Chapter 10: Eloping This hairpin might have been inserted a little crookedly.
"Everything went smoothly during the initial negotiations, but who could have known that the Third Master would actually drug General Lin's tea and tie him up on the spot? He even threatened to kill General Lin if he didn't quickly prepare 500 dan of grain and send it up!"
Upon hearing this, Lieutenant General Wang was furious and raged. He cursed, "What a boast! These ignorant bastards! Let's charge up the mountain and wipe them out right now!"
Lieutenant General Lin's personal guards turned pale with fear and knelt at Fang Yilan's feet, begging, "No, General. If we rush in without a care in the world, they will definitely kill us immediately."
The other guards also kowtowed and cried, "General, please, for the sake of the deputy general's loyal service over the years, please save him."
Fang Yilan leaned over and helped the guards up one by one, saying in a deep voice, "Everyone, get up. I will never abandon Lieutenant General Lin and will definitely rescue him unharmed."
*
"General, are you saying that we should pretend to be an eloping couple and go to Qishan?" Zhao Huaixu held up a folding fan to cover the lower half of his face, revealing only a pair of narrow eyes, and his expression could not be seen.
Fang Yilan raised her eyebrows, her face full of interest, and she looked a little malicious.
"Why, do you think there are any loopholes in my plan?"
Zhao Huaixu coughed, a look of unnaturalness flashing across his face. "General, this is a brilliant move, but... since they're playing a couple, there seems to be a slight gender difference."
Fang Yilan raised her eyebrows slightly and glanced over with a half-smile: "Didn't you say at the beginning that you would stay with me even if you wanted to please me with your beauty?"
Seeing him frustrated, Fang Yilan's mood eased a little, and she let him go: "Okay, I was just teasing you, look how nervous you are."
Time was pressing, so Fang Yilan immediately gave orders to prepare the necessary carriages and money.
Zhuang Gu carried the heavy wooden box and muttered, "Why didn't the general choose me? Young Master Zhao doesn't know martial arts. If he gets captured by bandits and taken to a dangerous place, what will happen if he gets injured?"
Fang Yilan wondered if he knew whose soldier he was.
Feeling unhappy, Fang Yilan blamed all her dissatisfaction on the culprit.
In front of Zhao Huaixu, he complained mercilessly: "Because he looks easy to bully. If those bandits see him, they will definitely let down their guard and easily capture both of us up the mountain."
Zhao Huaixu: ...
Shuxue helped Fang Yilan change clothes in the house and put on a light blue silk dress for her.
She gently gathered her waterfall-like black hair into a bun, picked out a few exquisite hairpins from the makeup box, inserted them into her hair, and adjusted their positions carefully.
Shuxue stared intently at Fang Yilan in the bronze mirror. Her lightly powdered face made her already bright features even more striking. She was mesmerized for a moment and couldn't help but exclaim, "Young lady, you are so beautiful! It's been a long time since I've seen you properly dressed up."
Fang Yilan stood up suddenly. The belt around her waist was so tight on her stomach that she almost couldn't breathe.
"This is too tight."
She muttered something, pulled her belt with both hands and pulled it hard, and only then did she feel better.
I couldn't help but laugh at myself. It hadn't been long since I traveled through time, but I had already played the roles of a female general, a grain truck driver, an unjustly killed female ghost, and an eloped young lady. How could this not be considered fulfilling my dream of being an actor in my previous life?
As soon as she stepped out of the room, several eyes in the yard were cast at her, making her feel inexplicably embarrassed.
The servants gasped in amazement at Fang Yilan's rare elaborate attire. Zhuang Gu's face flushed red as he feigned busyness, frantically fiddling with some objects, his eyes occasionally stealing glances over.
Zhao Huaixu looked indifferent. He walked to Fang Yilan and stood in front of her. With his tall figure, he inadvertently covered Fang Yilan's figure.
Fang Yilan suddenly felt like teasing him, and said in a coquettish manner, "Husband, I hope you will take care of me." Then she raised her eyes and secretly looked at his expression, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
He chuckled and replied slowly, "Madam is very beautiful today."
Fang Yilan didn't expect to be outmaneuvered, so she had to cough to cover up her embarrassment.
Zhao Huaixu raised his arm slightly, and his slender fingertips reached into Fang Yilan's hair. His movements were gentle and slow. He lowered his eyes slightly and spoke slowly, "It's just that this hairpin might be inserted a little off-center."
Crooked? Fang Yilan was full of doubts. She had just looked in the mirror and everything seemed fine.
Everyone's attention suddenly lost focus, and they came to their senses and continued to work on the unfinished tasks at hand.
Fang Yilan subconsciously raised her hand to touch the hairpin, but her hand was suddenly held tightly by him, stopping her from moving.
"Don't move, it's been adjusted." A low voice sounded in her ears with an unquestionable tone.
After saying that, Zhao Huaixu took a step back.
Fang Yilan's eyes fell directly on the person in front of her, not understanding his intentions.
Just as he was thinking about it, he noticed that this face was still too outstanding. He frowned and said bluntly: "No, your face is too eye-catching. You have to change your appearance." After he finished speaking, without waiting for Zhao Huaixu's response, he pulled him up and walked into the house without saying anything.
She pulled him to the dressing table, painted and outlined his face, and then stopped with satisfaction.
