Doomed to be Cannon Fodder

Chapter 35: Jianghu 1 Revenge Killing

Leaving aside how Prince Li’s household and the Song family were making their way to the capital, Madame Lin had truly been frightened. She was currently trying to calm herself down at a courier station as she drank bowl after bowl of medicine. When she heard that Prince Li’s household wasn’t going to come to their aid, she smashed the bowl onto the ground, sending the pieces skittering away and coughing angrily. “He has the military power to crush them, why is he so frightened by a few measly thieves?”

The old female servant that reported the news replied, “They said that Prince Li had only brought around 10 or so household guards. They need to protect the old madame on the way back, so they couldn’t come to our aid.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be formidable? He doesn’t even care about matters related to his wife-to-be, what a worthless wretch.” Madame Lin was extremely angry. She knew exactly what kind of person that big sister of hers was. If anything happened to her son, the Lin family wouldn’t have a day of peace!

“Madame, don’t be too hasty. Words like these…” The madame really was impatient. If words like these reached Prince Li’s ears, wouldn’t the wedding plans turn to dust? Their own young miss wasn’t someone who left people with peace of mind. If things further soured like this, her reputation would be ruined and nobody would want her.

Madame Lin had been too anxious and turned quickly sober at the old servant’s reminder. “No matter what, we still have to count on him. Have someone send a reply, just say that we’re counting on him to help in this matter.”

That old female servant went to pass on the message, though Madame Lin was angry enough to ache from the pits of her stomach. She could only ask Prince Li, who held military power in his hands, for help, otherwise it’d be useless even if she went back and told her husband.

As for Prince Li, Long Heng, he wasn’t anxious at all. His behavior only caused Song Jiaoyue to shake his head and smile. “I really want to know how those people will treat Sir Ji.”

“Tooth for a tooth.” Long Heng only spoke four words, but Song Jiaoyue could only respond, “I’m afraid it’s not so simple.”

“She’s a woman.” Long Heng didn’t say any more, but he had already made it clear. Since the other had dared attack his woman, the consequences would be miserable.

Suddenly, he saw Madame Xiu’s little carriage stop to on one side. Finding it odd, he asked his people, “What’s going on?” Why would the carriage suddenly stop, had something happened?

The young male pageboy Shu’er hurried to find out, only to see Xiao Shi pop her head out and rush to say, “Go tell the Prince that there’s nothing wrong. Madame Xiu has a stomach ache and wants to drink some hot water.”

“Should a doctor be called to see what the problem is?” Shu’er asked, finding it strange.

“Madame said it’s a matter of habit, because she always eats vegetarian dishes on the first and fifteenth of the month. Since she broke her rule today, this was the result. As long as she drinks some hot water, she’ll be fine,” Xiao Shi thought her condition was strange as well. Her mistress hadn’t been like this in the past! But then she mused that her Mistress was so beautiful that it was only a matter of course before she developed some delicate sensibilities, such as her condition right now.

After hearing everything, Shu’er went back to report to his master. Long Heng knitted his brows, unaware of such a condition. Thus he said, “Have someone boil water for her, and do so quickly.”

The water finished boiling not long after. Long Heng couldn’t abandon the old madame’s carriage to look after hers. Otherwise, people would point fingers at him. When people made remarks about a man, it was to say he was either romantic or loved beauties. But those same words were extremely unpleasant when it came to describing a woman.

Fortunately, the Song family was behind them, so he left Song Jiaoyue to look after her for him. Song Jiaoyue was naturally willing to do so. His own mother was still waiting to eat her cooking.

Actually, he didn’t really need to look after her. The water was ready quickly, and she drank it before following slowly behind the Song family caravan. When they reached the capital, the Prince’s estate would naturally send someone to pick her up. Normally, Song Jiaoyue traveled within the group. They had many females in their party, so they naturally travelled a bit slower. There was no help for it. The more women there were, the more matters there were!

See here, another little concubine needed to relieve herself again.

It was very troublesome for a woman to relieve herself; at least three more people needed to go with her. Finding a spot before taking care of the problem would take a long time. When she returned to her carriage and they were about to set off again, a caravan approached them from the opposite direction. It seemed to be a merchant party, so the two sides yielded to opposite ends of the road before continuing on.

Who knew that as soon as they brushed shoulders, a burst of smoke would rise in the air? Song Jiaoyue immediately felt something off and covered his nose. “Everyone, watch out! It’s smoke that causes confusion!” Song Jiaoyue knew these tricks of the jianghu. He’d thought they had taken a break, but who knew that they were saving up for a surprise attack?

That merchant party had about 10 people, all of them high level experts. However, all of them had been sitting in the carriage. Otherwise, he would’ve spotted them long ago. He had been astute enough to bring a few subordinates with him, who hurried to protect the womenfolk. Unexpectedly, the enemies disregarded them entirely and all rushed for Song Jiaoyue.

They truly wanted to kill him, but Song Jiaoyue’s martial arts weren’t weak. He didn’t fall easily, managing to hold his own.

Bai Xiangxiu was very worried inside the carriage as well. After drinking some hot water, she was planning to rest before she suddenly detected a strange fragrance. Just when she was pondering over its scent, the smell of the Red Pearl medicine became all the more apparent. With a light whiff, she felt the Red Pearl’s scent taking away her momentary dizziness. Then she looked over and found Xiao Shi sprawled on the ground. When she reached out a hand, she discovered that the latter had fainted.

Just what had happened? In her drowsy state back then, she’d heard the supporting male mention something about confusion and smoke. Had someone set out to drug them? But she seemed to be fine. She touched her nose and mused, could this Red Pearl be an antidote to the tranquilizer? Quietly, she lifted the window curtains and saw the supporting male fighting as he led his opponents deeper into the forest.

He was probably worried that they’d hurt Madame Song and the rest, but what about him? Just then, he must have inhaled some smoke. Otherwise, why would he have such difficulty running? She recalled such a scene in the novel. Because the supporting male had antagonized a few villainous jianghu factions in the past, they’d come to seek revenge.

Their goal was to kill him, but because the supporting male had good martial arts skills, he had managed to evade the calamity. However, since he survived that tribulation, the female lead who was hidden in the villain faction’s entourage decided to rescue him. He hadn’t known who she was back then, but only recognized her after going to the Prince’s complex. Henceforth, it was like sinking into a mire that he couldn’t come out of.

It really was an excellent plot, so there was no way she’d let the female lead snatch the key moment. In any case, the supporting male would take care of all the enemies in the end, so all she had to do was pick him up afterwards.

Moreover, she really was worried about his state!

Bai Xiangxiu saw that most of the people outside had collapsed, though the one who hadn’t had ran off to make a report. She tore her skirts and leaped off the carriage, running towards the mountains. In the past, she was a rough person who frequently ran about the hills to look for all sorts of flowers and plants. She was very familiar with the mountains.

She had all sorts of methods to avoid those killers while following their trail. Even though she couldn’t run very fast, the enemies couldn’t either since they wanted to kill or injure their victim. In the distance, she could see that the supporting male really was faltering. His vision was already turning hazy, and a cut on his shoulder had dyed half his body in blood.

Her heart throbbed with terror. She saw that there were only two men left from the jianghu. One was attacking him head-on, while the other was shooting with hidden weapons from a distance. Those shiny weapons flew towards Song Jiaoyue without hesitation. It seemed he’d be hard pressed to escape them this time.

1. The outside world, where adventures and trials can be found