Shi Muyuan was awakened by the pain all over her body. The fine iron dagger in her hand had a notch when it was hit during the fall. She licked her dry lips and struggled to sit up.
The National Teacher was really ferocious in the fight. She felt dizzy watching. She was grabbed by the fox fur and pulled backward. Even though she acted extremely fast and cut the rope of the fox fur around her neck with the dagger given by Huo Qizhou, she was still dragged far away from Huo Qizhou's protection.
She saw the National Teacher reaching out his hand trying to grab her, but his arm was cut by someone with a sword, and blood spurted out.
Seeing that she broke free from the restraint, the assassin then grabbed Shi Muyuan's long hair and dragged her backward.
"Ah!" Shi Muyuan cried out in pain. She covered her head with one hand to protect her hair and waved the dagger randomly backward with the other. Unexpectedly, she was directly thrown into the small river beside the broken temple by the scoundrel and choked on a large mouthful of water.
Shi Muyuan could swim, but she was wearing thick winter clothes, which became even heavier after absorbing water. Moreover, she was still in pain. She struggled a few times and then fainted, sinking below the water surface.
Seeing this, Huo Qizhou ignored the siege of the assassins and fought his way out to the river. After seeing clearly where Shi Muyuan was, he directly jumped into the water. The leading assassin saw this and stopped his subordinates from following him into the water. He decided to intercept them downstream of the river.
However, Huo Qizhou who jumped into the river failed to catch Shi Muyuan. They were scattered by the turbulent river.
When Shi Muyuan woke up, she was on a river beach. There was cooking smoke rising not far away. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, she could meet someone. She touched the thing on her chest. It was the purse she had taken from that assassin.
On this side, Huo Qizhou grabbed a big rock on the river bank and climbed up.
There was a forest on the bank. He remembered that there was a small town downstream. Shi Muyuan should have been directly washed downstream. He had to speed up and find her before the assassins.
He was so angry that he actually let her be taken away twice right under his nose. Huo Qizhou angrily waved his sword and cut off a tree trunk as thick as a general's arm that was blocking his way.
Shi Muyuan wrung out the water on her body and just lay there on the ground to rest. She planned to regain some strength and then walk in the direction of the cooking smoke to exchange the silver in the purse for some food.
She was almost starving now. She couldn't possibly escape the assassination only to starve to death here. That would be a complete joke.
Getting closer, she found it was a small county town. When Shi Muyuan walked in in a mess, she attracted a lot of people's attention. Fortunately, she didn't walk far before she saw an open - air small vendor selling wontons and dumplings.
"Auntie, could you give me a bowl of wontons?" Afraid that the vendor would think she had no money because of her messy appearance, Shi Muyuan took out the bag of broken silver in advance and took out a piece to hand to the landlady.
"Sure, girl. Please sit down and wait a while. I'll be right back." The landlady's look immediately changed. She led Shi Muyuan to a small wooden table near the stove.
"Girl, how did you get so wet? You're still dripping water. It's winter. Aren't you cold?" The landlady said with a smile as she brought a bowl of hot tea and handed it to Shi Muyuan.
She thought that although this girl looked in a mess, the style and fabric of her clothes were obviously not ordinary at a glance. Moreover, she took out a piece of broken silver to buy a bowl of wontons that only cost a few coins. If she wasn't a young lady who had run away from home, she wouldn't believe it.
"Auntie, you must be laughing at me. I was out for a trip. My horse got scared and I fell into the water, which is why I'm in such a mess."
"Poor child. Sit here for a while longer. Get warm before you go." The landlady brought the cooked wontons and said to her.
"Thank you, auntie." Shi Muyuan said gratefully.
"It's okay. Eat, eat. I'll go get back to work."
"Okay." Shi Muyuan nodded.
This small shop was at the entrance of Qingshui County. Merchants who passed by or were on a journey would usually stop here for a while to make some arrangements. So many people would stop here to rest and chat.
"I heard that the Second Master Zhang has taken another new wife?"
"Hey, you just got back, but your news is so up - to - date?"
"Hey," the man drawled, "I met an acquaintance on my way back the day before yesterday. They told me that the young lady he married last month died, and then he took another one in. It's really scary!"
"How many is this one?" someone interrupted and asked.
When Shi Muyuan was a small - town official, she liked to chat about such gossips. It could be said that she knew all the big and small things on the street she was in charge of. So when she heard what these people were talking about, she instinctively pricked up her ears.
It turned out that the Second Master Zhang in Qingshui County was a hooligan. He had done some dirty things earlier and made a fortune. Later, he started doing business in Qingshui County. He bribed the county magistrate with a large sum of money and ran amuck in Qingshui County.
Second Master Zhang was lustful. He often snatched young ladies to be his wives. But after a few days, the common people would see a body wrapped in a straw mat being carried out of the back door of the Zhang family. The body was full of wounds.
It wasn't that no one reported it, but the county magistrate who had taken bribes simply didn't care. As time went on, this became an anecdote that everyone tacitly understood.
The families of those girls could only swallow their anger. What else could they do? Rush up and get themselves killed?
As a result, the Zhang family's means of snatching people became even more ferocious. It was quiet during the day, but at night they would directly go to people's houses to abduct them. The young girls in Qingshui County were so scared that they didn't dare to go out.
The landlady also heard their conversation. She walked over and kicked the corner of their table. "What's wrong? Have you earned enough silver? Still sitting here talking nonsense. Be careful someone hears you. You'll be in trouble."
Those people often came here and were very familiar with the landlady. They weren't angry after being warned by the landlady. They said with a smile, "What Mrs. Qiu said is right. Please bring us some tea to quench our thirst. We'll set off after that."
"Fine. Wait here." Mrs. Qiu gave the man a sidelong glance. When she passed by Shi Muyuan, she paused for a moment. Finally, she bent down and said to her, "Girl, it's better for you to leave earlier after you've rested."
Shi Muyuan drank the last mouthful of soup in the bowl and replied, "Thank you for the reminder, auntie. But I can't go far on foot now. May I ask where I can buy a horse and how much it costs?"
Mrs. Qiu sized her up and down. "Can you ride a horse?"
This stumped Shi Muyuan. But wasn't the only means of transportation in ancient times a horse?
"You can ask about the ox - cart over there. One piece of broken silver is enough. Just tell them where you want to go." Mrs. Qiu kindly said.
Shi Muyuan stood up. "Thank you, auntie. I'll go now."
Seeing Shi Muyuan walking away, those men then said to Mrs. Qiu, "Mrs. Qiu, what's the use of doing this? Her appearance has probably already reached the ears of the Second Master Zhang. Maybe someone has already come to look for her."
"Let her run if she can." Mrs. Qiu took a deep look at Shi Muyuan's back and then turned to go to the stove.
"Humph, she can't escape. This little girl is alone. Mrs. Qiu, be careful not to provoke the Second Master Zhang again." The man's tone was full of regret. The others didn't say anything else.