Chapter 58
Seeing that Sui Yuanqing was obviously not on good terms with the bandit leader, and that Sui Yuanqing seemed to be engaged, Fan Changyu could not help but secretly curse this man as treacherous.
The bandit leader wanted him to kill him. If he refused, the bandit leader would do it himself, and her holding him hostage would be exposed.
For a moment, cold sweat broke out on the palm of Fan Changyu's hand holding the boning knife, and she tried her best to remain calm.
The worst outcome would be that someone would find out that she was holding him hostage. As long as she killed him with a knife before he could reveal that there was someone hiding in the dry well, Changning and the others would still be safe.
She was alone, and a barefoot person was not afraid of those who wore shoes. It was not impossible for her to escape after stealing a horse.
As Yuan Qing got very close to Fan Changyu, he could naturally feel that her whole body was tense, like a hunting beast, ready to pounce and tear her prey into pieces.
If she really wanted to kill me, I would definitely be the first one to die.
Sui Yuanqing didn't tease her at this time, and chuckled: "Brother, do you want me to remain a virgin for Shisan Niang and only have her for the rest of my life?"
They are all a bunch of thieves, how could they not know the bad nature of men.
The scarred man shouted, "I only have this one sister. I don't care what happens to you in the future, but you haven't even married her yet, and you want to bring a woman back to the village. What do you think of my Qingfeng Village?"
Sui Yuanqing frowned, and his tone was actually quite sincere: "I joined Qingfeng Village and became sworn brothers with my elder brother. I didn't rely on women's connections. I, Qin Yuan, am a playboy and I am not worthy of Shisan Niang. Why don't you choose a good husband for Shisan Niang? From now on, I will treat Shisan Niang as my own sister. If anyone bullies her, I will be the first to forgive her."
The scarred man gritted his teeth and said, "Do you really look down on my sister?"
Sui Yuanqing lowered his eyes and said, "I, Qin Yuan, am a playboy by nature and unworthy of being Shisan Niang's lover. Big brother, you forced me to kill this woman today, but what about tomorrow? If I fall in love with someone, you force me to kill another one? In the long run, this will only hurt our relationship, so it's better to talk it out now."
Although the scarred man felt resentful, he also knew that what Sui Yuanqing said made sense.
It was because of his playboy appearance that Shisan Niang almost lost her soul, but he was just like that by nature. Could I force him for a while but could I force him for a lifetime?
But he felt indignant for his sister, so he shouted, "Shisan Niang saved you from the river. Not to mention the life-saving grace, you have already had a physical relationship with her. If you don't marry Shisan Niang, where will you put her?"
Sui Yuanqing raised his eyes and said, "Brother, in order to let me marry Shisan Niang, you are willing to use this worldly trick to make it happen?"
The scarred man looked grim, and he knew that what he said was untenable.
The girls of the underworld are not fussy about trivial matters. If they really use the small amount of blood relationship between them and their sister who saved him to make a fuss, it would be really embarrassing if it got out.
In the end, he stopped making trouble, turned his horse's head with a gloomy face, and shouted in a deep voice: "Return to Qingfeng Village!"
A bunch of minions also left in a hurry. Only a few stayed behind to flatter Yuan Qing: "Fifth Chief is really a real man. Some people said before that Fifth Chief won the favor of First Chief because of Thirteenth Lady. It's obvious that First Chief was attracted by Fifth Chief's ability and wanted to marry his sister to Fifth Chief. On the day when Black Dragon Village attacked our village, we were able to defeat the enemy thanks to Fifth Chief's plan..."
Sui Yuanqing's rib wound was still being pressed by Fan Changyu's knife, so he didn't want to listen to the little minions patting his horse. He interrupted them and said, "Don't talk nonsense, lest you hurt my relationship with my elder brother. My elder brother treats me like a real brother, but he is just anxious to protect his sister because of Shisan Niang's matter. Let's go back to the village."
A few people learned their lesson and looked embarrassed, and no longer dared to say anything to deliberately please him.
Fan Changyu remained silent. After listening to their conversation, he already understood why Sui Yuanqing was hanging out with these bandits.
It turned out that he was injured by Yan Zheng that day, and was rescued by people from Qingfeng Village after escaping into the river.
