Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

The reinforcements finally arrived, the bandits were wiped out, and the cries in the camp gradually subsided. The refugees who had narrowly escaped the disaster emerged from their hiding places in twos and threes. Some searched for their remaining belongings in the ruins, while others squatted on the ground, holding their heads and remaining motionless.

Chen Xiucai stood amidst the chaos, his gaze urgently sweeping over every passerby. His fingers gripped the carriage curtain, his knuckles turning white, his lips pressed into a thin line, the same thought swirling in his mind.

Zhilan, Zhilan, where are you?

He remembered his deceased wife holding his hand before she passed away, her voice as soft as the wind: "Zhilan is still young, you must protect her well."

If something had happened to his daughter last night, he would have no face to face his deceased wife even in death.

Then he saw a familiar figure.

Jiang Qingshan was wearing his worn-out blue cotton long gown, and he was barefoot, walking with a limp. Beside him, Chen Zhilan was draped in Jiang Qingshan's outer robe and was being supported by him as they staggered forward.

Her hair was half-undone, her face was covered in ash, and she was wearing only one embroidered shoe. The sole of her foot was cut by gravel, and blood and mud were mixed together.

But the person is intact.

Chen Xiucai stumbled and almost tripped over the pebbles on the ground, but he quickly scooped his daughter into his arms.

"Zhilan, Zhilan, let Daddy see where you're hurt?" He released his daughter, his hands repeatedly examining her face and shoulders, his voice trembling.

Chen Zhilan, whose nerves had been stretched taut all night, finally snapped. She threw herself into her father's arms, crying uncontrollably, unable to utter a single word.

After crying his fill, he slowly calmed down and carefully recounted what had just happened. After listening, Chen Xiucai remained silent for a long time before turning around and bowing to Jiang Qingshan.

"Young Master Jiang, I am deeply grateful and cannot express my thanks."

Jiang Qingshan's face flushed red. He hurriedly helped him up, stammering, "This student only... only did what he should do. I don't deserve such a great gesture from you, sir..."

Chen Xiucai straightened up and looked at the young man in front of him. Half of his face was swollen, his lips were dry and cracked, and he was barefoot with blisters and cuts from gravel on the sole of his foot.

He didn't say anything more, but simply etched this kindness into his heart.

He looked up at the gray sky and silently recited a phrase in his heart.

Thankfully, his daughter is safe and sound. Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to face Zhilan's mother when she passes away.

He will never forget what happened last night.

He was sitting on the carriage door frame reading by the light of the fire when he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the outskirts of the camp, like something being dragged across dry grass. Then, a torchlight flickered in the distance.

His heart tightened, and his first reaction was to take his daughter and escape in the carriage. He put down his book, got up and lifted the carriage curtain, looking in the direction where his daughter and maid had gone to relieve themselves, but he couldn't see them.

Chen Zhilan had been gone for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and had not yet returned.

Chen Xiucai's heart tightened suddenly.

Just as he was about to get out of the car to look for him, a figure suddenly rushed down the low slope from the side.

The man was lean and wiry, dressed in a drab gray short-sleeved tunic, with a standard-issue horizontal sword hanging at his waist. The brass clasp on the scabbard gleamed in the moonlight.

Before Chen Xiucai could even open his mouth to question him, the man had already braced himself against the carriage shaft with one hand, flipped over and jumped onto the front seat of the carriage, grabbed the reins, and cracked the whip hard.

The horse, in pain, neighed and pulled the carriage wildly across the uneven wasteland.

Chen Xiucai leaned back, his head hitting the carriage wall, and he saw stars.

He tried to shout, but the violent jolting stopped him in his tracks. The carriage bounced wildly between gravel and dead wood, the carriage itself like a box being tossed about, swaying and hurtling towards the low hill.

He was jostled around in the carriage, his shoulder hitting the side wall and his arm bumping against the corner of the book box.

He reached out several times to grab the curtain, intending to jump out, but when he lifted the curtain, the gravel and dead trees on the ground rushed past in the moonlight, and the carriage was moving so fast that his fingers were thrown aside as soon as they touched the frame.

If you jump, you'll be crippled even if you don't die.

Zhao Wu drove Chen Xiucai's carriage at breakneck speed along the official road for more than half an hour, when they ran head-on into the reinforcements brought by Yi Jiaxu and Zhao Xingjian.

Zhao Wu dismounted, raised the bronze plaque, and explained the banditry in and out of Nanping County in a few words. Zhao Xingjian did not hesitate for a moment and immediately ordered the cavalry to go first, followed by the infantry, and the whole army accelerated towards Nanping County.

The carriage finally stopped. Chen Xiucai lay slumped in the carriage, his bones feeling like they were falling apart. He gagged several times before he could catch his breath. The curtain was lifted from the outside, and moonlight shone in, illuminating the face of the man in gray. He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a mole on his left eyebrow. His face was anxious, but his eyes were clear and honest, unlike those of a bandit.

The man spoke first, his voice hoarse, as if he hadn't had water in a long time: "Sir, please don't be afraid. I am Zhao Wu, a guard under Lord Cheng of Nanping County. Due to the emergency, I had no choice but to requisition your carriage. Please forgive me."

He took out a copper plaque from his pocket and handed it over. Chen Xiucai examined it closely by the moonlight. It was a guard of Nanping County Government, number twenty-four, with the county magistrate's private seal engraved on the back. It was genuine.

Zhao Wu squatted on the carriage shaft, lowered his voice, and spoke very quickly: "Nanping County has been besieged for seven days. Lord Cheng sent a distress call seven days ago. The reinforcements from Chuancheng County should have arrived three days ago, but they have not yet shown up. Tonight, the county town was also attacked. Lord Cheng and his family retreated to the back hall of the county government office, and the other guards are guarding there. I was ordered to climb over the wall to bring out the reinforcements."

He took a breath and wiped the sweat and dirt from his forehead with the back of his hand: "When I ran out, I was chased by two groups of people. My horse was shot dead halfway. I ran to the city gate on my own two legs. I was worried about how to get to Chuancheng County when I saw your carriage. In my haste, I offended you."

Scholar Chen returned the bronze plaque to him and said anxiously, "My daughter is still at the city gate, please take me back quickly."

Without hesitation, Zhao Wu drove his carriage back home.

As soon as the carriage stopped, he staggered and jumped down. His legs went weak and he almost knelt on the ground, only managing to stand up by holding onto the carriage shaft.

His gaze swept anxiously across the chaotic crowd, his lips moving but no sound came out, though the words he uttered were repeated over and over: Zhilan.