Chapter 177: Luoluo is brave and clever, risking her life to save Prince Su!

Fortunately, Que'er was grabbed by Deng Mama just in time and dodged.

Deng Mama fumed and shouted, "These damned riffraff, don't let this old woman catch them, otherwise I'll definitely kill them!"

Li Qingluo: "Que'er, are you hurt?"

Que'er, still frightened, said: "Miss, I'm fine. Let's hurry on, forget about this for now—giddy-up—"

The carriage sped so fast it seemed about to take off, kicking up snow mixed with mud everywhere.

Li Qingluo's carriage quickly fled back to the camp.

Only six carriages managed to flee back behind Li Qingluo's group!

Among them were Liu Qingzhu and her servant, who had climbed onto the Cui sisters' carriage.

After they got off the carriage one by one, their faces were grim, but since it was a matter of life and death, the Cui sisters not driving her off the carriage was already kind.

The rest had vanished somewhere unknown, and it was unclear whether they had been captured.

At this point there was no time to worry about that; the entrance to the horse field had a tall, large wooden spike gate—if we pushed it forward to block the entrance, it could temporarily hold back these rebels.

Li Qingluo, Que'er, and Deng Mama went to the wooden spike gate; the three of them tried pushing it, and fortunately there were rollers underneath, so it wasn't too heavy.

As soon as they exerted force, all the other maidservants, servants, and even slaves came running to help.

Everyone clenched their teeth, pooled their strength, and quickly shoved the gate into place.

Deng Mama directed a few servants to drop the iron lock, so it couldn't be easily pushed open from outside.

But it was still not enough.

Li Qingluo looked at the nearby pile of grass and firewood.

"Burn a fire wall, quick!"

At this point no one doubted her anymore; instead they were relieved that someone could take charge.

Everyone gathered firewood, the flames rose high, and soon a fire wall burned not far behind the gate.

If they dared to jump their horses, they would surely land on this fire wall first.

So it could at least hold them off for half an hour.

As long as we could buy time, Prince Su's side would surely send reinforcements.

Feeling certain of this, Li Qingluo had them keep adding firewood while she went to look for a handy weapon; fortunately some old tents were still standing, and she could find something inside.

Today, setting out on horseback, she never expected this situation; otherwise she would have brought a bow and arrows.

Fortunately, she still had a dagger and sleeve arrows on her.

Li Qingluo also found a sword behind an old cot, but when she drew it she saw it was rusted.

Still, having it was better than nothing.

When she came out of the tent holding the sword, it also startled the other maidservants.

"What, what are you going to do?"

"You grew up in the countryside; even as a lady of the Jiangjun Fu, you surely can't still wield a sword, right?"

"Yes, yes, now's not the time to show off—quickly think of a plan, where should we all hide?"

"Those rebels are about to arrive; once this firewood burns out, are we just going to wait to be captured?"

Liu Qingzhu shouted, "No! My lord, my lord will surely come to rescue us!"

Cui Jiu Niang sneered, "Wait for your lord? Even Prince Su Your Highness couldn't stop these rebels, and Princess Qin Yu has had no news—do you think any lord today could save you?"

Liu Qingzhu turned pale and tried to retort: "No, my family—"

Li Qingluo: "We're surrounded by mountains on three sides—where could we run? This is our stronghold; I advise you all to prepare to fight to the death and protect yourselves."

The maidservants were all frightened, their faces turning deathly pale.

Cui Jiu Niang and Cui Shi Yi Niang's faces were the same.

Someone even burst into tears.

However, Nanping and Cui Jiu Niang quickly accepted the situation and hurried to learn from Li Qingluo how to find weapons.

Yet before anyone could find anything, a thunderous horse-hoof sound came from outside.

In an instant, everyone again hid inside the old tents.

"Yo! These girls are clever—they actually built a fire wall and lowered the gate to block us!"

"Hahaha… block? Ladies, you'd better come out and surrender your weapons, letting us catch you nicely. How long could a barrier hold us? All the other girls have already been captured cleanly, whether they went up the mountains or down the rivers—none escaped."

"If anyone disobeys, it's just one word—'kill'—"

"Hahahaha……"

Inside the old tent, everywhere were suppressed cries filled with panic.

Outside they kept shouting, "Ladies, if you don't listen, once the firewood burns out and we rush in, you won't have any clean outcome left to eat! Hear that?!"

"Hurry up and get out—"

Someone actually still wanted to go out, but Li Qingluo grabbed them.

"Do you want to die?"

Li Qingluo pushed the person away, then opened a gap in the old tent and looked outside.

Outside the tall fire wall, the masked black-clad people rode tall horses, continuously spinning in place, looking as if they were about to lose patience.

If only we had bow and arrows right now.

Li Qingluo was thinking that when a bow and arrows suddenly appeared out of thin air before her!

Nanping pointed at Liu Qingzhu and said, "Sister Luoluo, she clearly just found three arrows under a bed, yet she tried to hide them and not give them to you!"

Liu Qingzhu said firmly, "I also wanted to keep them for self-defense; why should she just snatch them away?"

Nanping sneered, "You can even use them? Lady Zhu, although you grew up in the Jiangjun Fu, you've probably never even touched a bow and arrow!"

Li Qingluo took the bow and arrows: "It's not just for self-defense."

After she finished speaking, she immediately drew the bow and shot the arrow outward——

Cui Shiyi Niang fiercely stamped her foot: "How could you shoot without even looking? We only have three arrows! If I'd known we had bows and arrows, I should have let my ninth older sister go up—her archery is also somewhat accurate……"

Before her words had fallen, a miserable cry came from outside.

