But those officers and soldiers, instead of thanking them for risking their lives to save people, even suspected that they were the arsonists!
They continued to interrogate them relentlessly!
In the end, it was Liu Yingying who produced the document confirming her title as the Lady of Ning'an County, and only then did the officials and soldiers respectfully see the three of them out the door.
As they stepped outside, Xue Ye suddenly looked at her and said, "Don't you think last night's fire was too bizarre?"
Liu Yingying smiled casually; "Either it's aimed at you, or it's aimed at me!"
Upon hearing this, Xue Ye's eyes darkened, and he fell silent.
However, the three of them quickened their pace, as the longer they were delayed on the road, the more disadvantageous the situation would become for them.
Just before entering the territory of Haining County, the carriage stopped for a rest. Xue Ye took the opportunity to temporarily leave the group, his figure disappearing into a small grove of trees not far away.
It's deep winter now, but you can gradually see some greenery as you go further south.
Haining County is located at the junction of the north and south, so the plants in the grove are mostly half yellow and half green, creating a distinct sense of division.
Xue Ye gripped his longsword, its blade pointed directly at the couple in front of him, his face cold and stern.
"I already promised you that I would leave with you after sending her back to Furong County, so why are you in such a hurry to harm her?"
"I've said it before, anyone who dares to touch Liu Yingying, I, Xue Ye, will be their sworn enemy!"
Faced with Xue Ye's anger, Wu Feng and Hua Yue looked at each other, completely bewildered.
"Young Master, what do you mean by this? We didn't do anything!" Wu Feng spread his hands, looking completely innocent.
Hua Yueye said angrily, "That's right, Wufeng and I are not the kind of people who break their promises, young master, you can't wrong us!"
They only learned about the fire at the inn last night this morning.
Throughout the entire process from the start of the fire to its full spread, they were not near Xue Ye.
But I never expected that the young master would suspect me as soon as I returned. It's really disheartening.
"But who else would do such a thing besides you?" Xue Ye was skeptical of their words.
"Young Master, please let me explain..." Wu Feng said helplessly, and had no choice but to tell the whole story of how they were lured away by a dark figure before the incident last night.
"At the time, Huayue and I noticed that someone seemed to be trying to harm the young master, so we gave chase. But when we returned, the inn had already been disturbed. Fortunately, the young master is alright, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to explain to the Seventh Elder!"
Seeing that they didn't seem to be lying, Xue Ye sheathed his sword and turned to leave, looking exhausted.
The two looked at the somewhat desolate figure with helpless expressions.
Hua Yue was very dissatisfied. "Do you think the young master is too interested in that Liu Yingying?"
What she really wanted to say was that she felt Xue Ye's feelings for Liu Yingying were more than just the feelings a nephew has for his aunt!
She firmly believed in her judgment!
Wu Feng glanced at her hesitantly, "So what? Young Master and she are from two different worlds!"
Moreover, he felt that the young master's feelings were only one-sided and were destined not to blossom into anything!
Liu Yingying and her two companions rested for one night in Haining County, and the next morning they went to the market to buy supplies for the next few days of their journey.
After loading all the purchased items onto the carriage, the three continued their journey towards Ningzhou County.
But the road they were about to travel was far from the smooth, wide roads they had encountered before.
Instead, it was the kind of rugged mountain road with potholes, sometimes requiring a whole day to travel on a secluded valley path.
As darkness fell and no village could be seen, the three had no choice but to set up their tents in the deep mountains, light a campfire, eat some dry rations, and spend the night there.
Now, it has been three days since Liu Yingying and her two companions entered the mountains.
What should have been a two-day journey has now taken three days and we're still less than halfway through.
This is all because of the flash flood a few months ago, which destroyed many roads and severely affected Liu Yingying and others' travel plans.
Right now, their carriage was swaying and rocking along a muddy path full of potholes.
The clouds in the sky were very thick, making the entire valley look as if it were shrouded in shadow.
Xiaoxue: "Sister Liu, it looks like we'll have to camp out in the wilderness again tonight..."
Liu Yingying turned her head and glanced at her aggrieved look, and couldn't help but laugh.
"It's just sleeping in the middle of nowhere, what's there to worry about? It's better than staying in an inn where people might commit murder and arson!"
"Sister Liu, what you said... seems to make some sense..." Xiaoxue nodded thoughtfully.
It was getting dark, and they hadn't had a proper meal in the past few days.
Liu Yingying decided that tonight's dinner must be quite lavish...
Xue Ye stopped the carriage by a clear stream.
Although it was already winter, an unknown white flower was still blooming on the rocky beach by the stream, adding a touch of gentleness to the bleak winter day.
Xue Ye glanced at the dense forest across the stream, said, "I'm going to see if there's any wild game!" and left.
Xiaoxue started preparing the pots, pans, and bowls for cooking in Qingxi, and also casually built a simple stove out of stones.
Liu Yingying then opened the box to count how much food they had left...
Because we've been stuck in these mountains for too long, the supplies we bought earlier are almost all used up.
All that was left was a jar of pickled vegetables, a bag of flour, and a little sugar.
Fortunately, she still has the online store available.
While Xiaoxue was gathering firewood in the woods, Liu Yingying quickly exchanged some eggs, a piece of cured beef, and several seasonings to enhance the flavor of the food, all of which she pretended to have taken from a box.
When Xiaoxue came over carrying firewood, she couldn't help but feel curious when she saw the piece of beef in Xiaoxue's hand.
"Sister Liu, when did you buy this beef? I didn't see it."
Liu Yingying remained expressionless; "I must have bought it in the capital. I had forgotten about it myself and only found it when I was counting the ingredients just now."
Fortunately, Xiaoxue didn't delve into it, just said "oh" and went back to doing her own thing.
Liu Yingying and Xiaoxue divided the work and worked quite efficiently.
When Xue Ye returned carrying two bloody rabbits and a pheasant, they had already prepared a spicy dried beef dish, green pepper and egg dish, and a large bowl of wild vegetable soup…
"Our Xiaoye is amazing! She never comes back empty-handed from hunting!"
Liu Yingying stepped forward cheerfully, taking the pheasant and rabbit from his hands with one hand, while her other hand mischievously raised to give him a loving pinch on the face.
Xue Ye froze on the spot, gritting her teeth as she blurted out a warning: "Could you please stop pinching my face like that?"
But Liu Yingying acted as if she hadn't heard, happily carrying her prey to the stream, where she and Xiaoxue began to deftly remove the fur and skin...
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