Chapter 155: Are You Still Alive?
“Cough cough cough······” Chu Yu, who was choking on saliva and coughing nonstop, hurriedly closed the iron box. He swore that he had just clearly heard Lin Xin’s suppressed laughter from inside the horse carriage.
“Are you okay!” A voice filled with thick amusement came from inside the horse carriage.
“I’m fine,” Chu Yu shook his head, cleared his throat, and said: “You know, this thing might really perk one up. It’s just that the taste is a bit pungent.”
“Only the outer layer is the most sour. The inside isn’t so sour.” Lin Xin gave an explanation.
“Is that so? Haha~” Chu Yu gave a dry laugh, tucked the candy box into his pocket, and made up his mind to stay energetic on the road from now on, best not to have any chance to touch that box of sour candy again.
Lin Xin shrugged her shoulders and didn’t speak again. Looking at the brightening sky, then at Lin Nan and Lin Tao who were about to wake up, she took a bundle out of the space and placed it on the small table in the middle.
“Sis~” After waking up, Lin Nan looked at the unfamiliar place and subconsciously called out.
“Don’t worry, Older Sister is here! Didn’t let anyone kidnap you!” Lin Xin tugged at his hair, which was messed up like a little bird’s nest from sleep, and said.
“Mm, I knew Older Sister was the best.” Even though he wasn’t fully awake yet, flattering his older sister had become a habit ingrained in Lin Nan’s bones.
“Flattering me again with sweet talk. Get up quickly and wash up. Once Tao Tao wakes up, we’ll eat breakfast with Uncle Chu.” Lin Xin had long practiced the kung fu to remain unmoved. With a blank expression, she pulled Lin Nan up and covered his face with a handkerchief soaked in water.
“Sis~” The slightly cool touch stimulated Lin Nan’s dough wrapper, making him instantly awake. Unhappily, he pouted his little mouth and wiped his face clean.
“Mmm~” Lin Tao woke up at this moment too. Before opening his eyes, he stretched a long lazy waist first. After his little feet touched Lin Xin’s leg, he slightly opened his eyes. Seeing Lin Xin’s face, he broke into a big smile, “Auntie~”
“Good boy!” Lin Xin leaned down to pick him up and let him nestle in her arms to wake up fully.
Lin Nan: “······” So love disappears, huh?
“Auntie, I need to pee!” After Lin Nan wiped his hands and face, the fully awake Lin Tao tugged at Lin Xin’s sleeve and said shyly in a small voice.
Lin Xin was stunned upon hearing this, then knocked on the horse carriage compartment. “Chu Yu, they’re all awake. Find a place to stop. We’ll stretch our legs and then eat breakfast.”
Chu Yu heard the conversation inside the carriage clearly. He looked at the not-too-dense woods nearby and drove the horse carriage into the woods along a relatively wide path.
“Alright, go do what you need to! You two stick close to Uncle Chu. Don’t leave his sight, got it?” Lin Xin put the two little beans down from the horse carriage and solemnly instructed.
“Got it.” The two little ones replied in unison, then eagerly ran to Chu Yu. They looked up at him. Lin Tao even exaggeratedly clamped his legs together, making Lin Xin unable to help but chuckle. She waved her hand, letting Chu Yu take them to “handle personal matters.”
While they weren’t back, Lin Xin flashed into the space, quickly handled her personal matters, brushed her teeth at lightning speed, then returned to the horse carriage as if nothing had happened, and laid out breakfast filling the entire small table.
“Wow! There’s good food!” The relaxed Lin Tao and Lin Nan held hands and bounced back. Seeing a table full of food, they exclaimed in surprise.
“Yeah, good food. Eat quickly!” Lin Xin picked up a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, then called to Chu Yu, who was a bit dumbfounded below the horse carriage, to eat together.
“Miss Lin, where, where did these things come from?” In his shock, Chu Yu even stuttered.
“Brought them just before leaving.” Lin Xin answered calmly.
“Is that so?” Chu Yu scratched his head. So much food would take up space, but he had stayed in the horse carriage for a while before and hadn’t seen even a shadow of these things, not even smelled the scent. This······ isn’t normal!
He originally wanted to ask further, but for some reason, Mo Ziyuan’s words to him popped into his mind. He very wisely shut his mouth. Whatever, as long as there’s food, don’t overthink it. As long as Miss Lin doesn’t harm Your Highness, it’s fine!
The carefree Chu Yu quickly entered eat-eat-eat mode.
Compared to their rare moment of peace here, the situation for Mo Ziyuan’s group, who had just left Willow Forest Village, couldn’t be considered good—in fact, it was somewhat bad.
From the moment they left the village, not even a few li into the journey, they had already encountered two waves of men in black ambushing them. Although those people were all killed in the end, they still felt some worry in their hearts.
“Since so many people have come here, it means Chu Yu’s side has temporarily passed without suspicion. If we can keep attracting those people’s attention, their chances of safely reaching the Capital City will be greater. So everyone, stay alert and don’t give the enemy any opportunities.” Mo Ziyuan spoke to comfort the group who were starting to show anxiety.
“Zi Yuan is right. The more people come to us, the safer Old Chu’s side is. We absolutely can’t drop the ball!” Gao Yong’s characteristically loud voice rang out again.
“Hope they won’t disappoint us!” Fu Jing looked at the corpses strewn across the ground ahead, his face grim.
“Clean up all these corpses. We’re continuing on our way.” Mo Ziyuan didn’t even give him a glance, rode his horse straight past him, and instructed the people behind.
Ever since that day, he hadn’t given Fu Jing a proper look, nor said a single word to him again.
Fu Jing watched his back, clenched his fist, and at the same time, a faint sense of powerlessness rose in his heart. After showing him his sister’s letter that day, Mo Ziyuan had taken it back. Even if he shamelessly asked for it, he couldn’t get even half a glance from him. Even Gao Yong and the others looked at him with eyes full of reproach.
He didn’t even dare to imagine what fate awaited him back in the Capital City if Mo Ziyuan handed that letter to Your Majesty. For the first time, resentment toward his sister welled up in his heart. The journey had been so arduous, several times even hanging by a thread, and they had finally endured to the day of success. Yet all his life-and-death struggles were to be cut short by his sister’s foolish obsession—how could he accept that?
At this time, the guards who came along had finished cleaning up the assassins’ corpses. Everyone mounted their horses again and set off.
Riding horses was indeed much faster than a horse carriage. After two more rounds of fighting, they still arrived at the place where Lin Xin and Young Master Qian had encountered each other by dusk.
“Heir, Young Master Qian of the imperial merchant Qian family and his three companions are all lying on the ground not far ahead.” The scout who went ahead first told Mo Ziyuan what they had seen.
“Are they still alive?” Gao Yong asked first. Although imperial merchants were merchants, the word “imperial” meant they had achieved the extreme. For Young Master Qian, the next head of the Qian family, to appear here was probably no simple matter!
If something happened to him, even with their prominent family backgrounds, they would inevitably have to offer sufficient benefits to compensate for the Qian family’s loss of their legitimate eldest son.
Thanks to Mmy Dang, Fall Leaves Know Autumn-Ad, caroletu, Pisces·DC for the votes, thanks to caroletu for the tip, thank you all for your support, thank you!
