Shi Ling overheard the bandit leader's shout and felt another urge to faint.
A sense of inexplicable panic and fear arose in my heart.
This person is also acting strangely; they completely mistook her for Qiao Xinyue.
Before coming, my cousin had someone show this person a portrait of Qiao Xinyue in detail.
She and Qiao Xinyue look nothing alike; there's absolutely no way they could be mistaken for each other.
That only proves one thing: there's something wrong with this person too.
Could it be that the soul of this body is causing trouble, taking revenge on her for taking over her body?
The fact that this person made such a shout implies that they had been bribed and were targeting Qiao Xinyue.
At the same time, she couldn't help but feel fortunate that she and her cousin hadn't appeared at all when they were bribing these bandits, so they shouldn't be implicated.
But what would happen to her reputation if word got out that this bandit leader had kissed and touched her in public?
Will Huo Jiwen feel resentful after finding out?
Thinking about all this made Shi Lingqiao panic again.
Qiao Xinyue never expected that these people were actually after her; they clearly wanted to ruin her reputation!
If it weren't for so many people watching and testifying for her, her reputation would have been ruined by his baseless accusations.
The person behind this is truly despicable.
Qiao Xinyue's face turned pale; she was furious.
She thought to herself, who is so wicked as to try to ruin my innocence?
Then a name popped into my head: Shi Lingqiao, whom I had previously humiliated.
Aside from Shi Lingqiao, she really couldn't think of anyone else who would want to treat her like this.
Most importantly, Shi Lingqiao's appearance was too coincidental.
He suddenly charged at us on horseback, as if he were trying to save the bandit leader.
Qiao Xinyue asked the bandit leader, "Who sent you to harm Miss Qiao?"
The bandit leader looked at Qiao Xinyue and said, "What do you care who sent me? I'm only asking if you're going to let me go or not."
Miss Cai was also furious. "I can let you go, but you have to tell me who sent you."
We must find out who is behind this attempt to ruin her friend's reputation.
Just then, before the bandit leader could speak, an arrow suddenly flew out from the nearby woods and pierced his heart.
The bandit leader stared wide-eyed, then collapsed and died.
"Ah!" Qiao Xinyue and Miss Cai were both startled by what they saw; it was the first time they had ever seen someone die like this in front of them.
Upon seeing this, the head guard immediately led several guards in pursuit of the arrow.
However, after they caught up and searched the area, they found no one.
The head guard returned and asked Miss Cai, "Miss, the person is missing. What should we do now?"
Miss Cai's face was somewhat pale. "Send this person and the people we just captured to the Prefect of Kyoto and let them investigate."
She pointed to Shi Lingqiao and said, "Send her over too."
"Her sudden appearance, which almost allowed the bandit leader to escape, seems unlikely to be such a coincidence."
Shi Lingqiao wanted to explain, but found she couldn't open her mouth and burst into tears.
And he looked at everyone present with a pitiful and aggrieved expression.
The head guard and his men were not the type to show mercy to women, but since she was, after all, Huo Shao's fiancée, and men and women should not touch each other, they could not go forward.
So they called two strong old women, one on each side, to help Shi Ling into the carriage where the maids and servants were sitting.
The dead and captured bandits were all thrown onto the wagons that were originally used to carry goods.
Miss Cai took Qiao Xinyue's hand and said, "Xinyue, with this happening, we can't go on a trip to the countryside."
Qiao Xinyue had no mood for sightseeing at all. She nodded and said, "Let's go back and ask the Prefect of Kyoto to investigate who is trying to harm me."
She also wants to go home and tell her parents about it.
Ms. Cai agreed, saying, "That's necessary; the person behind this is too wicked."
Thankfully, these people didn't succeed, otherwise my friend would have been in big trouble.
Moreover, she had arranged to go out with her girlfriends today, and she would feel guilty and uneasy if something happened to her girlfriends.
She helped Qiao Xinyue back to the carriage, and the group turned back to the capital.
The maidservant who had been sent by Lady Hou to watch the commotion also returned to the carriage.
He then recounted what had happened.
Lady Hou curled her lip: "This Miss Shi is really troublesome. Now she's being kissed and touched by the bandit leader. Isn't she bringing shame to the Duke's mansion?"
"I don't know what kind of taste Huo Jiwen has, that he would fall for a woman like this."
"But she was also unlucky, encountering this kind of thing while riding her horse through this area."
Although she disliked Shi Lingqiao, she still felt some sympathy for the woman who had suffered such indecent assault.
The old lady, sitting in the same carriage, said meaningfully, "Whether she's unlucky or not, I don't know, but her appearance is too coincidental."
To be able to bewitch the heir of the Duke's mansion like that, this Miss Shi is definitely no ordinary person.
Those bandits were after Miss Qiao, but who could have such a deep grudge against Miss Qiao that they would want to ruin her reputation?
She always felt that this matter was inextricably linked to Shi Ling, and she never believed in coincidences.
If these bandits really succeed, Miss Qiao's reputation in the capital will be ruined, which will divert other people's attention.
Upon hearing her mother-in-law's words, Lady Hou's mind raced. "Mother, are you implying that Shi Lingqiao is not innocent?"
“That’s right. Her appearance was too coincidental. And judging from what the maid said just now, the bandit leader was about to be captured, but she suddenly rode over on horseback, and that’s how he got on his horse.”
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