Chapter 150 Sudden Accident

The carriage turned from the clean paved road of the mountain estate onto the main official road. The road was muddy and the progress was slow. An Yi and Hu Qingyue sat inside the Hu family carriage, chatting idly.

After traveling about six miles, the carriage convoy came to a halt. An elderly servant woman of the Hu family knocked on the carriage door, opened it slightly, and said, "Young Mistress, Miss An, a few carriages from the leading convoy are stuck in a mud pit and cannot move. They are dealing with it now, which will take a little time. It is freezing outside, so please stay inside the carriage, young misses."

Both An Yi and Hu Qingyue had anticipated this situation and were not in a hurry. Hu Qingyue took out a Go board from the drawer and said, "Junior Sister, let us play a game of Go."

Seeing the Go board, An Yi furrowed her brows slightly. "Do you have dominoes? Let us play dominoes instead."

"I am not a gambler, why would I carry dominoes around?" Hu Qingyue placed the white pieces in front of An Yi. "I will give you a three-stone handicap."

Waiting idly was boring, so An Yi had no choice but to play Go with Hu Qingyue to pass the time.

Xiangqin and the other two maids took out their embroidery to work on. Fangrong had nothing to do; she watched the game for a moment, then glanced at the shoe inserts the other three were working on. Growing impatient with the wait, she said, "Young Mistress, this servant will go to the front to see what is happening and why it is taking so long to clear."

"All right, go and take a look," An Yi said, placing a stone.

Fangrong pulled open the carriage door and jumped down. Not long after she left, the sound of sharp weapons cutting through the air echoed—*swish, swish, swish!* The driver outside let out a miserable cry and fell down with a dull thud.

"Assassins!"

Following this exclamation came the sound of even more sharp weapons piercing the air.

A horse was struck by a projectile, and in its extreme agony, it let out a piercing screech and bolted, kicking out with all four hooves. Everything happened too quickly. Upon hearing the word "assassins," An Yi and Hu Qingyue wanted to get up and step out of the carriage to see what was happening, but the horse suddenly bolted wildly, causing them to lose their balance and tumble together.

Deprived of the driver's control, the panicked horse dragged the carriage forward at random, causing people ahead to scatter in all directions. The four personal guards remaining by the carriages to stand watch saw this, deflected several short arrows with their swords, vaulted onto their horses, and gave chase. This was their first time escorting the young misses out; if something went wrong, they would have no way to face the general and the eldest young master.

"Young Mistress, are you alright?"

Hu Qingyue and An Yi had unfortunately become human cushions for the three maids, who scrambled up in a flurry and hurriedly helped the two young women to their feet.

"What is going on? Why would assassins try to kill us?" Hu Qingyue asked, massaging her strained neck.

An Yi's gaze darkened slightly. Could it be that people from the Huang family were trying to eliminate her?

"Ouch!" Hu Qingyue hit her head against the carriage wall.

An Yi grabbed Hu Qingyue's hand to help her steady herself.

The runaway horse and carriage had long since left the official road, galloping wildly down a narrow path. The path was poorly maintained, rugged, uneven, and blocked by quite a few rocks, causing the carriage to sway even more violently.

Xiangqin and the other two maids tumbled about inside the carriage, letting out a succession of cries of pain.

"We have to make the carriage stop," An Yi said, struggling over to open the door.

"Ah! Junior Sister, Junior Sister, do not go out! Do not go out, it is too dangerous, come back inside, come back inside!" Hu Qingyue cried out in nervous panic, seeing An Yi moving toward the exit, completely abandoning her refined young lady demeanor.

An Yi pushed the door open hard, and a fierce northerly wind rushed in, making everyone shiver in unison.

"Young Mistress, Young Mistress, what are you doing? Hurry and come back inside! Hurry and come back inside!" Xiangqin finally managed to scramble up again, and upon seeing An Yi grasping the door frame with both hands and half her body leaning out, her expression changed drastically as she cried out anxiously.

