In an instant, he stood up and leaped away, leaving that part of the battlefield to the Hidden Guards beside the Princess.
Meanwhile.
Suddenly came the ’whoosh, whoosh, whoosh’ sounds from not far away.
Everyone’s eyes widened, realizing that countless arrows were shooting in from all directions.
A moment later.
Boss Ying, who was lying on the ground, let out another wretched scream.
Soon after, the rest began to cry out pitifully one after another.
The bandits quickly fell amidst the dense array of long spears and short swords (in ancient times, spears were those ancient red tasseled ones, not modern guns).
Once all the bandits fell, the young man in black finally carried Yue Er near the carriage.
He gently placed her on the carriage, then turned and left.
The entire process took just a moment; no one had time to ask his name before he was gone.
...
The arrows earlier were shot by the Hidden Guards.
After the young man left, ten Hidden Guards arrived belatedly.
They lined up and knelt next to Yue Er.
"Your humble servants were late in coming to the rescue, please forgive us, Princess!"
Yue Er was exhausted and waved her hand casually.
"It’s fine!"
"Seize them all, hand them over to the Mayor of the Capital City! Also, send someone to raid their lair and wipe them out completely!"
"Yes!"
The Hidden Guards stood up, turned around in an orderly fashion, and with murderous intent, walked toward the bandits.
More precisely, toward Boss Ying.
To capture the bandits, one must first capture their leader; deal with this coward first, then clean up the others one by one.
Daring to bully the Princess, these people will not live.
If they’re destined to die sooner or later, it might as well be now, and let them wish they were dead!
...
In the carriage on the return trip.
Yilan and Wei Yu were still shaken; Yue Er was exhausted, yet she seemed quite proud.
"Today’s harvest was really not small!"
Yilan, with red-rimmed eyes.
"You fool, do you know how dangerous it was?"
Yue Er shook her head.
"Not dangerous, I have Hidden Guards by my side, I wouldn’t die!"
Wei Yu, beside her, suddenly said in a soft voice.
"But it wasn’t the Hidden Guards who saved you!"
Yue Er was somewhat puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
Wasn’t the person clad in black? She remembered it was the Hidden Guards indeed!
"That person was masked; we don’t know who it was?"
The Princess’s Hidden Guards didn’t wear masks, so...it certainly wasn’t a Hidden Guard.
"A mask?"
Yue Er became more perplexed.
But she was indeed a bit muddle-headed at the time and didn’t look at the person’s face.
"Then...if it wasn’t a Hidden Guard, who could it be!"
The girls all fell silent.
Suddenly, Ying Luo, who had been tending to the Princess, extended her hand.
"Reporting to the Princess, I found this on the ground, perhaps...it would be helpful!"
Yue Er turned her head and saw a button lying in Ying Luo’s palm.
"This is..."
Yilan and Wei Yu leaned in closer.
"This thing is quite common!"
"It should be from that person, I seem to have seen it somewhere, but I can’t quite remember!"
The three chattered on.
Yue Er reached out and took the button, examining it closely.
"It seems to be agate!"
"There aren’t many types of this button; I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere too!"
But after thinking for a long time, she still had no conclusion.
Rubbing her temples, Yue Er handed the button back to Ying Luo, feeling a headache.
"Keep it well, maybe I’ll remember someday!"
"I’m a bit tired now, and my whole body aches!"
She hadn’t fought so fiercely in a long time.
Yilan and Wei Yu moved closer to massage her shoulders and legs.
"We haven’t been so scared for such a long time!"
The three of them chatted and laughed, and the carriage returned quickly.
...
The security of the Capital City is generally managed by two departments, one is under military protection, the Five Cities Military Command.
The other is the Mayor of the Capital, who primarily handles grievances for the common people.
Mundane trivial matters, chasing debts, such matters big and small he manages, earning him the title of the parents of Capital City’s people.
Two years ago, a band of thugs suddenly appeared in the north of the city.
The group wasn’t large, reportedly only about twenty people, specializing in robbing merchants entering and exiting the Capital City.
Some of these merchants transport goods to other regions, and some transport goods into the capital to sell.
No matter what, doing business far and wide isn’t easy.
Encountering bandits, they avoid trouble when possible, handling it with money if they can.
Moreover, the silver they robbed each time wasn’t much, sometimes ten or eight taels, at most dozens.
This amount silver could be spared by caravans without being too taxing.
So...everyone chose to remain silent, fearing retribution,
Over time, this band of bandits survived this way, taking root somewhere in the north of the city.