han, who became enraged and took a step forward, pulling the groom off the carriage and pinning him to the ground.

  "You little man who relies on the tiger's prestige, today I'll let you go meet God!"

  The Great Han punched and kicked the groom, who cried out in pain, repeatedly calling for his master to save him.

  "Madam! Madam, save me!"

  Among the crowd on the side, some people cheered for Da Han. The people here are mostly locals of Wangdu, who have long been disgusted with the Edward family's domineering behavior. Some people spoke out against them and felt extremely relieved.

  "Xiao Bai, this big fellow is probably hard to get rid of,"

  Charlotte also had a slight good impression of Da Han's behavior, and she began to worry about him.

  "It's impossible to escape, don't you see the guards at the city gate coming this way?"

  More than a dozen guardsmen on horseback galloped up and surrounded the carriage and the two men in front of it.

  "Who dares to fight here?! Stop it at once!"

  The window of the carriage opened and a magnificent head emerged from it. The noblewoman frowned and pointed accusingly.

  "My man! How dare you, a low-ranking officer, try to stop me?"

  The officer in charge immediately changed his expression when he saw the noblewoman.

  "Madam, I saw your carriage specially come out to welcome you into the city,"

  "Did you hear? Make way for the lady!"

  The soldiers behind immediately took action, using their long swords and shields to drive the people at the entrance to the side of the road. The big man who had just been very tough saw that even the officer was directing the movement, he secretly regretted it, and was about to slip away quietly, but unexpectedly the coachman was a narrow-minded guy, how could he let go of the big man who had beaten him up? The coachman pointed at the big man and reported to the officer.

  "General, it was this guy who blocked my wife's carriage and beat me up! You absolutely can't let him off, General!"

  "Ah? Someone's here, grab him for me!"

  Two soldiers were ordered to capture the Great Han, but the Great Han knew that it was pointless to reason with these people, and now the horseman was taking advantage of his power to bully others. Today, he was in big trouble!

  "Wait!"

  Charlotte still can't swallow this tone, Xiao Bai almost knelt down for this troublemaker.

  "I clearly saw that it was the horse owner who bullied people and took the initiative to fight, and the whip on the ground is evidence. What right do you have to arrest this person?"

  The officer looked at Charlotte and was initially somewhat disbelieving. She wouldn't be so foolish, would she? Throw herself into the net? This woman just looks like Cinderella, does she?

  "Who are you?"

  "Mind your own business, just say whether you'll let me go or not?"

  The officer smiled sarcastically.

  "The little girl doesn't look good, warming up her brother's quilt, and as soon as her brother's heart softens, he lets her go, how about that?"

  It seems that if he doesn't reveal his true identity, this officer won't let Da Han go.

  "Do you know Mr. Lucas? I'm his daughter, if you want me to warm your bed, you'd better discuss it with my father!"

  The soldiers looked at each other in dismay, and the officer's face sank, it was indeed Lucas' daughter.

  "Take this sinful woman away!"

  Charlotte didn't expect the officer to order her arrest, and in a moment of carelessness, she was tightly bound by the soldiers. She struggled for a few moments but couldn't break free. Subconsciously, she glanced at Xiaobai, who shook his head at her. Charlotte understood that Xiaobai was telling her to go along with it and see how things would unfold. So, she stopped resisting and allowed the soldiers to take her into the imperial capital.

  The officer thought he had done a great deed and didn't bother to flatter the noblewoman, so he took Charlotte and left with her, leaving the crowd at the door. The big man narrowly escaped, but instead of leaving in a hurry, he secretly followed behind the officer, waiting for an opportunity to rescue Charlotte.

  Pushed along by the soldiers, Charlotte looked like a heavenly beauty. If she weren't a wanted criminal by the military officer, those little soldiers would never have laid eyes on such a beautiful girl in their lifetime. Charlotte smiled sweetly at one of the little soldiers, who blushed and grinned foolishly. Seeing an opportunity, Charlotte immediately began to speak in a flirtatious tone.

  "Little brother, hehe, can you tell me what's been going on at Lucas' house recently?"

  The little soldier was made dizzy by her and naturally said everything.

  "The king suddenly said that the Lucas family disrespected the royal family and had them searched, later it was heard that it was because the younger daughter of the Lucas family impersonated her older sister Charlotte at a dinner party, originally not a big deal, but unfortunately this little girl broke the head of Baron Dence at the meeting, which was then used by Count Rio to make a fuss, the Lucas family is really miserable! Oh! Sorry! I forgot you are also from the Lucas family, you are actually Lucas's daughter? How can you be outside?"

