When she regained consciousness, everything before her eyes was pitch black.

Yun Chu instinctively felt around beside her and touched a soft little body.

After her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she could slowly make out some outlines. She carefully examined the child from head to toe—he hadn’t been injured. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

She stood up and saw a small window lattice above her head.

Faint starlight shone in through the lattice, and she could vaguely hear the sounds of people talking.

She looked around the small room and saw a broken basket. She took the basket over, turned it upside down, and stepped onto it while bracing against the wall.

Through the window lattice, she saw mountains outside, several wooden houses, and seven or eight men sitting around a campfire—the very group they had encountered on the street during the day.

Of the seven or eight men, five were injured, and they were constantly cursing Prince Pingxi.

“We didn’t kill or commit arson in the mountains. We just occasionally robbed some passing rich people to have a little feast. What right does he have to wipe us all out?”

“So many brothers died at Prince Pingxi’s hands. We must use the blood of Prince Pingxi’s Young Lord to commemorate our dead brothers!”

“Don’t be impulsive!” A man who appeared to be the leader spoke. “We took such a huge risk to capture the Young Lord and lost two more brothers—it’s not just to vent our anger. Prince Pingxi’s bandit-suppression momentum is too fierce. So many bandit hideouts have been wiped out. We definitely can’t continue being bandits anymore! The reason I captured the Young Lord is to exchange this precious heir for a large sum of money. We brothers can split the money, each go our separate ways, find a place to become landlords, and live carefree lives. Isn’t that good?”

The seven or eight men immediately nodded.

If there was a better choice, who would want to live with their head tied to their waistband?

Two large men stood up. “Third Chief, we’ll go remove the Young Lord’s arm and send it to Prince Pingxi’s residence. I believe Prince Pingxi will definitely do as we say.”

The leader nodded and tossed a knife over. “Be careful not to cause a death, or we’ll all have to be buried with him.”

The two large men caught the knife and walked toward the wooden cabin.

Yun Chu had been observing the terrain, but these words scared her into breaking out in a cold sweat.

She quickly got down from the basket and forcefully shook the sleeping child. “Yuger, wake up quickly! Don’t sleep, Yuger!”

The little one slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Yun Chu, his face broke into a smile. “It’s Mother! It feels so good to see Mother the moment I open my eyes. Huh, why is the room so dark? Mother, why haven’t you lit a lamp…”

Yun Chu had no time to correct his way of addressing her. She picked up the child in one motion and removed her waist sash, tying it around the child’s waist.

“Listen to me. I’ll lift you up, and you climb out through the window. The wall is very high—I’ll hold the sash and slowly lower you down.” As she spoke, she had already placed the child on her back. “After landing, don’t run around. Just hide in that building to the southeast…”

That building was directly in front of the bandits’ campfire. Going around from behind and hiding there—the most dangerous place was the safest place…

Before she could finish speaking, she heard footsteps at the door.

Sending Yuger climbing out at this moment would be completely impossible. It would instead block off even the last route of escape.

Yun Chu used the fastest speed of her lifetime to jump down from the basket, kicked the basket into a corner with one foot, then huddled in the other corner holding the child.

The lock opened, and the door was kicked open.

“Well, well, you’re awake!” One of the large men came over and grabbed Chu Hongyu’s shoulder, yanking the child roughly.

Then he quickly rolled up the child’s sleeve.

The other large man drew his knife and spat on the blade.

No matter how calm Chu Hongyu was, he was still only a four-year-old child. He immediately burst into tears from fright.

“Young Lord, you can’t blame us.” The large man patted his arm, seeming to consider where would be best to cut. “Trading one of your arms for the wealth and glory of us brothers—it’s worth it.”

“No, don’t!” Yun Chu rushed over and hugged the child, tears appearing in her eyes. “Use my arm, use mine instead…”

“This maid is quite loyal!” One large man grabbed Yun Chu by the collar. “But your appearance doesn’t quite look like a maid…”

“Don’t you see? This is a young married woman! Such a beautiful young woman—first time I’ve seen one! She must be Prince Pingxi’s woman!” The other man laughed lewdly. “Look, this woman’s sash is already undone. She’s waiting for us brothers to pleasure her!”

Yun Chu’s waist sash had been tied around Chu Hongyu’s waist earlier, so her clothes hung loosely, faintly revealing her slender waist.

She hunched her shoulders and cried pitifully. “I can serve you. I beg you to spare the Young Lord…”

The two men exchanged glances, both tempted.

During this time, constantly fleeing day and night while being hunted by Prince Pingxi, they hadn’t enjoyed a woman’s company for a long time.

Such a beautiful woman, and Prince Pingxi’s woman at that—any man would have such thoughts…

They turned back and saw the leader, Third Chief, still drinking and eating meat. So they quietly went over to close the door, grabbed the child and tossed him aside, then dragged Yun Chu onto the straw.

Yun Chu didn’t resist and let them both pounce on her.

She looked toward Chu Hongyu. Their eyes met, and they both nodded simultaneously.

Then a short dagger appeared in Chu Hongyu’s hand—this was what Yun Chu had kept on her person for self-defense and had just passed to the child.

As for herself, she had pulled out a hairpin from her head.

She raised her hand and fiercely stabbed the hairpin into the neck of the large man pinning her shoulder.

Splurt!

Hot blood sprayed onto her face. The large man didn’t even make a sound of pain before collapsing to the ground.

The other large man was incredulous and kicked Yun Chu. “You bitch, you dare ambush us broth—”

Before finishing his sentence, he only felt a sharp pain in his lower back. He turned his head and saw that the child he had just tossed aside was actually holding a knife stabbed into his waist.

The child only had so much strength and couldn’t inflict a fatal injury on him. Furious beyond measure, he turned to grab Chu Hongyu.

Yun Chu executed a nimble roll, picked up the long saber the large man had dropped on the ground, and chopped down at the large man’s head.

Thud.

The large man collapsed to the ground.

This was Yun Chu’s first time killing someone.

She gasped heavily for breath, quickly dropped the long saber, and her voice trembled slightly. “Yu, Yuger, quick, I’ll lift you up…”

Chu Hongyu was so frightened he was shaking all over. He struggled to control himself and climbed onto Yun Chu’s body, successfully climbing to the window. “Mother, don’t be afraid. I’ll find a way to save you…”

Yun Chu deliberately put on a stern face. “You just hide well. Don’t cause trouble. Protecting yourself is most important. I have a way to save myself. Get down quickly!”

Chu Hongyu sniffled, grabbed the waist sash, and descended bit by bit until he finally landed on the ground.

He glanced at Yun Chu, then according to the direction she had indicated, took off running.

Yun Chu breathed a sigh of relief.

She came down from the window sill and pondered how to escape.