The carriage clearly belonged to someone of high status and wealth. When they opened the carriage curtain, a round-faced maidservant was seen inside.

"Young lady, do you know where Qingfeng Valley is?"

Mu Wanting felt a pang of pain in her heart. Wasn't Qingfeng Valley the power founded by her third brother? It was also known as the Valley of Divine Healers. But now that her third brother was gone, Qingfeng Valley was probably just a name without substance.

She heard a man's suppressed cough coming from inside, and pointed ahead.

“Go along this road for fifty li, and you will come to Qingfeng Village. Ask the villagers there.”

The maid thanked her repeatedly and even slipped a piece of silver to Mu Wanting.

Mu Wanting smiled and said, "It was nothing."

The maid didn't make things difficult. She got into the carriage, and the guard cracked his whip. The horse neighed and sped off at great speed.

Shen Xinglan said, "These should be people from Bijian Manor. There is their family totem on the carriage."

Mu Wanting hummed in agreement. She recognized him, which was why she hadn't accepted the silver ingot.

The group traveled another twenty miles before they saw bloodstains on the road. Mu Wanting saw the round-faced maid again, but she was lying to the side, barely breathing.

Mu Wanting quickly went over, stopped the bleeding, and fed her a life-saving pill.

The maid slowly opened her eyes, and as soon as she saw Mu Wanting, she took her hand.

"Save...save my young master."

In the blink of an eye, Mu Wanting saw the winding trail of blood that extended into the grass.

As she approached the edge of the bushes, Mu Wanting stopped.

Suddenly, a person darted out of the bushes ahead. Mu Wanting only saw a gleaming broadsword, which then swung at her, but she dodged it with lightning speed.

Shen Xinglan immediately came to her side and struck the person wielding the knife with a palm strike.

The man let out a scream and was pulled out by Shen Xinglan again.

Before they could ask anything, the thugs who had been lying in ambush in the mountains began to emerge one after another.

"This mountain is mine, these trees are mine, if you want to pass through, leave your toll."

The young master of Bijian Manor was also dragged out. Although he was handsome, he looked sickly and pale, as if he was about to die at any moment.

The round-faced maidservant cried out.

"Young Master!"

The third leader sneered, "Want his life? Then bring money to exchange for it."

Shen Xinglan lashed out with her whip at the third leader's hand, knocking the knife from his grasp. His face turned extremely ugly.

"act recklessly."

Shen Xinglan lashed out with her whip again, this time striking the third leader's other hand, and Yuwen Tuo was released as well.

The third leader's expression changed, and he hurriedly said, "Quick, stop this person."

He then realized that this tall man was no ordinary person. He had looked down on him earlier because he was a cripple, but now he dared not do so.

One group of bandits went to kidnap Yuwen Tuo, while the other group attacked Shen Xinglan.

Mu Wanting took out a crossbow from her sleeve and fired at them. Taking advantage of Mu Wanting's cover, Shen Xinglan flicked his whip, which wrapped around Yuwen Tuo, and he dragged Yuwen Tuo over.

They were moving too fast; the bandits couldn't stop them.

Yuwentuo was pulled over, and Zhao Zhiyuan immediately pulled Yuwentuo aside, then followed Mu Wanting to protect her.

Mu Wanting knew that he was just a weak scholar and that he would only be a hindrance here.

"Go away, don't come this way."

Zhao Zhiyuan's eyes reddened: "Wan Ting, I didn't expect you to care about me so much."

Before she could answer, a knife came slashing at her.

Shen Xinglan swung his whip to block it, his tone colder than ever before.

"Mu Wanting, how can you be distracted at a life-or-death moment?"

Mu Wanting focused all her attention, forgetting about Zhao Zhiyuan and Li Zhiyuan; all she could see now was the approaching enemy.

He and Shen Xinglan worked together seamlessly, which made Zhao Zhiyuan feel a pang of sadness; the two seemed destined to be together.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyuan immediately joined the third branch of the family and discovered that, apart from Shen's mother and several concubines, the third branch members all possessed some level of martial arts skills.

Only Aunt Qin and Madam Shen's family went; no one from Aunt Liu's family stepped forward, and they all watched coldly.

Finally, the officials came to help. These bandits were nothing but a rabble, how could they possibly be a match for them? They were quickly driven away.

The round-faced maid walked to Mu Wanting's side and kowtowed to her.

“My lady, I know you are skilled in medicine. Our young master was badly injured just now. Please help stabilize his injuries for now. We will be arriving at Qingfeng Valley soon, where a renowned physician will treat him.”

Mu Wanting nodded: "Okay."

She fed Yuwentuo a life-saving pill, and Yuwentuo's complexion visibly improved.

He then suggested traveling with Mu Wanting and the others, since there were simply too many bandits along the way.

Mu Wanting said, "There's no problem, but you should also inform the officials."

Yuwen Tuo naturally understood this, and immediately instructed Yingyu to find Ma Dazhuang, slipping him a few silver ingots. Ma Dazhuang's face lit up with a smile.

"Alright, let's do it together."

Along the way, with so many people around, even though they spotted the bandits following them several times, they didn't dare get close, only daring to follow from a distance.

With Mu Wanting, who knew the area well, there was no need to ask any villagers; they went directly to Qingfeng Valley.

She harbored a faint hope that she might see her third brother here.

She would definitely ask him then what he meant by not coming home since that war.

However, when she arrived at Qingfeng Valley, she found it much more desolate, and her heart skipped a beat, feeling somewhat sad.

The gatekeeper, who had been dozing off, spoke lazily after hearing footsteps.

"Let's go, let's go, our Valley Master isn't here."

Mu Wanting called softly, "Uncle Yao, why are you guarding the gate? Where is the gatekeeper?"

Uncle Yao's eyes reddened: "Ever since the Valley Master's accident, some people have left, and others have gone out to seek medical treatment."

Uncle Yao wanted to say more, but when he saw the officials and convicts behind Mu Wanting, his expression changed.

Mu Wanting said, "Uncle Yao, we'll talk about it later."

"Now let's prepare some rooms for everyone."

Qingfeng Valley was founded with money given to him by his mother. In addition to her excellent medical skills, his mother also had a good business sense and ran a hot pot restaurant, a restaurant and inn, a cloth shop and so on.

He was the richest man in the capital, so Qingfeng Valley was very large.

Uncle Yao set aside an area for everyone to sleep in, and then let the convicts clean it themselves, while several apprentices went to bring over clean bedding.

The convicts were overjoyed. Qingfeng Valley looked so clean, much better than the inns they paid to stay in, and it was also a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains.

The officials and convicts all came to thank Uncle Yao, but he shook his head.

"If you want to thank someone, thank our young lady. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to let you in."