Chapter 272 Dangerous
Chi Ying was very efficient and prepared all the necessary items in less than an hour. Qian Huan went to the counter to pay the bill, and the group left the city under the cover of night and headed straight towards Dayuan.
On the Dayuan side, the spies of the Crown Prince's concubine Qi Jiaqing also got the news. They learned that Qianhuan did not return to her hometown in the south, but went to Dongling Kingdom to ask for medicine for the Crown Prince. Qi Jiaqing immediately sent a pigeon to pass the news back to Canglang Kingdom.
When Qi Beiming received the news, he immediately arranged a group of assassins to snatch the Xuefu Fruit on the way back from Qianhuan and others.
Qi Beiming not only killed the Xuefu Fruit, but also specifically instructed his assassins, "Kill all the others without mercy. As for Miss Qianhuan, you must not harm her in the slightest. Bring back the Xuefu Fruit and her to me."
The assassin agreed, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Qianhuan and her group had been traveling to the capital city for several days, sleeping in the open air and eating their fill. That night, everyone was tired from the journey, and there was no house to stay in within dozens of miles.
Qianhuan had no choice but to ask everyone to light two bonfires, and everyone sat around the bonfires, leaning against each other to rest.
Qianhuan naturally sat together with Shisan. Perhaps they were too tired, and soon they all fell asleep leaning against each other.
At this moment, a group of men in black suddenly approached with swords in hand and murderous intent.
Chi Ying was the first one to wake up after sensing something was wrong. He immediately shouted, "Brothers, wake up, there is an assassin."
Seeing that his actions had been discovered, the man in black had to speed up and rush over, intending to kill them by surprise before they could react.
Fortunately, these secret guards were not pushovers. After hearing Chi Ying's warning, they all woke up immediately. Everyone stood up, drew their swords and prepared for battle.
Thirteen protected Qianhuan behind him, "Miss, you should hide closely behind me from now on."
Qianhuan was deeply moved by Shisan's loyalty to his master. She touched the hidden sword in her sleeve and prepared herself for battle.
The two sides soon started fighting. Several times, the men in black almost hurt Qianhuan by mistake when they were trying to assassinate Shisan. In the end, the men in black quickly pulled back their knives.
Shisan and Qianhuan both found that these assassins did not seem to want to hurt Qianhuan. Although Qianhuan did not understand why, since she already knew that they did not dare to hurt her, Qianhuan cooperated with Shisan to eliminate many assassins.
Although there were more assassins, these twenty secret guards were carefully selected by Chiying, and they quickly dealt with all the assassins.
Shisan and Qianhuan bandaged the wounds of the injured secret guard together.
Qianhuan said, "It looks like we've been targeted. This place is no longer safe. We have to leave quickly."
Chi Ying also nodded in agreement. He issued an order to everyone, "Everyone listen up, quickly pack up your belongings, we will set off immediately."
Everyone answered in unison, “Yes.”
Sure enough, not long after they started walking, they encountered a second wave of assassins.
Because they were being chased by assassins along the way, their speed in returning to Beijing was affected.
Qianhuan was afraid that if this continued, they would miss the time to send the medicine back to the capital, so she had to say to Chiying, "Chiying, the assassin is in the dark, and we are in the light. With such a large group of people traveling together, the target is too big, and there is simply no place to hide. If this continues, I'm afraid we won't be able to send the Xuefu Fruit back to the capital in time."
"Then according to your opinion, what should we do next?"
"The enemy just wants to steal the Snow Fruit. When we get to the next town, you go to the carpenter to order a batch of boxes. We will all split into groups of two, each holding a wooden box. Then we will all disguise ourselves and go our separate ways. This way, the enemy will have no idea who has the real Snow Fruit."
Chi Ying couldn't help but admire in his heart that their future Crown Prince's Consort was really smart. This trick of confusing the real thing with the fake could indeed confuse the enemy's sight.
He immediately nodded and agreed, "Okay, let's do as the girl said. Then who should we compare the real Xuefu Fruit to? Who will the girl be in a group with?"
"Just leave it to me. Just pick the best secret guard for me."
"it is good."
When they arrived at the next town, Chiying prepared wooden boxes and distributed them to everyone.
After more than 20 people were all dressed up, they prepared to disperse.
Before parting with Qianhuan, Chiying said to the secret guard with a stern face, "Remember, you must protect the safety of Xue Fuguo and Miss Qianhuan. If anything happens to Miss Qianhuan, the prince will definitely not forgive us when he wakes up."
The secret guard nodded and agreed quickly, "Yes, Lord Chiying, rest assured, I will definitely protect the safety of Xue Fuguo and Miss Qianhuan even if it costs my life."
"Well, then, Miss Qianhuan, I will take my people and leave first."
Qianhuan smiled and nodded, "Well, you guys go ahead."
However, as soon as Chi Ying left, Qian Hua turned around and told the secret guard who followed her, "If you encounter danger, you must obey my orders, break out of the siege, and take Xue Fuguo back to the capital first. Don't worry about me, do you hear me?"
The secret guard looked embarrassed. He scratched his head, hesitating and did not immediately agree to Qianhuan.
Lord Chi Ying had just told him that he must protect Miss Qianhuan's safety. Now Miss Qianhuan asked him to escort Xue Fuguo back to Beijing first if she was in danger, and not to worry about her life or death. Who should he listen to?
Seeing this, Qianhuan could only speak sternly again, "We have gone through so much trouble to finally get the Xuefu Fruit back. If we can't send the herbs back to the capital in time, the prince will never wake up. Is this the result you want to see?"
The secret guard shook his head. He certainly didn't want his own prince to get hurt. "I don't want to, but Miss Qianhuan is also very important to the prince. If something happens to the girl, the prince will definitely skin me alive."
"Don't worry, I ordered you to do this, so you can't be blamed. Besides, those assassins have no intention of killing me, so if you really encounter danger, you must listen to me. You must first send the medicine back to Beijing to save the life of the prince, understand?"
The few times they encountered those assassins, they were indeed ruthless in killing everyone else, but they were afraid of hurting Miss Qianhuan.
So the secret guard stopped being hypocritical and simply nodded and agreed, "Yes, I understand."
After getting a satisfactory answer, Qianhuan finally felt relieved.
Qianhuan disguised himself as a middle-aged uncle, and the secret guard following him disguised himself as an old man with a white beard, and the two of them went together towards the capital.
During the next few days, because they traveled separately and were in disguise, it was difficult for the assassins to track them. They did not encounter the assassins for several days.