And there was the sound of a heavy fall from a horse.

Then came various nasty insults: "You filthy women, you actually still have bows and arrows!"

"Jia Lao San, Lao San!?"

"Dead, died?"

"Charge in—I want to rape and kill them——"

"I want them to die——"

Outside was a chorus of angry shouts.

The young ladies were again frightened into sobbing, but Li Qingluo gave a cold smile: "Don't rush—we don't yet know who will die first."

Having said that, she nocked another arrow.

Cui Jiu Niang grabbed Cui Shiyi Niang, taking a tense breath.

Her archery was absolutely not at the level of divine precision, yet she actually managed to shoot someone to death.

It's not just hearsay—she grew up in the mountains since childhood, right?

Who knows how long she's studied archery, but it's incredibly formidable.

However, Li Qingluo had not yet released this arrow when outside came another clamor of noise.

Next, the chaotic galloping and neighing of horses echoed through the valley, and then the sounds of weapons and swords finally reached everyone's ears.

"Are there reinforcements?"

"Great! Surely someone has come to rescue us!"

Everyone rejoiced and laughed again; after only a moment, the sounds of fighting outside ceased.

"That fast?"

Nobody knew who had won; Li Qingluo quickly lifted a gap to look out. Through the firelight she hadn't yet made out the person when she heard a familiar voice: "Commandery Princess, Your Highness—Miss Li, are you all inside?"

"Was that Zhui Yu's voice?"

Li Qingluo's heart leapt with joy; she hurriedly brought Nan Ping out.

"We're here!"

The pursuing bandits were only a few, so Zhui Yu and Sha Lei quickly cleared the outside.

Through the flames, Zhui Yu saw that Li Qingluo and Nan Ping were unharmed, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing their defenses, he couldn't help but praise: "You've done this exceptionally well—I don't know whose idea it was. Moreover, we just saw that a bandit was actually killed by you—whose archery is this, so formidable?"

Nan Ping proudly pointed at Li Qingluo: "Of course it's all my little sister Luo! By the way, how did you two end up here? Where's my Fifth Prince? Is he alright?"

Zhui Yu suddenly fixed his burning gaze on Li Qingluo: "The Prince has suffered a slight injury, yet he still ordered his subordinates to rush over to rescue the Commandery Princess and… and the other young ladies."

"Now my two subordinates must obey orders to stay here and protect the Commandery Princess, Your Highness, and also escort the other young ladies back to Jinling; therefore we cannot spare anyone to deliver medicine to the Prince. Since Miss Li is so brave and resourceful, could you do us a small favor?"

Li Qingluo pointed at herself: "Me——?"

Li Qingluo rode on horseback, being led away by another unnamed guard.

While sitting on horseback, Li Qingluo suddenly realized: if they could spare a guard, why must they insist on sending a young lady like me to deliver the medicine?

"Isn't this unnecessary?"

She instantly felt as if she were being played……

Moreover, even Deng Mama and Que'er were left behind, unable to follow.

It was said she could return immediately.

Li Qingluo suddenly felt a surge of indignation: with Zhui Yu acting this way, what would the young ladies left behind think?

Besides, if Prince Su really were wounded, shouldn't he hurry back to Jinling to have the Imperial Physician treat him?

Even if I carried the medicine myself, could it possibly cure him instantly?

But after thinking so much, Li Qingluo now could only grit her teeth and go.

When Li Qingluo and the guard arrived at a nearby small grove, they indeed saw Prince Su standing there, directing the surrounding troops to…… lift corpses.

Yes, lifting corpses, looking for survivors.

Li Qingluo also hadn't expected that the battle here would be so fierce, with corpses and flesh littering the ground.

She nearly vomited, and her resentment toward Zhui Yu grew even deeper.

Duan Rongshi turned his head and saw Li Qingluo.

His tranquil eyes showed no change in emotion—then suddenly everything shifted in the firelight——

A curved short sword flew straight at Li Qingluo's back; Duan Rongshi threw a flying dart to knock the blade aside, and Li Qingluo, trying to dodge, rolled off her horse.

Duan Rongshi rushed over, grabbed her and pulled her up, shielding her behind him.

All around came a rustling sound, and a sheet of black shadows rose up all around.

However, Duan Rongshi had only about ten guards at his side.

Duan Rongshi lowered his head and quickly glanced at Li Qingluo: "Miss Li, grab hold of this prince, don't let go."

Li Qingluo tightly grabbed his robe and swallowed hard.

Nanping was right; today setting out, truly nothing is advisable!

After half an incense stick, Li Qingluo was brought by Duan Rongshi to the cliff's edge.

Behind them still stretched a mass of black shadows pursuing relentlessly, as if today they could not be killed off, could not be exterminated.

Torches, bows and arrows, flying knives—all were launched at once in an instant; today they seemed intent on not killing the two of them, and would not let it rest.

Duan Rongshi swiftly waved his sword, blocking all attacks.

However, the pursuing black shadows were countless, and they had no retreat behind them; if this continued, they simply could not endure.

A single slip-up today would surely mean death here.

Duan Rongshi lowered his head and gazed deeply at Li Qingluo: "Do you have confidence?"

Li Qingluo, though trembling nervously, still gave a firm nod: "Your Highness, if you believe, we can try——ah!!!!"

Before her words even fell, Duan Rongshi had already scooped her up by the waist, tipped on his toes, and without looking back, plunged backward off the ten-thousand-zhang cliff——

Ah——

The long whistle shot straight down from the cliff.

Those black shadows lunged over, glanced, then kept throwing and smashing a heap of things downward until they could no longer hear any sound, then resentfully scattered.

……