It was late at night. A carriage from Pei's Mansion had already traveled hundreds of miles.

Xuan rested early in the morning. Cheng Ruoxuan couldn't fall asleep for a long time. As the carriage went north, the Liangjiang Plain gradually turned into hills, and when she entered the boundary of Dangshan Mountain, the road became more and more bumpy, and the shadows of the trees swept past the window paper, disturbing her heart.

Pei Xiaocheng asked her to follow her sister-in-law Xuan's family to use her own eyes to observe words and emotions and see whether the Wanling Xuan family was still willing to pull the Pei family.

Mrs. Pei made up a few reasons for her, first saying that she had finally survived the busiest days, and that the rest of the funeral was enough for her two sons, and then said that she felt sorry for her and cried badly. Later, Mrs. Pei still did not give up the Lu family's family business, and the truth and falsehood have been mentioned a few times in a few words, lest the Xuan family not be able to understand the Pei family's intention to show favor to Lu Fu; Then he blamed Pei Xiaocheng for spoiling his niece on weekdays, and seeing that he was about to get married, he had to hug the Buddha's feet and ask the Xuan family to take her back, so as to teach her to learn from other people's ladies. After a few words, Xuan's couldn't resist it, so he had to agree.

But Pei Xinghuai was obviously not deceived by his mother. He has always been silent, but before leaving, he deliberately said to Cheng Ruoxuan that if he found out that something was wrong, reporting to the Pei family was only secondary, and protecting himself was the most important. The implication is that the Pei family's power has declined now, and she can only rely on herself for safety when she steps out of the house this time.

Cheng Ruoxuan almost burst into tears when he heard this, "Has our family come to this point?" ”

"Your sister-in-law went back to her parents' house this time, but she brought all her usual private collections, but this one was the only one left behind." Pei Xinghuai took out something to show her, and said with a wry smile, "What do you say she has in mind?" ”

That was the treasure mirror that Cheng Ruoxuan helped choose when Pei Xinghuai was hired. At that time, she was innocent, and the drama troupe invited by her family sang "The mirror is gone, and the mirror does not return", which can also cause her to sigh, "Even if there is any hardship in the future, the eldest brother and sister-in-law will be satisfied." ”

Cheng Ruoxuan was speechless. Xuan's move confirmed his intention to return to his parents' home. Xuan's temperament is cowardly and gentle, perhaps for the sake of husband and wife, he deliberately left a little clue for Pei Xinghuai; Even so, she chose to dodge in the end.

"Don't worry." Pei Xinghuai was busy comforting her, "Just go out to avoid the limelight, and your brothers will pick you up soon." ”

Xinghuai is far more important than Xingyi. Cheng Ruoxuan almost believed him, and after a while, he saw him off Xuan's family, the husband and wife clasped their hands, and the corners of their eyes and eyebrows deliberately wrote as deep as possible, but they didn't know how much deception and suspicion were hidden underneath?

A century-old famous family, originally the old and the young were harmonious and happy, and the husband and wife were harmonious, but now they are like a building and are falling, and it has reached this point.

A tear slid down her cheek. She didn't want to disturb Xuan, so she didn't make a sound, and only pressed her handkerchief to the corner of her aching eye. At this moment, the horse pulling the cart neighed miserably, and the carriage, which had been galloping, suddenly stopped and almost overturned. Xuan's half-dreamed and half-awakened, this time she was so frightened that she was almost gone, Cheng Ruoxuan hurriedly grabbed her, and the two of them didn't fall out of the car; It's just that Cheng Ruoxuan's own head hit the wall of the car, which made her dizzy.

But now there is even more trouble. The moment the carriage stopped, a puddle of blood hit the window paper. This was followed by the sound of the blades clashing, and soon stopped.

Cheng Ruoxuan's heart tightened, and it was estimated that he had met a bandit. In the past, when the Pei family's relatives went out, there was a guard of honor from the Governor's Office to open the way, the car was magnificent, the manpower was sufficient, and they never encountered any danger. This time, the Xuan family returned to their parents' house, in order to avoid people's eyes and ears, they were very low-key, and the Pei family couldn't transfer people now, and the guards didn't bring a few.

