Chapter 176

Amidst a chorus of startled cries, it was strange that this horse, charging wildly, ended up striking only the carriage where Liu Qiongzhu was.

This left those nearby who had come to their senses watching the commotion, all somewhat at a loss.

They had no idea that, had Li Qingluo not taken precautions beforehand, this horse would now have reached the point where Liu Qiongzhu provoked it to go mad.

Had the surrounding carriages not been suppressed by the scent of angelica and herbs, they would surely have been thrown into chaos—people and horses overturned, not knowing how they'd end up in a tangled mess, and how many would be injured!

Liu Qiongzhu also didn't know that, because Lü Ying had deliberately kept it secret, she was still unaware that, after the Jiangjun Fu carriage set off, it had intentionally been pulled ahead of her carriage.

Otherwise she would never dare to follow behind the Jiangjun Fu carriage, even if beaten to death!

She still thought the Jiangjun Fu carriage would follow Li Qingluo, and if it went mad, even if Li Qingluo were on the princess's carriage, the surroundings would suffer, and at that time the Princess of Nanping would inevitably be implicated.

After all, she couldn't escape—that was the Jiangjun Fu carriage!

But the fact is, she fell short once again, and in harming others she ended up harming herself.

"Ah—save me—ah—"

Liu Qiongzhu was still screaming, hearing her voice grow weaker and weaker, Li Qingluo then looked at Que'er: "Today's journey already had an accident—go, don't let her die."

After all, Liu Qiongzhu is now a favored concubine of Prince Yun.

If she really died because of her own carriage, Prince Yun's mansion would surely come looking for trouble.

Que'er then unhurriedly went over: "Yes, I understand."

After Que'er approached, she flipped onto the horse in one motion.

"Whoa! Whoa—"

Deng Mama also went over, taking advantage of the chaos to grab a handful of herbs and angelica and rub them on the horse's nose; the horse immediately neighed and jumped back.

Que'er quickly undid the harness, then flipped down from the horse, where Deng Mama caught her.

The black horse stumbled, sensing all around it an odor it could not avoid, so it leapt high, kicked its legs and turned like a gust of wind, vanishing into the wind and snow…

Que'er and Deng Mama returned safe and sound.

Seeing that just now's perilous scene, everyone else:!!!

Heavenly Bodhisattva! Are those ordinary maidservants and manservants??

With such skill, they must indeed be from the Jiangjun Fu!!

Immediately, all the young women around cast envious glances and looked toward Li Qingluo.

With such manservants and maidservants following her, it's no wonder she brings the fewest people when she goes out today.

Even just two of them are worth ten!

Moreover, with such manservants and maidservants by her side, she can go anywhere feeling at ease, right?

Truly enviable.

Li Qingluo felt all kinds of fervent, complex, deeply meaningful gazes, and her heart swelled with pride.

Just now Que'er and Mama displayed their skills, indeed it was perilous, but she trusted them.

"As long as you're back, are you hurt anywhere?"

They both shook their heads; Deng Mama whispered in report: "Miss, once the black beans' medicinal effect wears off, it will find its way back on its own."

Li Qingluo breathed a sigh of relief; this was the first horse her grandmother had picked for her, and she naturally couldn't bear to lose it.

"You… you! Li Qingluo!! Are you trying to kill me?! Why does your horse single me out?! Did you deliberately tamper with my carriage?!"

Liu Qiongzhu crawled out of the carriage, seeing that all around was peaceful, yet only her own area was in disarray.

Covered in injuries, her head all bandaged—not to mention, even her forehead was split open with blood, and her ankle might be fractured.

She instantly seethed with resentment, opening her mouth to scream accusations.

Her voice is already harsh; if she merely lowered it to feign weakness, everyone could bear it, but once she shrieked, everyone couldn't help but look at her with disdain.

Originally, when she first arrived today, upon learning she had become Prince Yun's concubine, even though everyone disliked her, they dared not deliberately bring it up.

But now, nobody can hold back.

"Good heavens, it's so unpleasant—is this really a woman's voice…"

"How can Prince Yun tolerate this."

"Perhaps her seductive ways make the lord overlook her voice, hehe…"

Liu Qiongzhu was so angry she was nearly going mad.

Li Qingluo, together with the Princess of Nanping and others, now came up to her again.

Seeing Liu Qiongzhu's face turning green with rage, Li Qingluo merely put on a look of surprise.

"Oh dear, someone! Why aren't you quickly helping Lady Zhu of Prince Yun's mansion up?"

"How did she end up like this? Hurry back to camp to have Lady Zhu examined."

Que'er stepped forward, but was shoved away by the wary Liu Qiongzhu.

Liu Qiongzhu had no intention of letting Li Qingluo off.

She also couldn't understand why this horse would attack only her carriage.

Clearly, clearly, when this horse goes mad, all the surrounding carriages ought to suffer!

Moreover, when did the Jiangjun Fu carriage get pulled to be in front of and behind her carriage?!

She actually didn't know about this!

Liu Qiongzhu glared at Lü Ying, who merely gave an innocent, tearful shake of the head.

Liu Qiongzhu concluded that this was Li Qingluo's doing.

"Don't play the good person here! This is your Li Qingluo's carriage! Coincidentally, you didn't ride your own carriage on the return trip—could it be you already knew this horse would go mad?"

"What exactly did you do to me? Why does this beast attack only me?"

"Li Qingluo, if you dare to play any tricks on this lady, today you will surely not escape punishment!"

Li Qingluo wore a look of bewildered innocence: "I truly don't know what's going on. Could it be… this horse still recognizes its former master's scent?"

