At the sound of people shouting, Yuxi opened her eyes. She got out of the carriage and looked up at the sky, which was just showing the colour white of a fish's belly. Everything was pure and refreshing, as if it were a light ink painting, permeating the pleasant fragrance of grass.
Seeing Yuxi's preoccupied look, Zijin said, "Miss, it will be alright." She knew Miss had stayed up half of the night.
After letting a cry of agreement, Yuxi said, "Let's go wash up!"
After the group had done eating, they set off on their way. Knowing that they were going to cross the Menghu Mountain, except for those from the Xinglong Armed Escort, the rest were all tensed up, especially Luo Shuigui and his party, who were heavily armed.
It was not long before the sun rose. The red sun signalled another fine, clear and bright day.
Yuxi leaned back on her pillow and said, "Call me if something happens. I'll rest for a while." Last night, she reflected on the situation and had spent half the night deliberating, resulting in not sleeping well and being in poor spirits.
Zisu urged, "Then, Miss should have a good rest."
Yuxi couldn't get a good rest, as the road was mountainous and particularly bumpy, making the whole carriage sway left and right. Despite that, she kept her eyes closed.
"Stop......" An unfamiliar voice rang in everyone's ears.
Yuxi's eyes immediately opened when she heard the voice. Zijin wanted to lift the curtain, but Yuxi stopped her. "Listen to the movement outside first." After saying this, she took out a small and delicate dagger under the quilt and put it in her sleeve.
Zisu's face turned a little pale, but she didn't make a sound. The effect of the experience earned during this period was still remarkable. At least Zisu had become bolder than ever.
Luo Shuigui and his party were all gathered around Yuxi's carriage, while Chief Huang went forward to negotiate with the person who blocked their caravan. Looking at the leader, Chief Huang stepped forward and cupped his fist, "Great Leader, long time no see. I trust you have been well since we last met."
Great Leader Yi smiled and said, "It's indeed been a long time. Recently, Old Chuang has been talking a lot about you! I didn't expect you would come. Just in time. Come and stay in the mountains for a few days, and you two can have a good chat." If it were an ordinary caravan, they would have let it go for the sake of Old Second. But this time was different. It was said that a young miss from the State Residence was getting married, bringing with her a large dowry of no less than 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver. The dowry, which was worth that large sum of money, was enough to cover their mountain fortress' expenses for a year. [T/C]
Nowadays, making a living in this world was every bit a challenge for the bandits as the number of trade caravans that came and went had been very pitiful. Last year, they didn't earn much income. Without any earnings, the food and drinks for thousands of people on Menghu Mountain turned into a big issue. Under such circumstances, how could they let go of such a fat sheep?
When Chief Huang heard this, his heart thudded. What did the Great Leader mean by asking them to stay in the mountain fortress for a few days? Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, Chief Huang replied with a smile, "Alright, when I come back, I will definitely go to the mountain fortress and drink with Great Leader and Elder Brother Zhuang for three days and three nights."
Both Chief Huang and Great Leader Yi's voices were so loud that they could be heard a mile away, not to mention Yuxi, who was sitting inside her carriage. [+]
Yuxi's expression sank. Only she was the one stupid enough to believe that these people were righteous while forgetting that they were still bandits to the core. However, it would just be a waste of time to regret it at this juncture. They had to find a way to solve this problem. They couldn't rely on Chief Huang either. As Yuxi thought of this, she winked at Zijin.
The master and servant had a good understanding of each other, so Zijin opened the carriage window, lifted the curtain and asked Luo Shuigui, who was right outside, "How many bandits have come?"
Luo Shuigui answered in a deep voice, "There are more than a hundred people down here, and there are also many of them lying in ambush on the mountain, many of whom are archers hiding in the dark."
Yuxi's face turned very ugly when she heard this. There were even archers outside. These people were not ordinary bandits, and she didn't know what kind of change had happened. Yuxi let out a bitter smile and said towards the outside of the window, "Uncle Luo, I've caused a big trouble to you all." This time it was not just big trouble, but a life and death situation.
Luo Shuigui said, "Miss doesn't need to say such things. Things haven't come to that yet." When he first took up the job, he knew that the journey would not be peaceful, and he had prepared for the worst.
Zisu held Yuxi's hand and comforted, "Miss, something like that won't happen. We will get out of here safely."
Yuxi was not in the mood to comfort people at this time. She was busy thinking about how to solve this crisis. If they did not solve it correctly, she would genuinely die here.
Outside, Chief Huang and Great Leader Yi had already fallen apart. The attitude of Great Leader Yi was evident. He invited Chief Huang and his party to be guests at the mountain fortress. He said they were guests, but they were merely hostages so that he could exchange them for more money. Just looking at the people lying in ambush around them, Chief Huang was afraid to act rashly no matter how much he hated their current situation.
A woman beside Great Leader Yi raised her voice and suggested, "Great Leader, why do you have to waste so much time talking to him? If he doesn't listen to you, don't be polite to him anymore. Just let the brothers deal with them." They had brought more than 300 brothers with them this time. If they couldn't take care of these many people, they wouldn't have to stay at Menghu Mountain in the future.
Chief Huang was not a person without any temper. When he saw their current standing, he said, "In that case, there is nothing else for us to talk about." He did not expect that Old Zhuang would not even show his face.