She noticed that among the flattering minions, one walked forward quietly, and thought to herself that the man must be the leader of Qingfeng Village. Did Sui Yuanqing say those words deliberately because he knew him?
Fan Changyu thought to himself that this guy was really cunning, as many as the holes in an lotus root.
With a knife pressed against his chest, Sui Yuanqing walked to the front of the horse with Fan Changyu as if nothing had happened, then he lowered his head and asked her in a low voice: "Your knife is against me, and I can't get on the horse, what should I do?"
No matter whether he or Fan Changyu got on the horse first, Fan Changyu could no longer continue to hostage him.
A few minions thought that Yuan Qing was flirting with him and glanced at him itchyly, but did not dare to do anything rash. They whispered a few dirty words to him and walked forward with a smile.
One of the minions said, "We have done something big this time. We can have a good rest after returning to the village. Last time, the boss took us to kill the escort and find the treasure map, but it turned out to be fake..."
Fan Changyu had been concentrating on dealing with Sui Yuanqing, but when he heard these words, the blood in his body almost rushed back.
Intercept the convoy master, treasure map...
The government closed the case before, saying that her parents died at the hands of bandits because of the treasure map.
What a coincidence, her parents were also killed by this group of people?
She could barely contain the murderous aura emanating from her.
Sui Yuanqing saw that she didn't say anything, but instead his murderous intent suddenly increased. He immediately became alert, thinking that Fan Changyu wanted to kill him here and then ride away alone.
He said, "Killing me here is not a wise choice, unless you want to deal with hundreds of people alone."
Fan Changyu tightened his grip on the knife handle, knowing that now was not the time to act on impulse. He would have a chance to avenge his parents in the future. Changning and Aunt Zhao were still in the dry well, so the most important thing was to lure these bandits away.
She thought for a moment and said, "Take off your sword and give it to me. Get on the horse first, and then pull me up."
Sui Yuanqing thought he had persuaded her, so he raised the corner of his mouth and did as he was told.
The moment he leaned sideways to grab the saddle, Fan Changyu unexpectedly slashed at the back of his neck with a knife. As Yuan Qing had suffered a loss last time and was prepared this time, he leaned sideways to avoid Fan Changyu's palm wind when it came down, and then made a lightning-fast move to intercept Fan Changyu's hand, and twisted it hard. Fan Changyu groaned immediately, and felt his whole arm go limp. He knew that it must be dislocated.
Sui Yuanqing looked at the cold sweat on her forehead and said slowly: "I won't fall into the same place twice..."
Fan Changyu stared at him with his round almond-shaped eyes, with a hint of ruthlessness in them.
When Sui Yuanqing pulled her dislocated hand towards him and tried to grab her other hand, Fan Changyu kicked him hard between the legs.
This time it was Sui Yuanqing's turn to groan. He lowered himself down with a look of pain on his face and gritted his teeth, "You..."
He obviously did not expect Fan Changyu to resort to such a low-brow and shady trick.
Fan Changyu didn't care whether he was upright or not. When Yuan Qing bent down, he hit him twice on the back of the neck with his elbow. Yuan Qing felt his eyes go dark, and he finally staggered and fell.
This commotion also attracted the attention of several minions walking in front.
Several people holding torches were stunned when they saw Fan Changyu carrying the fainted Sui Yuanqing like a dead dog.
Fan Changyu didn't have time to think, and quickly picked up Sui Yuanqing and climbed onto the horse's back.
She wanted to kill him right here with a single blow, but what Sui Yuanqing said before made sense. She might not be able to deal with this group of bandits even in her prime, and now one of her hands was dislocated, making them even more dangerous. It would be better to take this man with her so that she could use him as a hostage to save her life at a critical moment.
All this happened in a split second. The minions finally reacted and shouted, "That woman has kidnapped the Fifth Boss!"
A group of people holding torches and swords were about to rush forward to stop Fan Changyu, but Fan Changyu was already on horseback, and she kicked the horse's belly hard to rush out of the alley. The minions were also afraid of dying under the horse's hooves, so they tried to hide, but were knocked into the wall and finally failed to stop her.
The noise here made the scarred man who was riding in the front turn around and see a strong horse carrying two people rushing out of the alley in the flames. The person holding the reins on the horse was a woman.
