After Spending a Passionate Night with the Eldest Princess - Chapter 10

Once the thought took root in her heart, that eager impulse could no longer be suppressed.

Perhaps she could try it tonight.

Thinking this, Xin Yuan kept her face calm and searched for something to say. “The sun is about to set. We should be entering the city soon, right?”

Miss Qin lifted the carriage curtain and asked outside, “When will we enter the city?”

Tang Er immediately answered, “Replying to Master, we should be able to enter at the beginning of the You hour.”
The beginning of the You hour: around five o’clock in the evening.

Miss Qin lowered the curtain and looked at Xin Yuan. “One more hour.”

Xin Yuan casually asked again, “Can we reach the capital the day after tomorrow?”

Miss Qin nodded. “Barring any accidents, yes.”

Hearing the words “barring any accidents,” a sentence immediately floated through Xin Yuan’s mind: If nothing unexpected happens, then something unexpected is about to happen.

Coming back to herself, she laughed silently. She had really read too many novels. How could there be so many accidents?

Yet just as she lifted the carriage curtain to look at the scenery along the road, she saw a young guard riding over from ahead, his expression grave as he said something to Tang Er.

After listening, Tang Er quickly rode his horse closer to the carriage and reported in a deep voice, “Master, three li ahead, there is a refugee riot.”

Miss Qin frowned. “Take some men and go take a look. Do not harm the innocent.”

“Yes.” Tang Er immediately selected a dozen or so men and galloped ahead.

Xin Yuan: “…”

This accident was far too unexpected!

Fifteen minutes later, the procession stopped.

The young guard from earlier came to the carriage again. “Master, Chief Tang sent this subordinate to ask for instructions. How should we deal with the refugees who caused trouble? Please decide, Master.”

Hearing this, Miss Qin directly got out of the carriage. “Lead the way.”

Xin Yuan hesitated for a moment, then silently followed.

Miss Qin glanced at her but did not stop her.

Several dozen meters in front of the procession.

Tang Er and more than a dozen guards were holding their sabers, watching fiercely. Beside the official road knelt a large group of ragged refugees. At a rough glance, there were forty to fifty of them.

On one side stood a young man in white. His features were delicate and handsome, and his face was full of indignation.

Judging from his clothing, he looked like a young master who did not lack money.

Miss Qin ignored the young man in white and walked straight toward the refugees.

Xin Yuan, however, stared at the young man in white for a moment, unable to look away.

The young man in white noticed her gaze, turned his head to look over, then glared fiercely at her.

Xin Yuan: “…”

Why was he glaring at her? She was just watching the excitement.

However, this person’s disguise was quite convincing. At first glance, there was no difference between him and an ordinary man.

If the throat were padded with an Adam’s apple and the chest were a little flatter, the disguise would be even more convincing.

That was right. The reason Xin Yuan stared at the young man in white was precisely because she had seen that this person was a woman disguised as a man.

He was not a he. She was a she.

At this moment, Miss Qin had already walked up to the refugees.

The refugees knelt on the ground in fear and unease. Seeing Miss Qin, whose appearance was otherworldly like that of a fairy, they could not help gathering the courage to beg for mercy.

“Spare us, noble one! Please spare us…”

Miss Qin frowned and looked coldly at Tang Er. “Who allowed you to hurt people?”

It turned out that among these dozens of refugees, half had been injured. Some had swollen faces and bruises, some had broken hands, and there were even two people coughing up blood.

Tang Er hurriedly reported, “Please calm your anger, Master. We only drew our sabers to intimidate them. The one who injured them was him.”

Miss Qin followed Tang Er’s gaze and looked toward the indignant young man in white.

“So what if I was the one who hurt them? They swarmed up and tried to rob my luggage. Was I not allowed to fight back and protect myself? I was merciful enough not to take their lives.” The young man in white stuck out his neck, looking fearless.

Clearly, this group of refugees had seen that the young man in white was alone and looked wealthy, so they had relied on their numbers and developed malicious intentions.

Miss Qin sized the young man up, then looked toward the refugees. “Everyone, please rise. Within three days, the imperial court’s disaster-relief grain and funds will be sent to the various regions. Return to your hometowns immediately. By then, you should be able to catch the government opening its granaries to distribute grain.”

After a pause, she took several banknotes from her wide sleeve and handed them to the two people who had been coughing up blood.

“Have your injuries treated, and take your fellow villagers home as soon as possible. Those who commit too much injustice will bring ruin upon themselves. Do not commit evil again in the future.”

Clearly, the two strong adult men who were the most seriously injured were the leaders of this group of refugees.

