Wilderness Encounter
In the middle of the night, Lu Yu, who had been waiting in vain for a whole day, tossed and turned in bed and couldn't fall asleep. He simply sat up and looked at the unfolded map, and planned the route to the south again in his mind.
Going south from the capital would inevitably pass through Jinnan. She didn't get here. Could it be that something held her back and she couldn't leave on time?
Just as Lu Yu was thinking secretly, the sound of fighting was heard outside.
Rong Qing, who was on guard next door, knocked on the door and said, "Sir, there is an assassin. I will take you to hide first."
Lu Yu put away the map and followed him out of the room. Outside, the Jinyiwei were fighting with four or five masked men, who looked exactly like the gangsters who were in the lobby at night.
Rong Qing took Lu Yu away from the center of the fight and walked quickly towards the stairs on the other side. They passed Bai Miaoke's room, which had the door closed and was determined not to meddle in other people's business. The two entered the backyard of the inn.
Safe for the time being, Lu Yu also made a decision: "After dealing with them, pack up and leave immediately."
Rong Qing held his sword tightly, guarding his surroundings, and responded in a low voice.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and the sound of fighting gradually faded. Bai Miaoke in the room shook her head and sighed: After fighting for so long, I can finally go to sleep...
The group quietly left through the back door of the inn under the cover of night.
Lu Yu sat in the carriage and listened to Rong Qing's report: "Sir, there were five people in total. Judging from their moves, they looked like gangsters. We didn't catch any alive, and one escaped."
Lu Yu nodded and then asked, "Are any of our people injured?"
Rong Qing replied: "Two people suffered minor injuries, but their lives are not in danger."
Lu Yu said: "Let's hurry on during the night and find a doctor after daybreak."
Rong Qing should withdraw.
For a moment, in the quiet night, the only sounds were the sound of horse hooves and the rolling of wheels.
Lu Yu sat in the car in silence. He didn't expect that he would be targeted as soon as he left the capital. This trip might be more dangerous than he imagined...
As for Bai Miaoke, there was definitely no way he could stop and wait for her. Lu Yu could only sigh that the two of them were not destined to be together. He also regretted not making his feelings clear when they met yesterday, and had inexplicably made her unhappy.
Lu Yu thought to himself that he would have to try to please the person next time they met, but he was also worried that this trip was dangerous and he might not have the chance to see her again.
Lu Yu temporarily modified the itinerary, and the group arrived at a nearby town before dawn. After a short rest, they looked for a doctor to bandage and apply medicine to the Jinyiwei who were injured last night.
Looking at the bloody wounds on their bodies, Lu Yu frowned the whole time and changed the originally planned route according to the map. In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, he could not only take the official road, but also chose several shorter paths.
After resting in the town for half a day and having lunch, the group continued on their journey along the route that Lu Yu had replanned.
The carriage turned onto a less stable road and increased its speed. When Lu Yu, who was sitting in the carriage, felt that his butt was about to be hurt by the shaking, he finally stopped the carriage to rest.
It was already 3 p.m. He got off the carriage and looked around. He called Fugui and said, "There should be a water source nearby. Take two people to look for it. We will camp nearby tonight."
They returned in just a quarter of an hour. Fugui stepped forward and reported, "Sir, there is a stream two or three hundred meters ahead. The terrain is flat. We can stay there for the night."
Lu Yu nodded, and the group arrived there quickly. Lu Yu divided the ten Jinyiwei into three groups. Excluding the two injured, one group stayed here to set up camp, one group went to find some tools to make a fire, and another group explored the nearby roads to ensure safety. Everyone received the order and quickly dispersed.
Lu Yu and Fugui stayed on the flat ground to help. Noticing their master's low mood, Fugui took the initiative to ask, "Master, do you want to send someone to continue looking for Miss Bai?"
Lu Yu said calmly: "She is also going to Jiangnan, and maybe she was tripped up by something."
Fugui was very happy to hear this, and thought that if Miss Bai could go with him, he would be very happy. He asked, "Sir, do you know which way Miss Bai is going? We can send someone to wait for her."
Lu Yu shook his head: "I don't know." This was also the reason why he was upset today. He couldn't even meet him when he took the official road, and now the chance of meeting him was even smaller when he took a shortcut or a small road.
The master and servant fell into silence for a moment.
It was gradually getting dark, and soon several simple tents were set up. Several guards caught two rabbits nearby and were squatting by the fire to roast them. Several people shared some of the roasted rabbit meat with the dry food they brought with them.
After dinner, several strong young men took off their clothes and went to bathe in the water. They warmly invited the Prime Minister, but of course he was rejected. Lu Yu, who had been noble since childhood, could not accept bathing in the wild for the time being.
After almost no sleep and a day's journey, everyone was exhausted. In order to prevent wild animals from appearing in the wild, the Jinyiwei was still divided into three groups to take turns to keep watch to ensure safety.
Lu Yu and Fugui shared a tent. Fugui began to snore rhythmically almost as soon as he touched the pillow. Initially, Fugui wanted to prepare a separate room for Lu Yu, but Lu Yu suggested that they stay together for one night just to save trouble. At this moment, Prime Minister Lu regretted it very much...
Just when he finally fell asleep, a shout came from outside: "Who is it?"
Hearing that it was Rong Qing's voice, Lu Yu's sleepiness immediately disappeared. He concentrated and barely made out the sounds outside from the regular snoring.