The woman obviously also saw him. After a moment of surprise, she quickly turned her horse's head and ran in the opposite direction of the long street.
The thugs who chased out of the alley shouted, "The Fifth Boss is on that woman's horse!"
The scarred man recalled the last time he saw Sui Yuanqing, the woman always leaned on his arms with a boneless look, which was not what a decent woman should look like. He immediately realized something was wrong and chased after her on horseback, "Stop that woman!"
Fan Changyu led a group of people and chased them out of Lin'an Town for more than ten miles. Among the bandits, there were those who were good at riding and shooting, and they kept shooting arrows at her all the way. Fan Changyu simply put the fainted Sui Yuanqing behind the horse and used him as a human shield. The bandits who shot the arrows were afraid, and the arrowheads they shot did not hurt her.
But the horse she was riding was carrying two people, and could not run as fast as the group of mounted bandits behind her. The longer time went on, the closer the bandits caught up with her became. The sound of horse hooves rolling in from behind on the official road almost synchronized with Fan Changyu's heartbeat.
Fan Changyu estimated that Aunt Zhao and the others had already taken Changning out of Lin'an Town. When they reached the bend in the mountain ahead, he could just let the horse run forward to lead the bandits to continue chasing, and then he could jump off the horse to temporarily avoid their pursuit.
She glanced at the person acting as a human shield behind her, thought of the turmoil in Qingping County that day and the innocent people who died tragically tonight, and drew the boning knife from her waist.
But before he could stab with the knife, the man who had been jolting on horseback all the way woke up at this moment. Seeing the cold light in front of him, he instinctively broke Fan Changyu's hand.
Having been taught before that he had to remove an arm, Fan Changyu reacted very quickly this time. He took advantage of his strength to fall backwards and hit the wound on his chest with his elbow.
As Yuan Qing loosened her grip on her wrist in pain, when Fan Changyu stabbed again, he had no time to dodge and kicked Fan Changyu's knee which was in the stirrup.
Fan Changyu lost his balance and was about to fall off the horse, and the knife changed direction and stabbed the horse's buttocks.
When Fan Changyu fell off the horse, the horse neighed in pain and then ran wildly like crazy.
Sui Yuanqing dodged the knife but was nearly thrown off the horse. At the horse's crazy speed at that time, if he fell off, he would at least lose limbs if not die. He could only curse inwardly and grab the reins to stabilize himself on the horse's back.
The ground was covered with a foot of snow. After Fan Changyu landed, she rolled several times before releasing the force. She did not suffer any other injuries, but her dislocated hand was crushed when she rolled, which was extremely painful. The stirrups of her shoes were also scraped off when she fell off the horse.
Fan Changyu didn't care about the cold or the pain. He quickly got up, picked up his shoes and threw them to the river bank below the official road, then he plunged into the dense forest covered with snow on the side of the official road.
Soon the thunderous sound of horse hooves was approaching, and Yasugen chased after the galloping horse without stopping.
The snow was still falling heavily on the ground, and Fan Changyu slowly exhaled a breath of foul air.
She threw the shoe into the river so that when the bandits came back to chase her, they would mistakenly think that she had escaped into the river.
She walked into the depths of the pine forest by herself. Snowy days were the most difficult for hiding, and wherever she walked, she would leave footprints in the snow. Fortunately, it was night, and without a torch, it would be difficult to find these footprints.
Despite this, Fan Changyu still broke off a pine branch and smoothed out the footprints on the snow.
It was snowing heavily at the moment, so she smoothed out her footprints, which would soon be covered by the flying snow.
After dealing with the footprints leading into the forest, Fan Changyu abandoned the pine branches and walked forward, relying on the Big Dipper in the sky to determine the direction.
One of her feet was shoeless, and she was walking in the snow in only a pair of felt socks, which were quickly soaked by the snow. The biting cold spread from the soles of her feet, and her entire leg was almost frozen to the point of numbness. Her lips turned white and she shivered uncontrollably.
But Fan Changyu didn't dare to stop for a moment.
Changning is still waiting for her.
-
A team of scouts arrived at the border of Qingping County and saw from afar that the entire county was engulfed in flames. They were all shocked.