The Xuan family didn't take care of the three souls and seven spirits for a long time, Cheng Ruoxuan hugged her tightly and called the name of the guard, but no one answered. At the critical moment, Cheng Ruoxuan's mind turned extremely fast: even if the bandits are fierce, they are the people in the end, and there should always be some taboos against the bureaucrats. She said loudly to the window: "This is the car of the Liangjiang Governor's Office, there are stars and no moon tonight, and the fog is heavier, so it is difficult for you to see clearly." You get out of the way, and the Governor's Office will not pursue it further. ”

She said these words calmly, but in fact, she was already soaked in cold sweat behind her; Xuan's in his arms noticed it, and trembled and stretched out a cold hand to shake her. The suspicions between the Xuan family and the Pei family were all left behind at this moment, and the two snuggled tightly, trying their best to share each other's fears.

Suddenly, I heard a "boom", and the cold wind poured in, and the car door had been smashed.

There were quite a few people outside the car, all of them with their faces covered, holding knives and sticks, and all dressed as strong beams. There were torches in all directions, and a huge shadow was coming, and Cheng Ruoxuan's back was against the wall of the car, and there was no way to retreat.

The first person rushed into the car and sneered: "I said why did the girl come forward, it turned out that there was a young lady in the car." "Reach out and pinch Xuan's cheek.

As soon as Cheng Ruoxuan raised his eyes, he understood why the bandit had this misunderstanding. Xuan woke up from a stupor, and didn't have time to comb his hair into a woman's style; Cheng Ruoxuan did not wear filial piety clothes when he went out, but he also dressed simply, and it was not surprising that he was regarded as a maid.

The bandit obviously didn't take the two women seriously. Cheng Ruoxuan still didn't give up, forced himself to stand in front of Xuan's body, and secretly waved his hand to signal her to silence. She said in her heart that the dragon couldn't suppress the head snake, and the Xuan family's maiden family was far away in Wanling, so she might not be able to deter these bandits; And she is dressed like this, even if she is Miss Liangming, the bandit may not believe it. She simply made a mistake, followed the meaning of the bandit, pointed to Xuan's and emphasized again, "You can see clearly, this is the granddaughter of the governor of Liangjiang and the young lady of the Ministry of Works." She had an accident, not to mention the officials of the two provinces, and even the DPRK and China would not give up. ”

"Yo," the bandit sneered, "what a nobleman. ”

Cheng Ruoxuan saw that he was unmoved, and continued stubbornly, "This big brother, I know that it is difficult to make a living in the mountains, but why do you take such a big risk. If you want money, we'll have some of it, so wait. She didn't know where the money was, but fortunately, Xuan's understood and pointed to the mezzanine of the bed and asked her to get it, Cheng Ruoxuan got up as she said, but a knife had been put on the side of her neck.

"Don't talk nonsense." The bandit leader didn't buy her account at all, but was busy instructing his subordinates, "Take it back, clean the carriage for me, don't miss anything valuable." ”

The outer bandits were already ready to move, and only showed knives to a group of people to stop them; As soon as the bandit leader escorted Cheng Ruoxuan and Xuan's out of the car, several groups of people rushed up, and the sound of scrambling and scolding was endless for a while. A few maids on the ground guarded the body, and they had already stepped on it out of shape.

The bandit shook off a foul word, and he didn't bother to care, so he only searched Xuan's body in person, and all the gold and jade bracelets were taken off, so he tied her hands, blindfolded her, and dragged her forward. The bandit obviously didn't plan to take Cheng Ruoxuan with him, but when he left, he turned his head and stared at her for a while, and the fierce light in his eyes went all the way into her neckline.

Cheng Ruoxuan endured the shame and indignation, bowed his head and was silent, his mind was like lightning. She understood that although the bandit leader was bold and reckless, he listened to her words in the end, and only planned to kidnap the ticket, and would not do anything to the Xuan family for a while; However, she herself became a "maid", and the situation was much more dangerous. The bandit leader read enough, said "cheap you", and waved his hand, and several thugs were about to drag her down. Xuan's was so anxious that she shouted a few times to "let her go", but she couldn't even protect herself, and she was about to be dragged away by the bandits.