"Junior Sister, do not jump down, do not jump down, it is too dangerous! Wait until the horse runs out of stamina and it will stop on its own! Ah, then we can get down!" Hu Qingyue shouted as she was jolted backward.

Wait until the horse ran out of stamina? Who knew how long that would take?

Seeing the road ahead grow even more potholed and rutted, An Yi knew that if the horse were allowed to run amok like this, their bodies would be shaken to pieces. Tiptoeing on the floorboards, she leaped out and flew onto the horse's back.

An Yi was wearing a heavy cotton skirt, which made horse riding inconvenient. As she vaulted onto the horse's back, she was almost tripped by the hem of her skirt and slid off, her body swaying from side to side.

Seeing this, Hu Qingyue gasped sharply. "Junior Sister, be careful!"

An Yi was also frightened pale; she pressed her body flat against the horse and reached out to grab the reins.

The horse was running too fast, and An Yi grabbed empty air. A hoof struck a rock and slipped, and An Yi almost fell off the horse's back. Hu Qingyue shouted with a pounding heart, "Junior Sister, use your lightness skill and jump down! Jump down quickly, do not try to catch the reins!"

An Yi flattened her body again, stretched out her arm to grab the reins, and missed once more. Seeing that she could not catch them with her hands, An Yi grabbed a handful of the horse's mane and used her foot to hook the reins—once, twice, three times—and finally hooked them.

An Yi let out a light breath, grabbed the reins with her hands, clamped her legs tightly against the horse's flanks, and with all her strength, pulled desperately on the reins. The horse ran forward a few more meters before finally slowing down, crashing heavily to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

An Yi released the reins. Her palms were marked with deep red welts and were trembling violently from the excessive exertion.

Hu Qingyue jumped down from the carriage, while Xiangqin and the other two maids crawled out using both hands and feet, pale-faced and collapsing weakly to the ground.

"Junior Sister, are you alright?" Hu Qingyue asked, gathering her skirt as she walked to An Yi's side.

An Yi panted and said, "I am fine."

Hu Qingyue took An Yi's hand, touched it gently, and asked with concern, "Your hand is injured. Does it hurt?"

"It hurts a little. When we get home, I will mix some medicine and apply it, and it will be fine," An Yi said, withdrawing her hand. "Senior Sister, go check the horse and see if it was injured by something."

Hu Qingyue found a short arrow embedded in the horse's hind leg.

"Senior Sister, is there a mark on the arrow?" An Yi asked.

Hu Qingyue looked closely. "A small scimitar is engraved here."

An Yi took it and examined it. "Are there assassins in the pugilistic world who use marks like this?"

"I am not well-versed in the affairs of the pugilistic world, but I do not think this arrow looks like something martial artists would use. It looks more like an arrow used by military officers." Hu Qingyue had never been involved in the martial world and knew even less about it than An Yi.

A military officer?

An Yi immediately thought of the Huang family. However, if the Huang family wanted her dead, they probably wouldn't be so obvious as to use an arrow bearing their own family's mark. It was highly likely that someone was trying to frame the Huang family. Who could this person be, and why would they do this?

At that moment, An Yi's four personal guards arrived. After asking about the situation, one of them took the short arrow from An Yi's hand and said, "None of the households in the capital use a scimitar as their mark."

An Yi's gaze flickered slightly. If that was the case, then it was most likely the Huang family. With Concubine Huang locked up at home and left unconscious, the Huang family had finally run out of patience with her and resorted to a lethal move.

The guards untied the injured horse and saddled it with one of the horses they had ridden in on. Fortunately, the carriage was still usable; otherwise, they wouldn't have known how to bring the five of them back.

When An Yi and the others returned to the official road, the mud pit had been filled in, and the carriages had pulled out of it. However, the convoy had not left and was parked by the roadside. An Yi faintly caught the lingering scent of blood in the air; a bloody skirmish must have taken place here just moments ago.

