Chapter 3
Hearing the beautiful woman's cold words, Huan Guanbin knew she was unhappy about changing from a horse-drawn carriage to an oxcart. He explained, "Now we need to leave Jingzhou by land. We can only take a boat to Chizhou when we reach a suitable place. Horse-drawn carriages are too conspicuous, while oxcarts are more convenient for leaving the city."
Smelling the earthy scent mixed with the grassy mat beneath her body, Mi Yao guessed that Huan Guanbin must have hidden her in the damp thatch during the day to avoid being seen.
Thinking of this, Mi Yao's expression turned ugly.
"What if you leave Jingzhou and go to Chizhou? Do you have high-ranking relatives in Chizhou, or are you, Huan Guanbin, exceptionally capable, secretly a wealthy merchant with businesses all over Daxing, and dozens of shops in Chizhou to support your every need?"
"Business is a lowly profession, how could you possibly think I'm good at it..."
"That's because I never thought anyone could be so brainless. My aunt is just the wife of a county magistrate. How long do you plan to use me to freeload at her place? You have neither talent nor family support. You're so stupid that you think I'm in love with you and can't live without you. But can't you even consider how you'll live after we leave Chizhou?"
With a sore throat, Mi Yao grew angrier as she spoke, "Can you afford to provide for all the food, drinks, face cream, and accessories I wear every day? Didn't you ask my permission before you kidnapped me?"
"I've avoided you for half a year and returned all the gifts you gave me. Is there anything you still don't understand? You still say that I married someone for your own good? Yes, I really did marry someone for your own good. How could a poor wretch like you be worthy of the favor of a beauty like me? There is an insurmountable gap between us. Your ancestors must have been incredibly lucky to be able to be with me for a few days, and you're still not satisfied. You actually dare to dream of possessing me for a lifetime."
“Huhu…”
Huan Guanbin wasn't being shameless to the extreme. After thinking about what Mi Yao said during the day, he realized that he might have been wishful thinking. Mi Yao might have really changed her mind and no longer felt that he was the right person who knew and understood her.
Huan Guanbin's attempt to orchestrate the rescue himself was already somewhat presumptuous, and upon hearing Mi Yao's heart-wrenching words, tears welled up in his eyes.
He was not a bad person; it was just that his family had once been prominent, and his elders wanted to maintain their status and not disgrace the family.
In the past, Mi Yao loved his aloofness and his unconventionality, but now it has become something she criticizes and looks down on.
Seeing him shed tears, Mi Yao did not soften her heart, but became even more impatient.
“Since you are not capable of supporting me, you should have the self-awareness to let me go back instead of crying helplessly here. Only a three-year-old child would cry and make a fuss over something that does not belong to him.”
"Huhu, do you really want to marry Xiao Mang?"
Huan Guanbin, his face streaked with tears, asked again, his voice trembling with pain.
"No?"
Feeling the surroundings grow even colder, Mi Yao looked up and saw that it was indeed snowing.
White, jade-like dust fell from the dark sky, as light as bird feathers. Apart from the sound of ox hooves walking on the road, there was only the soft rustling of snowflakes falling.
"If it weren't for you, I would be lying on a soft couch in the inn right now, with incense burning in the room, and in the warm glow, I would be lifting the window to admire the first snow after I landed in Jingzhou."
After saying that, Mi Yao looked at Huan Guanbin and said, "Send me back, or just kill me. I'd rather die than suffer by your side."
Huan Guanbin wept uncontrollably, and after crying for a long time, he got off the oxcart and explained to the driver.
However, returning to the inn was not so easy.
It was freezing cold, and the oxen were too cold to walk. Reaching the farmhouse where they planned to stay was already fraught with difficulties, let alone returning to the inn in the city.
"Look at you, you couldn't even plan something as important as stealing someone and escaping, all you can do is cry like a baby... An earthquake?"
