If you were cold and aloof in your past life, why are you crying in this one?

After the Double Ninth Festival, Madam Qu, the matriarch of the Xi family, fell ill.

At first, he felt a little dizzy and had a poor appetite, so Xi Jian invited the imperial physician to come and see him.

"The old lady's pulse doesn't seem to indicate any illness, but it's a little weak. Perhaps she's been feeling down lately and caught a cold. She'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Madam Qu sighed repeatedly, "The imperial physicians can't tell. I know my own body."

Xi Jian: "Mother, don't worry, it's nothing serious."

Mrs. Qu shook her head: "A few days ago, when we were paying respects to our ancestors, I was feeling sad and drank a couple of extra cups of wine. Afterwards, I forgot to wash my hands before going to the Buddhist hall to offer incense. Do you think I offended the Bodhisattva while I was drunk, and the Bodhisattva is now blaming me?"

Xi Jian knew his mother was superstitious, and for a moment he couldn't say anything.

You can't reason with someone who has believed in you their whole life.

Lingxian said gently, "If Grandmother is worried, why don't I go to Qing'an Temple outside the city to offer incense and pray to the Bodhisattva for protection? We can also add some money for incense and ask the monks to chant a few sutras; that will resolve any conflicts."

Madam Qu raised her head, looked at her granddaughter, her eyes brightened for a moment, then dimmed again: "That's good. Remember to pray for me before the Buddha, asking for the Buddha and Bodhisattvas' forgiveness."

Xi Lingxian smiled and said, "Grandmother, don't worry."

Qing'an Temple is located halfway up the mountain, nestled among lush pine and cypress trees.

The carriage stopped at the foot of the mountain; the rest of the way had to be walked.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the temple gate appeared before us, with vermilion pillars, gray brick walls, and copper bells hanging from the eaves that jingled in the wind.

A monk greeted them, pressing his palms together in prayer.

Xi Lingxian returned the greeting and explained her purpose. The monk in charge of receiving guests nodded and led her inside.

The main hall enshrines Guanyin Bodhisattva, whose dignified appearance, with lowered eyebrows and downcast eyes, overlooks all living beings in this world.

Xi Lingxian knelt on the prayer mat, accepted the incense offered by Tao Zhi, bowed respectfully three times, and inserted the incense into the incense burner.

The smoke curled upwards, swirling around the Bodhisattva's brows and eyes before slowly dissipating.

Xi Lingxian donated money for incense oil and, guided by a young novice monk, copied several volumes of Buddhist scriptures in the Buddhist hall, burned them in front of the Buddha, and knelt down to pray.

Two hours had passed by the time the matter was finished.

The vegetarian buns at Qing'an Temple are quite famous. Xi Lingxian tried them herself and thought they were good, so she asked Taozhi to buy more so that her father and the others could try them.

On the return journey, the sun was high in the sky, and Xi Lingxian dozed off, leaning against Taozhi's shoulder.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.

Lingxian leaned forward, her forehead hitting the car frame. Before she could recover, she heard Zhao Tieshan's voice outside.

"Girl, don't come out!"

Her drowsiness vanished instantly, and she heard many people's voices, rough, hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against stone, surging in from all directions and surrounding the carriage.

A hoarse voice yelled, "Listen up, people in the carriage! Hand over all your valuables! Gold, silver, and other valuables—don't leave anything behind!"

Another voice chimed in, higher-pitched, with a hint of malicious laughter: "Brother, look at this carriage, the materials, the workmanship—the one sitting inside must be a young lady from a wealthy family, right?"

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of laughter erupted.

Zhao Tieshan and Zhou Wu stood guard on either side of the carriage.

Their guards numbered only a dozen or so, while the enemy had at least a hundred.

Zhao Tieshan glanced back at the carriage and lowered his voice, "I'll block the way, you take the girl and leave."

With a wave of his hand, the man with the hoarse voice charged forward, and seven or eight people rushed up first.

Zhao Tieshan and Zhou Wu were able to handle it at first, but the people behind them kept surging up like ants. For every one they cut down, two more would pounce on them.

Zhao Tieshan was hit on the arm with a stick, and the knife in his hand almost slipped from his grasp.

Zhou Wu was surrounded by three people and was struggling to defend himself.

"Big brother! Look—" that shrill voice rang out again.

The carriage curtain was torn open in the chaos, revealing half a face inside.

Xi Lingxian was looking out when she saw a face that glowed white in the dimly lit carriage, with exquisite eyebrows and eyes, and naturally red lips.

"Brothers, don't hurt that young lady!"

"Let's get this straight, I found this first, and nobody can take it from me."

