High-class Spring Joy

Chu Jingyu, who was standing nearby, also noticed the commotion and rushed over, shouting:

"Mother! Ge'er!! A-Yuan!!"

Chu Jingyu couldn't see where his mother was; he could only glimpse a little bit of the situation through the gaps in the collapsed mud and rocks.

Just then, Jiang Qingge fell to the ground, being chased by two bandits. The rain was pouring down, and Jiang Qingge stepped into a puddle on the rugged mountain path, falling directly to the ground. Instantly, the two bandits' broadswords were already at her feet.

Chu Jingyu was immediately shocked and wished she could rush over: "Ge'er!!"

Seeing His Highness the Crown Prince leading his guards and a group of young masters to clear the mud, rocks, and fallen trees from the ground, Chu Jingyu hurriedly rushed over to help repair the road.

Qingyuan was in a state of panic and naturally couldn't hear anything, so how could she sense the movements on His Highness's side?

The bandits, wielding large knives, were nearly half a person's height. Each one was tall and strong, and they smashed the horses and carriages with their knives, scaring the group of defenseless ladies and young women into fleeing in all directions.

Screams, roars, and cries for help rose and fell, disturbing everyone's ears and causing widespread panic, making it impossible to calmly make a judgment.

These ladies and young women, who had spent many years immersed in the secluded mansions, had never seen such a direct confrontation with shouts of violence.

Even if they were watching, they were either bystanders, manipulators, or instigators in the past. They had never experienced the bloody scene of a knife pointing at them.

The carriages and horses were scattered, and the scene was in complete chaos.

A dozen or so bandits had already subdued the group of ladies and young women, herding them together. A dozen large, gleaming swords were pointed at them. The ladies and young women, who were once so glamorous, were now covered in dust and dirt, their hair disheveled, their hairpins and ornaments jingling on the ground. They were all pale with fear, staring at the bandits in front of them.

Clearly, the bandits' leader wasn't after them; instead, he led his men directly towards the Empress Dowager and Princess Jing'an.

Although Princess Jing'an's clothes were disheveled, she and Qingyuan still protected the Empress Dowager in the carriage behind them, and shouted angrily at the approaching bandits:

"Do you know who this entourage belongs to?! If you so easily commit murder, and dare to lay a finger on me, I guarantee that your entire family will never live in peace!!"

Qingyuan roared in anger, "You audacious thieves! How dare you rob a government carriage! Everyone here is a high-ranking official. If you casually injure even one of their fingers, you'll face dire consequences in the future, and you won't even be able to protect your wives and children!"

The Empress Dowager was terrified and huddled in the carriage. The old woman beside her lifted the carriage curtain, and the Empress Dowager's cold and cautious gaze fell on the bandits in the lead.

The bandit leader fell silent upon hearing Qing Yuan's words. He exchanged a glance with the bandit beside him, reluctantly sheathing his broadsword, and sneered, "We're not easily intimidated, little girl! Want us to let you pass? Simple, just see if you can give us what we want!"

Qingyuan stared at the bandits before her, her mind racing: "Do you want money or money? Whether you want ten thousand taels of silver or a thousand taels of gold, as long as you release them. We can negotiate the amount of silver these ladies and the people in the carriage want, and we can also offer them power. But if you bring your swords down, you'll not only get nothing, but you might lose everything! Rather than fighting and killing here, you'll gain nothing, and by the time you're done dealing with them, someone might be coming to kill you. The mudslide isn't stopping, but the people over there are anxious. Once they get here, do you think you'll have any chance of winning?!"

The heavy rain continued to fall, with large raindrops constantly pelting the roof of the carriage, the muddy mountain road, and the heads of everyone, soaking them to the bone. With danger looming, who cared about getting wet in the rain?

The bandit leader remained silent for a moment, his sinister gaze fixed on Qingyuan. He held the large knife in his hand, the hilt of which he kept turning, and it was unclear when the blade would fall.

Princess Jing'an, standing behind Qingyuan, grew anxious, her face flushed with anger. She softly reminded her, "The rain is getting heavier and heavier; this mudslide is unlikely to stop easily. If it doesn't, even if my brother does everything he can to repair the mountain road, he probably won't be able to get here anytime soon! But wasn't the biggest band of bandits around Xiangguo Temple wiped out by my brother and his men three years ago? Where did these bandits come from? How did they get the information that we would be returning to Bianjing from Xiangguo Temple today?! They even dared to hijack the Empress Dowager's carriage!"