The well-trained scouts dismounted and were about to spy on the enemy when they saw a dozen old, weak, women and children walking towards them on the rugged path, supporting each other...
…
Lu city.
At dawn, a man riding a meteor horse drove towards the Yanzhou camp.
"The entire Qingping County was massacred?"
Inside the central military tent, Gongsun Yin's usually gentle and peaceful face showed a rare stern look.
The scout who rushed back to report the news at night lowered his head and said: "When we went to Qingping County under the order of the master, it was already a dead city. When we went to investigate the cause, we accidentally ran into a few living families."
Gongsun Yin hurriedly asked, "Where are they placed now?"
The scout replied, "I will return first to report, and the rest of the troops will escort the dozen or so survivors to the Jizhou Prefecture."
Gongsun Yin walked around the tent with his hands behind his back and asked, "Is the butcher's daughter surnamed Fan among them?"
The scout said, "No, but her younger sister is here. The dozen or so people who survived said that the butcher woman hid them in the cellar of her home and asked them to help take care of her younger sister. After the bandits found someone hiding in the cellar, the butcher woman used some unknown method to lead the bandits away. When the people came out, they did not find the butcher woman's body. I think the bandits took it back to the village."
Gongsun Yin had never met Fan Changyu, but now he heard from his subordinates that Fan Changyu allowed bandits to capture those people in order to protect them. Apart from anything else, his courage and righteousness alone were no less than that of a man.
He waved away the scouts and called in his personal guards: "Where is the Marquis now?"
The guard clasped his fists and said, "The Marquis went to inspect the valley terrain early in the morning."
Gongsun Yin certainly knew why Xie Zheng suddenly went to inspect the river valley. The grain routes of Jinzhou and Huizhou depended on Chongzhou, but there was still a waterway for transporting grain to Jizhou. It was just that the water level of the rivers had dropped since the beginning of winter, so shipping was not possible. After the beginning of spring, this waterway could be reopened.
If Jizhou was also lost, they would really be strangled by Prince Changxin.
To defend Jizhou, the barrier of Lucheng must not be lost.
He and Xie Zheng had discussed that the most effective way to deal with the 50,000-strong army of Prince Changxin was to take advantage of the spring flood that occurred at the beginning of spring.
Gongsun Yin said: "Send someone to find the Marquis immediately!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a personal guard outside the tent called out, "Master."
Gongsun Yin was in a state of panic, and upon hearing the voice, he hurried out to greet him.
At daybreak, a man in black armor walked out of the tent. His shoulders and cloak were covered with fine snow and morning frost. His eyebrows and eyes were cold, and his handsome face was also cold with frost, making people dare not look at him closely.
When Gongsun Yin saw him, he said straight to the point: "It seems that Qingping County is being harassed by someone. The entire county has been massacred."
Xie Zheng paused as he took off his cloak. "When did it happen?"
Gongsun Yin said, "The news that the scouts just sent back said that it was the work of bandits. The butcher's daughter surnamed Fan in Lin'an Town was also captured by bandits. I think something is not right, Jing'er. The Prince of Changxin has not been found yet. Could this be his revenge?"
Xie Zheng picked up a sword from the sword rack and walked out: "Prepare the horses, select a hundred light cavalry to follow me to Qingping County!"
-
It was not until dawn that Fan Changyu reached the main road. The bandits had long been left behind by her.
She had walked barefoot in the snow for half the night and was now exhausted. She didn't know if it was because she had caught a cold, but her head was aching from time to time.
Fan Changyu greeted Sui Yuanqing a thousand times in his heart, and thought that he would kill him the next time he saw him.
Jizhou Prefecture is south of Qingping County. After leaving Qingping County, Aunt Zhao and her friends would definitely go to Jizhou Prefecture to report to the authorities. She would also go to Jizhou Prefecture and would always run into Aunt Zhao and her friends.
Hearing the sound of wheels coming from afar, Fan Changyu knew that the bandits were either lying in ambush in a group or on horseback, and there could not be only one carriage, so he did not avoid it.
When the carriage came, she took a glance and found that although the carriage did not look gorgeous, its wheels seemed to be a circle larger than those of ordinary carriages. It was very stable when driving in the snow. The wheels also looked sturdy, and the tarpaulin used was a thick material that Fan Changyu had never seen before.
