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Kapitel 10

The weather was indeed very abnormal. When it got dark, the rain stopped, and a bright moon hung in the sky again. Since it was a temporary resting place, tents were in short supply, so Li Yuxuan, Prince Xin, and Xu Qingzhi had to share a tent for the night.

This was Prince Xin's idea. Originally, Prince Xin had his own tent, while she and Xu Qingzhi shared one. Prince Xin vacated his tent for the soldiers, and they all joined together.

This put Li Yuxuan in a difficult position. She had originally thought that she could at least get some sleep with Xu Qingzhi, but now that Prince Xin was also there, she dared not sleep at all. She could only drag herself along, eyes wide open, staring at the moon. The two bored men, seeing that she neither slept nor wanted to sleep, kept her company, chatting and talking to her while watching the moon.

Looking at the two handsome men beside her, she could only think of four words: What a waste!

With such a handsome, vibrant man right beside her, not only could she not seduce him, but she also had to lower her voice and act like a proper brother to them—and try every means to make herself look less like a woman—alas, this wasn't just a tragedy, it was a complete disaster.

Li Yuxuan gazed at the moon with a melancholy air. Why couldn't women take the imperial examinations? Why did she have to dress as a man? Why did she so desperately wish she were a woman tonight? Was it because the clear moonlight overhead was too ambiguous? Or was the magnetic field on this hill too strong?

If she were to dress as a woman, she could be just as stunningly beautiful, captivating everyone. She knew long ago that she had a superior physique; if only her eyebrows weren't so thick, if only her mouth weren't so wide open when she spoke…

Pshaw, Xiao Mimi from Gu Long's novels is all about being irresistibly charming. She certainly lived up to her reputation for being the epitome of a playboy. How wonderful it would be to live without constraints, to act freely and spontaneously. At least then, she wouldn't have wasted her youth and this handsome guy, and even get a buy-one-get-one-free deal… But Li Yuxuan couldn't possibly be like Xiao Mimi; she was a pitiful young woman poisoned by the great moral standards of socialism.

Thinking it over, Li Yuxuan chuckled. She had been brainwashed by the heavy rain today. She lightly slapped her cheek and said, "Go ahead and seduce me. If you're not afraid of death, then go for it."

Her mutterings to herself didn't escape the ears of the two men beside her, who both turned to look at her and asked, "What did you say?"

Li Yuxuan laughed exaggeratedly, "I'm thinking about my wife!"

"Yes!" Xu Qingzhi sighed softly. "Brother Li is newly married and already out in the world; it's normal to be lovesick under the moon. But Brother Li is fortunate to have someone to think of and miss, unlike me, who doesn't even have anyone to miss. The ancients could say, 'Looking around, I see no one I know, and sing a long song of longing for the wild herbs.' For me, looking around, I see no one I know, and only this bright moon remains."

Li Yuxuan felt a pang of sadness at his words and patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, big brother, a good girl is waiting for you."

“Yes!” Prince Xin stood up and looked up at the moon: “There are plenty of good girls, but not many of them are the ones that truly capture your heart.”

“Yes!” Xu Qingzhi also stood up and looked at the moon: “There are plenty of good girls, but not many of them are the ones that make your heart flutter.”

...

Seeing the two gazing at the moon with such longing, Li Yuxuan stood up, deciding to stop indulging in their infatuation. He took a deep breath, went into the tent, and sat on the makeshift wooden bed, chanting "Pineapple Pineapple Honey." But as he chanted, his eyelids began to droop, and his words unconsciously turned into "There's no cat that doesn't eat fish," and "Men are all bad."

Yinzi shook her awake: "Young Master, what are you reciting?"

Li Yuxuan was startled and struggled to open his eyes: "Yinzi, your young master can't stay awake any longer, quickly think of a way to keep me from sleeping!"

“If you can’t take it anymore, then don’t! Are you afraid the tigers in the mountains will eat you?” Prince Xin’s clear voice came from outside the tent, followed by Xu Qingzhi’s yawn: “I need to rest too, Your Highness, you should rest with me!”

Then two figures walked into the tent.

Li Yuxuan pulled up his upper eyelids with his hands, took the cold water handed to him by Yinzi, and splashed it all over his face. Just as he felt a little more awake, the two figures were already beside him.