"Brother, my elder brother and I are students who failed the exam. We accidentally took the wrong road. Can we stay in the same tent for one night in the dead of night?" asked a slightly immature voice.
When Rong Qing heard that it was a student, his tone softened a little, but he was still firm: "There are no extra tents, you should leave quickly."
"Brother, I see this space behind you is empty? You two aren't going to sleep anyway, so let us two brothers stay there for one night. We can give you some money." The other party was still trying to persuade Rong Qing.
Rong Qing still said sternly: "Our young master is not short of money, you should leave quickly, if you wake up my young master, you will be in trouble."
"Good brother, we are two skinny scholars, where can we go in the middle of the night?" the other party softened his tone.
Another clearer voice rang out: "Come on, second brother, let's continue on our journey. Even if we are eaten by wild boars, bears, or something else on the way, we can only blame our bad luck."
Hearing this, Rong Qing was, after all, the upright commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Although he knew that this was not a real deep mountain and there was almost no possibility of any ferocious beasts, but as an official, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the two thin scholars in front of him.
Just as he was hesitating, he heard Lu Yu coughing lightly from the main camp. He immediately walked over and said, "Sorry, sir, I woke you up. There are two scholars passing by who want to stay in our tent. What do you think?"
Lu Yu had heard their conversation clearly. He whispered, "Let them stay and leave before dawn."
The two scholars who were staying here were Bai Miaoke and Chun Xing who had taken the wrong road.
Today, Bai Miaoke slept until the sun was high in the sky. After eating and drinking, the two of them set off again. Bai Miaoke looked at the winding official road on the map, and drew a straight line on the map to Chun Xing. She said confidently, "We don't need to take the official road when riding horses. It's closer to take the straight line. If we walk faster, we should be able to catch up with Yecheng."
After hearing this, Chun Xing immediately clapped her hands and praised: "Big brother is so smart!" So the "two brothers" set off on horseback along the straight line that had just been drawn.
It was smooth at first, but after walking for more than an hour, the terrain became steeper and steeper, and the trees and weeds gradually became half a person's height. Even the fast horses they brought from the capital could not pass. Chun Xing whispered, "Brother, it seems we are going into the mountains."
Bai Miaoke also discovered this problem. Her delicate brows were knitted together and her expression was depressed. To anyone who saw her, she looked like a gloomy young man with feminine appearance.
She scratched her head in annoyance and was forced to give up her plan to move forward. She raised her hand and turned around the dock, walking along the gentle hillside to try to find any signs of someone passing by.
The two walked along the foot of the mountain for more than an hour before they found a path with fresh horse hoof and carriage marks. The sun was already setting, and Bai Miaoke immediately decided to follow this trail. It would be best if she met a kind person, but if she met a bad person, it would be their bad luck. Bai Miaoke thought it would be nice to be a female knight who punishes evil and promotes good occasionally.
As they walked, the traces of the carriage disappeared at the bend. Bai Miaoke didn't expect the other party to be so cautious. Chun Xing asked hesitantly, "Brother, which way should we go now?"
Bai Miaoke dismounted and squatted on the side of the road. She lowered her head to sniff and then pointed in a direction. Chun Xing asked curiously, "What did you smell, big brother?"
Bai Miaoke waved her hands in a pretentious manner and said, "The secret cannot be revealed."
She couldn't tell Chun Xing that she was smelling horse manure. After all, the traces could be covered up, but the smell was difficult to eliminate in a short period of time. Anyone who rode horses frequently should be familiar with the smell. She still wanted to maintain the image of a smart lady in front of Chun Xing.
Chun Xing really showed an expression of admiration: "Miss, you are so versatile!"
Bai Miaoke tapped Chun Xing's forehead with a folding fan and said, "Call me brother!"
Chun Xing then realized that she had called the wrong name in her excitement, and hurriedly shouted "Big Brother" and urged her horse to catch up with Bai Miaoke who was already walking forward with a smile.
The laughter of the two people gradually stopped as it got dark. Bai Miaoke slowed down the horse and carefully observed whether there was any fire around. After searching for a quarter of an hour, her hard work paid off and she found a group of people camping by the river.
She and Chun Xing tied their horses far away under a tree, and she jumped onto a big tree. From the height, she roughly counted that there were about a dozen people on the other side. They all looked to be quite skilled. Because it was dark and the distance was quite far, she naturally did not see Lu Yu who was eating quietly alone.
Originally, she wanted to wait until they finished their meal and then go over to negotiate and ask if she could borrow a tent, but she didn't expect that a group of men would start taking a shower after dinner. Although Bai Miaoke had seen Lu Yu taking a shower through the screen last time, she decided not to watch a group of naked men. She took this opportunity to eat the food she had packed for lunch with Chun Xing.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they went to look at the group of men, only to find that they were already asleep.
Bai Miaoke: "...eat and go to sleep."
Noticing that there were two more people patrolling, Bai Miaoke and Chun Xing went over to negotiate, which led to the conversation just now.
After riding for half a day on the mountain road, the two men finally lay down in the slightly simple tent.
After listening for a while, he found nothing unusual. Bai Miaoke held the dagger she carried with her in her hand and fell into a light sleep.
A good night's sleep accompanied by the chirping of insects and the sound of wind.
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