As Mi Yao was getting into the zone of training, she sensed the ground shaking. She paused, then looked into the distance. In an instant, the darkness in the distance broke through, and leaping flames stretched out like a fiery serpent.
The other person clearly spotted her before she did.
As the fiery serpent drew near, dozens of dragons with bulging eyes and hooves like ramrods surrounded the oxcart. The soldiers on board, each clad in black armor, with face shields to protect their faces and swords at their waists, stood silently and indifferently around them, like messengers from hell.
The man standing in front of the carriage, riding a horse, wore a gilded crown inlaid with sapphires. The lower half of his face was covered by a leather mask. His amber eyes, illuminated by the orange-red heat, resembled a golden python disturbed from its winter slumber—long, narrow, and cold.
His gaze swept over the panicked coachman and the delicate-skinned man beside the carriage, finally settling on the pink satin dress with floral patterns that was not concealed by the old, dilapidated carriage canopy. He asked, "Daughter of the Yu family?"
"Are you from the Jiannan Army?"
Huan Guanbin did not expect the pursuers to catch up with them so quickly. Seeing the embroidered markings on their clothes, he blocked Mi Yao's way.
"yes."
The man who spoke met Huan Guanbin's gaze, noticing the tear stains at the corners of his eyes, and sneered: "So you're the one who wanted to elope with my woman?"
"You are Xiao Chuan!"
Overwhelmed by the imposing presence of the Jiannan Army, Huan Guanbin trembled, but still stood in front of Mi Yao, glaring angrily at Xiao Chuan, "You're nothing but a brute who took advantage of the chaos of the times to obtain a minor official position, covered in mud and blood. How dare you covet Hu Hu?"
"Huhu?"
Xiao Chuan savored the woman's words, and amidst Huan Guanbin's exclamation, he drew his sword. With a flash of cold light, the sharp blade passed over the heads of the two people in the carriage and ripped open the canopy.
The woman sitting behind Huan Guanbin had skin even whiter and smoother than the white fox fur she wore, like snow and ice. Most of her small face was exposed to the cold wind, and her cheeks had a faint blush like the most beautiful hibiscus blooming in Sichuan. Her almond-shaped eyes under her butterfly-like eyelashes were clear and bright like autumn water.
She truly is the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan.
It truly lives up to its name.
Seeing the man's brown eyes brazenly scrutinizing Mi Yao, Huan Guanbin wished he could snatch the knife and cut the man off his horse.
"You barbaric and unreasonable savage! You are worlds apart from Hu Hu! If Hu Hu were to marry you, it would be no different from the bright moon being stained with dirt! Hu Hu would rather die than marry an executioner like you!"
Hearing Huan Guanbin speak up for her, Mi Yao was about to speak when she heard the man chuckle. His deep, magnetic voice, tinged with a dull hum, penetrated the leather covering his face.
Seeing the beautiful woman sitting on the damp thatched roof, shivering from the cold, looking up at him, Xiao Chuan did not look away. Their eyes met, and he opened his mouth to mock, "Fools don't understand, wealth and power are the best tonics for beauties."
Only with the accumulation of gold and silver can a precious, delicate plant, exuding a subtle fragrance, be nurtured even in the bitter cold.
The beautiful flowers can't absorb any nutrients on this dilapidated oxcart; they will only wither away.
"you……"
Huan Guanbin was about to retort when he heard a soft, gentle female voice behind him: "Xiao Lang, what you said is so true."
After Mi Yao finished speaking, she raised her hand and reached out to Xiao Chuan.
“I was kidnapped by villains, but fortunately my husband came to rescue me.”
"Huhu!"
Huan Guanbin's eyes welled up with tears again. "You've seen this brute with your own eyes, and you still want to marry him?"
"Xiao Lang is imposing and handsome, and I am even more delighted to see him. Why would I not want to marry him?"
