The moment Cui Yi and his two companions surrounded him, Jiang Zhan’s first reaction was to turn around, enduring their punches while shouting to the coachman: “Go quickly!”
At that moment, he felt genuine fear.
His body was depleted of strength, and if these three scoundrels discovered Fourth Sister was in the carriage, the consequences would be unthinkable.
This thought made a cold sweat break out on his brow. He couldn’t even feel the pain from the punches landing on his back as he shouted even louder at the coachman: “Leave now!”
The elderly coachman, slow to react, only responded after the second shout, hurriedly whipping the equally aged horse.
Just then, the bamboo-green cotton curtain was lifted, revealing the young lady’s beautiful face: “Second Brother, what’s happening?”
The moment the young lady’s gentle voice sounded, the three attackers paused, their expressions turning lecherous.
“Oh? There’s someone in the carriage.”
Jiang Zhan whirled around, snarling: “Cui Yi if you dare approach my sister, I’ll kill you!”
Cui Yi wasn’t particularly lecherous by nature, and even seeing a rare beauty like Jiang Si wouldn’t normally affect him. However, his expression turned malicious, as someone accustomed to bullying others knew exactly what would cause the most distress.
Since Jiang Zhan was so protective of his precious sister, he’d deliberately take advantage of her to teach him an unforgettable lesson.
“Hold him back!” Cui Yi commanded, and the other two youths expertly restrained Jiang Zhan.
Usually, Jiang Zhan could easily handle these two, but after falling into the water while drunk and experiencing a series of emotional blows throughout the day, he was near his breaking point and couldn’t manage to fight back.
Seeing his companions had restrained Jiang Zhan, Cui Yi smiled maliciously and grabbed the horse’s reins.
The chestnut horse was elderly and gentle-natured, chosen for its steady reliability in pulling carriages. At this moment, this virtue became a fatal flaw.
The old coachman had never encountered such a situation. Despite his desperate attempts to move the carriage, it was futile, leaving him frantically pacing around.
Jiang Si watched Cui Yi attempting to climb onto the carriage with an icy calm in her eyes.
This fool was truly asking for death.
After dealing with Yang Shengcai, while the remaining three didn’t deserve death, they certainly needed a lesson.
Jiang Si had planned to wait until the commotion over Yang Shengcai’s drowning died down, to avoid drawing Prefect Zhen’s attention to their consecutive misfortunes. Yet here they were, eagerly seeking punishment.
Jiang Si wouldn’t let this opportunity pass; her earlier appearance had been intentional.
As Cui Yi attempted to jump onto the carriage, Jiang Si’s delicate hand, concealed in her sleeve, quietly extended. Her fingernail flicked lightly, sending powder silently into the chestnut horse’s nostrils, with some drifting toward Cui Yi.
The elderly horse was indeed gentle-tempered, still wagging its tail good-naturedly despite being restrained by a stranger. But the moment it inhaled the powder, its gentle eyes filled with madness, and its hooves rose high, kicking Cui Yi away.
The change was so sudden that Cui Yi, without any preparation, went flying and landed face-first in the dirt, completely disoriented.
But it wasn’t over. The horse, seemingly fixated on Cui Yi, approached and opened its mouth wide to bite his backside.
Cui Yi let out a miserable scream, forgetting even to call for help.
Strangely, compared to the fall, the horse’s bite didn’t hurt as much.
This absurd thought flashed through Cui Yi’s mind before he finally reacted, shouting angrily: “Come save me, you fools!”
The two youths had been stunned, only snapping out of it at Cui Yi’s shout. They quickly released Jiang Zhan and rushed over.
The chestnut horse released its bite and turned to look at the two youths.
Both stepped back in unison.
The servants from the three households finally rushed forward belatedly to rescue their masters.
Usually, they just watched from the sidelines while their masters bullied others, never expecting a day like this would come.
When Yu Jin arrived, he saw a group of people charging toward the carriage where Jiang Si sat.
Seeing this scene, Yu Jin burned with rage. He dashed forward, pulled Jiang Si from the carriage, protected her in his arms, and rushed outward.
Simultaneously, he launched a kick at the horse’s belly.
The horse, previously focused on biting people, flinched in pain and instinctively moved sideways. With a crack, one of Cui Yi’s legs was trampled by the horse.
“Ahh—” This scream truly shook heaven and earth. Cui Yi clutched his leg and rolled around, screaming, “Kill them!”
A group of servants surrounded Yu Jin.
Yu Jin coldly commanded: “Beat them severely. It doesn’t matter if they die!”
Long Dan appeared from nowhere, leaping into the crowd like an agile leopard among sheep.
Only then did Yu Jin release Jiang Si, asking: “Are you alright?”
Jiang Si brushed back her scattered hair, saying calmly: “I’m fine.”
What a pity, the horse only got in a few bites.
Thinking of Cui Yi’s broken leg, Jiang Si felt somewhat appeased.
Regardless, Yu Jin had saved her out of kindness, and she acknowledged this debt.
“Thank you for your help, Young Master Yu.”
Before Yu Jin could respond, Jiang Zhan rushed over, panting heavily: “Brother, Brother Yu Seven, thank goodness you came.”
Yu Jin silently rolled his eyes.
Couldn’t Jiang Zhan just quietly stay aside at a time like this?
Hurried footsteps approached: “What’s going on here?”
Soon a group of constables arrived, bewildered by the sight of people rolling around on the ground.
Cui Yi, nearly passing out from pain, felt his anger surge seeing his useless servants joining the rolling crowd. He shouted at the constables: “Are you all dead? I’m the son of Princess Rongyang and General Cui! I’ve been attacked by bandits—arrest them immediately!”
One constable quickly recognized Yu Jin and exclaimed in surprise: “Master Yu?”
These Shuntian Prefecture constables all knew of Yu Jin. Though uncertain of his background, they knew Prefect Zhen valued him highly—he was no ordinary person.
Discovering the “bandits” were “their people,” the yamen runners hesitated. Yu Jin smiled carelessly: “Well then, let’s all go to the Shuntian Prefecture together.”
“Take them all, take them all!” The chief constable waved his hand, deciding to let his superior handle this thorny matter.
“Brother Yu Seven, my Fourth Sister—” Jiang Zhan wanted to suggest letting Jiang Si return home first, but as he spoke, dizziness overtook him, and he swayed and collapsed.
Jiang Si quickly caught her brother and said to Yu Jin: “I’ll take Second Brother to the physician first.”
“Alright, let Long Dan accompany you.”
“Master Yu, this—”
Yu Jin gave the chief constable a cold glance: “I’m the one who beat these people, they didn’t fight back. Now that he’s fainted, there’s no point taking him in. If the Prefect wants to question them, he can summon them later.”
Seeing the yamen runners letting Jiang Zhan leave, Cui Yi, overcome by anger and pain, also fainted.
With the main victim also unconscious, well, the physician’s clinic would have to come first.