The young coachman held on to the rein and gradually pulled the carriage, which produced a soft creaking noise.
Gu Qingwan leaned her head on the wall of the carriage as she closed her eyes for a short rest.
“My lady, regarding the marriage proposed by the Lizhi household, how should we go about rejecting it?”
Gu Qingwan did not open her eyes as she smiled and replied, “It will be resolved within ten days.”
Yue Niang was delighted upon hearing it and said, “Are you sure, my lady?”
“I am certain.”
“How did you manage to do it?”
“The Lizhi household adored Concubine Xu the most, so the legal wife poisoned her tonic was with mercury. I’ll heal her and she’ll help me settle it. We will not owe each other after this.”
Gu Qingwan said it effortlessly, but Yue Niang clearly understood what had happened.
Her lady had never collected any money from her patients. Instead, she only requested her patients to help her do things. Whether her request was big or small, easy or difficult, it all depended on the patients’ identities. For her lady to attract Xu to her medical hall, she must had went through a lot and put in tonnes of effort.
At the thought of this, Yue Niang began to feel angry and said, “My lady, we have been living quietly on our own these years. We don’t even dare to show our faces during festivals and special occasions. However, she still tried means and ways to push you into hell. What a heartless woman she is.”
Gu Qingwan knew exactly who Yue Niang was speaking ill of. “She” was none other than her father’s second wife, Princess Huayang.
She smiled gently and said, “I’m just a thorn in her flesh and a troublemaker. It’s better for her to get rid of me as soon as possible.”
Yue Niang scorned and said, “She got to see if she has that capability then.” After all, her lady was no longer as helpless as before.
Gu Qingwan revealed a smile on her face and changed her posture. Before she could sit tight, the horse carriage shook vigorously and both of them knocked into each other.
The curtain was suddenly drawn apart and a long sword was pushed into the carriage.
…
“Get off!” It was a low and cold voice.
Yue Niang protected Gu Qingwan with her body and said with a trembling voice, “What…what…are you trying to do?”
“Get off and shut up. Else I’ll kill you.” A handsome yet emotionless face revealed.
Yue Niang swiftly covered her lady with a cloak and protected her as if she was a chick.
After they got off the carriage, they looked around. There were more than ten men in black surrounding the horse carriage. The coachman, Chen Ping, was already held as hostage with a knife at his neck.
Yue Niang became afraid. She had a bad feeling about it.
Chen Ping was a martial art instructor in a security agency. In order to cure his mother’s illness, he approached the lady for help. The lady noticed that he was well-trained in martial arts and decided to hire him. With his level of martial arts skills, subduing ten average robbers should be as easy as breeze for him; however, he was held as hostage this time. He could not even give them any warning beforehand. It seemed like these men in black were not just average robbers.
Gu Qingwan concealed herself in Yue Niang’s arms. She took a quick glance at the surrounding and her eyes fell on a man dressed in black cotton outfit.
This man had a black shiny long hair. His features were average. He had a pair of sword eyebrows and thin lips. He revealed a mischievous smirk on his face and was fanning himself with a folded fan, looking as if he was a young master from a rich family.
“It’s him?”
Gu Qingwan was shocked as she hid herself deeper into Yue Niang’s arms.
Yue Niang thought her lady was just scared of the men, so she hugged tightly and dared not move an inch. She tried to act fiercely in front of the men by staring at them.
“Master, your carriage is here. Let me help you in.”
The man sighed heavily and said, “Li, how can you let your master take such a lousy carriage? You must know that the worst carriage I’ve ever sat in…”
“As compared to the previous ten carriages, this carriage is already…If this is still not suitable for master, I’ll continue to look for better ones. Please wait, master!”
The man raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“Forget it. I’ll take it. Li, help me up the carriage!”
The man walked past Yue Niang with a prideful swagger. When he walked past her, he turned his head and took a glance at the person in her arms.
“Whose lady is this? Why isn’t she sleeping, but lingering on the street in the middle of the night? Come, let me have a look!”
The man revealed a faint smile and stared at Gu Qingwan calmly.
“How dare you tease at my lady?” Chen Ping thought and was enraged. He tried to struggle and shake off from the man’s grip with brute force but failed.
Yue Niang’s heart skipped a beat. She turned around and used her back to avoid a direct face-to-face contact with the man.
Gu Qingwan quietly put her pouch in her hand. She was thinking if the amount in the pouch was sufficient for her to knock down 20 strong men.
If it was insufficient, could she at least subdue the young master first? From what she had understood, that young master should be weak.
Before she could finish planning, Li urged and said, “Master, it’s already late. The sun is rising soon!”
“Uninteresting!” The man in cotton outfit said and took a last glance at Qingwan. He then happily took out a piece of gold and threw it at Yue Niang.
“I am a pampered master after all. This can’t be prevented.”
This nonsensical sentence was left behind by the man in cotton outfit before he climbed up the horse carriage.
The man named Li turned around and said softly, “This gold is enough to buy this horse carriage. All of you can leave now — Release them!”
Chen Ping was shocked upon hearing it. He struggled to loosen the grips of the two men who was holding him. He bended down to pick up the gold and exchanged a look with Yue Niang before sending the lady home.
Gu Qingwan clenched her fist tightly and then loosened her grip. She then frowned deeply.
…
Li got up the carriage and smelled the air. He frowned and said, “My master, this carriage has the smell of herbs.”
“Are you a dog? I can only smell the fragrances on women. Bring out the luminous pearl. This carriage is too dark. I don’t like it!”
Li took out the luminous pearl, which was as big as his two fists, from his bag. The carriage suddenly became much brighter than before.
The man in black outfit looked around the carriage and took a deep breath.
The spacious carriage was covered with Persian carpet and the carriage wall was decorated with flowers and leaves. The heart of the flowers were made of gemstones and the leaves were gold. At the corner of the carriage, there were two basins filled with ice. A sandalwood incense was burning in the white jade cauldron.
The weirdest thing was that he felt exceptionally comfortable after boarding the carriage. This unattractive carriage actually had a gem within. It was such a luxurious carriage that probably the carriage of the Royal Highness in the capital city was incomparable to it.
The man frowned his brows and listened intensively before he said, “Alight and check what’s covering the wheels of the carriage.”