0118 The Sorrowful Lord (Part 3)
Shuf was an excellent horseman, galloping south at high speed, quickly leaving the person chasing behind far behind.
She made sure no one was catching up before she gradually slowed the horse down.
"We should have already left Leyouyuan by now. If we continue south, we'll reach Qujiang... It'll be broad daylight soon, and many people will likely be going there to enjoy themselves. Let's avoid that area and find another path back to our villa."
Zhan Yaoguang had no objection and nodded slightly in agreement.
After a moment, he suddenly said, "You ride your horse very well."
He had seen so many people on his way to Chang'an, but none of them rode as well as she.
Shu Fu was taken aback, suddenly remembering the day she played Cuju (ancient Chinese football). Although he was also at the villa, he had never actually seen her riding a horse.
She pursed her lips, turned her gaze slightly to him, and said, "Then I'll ride a horse for you to see in the future. I can also play polo, chuiwan, and my pitching skills are decent. I'll play with you all the time!"
Zhan Yaoguang half-embraced her, and seeing the girl's bright and vivid features from the side and behind, a slight stirring ran through his heart—
Although he liked her very much no matter what she looked like, he preferred the one riding on horseback now to Afu upstairs in the Shu residence.
The two rode together on one horse, bypassing the crowded areas, preparing to enter Fanchuan from the northern foot of Chongnan Mountain.
It was the height of spring, and the pines and cypresses on the mountainside reflected each other, separating the blue sky from the distance, leaving a vast expanse of green. The grass below was lush and green, and because few people came, even the paths were mostly covered by wild grass.
The horses walked slowly and leisurely among them, and they were not in a hurry to return, so they did not urge the horses on, but let them carry them along as they went.
"Wait—" After walking for a while, Zhan Yaoguang's expression suddenly turned serious, and he spoke urgently.
Shuf sensed something was off about his tone and immediately pulled on the reins, bringing the horse to a stop.
The two looked ahead and saw a tripwire lying across the path. If they had been riding at high speed, they would have been tripped and fallen to the ground.
The boy dismounted, walked to the tripwire, squatted down, and picked it up to examine it closely.
In the blink of an eye, a faint sound of footsteps treading on dry branches suddenly came from the dense forest on both sides.
He suddenly turned around and saw that the men who had been lying in ambush knew they had been discovered and stopped disguising themselves, and were about to rush over.
Zhan Yaoguang made a quick decision, taking a few steps to Shufu's horse, looking directly into her eyes and saying, "You go first! Leave everything here to me, they can't catch up with you without horses."
Before Shu Fu could think any further, the horse beneath her was struck on the rump with a palm, and it suddenly bolted away, carrying her far away.
Almost the instant Shufu's figure disappeared into the shaded path, a two-and-a-half-foot-long wooden stick came slashing at him from the right.
He dodged the attack, then thrust his hand out, snapping the wooden stick in two with a crack, the sharp end aimed directly at the man's neck.
"Thirteen—" The man was startled and shouted loudly.
"It really is you." Zhan Yaoguang's face turned cold. She threw the wooden stick to the ground, but still pushed him hard against the tree trunk.
The man leaned against the tree trunk, his back aching from the impact, and coughed loudly. Another man shouted, "Thirteen, you actually started fighting?"
These two men were his cousins, and they came to Chang'an with Zhan Qing to capture him.
"Didn't you just set up tripwires, preparing to really attack me?"
“We grew up together, haven’t we played around with each other enough? You can’t possibly come to the Central Plains and become so petty like those Han people, can you?”
"But there were people right away!" The boy's anger remained undiminished, his dark eyes coldly sweeping over them.
"We only meant to tease you by tampering with you, but who knew you'd come with a lady..."
The man had never seen Zhan Yaoguang angry before. Now that he had, he felt a sense of dread for some reason, and his voice grew softer and softer.
Another man, quite disgruntled, muttered, "Who knew you'd come all this way to the Central Plains and already have a girl you like? We thought you couldn't ride a horse and that she'd kidnapped you... Hey," he walked over and put his hand on Zhan Yaoguang's body, "She was in such a hurry just now, I didn't even get a good look at her. Isn't this girl pretty?"
