Back and forth: I brought supplies to help the impoverished prince

In the outer suburbs, the mountains and forests are undulating and the trees are lush. In the summer cicadas, Qiao Shinian holds an umbrella to shade himself from the sun. The journey is slow, and Mu Qingchen takes the two of them along the way to experience the mountain scenery. Except for the scorching temperature, everything seems exceptionally beautiful.

Qiao Shinian even wondered if he had traveled into a world where entertainment was the main focus, like checking in at each place, solving some emergencies, etc.

"Sister, if you are sleepy, let's find a place to rest for a while?" Qiao Shinian's hand holding the umbrella had completely blocked Wen Jiu's sight, and Wen Jiu pushed the umbrella upwards.

It was almost time for Qiao Shinian to take a nap. Qiao Shinian's eyes were already filled with tears from yawning. After hearing Wen Jiu's words, he became a little more energetic. He turned his head to look at the wise king who seemed to be insensitive to the heat in a straw hat, and shook his head: "Follow me."

Wen Jiu nodded, and rode slowly behind Mu Qingchen: "Are we going to Old Demon Ridge?"

Mu Qingchen nodded, not wondering how Wen Jiu knew where they were going. He turned to look at Qiao Shinian, who was holding an umbrella with droopy eyes, and said softly, "The horses are tired, so let's find a shady place to rest for a while."

Qiao Shinian nodded blankly and walked to the shade of a tree. He leaned on Wen Jiu and took a nap.

"I heard that there have been many bandits in Old Demon Ridge recently, and they have even disturbed the families of officials. The emperor sent troops to encircle and suppress them, and the leader is Wen Wenshan, the groom in a few days." Wen Jiu turned his head and stared at Mu Qingchen, "It's really a good job."

Mu Qingchen drank water by himself, propped one hand on his knee and looked back at Qiao Shinian who had fallen asleep: "She is so delicate, it seems she is not an ordinary girl. I am very curious about her..."

"Don't be curious. Curiosity is the beginning of all ties and entanglements. Just ignore it like you did before. Don't care about her." Wen Jiu lowered his voice and waved his hand to drive away the flying mosquitoes.

Mu Qingchen couldn't help but chuckled and looked in one direction: "He is an idle marquis, and his wife is from a famous family. If he doesn't get more achievements, it will be difficult for him to get along in the future."

"So, you took this job for him? I heard that the bandits there are all fierce guys." There was no worry in Wen Jiu's tone, but rather a kind of teasing tone.

"It's okay." Mu Qingchen smiled slightly: "Help him one last time."

Wen Jiu suddenly remembered what Wen Wenshan said to him when they first entered the border of Zhou State. The guards of the wise king seemed to be very powerful.

"It has been more than ten days. Those bandits are fearless and refuse to accept amnesty. They insist on fighting to the death." Mu Qingchen closed his eyes and recalled the past.

If Wen Wenshan's father were still alive, he wouldn't have such great pressure. He was the most playful and noisy person back then.

Now when he thought about what Wen Wenshan said to him, he felt that there were many helpless things in life.

When the emperor needed him, he was a knife, and when he didn't, he was just an idle prince. He had no intention of forming a clique for personal gain, as his life had been shattered the moment his father, who loved him, passed away.

He was alive, just alive. Wen Wenshan was his good friend, but the Wen family was not. The emperor had not appointed a crown prince for a long time, and the people below were like fleas, actively forming groups of three or five, each with their own supporters.

The Wen family is gradually declining, and even he, a famous and wise king, cannot stop this.

The members of the Wen family are also eyeing the position of Marquis. If Wen Wenshan doesn't do something, he and his mother will probably be eaten by the members of the family.

So the moment Wen Wenshan decided to get married, he knew that Wen Wenshan had chosen his team and was destined to draw a line between them.

He would not help the party supported by Wen Wenshan, and Wen Wenshan would not drag him into the mess. This was an unspoken understanding between the two friends who had been friends for many years.

A quarter of an hour later, Qiao Shinian was awakened by Wen Jiu. She followed Wen Jiu on the horse's back with a dazed look on her face and continued to move forward.

There was the smell of dry soil on the road and the incessant chirping of cicadas in my ears.

It was cozy and hot.

The horse's speed gradually increased, and the umbrella could no longer be used to block the sun, so Qiao Shinian simply hugged Wen Jiu tightly, bent over and buried his head in his shoulder.

After a bumpy ride, we arrived near Laoyaoling at 3 p.m.

When Qiao Shinian saw many people holding spears or swords, he looked at them curiously.

She looked up at Mu Qingchen, her eyes full of surprise. This was her first time to come into contact with an ancient army after a battle.

Generally speaking, people who own an army are usually very strong. In her impression, Mu Qingchen is a weak and elegant young man who has the trouble of being urged to get married and the sadness of his mother becoming his sister-in-law.

But such a seemingly harmless prince actually has such an army.

"What are you looking at?"

"I feel like you are amazing." Qiao Shinian blurted out, then realized that he was talking nonsense again, and said: "Your Highness is a very good gentleman! He is so dedicated to his friends. With your status and position, you don't need to do such a thing, but you did it for the Marquis."

The smile on Mu Qingchen's lips deepened. He knew that the previous sentence was what Qiao Shinian wanted to say at this moment.

"He used to be my only friend." Mu Qingchen replied. The further they went in, the more bloodstains they could see. There were several tents next to each other, and more than a dozen people were tied to the pillars outside.

Some of them saw Mu Qingchen and the others coming and started shouting and cursing.

"Sister, if you are afraid, just close your eyes." Wen Jiu turned and said to Qiao Shinian.

Qiao Shinian shook his head. Although his breathing was heavy, he could hear her request to him: "It's okay. This is definitely not the first time I've seen such a scene, so it's good for me to get used to it as soon as possible."

Before, she had masochistically asked Chunxue to take her to the mass grave in the palace. At first, she was frightened to the point of fainting by the horrific scene, and then she felt sick of the scene. The people who died there died in all sorts of strange ways, which just made her feel sick.

But I also feel sad about such deaths. Those who die here never have a moment of freedom, and never spend a moment in peace.

As Qiao Shinian was distracted, the smell of blood in her nose became stronger. She frowned and tried to block her nose, but she put her hand down the moment she raised it, with a forced smile on her face.

She kept reminding herself in her heart that this would not be the first time she would experience such a scene and she had to get used to it as soon as possible.

"Your Highness!" Seeing Mu Qingchen, many people knelt down and saluted.

Mu Qingchen handed the reins to a soldier, turned around and asked, "Where's he?"

"The Marquis and the people from the Ministry of War are still on the mountain, clearing out the money and weapons that these bandits have looted and hidden." The leading general naturally knew who Mu Qingchen was asking about.

"Well, people from the White Tiger Camp, pack up and follow me." Mu Qingchen turned to look at Wen Jiu, and saw Qiao Shinian standing in a daze in front of a thin bandit.

Qiao Shinian looked at the child who was not much taller than Wen Jiu and asked, "Why do you want to be a bandit?"

"I..." The child seemed to have not had water for a long time, his lips were cracked. He looked up at Qiao Shinian's reluctant face, and in a trance he seemed to see his married sister.

"Why?" He closed his eyes. "I didn't want to do it either. At first, I was kidnapped by these people and made into a laborer. Later, I escaped, but my father and mother had already starved to death. The lame man my sister married often beat her. Later, when I returned to the village, I was able to help my sister. The family's life became better, and the lame man stopped beating her.

Later, my sister died while giving birth. I had nowhere to go, so I stayed here forever.”