Chapter 305: Acting bravely for justice once

Outside Fengcheng, there is still a long way to go on the official road.

Gradually, there were fewer passersby around; An Qinghe rallied his energy, his blue eyes warily scanning all directions ahead.

When he left Yunling County to look for Gu Xixi, he had already learned from the Chamber of Commerce's information network that, outside of Xi Bei, some places were unsettled.

The new emperor of the Great Undertaking Dynasty had only recently taken the throne, and the mess left behind by the former Empress Dowager's faction had not yet been cleaned up.

Moreover, remnants lurked in various places, waiting for a chance to incite bandits to rebel.

However, since these matters concern the stability of the new dynasty and the emperor's dignity, the Imperial Court can only respond covertly and does not intend to make them known to all under heaven.

At this very moment, there are few people or vehicles in sight ahead.

An Qinghe thought of the woman he cared most about sitting in the carriage, concerned for her safety, and he dared not relax even a moment.

Looking at Jiang Mingyuan's expression, solemn and alert, it was much the same as An Qinghe's.

It seems he also knows the inside story.

After riding hard for about an hour, the official road could already be seen in the distance.

The two men's tense faces relaxed a little.

An Qinghe asked, "I can't be bothered to take it; you're familiar with the map, aren't you? How much longer do we have to go?"

Jiang Mingyuan said, "At this speed, after turning left onto the official road, we'll reach the relay station in less than two hours, just in time for sunset."

An Qinghe let out a sigh of relief, "Great, I really don't want to walk a night road in a place like this!"

He gave a tug on the reins, and the two horses broke into a run side by side; Jiang Mingyuan spurred his horse to keep close.

Just as they had gotten onto the official road and were about to turn, they suddenly heard a noisy clamor.

"Help! Help!!"

A woman in white came running from the direction of the bend, shouting for help and stumbling toward the carriage.

Behind her, several men pursued relentlessly, their looks and attire showing they were no good.

In the sudden situation, seeing they were about to hit someone, An Qinghe had no time to think; he urgently pulled hard on the reins, "Whoa!!!"

The horses' hooves rose high; the woman in white stood frozen beneath them, already scared stiff.

Fortunately, there was still a little distance when the hooves landed, so they didn't actually step on anyone.

Jiang Mingyuan quickly pulled up beside the carriage window, "Gu Xixi, are you all right?"

A moment later, Gu Xixi's voice came from inside the carriage, "…All right, I'm fine."

An Qinghe, still shaken, shouted angrily, "Don't you want to live? Didn't you see such a big carriage? Have you never seen someone deliberately throwing themselves under the horses' hooves?"

The woman in white turned deathly pale, staring blankly at An Qinghe.

Upon closer look, she appeared to be about the same age as Gu Xixi, with a head of black hair adorned only by a white silk flower at the temples—clearly the attire of someone in mourning.

An Qinghe saw that she was still in her mourning period, so he softened his tone and said, "Since you're all right, please make way; we still have to hurry on."

Suddenly, the woman in white seemed to snap to her senses and knelt upright before the carriage.

"Please, benefactor, save me! Please, benefactor, save me!!"

Gu Xixi lifted the carriage curtain.

She had a faint bruise on her forehead from the sudden brake just now.

"What's going on?"

Jiang Mingyuan stood guard at the carriage window, gazing ahead with a grim expression, "Several men are chasing a weak woman who is still in mourning."

He turned his head to Gu Xixi and said, "Lower the curtain, stay inside, don't speak or show your face; let me and An Qinghe sort out what's going on first."

Gu Xixi did as she was told, sitting upright in the carriage and listening attentively.

At the same time, she opened her satchel, and several packets of poison and knockout drug spilled out.

When the men drew near, the woman in white jumped up in fright and ran to An Qinghe for shelter.

All that could be heard was someone cursing, "You filthy wench! Where do you think you're running to?!"

"My master saw you had no parents, feared you'd have no livelihood, kindly found you a place, intending to make you a concubine upon entering the household, and sent us to fetch you properly—but you spurn good wine and choose punishment instead!"

The woman in white trembled all over, unsure whether from anger or fear, or perhaps both.

"You! You scoundrels! He seized my family's land and house, forced my mother to death, killed my father, and now wants to force me to be his concubine?!"

"Dream on! Even if I died, I could never submit to him!"

"Want to die?" the man let out a lewd laugh, "You'll have to serve the master first before you can die!"

The others joined in with lewd laughter, saying obscene things to the woman.

The woman in white's eyes filled with hot tears; fear drove her to press close to An Qinghe, yet she glared fiercely at those men, stubbornly refusing to shed a single tear.

An Qinghe originally didn't want to meddle, but seeing the woman in white, he still felt compassion.

A burly man reached out to grab the woman in white.

An Qinghe said coldly, "Wait."

"She refuses to go with you; if you forcibly take her, it's abducting a civilian woman, violating the laws of the Great Undertaking Dynasty."

"What are you supposed to be?" the burly man swore, lifting his head to get a clear look at An Qinghe's face and laughing, "Yo, you're a Hu person, all delicate and tender-skinned."

"If we kidnap you and sell you as a catamite, we'll definitely fetch a good price!"

The lackeys burst out laughing, their expressions lewd.

An Qinghe stared blankly for a moment, still not knowing what a catamite was.

Just seeing the woman in white's embarrassed expression, he knew it couldn't be anything good.

Jiang Mingyuan rode up beside him and stopped at An Qinghe's side, whispering, "It's a man who makes a living by selling his looks."

"What?" An Qinghe's anger flared instantly.

He drew his dagger with a swish, shouting, "Damn it! I see you're all stinking meat; the kiln won't take you, so you're fit to be sliced up and fed to the dogs!"

Jiang Mingyuan looked at An Qinghe, somewhat surprised.

Before, it wasn't noticeable, but they actually had some greenwood heroic spirit.

To protect a weak woman they didn't know, they scolded gleefully and drew their sword gleefully.

They just didn't know……

Jiang Mingyuan silently counted the number of opponents, calculating in their mind: they only knew archery, but there was no bow or arrow at hand, and the enemies were all nearby, suitable only for close combat.

The white-clad maiden and Gu Xixi were both women.

The only reliable combatant left before them was An Qinghe alone.

Still not knowing An Qinghe's martial arts skill, could they have a chance to win fighting one against eight?

Jiang Mingyuan's thoughts raced; they needed to save the person, and also needed to think of a way to escape.

……

The multitude of evil servants didn't expect that an outsider from elsewhere would not only meddle, but also dare to scold them like this.

After a moment of shock, they then angrily surrounded the front of the carriage.

"Hey, blondie still has some guts, do you know who our master is?"

"In this territory, no one dares to offend our master! I kindly advise you to leave quickly, or else..."

Someone grinning said, "Don't blame us for dragging out the master in your carriage and beating them to death!"

An Qinghe flew into a rage, raising the dagger in their hand.

At that moment, only a woman's light laughter was heard: "Who wants to drag me out? How rude."

The evil servants all turned their heads, seeing a beautiful girl lift the curtain and step out, they all showed wicked smiles.

"Yo, if we had known there was a little beauty hidden in the carriage, we wouldn't have wasted our breath."

"Just take the carriage and the person and send them back to the master!"

Jiang Mingyuan and An Qinghe saw Gu Xixi come out, and they were all shocked and discolored.