Zhan Yaoguang was taken aback, a faint smile appearing on his lips. He subconsciously said, "Of course, Afu..." He stopped mid-sentence, then his face turned cold, "It has nothing to do with you."
Without any hesitation, he brushed the other person's hand off him and turned to leave.
"Hey—" The man rushed forward a few steps, grabbed his shoulder, and asked, "What are you doing?"
“Go back to her. Otherwise, do you think the two of you can take me back?” The boy chuckled. “If you think you can do it, you two can come over together, and I’ll take care of everything at once.”
Knowing they couldn't defeat Zhan Yaoguang, the two men didn't try to show off. Instead, they chuckled and said, "If you come back with us, you can see that lady. I wonder if you'd still be willing to go?"
Zhan Yaoguang's expression suddenly changed, her hands and feet felt slightly cold, and she asked in a deep voice, "What do you mean?"
"It's Zhanqing. She saw that woman ride away on horseback, so she took Xiao Shiwu and took a shortcut to catch up with her. They should have caught up by now."
...
On the other side, Shufu was being carried by a horse along the path, the wind whipping and cooling against her face, stinging and aching, but she had no time to care, her mind racing with thoughts.
Who could be the person who ambushed them?
—She was just an ordinary young woman in Chang'an, and had never made enemies with anyone, so she must have come for Zhan Yaoguang.
Are they enemies he made on the road? Or perhaps his own people?
Last night in the carriage, the tense moment when Zhan Yaoguang initially mistook Liang Zhiyan for her flashed through her mind, and she immediately had a guess.
It's most likely the latter.
Regardless of which one it is, she now has to go to the escort agency to hire a few bodyguards, and she must win him back.
As I was pondering, a figure suddenly appeared on the grassy path in front of me. It was short and probably a child.
Shufu was startled and quickly reined in her horse, stopping it just a few shots away from the child.
Seeing that he was not hurt, she felt relieved, dismounted, and walked towards him.
"Whose child are you? What are you doing here?"
The child looked up at the sound, revealing a pair of bright black eyes, with a vaguely kind expression.
"Sister, my surname is Yuan, and I live in Longzheng Ward in Chang'an City. I came here today because I was playing around, and I got lost and don't know what to do. Luckily, I met you, sister. Please lend me a hand and take me home, okay?"
Shufu is clever by nature, and although she is a kind girl, she is not naive.
How far is Longzhengfang from here? One is in Chang'an City, and the other is near Fanchuan Ridge. How could such a playful child have run all the way here?
The worry on her face faded, and she reached out to pull him up. Once he was standing, she quickly let go of his hand.
She glanced at him up and down and said, "If you don't tell the truth, I will never help you with this favor."
Zhan Yinyuan was bewildered, unsure where he had slipped up. Just then, a woman emerged from the nearby woods; it was Zhan Qing.
"So, Miss Shu really doesn't want to go back with us?"
Shu Fu turned to look and saw a slender woman with slightly darker skin walking towards her. She glanced down at Zhan Yinyuan and finally asked, "Are you Zhan Yaoguang's people?"
"He told you everything?" Zhan Qing frowned slightly.
Shufu shook her head: "I guessed it myself."
Zhan Qing pursed her lips, no longer pressing the matter, but asked the same question again: "We only asked Miss Shu to go back as a mediator, with absolutely no other malicious intent. It's just that Thirteen has been stubborn since he was a child, and he won't listen to anyone among us. If we say something he doesn't like, he'll even turn around and run away, and no one can catch him, but he seems to treat you..."
She paused, then said softly, "Thirteenth seems to care about you a lot. If Second Miss is willing to ask, I think Thirteen will most likely agree."
Upon hearing this, Shu Fu felt a slight tickle on the tip of her ear, but her expression remained unchanged.
“But that’s his own business. I don’t think my words carry much weight, and I myself don’t want to go back with you.”
Zhan Qing's face darkened, and before he could say anything, Zhan Yinyuan suddenly stepped forward and said righteously, "Madam Shu, please don't force me!"
"Why would I force you?" Shu Fu turned her head to look at her, her brows furrowing slightly.
The young man's face fell, he made a face as if he was about to cry, then knelt down on the spot with a thud, carefully grabbed a section of her skirt, and said firmly:
Don't force me to kneel down and beg you!
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