This wasn't just something Mi Yao made up. The book never described the male lead as handsome; it only said that he had long arms and a wasp waist, was eight feet tall, and had a face that the original owner disliked and found repulsive.
Yet, this face earned the complete trust of his subordinates.
This description made her imagine that Xiao Chuan would have a square face, thick eyebrows, and a beard, but seeing him in person, he was much better than she had imagined.
Her skin was neither fair nor dark, falling between a light wheat color and a yellowish-white. She had a full forehead, and her upturned phoenix eyes were like finely crafted swords, sharp and piercing.
Although the lower half of her face was covered by leather, it was clearly unrelated to her square face with large jawline.
Unlike the ideal of handsomeness admired in this era, Xiao Chuan's features were deep-set, and his appearance was full of sharp aggression. Given the original owner's preference for the elegant and unrestrained aesthetics of the Wei and Jin dynasties, it's no wonder he disliked him.
When Mi Yao placed her hand in the cold wind, she soon got goosebumps. Just as she was wondering whether to let go, Xiao Chuan spurred his horse forward and grabbed her hand.
The rough, large hands felt like a furnace, making Mi Yao shiver with warmth.
Mi Yao marveled at the warmth of Xiao Chuan's palm, while Xiao Chuan was amazed by the feel of the touch in his hand.
Her delicate, flower-like hands seemed so soft they would melt like snow if you applied too much pressure.
With calloused fingertips, Xiao Chuan gently stroked the soft jade in his palm several times. Afraid of breaking her hand, he reached out his other arm to hold her waist and lifted her onto the horse.
Her hands were soft and she felt as light as a bird's feather. A warm fragrance, like musk, wafted over. Xiao Chuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he tightened his grip on Mi Yao's waist.
Her gaze suddenly rose, and Mi Yao leaned back against Xiao Chuan without any pressure.
He was dressed in a black sable fur coat, and being strong and healthy, his body temperature was several degrees higher than hers. Only when she was near him did she feel that she could survive the night.
"Kill me or torture me, it's all up to you!"
Seeing Mi Yao and Xiao Chuan's intimate posture, Huan Guanbin felt heartbroken. Knowing that he couldn't escape Xiao Chuan's retribution tonight, he simply asked to settle things himself.
"How does Hu Hu feel?"
A deep voice approached my ear, and besides the vibration from the sound, there was also a damp warmth.
Mi Yao's body shrank unconsciously. Xiao Chuan thought she couldn't keep up the act in front of her lover, but then he heard her say wearily, "Since you say he kidnapped your woman, and that he has offended you, it is naturally up to you to decide how to deal with him. I will listen to you."
Mi Yao had no intention of pleading for Huan Guanbin.
In the book, after the male protagonist found the original owner of the body, he did not kill Huan Guanbin, but instead slashed Huan Guanbin's face in front of the original owner.
However, after the original owner fainted from fright, she thought that the male lead had killed Huan Guanbin, so she developed a desire for revenge against him.
Later, when they learned that Huan Guanbin was not dead, they were unable to bring Xiao Chuan's dead child back to life.
She didn't care how much affection the original owner had for Huan Guanbin; she was just here on vacation. Whether Xiao Chuan ruined Huan Guanbin's face or killed him, it didn't matter to her.
Since they're all two-dimensional characters anyway, as long as it doesn't interfere with her enjoyment, who cares about the fate of two-dimensional characters?
That's what she thought, but as the cold light flashed, the blood droplets spurted from the sword blade mingled with the snowflakes and fell from above. Amidst Huan Guanbin's screams, Mi Yao touched the warm splatter on her face and felt dizzy looking at the scarlet head in her hand.
Whether from fright or from being in the snow for too long, the cold wind chilled her to the bone, and Mi Yao suddenly felt dizzy and fainted.
Feeling the body in his arms go limp, Xiao Chuan curled his lips, picked up the person, and rode back, too lazy to look at the man whose face was ruined, kneeling on the ground, wailing and weeping.
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