It had to be said that Gong Yin was quite a formidable character. This could be seen from his approach of either not threatening at all, or when he did threaten, he would strike precisely at one’s weak spot.

Compared to threats of violence and killing, the intimidation of “making you fat” was indeed more effective against Jing Hengbo.

For a full two days, Jing Hengbo avoided Gong Yin. Every time she saw his flowing white robes, she couldn’t help but think of that thousand-pound pig.

That day, the assassins had left behind several more corpses. The guards on Gong Yin’s side continued to sustain minor injuries, but the number of wounded was increasing, making them look rather battered.

Jing Jun had been frightened ill again. Gong Yin showed no intention of sparing her, ordering the guards to keep strict watch and take good care of her, as if facing a great enemy. This attracted the assassins to swarm toward Jing Jun’s tent like moths to a flame even more fervently. Even while ill, Jing Jun had to endure repeated frights, making her appearance truly pitiful.

Jing Hengbo was also miserable. For Gong Yin’s “enemy deception” strategy to appear realistic, it needed to be a complete act. The treatment she and Cui Jie received was quite poor. After several days of rough tea and plain rice, she actually began to miss lard-mixed rice.

Traveling while dealing with assassinations, the number of killers was gradually decreasing. Such fierce and cunning long-distance confrontation—though the enemy was hidden while they were exposed, and they were in foreign territory—the opponents had never gained any advantage. With prolonged losses, even the most powerful force would inevitably find it unbearable.

With fewer attacks, the atmosphere in the group gradually improved. Except for Gong Yin, most of the guards had become quite familiar with Jing Hengbo, and when idle, they could chat with her.

The guards privately all felt that Jing Hengbo appeared languid and alluring, loved to compete and show off, but her nature wasn’t really bad. She believed in “good mood leads to good looks,” and no matter how bumpy the daily travel or how much she suffered from that zombie Gong’s attitude, she never forgot to keep herself groomed to perfection. What the guards most enjoyed seeing was her getting up early in the morning to exercise on the hillside, facing the sunlight with her eyes and cheeks bright and brilliant, surpassing the morning glow, or when she stretched and bent, her short tight-fitting clothes gracefully pulling up, revealing a section of snow-white silky waist.

A woman who was both pleasing to the eye and loved life was always captivating. During those times, the young guards would walk back and forth particularly frequently.

During those times, Gong Yin would invariably be practicing martial arts, absolutely never stepping out of his carriage.

The atmosphere between the two was strange. Meng Hu was particularly careful about this. He had once caught Jing Hengbo secretly spitting in Gong Yin’s food, which made him extremely nervous. He tested for poison with silver needles ten times. When Gong Yin found out, that very night he had Ah Shan deliver a large bowl of pig offal.

Jing Hengbo naturally didn’t eat that bowl of unseasoned pig offal, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t throw it away. Keeping it in the carriage to rot and stink nearly suffocated her. After that, she honestly avoided Gong Yin for two days and stopped deliberately exercising outside his tent. Finally achieving temporary peace, letting Meng Hu quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

The group had already passed through Ji Bei in Da Yan and entered the Lu Dong region. Further ahead would be grasslands and plateaus. On this day, Gong Yin decided for the first time to enter a city, planning to stay overnight in Xiangfu City in Lu Dong.

Hearing this news, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After sitting in carriages and on horseback for so long, they could finally lie down on beds!

Jing Hengbo whispered to Cui Jie, “Gong Yin is mentally ill. Obviously traveling through cities is safer—cities require travel permits, have curfews, assassins can’t easily infiltrate. But he insists on camping in the wilderness, attracting enemies like attracting mosquitoes…”

Speaking to this point, she froze, some thought flashing through her mind, but it came too quickly for her to grasp.

The carriages and horses had already entered the city. Xiangfu City was very lively, with shops lining the streets and carriages flowing like dragons. For people who had long traveled in the wilderness, it seemed as prosperous as a major commercial hub.

Gong Yin ordered Meng Hu to rent a private courtyard at the city’s largest inn, then sent people out to buy clothes, claiming he agreed to stay in the city for one night because he didn’t have enough clean clothes to change into.

Jing Hengbo pursed her lips—he threw away almost one set of clothes every day, sometimes even two sets. Of course there wouldn’t be enough.

Of course, she would never admit that Gong Yin’s frequent clothes-throwing was mostly related to her.

Today was a good day, because Gong Yin seemed to have taken the wrong medicine. Not only did he enter the city, he even permitted Jing Hengbo and Cui Jie to go shopping on the streets.

Jing Hengbo asked three times, finally confirming she hadn’t heard wrong. She was also worried that her “Soul-Fixing Spider” would cause trouble. The guard who delivered the message blinked and said, “The State Preceptor says you may go as you please, as long as you don’t think about escaping, there won’t be any trouble.”

Jing Hengbo wondered if this spider could actually be remote-controlled? At this moment, she had no mind to worry about such things. Excitedly grabbing the young guard, she gave him a loud “smack” kiss on the forehead.