"Young Mistress, Miss An, the Dowager Princess Dun wants to see the two young misses," a Hu family servant woman reported.

Prince Dun was the younger paternal cousin of the current emperor and also one of the major contributors who helped him ascend the throne.

When the Empress was a consort, she was not favored by the late emperor, but Dowager Princess Dun had secretly looked after her. When the Emperor ascended the throne, the Empress felt grateful and sent numerous rewards into the Prince's estate, raising the status of Prince Dun's household. However, Dowager Princess Dun and Prince Dun maintained an even more low-profile demeanor in their conduct. In May of last year, Prince Dun even resigned from all his official posts. At the beginning of this year, he accompanied Dowager Princess Dun back to Liaodong to celebrate her maternal grandmother's grand birthday, only returning to the capital at the beginning of October.

Prince Dun.

An Yi's thoughts spun rapidly. Perhaps this assassination attempt was not targeted at her, but rather at Prince Dun, and she and Hu Qingyue had simply suffered an undeserved disaster.

An Yi and Hu Qingyue did not know why Dowager Princess Dun wanted to see them, but regardless of the reason, neither of them could refuse.

"This humble maiden pays her respects to the Dowager Princess. May the Dowager Princess be blessed with longevity," An Yi and Hu Qingyue saluted.

The carriage door opened, and a middle-aged, beautiful matron inside smiled and said, "The two young misses need not stand on ceremony. Please rise."

The two of them rose and stood side by side by the carriage.

Dowager Princess Dun's gaze fell upon An Yi. She leaned forward slightly and asked, "Is Miss An's hand injured?"

An Yi placed her hand behind her back. "It is just a minor injury."

"A young lady's hands are her second face; they cannot be injured. Come here and let me look at your wound," Dowager Princess Dun beckoned.

An Yi looked at Hu Qingyue. Hu Qingyue also wore a puzzled expression regarding this gesture from Dowager Princess Dun. For a first meeting, this Dowager Princess Dun was showing an uncharacteristic degree of familiarity, which was truly startling.

Seeing the two of them exchanging glances, Dowager Princess Dun's eyes flashed slightly, and she said, "If our carriage had not gotten stuck in the mud pit and blocked the road, the two young misses' carriages would have passed smoothly and would not have been frightened. Miss An even suffered an injury because of this, and I express my deepest apologies."

"This is a matter of the road, and has nothing to do with the Dowager Princess. For the Dowager Princess to apologize to us is something we dare not accept. If the Dowager Princess has nothing further, please allow us sisters to take our leave." Hu Qingyue did not wish to become entangled with the Prince Dun's estate. The late Prince Dun had only Dowager Princess Dun as his wife, and they were deeply affectionate and devoted to one another. However, the current Prince Dun was the complete opposite of his father—promiscuous by nature, he had not yet taken a primary wife, yet already had seven or eight beautiful concubines in his household. Hu Qingyue worried that Dowager Princess Dun might harbor ulterior motives regarding An Yi.

Neither of them mentioned the recent assassination attempt, as if it were truly just an incident triggered by a blocked road.

An Yi acutely sensed that a gaze was fixed upon her. Sidling her glance, she saw that the curtain of the carriage on the left was swaying slightly, indicating that someone had just pulled it aside to look out. Who was sitting in that carriage? Prince Dun?

"Very well, I will not delay the two young misses any further. Another day, we shall meet again," Dowager Princess Dun smiled.

Hu Qingyue tugged at An Yi, who was still staring at the carriage. "Junior Sister, let us go."

Hearing Hu Qingyue call An Yi "Junior Sister," Dowager Princess Dun was slightly startled. They were martial sisters? Then this Hu Qingyue was also her master's disciple. An Yi was ranked nineteenth, but what was Hu Qingyue's ranking? Exactly how many disciples had their master taken in over all these years? Still, they were each more beautiful than the last.