Xu Qingzhi was once again utterly astonished by her actions: "Third brother, what are you doing?"

Li Yuxuan rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "Go to sleep, why do you care so much?" Lack of sleep definitely makes you irritable—

Fortunately, Xu Qingzhi was used to not holding grudges, so he climbed onto another bed and quickly fell asleep.

She and Prince Xin were left staring at each other.

Prince Xin actually wanted to keep her occupied and see if she could get through the night. Perhaps there was more excitement to come. However, seeing her phoenix eyes turn into tiny, cross-eyed ones, he felt a little sorry for her. He knew that if he didn't sleep, this stubborn girl wouldn't sleep either, so he went back to his own bed, lay down fully clothed, and soon began to breathe evenly.

Seeing that Prince Xin was asleep, Li Yuxuan immediately closed his eyes, tilted his body, and lay down on the bed to sleep. Yinzi also lay down to sleep beside the bed.

She didn't know how long she had slept, but the noise outside woke her up. Although she was very sleepy, she didn't sleep soundly, a habit she had developed since she started dressing as a man.

She opened her eyes and saw the tent glowing red. Looking up, she saw the entire hillside outside was ablaze with fire. Startled, she scrambled to her feet and shook Yinzi awake. Then she looked at the beds of Prince Xin and Xu Qingzhi, but they were nowhere to be seen.

She ran to the tent entrance and saw Xu Qingzhi standing in front of the tent, surrounded by a large group of soldiers, but Prince Xin was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing her come out, Xu Qingzhi quickly went to her side: "Why did you come out?"

Seeing that Xu Qingzhi was alright, Li Yuxuan, having calmed down, asked, "What happened? Where is the Prince?"

"Robbers came to steal the annual allowance, and they fell right into the trap set by the Prince and Brother Zhan. The Prince ordered us to protect you here while he and Brother Zhan went to chase after an important criminal."

Watching Xu Qingzhi speak so confidently, as if everything was calculated and under control, Li Yuxuan couldn't help but get annoyed and said, "So you all knew everything, but you kept it from me?"

Xu Qingzhi chuckled: "It was all the prince's idea. Besides, who knows when or how something like this might happen? Why would we tell you and make you worry?"

"Is this why you're staying up all night?"

"yes!"

"Then why did you continue sleeping later?"

"Well, you were about to sleep, but I wasn't asleep. As soon as you fell asleep, Prince Xin and I got up. We didn't expect the robbers to actually come."

"You—, fine!" Li Yuxuan was furious: "You've bullied me!" Looking at the raging fire and the soldiers coming and going, "You left me to sleep alone, aren't you afraid that someone might accidentally come in and kill me with a knife?"

Seeing the indignation on Li Yuxuan's face, Xu Qingzhi smiled helplessly: "Third brother, we're here to protect you. You're impatient and don't know how to defend yourself... Besides, you just came out when things got chaotic."

Li Yuxuan rolled her eyes at him: "You don't know any martial arts either, do you? And you said you'd protect me!"

"I am a man, it is my duty to protect the weak!"

Someone looked up at the sky and said, "Come on, brother, I'm a grown man. Are you asking me to jump into the Yellow River or the Jing River?"

"Hehe." Xu Qingzhi chuckled lightly without answering.

Li Yuxuan knew that Xu Qingzhi was also a simpleton, but she didn't know why this simpleton categorized himself as someone even weaker than her, someone who needed protection. Had this silly boy been brainwashed by Prince Xin? How could he be so tacitly dealing with her?

Where is justice?!

Okay, for the sake of a safe journey, she'll endure it for now! "How many robbers are there?"

"I don't know, I was surrounded by the people that Brother Zhan brought as soon as I appeared."

"We haven't even seen a trace of the annual allowance?"

"Yes."

Pfft—, someone with that kind of IQ is a robber? Even if you want to highlight Brother Zhan's brilliance and prowess, there's no need to be this pathetic, right? By the way, why is Brother Zhan here too?

Prince Xin was not sending the New Year's money just for the sake of sending it; it turned out that they had planned it all along, and he and Xu Qingzhi, those two fools, were the bait.

