Chapter 20: (Twenty) Seeking Death

"What about the carriage? I'm afraid the daughter of the Prime Minister's residence will have to dismount and walk back." The leader of the men handed the items Ling'er had thrown over to his brothers behind him, then smiled at Ling'er.

"You... you people shouldn't push your luck! This carriage is the only thing we have left," Ling'er said, exasperated.

The leader merely smiled without a word, a look that made Ling'er’s skin crawl.

"Forget it, Ling'er. Let them have the carriage too." Just then, a crisp voice drifted from inside the carriage. A fair hand pulled back the curtain, and a graceful figure appeared in everyone's line of sight. The bandits swallowed hard; had this not been the daughter of the Prime Minister's residence, they would have snatched her up to the mountain without a second thought.

It was a pity, though. Robbing the Prime Minister's carriage was already a capital offense; if they were to kidnap the daughter as well, they would truly have no way out. Sigh, what a shame—such a great beauty.

Fei Linglong stepped down from the carriage with Ling'er’s help and walked a few paces to the side, and the carriage was promptly led away by the bandits. Seeing the carriage being taken, Ling'er wanted to say something, but Fei Linglong pulled her back and shook her head gently. There was no reasoning with this group of bandits.

"You get off the horse too." A younger bandit walked up to Leng Lingxue's carriage with an arrogant air and spoke to it. However, there was no movement from inside, causing the bandits to exchange glances. Could the carriage be empty? Otherwise, why wasn't there even a driver?

"Could it be an empty carriage?" the leader muttered. He walked toward the carriage and reached out to grab the horse's reins, but at that moment, the horse stepped back, causing the man's hand to grasp at thin air. This scene struck many as strange.

"Move aside." A cold, feminine voice rang out from inside the carriage. The sound startled everyone; they had assumed it was empty, so they hadn't expected someone to be inside.

"Move aside? Hahaha, we are bandits! Get out of the carriage, now!" The bandits all laughed, and the leader shouted again.

"You're courting death." Zimei’s cold voice sounded once more. Just as she was about to wipe out this rabble to avoid them disturbing Leng Lingxue’s reading, Fei Linglong turned and walked over to the carriage, looking at the leader.

"You have already robbed the carriage of the Prime Minister's residence. That carriage alone is enough to fetch you a good price, not to mention the valuables inside. You should be content; let this carriage go. The owner of this carriage is likely not a wealthy person. If you rob them of their money, wouldn't they be forced to live on the streets?" Fei Linglong’s crisp voice rang out slowly.

Hearing this, Leng Lingxue couldn't help but put down the book in her hand. The daughter of the Prime Minister's residence seemed to have a kind heart.

"Hmph, that's her problem, what does it have to do with me? Hurry up! Listen here, person inside the carriage—if you don't come out, I'm going to start looting!" The leader snorted and spoke fiercely toward the carriage.

"Aren't you already looting?" Zimei’s voice sounded slowly, and she pulled back the curtain and stepped out. With a beauty even more stunning than Fei Linglong’s, dressed in an enchanting purple peony gown, she stood atop the carriage, bewitching and charming. Everyone was left dazed and mesmerized.