An Yi followed Hu Qingyue a few steps, then looked back at the carriage once more. The curtain lifted slightly, but before she could see clearly, it dropped back down.

"Junior Sister, what is it?" Hu Qingyue asked.

"It is nothing." An Yi did not know what was going on and dared not make wild guesses, so she quickened her pace.

Hu Qingyue also looked back, found nothing out of the ordinary, and followed An Yi back to their carriage.

Prince Dun's convoy moved off first. The An and Hu families waited for a quarter of an hour to maintain some distance before proceeding on their way.

Upon reaching the city gate, An Yi and Hu Qingyue bid farewell to each other to return to their respective homes.

"I will accompany you to the apothecary to get your medicine applied first," Hu Qingyue said.

"I am not a child; I can go to the apothecary and apply medicine myself," An Yi replied.

"Only after the capping ceremony does one become a true young lady; right now, you are still a child, so obediently listen to me." Hu Qingyue insisted on accompanying An Yi to have her hands bandaged.

An Yi laughed in spite of herself. Knowing that Hu Qingyue was worried, she let her tag along.

There was a Jihuai Hall not far from the city gate. They had ready-made medicines, but the physician was male, which made it inconvenient for him to bandage An Yi's hands, so Fangrong stepped in and wrapped both of An Yi's hands into the shape of rice dumplings.

Emerging from Jihuai Hall, the two martial sisters said their goodbyes and boarded their respective carriages.

When they returned home, it was early *you* hour (around 6:00 PM). An Kang had not yet returned, so An Yi went straight to the Pearl Pavilion. Her skirt and shoes were covered in mud, and fearing that Madam Luo would notice, she planned to change her clothes before heading over. "Do not tell Madam about what happened on the road, do you understand?"

"Young Mistress, you have already instructed us several times. This servant remembers and will not tell Madam. But what about your hands, Young Mistress?" Fangrong pointed at An Yi's hands. "They are so obvious; Madam will surely see."

An Yi looked at her hands, which resembled rice dumplings, and sighed. No matter how good the medicine was, there was no way to instantly restore her hands to their original state. Biting her lower lip and pondering for a moment, she said, "Xiangqin, go tell Madam that I did not sleep at noon, and now I am sleepy, so I will not be going over to pay my respects. I will go to sleep after dinner."

"Then what about tomorrow? Will Young Mistress still not go over?" Fangrong asked.

"Tomorrow's matters can wait until tomorrow." An Yi was too exhausted to ponder too many questions.

Fangrong and Taoren served An Yi as she changed her clothes, Xingren went to the kitchen to fetch dinner, and Xiangqin went to the Jingli Courtyard to tell falsehoods and appease Madam Luo on An Yi's behalf.

"The weather is so cold today; could she have gone out, caught a chill from the cold wind, and fallen ill? I must go and see her to set my mind at ease." Madam Luo did not suspect Xiangqin's lie; she only worried about An Yi falling ill in winter since she had been frail as a child.

Seeing Madam Luo stride toward the door, Xiangqin broke out in a cold sweat internally. She hurriedly stepped forward to block her and advised, "Madam, the young mistress will go to sleep right after eating. If you go over now, the young mistress will have to get up again. It is better to wait until tomorrow when the young mistress comes to pay her respects to you."

"I am not an outsider; I am her mother. When I go to see her, she does not need to get up." Madam Luo continued walking out as she spoke.

Xiangqin was frantic with worry.

Mother Li took one look at her expression and knew there was something amiss. Since the young mistress did not want Madam to go over, she had to help block Madam. She said, "Madam, it is so dark outside, and the ground is slippery. In case you accidentally slip and fall, the young mistress will harbor feelings of guilt in her heart."

"It is fine. Back in the countryside, I often went out in the dark and never fell once." As she spoke, Madam Luo had already stepped out of the room.

Mother Li had no idea how to stop her further, so she had no choice but to accompany Madam Luo toward the Pearl Pavilion.