Fan Changyu guessed that this should be a carriage owned by some wealthy family. He took a quick look at it, then lowered his head and continued on his way.
The driver saw that Fan Changyu had no shoes on one foot, and said to the people in the car: "That young lady is really not afraid of the cold. She actually walked on the road without shoes in the heavy snow."
A slender white hand lifted the heavy curtain, and the light-colored eyes reflected the snowy mountains and rivers on the official road and the barefoot woman. She said, "I think she met with an accident. Ask her where she lives and give her a ride."
The man had spoken, so the driver dared not disobey. He stopped the carriage and shouted to Fan Changyu, "Young lady, where do you live? My husband feels sorry for you because it's hard to travel in the snow, so he's willing to give you a ride."
Fan Changyu knew that his physical condition was not very optimistic at the moment. His dislocated hand had not been treated in time and had become swollen. His shoeless foot was so cold and painful that he had lost all feeling.
She didn't try to be stubborn and said, "I want to go to the government office in Luzhou."
Go report to the authorities.
The driver said, "This is on our way. Come on up."
After thanking the other party, Fan Changyu got on the other party's carriage.
The moment the car curtain was opened, the warmth inside hit me.
The young man sitting on the couch reading a book was wearing a snow-blue robe without any patterns or embroidery, but it revealed a sense of "the great way is simple".
When he saw this man for the first time, Fan Changyu felt that he was truly a scholar.
Different from Song Yan's self-righteousness, and different from Yan Zheng's casualness and arrogance, there is a warmth and peace in his eyes and eyebrows, like a ray of warm sunshine that suddenly shines down in the ice and snow, making people feel close to him for some reason.
Seeing that Fan Changyu was staring at him in a daze, the young man showed no impatience or ridicule, but only nodded politely. Noticing that her clothes and hair were all covered with snow, he pushed the charcoal stove towards her and handed her a cloak made of unknown material but extremely soft to the touch.
"Girl's shoes and socks are soaked through, let's warm them up."
Fan Changyu knew how desperate she was at the moment. The furnishings in the car looked simple, but there was a sense of sophistication that she couldn't describe. She tried to sit near the door as much as possible and shook her head, saying, "Thank you, sir. I'm not cold."
The warmth in the car melted the frost and snow on her head and eyelashes, forming tiny water droplets that hung on them, like a little leopard that had emerged from the woods in the early morning, covered in morning dew.
It lost its aggressiveness and instead looked somewhat bewildered, foolish and pitiful.
The young man thought she minded being in the carriage, so he closed the book and smiled warmly: "It's a bit stuffy sitting in the carriage for a long time, I'm going to go outside to get some fresh air."
As he spoke, he opened the curtain and sat with the driver outside.
Fan Changyu was stunned for a moment as he looked at the swaying heavy curtains.
The warmth from the charcoal stove finally made her long-frozen hands and feet regain some feeling. Fan Changyu still didn't want the cloak, so she folded it and put it on the couch.
They only used a charcoal stove to dry the clothes soaked by the melted snow.
The pair of deerskin wristbands on my hands became a little hot from the heat, and even through the clothes, my entire wrists became warm.
One of Fan Changyu's hands was dislocated, so it was inconvenient for him to take off the wrist guard, and it was difficult to put it back on after taking it off, so he just warmed himself by the fire.
When she felt the wrist guard getting hot, she raised her hand to her face.
Thinking of what Yan Zheng said the day he left, my heart suddenly felt heavy.
When his clothes were half dried, Fan Changyu was about to let the young man in when the carriage suddenly stopped.
Fan Changyu heard the driver's groan and the sound of something heavy falling to the ground outside, and she instantly tightened her grip on the boning knife that she kept close to her body.
There was the sound of horse hooves outside the car, followed by laughter and chatter: "We didn't find the woman who hurt the Fifth Master, but we did catch a big fish."
It was obviously the first time for the young man to encounter such a thing. There was a bit of panic in his voice, but his words were calm: "Please don't harm the life of my servant. You can take away the valuables in the car. If it's not enough, I can write a letter to send it home and bring some money."
The bandits on the road laughed when they saw how smart he was. "Good boy, you really know how to be smart!"
