Shang Xiye silently reached out one hand and simply pulled the little female bandit into his arms and hugged her tightly. With his other hand, he quickly raised the three iron hidden panels inside the carriage to prevent the enemy from launching a sneak attack.

Ji Fengyao was speechless when she realized what had happened, but also felt even more excited.

He used to be such a cold and aloof person; even a slight touch would elicit a violent reaction as if she were forcing herself on him. But now, no matter how much she teases him, he acts as if he's completely at her mercy, and even cooperates quite readily.

Does he like her?

"Shang Xiye," Ji Fengyao suddenly called his name softly, her phoenix eyes bright as she looked up at him with her small face raised.

"Hmm?" Shang Xiye lowered his head in confusion.

The little bandit in his arms smiled brightly, and suddenly snuggled up to bite his lips.

Shang Xiye looked completely bewildered: "???"

My dear wife, with a formidable enemy at hand, what are you doing?

Ji Fengyao couldn't resist his adorable appearance, so she decisively buried her face in his arms and hid.

He really didn't resist!

He was indeed free to be picked by anyone!

Oh no, Master, what should I do? I really want to pounce on him! I'm so conflicted!

Shang Xiye was still completely bewildered. Was his little wife scared, so she was kissing him for protection?

His wife is so cute!

Shang Xiye's lips curled up wildly; he was in a great mood.

Once the mastermind behind today's events is found out, he will definitely leave that person a complete corpse as a reward.

At this point, both the horse-drawn carriage and the palanquin had entered a smooth section of the mountainside.

Seeing that the two carriages and their accompanying guards were lightly armed and completely unprepared, the men in black lying in ambush in the dense forest were secretly delighted.

This is a sure thing!

The leader raised his arm and sent a barrage of poisoned arrows flying out of the forest.

Arrows from all directions unanimously avoided the horses harnessed to the cart. Clearly, the enemy had planned to repeat their ambush at another location if this attempt failed.

Wuying, Wuhen, and the guards outside the carriage were prepared and promptly took out iron umbrellas to protect themselves.

After using the iron umbrella to protect himself, the magpie looked back at the carriage and saw that all the arrows that had struck the carriage had bounced off and landed on the ground. Knowing that Shang Xiye and Ji Fengyao were prepared, he felt relieved.

The group of men in black lying in ambush in the woods looked at each other in disbelief: What the hell, where did they get those iron umbrellas from?

At this moment, Yu Ying, inside the carriage, turned pale and was terrified.

The person who came to her had told her that the space under the long couch on the side where she was sitting was made of iron, and that she would not be harmed if she hid in the iron box space in time when the arrow rain came; while Ji Fengyao, who was traveling in the same carriage with her, would be riddled with poisoned arrows.

But as she lay at the bottom of the carriage between two long couches, looking at the eerie arrows protruding from both sides, a cold sweat broke out on her back—that person had lied to her!

If she hadn't panicked and failed to pull open the ceiling panel of the couch in time, thus missing the opportunity to hide under the couch, and instead rolled off the couch and lay on the ground, she would have been the one riddled with bullets!

There were no security boxes under the couches on either side; the Empress was trying to silence her, her spy, too!

"Your Majesty, how cruel you are! I even delayed treating my own mother's illness for your sake, yet you want to cut off my path to survival. You are heartless, so don't blame me for being unjust!"

Filled with rage, Yu Ying wrapped herself in the two thin blankets inside the carriage, rolled out of the carriage, and quickly crawled under the carriage.

The two horses pulling her carriage had already been hacked to death in the melee, and the triangular space under the carriage was just the right place to avoid arrows.