High-class Spring Joy

"The princess is indeed clever; there's no need to beat around the bush with her anymore."

The young man, dressed like a sleazy scholar, waved his sleeve, unfolded his fan, and exuded an air of nonchalance: "Why aren't you hurrying to escort the princess back to us?"

As soon as they were invited, the dozen or so burly men around them were about to come up and restrain Princess Jing'an. Tianyi and his three companions immediately stepped forward to try to stop them.

So those dozen or so men were big and burly, and they didn't look like good guys. But Tianyi and his four men were completely overwhelming in terms of aura and were no less physically imposing, only slightly outnumbered.

Princess Jing'an stayed behind because she didn't want her affairs to involve others. At least, the group of thugs in front of her had come for her, and she certainly didn't want to implicate others, nor did she want to implicate Tianyi and the other three people in front of her.

Just as the dozen or so assailants were about to clash with Tianyi and his three companions, a sharp shout from Princess Jing'an came from behind:

"Tianyi, step back!!"

Tianyi frowned, holding his longsword, and turned to look at Princess Jing'an with worried eyes: "Princess!! They are not good people. If you arrive..."

Their situation is likely hanging by a thread!

"You may all step back. I, the princess, will make my own decision."

Princess Jing'an insisted on saying so, and Tianyi and the other three had no choice but to retreat step by step to her side, but their eyes were still wary and cautious as they stared at the group of villains in front of them.

Princess Jing'an raised her chin and calmly looked at the young man dressed as a scholar in front of her: "I can go with you, but I have one condition: you must not harm the four people with me."

The young man, dressed as a scholar, raised an eyebrow, closed his fan, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He seemed not to have expected that Princess Jing'an could still negotiate with him so calmly at this moment: "Why does the princess think she still has leverage? And why should I agree to the princess's demands? Even if the princess doesn't leave, I have plenty of ways to bring her back; it's just a matter of whether it takes more or less effort. The princess is in this situation; what leverage does she still have?"

Faced with the young man's confident questioning, Princess Jing'an smiled calmly, appearing quite composed: "Since you've come for me, then I myself am a bargaining chip, the biggest and best one. My life is enough to exchange for yours. Yes, you're right, you outnumber me and seem to have an irreversible advantage, but if I'm determined to die, I guarantee you can't stop me. Even Hua Tuo reincarnated couldn't save me. The reason you've gone to so much trouble—gathering information, following me, choosing the right time and place—I suspect is to bring me back safely, at least as a hostage or something. If something happens to me, or I lose my life, wouldn't all your efforts be wasted? So, I'm going to make this gamble, this exchange." "I'm willing to go back with you, but the lives of these four must be safe. If you agree to that, we can cooperate. If you don't, Tianyi has plenty of swords and knives. If I just charge in headfirst, I guarantee no matter how high your martial arts are, you won't be able to stop me. Besides, you do have the upper hand in terms of numbers, and it seems this princess has no room to struggle. And you are indeed right about one thing: taking me down is just a matter of whether it takes more or less effort. But there's one thing you've overlooked. Although you outnumber me, even if Tianyi and her four companions are incredibly brave, they can't fight four hands with one fist. Don't forget the saying, 'A cornered dog will jump over a wall.' If you're really pushed to the limit, even if it's a fight to the death, Tianyi and her four companions will protect me to the end. At worst, it'll be a lose-lose situation, but I guarantee you won't achieve your goal."

Princess Jing'an spoke with great confidence, simply because she held the key to this game firmly in her own hands: her own life.

Isn't she in charge of her own life?

A glint flashed in the young man's eyes, as if his opinion of Princess Jing'an had changed slightly. He didn't say anything more to her, but simply waved his fan and said, "Alright, since the princess has said so, why don't you do as she says?"

How could Tianyi and the other three possibly have seen the princess? They didn't want to be implicated and taken away, but Princess Jing'an had given them a firm order not to make a move, so they couldn't act rashly.

They were trained in the palace until they grew up. As the Empress Dowager's loyal followers, they naturally understood that loyalty was more important than many other words.

