Traveling during the hottest days of summer is undoubtedly a torment. If it weren't for the cooling robes in Zhu Lin's mustard seed space, Xingxing felt she would have suffered heatstroke long ago. Fortunately, Brother Lin had a magical artifact.
However, this robe can only be worn inside the carriage; it must be taken off and put back into the space when going out, otherwise it may easily attract unnecessary trouble.
The journey was relatively peaceful, with no refugees, no bandits, and no disasters. This peace was what Xingxing wanted to see and hoped it could continue.
The Great Jin Dynasty is in dire need of rest and recuperation. Although it was ravaged by natural disasters in the past few years, it has finally managed to survive, hasn't it?
Today, the Great Jin Dynasty has many high-yield and drought-resistant grains, and has also acquired two silver mines and one iron mine. These are the foundations for the Great Jin Dynasty's establishment and strengthening. With the support of these grains and wealth, it is believed that the Great Jin Dynasty will soon become strong.
Xingxing wondered if she should immediately arrange her marriage with Zhu Lin after she came of age. If she got married, she would definitely want to establish her own residence outside the palace. Where would be a more suitable place to build the princess's residence?
After much thought, it's better to build it near the Zhou residence. That way, when my parents come to the capital, they can see each other often without having to take a carriage. It's much more convenient to just walk a few steps to get there.
Xingxing was dozing off in Zhu Lin's arms, her eyes half-closed, her mind racing with thoughts, when suddenly the carriage jolted violently, followed by the sound of close combat coming from afar.
"Princess, we are passing through a mountain forest. There are bandits robbing people ahead, and many have died," the scouts reported back.
"Mountain bandits? There's no one living within a hundred miles around here. It's a desolate wilderness, no wonder there are mountain bandits." Xingxing was wide awake, opened her almond-shaped eyes, and sat up straight.
After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Do you know who was robbed?"
"It's a caravan, and it seems there's another group traveling with them." The guard was somewhat uncertain; he was only guessing based on the situation.
"Save them," Xingxing ordered.
The guards received their orders: half would stay behind to protect the princess, while the others went to rescue people.
"There are too many bandits; it probably won't be easy to deal with them." Zhu Lin had keen hearing; even without going out to check, he could roughly guess the vast difference in numbers between the two sides.
This time, none of the senior sisters and brothers came along. The junior brother has grown up, and they will no longer be by his side all the time. After all, the junior brother's kung fu is the best, and the senior brothers and sisters are not worried about him being unable to protect himself. What they should be worried about is the person the junior brother will face.
Upon hearing this, Xingxing also listened intently for a while. Although she didn't have any visual cues in her mind, her hearing was still quite remarkable.
"There were screams and cries from a woman, but no children's voices were heard."
After a while, Xingxing clicked her tongue and cursed, "A young girl has been kidnapped. It seems these bandits robbed people of their money and women." As she spoke, she lifted the curtain and ordered, "Ten people will stay here to guard the place. The rest of you go and rescue people. One girl has been carried away. Go and bring her back."
Hearing the constant clanging of swords and the screams echoing all around, Xingxing sighed and said, "Never mind, you guys go save them, Lin-gege and I will go after them."
Zhu Lin raised an eyebrow slightly. The little girl had once again taken it upon herself to find him work to do, but he never said no and always cooperated silently.
"Brother Phosphorus, stop dawdling! Let's hurry and chase after them!" Xingxing urged impatiently.
Without saying a word, Zhu Lin grabbed her waist with one hand and quickly leaped out of the carriage. In front of him was a brown-red horse. The guard on the horse was lifted up and thrown out before he could react. The guard was skilled and did several somersaults in the air before landing steadily.
Seeing that the princess and her fiancé had run far away, Qingyan and Qingluo gritted their teeth in resentment, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and chase after the princess!"
Zhu Lin was too fast. By the time the guards reacted and started to chase, he had already run far away with Xingxing. The figures of the two people and the horse disappeared into the forest. Several paths suddenly appeared here, and for a moment they did not know which direction the princess and the other person had gone.
"We'll split up and chase after them. If anything happens to the princess, we'll all lose our heads!" Qingyan shouted, then she and Qingluo took the lead and chased after them down the middle path.
At this moment, Zhu Lin and Xingxing, riding together on a horse, had chased into the depths of the forest. The area was densely wooded, overgrown with weeds, and had a strange terrain. They had clearly seen those people carrying two girls ahead of them just a moment ago, but when they caught up, they had vanished without a trace.
"Strange, how did they disappear in the blink of an eye? Where did they hide?" Xingxing sat in front, her hair already disheveled from the wind. Her long hair had been scratched by tree branches while chasing them, and now it was a complete mess. Luckily, she wasn't wearing any jewelry, or she would have lost it all.
Zhu Lin glanced around and said in a deep voice, "They haven't gone far, they should be hiding nearby. I'd like to see what tricks they can pull."
As soon as he finished speaking, his ears twitched, and he vaguely heard someone whimpering softly somewhere, along with slight sounds of struggling.
With a "whoosh," the dart in his hand shot towards a low bush.
"Ah!" This was followed by a scream.
Zhu Lin leaped into the air, holding Xingxing in one arm, and with the other hand, he swung his sword towards the source of the scream, unleashing a burst of sword energy. Soon, the person who screamed was lifeless, accompanied by the sound of someone falling to the ground.
When Zhu Lin brought Xingxing forward, the bandits hiding behind the low bushes, apart from the one who died on the spot, had three others who stared wide-eyed and gasped for a moment before finally passing away.
Beside the bandit were two young girls whose hands and feet were tied and whose mouths were stuffed with rags. Their hair was messy like a bird's nest, but their clothes were still relatively neat.
Xingxing knelt down to untie the two of them, removed the rags from their mouths, and asked gently, "Are you alright? Don't be afraid, we're here to rescue you."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