As soon as Chief Huang uttered these words, an arrow came down from the hill. It wasn't aimed at Chief Huang but at the carriage Yuxi was riding.
Great Leader Yi was very annoyed. He hadn't even given any order, yet who the hell told this b*stard to release his arrow. Only now was not the time to pursue this matter because this arrow had thoroughly angered Chief Huang.
Chief Huang raised the huge sword in his hand and said towards the armed escorts behind him, "Brothers, even if we die here today, we cannot disgrace the reputation of Xinglong Escort Agency." The honour of the Xinglong Escort Agency resulted from so many people's painstaking efforts. Even if they died, they could not disgrace it.
Luo Shuigui was also ready for a big battle.
In the nick of time, Zijin pushed open the carriage window and said towards Chief Huang, "Hold on, our Miss has something to say to your Great Leader."
Zijin's voice was boisterous. When Chief Huang heard her shout, he did not charge forward but stayed put, tense and ready to fight.
Great Leader Yi also stopped the men on his side. He had his scruples, as Chief Huang had saved the life of the second leader, Old Zhuang. If Chief Huang died in their fight, he would have no way to explain to Old Zhuang. Therefore, Zijin's words gave him a chance to ease their current condition.
The woman who had just raised her voice was called Li Niang, and seeing this situation, she immediately snorted coldly and said, "Since you have something to say, get out of the carriage and say it."
Yuxi heard Li Niang's shout and was prepared to get out of the carriage.
Zisu tugged at Yuxi's hand and said, "Miss, we will live together and die together." She was not going to stay in the carriage no matter what.
Yuxi nodded her head as she answered, "Okay."
As the carriage door opened, hundreds of pairs of eyes looked on while imagining what kind of great beauty would come out of the carriage. When the actual person finally made her appearance, everyone became somewhat disappointed. Nothing could be seen on Yuxi's face except for her eyes, as a veil covered her face. But her figure was slender.
When Li Niang saw Yuxi with a veil on, she sneered. What she hated the most in life was this kind of indulged young lady who thought she was a cut above others. "Don't you have any face to see people or what? Take off your veil now. If not, don't blame this Great Aunt for not being polite......" She said as she raised the whip in her hand.
When Zijin noticed the whip in Li Niang's hand, a burst of murderous aura instantly appeared in her eyes. "Who are you? How dare you act rude to my Miss?"
Li Niang was Great Leader Yi's woman. It was merely because Great Leader Yi felt sorry towards his wife, who had died tragically, that he swore he would never remarry for the rest of his life. Therefore, Li Niang could only be considered Great Leader Yi's concubine. Even if she was just a concubine, she still had a very high status in Menghu Mountain, and no one dared to mess with her, and everyone was always obedient to her. When Li Niang heard such unkind words from Zijin, she raised her whip and rushed forward to strike Yuxi.
As it was so sudden, Great Leader Yi did not manage to stop Li Niang, and even Chief Huang was unable to do so since he was pretty far away. As for the people on Luo Shuigui's side, they didn't stop her at all and just let her rush over to Yuxi. Well, since the battle hadn't officially started yet, this woman was left for Zijin to deal with. Please read this chapter at xinshou blogspot com.
The whip didn't reach Yuxi but was grabbed by Zijin instead. With a tug from Zijin, Li Niang was dragged to their side. Zijin choked Li Niang's neck and said, "I forgot to tell you just now, those who have dared to treat my Miss unkindly, I have sent them to meet King Yan in the netherworld."
Li Niang was not a timid person. Even when she had already fallen into Zijin's hands, she still had no fear. "If you have the ability, you can just kill me, erk......" Zijin strangled her to the point of her being speechless.
Great Leader Yi did not expect Yuxi to have such an expert by her side. The expression on everyone around him had also changed. It was not good news when their leader's woman fell into the hands of the enemy.
The first one to stabilise himself was a clean looking man beside Great Leader Yi. Upon seeing this situation, he raised his voice and asked, "Didn't Miss Han have something to say just now? I wonder what Miss Han wants to say to us?"
Yuxi looked at Great Leader Yi and said, "Great Leader, if my guess is correct, this woman should be yours, right?" Yuxi had made this guess because, for one thing, the woman had just stood so close to Great Leader Yi that she had made physical contact with him. For another, everyone's expressions when the woman got arrested were quite ugly. So, this woman carried a lot of weight in Menghu Mountain.
Hearing her words, Great Leader Yi asked, "What do you want?" With this question, he indirectly admitted that Li Niang was his woman.
Yuxi looked at Zijin and instructed, "Let her go!"
Zijin never went against Yuxi's orders, so she slapped Li Niang and said, "This is to punish you for being disrespectful to my Miss! If there is another time, even if Miss gives the word, I will not spare your life."
Li Niang's face instantly swelled up. However, everyone didn't care much about whether her face swelled or not. They cared more about seeing Yuxi release Li Niang just like that.
The graceful man standing beside Great Leader Yi had a deep fear for Yuxi when he saw that she had simply released her captured person. She didn't even scream when the arrow shot at her carriage just a moment ago. Now, she could see through Li Niang's identity in an instant. Despite that, she still let her go with ease. This woman was not a simple one.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi