Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Soon, the day came to set out for Nanshan Village to investigate.

Ji Yan’an left Beizhen City with his men.

There were four people seated inside the carriage.

Ji Yan’an, Jiang Yunsui, Shen Qingzhu, and someone Jiang Yunsui didn’t know.

Jiang Yunsui stared at that man for quite a while.

Song Jin’s voice was somewhat hoarse and gloomy. “With the people the Young Master has now, it will be difficult to accomplish anything great. Perhaps you could recruit more men from the other tribes on the grasslands.”

Shen Qingzhu held a fan in his hand. “What’s the rush? The Young Master needs to properly recover. If he gets too anxious and overworks himself, I can’t guarantee what might happen.”

Song Jin smiled darkly. “Shen Qingzhu, that’s only because you’re useless.”

“If you’re so useful, you do it.”

Ji Yan’an: “…”

“If you keep arguing, both of you can get out.”

In an instant, the two of them shut their mouths.

Jiang Yunsui tugged at Ji Yan’an’s sleeve and asked in a small voice, “Is he that Ill-fated Scholar?”

Perhaps because of what he had been through, Song Jin gave off a cold, sinister air from head to toe.

Ji Yan’an nodded.

Jiang Yunsui gave an “oh” and didn’t ask anything else. She sprawled by the carriage window and looked outside.

Seeing Nanmo and the others all riding horses, she wanted to ride one too!

“Nanmo, Nanmo, carry me out. I want to ride a horse too.”

Nanmo glanced at her. “No.”

Stinky Nanmo.

Jiang Yunsui pouted, turned around, and went to Ji Yan’an instead.

“Ji Yan’an, I want to go out and ride a horse by myself. Riding a horse is faster.”

Ji Yan’an calmly struck her down. “Ride what horse? With those little short legs of yours, even if I gave you a pony, you wouldn’t reach the stirrups.”

Jiang Yunsui: “!!!”

Damn it. Who said she couldn’t ride a horse just because her legs were short?!

Jiang Yunsui glared at him angrily, then turned around with her back to him and continued sulking in utter frustration.

The other two inside the carriage watched the show. Shen Qingzhu wore an expression that said he had expected this.

He knew it would turn out like this.

Song Jin, however, frowned.

Then he gave a sneer. He had thought she had more of a temper than that. Was this it?

The carriage rocked and swayed. Nanshan Village was more than half a day’s journey from Beizhen City, and Jiang Yunsui was lulled to sleep by the motion just like that.

At first, she had fallen asleep leaning against the window, but after a while, the carriage jostled until her whole body rolled downward.

Ji Yan’an reacted quickly and… failed to catch her.

His entire body was dragged forward by the solid little Jiang Yunsui, and he nearly fell with her.

Fortunately, Shen Qingzhu pulled him back.

“Ow!!!”

Jiang Yunsui rolled down below, her forehead smacking cleanly against the carriage wall. It hurt so much that she let out a tiny cry.

With tears in her eyes, she covered her forehead and sat up, her face full of confusion.

What just happened?

Shen Qingzhu couldn’t help laughing. “You really can fall asleep anywhere.”

Jiang Yunsui’s little face drooped. “Which one of you kicked me down?”

Song Jin folded his arms and gave a cold snort. “Idiot.”

He truly did not understand why Ji Yan’an had brought along a child like this.

Shen Qingzhu said with amusement, “A certain child didn’t sleep properly and rolled down on her own. The Young Master tried to pull you-”

He didn’t finish the rest, because Ji Yan’an threatened him with his eyes.

Shen Qingzhu rolled his eyes inwardly. If he had to say, this was far from the first time the Young Master had embarrassed himself around that child. What was there to worry about losing face for?

Jiang Yunsui climbed up by herself and patted off her clothes.

Suddenly, the carriage jolted. She lost her footing, and it looked like she was about to crash right into Ji Yan’an.

No, no, no. Ji Yan’an’s face looked so pale. What if she slammed into him and knocked him dead?

So her little body twisted, and she somehow forcibly changed direction, plunging headfirst into Song Jin’s arms instead.
“Oof…”

Jiang Yunsui’s head slammed squarely into Song Jin’s stomach.

Song Jin nearly threw up everything in his belly.

Once the carriage steadied, Jiang Yunsui sat on the carriage floor, clutching her head and her twisted little waist, sucking in tiny breaths.

Song Jin, meanwhile, was bent over with a hand pressed to his stomach, cold sweat beading on his forehead from the pain.

Outside, the coachman hurriedly called in, “Is Young Master all right? There was a huge pothole just now. I couldn’t avoid it.”

Ji Yan’an and Shen Qingzhu stared blankly at the two of them for a long moment, clearly stunned by the sudden mishap as well.

The coachman’s voice snapped them back to their senses.

“I’m fine.”

He was fine, but someone else was not.

Shen Qingzhu checked them both over.

“Song Jin is fine. He just needs a moment to recover.”

“This little girl’s waist is sprained. A couple of needles from me and she’ll be fine.”

Ji Yan’an let out a breath in relief.

Song Jin pointed at Jiang Yunsui. “You… You did that on purpose.”

Jiang Yunsui was still grimacing in pain, but the moment she heard that, she immediately retorted in her soft, childish voice, “I did not.”

“I was about to hit Ji Yan’an, so I twisted my body a little, and then… you just happened to be sitting there.”

The corners of Ji Yan’an’s mouth lifted ever so slightly. He had not expected this little girl to have such a conscience.

If she had truly crashed into him head-on just now, with his current constitution, he would have fainted for sure.

Jiang Yunsui apologized pitifully, and Song Jin couldn’t very well vent his anger on a child.

He could only swallow the grievance in silence.

That hit had really hurt.

“Eat less, will you? You’ve already got a double chin.”

Jiang Yunsui: “…”

She touched her small chin, which was a little rounded with baby fat.

“You don’t get it. Children look better with a little chubbiness. It’s cute.”

She wasn’t about to beat herself up over it. She was still little. So what if she was a bit chubby?

Song Jin closed his eyes and stopped arguing with the child.

Childish.

The carriage fell quiet again. Well, except for Jiang Yunsui.

She was still whimpering over her sprained little waist.

Then, pushing her luck, she took over most of the space and simply lay down flat.

Shen Qingzhu massaged the area for her. The carriage was still moving and too unsteady, so acupuncture was better left for later.

Otherwise, if he stuck the needle in the wrong spot, this little chubby girl might crash into him the same way.

At last, after Jiang Yunsui wrinkled up her little face and asked for the fifteenth time whether they had arrived, the carriage stopped.

Fan He’s voice came from outside.

“Young Master, Nanshan Village is five li farther ahead.”

Nanshan Village lay in the mountains. The road was difficult to travel, and the carriage couldn’t get in at all.

Ji Yan’an said, “Are there any other villages nearby? We’ll settle there first.”

Fan He quickly replied, “Yes. Continue three li along the official road, then take the small road on the left. There’s a village there.”

And so the group went to that village first.

They were still disguised as a merchant caravan.

With so many people suddenly arriving in the little village, the elderly, the women, and the children all hid themselves away. Only a few young and able-bodied men came out, holding farm tools.

“Who are you people?”

Fan He stepped forward to negotiate for a while. The village chief saw that they all looked like people from the Central Plains, and since there was silver to be earned, he agreed to let them stay.

However, they would not be staying inside the village, but at a remote spot to the east of it.

Ji Yan’an and the others had no objections to this.

It was a good thing for villagers to be cautious.

Here in Mobei, war broke out all too often. Softheartedness and blind kindness were both deadly taboos.