One of them took the banknotes with trembling hands and kowtowed three times before saying, “Thank you for your mercy, noble one. We were simply starving too badly. We will never dare do it again.”

Seeing this, the other strong man could not help asking, “Noble one, are your words true? Will the government really open the granaries and distribute grain?”

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth trembled slightly. There was doubt in his eyes, but even more than that, there was excitement.

“Not a single false word,” Miss Qin said with certainty.

She only said four words, yet for some reason, the strong man believed her.

This woman had an extraordinary bearing and had brought so many guards with her. At one glance, one could tell she was not an ordinary person. There was no need for her to deceive them.

“Thank you, noble one.”

As the two leaders knelt one after another in gratitude, the refugees all began kowtowing.

“Thank you, noble one…”

Miss Qin pressed her lips together and said nothing more.

After kneeling, the refugees rose one after another and helped the injured leave.

Miss Qin watched their departing backs, a trace of heaviness flashing through her eyes.

Natural disasters were merciless. The emperor had done nothing, the court officials were helpless, and people’s hearts were filled with panic.

These refugees were all citizens of Xidao. As the current dynasty’s Eldest Princess, she truly could not harshly blame them, even if they had temporarily abandoned their conscience in the face of survival…

At that moment, the young man in white, who had watched everything from the side, lifted the corners of his mouth and walked toward Miss Qin.

“Do not be rude.” Tang Er immediately held his saber horizontally in front of the young man, blocking his way.

The young man in white lifted his chin slightly, amusement in his eyes. “This female Bodhisattva, since you pity those unruly peasants so much, I imagine you would also be happy to compensate me for the silver they stole from me, right?”

Miss Qin froze slightly, as if she had not expected this. But she quickly returned to normal. “How much?”

The young man in white patted his clean sleeve and said fearlessly, “Not much. Three thousand taels.”

Miss Qin looked at “him,” scrutiny in her eyes, as if weighing how believable those words were.

At the side, Xin Yuan quietly gave the young man a thumbs-up.

Three thousand taels. She really dared to ask for that much. Brilliant. Truly brilliant.

The refugees had already left. They could not very well chase after them now. Miss Qin would have no choice but to swallow this loss.

Seeing that Miss Qin did not speak, the young man in white smiled. “It is fine if you do not give me silver. You are planning to enter the capital, aren’t you? What a coincidence. I am also going to the capital. As long as you are willing to escort me there, we can forget this debt.”

Miss Qin was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“Master!” Worry appeared in Tang Er’s eyes. They did not know this person’s origins. He feared this person had bad intentions.

Miss Qin did not explain anything. “Set off immediately.”

Tang Er had no choice but to say coldly, “We do not have any spare horses. If you want to follow, then run on your own.”

Before the young man in white could speak, Miss Qin said indifferently, “Let him ride in a carriage.”

The carriage Xin Yuan had originally ridden in happened to be empty.

The young man in white smiled even more happily. “As expected of a female Bodhisattva. Thank you for your salvation.”

Miss Qin seemed not to hear the teasing in “his” words and returned straight to the carriage.

Xin Yuan looked at the young man in white, then looked at Miss Qin’s back, and quickly followed.

“Miss Qin, may I ride in the carriage behind?”

Miss Qin said faintly, “As Miss Xin pleases.”

Xin Yuan thought for a moment, then chased after the young man in white and got into the carriage.

The procession continued forward.

Inside the carriage.

The young man in white looked at the uninvited person, a sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth. “This young lady, do you not know to avoid suspicion? You and I are a lone man and a lone woman. This is not appropriate, is it?”

Xin Yuan chuckled, her words carrying another meaning. “A lone man and a lone woman would indeed be inappropriate. But what if it is a lone woman and another lone woman?”

The young man in white froze for a moment, then his expression turned cold. “What are you talking about? This young master does not understand.”

Xin Yuan carefully sized her up. “Your silver wasn’t stolen, was it?”

“If this young master says it was stolen, then it was stolen.” The young man in white’s expression became even uglier.

Xin Yuan did not argue with her about this matter and continued, “Why do you think Miss Qin agreed to take you to the capital? And why do you think she let you ride in this carriage?”

The young man in white tugged at the corner of her mouth and sneered. “She is a female Bodhisattva. She is kindhearted, of course.”

Xin Yuan clicked her tongue and shook her head. “That’s right. She was even afraid you would be lonely, so out of kindness, she let us—a lone man and a lone woman—stay together.”

If she had not guessed wrong, Miss Qin should also have seen that this person was a woman disguised as a man.

The young man in white could no longer smile. Clearly, she had also realized that her disguise had been seen through.