In that moment, time seemed extraordinarily slow in Qin Yining’s eyes. Everything around her became blurred. She screamed and reached out to pull Ji Yun back, but her body was now heavy and her belly got in the way, preventing her from moving as quickly as before to save someone. She could only watch helplessly as that sharp arrow flew straight toward Ji Yun.

Ji Yun could have dodged originally, but with Qin Yining behind her, how could she dodge? Moreover, the blade in Tianji Zi’s hand gleamed white and cold, about to reach them in the blink of an eye.

Ji Yun gritted her teeth, her gaze suddenly turning fierce!

She neither retreated nor yielded, but instead flicked her soft sword. What had appeared like a silver belt when coiled around her waist now became sharp and straight, thrusting directly at Tianji Zi’s throat.

Even if it was trading life for life, she would profit!

Tianji Zi hadn’t expected Qin Yining to have such a loyal servant by her side. Seeing the sword tip approaching, she panicked and tried to dodge. But Tianji Zi knew no martial arts—frightened and with her heart racing, she stumbled backward in confusion.

The arrow aimed at Ji Yun had also reached its target.

At this critical moment, a white figure suddenly appeared with agility, using one sword to deflect Ji Yun’s soft sword aimed at Tianji Zi, while sweeping his other hand in front of Ji Yun. His wide sleeve fluttered powerfully, actually deflecting that unstoppable arrow to one side with a “thud” as it buried halfway into a thick tree trunk.

“Young Master Mu!”

Qin Yining was both surprised with joy and worried. She quickly pulled Ji Yun to her side for protection. Mu Jinghu had restrained Ji Yun, protected Tianji Zi, and saved Ji Yun all in one move—Qin Yining still couldn’t see clearly which side he was on.

Ji Yun had nearly lost her life just now and was still covered in cold sweat from the fright.

Mu Jinghu turned and bowed to Tianji Zi, calling out: “Master-Uncle.”

Tianji Zi had nearly been killed by Ji Yun just moments ago and was still shaken. She should have been happy to be rescued, but Mu Jinghu had also saved Ji Yun.

She scowled and scolded: “Move aside.”

“Master-Uncle, why did you drug me?”

Why? Wasn’t it because she feared he would interfere?

Tianji Zi looked up and glared at Mu Jinghu, gritting her teeth: “Move aside! Don’t you understand?”

Mu Jinghu stood rooted like a wooden post, lowering his head: “Master-Uncle, please stop.”

Seeing Mu Jinghu still acting as before, Qin Yining breathed a sigh of relief, and even Ji Yun and Bingtang were filled with hope. Mu Jinghu’s martial arts were unfathomably deep—as long as he was willing to help, Tianji Zi definitely couldn’t succeed today.

“Stop? You understand nothing!” Tianji Zi was furious, her eyes bloodshot as she roared: “Master taught you martial arts so you could protect me! How is it that now you’re siding with outsiders! Are you like that Lu fellow, unable to bear taking her life? Or are you like that Ji fellow? Is that Pang Xiao worth so much that you’d rather protect his wife?!”

“Master-Uncle, Pang Zhixi is my friend. He once entrusted me to protect Lady Qin, so I cannot let you kill her.”

“You!”

Tianji Zi glared at Mu Jinghu, her eyes filled with blood, grinding her teeth: “What if I insist on killing her? Would you actually betray your sect?”

Mu Jinghu said helplessly: “Master-Uncle, Lady Qin is just a woman. Why must you kill her? Moreover, she’s pregnant now—killing her means killing three people. You’re being too cruel!”

“I’m cruel? You understand nothing, so stop meddling in our affairs!” Tianji Zi had reached her limit, holding the blade with both hands and pointing it at Mu Jinghu: “Move aside!”

“Master-Uncle.” Mu Jinghu lifted his robe and knelt in the muddy ground. “Master-Uncle, please stop creating more killing karma.”

“Unfilial child, I’ll kill you first!”

Tianji Zi roared in fury, raising the blade high with both hands to chop down at Mu Jinghu.

Mu Jinghu knelt in place, simply raising his hand and sweeping his sleeve. Tianji Zi felt a powerful wind strike her face, followed by a crisp metallic “clang!” The blade in Tianji Zi’s hand actually broke at the root, leaving only the handle in her hands as she was shocked into stumbling backward two steps and falling to the ground.

The archer in the distance saw this and quickly nocked another arrow, aiming directly at Qin Yining.

Mu Jinghu stood up unhurriedly and casually swept the broken blade segment. The arrow was split in half head-on, its force dissipated as it fell to the ground.

The man hadn’t expected Mu Jinghu to have such skill. In anger, he tried to draw his bow again, but a silver flash passed by and he felt a chill in his chest.

Looking down, he saw Mu Jinghu’s broken blade embedded in his chest, while Mu Jinghu stood with hands behind his back in front of Qin Yining and the others, completely at ease.

The man’s eyes widened in terror as his large body fell to the ground, convulsing before his breathing stopped.

At this moment, urgent footsteps and hoofbeats approached—three of the guards Ji Zeyu had assigned to Qin Yining had arrived.

“Princess Consort!”

All three men bore wounds but resolutely held their blades as they blocked in front of Qin Yining, watching Tianji Zi and Mu Jinghu warily.