The master had actually given an order, and no matter how many ideas they had, they absolutely could not easily disobey the master's command.

All the four of them could do was follow behind Princess Jing'an, never leaving her side.

-

Meanwhile, on the other side, Qinghe, the old woman, and the old woman's grandson escaped from the small thatched hut.

Outside, snow was falling heavily, with goose-feather-like snowflakes swaying and drifting down from the sky. The entire wasteland was covered in white snow, and nothing else could be seen.

"Hurry, hurry! If those villains catch up, the three of us won't be able to resist them." Qinghe was worried about Princess Jing'an, but she didn't dare to look back or slow down.

Because of Qinghe, the three of them, with the elderly woman in their left hand and their young grandson in their right, trudged through the snow, their feet sinking up to their calves.

If Qinghe slows down or is caught by the villain, not only will her life be in danger, but the old woman and the child she's with will also perish. Most importantly, it would mean that Princess Jing'an, who bravely stepped forward, would have sacrificed herself in vain. Qinghe absolutely cannot allow such a thing to happen.

But the snow was falling so heavily that in the pure white, icy world, it seemed that no matter which direction you went, it didn't matter. Moreover, Qinghe had no idea which way to go, whether she could get rescued or not.

And so Qinghe pulled the old man and the child beside her and kept running forward, running as fast as she could, even though the speed was extremely slow in the thick white snow.

But Qinghe did not give up. The snow soaked her clothes and shoes and socks. Qinghe's hands and feet were so cold that they were frozen solid and she could not walk. She had no feeling at all. It was as if what was growing on Qinghe's legs was no longer her feet or her own calves, but two pieces of wood stakes.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, Qinghe was already dragging two people along with her, and given her special condition and less stamina than usual, she soon felt her strength waning. Just then, the old woman next to her lost her footing and fell into the snow.

The old woman was crying bitterly, and her little grandson rushed over to check on her: "Grandma, how are you? Grandma?!"

The old woman collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. She pounded her legs, her expression filled with pain as she looked at Qinghe: "Young lady, why don't you run yourself? This old woman simply can't run anymore! It's too cold! How can my legs take this weather? And my little grandson too! Young lady, you should run quickly. If you weren't carrying me and my grandson, you could have run much further. Don't worry about us anymore!!"

Qinghe felt sorry for the old woman's helpless appearance, but then she noticed something was wrong. Although the old woman had fallen and was saying that she had no strength, her cries sounded surprisingly strong!

Qinghe immediately became alert, her eyes subtly filled with wariness as she looked at the old woman: "Grandma, what are you saying? If you hadn't told me where the back door was, how would we have escaped by now? Besides, in this freezing, desolate place, I was relying on you to find my way. I don't know this place at all; how would I know which way to go to find a town, or to find a kind person? Grandma, I brought you along so you could guide me..."

As Qinghe said this, she didn't move an inch and didn't get any closer to the old woman.

The old woman looked at Qinghe in front of her and sighed, "Ah...you're a kind-hearted girl, but it's a pity you're a bit naive. If we hadn't been paid by someone else, we probably wouldn't have harmed you today. It's such a shame, you're so beautiful, this old woman really couldn't bring herself to do it!"

As she said this, a helpless smile appeared on the old woman's face. She looked much the same as before, except that she no longer wailed and cried out in despair.

But as soon as the old woman said that, Qinghe became alert, but even so, she never thought of guarding against her grandson.

As soon as the old woman finished speaking, the little grandson pulled a small iron sword from his sleeve and plunged it into Qinghe's stomach!

Qinghe instinctively protected her stomach, turned around and rolled to the ground. Although she fell into the snow, she managed to dodge the sword!

"You little girl, stop struggling. Sigh, do you really think this old woman is incompetent enough to stay here in this desolate, icy wasteland for years with her grandson? I really don't know whether to call you stupid or naive. Well, since you're going to die anyway, I might as well tell you something."

