Sun Ru no longer bothered to catch his breath and rushed out to follow quickly. "Lord Yan, slow down! I haven't finished yet. Those thieves made marks on the carriages so that their men could identify and capture people based on the marks. Several young ladies have already been targeted, and our men are not enough. But they've all followed up. Please send more men for support, Lord Yan."
After saying that, Sun Ru felt he was almost out of breath. Especially with the cold wind blowing outside, it made his throat hurt.
Yan Mo didn't stop walking and directly threw a token at Sun Ru. "Go to the Supreme Court and find people on your own."
The token flying straight at him stopped Sun Ru in his tracks. He wanted to call the man back but it was too late.
On top of the tent, Huo Qizhou quickly noticed two men lingering around the carriages. Instead of stealing things, they carved some symbols on the carriages. One of them was the ordinary small carriage that Shi Muyuan and her companions had rented temporarily.
The symbol carved on Shi Muyuan's carriage was slightly different from the others.
Huo Qizhou was on his guard. After the two men left, he left a message for Sun Ru and then got into the small carriage. Huo Qizhou was tall and big. To avoid being discovered, he could only hide behind a pile of sundries. Looking at Shi Muyuan snoring loudly and sleeping without any grace in front of him, he suddenly felt there was no need to hide so carefully.
The national teacher stretched out a foot to move it a bit. Shi Muyuan rolled over and hugged it tightly. The flesh on her small face rubbed back and forth like a greedy kitten stealing food in a dream.
Huo Qizhou felt his whole body stiffen. He wanted to pull out his leg but was afraid of waking her up, so he had to maintain that posture with a complex look on his face.
Shi Muyuan saw a huge drumstick. Her stomach growled non - stop. She stroked her small belly and bit down on it following the smell. The meat seemed a bit hard. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bite it. Shi Muyuan frowned and exerted more force with her mouth.
"Pop!" Shi Muyuan was stunned. She opened her eyes blurrily and saw an angry and handsome face with what seemed like fire in his eyes.
Shi Muyuan was so shocked that she bounced away immediately, covering her chest with both hands. As soon as her rosy little mouth opened a bit, she was grabbed back into his arms by a big hand and her mouth was covered.
Shi Muyuan felt the broad and strong chest of the man behind her and was extremely nervous.
Were they coming to arrest her so soon!
The woman in his arms kept whimpering. Huo Qizhou endured the pain in his thigh and stopped her struggling. Frowning, he lowered his voice. "Don't shout. Someone is following."
Shi Muyuan bit his hand. Huo Qizhou winced in pain and loosened his grip a bit, giving her a chance to break free from his restraint. She bumped into the carriage body.
Yao Kun, who was driving the carriage outside, felt the movement and reached out a hand to lift the curtain. Huo Qizhou quickly leaned over and grabbed the curtain.
Yao Kun couldn't open the curtain outside and made a confused sound.
Huo Qizhou signaled with his eyes for Shi Muyuan to stop Yao Kun outside.
Shi Muyuan had just escaped from Huo Qizhou's restraint but was locked between the carriage and his strong arm again. Finally, she gave in under his gaze.
"Kun'er, I'm fine. I accidentally kicked something. You drive the carriage well." Only then did Yao Kun's hand that was pulling the curtain hesitantly retract.
After comforting Yao Kun, Shi Muyuan immediately pushed Huo Qizhou far away. "Bah! Should I believe whatever you say!"
Huo Qizhou was so angry that his head hurt. Looking at the bite mark on his hand and thinking about the clues outside, he took a deep breath. "Believe it or not, it's up to you. If the people outside notice something abnormal, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager will have to wait to be impeached by the court officials!"
"Why would they impeach me? It has nothing to do with me."
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager appeared privately in a place where important criminals were hidden and even caused a ruckus, allowing these criminals to escape. Do you think those ministers will come after you or the Shi family?" Huo Qizhou's tone was full of threats.
Shi Muyuan's heart skipped a beat. Biting her lips, she glared at him. "Are you threatening me?"
Huo Qizhou waved his hand and showed her the tooth mark on it. "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, how can this be a threat? This is a fact."
Shi Muyuan knew that sneaking out of the palace was wrong no matter how she looked at it, so she shut her mouth, afraid that saying too much would give this old fox a handle.
The two sat in peace for a while. Suddenly, Huo Qizhou threw a small knife in front of Shi Muyuan.
Shi Muyuan was startled. "What are you doing? Do you want me to commit suicide?"
Huo Qizhou looked at her expressionlessly. "Take it for self - defense."
"Yan Mo should have told you that it's very dangerous. Several women have gone missing here."
"What?"
"I saw someone tampering with your carriage. They should come after you later."
"So you're here to protect me?" There was a glimmer of expectation in Shi Muyuan's heart.
"No," Huo Qizhou paused. "You follow them and find their lair."
"What? You want me to be the bait!"
"They've chosen you. It's just right." Huo Qizhou didn't even blink.
Seeing her somewhat panicked expression, Huo Qizhou still said, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, don't worry. I will surely protect your safety."
"How many people have they captured?"
"I'm not sure exactly, but four or five young girls have gone missing in the capital city of Changjing."
Shi Muyuan gritted her teeth. "Why are there such beasts everywhere! Alright, but you must rescue us!"
Huo Qizhou unexpectedly met her eyes. There was still a bit of uneasiness in her clear eyes.
He smiled and bowed to her. "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, you can rest assured. I'm impartial."
Shi Muyuan saw the clear tooth mark on his hand. The fair skin around it was bruised. She didn't think she had used that much strength at that time!
Suddenly, the carriage came to a sudden stop.
Shi Muyuan swayed. The dagger she hadn't picked up slid to Huo Qizhou's side. As soon as Shi Muyuan stood still, she wanted to poke her head out to look. Huo Qizhou grabbed her hand. Suddenly, there was a small cold weapon in Shi Muyuan's hand, and then a strong force behind her pushed her out.
This damned Huo Qizhou! She shouldn't have had any illusions about his black - heartedness!
There was no other way. This was also to prevent him from being discovered.
Fortunately, the impact wasn't too great. Shi Muyuan landed beside Yao Kun.
Seeing her being jolted out, Yao Kun immediately picked her up and made her stand still.
The bandits blocking the way were all dressed in black and holding big knives. Yao Kun directly charged forward, drew the long sword from her waist and cut down half of them. It seemed that none of them were a match for her.
In the stopped carriage, seeing this, Huo Qizhou was afraid that the plan would be disrupted. After thinking for a while, he took a walnut from the fruit plate on the low table and shot it at Yao Kun's knee.
Shi Muyuan was also speechless. These robbers were so useless. How did they become robbers!