Qingyuan didn't rush to wait for the bandit leader's reply. While listening to Princess Jing'an's words behind her, she clenched her fists tightly under her sleeves, forcing herself to calm down.

"I know you're not here for money or power. You're probably not the bandits from the area near Xiangguo Temple. To ambush here wouldn't be something that could be done quickly, and it's hard to call it luck. So the only possibility is that you're deliberately lying in wait for something. Tell me directly, who is your target? If you don't speak now, once our guards have repaired the road and rush over, you won't have any chance to negotiate. I advise you to think carefully!"

After these words were spoken, all eyes turned to Qingyuan.

The Empress Dowager's gaze fell on the slender and frail figure in front of her. She hadn't expected Qingyuan to be so calm in such a situation, which was much better than the group of ladies and young women who were surrounded and only knew how to scream and shout.

The old woman standing to the side also developed a certain appreciation for Qingyuan.

Princess Jing'an looked at Qingyuan with surprise and certainty in her eyes.

Sure enough, she knew it. Qingyuan, who dared to rush to the back mountain in the middle of the night and even rescue her from a pack of wolves, was simply... a true heroine, not a coward at all.

The bandit leader raised an eyebrow, seemingly swayed by Qing Yuan's words. His gaze swept over everyone present, and he sneered, "Alright, that's a good suggestion. Since everyone's being so open, I won't beat around the bush either. I want her!"

As he spoke, the bandit changed the direction of his broadsword, pointing the tip at the group of ladies huddled to the side. The target was clear, yet it surprised everyone—

The reason was that the blade was pointed at Jiang Qingge, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family.

Qingyuan frowned subconsciously, but the bandit's knife tip shifted again, pointing directly at her forehead: "And you! Men, take these two little wench back! Hand over 100,000 taels of gold in three days, or these two little wench will die a horrible death."

At the command of the bandit leader, Jiang Qingge was pulled out from the group of ladies and young women. The once most proper and virtuous eldest daughter of the Jiang family was now disheveled, her hair was a mess, and her hairpins were out of place. When she saw the bandits coming, she screamed in fright.

She no longer resembled a lady from a respectable family; she looked no different from a homeless beggar.

"Help! Help me! Empress Dowager, help me! Princess, help me! Please, I don't want to be taken away by them!"

Jiang Qingge was dragged and struggled by the group of bandits and brought behind the bandit leader, while other bandits came to Qingyuan's front.

Princess Jing'an coldly shouted, "Let's see who dares to touch her! If you dare, I, the princess, will personally lead the Imperial Guards to raze your stronghold to the ground!"

Princess Jing'an's imposing presence was genuine; her shout intimidated the bandits, making them hesitant to advance.

At this moment, Jiang Qingge put a hand on Qingyuan's shoulder: "Don't worry, Qingyuan, I will never leave you in danger alone."

Before Qingyuan could speak, another hand pressed down on her shoulder, and soon the Empress Dowager's voice came from behind:

"With me here, we share both glory and loss, but there's no reason for you to bear it all alone."

Qingyuan rarely felt the warmth of being cared for. She turned to look at Princess Jing'an and the Empress Dowager behind her and found that both of them were looking at her with great concern.

Qingyuan felt a warmth in her heart and comforted them, "Princess and Empress Dowager, you don't need to worry about me alone. I'm just an ordinary citizen. Since these bandit leaders said they came for me and Miss Jiang, they won't give up until they achieve their goal. If you force me to stay here now, it will only increase casualties. It's better to reach an agreement with them first. Maybe I can have a slightly better outcome."

Qingyuan lowered her head beside Princess Jing'an and whispered, "Let me go. I will stall for time as much as possible, as long as His Highness the Crown Prince and the guards can make it. If all goes well, we should be able to find them by following the direction they fled. This is the only way. Otherwise, we'll have to risk our lives with the Empress Dowager and the Princess."

The Empress Dowager frowned: "But your life is also a life. How can I watch you go alone? If you fall into the hands of those bandits, they look fierce and are definitely not easy to deal with. You are so beautiful, they will probably devour you, leaving not even bones! Even if you stay, we may indeed face greater risks, but if they don't keep their promise, the risk will always be there and will never diminish. I will never abandon your life for someone of so-called high status."

Princess An nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, stay here, A-Yuan. Perhaps a group of us can come up with another solution. I absolutely cannot let you risk your life alone!"