Several bandits immediately came forward and tried to lift the curtain to check what was in the car. Fan Changyu was afraid that he would be recognized by them, so he had no choice but to shake out the cloak on the couch and put it on.
She just hoped that since it was dark last night and she had been covering her face with Sui Yuanqing's cloak, these people would not remember what she looked like.
Unexpectedly, before the car curtain was opened, Fan Changyu heard the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh.
From outside the car came a young man's extremely angry question: "Why did you... why did you kill him?"
The bandits laughed loudly: "You are the only one who can be kept to exchange for silver. Why should we take the trouble to bring a servant for you? If there is a woman in the car, we can take her back to the village."
When the bandit used a knife to open the car curtain, the person inside kicked him away more than a meter.
The remaining bandits were also startled by this sudden change and were unable to react for a while.
Fan Changyu, wearing a shawl, rushed to the carriage and cut the rope that was tied to the horse with a knife. Then she stepped towards the carriage and fell on the horse's back. She held the reins tightly with one hand, passed the young man by the horse's belly, and lifted him up by the waist.
"It's the woman who injured the fifth boss, chase her!" The bandits reacted and rushed over like hyenas.
The young man had obviously never ridden a horse before and was almost thrown off the horse. Fan Changyu shouted, "You're pulling my clothes!"
The young man was really polite. Even when his life was almost gone, he still didn't overstep the line. When Fan Changyu asked him to hold her clothes, he really just grabbed her clothes at the waist tightly, and was almost thrown off the horse several times.
Fan Changyu really didn't have the energy to catch him, so he simply grabbed him by the collar and laid him horizontally in front of him. This way the young man wouldn't be thrown off the horse, but he was almost upset by the shaking.
The bandits behind were chasing them relentlessly, and at the fork in the road ahead, another group of bandits surrounded them. The leader was the scarred man. The two groups collided and were stunned.
Fan Changyu noticed that most of the bandits were covered in blood and looked ferocious, as if they had just been through a fierce battle.
She couldn't guess for a moment who this group of bandits were fighting against, and instinctively chose the only open path to escape.
The group of bandits that were chasing Fan Changyu also came up at this moment. When they saw the other group of people, they asked, "Boss, why are you here too?"
The scarred man said with hatred: "Qingfeng Village has been attacked by soldiers!"
The bandits chasing Fan Changyu were dumbfounded, "What should we do?"
The scarred man said, "Catch that woman! The soldiers are looking for the woman who hurt my fifth brother last night!"
When the two groups of bandits joined forces to catch up, Fan Changyu secretly cursed herself, saying that she had not dug up their ancestral graves, so why did they have to take such a risk of their lives to chase her!
The official road extends forward and ends at a ferry.
It was a freezing cold day, and there was only one small boat parked at the ferry, and there was no boatman.
Fan Changyu got off the horse, and with his uninjured hand, he carried the young man onto the only boat at the ferry. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to row the boat, so he just used a bamboo pole to push the boat against the shore, sending the boat a few meters out of the water, and then it could no longer move forward.
After the bandits caught up with them, they didn't care how cold the water was in the severe winter and jumped into the river like dumplings.
Fan Changyu tried to catch up with them with a bamboo pole, but there were so many bandits that some of them managed to find a gap and sneak up to the side of the boat.
Xie Zheng destroyed Qingfeng Village and did not find Fan Changyu in the village. He also interrogated several bandits and learned that Fan Changyu had not been caught by them last night. He then took his cavalry to wipe out the escaped bandits.
He chased her all the way to the ferry, and from a distance he saw the figure of the woman on the river, who looked quite familiar. When he looked closer, it was indeed Fan Changyu! Before Xie Zheng could calm down the burning anxiety in his heart, he found that she was trying her best to protect a helpless scholar on the boat, and the corners of his lips tightened instantly.
The guards behind him caught up and saw that Xie Zheng's horse had stopped. They looked at a man and a woman who were besieged by a group of bandits on the river bank and said, "My Lord, those bandits seem to want to rob the boat."
Xie Zheng said coldly, "Bring me the bow."
The gaze, cold enough to drop ice, was fixed on the young man on the boat who was protected by Fan Changyu behind him.
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