Prince Xin was the piece of candy that emboldened the robbers to come and die.

Two frail scholars traveling thousands of miles to deliver ten thousand taels of silver—no one would believe it; they would suspect a trap. Add to that the highly skilled Prince Xin (according to others, I haven't witnessed it myself), and the situation changes completely. This tactic is called "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass," a feint and a deception. Who would have thought there was a Zhan Zhao behind it all? Even she hadn't expected it.

Even Brother Zhan has come out; these robbers must be no ordinary bandits. Wow, the real show is yet to come.

She lifted her leg and walked forward: "Where are those robbers who were caught? I'll go take a look!"

The oriole is behind

Xu Qingzhi reached out and grabbed her arm: "Third brother, where are you going to look? Those people are in the hands of the guards that Brother Zhan brought! I don't even know where they are."

Li Yuxuan stopped in his tracks, only to see a young soldier step forward and approach him: "Sir, I know the place. I'll take you there!"

Li Yuxuan was puzzled, and before she could process what was happening, she felt something cold pressed against her neck. Before she could react, her hands were twisted behind her back, a sharp pain shooting through her. It was obvious now—she had been kidnapped, on her own turf.

The change happened so fast that by the time Xu Qingzhi and his soldiers reacted, the man had already lifted Li Yuxuan out of the tent's protective circle and was rushing towards the firelight. No one had a chance to stop him.

Several skilled warriors chased after him, but they were all driven back by his darts. Everyone was wary of Li Yuxuan and dared not fire arrows. They could only watch helplessly as the man took Li Yuxuan hostage and ran into the firelight, disappearing from sight.

Li Yuxuan's arms were twisted behind her back, and she was carried by that person at breakneck speed, as if she were riding on clouds. Trees rushed past her, and then flames shot straight at her. The scorching flames made her tremble with fear, and she closed her eyes tightly.

Soon, the barbecue feeling was gone, but the wind was whistling in her ears. Li Yuxuan thought to herself, if this person threw her down now, she would definitely be smashed into seven or eight pieces. Just as she was thinking, she suddenly felt her body lighten, and the person had already let go and thrown her down.

"Ah—" Li Yuxuan screamed in fright, followed by a sharp pain in her back. It turned out that the person had thrown her to the ground. Then a cold voice came: "Lord Li, forgive me."

Li Yuxuan opened her eyes despite the pain and saw that the person in front of her had already thrown away his helmet. He had thick eyebrows and fierce eyes, and looked to be about thirty years old. He was staring at her coldly.

She was secretly pleased, thinking that men were always easier to deal with than women. She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her chest, and she cried out as she fell back down.

Seeing her like this, the man sneered: "I wondered how capable the person who was with Prince Xin was. Turns out he's just a useless coward!"

Seeing his sarcastic remarks, Li Yuxuan knew she was now at his mercy, and nothing she said would make a difference. She could only remain silent and wait for him to continue. However, she also understood that he had only kidnapped her and had no intention of killing her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have done so on the spot; there was no need to go to the trouble of kidnapping her.

Kidnap her and take her hostage? Alas, she was standing with Xu Qingzhi back then. Did she really look easier to bully than Xu Qingzhi?

Seeing that Li Yuxuan was only focused on rubbing his sore buttocks and completely ignoring his words, the man couldn't help but get angry and said, "Don't think too highly of yourself. If it weren't for the fact that I was going to use you to exchange for the brothers that Zhan Zhao had captured, I would have chopped you down with one knife."

Li Yuxuan figured that Xu Qingzhi, Prince Xin, and Zhan Zhao would definitely not ignore her life or death. After all, she was a fourth-rank official of the imperial court and Xu Qingzhi's brother. Her main task now was to buy time for them to come and rescue her.

Knowing that her life was temporarily safe, she was no longer in such a hurry or afraid. She pretended to be terrified and trembled, saying, "Big brother, please don't kill me. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

The man laughed loudly, grabbed her by the collar, and pulled her up from the ground: "Now I know everything! Zhao Yun is despicable and shameless, actually playing such tricks on me! Damn it!"

"All's fair in war, you're just too naive." Li Yuxuan nodded hurriedly, "That's right, that's right, Prince Xin Zhao Yun is too shameful, actually playing such tricks! And he even dragged an innocent person like me into this, and I got arrested by you."