“Excellent! Big sister will buy you candy later!”

Ignoring the young guard’s wide-eyed, thunderstruck expression, Jing Hengbo had already pulled Cui Jie away like a whirlwind, leaving behind a trail of rich fragrance.

The young guard stood foolishly at the door, touching his forehead and constantly savoring the moment…

After being dazed for a long while, the young guard suddenly remembered Jing Hengbo’s identity and immediately changed expression. Just as he wanted to sneak back to his room, he turned around and saw a white-robed figure standing quietly under the corridor with hands behind his back.

Gong Yin didn’t know how long he had been standing there, his eyes filled with icy crystal snow.

The young guard fell to his knees with a thud, about to beg for forgiveness and commit suicide, but Gong Yin had already turned and gone inside.

When he left, his robes fell to the ground soundlessly, like rolling over fresh snow.

The young guard who had escaped death stood up touching his head. He knew the rule that the queen was inviolable, but didn’t know when the rule had changed.

He stood there in a daze, thinking about the alluring and approachable queen, thinking about those terrible rules when he returned, thinking about the strange expression in the State Preceptor’s eyes just now, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

…

Jing Hengbo and Cui Jie walked on the street, knowing that guards were secretly following behind them, but still felt their hearts soar with joy. At this moment, seeing candied hawthorns was wonderful, roadside vendors were wonderful, even a pile of dog shit on the ground was wonderful.

This was the taste of freedom.

Thinking of the word “freedom,” Jing Hengbo frowned, using her peripheral vision to secretly observe the people following behind, silently taking a breath.

Hah, what freedom—it was just a false illusion.

However, she believed she would eventually find a way to completely escape from the Dahuang people.

Cui Jie was also in good spirits today. Usually she hated shopping, but today she was even more enthusiastic than Jing Hengbo, constantly pulling her around, chattering in her ear about Jing Jun’s illness, then extorting money from her saying she wanted to buy a bracelet. When she saw street performers, she wanted to squeeze in to watch. Just as Jing Hengbo was about to follow, suddenly Cui Jie squeezed back out.

Jing Hengbo looked up and saw her expression, couldn’t help but freeze.

Cui Jie, who was always carefree, had a snow-white face, red eyes, lips unconsciously twitching slightly, looking both nervous and miserable.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Cui Jie grabbed her hand tightly, her palm ice-cold, making Jing Hengbo shiver.

“My enemy… I… I saw my enemy! I saw my enemy!”

Jing Hengbo froze, standing on her tiptoes to look in the direction of Cui Jie’s gaze.

Not far away across from them, a group of people stood with chests puffed out and bellies protruding. At the front was a richly dressed young master, surrounded on all sides by sturdy men in blue clothes—clearly all bodyguards.

Jing Hengbo knew Cui Jie’s background. Her father and brothers had been bullied to death by wealthy young masters, causing her to end up in a brothel. She just hadn’t expected to encounter them in Xiangfu City.

But such a group of people was not something two weak women could confront. First, the Dahuang guards following behind would not allow them to go forward for revenge, as it would cause a disturbance and bring trouble.

“Da Bo…” Cui Jie’s hands were trembling, her voice also shaking, every word a plea, “You… you help me… you help me lure away the Dahuang people… I’ll go find him for revenge myself… help me this once, and I’ll be your servant for life!”

Jing Hengbo gripped her hand, thought for a moment, then chuckled.

She raised her hand to smooth Cui Jie’s hair, wiped away her tears, and patted her face. “If you want revenge, then get revenge. Since we’ve encountered him, how can we miss this chance? No need to talk about being servants or not—we sisters meeting is fate. I just hope that you, Jing Jun, Yong Xue, and I can stay together for life.”

Cui Jie stared up at Jing Hengbo in a daze.

It wasn’t easy to hear such warm words from the usually indulgent Jing Hengbo, especially when she was smiling in that particular way that made the reliability of her words questionable.

But Jing Hengbo had already turned around and was walking back with cat-like steps.

She walked toward the group of Dahuang guards following a zhang behind, loosening her collar as she walked, smiling charmingly with alluring eyes, “It’s so hot today…”

“A woman is taking off her clothes!” In front of her, a sharp-eyed rogue immediately let out a delighted shriek, his voice changing pitch with excitement.

This cry awakened the dazed Dahuang guards, and in the next instant they all turned around in unison.

The moment they turned, Jing Hengbo had already spun on her heel and retreated, grabbing the still-dazed Cui Jie. “Let’s go!”

The next instant, neither Jing Hengbo nor Cui Jie was at the original spot. The excited rogue looked around bewildered, “Eh, where are they? They were just here…”

A group of rogues attracted by his shout rushed up disappointedly, “You were shouting nonsense! Beat him up!”

The crowd of fighting people blocked the Dahuang guards’ line of sight. By the time they pushed through the obstructing crowd, where could they still see anyone?