The old woman rose with ease, looking as if she had instantly become twenty years younger. A confident smile played on her lips, and in the blink of an eye, she was in front of Qinghe. "Don't worry," she said, "although what you're looking at is snow, I'm telling you responsibly, it's a snowdrift. It may not look very deep, and it's just a patch of snow, but if you fall in, I guarantee you'll die. Since you're such a kind-hearted girl, why not help us, grandmother and granddaughter, to save your life? We can get a good reward, which is much better than falling into a snowdrift and becoming food for wild animals. We'll definitely leave you with a whole corpse, don't worry about that, I have a lot of professional ethics!"

Qinghe could no longer trust the grandmother and granddaughter in front of her, and kept rolling forward. Fortunately, there was only snow in front of her. Anyway, Qinghe was not sure which direction she was rolling in, and she was even more unsure what was in that direction.

In short, all Qinghe can do now is escape!

Qinghe didn't have time to think. She could only keep rolling to the side. It wasn't that Qinghe didn't want to stand up, but she had dragged these two people all the way forward, and she was exhausted. Her shoes and socks were soaked. Now her legs felt like they had two wooden stakes. She had no strength and couldn't bend them easily. Qinghe could only try her best to find her little chance of survival by rolling like this.

No matter what, Qinghe was injured and her body was weak to begin with. Moreover, the grandfather and grandson in front of her were clearly not ordinary people. They were both martial arts practitioners and had easily caught up with Qinghe. It was like an eagle catching a chick. Instead of swallowing her whole, they first used their claws to probe, scratch, and intimidate her.

The old woman's gaze lingered on Qinghe's face, and Qinghe felt that the gaze growing colder and colder, making her hair stand on end.

"I really love this face. Go ahead and roll. If you're so capable, roll to the side again. You probably realize it yourself, right? There's a snowdrift right next to you. It's not solid ground where you rolled from. If you roll down there, you'll fall straight down and die without me even having to lift a finger."

The old woman spoke so lightly, yet her words were chilling.

Qinghe remained silent for a moment. He had already sensed it, otherwise he would have rolled over long ago. He could clearly feel that the patch of snow next to her was soft, like a trap.

Qinghe's mind was filled with despair, and a sense of powerlessness swept over her, engulfing her completely.

Looking at the old woman and her grandson in front of her, Qinghe suddenly felt like laughing. She thought to herself, it was indeed abnormal to find a farmer in a place like this, especially one who was an old woman and a grandson.

But saying these things now is obviously meaningless and has no effect.

Qinghe had only one thought left in her mind: Was she really going to die here?

Although Qinghe seemed to have anticipated a bad ending when she decided to come out with Princess Jing'an, she was still filled with resentment when the moment actually arrived.

She really didn't want to die here. She didn't want to die. She still had so many things to do. She hadn't given birth to the child in her womb yet, and she hadn't been able to see the Third Young Master.

The old woman had already raised the dagger in her hand and was about to stab Qinghe. The chances of the dagger hitting her were very high. If it did, even if Qinghe managed to survive, she would be worse off than dead.

This was because the dagger was aimed at Qinghe's stomach.

Seeing that she was in a critical situation, Qinghe had no other choice. Even if there was a snowdrift next to her, at least Qinghe could gamble on a chance of survival. But if she survived this blow, she would at most suffer a fate worse than death.

Without hesitation, Qinghe flipped over and rolled towards the snowdrift!

The old woman and her grandson's expressions changed immediately. They exchanged a glance and then put away their daggers. They didn't believe that Qinghe, a weak woman with no strength to even kill a chicken, could climb out after falling into this bottomless snow pit. Clearly, she was doomed.

Immediately, the snow on top of the snowdrift that Qinghe was pressing down on began to fall rapidly, and Qinghe fell quickly as well. Just when Qinghe thought she was going to fall to her death, she suddenly landed on something soft!

The pain she had imagined did not occur. Qinghe belatedly opened her eyes and sat up. Looking around, she realized that she seemed to have fallen into a cave.

Inside the cave, a pile of firewood was burning. Not only that, but there were also several logs next to the firewood, and several pieces of clothing were hanging on the logs. Qinghe found the clothes somewhat familiar.

