Chapter 67: Night News
The winter night was chilly. Wrapped in thick clothes and a scarf, Qin Xiangnuan playfully blew out the cool air. She looked at the wisps of white mist drifting in the air, gently patting them away with her hand, a gentle smile playing in her eyes. Everyone in the general's mansion had gone to bed, leaving only a few men to patrol the area. Qin Xiangnuan wasn't sleepy. She picked up two twigs from the ground and casually scratched simple words on the frozen dirt.
The branches were frozen brittle and snapped in two in just a moment.
The broken branch scratched Qin Xiangnuan's palm, leaving a shallow mark. This omen always made her feel uneasy.
"Uncles, please be more careful at night and don't let the wild animals around you sneak up on you."
Qin Xiangnuan, feeling restless, stood up and walked over to the men on night watch, lighting the bonfire for them, speaking softly. Fatigued by the past few days' worry and anxiety, her eyelids soon felt heavy. She tucked her hands into her sleeves, leaned against a tree stump, and quickly fell asleep. The mahogany hairpins in her hair rubbed against the stump, making her sleep feel particularly uneasy, as if she were dreaming.
The dream was full of red flames. The fire in the county magistrate's mansion spread to the mountain. Gu Mingqi stood in the fire and stretched out his hand to her, "In that case, let's go to hell together!" He showed a hideous and terrifying smile, and his whole body exuded the smell of burning. He grabbed Qin Xiangnuan's arm with his dry fingers. The sharp stinging sensation made her subconsciously raise her hand, trying to shake off the thing that was grabbing her.
Bang—a loud noise came from my ears.
Qin Xiangnuan sensitively opened her eyes, leaped up instantly, and took a defensive stance. Under the night, she squinted at the person lying on the ground in a spread-eagle position, frowning in confusion as she asked, "Cousin?" Qin Feng rubbed his sore butt and stood up with his hands on the ground. He swung his elbow, which Qin Xiangnuan had nearly broken, and gave a thumbs-up, praising her sincerely, "Little sister, you're really strong!"
"What happened?"
Qin Xiangnuan had a headache because of the nightmare. She opened her eyes and gently rubbed her temples with her fingertips.
"Let me go, we want to see the Third Miss!"
There were several loud noises in the distance, as men scuffled and shoved with several men in black. Qin Xiangnuan walked over, her skirt lifted, and saw that they were the guys who had helped them in Furong Town. They must be the guards of the young master in the capital.
"Let them come."
Qin Xiangnuan spoke, and the men reluctantly let go of their hands, muttering, "They ran over in the middle of the night and insisted on seeing you. I didn't think they looked like good people, so I said you were asleep and they would see you when you woke up. But they refused and tried to break in, so we had no choice but to stop them..." The men were afraid that Qin Xiangnuan would misunderstand, so they explained everything that had just happened.
The secret guards wiped the dirt from their faces, their chests heaving with anger as they said, "Third Miss! We really have something urgent to do."
"Hurry and leave here! The assassins sent by the Seventh Prince are already chasing us. They followed the trail of your cart all the way to Phoenix Mountain and are not far from you. We sent people to stop them, but the men they sent this time are very skilled and we are no match for them. We injured a few of our brothers, so we left a few behind to delay them and quickly came to tell you the news."
The secret guards knelt on one knee and spat out Jiang Lin's name in a panic, "The prince ordered us to secretly protect you and the people in the general's mansion all the way. You must trust us!" Their eyes were red with anxiety, and there were traces of sword wounds on their faces and arms. There was no time to treat the wounds, and it seemed that they had run here. Qin Xiangnuan knew the urgency of the matter, turned around and looked at Qin Feng and said, "Wake up everyone."
"Do you know where we can hide on the mountain?"
Qin Xiangnuan turned to ask the secret guards, who looked at each other and shook their heads, saying, "We're not familiar with this route. We just followed you because you chose this way. We really don't know." Qin Xiangnuan slapped her head in frustration. She was so anxious that she had forgotten about it. She looked at the top of Phoenix Mountain in the dim light of the sky.
If the assassins sent by Gu Mingqi were tracking them, they would definitely be chasing them from behind.
The top of the mountain was the most dangerous place, but also the safest. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as they took the top first, they could clearly see the assassins' attack routes and devise countermeasures. "How long can your men hold out?" Qin Xiangnuan asked, a plan in mind.
The secret guard rolled his eyes twice and answered as quickly as possible, "Two hours."
"That's enough. Please help me get the stuff to the top of the mountain. I'll rush over to find a place." Qin Xiangnuan looked at the rugged and winding mountain road. It was covered with ice crystals. No one from the General's Mansion could go there, but she could take a shortcut. "Please protect my family." Qin Xiangnuan took off the heavy robe that restricted her movement and stuffed it into Qin Feng's hands. "Cousin, follow Grandmother. If you encounter any danger, send this signal to the sky. I will naturally see it."
"What about you?"
Qin Feng's face was full of resistance. "I am a man. When danger comes, it is my responsibility to take the lead. How can I let you, my little sister..."
"At this moment, what's the difference between men and women, and why are we trying to be heroes? You have to know that I'm petite and can climb the mountain faster. If I stay with everyone, I might be chased, which is dangerous. The responsibility of protecting the mansion is now in your hands!" Qin Xiangnuan patted Qin Feng's shoulder and walked towards the path. Just as she took two steps, she heard footsteps behind her.
Qin Xiangnuan stopped and turned around to see the secret guard talking to her.
"Miss Third, I'm Anliu. I'm the Crown Prince's trusted confidant. Please allow me to follow you." Anliu bowed his head and spoke respectfully. Qin Xiangnuan looked at him and knew that he was a master of martial arts, so she nodded in agreement, but she said coldly, "Follow me, don't get lost."
Anliu's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect Qin Xiangnuan to be so arrogant.
He was one of the top three secret guards in the Marquis of Xiaoyao's mansion. He had followed Jiang Lin on countless life-or-death missions. If he couldn't even keep up with a little girl, he'd probably make his brothers laugh when he got back! As Anliu thought this, the words to answer got stuck in his throat. Before he could utter them, Qin Xiangnuan shot out like an agile rabbit in the woods.
"This... is so fast." Anliu swallowed in surprise. He was stunned for a moment and almost failed to catch up with Qin Xiangnuan's back.
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