The first time in history

A long and narrow mountain road, with mountains dozens of feet high on both sides, planted with birch trees, hence the name - Birchbark Ridge.

Qian Mingduo ran all the way. After entering Huapilingling, the tall birch trees on both sides of the valley blocked out the sun, and the vision instantly became dark.

The sound of horse hooves shook the valley like the roar of a dragon or a tiger. Just as they were about to run out of the valley, a whistling arrow flew over. A man next to Qian Mingduo screamed and fell off his horse.

The people behind him had no time to rein in their horses and stepped on the man's body as they galloped past. Suddenly, a volley of arrows came and several more people fell off their horses.

Everyone tightened the reins and looked toward the top of the valley in horror.

Guan Wuye rode his horse beside Qian Mingduo, turned around and shouted loudly: "Don't stay here, rush over quickly."

While Master Guan Wu was talking, more than a dozen people were shot. These arrows were shot from the dense forest, but the person who shot them could not be seen. Liu Jingxue's maids were guarding Qian Ming closely.

"Go quickly, don't stay!" Guan Wuye shouted again. A white feather arrow hit his shoulder, "Ah..." He yelled and pulled out the feather arrow. "Leave quickly."

All the people leaned on their horses, whipping them wildly. They rushed out of the valley. From time to time, people were shot off their horses. Everyone had no time to think about anything, they just rushed out of the valley.

When Guan Wuye caught up with Qian Mingduo, he found that he had been shot by two arrows in the left shoulder, one in front and one in the back. Blood was flowing, and there was also an arrowhead stuck in the horse's butt.

"Your Highness." Lord Guan Wu shouted, "We have already rushed out of the valley. Bandage your wounds first, and then it won't be too late to continue on our journey."

Qian Mingduo looked back and saw that there were only 30 or 40 people following him. He ran forward for a while before reining in his horse, and the people behind him also reined in their horses.

Master Guan Wu helped Qian Mingduo sit on the side of the road, "Your Highness, do you need to bite a piece of cloth or something? It hurts when you pull out the arrow."

"No need." Qian Mingduo said, "Please trouble Master Guan Wu, hurry up!"

Qian Mingduo gritted his teeth, and by the time the two arrows were pulled out, his whole body was soaked with cold sweat. After a simple bandage, Qian Mingduo asked, "Is there anyone injured?"

"Your Highness," a man in black said, "Only one or two brothers were not injured, the rest were injured."

"We lost nearly half our men," said another.

Qian Mingduo sighed and nodded. "Ruichen thanks the brothers of Moyi Building for risking their lives to follow me." He stood up, endured the severe pain, and bowed to everyone. "The brothers of Moyi Building are for our emperor and for Dalong. Ruichen thanks all the brothers."

"Be responsible to the owner of the building and be loyal to Dalong!" everyone said in unison.

Master Guan Wu pulled out the arrowhead from Qian Mingduo's horse, grabbed a handful of dirt, and sprinkled it on the wound of the horse. "Your Highness, hurry up!"

At noon, Chenjiayu can be seen from afar. Unlike Huapiling, which is a long and narrow valley, Chenjiayu also has long and narrow valleys on both sides, but there is an open area in the middle of the valley.

There are villages and markets here. People traveling from north to south would stop by and stay in hotels. There is also a special mule and horse trading market in the east.

Qian Mingduo slowly entered Chenjiayu Valley, and as soon as he came out of the valley he smelled a strange smell that was pungent and dazzling.

"This is the smell of saltpeter." Master Guan Wu said with a frown.

In this bustling market, a group of people with different appearances seem ordinary, but they exude a suspicious atmosphere everywhere.

Those people who looked like merchants were guarding a carriage full of goods. The goods were piled up in a disorderly manner, yet seemed to follow a certain specific layout.

The box on the carriage was half open, revealing some gorgeous cloth, as if it was deliberately trying to attract the attention of passers-by. However, if you look closely, you can find that the angles of the cloth are very deliberate, as if to cover up something in the box.

The merchants were wearing slightly old but good quality clothes, they looked a little nervous, with beads of sweat on their foreheads. When Qian Mingduo and his companions passed by the carriage, they looked at them warily, their eyes revealing uneasiness and vigilance.

One of them was holding the whip tightly, his fingers turning slightly white from the force, while the other hand seemed to be casually placed on the box on the carriage, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

There were several merchants who were shouting their wares in front of their stalls, but their eyes kept wandering around, paying attention to what was going on around them. Although their wares were dazzling, they were not arranged very neatly.

Exquisite porcelain and rough cloth were piled together casually, and jewelry was simply placed on a piece of tattered cloth, which was completely different from the way a serious businessman should display it.

The merchants had flattering smiles on their faces, and although their tone was enthusiastic when bargaining with customers, they seemed a little absent-minded. From time to time, they would glance at every corner of the market with their peripheral vision, ready to take action at any time if there was any sign of trouble.

There were also a few people who looked like travelers, sitting by the roadside tea stalls, drinking tea leisurely. They were dressed in ordinary coarse cloth clothes and carried simple bags, but the bags seemed a little too neat, not like those after a long journey.

The passengers were talking to each other in low voices, their eyes revealing anxiety and alertness. From time to time, their hands moved gently under the table, as if they were stroking something.

When they heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, they immediately stopped talking, drank their tea quietly, and stopped whispering. They only occasionally looked up at Qian Mingduo and the others, pretending not to care.

When Qian Mingduo and his companions approached these people, the merchants and travelers hurriedly and enthusiastically solicited passers-by, their voices louder than before, with exaggerated smiles on their faces. "Come and have a look, the best fabrics, shipped from far away, at affordable prices!"

They danced and showed their goods, trying to attract the attention of the officers and soldiers. The merchants bargained with customers more attentively, with brighter smiles on their faces, and even lowered the price just to show that they were busy with business.

"Oh, sir, this price can't be lowered any further. I'm just a small business." They said as they nervously watched the officers and soldiers' movements. The passengers also drank their tea quietly, leaning forward slightly, pretending to be concentrating on the tea.

They held their teacups tightly in their hands, as if trying to calm themselves down. One of them even coughed slightly to hide his inner nervousness.

Qian Mingduo observed these people. Just as Liu Jingxue said, the people in Chenjiayu seemed to be ambushes.

After passing through a narrow road, they left Chenjiayu. Qian Mingduo didn't have time to think about so much, he was anxious to see his father. So everyone rode their horses with him.

"Your Highness, please look." Someone next to Qian Mingduo pointed forward.

I saw two fast horses galloping all the way, "Qing'er, Zi'er."