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墨書 Inktalez
"Thank you both for your righteous assistance!" The coachman took a deep breath and cupped his fists in salute to Ye Xiaohan and Bei. "If it weren't for you two, I fear that gang of bandits would have succeeded! If anything were to happen to my lady, I would be utterly unable to atone for it!"
Bei remained silent, merely following behind Ye Xiaohan with his head bowed.
Ye Xiaohan imitated the coachman's gesture and smiled, saying, "You're too kind, brother. It's just a matter of helping when we see injustice; even us country folk often hear such tales from storytellers. It was just a small effort, no need to take it to heart."
She glanced at the coachman's injuries, which were numerous and chaotic, blood seeping from several wounds. "Wait a moment."
She rushed over to the shabby carriage and rummaged through her bundle for some medicine. She took out half of it along with the bottle and handed it to the coachman. "These are all remedies I've made myself. The ingredients aren't precious—just common herbs from the mountains—but they work quite well."
The coachman hesitated, saying, "How can I accept this? I'm already immensely grateful for your help; how could I take your things as well?"
Ye Xiaohan pressed the medicine into his hands. "Take it. Look at your wounds; if they're not treated in time and you develop a fever on the road, that would be troublesome. Aren't you supposed to escort your lady? If you can't even take care of yourself, how can you protect her?"
For this loyal coachman, his lady was his greatest leverage. Ye Xiaohan understood the principle of capturing the leader first, and her words struck right at his weakness.
Sure enough, the coachman hesitated. "This..."
"Just accept it." A voice came from inside the carriage; the curtain rustled slightly as a hand reached out. The coachman quickly stepped forward to assist as the lady slowly descended from the carriage.
Her demeanor was graceful and dignified, clearly indicating she had received a good education. She was dressed in luxurious and elaborate garments, adorned with fine silk. This confirmed Ye Xiaohan's earlier suspicions.
The noblewoman offered a slight bow and said, "Thank you both for saving me from undeserved misfortune. I wish to present you with a small token of gratitude; I hope you won't find it lacking."
Upon hearing the noblewoman's words, the coachman promptly jumped back into the carriage to retrieve a gift.
Ye Xiaohan quickly declined, saying, "No need for that! We didn't help because we wanted a reward; if we accepted your things, it would seem like we had ulterior motives. Please don't do this; just take it back."
She had a fondness for money, but it wasn't just about that. The main reason she intervened was because she saw them as weak and vulnerable, especially since they were women. If they were caught by the Bandits, they would likely face disrespectful treatment.
In ancient times, even if those Bandits did nothing and let them go unharmed, the gossip behind their backs could be suffocating.
This was also why the Noblewoman felt deeply grateful to them.
After a moment of thought, seeing that Ye Xiaohan firmly refused to accept any reward, the Noblewoman felt that merely offering money was far from sufficient to express her gratitude.
Thus, she unfastened a jade pendant from her belt and handed it to Ye Xiaohan. "Since you both insist on not accepting any reward, please take this jade pendant. If you ever need assistance in the future, just bring this pendant to find the Power House in the capital."
"This..." Now it was Ye Xiaohan's turn to hesitate. Judging by the woman's demeanor and attire, she must be of noble birth. Although she had never heard of this Power House, it must be someone significant if they were well-known in the capital.
Having such a powerful figure backing them would help resolve many difficulties.
However, there were uncertainties: first, whether the Power House would acknowledge this favor in the future; second, what kind of person the Power House truly was—these were merely her speculations. Nevertheless, accepting the jade pendant seemed harmless.
Ye Xiaohan took the pendant and smiled. "Then I won't be polite. Thank you! If I have the chance to visit the capital in the future, I will definitely do so."
Seeing that they accepted it, the Noblewoman smiled slightly and said her farewells. "I have matters to attend to and cannot stay long. I must take my leave now; we shall meet again another day."
"You two are alone; traveling at night might be dangerous. What if you encounter something like before?" Ye Xiaohan expressed her concern for them.
The Noblewoman exuded an air of authority that made her seem untouchable, yet it was clear she lacked martial skills and wasn't prepared like Ye Xiaohan with various medicines for self-defense.
After hesitating for a moment, the Noblewoman decided to leave. "Staying here overnight is not a good idea; we can't guarantee those Bandits won't return. It's better to travel through the night and put some distance between us for safety."
Ye Xiaohan agreed with this sentiment. She decided to help them thoroughly and shared some of her precious Sedative with them. The Noblewoman was surprised and thanked her before accepting it.
Fortunately, their carriage was quite sturdy. Aside from a few shallow scratches from the recent chaos, it sustained no significant damage, and the horses pulling it were in good spirits. Once the two of them boarded the carriage, the driver pulled on the reins and slowly set off.
Ye Xiaohan watched them leave as darkness enveloped the surroundings, with only a Glazed Lantern in front of the carriage casting a soft glow in the night.