  Charlotte was shocked by the news and couldn't come back to her senses, even when Lucas asked her something she didn't respond. In just a few short days, such a big thing happened at home, how could this be? The Lucas family is also a well-known family in the capital, how could they be so vulnerable? Who is behind all of this? Is someone planning to take down the Lucas family? Too many questions were swirling around in Charlotte's mind with no way to vent.

  "Ah!~~~~"

  Xiaobai followed behind, not knowing what Xiaobing and Charlotte were talking about. When she heard Charlotte's sharp cry, Xiaobai's heart tightened, looking around to find that this was a quiet street with no pedestrians. Xiaobai roared and rushed towards Charlotte, the soldiers turned back in shock, only to find it was just a cat, they relaxed again, some of them even stopped to tease him.

  "Hey! Little kitty, come here and I'll buy you some bread to eat, haha!"

  "Roar!"

  "Haha, what a fierce little kitten!"

  It wasn't until Xiao Bai bit through the rope binding Charlotte that these fools realized something was amiss.

  "Stop her! She's trying to run away!"

  "Grab that cat for me!"

  Charlotte ran first, followed by Xiao Bai. The soldiers wanted to chase them but were afraid of Xiao Bai's sharp teeth, so they could only follow them from a distance. They turned into a small alley. Charlotte was getting tired, and Xiao Bai noticed it too. He ran while looking for a place to hide, and soon he found a house with an open door.

  "Charlotte, don't run! You hide in this house, I'll lure them away and meet you back here."

  "Alright, be careful yourself, Xiao Bai!"

  Xiao Bai ran away in a flash of smoke, leaving behind a sentence with a flourish.

  "I'll come find you in a bit!"

  Charlotte hid behind the door of this house, secretly paying attention to the situation on the street outside. Seeing that the soldiers had followed Xiao Bai and didn't suspect anything here, Charlotte let out a sigh of relief, sat down on the ground with her eyes closed, trying to calm down.

  "Charlotte!?"

  The sudden voice startled Charlotte to jump up, and in front of her was a thin little girl who was happily looking at her, pointing to the room. Charlotte wanted to ask if it was convenient to go in and talk, but the little girl was very clever, she nodded and took Charlotte with her into the room. After entering the room, Charlotte closed the door tightly before daring to speak.

  "Mary! You,"

  Charlotte didn't know what to say, the last time they met she was still a noble lady, now seeing her again as a criminal, her situation wasn't better than Mary's. She missed Mary very much, but all these couldn't be said anymore, she didn't want to implicate Mary.

  "Charlotte, I've been thinking about you all these days and finally see you again!"

  Mary wiped away tears excitedly, her small face turned into a flower cat. Mary still lived a difficult life, and Charlotte felt heartbroken thinking about it - why was life so stingy to such a kind girl?

  "Alright! I'm fine, just passing by to wait for a friend today. Didn't expect him to be late, so I came in to ask for a glass of water since I was thirsty. I'll leave soon."

  Charlotte said with a pretended ease, but Mary didn't say anything after hearing it. She stared straight at Charlotte, making Charlotte feel guilty and not daring to look directly into her big eyes. Suddenly, she heard Mary say sadly,

  "Charlotte, am I not your best friend? You don't have to lie to me, I already know everything about the Lucas family."

  Charlotte stared at Mary in surprise,

  "My family is poor and struggling, but my father is the commander of the army camp. He spends all his military pay on drinking and gambling, and my mother can't do anything about it."

  Talking about her father, Mary felt both love and hatred.

  "The operation to capture Lucas's family a few days ago was also participated by my father. Sorry, Charlotte."

  It never occurred to Mary that she would bluntly tell herself that her father was involved in the capture. Charlotte's heart was complicated, and it was impossible to say that there was no resentment at all, but this matter had nothing to do with her father. Charlotte soon let go of it.

  "Mary, this has nothing to do with your family, you don't need to apologize to me. As soon as I returned to the capital, I was caught and luckily someone helped me secretly, so I could escape."

  Mary grasped Charlotte's hand and looked at her with fear in her eyes.

  "God bless! I wish that good man could go to heaven! Charlotte, the capital is safer for you, just stay at my house, I promise not to tell anyone."

  "No way, I won't drag you down! Now that my parents and sister are gone, I don't want to lose you too,"

  "Charlotte! Stay here, I'll help you find out about your family."

  Mary was eager to keep Charlotte back, Charlotte hesitated, on one side were her family members whose lives were uncertain, and on the other side was her best friend, what should she do?