Qin Yining’s expression darkened. She knew the remaining two couldn’t come anymore, just like the carriage driver…

Tianji Zi sat in the muddy ground. Seeing Qin Yining’s guards arrive and Mu Jinghu standing firmly before her, she suddenly threw away the blade handle, spread her hands, and burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! It truly is Heaven’s will, Heaven’s will! I’ve calculated everyone in the world, but you’re the only one I can’t see through. You are the variable, and everything around you is a variable! Since Heaven gave me this mission, why does it still let you exist! You should have died long ago!”

Tianji Zi scrambled up and pointed at Qin Yining: “If you don’t die, who knows how long this world will remain in chaos!”

Qin Yining frowned, looking at Tianji Zi’s mud-covered, deranged appearance with some pity.

How many people in this world could make mystical studies their career? Whether Tianji Zi’s calculations were accurate or not was another matter, but she had expended so much effort on this that Qin Yining didn’t know whether to praise her persistence or despise her ignorance.

“Master-Uncle, let’s go.” Mu Jinghu rubbed his still-aching temple and turned back to look at Qin Yining.

Qin Yining quickly had Ji Yun and Bingtang bow with her: “Young Master Mu, thank you.”

Mu Jinghu shook his head and sighed: “Don’t hate my Master-Uncle. She’s also doing this for the world.” Then, feeling his request was somewhat unreasonable—Qin Yining had nearly been killed, and it was Tianji Zi who had instigated harm against her in Tatar territory, and now she was being hunted while heavily pregnant—how could she not hate?

Mu Jinghu bowed apologetically and turned to help Tianji Zi up.

Tianji Zi swayed as she got up, slapping away Mu Jinghu’s hand while mumbling: “Heaven’s will, variable, Heaven’s will, variable…” She walked away in a daze, and Mu Jinghu could only follow silently behind her.

“Princess Consort, should we let her go?” a guard asked with a bow.

Qin Yining shook her head: “With him there, you couldn’t kill her anyway.” She turned to look at the three wounded men and said apologetically: “I’ve implicated you all.”

“Princess Consort needn’t blame yourself. We are His Lordship’s guards and swear to follow his orders unto death. His Lordship ordered us to protect you, so we’ll protect you with our lives.”

Qin Yining wiped the rainwater from her face: “First, let’s temporarily bury our brothers and mark the spots. After we return to the city and make arrangements, we’ll come back for them.”

“Yes.”

The three men went to find their brothers’ corpses and buried them beside the forest, marking the locations.

The remaining journey was extremely somber but also smooth.

When Qin Yining’s carriage reached the mansion gates, the gatekeepers immediately ran joyfully inside to spread the news, while others removed the threshold boards and helped with the carriage.

The mansion guards saw the three escorts and immediately knew they had experienced a fierce battle on the road. They were greatly alarmed and frantically inquired about the situation.

Qin Yining, supported by Bingtang and Ji Yun’s hands, got out of the carriage. The servants who came to hold umbrellas for her saw that her clothes were soaked through, her hair disheveled, and her skirts covered in mud—they were momentarily stunned.

Qin Yining said: “Quickly find a physician to treat these three, and there are also three brothers’ locations—you should go retrieve them too.”

Qin Huaiyuan had sprained his ankle and couldn’t conveniently rush out at this time. However, Sun Shi and Ma Shi, who were together when they heard the news, came arm in arm. Seeing Qin Yining and everyone’s condition, both women were frightened.

Sun Shi stepped forward and grasped Qin Yining’s hands, rubbing them to warm them: “Yi’er, how did you end up like this? What happened on the road?”

“In-law, we should first let the child go change clothes and wash up to avoid catching cold,” Ma Shi said, turning to instruct people to prepare a sedan chair.

Qin Yining smiled reassuringly at Ma Shi and Sun Shi: “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll go clean up first and have Bingtang check me over. By the way, where is my father?”

“Your father is in his room—his ankle is swollen like a steamed bun.” Sun Shi looked at the three guards being helped away and asked worriedly: “Did you encounter some trouble?”

Qin Yining smiled: “It’s nothing, Mother, don’t worry.”

At this moment, sturdy women came carrying a sedan chair. Qin Yining, supported by Bingtang and Ji Yun, got on. The women carefully carried her up the covered walkway toward Siqing Garden.

Sun Shi and Ma Shi exchanged glances, both their eyes filled with worry.

“This child definitely encountered trouble. In-law, you go tell your husband about this, and I’ll go see how the girl is doing.”

Sun Shi immediately nodded.

Both women hurried away—one to Siqing Garden, one to Suxue Garden.

Qin Yining changed out of her wet clothes, wiped herself down with hot water, washed her hair, and took cold-dispelling soup and pregnancy-stabilizing medicine. She then changed into casual home clothes and sat on the heated kang wrapped in a blanket.

Though it wasn’t yet winter, since Qin Yining said she was cold, the servants immediately heated the kang. It wasn’t heated to scorching, but sitting on it was warm and comfortable.

Qin Yining sighed comfortably and had the similarly refreshed Ji Yun and Bingtang sit on the kang as well, calling Qianyun and Lian Xiaozhou to sit beside her too.

“The heated kang is the best thing about the north.”

“Indeed. Princess Consort, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Qianyun asked with concern.

Qin Yining rubbed her brow: “Just a bit of a headache, probably from catching cold. It’s nothing—Bingtang just adjusted the prescription, so it’ll be fine after taking the medicine.”