Chu Zhao was feeling very unwell now.

Even sitting in the sturdy carriage, she could feel the ground trembling.

Her heart was also beating rapidly.

A-Le lifted the carriage curtain. In the distance, the thick darkness of night seemed to be burning, and the sounds of people and horses neighed with the night wind pouring in.

“Put down the curtain quickly!” Chu Ke, huddled in the farthest corner of the carriage, cried out in terror. “You lowly maid, why are you lifting the curtain?”

“Why are you shouting?” Chu Zhao scolded him. “If bandits attack, can a curtain stop them?”

Of course not. Not just the curtain, but this solid carriage and even Deng Yi and his soldiers, who had seemed so reliable, were nothing in the face of fierce bandits. Chu Ke wrapped his cloak tightly around himself, the young man’s eyes reddening. How could they be so unlucky as to encounter bandits?

Chu Zhao took several deep breaths, her voice softening somewhat: “Think of it this way, we’ve encountered government troops surrounding bandits, not bandits running rampant. That would be truly dangerous.”

Chu Ke certainly understood this reasoning, but—

“So many troops have been mobilized to encircle these bandits, which shows how formidable these bandits are,” he murmured. “What if some escape the net—”

They would be doomed!

“This is all your fault!” Chu Ke shouted with reddened eyes. “If it weren’t for you, how would we encounter so many dangers!”

He had been a refined young scholar in the capital, but look at him now—disheveled and facing a life-threatening situation.

“You and your father are alike, only bringing trouble to the family.”

Chu Zhao had originally not wanted to argue with the frightened young man, but upon hearing this, she kicked out, sending Chu Ke crashing into the carriage wall with a bang.

He clutched his stomach and wailed.

That wasn’t the end. The next moment, he was seized by Chu Zhao, her small hands gripping him like pliers and pinning him against the carriage.

Chu Ke couldn’t even cry out, his face turning purple-red.

Chu Zhao said coldly: “Encountering trouble isn’t because of others, it’s because of yourself. Who told you to be reborn as the son of the Chu family, and to be the eldest? Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been your turn to come. Chu Ke, this is your bad luck. If you dare say another word against my father, I’ll break your leg—”

Chu Ke stared at her, making coughing sounds as if trying to say something.

“You think I wouldn’t dare?” Chu Zhao pressed one hand on Chu Ke’s head, moving closer to him. “I’ve almost taken Miss Liang’s life already. I don’t mind adding your leg to the list. Anyway, my father will plead to the Emperor for leniency later. Whether it’s one offense or two, they’ll be pardoned. Even if I have to live in prison, your leg won’t grow back. I’ll suffer, but you won’t have a good life either.”

The girl’s voice and expression were calm, but her eyes were like deep pools, dark and emitting a terrifying light.

She wasn’t lying. She dared, and it looked like she truly wanted to kill someone.

Chu Ke’s wide eyes were filled with fear.

How could Chu Zhao be so frightening? He hadn’t noticed this before—before, he hadn’t paid any attention to this cousin of his, and when they met, he had always looked down on her, not deigning to give her a second glance.

After speaking, Chu Zhao withdrew her hand and sat up straight: “A-Le, wrap the Young Master’s cloak properly, don’t let him catch a cold.”

A-Le responded with a “Yes,” her round, simple face looking at Chu Ke as she extended her plump hands to forcefully pat his cloak.

Chu Ke pressed his neck and coughed violently. Lunatic, Chu Zhao was a lunatic, her maid was also a lunatic, and her father, Chu Li, was an even bigger lunatic. The whole Second Branch family was lunatics!

He didn’t dare speak again. One couldn’t reason with lunatics.

Chu Zhao didn’t pay any more attention to him, knowing that Chu Ke must be cursing her and her father wildly in his mind. She didn’t question how people thought in their hearts, but in the future, no one should dare to wantonly slander her father in front of her.

Thinking of this, she felt heartache and remorse. In her previous life, she hadn’t been much different from Chu Ke. She had also constantly complained about her father, listening to her uncle’s family’s grievances, not only failing to defend her father but also joining in the anger and complaints.

She had complained that her father had ruined such a promising career, causing her to have a low status; complained that her father and mother had an improper union without a matchmaker, causing her to be ridiculed by others; blamed her father for sending her to the capital so late, thinking that if her grandmother had raised her from the beginning, she would surely have been a proper noble lady—

In short, whenever her life wasn’t going well, it was all her father’s fault.

