When Yan Tianjue discovered the ambush, he reached out to grab the attacker, but another hidden arrow shot out from a different direction. Seeing the arrow clearly, he casually picked up a black piece from the chessboard and threw it with force at the hidden arrow.
The black piece, charged with his internal energy, collided with the arrow in midair with a ‘bang’, and they both fell to the ground. This interruption caused Yan Tianjue to miss his chance to capture Zhou Min.
Watching her land safely on the ground and then be taken away, a flash of anger crossed Yan Tianjue’s face. Xiao Li, who was supposed to be guarding the carriage, appeared beside Yan Tianjue shortly thereafter, looking quite dishevelled, and knelt down to apologise, “Your Majesty, I have arrived late. I fell for a diversionary tactic, and the vanguard of the Third Prince has already reached the western gate.”
Yan Tianjue looked down at the figure kneeling in the night, clothes torn and wounded, and it wasn’t hard to guess how difficult it had been for Xiao Li to escape the encirclement. As he watched Zhou Min disappear into the night, Yan Tianjue touched his lips, which had been bitten by Zhou Min, and smiled coldly and viciously.
Without needing to think too hard, Yan Tianjue knew they had been discovered. Without further delay, he glanced in the direction where Zhou Min had vanished and got into the carriage.
“Let’s go!” As soon as Yan Tianjue’s command was given, Xiao Li leapt into the carriage and drove it towards the eastern gate.
The moment Zhou Min fell from the carriage, she was swept away by someone’s arms. Just as she was about to react, she saw a familiar face filled with anger, and her tense emotions immediately relaxed, and a wave of exhaustion hit her.
“Third Brother!” Zhou Min’s murmur disappeared in her mouth. Her wounds, not yet healed and further aggravated by an encounter in the desolate hills of Wancheng, had been temporarily treated by Yan Tianjue, but had reopened during their struggle in the carriage.
Now, seeing her kin, Zhou Min felt her consciousness blur and then passed out.
On the official road to the border where the army was stationed, dust was flying as a line of black dragons seemed to swim amongst it, with a modest carriage in the middle being guarded by several hundred soldiers.
Zhou Min, who had been unconscious since last night, was supposed to stay at the Fulai Inn. Zhou Zijun, also known as Zhou Min’s third brother, had planned to wait for Zhou Min to wake up before leaving, but the physician who was summoned in the middle of the night said that Zhou Min’s injuries were severe, she was overly fatigued, and wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. With urgent border affairs at hand, he couldn’t stay in Yancheng any longer.
However, with the situation at the border being critical, he couldn’t bear to leave the unconscious Zhou Min alone at the Fulai Inn. Even though it was his territory, too much had happened recently, and he couldn’t trust anyone.
After much consideration, Zhou Zijun decided to take Zhou Min with him to the camp. However, due to an urgent report from the front, he had to leave first, but before he left, he made proper arrangements for Zhou Min!
Zhou Zijun truly cherished his sister. Despite the slanderous rumours about her in the outside world, in the eyes of her three brothers, she had always been the princess held in the palm of their hands.
Because of Zhou Min’s injuries, Zhou Zijun had his most trusted subordinate buy a local young maid to change her dressings and left his personal guard to escort Zhou Min to the camp, while he had already left earlier.
When Zhou Min was jolted awake by the bumpy carriage ride, she saw a 13 or 14-year-old maid carefully applying medicine to her.
“Who are you?” Zhou Min asked, gripping the maid’s hand nervously.
“Princess, you’re awake. I, I am the servant girl bought for you by the Marshal. My name is Chouya!”
“Chouya?!” Zhou Min looked around, and as the maid spoke, she lifted the curtain of the carriage to survey the surrounding soldiers and the flag of the Great Zhou, remembering the familiar face she saw before passing out, and her body and mind relaxed.
“I, I… When the Marshal bought me, he didn’t grant me a name…” The maid said nervously, her pretty face blushing red, clearly flustered, her hands continually twisting the corner of her dress, her eyes reddening with anxiety.
“What are you crying for? I didn’t say anything,” Zhou Min frowned at the person in front of her.
“I, I’m afraid the Princess will reject me, dislike my name, and send me away. I, I was bought by the Marshal from a courtesan house…”
“Oh?!” Zhou Min was somewhat surprised.
“Princess, I, I, no, my father was going to sell me, the Marshal saved me…” Chouya recalled the first time she saw Zhou Zijun, her cheeks flushed. Until today, she thought she would be sold by her gambling-addicted father to a horrible place, but the Marshal gave her another chance.
From the first sight, she was smitten with Zhou Zijun, who looked like a god—handsome, refined, and imposing—but she knew her place and dared not hope for more, not even to fantasise.
Zhou Min, seeing the range of expressions on the maid’s face and her eventual sorrow, understood her thoughts but did not reveal them.
“I understand. From now on, you shall be called Qingqiu,” Zhou Min said, then leaned back on the cushion, exhausted.
“Yes,” the newly named Qingqiu nodded.
“Where is the Marshal now?”
“Back to the Princess, there was an urgent military report at the front, and the Marshal proceeded ahead.”
Zhou Min nodded and then fell silent, while Qingqiu quietly packed up the medicine and sat outside the carriage, as her status did not allow her to sit inside with the princess.
After the carriage had been travelling for a while, a lazy voice came from inside, “How much longer until we reach the camp?”
Qingqiu immediately bowed her head and responded from outside, “To report to the Princess, it will be another hour.”
“Hmm! Oh, what’s today’s date?” Zhou Min suddenly thought of a very serious problem, namely the date of her third brother’s death in her previous life.
“Reporting to the Princess, today is the 23rd day of the Zhou calendar!”
“What time did you say it is?” The previously lazy and somewhat weary voice suddenly became tense.
“The Zhou calendar 23!” Although Qingqiu did not understand why Zhou Min reacted this way, she repeated it again.
“Stop the carriage.” The lazy voice immediately took on an undeniable authority.
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