Just then, Qinghe was about to get up when she heard a muffled groan from below. Only then did Qinghe realize that she had fallen on something.

Qinghe rushed over to check, only to discover that the Prime Minister was actually alone!

She just used someone as a cushion!

Qinghe was suddenly thrown up as if by a spring, and stood to the side looking at the person lying on the ground. She noticed that the person's back was to her and their face was towards the ground.

But the man remained motionless for a long time, making Qinghe feel a little guilty and worried. She tried to walk forward and speak to him: "This...this young master? Are you alright? You may have misunderstood earlier. I didn't mean to fall on you. I was being chased and had no choice but to fall into this snowdrift. I didn't know there was anyone in the snowdrift, and I didn't know it would be such a coincidence that I fell on you."

Qinghe bit her lower lip as she spoke, unsure how to continue explaining, mainly because this matter was indeed difficult to discuss: "Anyway, you are my benefactor. If it weren't for you today, although it might not have been your own choice, I might have already perished here, falling to my death without even having a chance to speak."

At this moment, Qinghe saw the figure on the ground struggle, and then she heard that familiar male voice:

"First of all, stop saying you'd go through fire and water for me. Ah He, haven't you said that enough? Young Master's ears are practically calloused by it. Secondly, Ah He, do you really think you're so lucky that you just happened to fall into my lap? Is it possible that I deliberately went to catch you?"

Upon hearing this, Qinghe recognized the voice instantly. When she saw the figure on the ground struggle to stand up and turn around to see that handsome face reappear in front of her, Qinghe was overjoyed. Her eyes widened and she instinctively rushed towards the Third Young Master in front of her.

Qinghe threw herself into Chu Jingxian's arms, so overjoyed that she didn't realize anything was amiss. She hugged Chu Jingxian tightly, overjoyed, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, Young Master, you're still alive! Young Master, you're actually still alive! Young Master, thank goodness you're still alive! I'm not too late!!"

The sweet and soft little girl rushed into his arms, and he was naturally stunned for a moment.

A beautiful woman threw herself into his arms. Chu Jingxian wasn't a true gentleman, and this girl held a special place in his heart. Just from this hug, even though Chu Jingxian knew it was because she was overjoyed, he couldn't bear to push her away. Instead, after his arms hovered in the air for a few breaths, he reacted and carefully hugged the person in his arms.

But just as Chu Jingxian wrapped his arm around her, Qinghe instantly realized what she had done, and subconsciously took two steps back, pushing Chu Jingxian away and keeping a small distance between them.

Qinghe looked at him somewhat embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry, young master. I was just so surprised and delighted. I came with Princess Jing'an. After analyzing the situation these past few days, we felt that most of you people in Mohan City were probably in grave danger. So the princess and I were very worried about your safety and were quite anxious. When I saw you, young master, I was so happy that I couldn't control myself. Please don't take offense."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Come here and warm yourself by the fire."

Qinghe then noticed that the fire was still burning, and it was even crackling and popping.

Qinghe then began to carefully examine the entire cave. The snowdrift was indeed a snowdrift. Probably no one would have thought that there was a hidden world beneath it.

Qinghe looked at it and felt that something was not right. Upon closer inspection, she realized that what was hanging on the wooden pole was a cloak and an overcoat, while the Third Young Master was wearing an undergarment and a robe.

Clearly, there was no one else in this cave besides the Third Young Master.

Qinghe was startled. Judging from the young master's situation, he must have gone through something. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been separated from them.

Qinghe sat down on a rock and warmed herself by the small fire in front of her. Thinking that the people next to her couldn't see her, she took off her shoes and socks and put them by the fire to dry. While taking them off, she briefly explained to the Third Young Master next to her what they had experienced along the way.

He then asked again:

"Young master, how did you get to this place? And what exactly happened in Mohan City?"

"I really have to thank you this time. Thanks to the bronze mirror you gave me back then, otherwise you wouldn't be seeing me now."

Chu Jingxian's words sounded somewhat heavy, yet there was a hint of amusement in his voice, perhaps because of the person in front of him.