The carriage had to stop at the border of Anqing County. Two more carriages were added to carry the three Lin sisters, and Qingyin and Lin Mengya had to separate.
The army leader escorting the young ladies was a handsome young general with fair skin and red lips, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. However, his perfectly formed eyebrows were now tightly furrowed.
"At this rate, how long will it take to reach the capital?"
“Oh, General Xu, you know these young ladies are all pampered daughters of wealthy families. How could they possibly compare to the soldiers in the 8th Company? You definitely can’t keep up with the army’s pace.” The person advising him was an older middle-aged man with a fawning yet shrewd look in his eyes.
The one who came to escort the young ladies from Anqing County this time was General Xu Yili, a rising star from the capital. He came from a family of civil officials, but was also a martial arts champion. Moreover, he won a brilliant battle in his first battle and became a hot young general. No wonder he was the son of Minister Xu. Thinking of this, Lu Chengxuan, who was assisting General Xu in escorting the young ladies, looked at Xu Yili with even more fervor.
Xu Yili frowned slightly. It was his rival, Lu Zheyuan, who tricked him into coming here to escort the imperial concubines. Both of them were promising talents in the court, and they had taken very different paths. Lu Zheyuan had become a fourth-rank official from a family of martial arts scholars, which was quite remarkable. Thinking of his old rival, who had calmly tricked him and forced him to come to Anqing County to escort the imperial concubines, Xu Yili felt angry and annoyed. Seeing the imperial concubines complaining of being tired even while riding in the carriage made him even more annoyed, and he couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Damn it, even going to the frontier to fight is easier and more comfortable than escorting some young ladies. That idiot Lu Zheyuan, he'll definitely teach him a lesson when he gets back, that smiling tiger.
At the entrance, Xu Yili's carriage was knocked on.
"What is it now?" Xu Yili impatiently pushed open the door, his eyes dark as he looked at the soldier knocking, which frightened the soldier into shrinking back.
"General, the second young lady of County Magistrate Lin Shengxi's family asked if a maid could go out and gather some food." The soldier quickly finished speaking as if he were spitting out pearls, then lowered his head, not daring to look at the general's face.
Annoyed by the various young ladies along the way, Xu Yili couldn't help but curse, "Damn, another spoiled young lady."
Xu Yili had seen too many spoiled young ladies who took pride in humiliating their maids. What was so great about a maidservant serving a young lady like that? She probably only knew how to serve, and would probably be scared away by wild rabbits or snakes. Oh well, if he didn't let his maidservant go, who knows what kind of trouble that young lady would cause her.
Xu Yili thought for a moment, "Let her go, and you send a soldier to keep an eye on her and bring her back safely."
"Yes, General."
Meanwhile, Qingyin had no idea that Zeng Li had been framed by the leading general as a vicious young lady who abused her maids because she was just looking for some fresh fruit. However, thinking of Zeng Li's skills and the expectation in her eyes, she still sent a message to the guards around her.
Upon receiving the message, Zeng Li happily carried an empty package out. The soldier Xu Yili had sent happened to be the one who delivered the message. He was somewhat displeased with the maid who had given her an extra task, but he didn't show it on the thin (?) maid. He silently followed behind Zeng Li.
Zeng Li let him follow her, guessing it was the command of the leading general. She walked forward, and in front of her was a dense forest. It wasn't too dark yet. Zeng Li could tell at a glance that there was nothing she wanted nearby. She walked faster and faster as she went deeper into the forest. Having lived in the mountains for a long time, Zeng Li glided through the forest as freely as a fish in water.
The soldier following behind her was also secretly astonished. No, walking so freely in the forest was just an ordinary maidservant of a young lady. The soldier, panting heavily as he chased after Zeng Li, looked at Zeng Li, who was casually picking fruit in front of him without even blushing, and fell into deep doubt. He knew even with his feet that this maidservant was not normal, and he also had a strong sense of foreboding.
An hour later, the soldier, dragging his weary body, looked at Zeng Li, who was moving swiftly ahead and whose body was stuffed with fruit, and fell into deep despair, as if he had returned to the miserable life of his training days.
Finally back at the encampment, unlike Zeng Li who returned with a full load, the soldiers who followed her, exhausted, breathed a deep sigh of relief and wondered if they should report this to the general.
Qingyin looked at the large pile of fresh wild fruits that Zeng Li had taken out and said, "Miss, the things in this forest are quite good. These wild grapes are really good, sweet and big. Miss, you should try them."
Qingyin chuckled, "Ali, just call me Arou here, and call me Miss outside."
“That won’t do. Miss and Ali are the same. In my heart, Ali is all I care about.” Zeng Li stared at Qingyin with bright eyes, her gaze sincere.
Qingyin patted Zeng Li's fluffy head and stopped discussing the previous topic. "Ali picked too much fruit. Pick some for eldest sister and third sister, and distribute the rest to the nearby soldiers."
Looking at the abundant fruit, Zeng Li was somewhat reluctant to share with the two young ladies. However, seeing Qing Yin's determined gaze, she obediently divided two portions of fruit that Qing Yin didn't like and gave them to Lin Mengya and Lin Heyu. She then picked up the rest and gave them to the soldiers around her. Regardless of how surprised the other soldiers were, the one who was most familiar with the fruit was the soldier following behind Zeng Li. Looking at the several fresh, large fruits in his arms, he looked a little embarrassed and expressed his gratitude. Zeng Li didn't mind at all and went back home after giving them all away.
"You said that maid picked a lot of wild fruits, was very strong, had kung fu, and even shared some fruit with you?" Xu Yili was surprised, but the facts were right in front of him. Looking at the few juicy wild fruits in front of him, Xu Yili recognized one of them: a large bunch of bright red thorny fruits, emitting a fragrant aroma, and looking sweet.
"Yes, General, that maid's skills are truly remarkable. She walked all the way to the depths of the forest without showing any signs of fatigue. Her mistress even shared some fruit with several of us." The dark-faced soldier looked longingly at the fruit laid out on the table. Although the soldiers escorting the young lady weren't hungry, they certainly weren't eating well, especially fresh fruit, which was a rare treat.
Seeing the soldier's greedy look, Xu Yili couldn't help but kick him. "Damn it, it's just a little fruit and you're already drooling over it. Do you think I, the general, would refuse your fruit?"
"Hehe, isn't it because I was afraid the general would also like to try something new?" The dark-faced soldier wasn't afraid of Xu Yili. He was a soldier who had been led by Xu Yili, so he was naturally familiar with him.
Xu Yili chased away the soldiers who were joking with him and developed a good impression of the second young lady of the Lin family. He also realized that he had misunderstood the young lady before, but he was also curious about why this young lady had a maid with profound martial arts skills by her side.
However, this was not his concern. The identities of each candidate were verified by government officials thousands of times, so there would definitely be no mistakes. He only needed to ensure that this group of candidates arrived in the capital safely and on time.
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