At this point, the bandit leader, carrying a large knife, said impatiently, "Hey little brat, have you thought this through? I'll count to five more, and if you don't come over now, I'm going to slaughter this whole group without leaving a single survivor. I don't care who you are. We're all already desperate criminals with our heads on the line; dying a day sooner or later makes no difference to us. You decide: are you going to die with this little brat, or are you all going to die with her? Do you want to drag this whole group down with you?!"

The bandits were extremely arrogant; anyone who didn't know better would think they were government officials.

"There's no time left. We have no choice but to try anything."

Qingyuan said something, nodded to Princess Jing'an and the Empress Dowager, then turned to face the bandit leader. She took a step forward, then another, her movements slow and her tone relatively calm.

"I can go with you, but I have one condition. You must agree to it, otherwise you can kill as many people as you want. You can kill as many as you want, but in the end, you'll be the ones who die without a burial place. At worst, it'll just be a few more people dying with me!"

The bandit leader frowned, already quite impatient, but after hearing Qing Yuan's words, he remained silent for a moment before speaking:

"explain!"

"Since you've targeted me and that girl, you must have some grudge against us, otherwise you wouldn't have committed such a heinous crime, daring to block the royal carriage! I'm quite curious, what do you plan to do with us after taking us back to your stronghold? Torture us, or will you use every kind of torture imaginable, making us wish we were dead, until we finally die?"

Qingyuan took a step forward after each sentence she spoke; her speaking speed was slow, and so was her forward stepping speed.

"You two are such pretty little girls, I could have just killed you, but looking at your figures and faces, how about you become my two bandit wives?!"

The bandit leader, having just finished speaking, immediately realized that Qingyuan was stalling for time. He brandished his broadsword and shouted, "Attack! Don't let this little girl waste our time any longer!"

After saying this, the bandits, wielding large knives, rushed towards Qingyuan, tightly restraining her and quickly bringing her to the bandit leader's side.

The bandit leader reached out and grabbed Qingyuan by the collar, pulling her onto the horse and making her lie on its back. His machete was then held to Qingyuan's neck.

If that cleaver had dropped even a fraction of an inch, and the tip had gotten even an inch closer to Qingyuan, there would likely have been a scene of bloodshed.

"Walk!"

At the bandit leader's command, he was about to lead his band of bandits away on horseback when, just then, several throwing knives came hurtling through the air from behind them!

The bandit leader rode his horse to check and discovered that, at this crucial moment, His Highness the Crown Prince and his guards had actually cleared a path that was passable!

Before the bandits could react, His Highness the Crown Prince had already led his guards over!

His Highness the Crown Prince charged straight at the bandit leader on horseback, and the bandit leader quickly engaged the Crown Prince in combat.

A flurry of swords and spears erupted, making the situation even more chaotic than before.

Blood was spilled, wounds were inflicted, and many bandits fell to the ground and died under the siege of the guards.

Seeing that His Highness the Crown Prince was forcing him to retreat step by step, the bandit leader squeezed his legs against the horse's belly, leaped into the air, and flew off the horse to fight His Highness the Crown Prince again.

At that moment, Jiang Qingge, whom he was holding, was suddenly thrown out. Qingyuan, because she was tied to the horse, could only let the horse bounce and keep rushing forward, with a towering cliff in front of her!

Just then, Chu Jingyu came over. He saw Qingyuan on horseback and Jiang Qingge, but his actions were already a step ahead of his thoughts. He subconsciously ran towards Jiang Qingge, who was about to fall to the ground.

Qingyuan was bouncing on the horse, and she dared not move at all, but the bouncing made her stomach hurt!

child…

child!

Qingyuan's mind was now filled with only two things: her child and her own life!

Qingyuan tried to pull the reins, but the bandit leader had deliberately squeezed the horse's belly, and the horse seemed to have broken free, charging wildly and about to plunge off the cliff. Were she and her child going to tumble down the cliff and die without a trace?!

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed on the horse's back. Qingyuan saw that it was dressed in a white robe.

The man gripped the horse's reins tightly with both hands, and a low, anxious voice rang out: "Whoa!!"

Qingyuan recognized the voice—it was Chu Jingxian!

It's Chu Jingxian!

Qingyuan felt like she had found a lifeline and instinctively clenched Chu Jingxian's clothes.

Chu Jingxian was still training the horse. It hadn't taken any medicine, but its stomach had been pinched, so it was a little startled. In the blink of an eye, they reached the edge of the cliff, and Chu Jingxian finally managed to turn the horse around.

