Chapter 209 An Unprecedented Crisis
When Zhao Qi heard this, she was stunned, her pretty little face full of question marks.
"Ah? Then… how will we sleep?"
Before Shen Yulou could speak, Madam Li had already understood. She took Qingqing's hand and said lightly,
"Qingqing and I will share a room. Princess, we're going to rest now."
With that, the two beauties gracefully went upstairs, leaving behind a dashing silhouette.
As for Old Eighth Hu, he was currently playing the role of "Lord Shen," so he naturally needed some pomp.
Shen Yulou waved his hand, telling him to go to the stable to watch the horses and make do with sleeping there for the night.
With Madam Li, a powerful figure, keeping watch, Old Eighth Hu wouldn't dare to run even if he had the courage of a bear and a leopard.
Thus, in the downstairs hall, only Shen Yulou and a bewildered Zhao Qi remained, staring at each other.
Zhao Qi was a little embarrassed, her face slightly flushed, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"Mr. Shen… this, what should we do?"
"It's fine."
Shen Yulou's expression was calm, his smile as innocent as a human trafficker's.
"We're good girlfriends, aren't we? It's not like we haven't shared a room before."
Zhao Qi thought about it, and it seemed… that was indeed the case?
The scene of them burning candles late into the night and sleeping foot-to-foot in the Imperial Academy last time flashed in her mind.
Although when she woke up the next day, she always felt that the front of her clothes was wrinkled, as if someone had rumpled them, besides that, nothing special had happened.
Mr. Shen was a true gentleman and her girlfriend, so it should be fine.
Zhao Qi nodded dazedly, indicating her agreement.
The two entered the room. Shen Yulou quickly washed up and lay directly on the bed, even patting the spot next to him.
Zhao Qi hesitated for a moment, then, blushing, she quietly lay down beside him, leaving enough space between them for a horse to run through.
In the darkness, under the covers, Zhao Qi suddenly asked curiously,
"Mr. Shen, do… do you do this with your other girlfriends too?"
Last time, she had been a bit tipsy from the alcohol.
This time, she was exceptionally clear-headed, so Zhao Qi's mindset was somewhat different.
"Of course not."
Shen Yulou's voice sounded exceptionally sincere in the night.
"Heaven knows, you're my only good girlfriend."
These words made Zhao Qi's heart feel warm, like she had drunk a bowl of hot sweet soup, and she was moved beyond measure.
She snuggled closer and whispered,
"Mr. Shen, it seems a bit cold in this room, much worse than the Imperial Academy."
"That's right."
Shen Yulou took the opportunity to pull Zhao Qi into his arms, letting her lean against his warm chest.
"Come, this way you'll be warmer."
Zhao Qi's body instantly stiffened, her face flushed so red it looked like it was about to drip blood, and she weakly protested,
"Mr. Shen… this… isn't quite appropriate, is it?"
"It's nothing,"
Shen Yulou said righteously, "We're good sisters. We're just purely hugging to keep warm, a pure revolutionary friendship, understand?"
"Ah? Revolutionary friendship? What kind of word is that?"
"It means we have a very strong relationship."
"Oh."
Zhao Qi was dizzy from his words and nodded, no longer struggling, letting Shen Yulou hold her.
In the middle of the night, in a daze, she felt Mr. Shen's hand seemed a little restless, quietly slipping into her clothes.
But she was simply too sleepy, her eyelids too heavy to lift, so she didn't wake up.
After all, they were sisters, right? A little touch… should be fine, right?
…After five days of continuous travel, the carriage finally left the core area of Great Hun, with only half the journey left to the Yan State border.
Away from the prosperity of the imperial city, the surrounding scenery became increasingly desolate. Both sides of the official road were bare wild mountains, and the local customs became visibly more rugged.
Just as the carriage had passed a narrow mountain valley entrance, four burly men wielding steel knives suddenly leaped out from the woods by the roadside.
Each of them looked fierce and menacing, with fleshy faces, clearly professionals.
"This mountain is mine! These trees are mine! If you want to pass this way! Leave your toll!"
A standard robbery opening, utterly unoriginal.
Shen Yulou even wanted to write a poem for them.
Zhao Qi and Qingqing in the carriage were scared pale, and Old Eighth Hu almost wet his pants again.
However, Madam Li didn't even bat an eyelid.
She sat in the carriage without even moving her body, just a slight flick of her wrist.
Crack!
The horsewhip in her hand was like a living venomous snake, drawing a strange arc in the air and letting out a crisp crack!
The next second, the four bandits who were still shouting, their movements instantly froze.
A thin line of blood appeared on each person's neck.
They widened their eyes in disbelief, reaching out to cover their necks.
But before their hands could touch their necks, they fell straight down, dying on the spot.
One whip, four kills!
Quadra Kill!
The entire valley instantly fell into a deathly silence.
In the carriage, Zhao Qi and Qingqing covered their mouths, their eyes nearly popping out.
They knew Madam Li was powerful, but they didn't expect her to be *that* powerful?!
It was too exaggerated!
Old Eighth Hu was even more scared to the point of almost urinating, looking at the four corpses on the ground, feeling like his soul had left his body.
This was completely different from swatting birds or flies; this was real killing!
Seeing Madam Li's astonishing performance, Shen Yulou also let out a long sigh of relief.
He just wanted to say a word that Sister-in-law didn't have.
Awesome!
With this powerful figure on this trip to Yan State, the safety factor was directly maxed out!
He jumped out of the carriage and rummaged through the bandits' bodies.
Soon, he found over ten taels of silver fragments and some copper coins.
Shen Yulou weighed them in his hand and unceremoniously put them into his pocket, not even letting go of the copper coins.
He was never picky.
Even a mosquito's leg is meat!
The bandits' money, it would be foolish not to take it.
After scavenging the silver fragments, Shen Yulou was about to go back when his fingertip touched a hard object.
He pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from the last bandit's embrace.
Unfolding it, it wasn't a banknote, but a rather exquisitely made piece of paper.
The paper was tough, and it carried a faint scent of ink, clearly not something ordinary people could afford.
This thing was more like an official document.
Or rather, a bounty order.
However, when Shen Yulou saw the words on it, the smile on his face instantly froze.
He felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, frozen in place.
The hand holding the paper trembled slightly, and his pupils instantly contracted.
This subtle change naturally didn't escape the eyes of the women in the carriage.
"Mr. Shen, what's wrong?"
Zhao Qi poked her head out, looking at Shen Yulou's unprecedented loss of composure, and a sudden ominous premonition arose in her heart.
In her impression, Mr. Shen always maintained an unchanging composure even when Mount Tai collapsed before him.
When had she ever seen such a terrified expression on him?
Madam Li's brows furrowed even tighter, and her figure moved.
She landed beside Shen Yulou, her brow slightly creased.
"Is there some danger?"
Shen Yulou took a deep breath, his face already devoid of color.
He quickly stuffed the bounty order into his embrace.
He forced a smile.
"It's nothing, just a piece of waste paper."
Back in the carriage, Shen Yulou was preoccupied.
Only because the words on that paper gave him an unprecedented sense of crisis.
"Bounty for a couplet.
He who can complete the second line will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold!
First line: Imperial Jade Liquid Wine
Second line: Odd change, even no change."
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