The hurried footsteps were chaotic, and the two guards behind them were no longer sleepy.
Soon, Xiao Qiniang received the news and also pushed open the door to come out.
"What's going on?"
"Reporting to Seventh Miss, it seems someone has broken into the mansion, claiming there's an assassin."
The torches burned bright, and they quickly began searching for Li Man'er's hiding place. Li Man'er had no choice but to retreat into her space first to save her own life.
The footsteps were disorganized, and before long, guards carrying torches and weapons were heading towards the main courtyard.
"Seventh Miss, an assassin has entered the manor."
A cold smile bloomed on Xiao Qiniang's lips, "They finally couldn't hold back. You lead your men and seal off the entire mansion. Not a single fly should get out. Search room by room, don't let anyone escape."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Even a starved camel is larger than a horse. No matter how incompetent the Xiao family's guards were, their operational capability far surpassed that of ordinary local clerks and yamen runners. They quickly divided into several small teams, leading their men to search different areas.
"You, take your men to the front. Qi Dayong, you take the rear, the rest follow me."
"Yes!"
This shout almost lifted the roof off.
Li Man'er felt trapped, unable to escape. She cursed the assassin in her heart ten thousand times, thinking they had come out at the worst possible time.
What if these people searched the side rooms and found her missing? They might arrest her as an assassin.
Li Man'er froze for a moment, suddenly realizing this was not an impossibility.
The Xiao family wanted to harm her, so they wouldn't do it so openly. Just like Li Shu, who was poisoned but they staged a scene of a poisonous beast attacking him.
The Xiao family might want to do the same to her, but since she was a doctor and knew medicine, it was hard to act directly, so they fabricated the story of an assassin to pin on her.
By then, the entire Li family might be accused of treason.
Li Man'er gave a cold smile. Xiao Qiniang was indeed cunning. She had underestimated her and almost fallen into the trap.
To foil Xiao Qiniang's scheme, Li Man'er seized the opportunity to leave her space. The spot where she had entered her space was quite good, with large shadows cast. Even with torches, it wouldn't be easy to be discovered in the corner. She used the chaos to slowly move outwards, feeling a sense of escaping to safety.
However, her night-traveling attire was too conspicuous; it was clearly the standard gear for an assassin. If she were caught, she wouldn't be able to deny it.
Therefore, she should change her clothes, but theoretically, there wasn't enough time.
Li Man'er was not stupid. She quickly thought of a good plan. She needed to find a patrolling team, or a lone guard, knock him out, and take his clothes. That way, she would have an extra layer of protection and wouldn't be running around like a headless fly.
No sooner said than done.
Li Man'er walked towards the side rooms, keeping an eye out for a suitable guard. However, her luck tonight seemed to be poor. Before she could take a few steps, she was discovered, and it was too late to hide in her space.
"Where is she!"
"Catch the assassin, the assassin is here."
Everyone rushed towards her.
Li Man'er cursed inwardly and started running at full speed. However, there were too many obstacles in the mansion, and too many people were chasing her. It would be difficult for her to escape alone.
Fortunately, she had her space. As she ran past a wall, Li Man'er directly entered her space.
As a result, ten seconds later, two groups of people came searching. They were quite surprised when they didn't see her.
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know. She was just here, and now she's vanished after turning this corner."
"Chase!"
Everyone held up their torches and pursued ahead.
At this time, Xiao Qiniang had returned to her room. The anxiety on her face was gone, replaced by a relaxed demeanor.
"Seventh Miss, do you think your plan will work?" The person speaking was completely hidden in his robes, with a hood covering his head. Judging by his voice, he was a man, not burly, almost the same build as a woman.
"I went through all this trouble to set this up, not just to watch a show." Xiao Qiniang put down her teacup. "Once they catch her, you will take her away immediately. That way, we can proceed to the next step."
The black-robed person nodded and said nothing more.
Xiao Qiniang's gaze fell on another black-robed person. "High Priest, why do you want to capture a woman?" Li Man'er was so beautiful; they must have lustful intentions, right?
Then she thought again, before Li Man'er came to Mobei, no one knew what she looked like, so this reason was probably invalid.
"Why ask so many questions? Don't you know, Miss Xiao Qi, that curiosity can kill?"
Xiao Qiniang gave a cold smile. "I was just asking casually. If you don't want to say, then don't."
The atmosphere in the room seemed to become a bit stiff, and there was silence for a long time.
At the same time, Li Man'er finally managed to sneak back into the courtyard.
To her surprise, the courtyard was already filled with people.
It seemed this whole act was staged for her.
Li Man'er didn't enter the courtyard. Using the cover of the night, she climbed onto the roof with her bare hands.
The two guards at the door, like wooden posts, stood diligently at the entrance, confronting Liu Ya.
"If the eldest young lady is inside, why doesn't she come out to see you?"
Liu Ya was both angry and anxious but couldn't show it at all. She could only suppress her temper and say, "Are you people being unreasonable? Our young lady is a noble lady from the capital, not a girl from Mobei. Even with limited conditions here, there are still manners to observe. How can you be so crude as to barge into a lady's private chambers?"
Hearing this, Li Man'er knew Liu Ya was stalling for time for her. She dared not be careless and quickly and cautiously lifted the roof tiles, placing them carefully.
A large hole was revealed in the roof.
Li Man'er jumped directly down. She landed without making a sound. She happened to be in the inner room, so she quickly took off her outer night-traveling clothes and stuffed them into her space. She then unpinned her hair, changed her shoes, and after confirming there were no flaws, she came out of the inner room.
Liu Ya was extremely surprised to see her. She quickly gestured to the outside.
Those people were getting impatient and were forcefully kicking the door, perhaps about to break it down at any second.
Li Man'er nodded, casually put on the cloak placed aside, covering herself completely within the cloak. Only then did she tell Liu Ya to open the door.
"What's all the fuss about?" Liu Ya stood firmly in the doorway. "Are you people trying to slander the eldest young lady of the Iron Courage Marquis's mansion? My young lady is a person of noble status. Aren't you afraid of retribution in the future for acting like this?"
The crowd, through Liu Ya, saw Li Man'er, wrapped in a cloak, yawning.
"See? Now get lost!"