Chapter 4 A Hasty Escape (Part Two)
Sensing danger, Chunzhi immediately fell silent, even softening her breathing.
Despite the biting cold, both of them felt sweat dripping from their foreheads.
Ji Shu slowly sat up, took the dagger hidden under her bundle, and thought that if she were to be humiliated like that woman just now, she would rather end it all herself with a quick stab.
I can only blame my bad luck.
Soon, it seemed like someone was speaking outside the carriage, but it was unclear.
It seems they are saying the horse is dead, but the groom is still alive and asking what to do with it.
Chunzhi trembled with fear, yet instinctively shielded Ji Shu in front of her. Ji Shu's heart pounded wildly, almost bursting out of her chest.
Ji Shu pressed herself tightly against the carriage wall. The voices grew closer and closer until she heard a deep male voice ask, "My lord, this carriage is moving so fast, could it be the family of the prefect?"
The man rode at the very front, clad in armor, with a fair and handsome face. He didn't look like a military general, but rather like a dashing young master from a noble family.
The young man seemed to chuckle and said, "Take down the people inside. Remember, they must be alive."
Seeing that his lord's gaze was fixed on the carriage, Lu Changfeng gave a wink to the cavalryman beside him. The cavalryman gripped his long sword and cautiously stepped forward.
It was quite a coincidence that I originally thought it would take at least a night, or at the very least several hours, to attack Chongzhou.
It went so smoothly, as expected. It seems that the death of the prefect of Chongzhou is nothing more than that.
But the young man insisted on taking the unconventional route, bypassing the main gate and instead using the secluded west gate. Before he even entered, he saw the elderly, women, and children fleeing in panic.
They caught us red-handed.
However, the Yanzhou army never lay a hand on the elderly, weak, women, or children; all men fight with real swords and spears on the battlefield.
Ji Shu held her breath, her hand gripping the dagger trembling slightly.
In the blink of an eye, a resolute glint flashed in Chunzhi's eyes. She snatched the dagger from Ji Shu's hand.
He shouted, "Lady, run!" and then rushed out of the carriage without hesitation, lunging at the nearest cavalryman.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
"You're asking for it!" A furious shout and a struggling sound came from outside the car.
Chunzhi was pinned to the ground outside the car. She turned her head and screamed, "Girl, run away, run away!"
Separated by a curtain, outsiders could not know what was happening inside. Before they could even approach, they saw a nimble figure quickly run out.
Ji Shu's pupils suddenly constricted, a strong sense of danger crashing over her like a tsunami. She lifted her skirt and ran out.
The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, choked her so much she almost suffocated, while the roars and hoofbeats behind her seemed like a death knell.
At this moment, Ji Shu looked like a rabbit that had wandered into a hunting ground in a panic, trying to find a way to break out.
Pei Xingjian glanced at the figure, drew his long sword, and squinted to compare the figure's speed.
With a "whoosh," it firmly planted itself two or three steps in front of Ji Shu.
The long sword reminded her that if she took two more steps forward, the sword would either pierce the ground or her.
Ji Shu suddenly stopped in her tracks, her chest heaving.
Pei Xingjian glanced at the slender figure and said to Lu Changfeng, "Ask him clearly."
Lu Changfeng replied with a "yes".
He kicked the dagger out of Chunzhi's hand and stomped on her fair hand, slowly grinding it down.
"Speak, who are you? You've got some nerve, daring to assassinate our general. You're tired of living, aren't you?"
Chunzhi suppressed the pain in her throat, feeling as if the fingers on her right hand were about to break. Looking at the woman in front of her, she dared not make a sound.
Each muffled groan pierced Ji Shu's heart like a needle, her nails digging deep into her palms.
The shock and fear made her face turn pale and weak, completely devoid of color.
With a "plop," he knelt on the ground far away, begging for mercy in a trembling voice: "My lord, please forgive me, please spare my maid. We just want to go to my maternal grandfather's house. If you want money, you can take it all, just please spare my maid."
Amidst the swirling snowflakes, Ji Shu couldn't make out the leading man's features, but if she didn't plead for Chunzhi soon, she was doomed.
Pei Xingjian slowly raised his hand, signaling Lu Changfeng to stop. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he stared intently at the woman in the snow-white cloak.
He slowly walked up to Ji Shu and stopped.
In a split second, he said loudly, "You said you're going to your maternal grandfather's house?"
Ji Shu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the person was no longer making things difficult for Chunzhi, and could only nod in agreement.
Pei Xingjian said ambiguously, "Don't you know that after today, Chongzhou will belong to Yanzhou? No one is allowed to leave the city without a military order."
Ji Shu was startled.
She couldn't help but look up, and the brim of the snow fox's hat fell off, allowing everyone to see the woman's face clearly.
Her hair was slightly disheveled, her hairpin slanted, and a few strands of her dark hair clung to her sweaty cheeks.
The snow-white fur coat was dirty and disheveled, making it impossible to tell which was whiter, but it couldn't hide the exquisite beauty of her face.
Her whole being resembled a flower on a branch, swaying precariously in the wind and rain, exuding a poignant and fragile beauty.
Looking at her face, Pei Xingjian's smile deepened. "Or are you a spy from another country... which is why you want to escape?"
Ji Shu cursed herself inwardly, thinking that she was a traitor and therefore assumed everyone was a spy from another country.
Upon hearing this, Ji Shu simply lowered her eyes, concealing the expression in them: "I just heard that there's going to be a war, and my grandmother specifically wanted me to go and stay there for a while."
Pei Xingjian's eyes didn't leave her face, and he nodded knowingly.
"That was due to the rudeness of my subordinates."
After saying that, seeing her like this, he subconsciously reached out to help her up.
Ji Shu subconsciously turned to the side, stood up, and brushed the snow off her body.
The patch of clothing where he had just knelt on the ground was now visibly damp.
Pei Xingjian paused for a moment, looked at his hand in mid-air, and then lowered it.
Ji Shu steadied herself and asked, "General, now that you have explained, may my maid rise?"
Unlike Lu Changming, Lu Changfeng was not impulsive. Seeing his husband in this state, he understood everything. He chuckled and quickly picked Chunzhi up.
He clasped his hands in a gesture of apology, saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I thought you were the prefect's concubine. I hope you will forgive me."
Chunzhi stumbled and hurriedly ran to Ji Shu, standing in front of her young lady, looking like she was protecting her own.
The young woman may not have known how stunning she was, but she had seen it clearly just now.
It was the woman's turn that made the general change his mind, which made her very worried.
Pei Xingjian stared intently at Ji Shu and asked, "Where does the young lady live? It's getting dark. How about I have the guards escort her back to her residence?"
Although he deliberately lowered his tone to appear as a gentle and polite person, it inexplicably made Ji Shu feel uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to refuse, he heard the ground shake and looked up.
A large contingent of riders appeared ahead, their imposing presence like ten thousand horses galloping towards them.
The leader was over eight feet tall, extremely strong, and clad in armor. The long spear beside him resembled a giant beast crouching down beside him, exuding an imposing aura.
Pei Yanzhi saw Pei Xingjian's lustful appearance from afar and made a gesture without making a sound.
Lu Changming immediately leaned forward and whispered, "Go and investigate this woman's background."
"Yes." Then he disappeared without a sound.
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