CHAPTER 623: CHAPTER 406: AMBUSH (PART ONE)

"Alright," Ran Yan took his hand and said, "then be careful yourself."

"Hmm." Xiao Song clasped her hand in return, helped her onto the horse, and dispatched thirty guards to escort her back.

In broad daylight, someone had dared to assassinate a current high official. Ran Yan was also involved in this case, so how could she know if the assassin wouldn’t take the opportunity to retaliate? Therefore, she did not refuse Xiao Song’s arrangement to move with a large contingent.

The scenery near Qujiang was beautiful, but Ran Yan felt it was not a place to linger, so she rode her horse along the main road without stopping.

Before entering the town market from Qujiang, there was a stretch of white sand dike lined with trees. Many nobles’ sons and their wives had set up screens along both sides of the path, enjoying the cool and playing, the various screens blooming like flowers amid the green trees, exceptionally wild and interesting.

Ran Yan had been under the sun for a while and felt a bit oxygen-deprived, dizzy, and nauseous, signs of heatstroke, apparently. When she reached the tree-lined path, she slowed down slightly, took in some wind, and felt slightly better.

"Lady Xian Liang."

As she was about to enter the market, Ran Yan thought she heard someone calling her, but she was dizzy and her ears were ringing, so she looked around uncertainly. No one was there.

"Lady Xian Liang?"

Just as she spurred her horse forward a few steps, one of the guards said, "My lady, it seems someone is calling you."

Ran Yan stopped her horse, and as the guard was about to look for the person, he saw a movement in the nearby bushes, and immediately more than ten guards rode forward to shield her.

Momentarily, a shadowy figure crawled out of the bushes, looked up at Ran Yan, then suddenly knelt down, crying, "It really is Lady Xian Liang! I am a servant of Steward Liu. I just went to the Marquis’s house and heard that both you and the Marquis were out, and I thought Heaven was coming down on our master."

Steward Liu Pinrang was just mentioned, and now his servant had shown up unexpectedly, which made Ran Yan somewhat cautious and slightly sober, she asked, "What happened to Steward Liu?"

"My lady, this is not a place to talk," the guard reminded.

Ran Yan was momentarily anxious, glanced around, and indeed many people were noticing. She instructed one guard, "Carry him, lead the way."

"Lady Xian Liang, someone is trying to kill me," the servant hurriedly said.

Ran Yan frowned slightly and said to the guard, "Be on your guard."

The servant was picked up by the guard and, following Ran Yan’s instructions, walked ahead of the procession.

They were less than a mile from entering the market and with so many guards, there should be no issues. Ran Yan forced herself to calm down and hastened toward the city.

"Is anyone following us?" Ran Yan asked the guard beside her.

"No," the guard replied.

Already able to see the neighborhood buildings, Ran Yan let out a slight sigh of relief.

Just then, a group of scholars dressed people passed by, and at the same moment, Liu Pinrang’s servant suddenly cried out in terror, "It’s the people who are after me!"

The guards were momentarily stunned, instinctively looking at the scholars passing by their side. The group also paused, visibly puzzled. Someone angrily said, "Do not joke about this! We are students from the Imperial College!"

Ran Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked up toward the upper floors of a tower; she had yet to get a clear view of the figures when she saw three feather arrows shooting towards her, and she couldn’t help but shout, "On the city tower!"

Many guards had already discovered those people, but it was too late to retreat, and they could only immediately draw their swords to meet the incoming arrows. Over ten guards shielded Ran Yan, covering her as she retreated.

In the blink of an eye, three arrows arrived, and the guards waved their swords to block them, but these were not ordinary arrows; they were shot from crossbows, and their power was not to be underestimated. The three arrows were barely chopped down, and the remaining pieces, still carrying force, plunged into the mud in front of the Scholars’ feet.

Upon seeing this, the Scholars shouted in alarm and immediately scattered in all directions. However, in their panic, they inevitably collided with each other, knocking down one person who immediately tripped up a group, causing cries of fear to erupt all around, and the small, shady path became utterly chaotic.

Ran Yan leaned forward slightly, pulling on the reins to slowly retreat. This way, even if arrows were shot, they would not hit her. However, those people’s target was clearly Liu Pinrang’s servant, so she said, "Protect that servant!"

"Yes!" the Guard responded.

"Lady, hold tight!" the Guard, seeing that they were relatively safe from this distance, immediately whipped Ran Yan’s mount.

The horse suddenly sped up, and in the blink of an eye, they shot forward tens of yards. Ran Yan swayed but quickly stabilized herself. She took a moment to look back; the servant had not been hit, the guards were protecting him as they retreated, but the Scholars were in disarray, rolling on the ground, preventing the horses from advancing.

This way, they were sitting ducks! In desperation, Ran Yan shouted, "Dismount and take cover!"

The group of guards suddenly reacted, immediately dismounting and running toward the forest on the side.

Just as Ran Yan was about to turn back, she saw several feather arrows shot from the loft. Her position should be safe, but the same could not be said for the servant.

In this critical moment, Ran Yan could not care about much else, she had to look out for herself! She whipped her horse and shouted, "Go!"

About a dozen guards closely followed.

It seemed as if many more crossbows were added on that side of the loft, as a rain of arrows flew toward the guards and Scholars on the ground. Even though all the arrows were aimed at the guards and the servant, the large-scale firing inevitably led to some misfires. Ran Yan only heard continuous screams of agony from behind, her brows furrowed, she pulled on the reins, gradually coming to a stop.

Ran Yan looked from both sides and ordered, "You all go to the forest from the side, avoid the loft’s line of sight, get up there and attack, I see they have no more than ten crossbows."

Ran Yan’s eyesight was exceptionally good, of those on the loft, six to seven were repeating crossbows, the rest were bows.

"But Lady, your servants promised your husband to stay by your side and protect you!" the Guard hesitated.

Ran Yan raised her riding crop towards the injured Scholars on the ground, "Are we to watch them die?"

She clearly still had the strength to save them, even if she were a bit more ruthless, a bit more cold-blooded, she could not simply watch so many innocent people die horribly. She coldly said, "Go now, their target isn’t me, two people are enough to protect me!"

"Yes!" all the Guards answered in unison. They too were men of honor; if the Scholars of Chang’an were slaughtered under their watch while they only thought of escaping and not rescuing, this would disgrace them were it to be made public.

Ran Yan surveyed her surroundings. This was a main route between Qujiang and the city, due to the hot weather, not many were out and about, and it was just over an hour past noon, the hottest time of the day, hence there were few pedestrians on the road. A few that were there had been scared off, likely to report to the authorities.

The Government Office should be sending people soon.

Ran Yan frowned as she looked up at the loft, these people were truly reckless and audacious, daring to ambush in broad daylight on a busy route!

Li Chengqian... has he truly gone mad?

Was it really him? Even if he wanted to silence someone by killing them, making such a spectacle of it didn’t it expose him? (To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote using your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)