Shen Yuan parted the leaves and looked down. Through the branches and leaves of the paulownia tree, she could see Xiao Ling standing under the tree with a long knife in his hand in just one glance.
The moonlight cast a soft glow on his shoulders.
Shen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, her tense nerves instantly relaxing, but she fell from the tree due to exhaustion.
"ah!"
Shen Yuan cried out in surprise, but the expected pain did not come; she fell into a warm embrace.
Shen Yuan, holding onto Xiao Ling's arm, broke free from his embrace and stood up before asking, "Xiao Ling, what brings you here?"
Instead of answering, Xiao Ling asked, "Didn't you say you would hire bodyguards to escort you?"
Shen Yuan did want to hire a bodyguard, but she planned to find one after crossing the river.
Because crossing the river requires taking a boat, she would need to pay extra if she brought a carriage and bodyguards on board, and the cost would be quite high.
In addition, Shen Yuan was very familiar with the roads in the cities south of Yanjiang, so she felt that there was no need to hire a bodyguard for this part of the journey.
Even if it is necessary to hire bodyguards, you need to pay a deposit to the escort agency in advance before someone will accept the order.
Shen Yuan was in a hurry to leave today and didn't have time to go to the escort agency, so she didn't hire any escorts for the time being. Unexpectedly, she encountered villains as soon as she left the city.
Shen Yuan didn't know whether she was too lucky or too unlucky.
She lowered her head, like a child who had made a mistake: "I didn't expect there to be bandits in this area. There haven't been many bandit incidents in Great Yan in recent years. I thought there wouldn't be any trouble on this road."
Shen Yuan's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.
Because she looked at the bandits lying on the ground, her voice instantly lost its confidence.
If Xiao Ling hadn't arrived tonight, she probably wouldn't have been able to escape from these people. Even if she had managed to escape, she certainly wouldn't have been able to keep all her valuables and carriage.
Without money and a carriage, her dream of going to the capital was nothing short of delusional.
Xiao Ling glanced at the bearded man lying on the ground and used his long knife to pry open the man's collar. "These men are all from the North. Northerners are strong and have thick hair."
Xiao Ling analyzed, "Their crossing of the river must mean there's trouble in the north!"
Shen Yuan squatted down and looked at the exposed upper body of the bearded man. The villains she had met tonight did look different from the Southerners.
Xiao Ling's voice sounded from behind: "So, you're still going to the capital?"
Shen Yuan withdrew her gaze and nodded silently.
Even though the north was turbulent and fraught with danger, she had to reach the capital before the imperial examinations.
Seeing that Shen Yuan was still determined to go, Xiao Ling pondered and said, "Can you tell me why you insist on going to the capital?"
He paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, "To see Chu Yuning?"
“Yes!” Shen Yuan stood up, looked up at Xiao Ling, and said with unwavering determination, “I must go to the capital before the imperial examinations to see Chu Yuning.”
Xiao Ling: "Why?"
She feared that Chu Yuning already had a good chance of becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination, and that her two years of hard work would end up like her previous life. Therefore, she had to go to the capital.
But Shen Yuan couldn't tell Xiao Ling about these things.
After all, who would believe in such strange things as past lives and reincarnation?
Seeing that Shen Yuan remained silent, Xiao Ling sheathed his long sword and sighed helplessly, "In that case, I'll go with you."
You can't go!
Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan abruptly looked up and interrupted Xiao Ling.
Xiao Ling thought that Shen Yuan didn't want him and Xiao Jinmeng to be separated, so he said, "When I came, I already told Tian Tian that she and her grandmother would stay at the pharmacy during this time. You are famous in Jian'an, and the people in the city will respect your grandmother. The neighbors will also take care of Tian Tian. As long as they don't leave the city, they will be safe."
Shen Yuan shook her head; these were not her concerns.
"Aren't you afraid that those who want to harm you will come back to the capital if you come with me?"
Xiao Ling said sarcastically, "Those people... probably all thought I died long ago on the southern slope of the mountain."
“But as soon as you show up in the capital, those people will quickly find out you’re not dead,” Shen Yuan advised. “You don’t need to take this risk for me.”
Xiao Ling shook his head, "I'm going to the capital not just for you."
Shen Yuan was slightly taken aback.
Xiao Ling was silent for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, and said to Shen Yuan, "Tian Tian and I can't hide forever."
The person lying under the tree had only been temporarily knocked unconscious by Xiao Ling. Shen Yuan was worried that the bearded man would wake up and take revenge on them, so she and Xiao Ling got into a carriage and left the place.
The two continued north under the cover of night.
The carriage traveled all night, and at dawn the next day, Shen Yuan woke up in the swaying carriage.
She lifted the carriage curtain and saw that Xiao Ling was still driving, so she climbed out of the carriage and sat down next to him.
"Xiao Ling, thank you."
Although Xiao Ling's trip to the capital wasn't entirely for her sake, Shen Yuan was still very grateful. Having Xiao Ling with her certainly brought her a lot of convenience.
For example—a good night's sleep in the carriage last night.
Upon hearing Shen Yuan's voice, Xiao Ling smiled faintly.
"Did you sleep well?"
Shen Yuan nodded. "It's fine."
With that, Shen Yuan took the reins from Xiao Ling's hand, "You haven't slept all night, it's my turn to relieve you, you should rest for a while!"
Xiao Ling looked at the village ahead and said, "There's a village ahead, I'll go buy some food."
As they were talking, Xiao Ling had already stopped the carriage.
The two entered the village, spent a string of cash to buy two bowls of millet porridge and a few meat buns, and washed their faces and brushed their teeth at a farmer's house.
After eating some hot food, Shen Yuan felt much better.
She carried two water bags filled with hot water back to the carriage.
Shen Yuan laid out all the bedding in the car and let Xiao Ling go in to rest.
Xiao Ling instructed, "If anything happens, just call me."
Shen Yuan responded with an "okay".
Xiao Ling then crawled into the carriage to catch up on sleep, while Shen Yuan continued to drive the horses.
Last night, Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling made an agreement: she would drive the carriage during the day, and Xiao Ling would drive it at night. The two of them would travel day and night without stopping and should be able to reach the capital in early February.
It was just tough on the horse that was pulling the two of them.
After driving the horse for two hours, Shen Yuan stopped to rest, letting the horse graze, drink water, and nap under a tree for a while before continuing for another two hours.
As evening approached, Shen Yuan found a stream, tied her horse to the water's edge, and then took out a pot from the back of the carriage to wash rice and cook it by the water.
When Xiao Ling woke up, Shen Yuan had just finished preparing dinner.
She steamed a pot of pumpkin sticky rice with the pumpkin she brought in the car. The side dish was pickled cabbage that Granny Liu had made herself before she left. There weren't many vegetables in the wild, so the pickled cabbage, stir-fried with some pork cracklings, was a good side dish to eat with rice.
Shen Yuan finished cooking and was about to wake Xiao Ling when she turned around and saw him already climbing out of the carriage. She smiled at him and said, "Dinner's ready!"
Xiao Ling gave a soft "hmm" and sat down by the fire.
The evening breeze by the river was a bit cool, and it quickly dissipated the steam from the pot.
Shen Yuan divided the food into two bowls, handing one to Xiao Ling, and the two ate their dinner around the fire.
After the meal, Shen Yuan wanted the horse to rest for a while and did not rush to leave.
Seeing Xiao Ling take his sword to the river to wash it, she couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Ling, did you always stay in the capital before?"
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