Cheng Ruoxuan was both afraid and disgusted, anxious to think of a way. This gang of bandits is obviously unanimous, and the rabble may not be able to withstand the wind and grass. She remembered that her uncle had mentioned the suppression of bandits earlier, and said that she might be able to make a fuss about it, so she shouted to the bandit leader: "Big brother, your leader will not be able to defend this mountain in a few days, so why do you want to stay here and fight hard?" ”

This time it seems that the bet is right. I saw that the bandit leader was at his feet, and the mountain bandits, who were busy robbing, also stopped and looked over here. The bandit pointed at the tip of his knife and ordered them to continue, and then said to Cheng Ruoxuan, "What nonsense are you talking about?" ”

Seeing this, Cheng Ruoxuan lowered his head and smiled secretly, and said with compassion, "I worship the Heavenly Star Monarch as a virgin, and I can see your life." She said, while looking through her memory to detect the earthquake that had occurred in the Dangshan area in the past, as evidence, "Three years ago, you had a catastrophe, but fortunately with the protection of the star of life, you turned the corner; It's a pity that the good days are coming to an end. ”

She pretended to be a ghost, but in fact, it was all because of her lack of confidence. Lu Fu wanted to send troops to suppress the bandits, Pei Xiaocheng only mentioned one sentence before, and Cheng Ruoxuan didn't know anything about the details. She made up this call in a hurry, firstly, to protect herself, after all, in front of ghosts and gods, even the gangsters who kill people and oversell goods must be a little awe-inspiring; Second, the astrological theory is mysterious and mysterious, and the room for interpretation is huge, even if it is not said this time, but if you can take a breath, there is always room to turn around. It's just that Xuan never knew that she "understood" this, and stood aside and listened. In front of the bandits, Cheng Ruoxuan had no way to signal her, so she had to secretly remember to find an opportunity to tell her that her sister-in-law and sister-in-law are now in common adversity, but don't stab these words in front of the Xuan family.

The bandit head frowned and looked at Cheng Ruoxuan for a long time, suddenly dragged her over, tore off the two hairpins on her head, and threw them at the thugs: "Take it and divide it, give me this girl, I have to interrogate her well." The thug was quite dissatisfied, and even shouted boos him, but the bandit leader ignored it, and only personally escorted Cheng Ruoxuan and Xuan to the depths of the woods.

Cheng Ruoxuan's eyes were covered with a black cloth, and he stumbled away for a while before he heard the bandit say, "What do you know?" ”

"It's not an inside story, it's a number of days." Cheng Ruoxuan Zhenzhen said, "You wait for the night fog to disperse, look at the western sky, and find three bright stars, and then look down, you will definitely be able to see a small star." In this area of Dangshan, the lives of all the strong men in the mountains are all tied to this one star. She has been stargazing for a long time, and she has long imprinted the position of thousands of stars in the night sky. Except for the last sentence, which is purely made up, the location of the stars in the dot is absolutely accurate.

The bandit leader's pace slowed down.

Cheng Ruoxuan noticed this movement, and couldn't help but be happy in his heart. She wasn't afraid before, she just cheered herself up over and over again, thinking for a moment that this bandit was fighting alone now, and it might not be so terrible; For a while, I thought that this bandit was also a living person, and he should always have some sympathy, if he was kind enough to persuade him, he might be able to have a glimmer of life. Along the way, Cheng Ruoxuan persuaded himself for a long time and forcibly suppressed his fear. Fortunately, the bandit boss finally got a little hooked. She thought about the location of the garrison along the two rivers, and then said, "This star is not far to the southwest, and there is another big star—"

In the clouds and mist, the stars were bright and dark, and the bandits looked up for a long time, looking dizzy, and said impatiently, "Messy, what does it mean?" ”

Cheng Ruoxuan said, "Don't worry. The Star Monarch sent an edict, if ordinary people could understand, what am I doing with my hard work to worship them? Without waiting for the bandit leader to react, she answered unhurriedly, "What I just said is one of the military wells of the Heavenly Soldiers, which corresponds to the human world, and it is the military camp in the southwest of this place. In recent days, the distance between these two stars has been getting closer, why don't you guess what it means, big brother? ”

"I don't play with you little girl." The bandit said, "Something to say." ”