Chapter 10: Assassinated on the Way

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What was happening?

Xia Qiqi was flung into the air several times, tossed violently around the carriage. Her head struck the walls on either side, leaving her dizzy and dazed.

They had only just left the boundaries of Shengjing, and the assassins had already made their move?

How much did they hate Liu Yuanqing?

To think that her life had become bait for a ravenous wolf. Xia Qiqi was utterly speechless.

Before she could recover, a dense succession of thudding sounds came from behind the carriage.

There was no need to look. Xia Qiqi could already imagine that the rear of the carriage had been shot so full of arrows it resembled a porcupine.

Liu Yuanqing’s enemies had truly spared no expense.

Bracing both hands against the carriage wall, Xia Qiqi struggled to keep her balance.

She turned to look at Chun Tao beside her, only to find the girl’s face as pale as snow. She was clutching Xiao Ai tightly in her arms, staring at Xia Qiqi with the same bewildered helplessness.

Fortunately, neither mistress nor maid, nor even the cat Xiao Ai, had been injured.

“Xia Qiqi! Assassins are catching up!”

“Don’t be afraid. This kitty will protect you! Meow!”

Xia Qiqi cast a sidelong glance at the cat curled up in Chun Tao’s arms. It was such a tiny thing, yet it actually claimed it would protect her.

That made it countless times better than those people who were forever trying to take her life.

After slowing briefly, the carriage suddenly accelerated again. Through the swaying curtain, Xia Qiqi saw the coachman strenuously swinging his saber to cut down the feathered arrows shot from behind, all the while lashing the horses onward at a furious pace.

The coachman was extraordinarily skilled.

“Boom!”

A deafening sound came from the roof of the carriage. Half-crouching to keep her balance, Xia Qiqi lifted the curtain and looked up.

Thick snow, mixed with a great many stones, was tumbling down from both sides of the mountain road. From time to time, arrows shot from behind struck the rocks, sending snow flying through the air.

“Sit tight, Elder Sister.”

The coachman did not turn his head. The long saber in his hand continued to flash without pause.

When Xia Qiqi had first boarded the carriage, she had sensed through her round fan that the coachman looked somewhat familiar. She had not given it much thought then, but at his words she suddenly understood.

The man driving the carriage was none other than Liu Yichen, the illegitimate son of the Prime Minister’s household, who had been assigned to escort the bridal procession.

The short saber she had been gripping tightly finally loosened a little.

Though Liu Yichen was young, he had practiced martial arts from childhood and possessed remarkable skill.

During her time at the Prime Minister’s residence, Xia Qiqi had personally witnessed Liu Yichen training. With him driving the carriage and protecting her along the way, she felt somewhat more at ease.

“Brother Yichen, just now…”

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Xia Qiqi flung open the carriage curtain, about to ask what had happened, but was astonished to discover that the bridal escort was nowhere to be seen, either ahead or behind them.

“How… are there only the three of us left?”

Could the Prime Minister’s troops escorting the bride have been completely wiped out?

And where was the guard unit from Prince Jin’s residence that had come to receive her?

“Elder Sister, do not worry. I will certainly deliver you safely to Prince Jin’s residence.”

Liu Yichen continued swinging his saber without looking back as he replied, “I merely took a mountain road. It will probably be rougher than the main road, so you may have to endure a little hardship.”

The carriage raced along the mountain road, jolting violently. Even the Five-Pheasant Crown on Xia Qiqi’s head had slipped askew, while the large pearls hanging from it swung incessantly, chiming against one another and giving her a headache.

Xia Qiqi raised her brows slightly and thought to herself that Liu Yichen’s decision to detour onto the mountain road midway was probably not part of Liu Yuanqing’s plans.

Once they had completely shaken off their pursuers, it would be the perfect opportunity to escape.

“Did Father know there would be assassins, and that was why he sent you to drive me?”

The thudding of arrows behind them gradually grew sparse. Clearly, Liu Yichen was steadily widening the distance between them and their pursuers.

The carriage slowed a little as well.

“Yesterday, Father received word that someone planned to assassinate you during the bridal journey, so he ordered me to escort you.” Liu Yichen eased the reins, sheathed his saber, and answered with a smile. “As for disguising myself as a coachman and driving the carriage, Father knows nothing about that.”

Liu Yichen was truly clever.

He had neither disobeyed his father’s orders nor failed to protect himself.

“Thank you, Brother Yichen.” Xia Qiqi adjusted the strands of pearls on her Five-Pheasant Crown. “Do you know whether the others are safe?”

Originally, she had planned to take two pieces of the bridal dowry when she fled along the way. She had never expected to be left with nothing but her wedding gown and the crown on her head.

How much silver could they be exchanged for?

She still had to reunite with the bridal escort first, then find a chance to escape.

That way, she would not drag Liu Yichen into trouble.

“Taking the mountain road will save us a day compared with the main road. I have already sent word for my elder brother to meet us in Anzhou City.”

Beyond Anzhou lay the territory of Prince Jin’s fief, Jincheng. The bridal procession from the Prime Minister’s residence would hand her over to the welcoming party at the relay station in Anzhou City.

Anzhou!

Good. She would escape during the handover in Anzhou.

At last, her heart settled.

The carriage traveled along the mountain road for two days.

Along the way, whenever they grew hungry, the three of them ate some of the dry provisions Liu Yichen had brought. Whenever they were thirsty, they drank from mountain springs.

But Xia Qiqi noticed that after she climbed down from the carriage for the first time and stood by the roadside to rest, something had changed in Liu Yichen’s gaze. He also never called her “Elder Sister” again.

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Had he discovered that the person inside the carriage was not Liu Mingyu?

It did not matter.

Once they parted in Anzhou, they might never meet again.

On the third day, the carriage finally returned to the main road.

Xia Qiqi was sitting inside with her eyes closed, resting, when she suddenly heard a rapid clatter of hooves ahead.

There were quite a few riders.

Then a succession of firecrackers sounded outside the carriage, and Xia Qiqi immediately understood that they had joined the welcoming party from Prince Jin’s residence.

She sat upright inside the carriage, faintly excited, listening carefully to the activity outside.

If nothing unexpected happened, she would choose a moment to escape after they rested at the relay station that night.

For now, however, what she urgently needed to know was whether the one hundred and twenty carts of bridal gifts had arrived.

“Is the Prime Minister’s daughter, Liu Mingyu, inside the carriage?” someone asked from not far outside.

“Indeed she is,” Liu Yichen replied loudly. “And whom do I have the honor of addressing?”

“I am Yu Chi, commander of Prince Jin’s personal guards…”

After confirming that the future princess was inside the carriage, the sound of firecrackers immediately erupted outside.

They were so loud that Xia Qiqi could not make out what else the guard commander said.

Then the music of reed pipes, flutes, and drums began to ring out.

She wondered whether the guard she had met on the rooftop that day was also among the welcoming party.

Xia Qiqi gently lifted the curtain and looked toward the procession.

The moment her gaze reached the man leading the welcoming party, it met him head-on.

It was not him.

Xia Qiqi felt a small pang of disappointment. That day on the rooftop, seeing the man’s fine clothing, she had assumed he was at least a commander in Prince Jin’s household guard.

Yet the man now seated tall upon his horse wore a magnificent crimson cloud-patterned flying-fish robe. Judging from his attire, he was indeed far more distinguished than the man on the rooftop.

Alas.

Even if she happened to encounter that man while escaping tonight, he probably would not be able to help her.

“This subordinate pays his respects to Your Highness!”

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