"I wonder what happened to make them so anxious," she said, turning back to see 6 Bei looking at her with concern. He smiled and made a zipping motion across his mouth. "Don't worry, I won't get involved for no reason. Those people from high society can crush us like ants; I understand that. See no evil, speak no evil."
6 Bei walked toward their carriage. "Let's go; we still have a journey ahead."
"Okay." Ye Xiaohan followed behind him, observing his silhouette. 6 Bei usually didn’t say much, but he wasn’t a gloomy person either. Today, however, he seemed even more taciturn than usual.
During the day, it hadn’t been like this. Along the way, Ye Xiaohan had chatted with him intermittently, and he had been in good spirits.
That was until they encountered the Bandits who had attempted to hijack that carriage.
She couldn’t tell whether 6 Bei’s sudden change in mood was due to those nefarious Bandits or that well-dressed Noblewoman.
Ye Xiaohan lowered her gaze to hide her thoughts and hurried forward.
Once they were back on the road, everything went smoothly without any further incidents. They rushed along at a steady pace and finally arrived at Lin Town just before the city gates closed.
They randomly chose an inn that appeared relatively clean. Ye Xiaohan just wanted to take a good bath and quickly lie down in bed. After sitting in the carriage for so long, she felt as if all her bones had been jostled apart.
"You go ahead; I'll take care of the carriage," 6 Bei said, noticing her weary expression and wanting her to rest as soon as possible.
Ye Xiaohan nodded, "Alright, you should rest early too." She returned to her room. They had booked two adjacent rooms, close enough to look out for each other.
After a night of rest, Ye Xiaohan woke up feeling energetic and lively.
When she went downstairs, Liu Bei was already waiting for her to have breakfast together. Ye Xiaohan realized that Liu Bei's morning routine was quite a mystery. No matter what time she woke up, Liu Bei was always already up.
The two of them enjoyed a hearty meal before heading out to attend to business.
However, as they made their way down, they realized that the situation was more serious than they had imagined.
"Boss Ye, you might want to check other places. We really don't have what you're looking for in our shop," the shopkeeper immediately refused upon hearing Ye Xiaohan's request, half-pushing them out the door.
Some shops even hurriedly closed their doors as soon as they saw them, declaring a day off.
"It must be Liu Yuan, that man with a heart as sharp as a needle!" Ye Xiaohan cursed inwardly. In front of Liu Bei, she couldn't reveal her frustration and felt her teeth grind in anger.
Liu Bei thought she was worried about the business and comforted her, "Don't worry, we've only been to a few places. If we try a few more, we'll definitely find something."
Ye Xiaohan took a deep breath and rallied herself. "Let's keep going."
However, self-encouragement couldn't change the reality; after another round of searching, they still found nothing.
"What kind of people are these? Their reach is incredibly long!" Ye Xiaohan slumped in her chair. The exhaustion from running around paled in comparison to the disappointment of not securing anything.
With Liu Yuan controlling even the neighboring town, would they have to travel even farther to gather the materials they needed? If that were the case, along with transportation costs, their expenses would skyrocket, making prices absurdly high. Who would still want to buy their goods then?
6 Bei knocked on the door and brought dinner into her room. "Eat first, don't let yourself go hungry. You didn't have much for lunch, this won't do."
Ye Xiaohan poked at her food with chopsticks absentmindedly before putting them down in frustration. "I can't eat."
"You have to eat even if you don't want to; otherwise, your body won't hold up." 6 Bei forcibly placed the chopsticks back in her hand. "You've worked hard today, so get some rest early tonight. I'll go out for a bit later."
Ye Xiaohan pushed her bowl of rice around and glanced up at him. "Are you going to look for supplies by yourself? Where will you find them?"
6 Bei placed the dishes she liked in front of her. "I'll look around; there are always opportunities if you search enough. I'm used to climbing mountains, so this little walk is nothing."
"Do as you wish." Ye Xiaohan didn't stop him any further. Although 6 Bei seemed easygoing, he was quite stubborn; once he made up his mind about something, it was hard to change it.
After letting 6 Bei go off on his own, Ye Xiaohan washed up and went to bed. She had no idea how long this battle for materials would last, but she needed to ensure she had enough strength to last until the end.
She slept soundly until dawn. When Ye Xiaohan opened the door, she found 6 Bei standing straight at the entrance.
Before she could ask anything, 6 Bei spoke first. "Xiao Han, I found a shop that is willing to sell us materials."
"Really?" This was a delightful surprise. Ye Xiaohan pulled 6 Bei into the room, closing the door behind her as she eagerly questioned, "How did they suddenly agree to supply us? Did you find them last night? That's fantastic!"
6 Bei didn't share her excitement; he looked somewhat hesitant. "But they have a condition: if we can't meet their terms, then this deal never happened."
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