Vulgar and offensive language is unbearable to hear.

Xi Lingxian slapped her waist with all her might, and a soft sword bounced away.

The bandits had never seen such an ingenious weapon before, and caught off guard, the two soldiers who rushed forward were swiftly stabbed down by her.

"Wow, this young lady knows martial arts! That's impressive!"

As dozens of soldiers surrounded and rushed forward, Zhou Wu and Zhao Tieshan were held back.

Xi Lingxian gritted her teeth secretly, thinking that if she was destined to go to hell, she would take as many people with her as possible with her.

The sword's edge grazed the necks of the two leaders, and a strong stench of blood spread through the forest.

She killed someone again...

The brief fear and astonishment subsided, and before she could even think further, she continued to swing her sword.

An archer with a hoarse voice circled around behind her. Such a beauty—killing her would be a waste; wounding her arm would be more appropriate…

Suddenly, an arrow pierced the air.

"what!"

With a piercing scream from Taozhi, Poluo was struck in the neck by an arrow, his eyes widened, and he fell straight down.

Looking at the person who had collapsed behind her, Xi Lingxian trembled, overwhelmed by a strong sense of fear.

On the opposite mountain path, a man on horseback, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, held a bow and arrow.

Before the bandits could react, the man fired several more arrows, and several more bandits who appeared to be leaders fell one after another.

Zhao Tieshan and Zhou Wu seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack, each strike a deadly move.

Those bandits were originally refugees who turned to banditry. They had never received any formal military training and had no discipline whatsoever.

Initially, they gained a brief advantage due to their numerical superiority, coupled with the fact that Zhou Wuhe and Zhao Tieshan, among others, pitied them for being refugees who had fallen into banditry and were reluctant to kill them outright.

Now that they had no more scruples, the thieves who had been swaggering and drooling just a moment ago scattered like birds and beasts.

Zhao Tieshan and Zhou Wu, supporting their wounds, knelt on one knee and bowed to him, saying, "Thank you for saving our lives, young master."

Xi Lingxian bowed slightly. "Thank you for saving me, young master."

The man simply nodded slightly, turned around, walked back to his horse, and mounted it.

"I haven't yet had the pleasure of learning your honorable name, young master. I hope to pay you my respects another day."

The man reined in his horse but did not turn around.

"It was nothing, don't worry about it."

After saying that, the figure disappeared around the bend in the mountain road.

Peach Blossom's face was still filled with fear. "Young lady, please don't go out again."

Xi Lingxian took out the medicine box from the carriage and had Zhao Tieshan and the others apply medicine and bandage each other.

In her past life, she had a strained relationship with her grandmother, so it was impossible for her to personally go up the mountain to pray for her when she was feeling unwell.

Therefore, there was no such thing as a past life.

She had no idea that the outside world was in such chaos.

Upon returning to their residence, Zhao Tieshan and Zhou Wu first went to apologize to Xi Jian.

Xi Jian broke out in a cold sweat from the shock. Zhao Tieshan and Zhou Wu were his comrades who had followed him through thick and thin for many years, and now that they were injured, Xi Jian couldn't bear to punish them too much and told them to go and heal their wounds.

Perhaps due to the fright, Xi Lingxian fell ill the night she returned home.

Xi Jian summoned all the most renowned doctors in the city to his residence, and fearing it wouldn't be enough, he even borrowed two physicians from the Prince's Mansion in Wuyi Lane.

As the eldest daughter, Wang Shuhui, came out of Old Madam Wang's house, she heard steady and rapid footsteps outside and curiously asked the old woman what had happened.

The old woman said, "This old servant doesn't know either. I only vaguely heard that the eldest daughter of the Xi family is ill. General Xi came to our mansion to borrow a doctor, and the master has already agreed. Doctor Xu and Doctor Lang have gone with her."

Wang Shuhui walked around a corner of the corridor without stopping, muttering under her breath with a smirk, "We've borrowed our two most capable doctors just for her. What if we needed them urgently?"

"What are you muttering about?"

"what!"

In the pitch black, Wang Shuhui was so frightened by the ghostly voice that her face turned pale. Only when she saw the person's face did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Second brother, you scared me."

"What are you muttering about?"

Wang Shuhui lowered her eyes and said, "It's nothing. I just heard that Xi Lingxian was stopped by bandits when she went out to pray for blessings today, and she almost lost her life."

Wang Jue raised an eyebrow slightly. "You rarely leave your house, how did you know?"

"Second brother, don't you know? She fell ill from the shock, and General Xi came to our residence and borrowed Physician Xu and Physician Lang."

Wang Jue's eyes widened slightly.