Do you still remember, Madame Zhu, that our Jiangjun Fu still keeps quite a few horses that my elder brother prepared for you?

Everyone says horses are extremely spirited animals, and their noses are very sensitive. It must have long been familiar with Madame Zhu's scent; otherwise this couldn't be explained.

Madame Zhu says I have some trick, but that's really a false accusation. As a common girl, I don't have such ability. If Madame Zhu insists on suspecting, why not investigate this? See whether the horses ate something they shouldn't have.

Or perhaps Madame Zhu truly has some scent that makes these horses go mad uncontrollably, just like my elder brother—how could I ever forget Madame Zhu, this younger sister?

What nonsense is she spouting!!?

Liu Qiongzhu almost lost control and screamed again.

In an instant, she felt that all the gazes cast upon her seemed to be probing this matter.

As for her brother's infatuation with her, she had always pretended ignorance while knowing the truth.

After all, these past few years, if it weren't for her deliberate seduction, her brother wouldn't be the family member most reluctant to part with her.

But he is Li Kechuan, after all—my brother!

Besides, his leg is broken; it's long been useless.

Most importantly, I have now entered Prince Yun's Mansion, so I absolutely cannot allow these rumors to spread again.

"Shut up! From now on, Madame and your Jiangjun Fu have nothing to do with each other!"

Liu Qiongzhu knew this matter, but could not investigate it further.

Yet she was unwilling in her heart—could it be that what she did has been discovered by her again!?

Liu Qiongzhu barely managed to suppress her panic—no!

It's absolutely impossible for her to notice every time; it must just be a coincidence.

"This matter isn't over——"

With the help of Luying, Liu Qiongzhu finally managed to rise slowly.

However, Li Qingluo had no time to continue attending to her.

She raised her head to look toward the rear of the procession.

Princess Qin Yu led the way, followed by the carriages of over a dozen young ladies from various families.

Plus the servants, cooks, guards, and soldiers brought by Nanping; the whole procession resembled a winding giant dragon, long and coiled along the road.

Yet from the recent chaos of troops and horses to now, the rear suddenly fell silent!

The surroundings instantly fell silent.

Everyone looked at each other, bewildered: why did they linger here for so long because of Liu Qiongzhu, while the rear that had originally urged them to turn back suddenly became so quiet?

Even Liu Qiongzhu sensed a hint of tension.

"We, we had better hurry......"

Someone stammered as they just spoke, and Li Qingluo saw a burst of fast horses, 'Boom—' roaring toward them—

"Quick! Go——!"

Li Qingluo's face changed dramatically; she waved her hand, grabbed Nanping, and ran.

The surroundings instantly filled with screams.

Even the previously quiet rear suddenly burst with the young ladies' screams.

The servants and retainers of each household, vowing to resist, drew their weapons, but before they could bring them to bear, the black‑clad figures on horseback all bent over and stabbed them to death!

Or they were simply beheaded; the heads rolled 'gurgling' to their feet, terrifying everyone into screams and fainting.

Then the rebels rushed into the carriages and dragged the young ladies out.

On Li Qingluo's side, everyone who had just gotten out of the carriages now scrambled to climb back aboard.

The carriages that had been pulled to the roadside hurriedly turned and fled.

Those who couldn't find a carriage lifted their skirts and ran toward the roadside.

Some who felt a carriage nearby also hurriedly climbed aboard.

Those who couldn't feel one fled into the fields or woods beside the road.

Li Qingluo and Nanping's carriage, which had been last, is now first.

After they ran back and scrambled aboard, before they could even sit steady, Deng Mama hurriedly whipped the carriage into motion.

Nanping stumbled and fell sideways in the carriage, crying loudly: "It's over, it's over—today's outing is ill‑fated; I actually encountered this misfortune—how will I explain it to the other young ladies when I go back?"

Li Qingluo steadied herself, lifted the curtain, and stuck her head out.

She looked toward the rear, seeing those horses drawing ever closer, seeing many young ladies seized by those people, her heart sank ever deeper.

Are those black‑clad horsemen truly just rebels?

If Prince Su were the one making the arrests, how could he let these rebels slip over to our side to seize people?

What will these so‑called rebels do with the people they've captured?

Although there are many young ladies present today, the combined number of household guards and government troops is also not small.

How could it be that we now have no power to resist, only able to wait to be slaughtered or captured?

Could it be that when Princess Qin Yu borrowed troops just now, she didn't just borrow the palace's guards?

"My lady, how many guards do we have left beside us now?"

Li Qingluo turned, took Nanping's hand, and asked.

Nanping shook her head in panic: "Just five; I've already sent the rest to assist Fifth Uncle Prince! Could it be that my Fifth Uncle Prince and those guards have all met disaster?"

Nanping almost burst into tears again.

Li Qingluo: "Your Highness Prince Su is highly skilled; it's hard for anyone to easily harm him. I fear he's been tied up by something over there, which let these rebels find an opening."

Nanping: "How do you know?"

Li Qingluo had no time to answer her; right now the lady of the manor has no one available, and I myself have only brought Deng Mama and Que'er out.

The other households are now in disarray at this moment; who knows if they're still usable?

Forget it, let's head back to the camp first and talk later!

"Quick! Everyone run faster——"

Li Qingluo gave an order, and Que'er stood on the deck and shouted loudly toward the rear.

Although the rebels' horses are very fast, they are killing and capturing people behind them, so they won't immediately catch up to us at the rear for a while.

Although they are getting closer, there is still some distance left, so we can still escape.

However, just as Que'er shouted, a flying arrow whooshed across the sky——