Chapter 219 Bandits
"No need for now. General Xiahou will be here tomorrow. Let's go to the Longxi government office first and then make plans."
They remained silent the entire way.
After traveling for an unknown amount of time, the carriage suddenly stopped abruptly. The immense inertia caused the four people inside to lurch violently, nearly throwing them out of the carriage.
Fortunately, the carriage was specially customized and reinforced by the eldest princess to ensure her comfort on the journey from the capital to Lancheng. In addition, to prevent such situations, there were fixed hand-pulled silk ribbons on each side of the seats.
Qi Yuxuan loosened her grip and looked at the red marks left on her palm from the excessive force.
"Princess, are you alright?"
Qin Yuan asked Princess Chang Le with concern, while Cheng Yan anxiously lifted the curtain to look outside.
What happened outside?
Qi Yuxuan looked up at the carriage and her brows furrowed slowly at the sight of it.
Xiahou Yin also lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw the scene outside.
On a lifeless, cold winter day, the wind whipped up snow and yellow sand across the vast, boundless wilderness. Hundreds of masked bandits stood silently all around, a few riding thin horses and wielding various weapons such as spears and short knives.
“They’re bandits.” Xiahou Yin’s voice turned somber. “But as far as I know, bandits only exist in the southern mountains of Lancheng. We’re heading west, so we shouldn’t have run into them at all.”
Qi Yuxuan didn't continue the conversation on his topic. She estimated the number of the other side. They had only brought a little over three hundred people, while the other side had at least five hundred.
"The enemy outnumbers us. What do you think our chances of winning this battle are?"
Xiahou Yin dared not exaggerate. The Qi army had all studied formations and basic military tactics, so they would definitely have an advantage in dealing with a disorganized band of horsemen. However, the difference in numbers was large, and some of them needed to protect the princess. Moreover, this was territory that the bandits were familiar with.
"At most 70%, but the casualties are probably..."
Before he could finish speaking, the leading bandit on horseback suddenly spoke up:
"If you know what's good for you, leave the woman and your valuables in the car. Everyone else, get out of here right now, and I'll spare your lives."
Xiahou Yin lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out:
"The person inside the carriage is Princess Chang Le of the Great Qi Dynasty. You petty scoundrels dare to block the road and kidnap her. Do you know what your fate will be?"
The ruthless bandit remained unfazed, his triangular eyes, visible beneath his mask, gleaming with menacing malice.
"I don't care if you're a princess or a noblewoman. Once you're on my turf, you'd better be subservient to me, whether you're a dragon or a tiger. If you don't stay obediently, you're asking for trouble!"
Inside the carriage, Qi Yuxuan had already understood that these bandits had not appeared here by chance. They had probably prepared to ambush her outside the city before the imperial decree arrived, sending this troublesome princess to her death.
Qi Yuxuan: "General Xiahou, pass down the order: there's no need to protect me. To capture the thief, capture the leader first, and keep him alive."
Xiahou Yin was slightly taken aback, but he quickly realized what he meant and replied, "Yes."
As the curtain fell, Qin Yuan pressed down hard on a protruding wooden block near the door inside the carriage. In an instant, an impenetrable black iron net descended from all sides of the carriage, firmly protecting the people inside.
Qi Yuxuan sat firmly in the main seat, while her two maids listened with trepidation to the commotion outside. The shouts of people and the neighing of warhorses were intertwined, and almost every moment someone would let out a wail and then collapse heavily to the ground.
A deafening clang of metal clashing against metal rang out from the carriage wall, the sound of metal scraping against metal making teeth ache. The two maids were startled and looked up abruptly.
"court death."
Ren Shun, who had come along disguised as a coachman, kicked away the bandit who was trying to ambush him. The two knives in his forearm slid into his hand, and he stood guard near the carriage.
Xiahou Yin only had time to see someone rushing towards the carriage. His heart tightened, and he was about to run over when he saw the handsome coachman, who was unlike any ordinary person, pull out a weapon and skillfully take down several bandits who were attacking him. He even slit their throats with a single blow, killing them with a speed and efficiency that surpassed that of seasoned soldiers.
His heart instantly settled back into his stomach. No wonder the princess said she didn't need their protection; it turned out she had such a capable coachman by her side!
The Qi soldiers were well-trained, and with General Xiahou in command, plus the fact that they didn't need to worry about protecting the princess, it was only a matter of time before they killed and captured these bandits.
Soon, seeing that they were no match for the enemy, the band of several hundred men scattered and fled. However, most of them were killed on the spot, and a few who survived were maimed and lay on the yellow earth convulsing in pain.
Seeing that something was wrong, the bandit leader immediately spurred his skinny horse to run away. However, Xiahou Yin had been watching him closely and immediately leaped onto a warhorse, crouching low as he gave chase.
The surrounding noise gradually subsided.
Qi Yuxuan lifted the curtain, and the gray-yellow desert outside was stained crimson with blood. She coldly looked at the corpses of bandits on the ground, but when she looked up, she did not see Xiahou Yin.
Ren Shun quietly stood beside the carriage, bowing his head and waiting for her instructions.
Where is Xiahou Yin?
"Chase the bandit leader south."
How many people did you bring?
Alone.
"Nonsense! Go and bring him back immediately, lest you fall into a trap."
"But what if this is just a diversionary tactic..."
Ren Shun had just begun when he saw Qi Yuxuan looking at him with displeasure. Clearly, in her eyes, Xiahou Yin's life was more important than any scheme to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
"I'll go right away."
He quickly unharnessed one of the two horses from the carriage, suppressed the inexplicable bitterness in his heart, mounted the horse, and led a few soldiers who were also looking for Xiahou Yin southward.
Time passed second by second, and the soldiers who remained in place began to clean up the mess, moving and burying the corpses, dealing with the prisoners, and treating their wounds and resting.
As the sun began to set, Xiahou Yin and Ren Shun still hadn't returned, and Qi Yuxuan lifted the curtain several times in frustration.
"Princess, please have some tea to calm your nerves."
Qi Yuxuan withdrew her gaze from the southern desert, took the teacup, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one gulp.
Looking again, she suddenly gripped the teacup in her hand tightly, not even noticing the little bit of water that had seeped out and dampened her sleeve.
At the horizon, two horses rode side by side, one carrying a person, while the other had a figure lying down on it.
Who is it? Is it injured or...?
She got off the carriage, and the two horses drew closer and closer until she could see them clearly.
Xiahou Yin lay sprawled on his horse, half-congealed blood mixed with cold sweat soaking through his disheveled hair and sticking to his pale face. The arrow shaft, broken in his thigh wound, swayed with the rise and fall of the horse's back, making his teeth chatter. A strong, pungent smell of blood also rushed into Qi Yuxuan's nostrils.
Ren Shun didn't miss the fleeting suspicion and panic in her eyes. He rode up to her, dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said with his eyes lowered:
"Master, when I arrived, he had already been shot by an arrow and was lying on the ground, and the bandit leader was nowhere to be found."
Qi Yuxuan hummed in agreement: "There is no doctor accompanying us this time. Please help him into the carriage first, and I will treat his wounds briefly."
"Master, General Xiahou is, after all, a man. Perhaps you should let me..."
Qi Yuxuan's gaze swept across his face:
How many times have you questioned my orders today?
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