The man loosened his grip and threw Li Yuxuan to the ground again: "You officials in the court are all a bunch of selfish scoundrels. You're innocent? Don't you have a homosexual relationship with Prince Xin? Otherwise, I wouldn't have invited you here."

Li Yuxuan rubbed her ravaged buttocks, filled with resentment towards the heartless burly man before her. A thought arose in her mind: weren't martial artists generally disdainful of fighting with women? Especially a weak woman who had no power to fight back. Thinking of this, she simply sat down on the ground and began to sob.

There's no way around it; sometimes, tears are the ultimate solution.

The man fell for her trap. Seeing her sobbing, he immediately said disdainfully, "What kind of man are you? You're like a woman. If you've got the guts, stand up. Don't let me look down on you."

Li Yuxuan stretched out her leg: "Waaah, you're bullying me, I'm a woman."

The man was clearly taken aback by Li Yuxuan's remark and paused for a moment: "You are clearly the third-ranked scholar Li Yuxuan, don't try to fool me by pretending to be a woman."

"I'm not lying to you. I'm not a third-ranked scholar. I'm just the daughter of a peasant family outside Bianliang City. I was forcibly taken by that Prince Xin to pretend to be a third-ranked scholar. I don't know any third-ranked scholar at all... Waaaaah..." The crying grew louder. Li Yuxuan took off her hat, untied her hairpin, and her beautiful hair fell down.

The man sneered, "Don't try to fool me with these tricks. Even if you're a woman, if I arrest you, you'll still be Li Yuxuan, even if you're not."

Li Yuxuan's thoughts raced as he tried to figure out how to cover up his lie when footsteps approached from afar. Soon, five people arrived, one of whom was a woman with a snow-white oval face, arched eyebrows, and curved eyes under the moonlight.

Knowing that a savior had arrived, Li Yuxuan rushed over and grabbed the woman's feet, crying, "Sister, save me!"

Seeing that Li Yuxuan was dressed in official robes but had a full head of beautiful hair and a charming voice, the woman couldn't help but ask the man curiously, "Brother Dagang, who is this?"

The man was clearly taken aback by Li Yuxuan's sudden change, unsure if what she said was true. When the woman asked, he lowered his voice several notches: "He is Li Yuxuan, the third-ranked scholar."

Li Yuxuan quickly shook her head: "Sister, I'm not! I'm just a young woman recruited by Prince Xin to impersonate the third-ranked scholar—if you don't believe me, sister..." Li Yuxuan suddenly pulled open her outer garment, revealing a white bra underneath: "Please verify my true identity, sister."

The men nearby quickly turned their heads away.

The woman crouched down, examined the cotton cloth covering Li Yuxuan's chest carefully, and touched it to confirm it was genuine. She then closed Li Yuxuan's coat, pulled her up, and gently asked, "What exactly happened to you?"

Li Yuxuan stopped sobbing and repeated what she had just said, finally saying, "Prince Xin knew about your movements all along. This was a trap to lure you in, and I didn't expect you to actually fall for it... My poor family of more than ten people has been imprisoned by that scoundrel Prince Xin, who said he would only release them after I completed my mission—Waaah, my poor eighty-year-old grandmother and five-year-old brother, if you arrest me, they will surely die."

The man punched a pine tree next to him, and a pine tree the size of a bowl fell to the ground: "Damn it, this Prince Xin is too shameless, actually using a woman to make fun of us! I'll never let him get away with this!"

Li Yuxuan was so shocked by that punch that his mouth dropped open: "You're only just realizing how shameless Prince Xin is?"

The man glared at her, then glanced at the woman, and lowered his head.

The men around all looked at the woman: "Young Master, what do we do now?"

Li Yuxuan straightened up and took the woman's hand: "Good sister, just take me as a hostage to exchange for your people. I know you are good people. This brother captured me because he thought I was a top scholar, but he didn't make things difficult for me, unlike that Prince Xin, who threatened me with the lives of my whole family." He blinked two more tears: "I wish you would help me kill him! I've had enough of his harassment on this journey—waaaah, I don't want to live anymore."