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Jing Rong's guards were vigilant and kept Ji Yunshu's tiny body securely behind them. They demanded loudly, "Whose orders are you following?"
The person straightened up and looked at Ji Yunshu. "Teacher Ji will naturally know when he goes there." Still playing tricks?
Ji Yunshu asked in a nonchalant manner, "Who are you guys?"
"Don't worry, Teacher Ji, we would never harm you and just want you to come with us. Later, we will pick up the prince as well."
They will pick up Jing Rong? Ji Yunshu carefully examined the man in front of her. His eyes didn't have any killing intent but rather were respectful. This person had brought along at least a hundred people, greatly outnumbering her own group. If they were to fight for their lives, they would definitely be at a disadvantage. Even if they were to break through the encirclement, they would end up either dead or injured! After some thought, it really isn’t worth the risk.
Thus, Ji Yunshu said, "Fine, I'll go with you."
The guards were shocked, "Teacher Ji, His Highness ordered us to stay and protect you. If you ……"
"I'm sure they won't hurt me," Ji Yunshu said firmly.
The guy smiled, "Teacher Ji, you are an esteemed guest, naturally, we won't hurt you, you can come with us."
The guards continued to dissuade her but Ji Yunshu's mind was made up. She was concerned that they were pitifully outnumbered.
And everyone knew Ji Yunshu's temperament, if her mind was made up, even a hundred oxen would not be able to force her to change it. Just like His Highness!
She then brought the guards that Jing Rong had left behind to take care of her and followed those people.
After boarding the carriage, they soon left the public road. Where are they headed? She sat in the carriage, trying to calm her thumping heart, as she lifted the curtain with her fingers to look outside. The carriage was still traveling through the forest on a very uneven road.
It was a bumpy ride, but soon, the carriages left the woods and finally ended up on a spacious road. There was a road marker just beside it which said Jingzhou!
Jingzhou? Yes, their way into the capital was originally next to Jingzhou. Just who are these people? Why did they bring her to Jingzhou and who was she going to meet?
She thought about it carefully. Jingzhou? That's where Marquis Kang was. She finally understood. Indeed, it was only Marquis Kang who could raise an army here, and only he could do such a thing.
At that moment, Jing Rong had no idea! They were busy in an intense, bloody fight for their lives. Although each of those brutes were burly, strong, and very resilient, when they met Jing Rong and his team, they were still bandits meeting soldiers in the end. Their only possible fate was a loss!
The original dozen or so brutes were killed until only three were left. Those three had unprecedented fear in their eyes, trembling as they stepped back and questioned them in a wavering tone, "Who the hell are you?"
Tang Si stepped forward and said, "This grand lady here is unafraid to give my name or surname, I’m Tang Si!"
Hey hey hey, they didn't ask about you! The three people's eyes were all on Jing Rong.
Jing Rong's gaze was stern and cold, "It's better to ask the King of Hell after you die."
The three of them were terrified, looking at the corpses all over the ground as if they were seeing themselves, realizing that in the end, they would become like those corpses. There was blood everywhere!
However, in the midst of their fear, they resolved to make one last stand.
One of them shouted, "If I’m going to die, I'll take you with me!" After saying that, this guy raised his sabre over his head and was about to slash with it when a sharp arrow suddenly shot out from deep in the forest, piercing through the back of that person's head and exiting from his forehead.
It was shot with great strength! The arrow that went clean through his head ended up in a tree, leaving a hole in the man's head. Eyes glazed over, he fell to the ground, dead.
The other two froze, their sabres halting in mid-air.
At that moment, two more arrows came from deep within the forest, instantly killing the remaining two as well.
What's going on? When Jing Rong looked back, there were sounds of rustling from the dark woods, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Torches could be seen getting closer. Almost a hundred people came out of the woods. Each of them was fully armed and looked fierce.
Before he could figure out who they were, a serious-looking guy came forward and respectfully cupped his fist towards Jing Rong. "Greetings to Your Highness."
"Who are you?"
"We're Marquis Kang's people."
Marquis Kang? What a surprise! This was within Jingzhou. Of course, it was Marquis Kang's territory, so these people, too, must be Marquis Kang's estate soldiers.
Jing Rong frowned, "Why are you guys here?"
"We have been ordered to arrest these fugitives."
"Fugitives?" He looked at the corpses all over the ground, were those fugitives? There were tattoos on each arm. Every felon who went to Jingzhou prison would have such tattoos on his body. He should have thought of that earlier.
Jing Rong didn't want to deal with Marquis Kang's people. In addition, Ji Yunshu was still waiting for him back at the camp, so he wanted to return early so as not to worry her. He said coldly, "Since the fugitives are dead, you can go back and make your report."
"Your Highness," the man called out to him. "This humble servant and the others have another mission."
"Yes?"
"The Marquis instructed us to come and invite you to his estate."
Huh? Wait… how did that old fellow know he was in Jingzhou? He was summoned back to the capital by a secret edict, and it was reasonable to say that even if the word were to spread, it wouldn't be so fast, much less to the ears of Marquis Kang, who had already withdrawn from the imperial court long ago! Where did this go wrong? Could it be that Qiao Zheng tipped them off?
He thought about all the possibilities. Finally, he looked around and asked, "Invite this prince to his estate? What? Could it be that Marquis Kang already knew that this prince would come?"
"Yes, that's why we are here to pick up Your Highness. The marquis also said that he would like to talk to Your Highness about the matter where he lent a few thousand soldiers and horses to the prince last time to attack the Gaoshan Gang and the entire army was wiped out."
Talk? Holy shit! That old man! What the hell is he up to? The emperor has already given him his favorite gold armor as compensation, and he was so happy that his front teeth are about to drop. Why does he still want to settle old scores with this prince?
He said seriously, "There is no need. This prince has important matters to attend to and has no time to meet Marquis Kang, so you can reply to him on my behalf. If there is time later, I will definitely bring the best wine to talk to the Marquis about that matter." He was about to leave with his own people.
The man who came forward still didn't give up and called out to him, "Your Highness, please wait! The Marquis knows that Your Highness is returning to the capital, so he said that if Your Highness goes to see him, you will definitely benefit from it." He was hinting at something!
Benefits? Jing Rong pondered in his mind what that meant.
