That day, Yang Cui and her entire family packed up and prepared to return to their hometown.
Yuan Qiu's close friends all came to see him off, and Er Ya and San Ya's new friends also came.
After a brief farewell, we set off.
Yang Cui didn't have many men at her disposal, so just in case, Su Murong specially arranged for thirty skilled guards to escort her all the way.
"It seems Cen Xiao is really dead," Xia Yunfeng said, watching their figures recede into the distance.
"If not, how could Lady Yang possibly have left the capital? I've heard that quite a few people want to marry her."
"Who wouldn't want to marry such a rich and capable woman?"
As Xia Yunfeng finished speaking, his confidant gave him a surprised look...
………
Er Ya, San Ya, and An Xiao Hu were very excited to be able to go home, especially An Xiao Hu. He had met the emperor, made so many impressive friends, and even visited the palace and the Southern Study. Now that he was back in the village, he had plenty to brag about.
I remember when I came here last year, I said that I would take a good look at the scenery along the way when I returned to my hometown, but now, Yang Cui has no intention of appreciating the scenery at all.
Five days passed before they knew it, and they had arrived at the post station in Fushan County.
“Lord, I think the young lady seems to be feeling a little unwell. Why don’t we rest here for another day?” Xi Hongmei said.
The eldest daughter Xi Hongmei mentioned is Er Ya. Lin Huihui and Yang Cui are not related, so Er Ya is the eldest daughter in the family, and San Ya is the second daughter.
Upon hearing Xi Hongmei's words, Yang Cui was taken aback at first, then nodded and said, "Then let's stay another day. Traveling continuously will take a toll on everyone's health."
The people at the post station knew that Yang Cui was the Lady of De'an Township, so they were exceptionally hospitable.
After a long journey, everyone was exhausted and went to bed early.
At night, all was quiet.
A group of people broke into Yang Cui's bedroom...
"I've long heard that Lady De'an is quite beautiful. Now that her husband has died, she must be feeling very lonely and empty..." one of the men said as he slowly approached Yang Cui, who was lying on the bed, with ill intent.
At this moment, another person grabbed him: "What are you doing? She's mine! If you want to play, go next door. Her maids are quite pretty too."
If Xi Hongmei were here right now, she would definitely recognize that this voice as Zhang Junlan's!
Upon hearing this, the man shoved Zhang Junlan aside, held a knife to his neck, and said viciously, "Why should I only be able to play with maids? Let me tell you, get out of my way! Or we'll kill you!"
Zhang Junlan looked astonished; it was simply unbelievable!
He stammered, "I...I didn't we agree on this?"
"Hmph, I'm a bandit! You believe a bandit's words? You idiot!"
"Hahaha..." The group burst into laughter.
Zhang Junlan then realized that he had done all the work for someone else, and he felt both resentful and angry.
"Brother, this village chief is really rich. You go ahead and have some fun while the brothers and I go search him out."
After he finished speaking, the other bandits began to rummage through the chests and cabinets. The bandit leader took off his clothes as he approached the bed, and then suddenly pounced on it. Wait, something's not right.
He lifted the blanket and saw that there were two pillows underneath!
"Oh no, we've been tricked! Quick..." Before he could even finish the word "run," Su Yutang, who had descended from the sky, killed him with a single slash!
Immediately afterwards, cries of pleas for mercy and screams of agony rang out from outside. Before Zhang Junlan could react, Xi Hongmei and her men burst in.
Zhang Junlan was dumbfounded, "Xiang'er, you..."
Xi Hongmei glared at Zhang Junlan and kicked him, yelling, "You beast!"
Even if Zhang Junlan was foolish, he had finally realized: his scheme had been exposed! Yang Cui hadn't fallen for it at all!
"Xiang'er, let me explain, Xiang'er..."
"Explain your ass! You beast, you've wasted all your education! Bah!" Ma Ming kicked him back. Being a martial artist, the kick made him vomit blood.
Zhang Junlan is terrified. He colluded with bandits to try to defile Yang Cui, which is a capital offense!
Even though the attempt failed, and he survived, his life was over. Now, Xi Hongmei was his lifeline!
He knelt down in front of Xi Hongmei with a thud: "Xiang'er, please help me, please help me, Xiang'er, I've been forced into this by bandits..."
"Do you think we're fools? We heard everything you just said," Xi Hongmei said coldly.
What he said clearly indicated that he and the bandits were in a cooperative relationship, but the bandits simply didn't follow their agreement.
"From the very beginning, we never believed you! The young master has been watching you closely!"
At first, Xi Hongmei had no idea that Zhang Junlan was the one who came to propose marriage to Cen Xiao before the seventh day after his death. She also had no idea that Zhang Junlan's heroic act of stepping forward to save the beauty was something he had orchestrated himself, until Yuan Qiu met with her alone...
"So you set a trap for me! Xiang'er, how cruel you are! You don't care about our past relationship at all!"
"You brought this on yourself! We've been keeping quiet all this time to see what you're up to! But I never imagined you'd collude with bandits!"
After all, he was the man she once loved, and Xi Hongmei was also very sad. She didn't know if she had been blind to have chosen the wrong person back then, or if he had changed.
"I warned you, I will not betray the village lord!"
Zhang Junlan then remembered what Xi Hongmei had said that day: "The village lord trusts me, and I will not betray the village lord either."
Xi Hongmei didn't want him to be unable to turn back, so she hinted at it to him, but he was blinded by greed and didn't think much of it.
He only wanted to possess Yang Cui and force her to marry him, so that he would have both a beautiful woman and wealth.
"Xiang'er, for the sake of our past relationship, please help me, please plead for me. We still want to get married. I love you, I'll marry you as my wife, Xiang'er..."
Hearing this, Xi Hongmei's anger surged to the top of her head, and she kicked him away: "Love me? Fan Lingling has been dead for two years. If you still had me in your heart, why didn't you come looking for me before? My legal wife? Do you think I still care?"
Xi Hongmei had been with Yang Cui for a year. If, as he claimed, he couldn't forget Xi Hongmei, he would have gone to Gaoxin County to find her long ago, but he didn't.
Xi Hongmei is no longer the naive teenager who believed love was everything. From the beginning, she knew Zhang Junlan had ill intentions. Whether a person has changed or not, their eyes will tell you.
“The village head said that this person need not be kept any longer!” Ma Quan said. “Miss Hongmei, you may leave.”
"No, no! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" Zhang Junlan was terrified and blurted out, "I didn't want to do this, someone instigated me, believe me! Someone really wanted me to do this! It has nothing to do with me! Believe me!"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment!
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