She hadn’t known at all that it was she who had burdened her father, and even after her father’s death, he had continued to provide her with a stable life for so long.

Chu Zhao raised her hand, pressing back the mist of tears that filled her eyes.

Someone gently knocked on the carriage: “Miss Chu.”

A-Le lifted the curtain. Chu Zhao looked at Deng Yi and asked with concern: “Master Deng has returned? How is it?”

Earlier that day, while looking for a campsite, the scouts had reported that there was trouble ahead—government troops encircling bandits, with the bandits fighting back fiercely. Deng Yi had told them to stay in place and remain vigilant while he went forward to investigate.

The clamor of the battle had continued for half the night, and now Deng Yi had finally returned.

Deng Yi had returned some time ago but heard the siblings fighting again in the carriage—more precisely, Miss Chu beating Young Master Chu again—so he had waited a while.

“It’s over. The government troops have won,” he said.

Chu Zhao patted her chest: “That’s good, that’s good.”

It was not possible to camp here now. Deng Yi ordered them to continue moving forward. The group, with torches lit, passed through a mountain pass and saw the battleground.

The scene they witnessed was more vivid than what they had imagined from just hearing the sounds.

The battle had been fierce, with many casualties.

A-Le was a bit nervous, but seeing that Chu Zhao did not react, looking at the blood and remains calmly before turning her gaze away—the young lady had, after all, grown up in a border military camp and had seen such sights before, unlike Young Master Chu, who was curled up like a quail in the carriage, using his sleeve to cover his face.

A-Le was no longer nervous and adopted the same solemn expression as Chu Zhao.

Since their identities had already been verified, their group was not stopped.

“Miss Chu, did you expect such fierce bandits even in the heartland of the Central Plains?” Deng Yi rode his horse beside the carriage, looking at Chu Zhao, who was peering out through the lifted window curtain. “Although people say the empire is peaceful, bandit troubles have always existed.”

Chu Zhao vaguely made a sound of agreement, sighing inwardly. The empire would soon be far from peaceful, and then there would be more bandits and more tragic scenes of death and injury.

A rush of hoofbeats sounded, and another troop of soldiers approached from the front, shouting, “Master Deng.”

Deng Yi reined in his horse: “It’s the Young Master.”

Xiao Xun? Chu Zhao immediately tensed, grabbing the carriage window. In the dim night, illuminated by the raging torches, a young man wrapped in a black cloak rode forward. The swift night wind lifted his cloak, revealing his white brocade robe and his face—a face Chu Zhao would never forget—

Why had he come?

Xiao Xun met with Deng Yi, without looking at the girl who was staring at him intently from inside the carriage.

“I’m truly ashamed that such a thing happened and caused you alarm,” Xiao Xun said with an apologetic expression.

Deng Yi said: “Young Master needn’t worry. This kind of matter is unrelated to me, and I won’t report it to the court, so it won’t tarnish the Prince of Zhongshan’s good name.”

This Deng Yi truly spoke without restraint. Xiao Xun was surprised. His father had said that Deng Yi was just a minor official in the Imperial Guard, but he seemed quite defiant.

Since that was the case, he wouldn’t be polite either.

“Thank you, Sir,” Xiao Xun said. “The bandit leader has escaped. For safety, my father has ordered me to bring men to escort you to the capital.”

What? Escort to the capital? Chu Zhao, who had been listening intently, immediately heard this.

“No!” she shouted.

Deng Yi and Xiao Xun looked over. Before they could speak, Chu Ke also shouted from inside the carriage.

“Why not!” the young man’s voice was hoarse. “Didn’t you hear? The most vicious bandit leader is still at large!”

“He’s fleeing within the territory of the Prince of Zhongshan. The Young Master should go after the bandit leader,” Chu Zhao said, her hands gripping the carriage window tightly. “Master Deng, we should just leave quickly.”

Deng Yi looked at her. The firelight and darkness danced on his face as he shook his head: “Miss Chu, ensuring the safety of the journey is my duty. I accept the Young Master’s escort.”

Chu Zhao’s heart sank heavily.

So, she couldn’t prevent Xiao Xun from entering the capital, nor could she even refuse his presence beside her.

After all her struggles along the way, she had accomplished nothing. She couldn’t see her father, nor could she escape from Xiao Xun.

Her eyes grew vacant, and the hand gripping the carriage window became powerless.