Jingrong’s guards were very vigilant. They firmly protected Ji Yinshu’s small frame behind them.

They demanded sharply, “Whose orders are you following?”

The visitor straightened his posture and looked at Ji Yinshu. “Master Ji will naturally know once you go.”

Still being mysterious?

Ji Yinshu asked, “Who are you people?”

Her tone was neither heavy nor light.

“Master Ji, rest assured, we absolutely will not harm you. As long as you come with us, shortly after, we will naturally receive His Highness and bring him along as well.”

They would also go receive Jingrong?

Ji Yinshu carefully examined the person before her. His eyes held no killing intent, but rather were quite respectful.

And this person had brought at least over a hundred people. Her own people were few and far between, weak in force. If they were to fight desperately, they would definitely suffer losses.

Even if they broke through the encirclement, in the end it would be either death or injury!

Thinking about it, it really wasn’t worth it.

So—

Ji Yinshu said, “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

The guards were shocked. “Master Ji, His Highness ordered us to stay behind to protect your safety. If you…”

“I believe they won’t harm me.” Ji Yinshu said firmly.

The visitor smiled. “Master Ji, you are an honored guest. We naturally won’t harm you. You can safely come with us.”

The guards continued trying to dissuade her.

But Ji Yinshu’s mind was made up.

She reasoned, “They have too many people.”

And everyone knew Ji Yinshu’s temperament—once she decided on something, even a hundred oxen might not be able to pull her back.

Just like their own prince!

So—

She brought the guards Jingrong had left behind to look after her and went with those people.

After boarding the carriage, they quickly left the official road. She didn’t know where they were heading.

Sitting inside the carriage, she restrained her wildly pounding heart. Putting two fingers together, she lifted the carriage curtain to look outside. The carriage was still traveling through the forest, on an extremely uneven road.

Bumpy all the way.

Soon, the carriage emerged from the forest and finally got onto a spacious road.

Right beside that road happened to be a stone marker.

Written on it was: Jingzhou!

Jingzhou?

That’s right, on their journey to the capital, they were originally near Jingzhou anyway.

But who were these people? Why would they bring her to Jingzhou, and who were they going to see?

She thought carefully about it.

Jingzhou?

That would be Marquis Kang’s territory then.

She finally understood.

Indeed, only Marquis Kang could keep troops here, and only he could do something like this.

But at this moment, Jingrong was completely unaware!

They were engaged in slaughter amid the blood.

Either death!

Or life.

Although those big men were each imposing in build, very strong, and extremely hardy, when they encountered Jingrong and his group, in the end it was still bandits meeting soldiers.

They could only take beatings!

Originally more than ten burly men, they were killed until only three remained.

Those three people’s eyes revealed unprecedented fear as they trembled and retreated backward, questioning them, “You… who exactly are you?”

Their voices shook.

Tang Si stepped forward and said, “This young lady doesn’t change her name when walking or her surname when sitting—Tang Si.”

Hey, hey, hey, they weren’t asking about you.

All three people’s gazes fell on Jingrong in unison.

Jingrong’s gaze was sharp as he coldly swept over them. “You’d better ask the King of Hell after you die.”

The three were terrified. Looking at the corpses covering the ground, it was as if they saw themselves, ultimately able only to become one body among those corpses.

Blood everywhere!

However, in their terror, they planned to make a last-ditch struggle, engaging in a final desperate fight.

One of them shouted loudly, “If we must die, we’re taking you with us!”

After saying this, that person raised his large blade over his head. Just as he was about to slash down, a sharp arrow suddenly shot out from deep within the forest, piercing straight through from the back of his head to his forehead.

The force was tremendous!

The arrow passed through his head and finally embedded itself in a tree.

A hole had been pierced through that person’s head.

Ugh!

His eyes rolled back white as he fell to the ground dead.

The other two were stunned, their blades suspended in mid-air.

Immediately after, two more sharp arrows shot from deep in the forest, killing the remaining two people as well.

What was going on?

Jingrong looked back. From the pitch-black forest came a rustling sound, followed by chaotic footsteps.

Carrying a ball of firelight, drawing closer and closer!

Nearly a hundred people emerged from the forest.

Each wearing armor, their faces stern.

Before they could figure out who these people were, they saw one with a serious expression step forward and respectfully clasp his hands toward Jingrong.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“You are?”

“We are Marquis Kang’s men.”

Marquis Kang?

Shock!

This was Jingzhou territory—naturally it was Marquis Kang’s domain, so these people were all Marquis Kang’s private troops.

Jingrong frowned. “How did you come to be here?”

“We were ordered to come capture these escaped criminals.”

“Escaped criminals?” He looked at the corpses covering the ground. Weren’t they criminals indeed? What was on each one’s arms wasn’t tattoos—anyone who entered Jingzhou’s prison as a serious offender would have such markings imprinted on their body.

He should have thought of this earlier.

Jingrong didn’t want to deal with Marquis Kang’s people. Plus, Ji Yinshu was still waiting for him at the camp. The sooner he went and returned, the less she would worry.

So he said coldly, “Since the escaped criminals are dead, you can return to report your completion.”

“Your Highness.” That person called out to him. “We subordinates have another task at hand.”

“What?”

“The Marquis ordered us to come receive you to go to his residence.”

Hmm?

Wait a moment—

Speaking of which, how would that old fellow know he was in Jingzhou?

He had been summoned back to the capital by secret edict. By rights, even if word spread, the news wouldn’t travel this fast, and it certainly wouldn’t reach the ears of Marquis Kang, who had long since withdrawn from the court!

Where had things gone wrong?

Could it be that fellow Qiao Zheng tipped him off?

His mind raced as he thought through all the possibilities.

Finally, he swept his gaze around in a circle and said, “Receive this prince to the residence? What’s this? Could Marquis Kang have known long ago that this prince would come?”

“Yes, so we came to receive Your Highness to the residence. The Marquis also said that because last time he borrowed several thousand soldiers from Your Highness to attack the mountain stronghold and they were completely annihilated, he wants to have a chat with Your Highness about this matter.”

A chat?

Damn!

That old fellow!

What scheme was he plotting?

His Majesty had already given him the golden thread armor he loved most as compensation. He was already so happy his front teeth were about to fall out. How could he still want to bring up old accounts with this prince?

He firmly refused. “No need. This prince still has matters to attend to and no time to see Marquis Kang. You can convey to him on this prince’s behalf that if there’s time in the future, this prince will definitely bring the finest wine to have a good talk with the Marquis about borrowing troops.”

He was about to leave with his people.

The visitor still wouldn’t give up and called out to him, “Your Highness, please wait. The Marquis knows Your Highness is returning to the capital, so he said that if Your Highness goes to see him, you definitely won’t suffer any losses.”

There was a hidden meaning in his words!

Won’t suffer losses?

Jingrong pondered in his heart—what did this phrase mean?