But that direction was the other side of the mountain wall!

Chu Jingxian couldn't see, but Qing Yuan could. He could only tug at Chu Jingxian's sleeve and exclaim in alarm, "Third Young Master! There's a mountain wall in front of us!!"

As soon as he said this, Chu Jingxian immediately realized what was happening, but in the blink of an eye, the horse had already reached the mountain wall!

The next moment, Qingyuan and Chu Jingxian will crash into the mountainside...

Chu Jingxian scooped Qingyuan off the horse and, in that critical moment, shielded her in his arms, holding her tightly as he rolled down the road with his back to the ground, crashing violently into the mountainside!

At the moment of impact, Qingyuan clearly heard a painful groan coming from in front of her.

She looked up and saw that Chu Jingxian was not only blocking her, but also slamming his back against the mountain wall, acting as a human rescue cushion!

"Young master, young master!! Young master, you..."

At this moment, Qingyuan didn't care about anything else. She hurriedly climbed out of Chu Jingxian's arms, wanting to check on Chu Jingxian's condition.

Chu Jingxian's face was pale, and her voice sounded weak, but she could still speak: "I'm fine, are you... in pain?"

Although he spoke with some difficulty and his tone sounded very weak, at least he could still speak, which proved that nothing too serious had happened to him.

"Young master, please don't speak, save your energy!"

Qingyuan wasn't in the mood to talk to Chu Jingxian at this moment. Although she was in pain all over, she wasn't seriously injured yet, mainly because Chu Jingxian had protected her so well.

Fearing something might happen to Chu Jingxian, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Help! Help! Help the Third Young Master! Help! Someone is injured! Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, Your Highness the Princess, help! Help! Chen Sha, Zhe Ji!!"

As Qingyuan frantically cried for help, her hand was gently protected by a warm, large hand; Chu Jingxian seemed to be trying to comfort her.

"It's alright... I'm alright, A-Yuan... If I could see, I would have saved you immediately. I'm just a little... a little..."

Qingyuan could only look down at Chu Jingxian in her arms and see that his usually handsome face was bloodless and full of forbearance. His pure white scarf, which was usually so white that people dared not touch it, was now stained with blood and brown mud.

At this moment, Qingyuan could only notice Chu Jingxian's expression, but who knew that as Chu Jingxian spoke, his voice became softer and softer, and in the end, he simply stopped speaking.

If it were an ordinary person, Qingyuan could judge by whether he closed his eyes, but when she saw Chu Jingxian suddenly stop talking, she panicked completely.

As if realizing something, Qingyuan hurriedly and gently turned Chu Jingxian over in her arms. Only then did she see that not only was his back covered with wounds from the stones, but more importantly, the back of Chu Jingxian's head had hit a sharp point on the mountain wall when he rolled down!

At this moment, the stones on the mountain wall were covered in blood. Qingyuan tried to touch them and found that Chu Jingxian's head was covered in blood.

Qingyuan lost all composure; tears streamed down her face as she cried out, "Chensha, Zheji!! Help! Someone help me! Please, someone save him!! Someone save him! Chensha... Zheji!!"

Previously, Chen Sha and Zhe Ji were sent out by the Third Prince to help His Highness the Crown Prince clear the rocks and trees from the mudslide. After clearing a path, they joined His Highness the Crown Prince in fighting against the bandits.

After the bandits were completely dealt with, Chen Sha and Zhe Ji instinctively went to find their young master's location, and soon heard Qing Yuan's hysterical screams:

"Sinking sand, broken halberd! Save him, someone save the Third Young Master! Save Chu Jingxian!! Why... Sanlang, someone save my Sanlang?!"

Chen Sha was shocked by the broken sword and turned around. He rushed towards the source of the sound without thinking, and saw Qing Yuan holding Chu Jingxian in her arms in front of the mountain wall, the two of them looking extremely disheveled.

Qingyuan looked at the grapes in her arms and cried and shouted until her voice was hoarse and she could hardly breathe. Her eyes were full of guilt and regret.

If it weren't for her, if it weren't for saving her, how could Chu Jingxian have rushed up on his own, how could he have been so badly injured, and how could he have fainted?

But Qingyuan didn't dare to move at all while holding the person in her arms. She was afraid that if she moved even a little, she would increase Chu Jingxian's pain and make him more seriously injured.