Everything was ready. Fang Yilan got on the carriage, raised his hand to lift the curtain, and suddenly remembered something and turned around, solemnly instructing Lieutenant General Wang who was not far away.
"General Wang, please remember to wait until you hear the signal before heading up the mountain. Don't act rashly or make any moves on your own."
Lieutenant General Wang's expression was startled. He immediately clasped his fists and saluted, saying loudly, "I will follow the general's orders!"
*
An exquisite carriage was galloping along the winding mountain road of Qishan. The man driving it, dressed in the coarse clothes of ordinary people, looked a little panicked, holding the reins tightly in his hands and looking around vigilantly from time to time.
In the dense forest halfway up the mountain, a group of elite soldiers were lurking, staring at the carriage with eager eyes.
"Second in command, this carriage most likely belongs to a wealthy family. Should we rob it?" a burly man asked in a muffled voice.
Xiao Yue frowned, and after a moment's silence, he said, "If they were truly a wealthy family seeking refuge in these remote mountains, how could they be so foolish as to drive such an ostentatious and luxurious carriage? Yet, the people in this carriage are dressed simply. There must be something strange going on. We must not wade into this muddy water."
The strong man was unwilling to give up. He stared at the approaching carriage. Seeing that the carriage was not moving fast, he thought that the carriage must be full of money. It was heartbreaking to let it go so easily. He still wanted to persuade it a few more times.
"It's just a carriage. I don't think it can cause any big waves. We have so many people and horses, why should we be afraid of it?"
As they were talking, they heard a commotion down the mountain. Qi Chun, the Third Master, was already leading a group of men, charging down the mountain in a furious manner, completely blocking the path for the carriages.
The carriage, which was originally galloping, had to slowly stop because the road ahead was blocked.
Qi Chun walked up to the carriage, pulled a man and a woman out, and ordered his men to tie their hands tightly.
He put on a smug smirk and said sarcastically, "I was wondering what was going on. It turns out they're a pair of star-crossed lovers who eloped."
Fang Yilan hunched her shoulders, her face full of fear, her body trembling, and hid behind Zhao Huaixu, looking like a frightened and weak woman.
Zhao Huaixu feigned composure, stiffening his neck and shouting in a timid voice, "Who...who are you?! Let us go! I...I can give you a lot of money!"
When Qi Chun heard this, he raised his head and burst into wanton laughter: "If I kill you, all your money will naturally belong to me. Why should I let you go?"
"Third boss! They have a lot of money hidden in the car!"
"Take them all back."
"yes!"
Fang Yilan and Zhao Huaixu were successfully brought to the mountain by the bandits. In front of them was a small village with about twenty or so households scattered around.
The two were pushed roughly and locked up in a dark and dilapidated woodshed.
Obviously, they were not imprisoned with Lieutenant General Lin. It seemed that those people imprisoned Lieutenant General Lin in another place.
Qi Chun swaggered into the woodshed, his eyes immediately locked on Fang Yilan lying on the ground.
He bent down, his eyes wanton and frivolous, looking Fang Yilan up and down, and he exclaimed: "Little beauty, you are so pretty!" As he said that, he shamelessly stretched out his hand and wanted to touch her face.
Fang Yilan's eyes instantly turned cold, and he secretly gathered his strength. He was just about to give up pretending and cut off the man's arm.
There was a loud "bang" and the rickety door of the woodshed was kicked open, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
A tall man strode in. Seeing him, several of his men lowered their heads and shouted in unison, "Second in Command!"
As soon as Xiao Yue stepped into the woodshed, his eyes fell on Fang Yilan who was slumped on the ground.
The moment their eyes met, Xiao Yue's heart trembled at the sight of the mole beneath her eyebrow. He immediately turned to Qi Chun and said, "I want this person. I'll give you a box of silver in exchange."
Qi Chun had a playful smirk on his face as he slowly stood up, his eyes flickering between Xiao Yue and Fang Yilan. "I never expected you to be so capable, young lady. You've already managed to attract the attention of our second-in-command, who never approaches women."
He paused, his eyes shrewd, and he insisted, "But, Second Master, just one box of silver is a little too little. Are you sending away beggars? I have to think more about my brothers, don't I?"
Xiao Yue squatted down, took out a dagger, cut the hemp rope on her feet neatly, and reached out to pick up Fang Yilan.
Without even turning his head, he said, "If you want anything else, just come to me and get it." After that, he dragged Fang Yilan out the door.
"Wait!" Seeing that Xiao Yue was about to take people away, Qi Chun shouted at the top of his voice and successfully stopped the two people who were about to step out of the room.
He tilted his head, glanced at Zhao Huaixu, and suggested with a playful smile: "Second Master, tell me, what should we do with this little beauty's lover? In my opinion, we should just kill him with a single blow, so that this little beauty won't be thinking about her old lover when she comes to you."
Xiao Yue didn't stop, just casually said two words: "Whatever you want." Then he tried to drag Fang Yilan away again.
But Fang Yilan refused to give in. Her feet seemed to be rooted to the ground. She pressed hard against the ground with all her strength. She kept making indistinct "wuwu" sounds and kept looking at Xiao Yue, motioning him to take out the handkerchief stuffed in her mouth.
Xiao Yue saw through her intention and ripped off the handkerchief as she wished. Fang Yilan immediately burst into tears and begged tearfully, "Second Master, please, please don't kill my husband. As long as you spare his life, I will go with you willingly and do anything you ask me to do."
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