Expelled from the Duke's mansion, the fake heiress is richer than a country.

Since the sword had already been given away, Yan Cheng'an simply took off the scabbard from his waist and handed it over as well.

Yu Wanran noticed that the scabbard was inlaid with gemstones, so it must be quite valuable. She waved her hands repeatedly and said, "I am already grateful for the sword you gave me, young master. This scabbard is too ornate and not suitable for a commoner like me. Thank you for your kindness."

"Young master, one should not flaunt one's wealth. If you have such a fine sword and you still use its scabbard, and Miss Yu carries it with her, wouldn't that be like trying to hide something obvious?"

Seeing the two of them refusing each other's swords, Xiao Ze simply unsheathed his own sword and gave it to Yu Wanran, saying, "Miss Yu, you can use mine."

Yan Cheng'an agreed, and handed his sword sheath to Xiao Ze so he could wear it. The two had grown up together since childhood, and although they weren't blood brothers, their bond was stronger than that of blood brothers, so they didn't care about such things at all.

As dawn broke, the Yu family father and son saw the surviving bodyguards and grooms cleaning up the mess, so they went over to help and found their own luggage and put it aside.

Yu Wanran, worried that some enemies might have slipped through the net and were lurking nearby, kept her hand on her sword and patrolled around her family. As soon as she took her leave, Yan Cheng'an's forced composure crumbled instantly.

He held his waist, leaned against the carriage wall, and slumped to the ground.

"Quick, quick, Xiaoze, bring me some medicine and rub this spot for me, it hurts so much!"

Ozawa put down the burlap sack, and some Dendrobium officinale slices immediately spilled out from the hole that had been burned open.

Xiao Ze didn't care about that. He quickly rummaged through his bag and took out some wound medicine. He lifted Yan Cheng'an's robe to apply the medicine to him, complaining all the while.

"Second Young Master, you were hiding perfectly well under the carriage, why did you suddenly crawl out and fight the assassin? And the carriage was on fire, why did you still try to steal the luggage..."

The anxiety and fear I experienced following the second young master back to the capital in just one day exceeded what I felt like for a lifetime.

"Be gentle, be gentle!"

Yan Cheng'an grinned and slowly put the scattered dendrobium slices back into the burlap bag.

"I was just thinking about how hard it is to come by these medicinal herbs. I've only been out of the capital for half a year and I've only managed to get twenty catties of top-grade dendrobium. Many towns and cities don't have any in stock... It's strange, when did dendrobium become harder to find than ginseng and lingzhi?"

Xiaoze couldn't answer his question, so he wiped his hands clean and straightened his master's robes.

"Fortunately, these dendrobiums will be enough for His Highness's medicine for at least two years. Second Young Master, you won't have to travel around all the time, enduring wind and rain."

Yan Cheng'an took a deep breath, wiped his dusty face, and followed Yu Wanran's movements in the distance. Suddenly, he remembered something, withdrew his gaze, and glanced sideways at his page.

"Xiao Ze, tell me the truth! When you're sparring with me, have you been holding back your skills?"

He was very confident in his abilities, usually defeating Ozawa and his guards soundly. Therefore, when he saw an assassin approaching, he couldn't resist launching a sneak attack.

As a result, he was kicked away and injured by his enemy the moment they met. Ozawa, on the other hand, was completely at ease... Such an obvious difference instantly woke him from his dream of being a master!

Xiao Ze chuckled, scratching his head and glancing around at him, "Young master, are you thirsty? I'll go find some dry rations for you..."

Yan Cheng'an was so angry that he slapped him hard on the shoulder twice.

"You brat! So, you were holding back like this when you sparred with His Highness before?"

Xiao Ze then confessed, somewhat embarrassed, "Second Young Master, you and the First Prince dare to play for real. Even if we and the other guards had the guts to do something, we wouldn't dare to lay a hand on you."

To ensure that the two masters had a good time and that the fight was genuine, the sparring partners actually had a very tough time.

Yan Cheng'an covered his face.

I almost got killed by these idiots!

However, upon further reflection, he realized that he and the Crown Prince had fought seriously. The Crown Prince had used every ounce of strength he had ever given him, and had never beaten him before. So, he wasn't exactly at the bottom.

He felt a moment of sympathy for the prince, but then quickly became gloating.

At noon, the survivors dragged all the corpses to one place, covered them with cloth, and distributed dry rations to the living one by one. The only doctor accompanying the escort agency was unfortunately killed, and the wounded could only apply some medicine and lie down to wait for rescue.

A headcount revealed that the original group of thirty-three had dwindled to fifteen, most of whom were injured. Wu Jian gathered everyone together and solemnly explained the situation.

"Gentlemen, I have already sent someone to report the case to the local government. It won't be long before the authorities come to handle the aftermath. This escort mission has suffered heavy losses. The escort agency will compensate the families of the victims afterward."

He faced Yu Wanran and bowed deeply in greeting.

"Miss Yu truly lives up to her reputation as a descendant of a Duke; her martial arts skills are superb, and her courage is extraordinary. We were not wiped out by the bandits thanks to Miss Yu's righteous assistance. Our Zhenyuan Escort Agency owes Miss Yu a great debt of gratitude!"

He paused for a moment before carefully outlining his plan to express his gratitude.

"Therefore, on behalf of the escort agency, I, Wu Jian, have decided to refund the round-trip insurance premiums for Miss Yu and her family. Furthermore, I promise that in the future, whether Miss Yu is traveling or engaging in trade, any escort provided by our agency will be charged half price!"

As he spoke, he took out a bag of loose silver, about sixty taels, and presented it directly to Yu Wanran.

Out of gratitude, the rescued bodyguards privately contributed some of the money; in addition, the proceeds from the search of the corpse were all given to Yu Wanran.

As Yan Cheng'an said, no one thinks their life is worthless. Anyone with a grateful heart is willing to repay their benefactors to the best of their ability.

Yu Manxian was still filled with fear and was determined to go home and discipline his daughter to prevent her from taking any more risks. But when he saw so much silver, he became confused and hesitant.

Is it really as my daughter said, that fortune and wealth are found in danger?

Yu Wanran, however, knew the escort agency had another deeper meaning: they probably valued her skills. Being willing to charge half price meant they were giving their fellow escort agencies an extra boost, weren't they?

Her help saved her half the insurance premium, which was much cheaper than hiring a capable bodyguard.

Yu Wanran chuckled, not exposing Wu Jian's intentions, and readily accepted the money.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, so she wasn't at a disadvantage. After all, she would inevitably have to deal with security escort agencies a lot when she went on her trading business in the future.

Yu Wenbin had become numb to everything he had seen and heard recently, and was no longer surprised. His third sister had an unexpected talent for making a lot of money.

Comparing people with others will lead to death, and comparing goods with goods will lead to throwing away.

Aside from an unavoidable sense of envy, he didn't think much of it. After all, that money was earned by his third sister with her own life. As the eldest brother, how could he be considered human to covet his sister's wealth?

So, while waiting for the soldiers to arrive, watching the father and son silently eating dry rations and drinking water, without uttering a word about the newly acquired sixty taels, Yu Wanran felt even more gratified by her family's character.

Of course, she wasn't foolish enough to hand over the money to the government.

Yu Man and his wife had been used to hardship their whole lives, and when they finally had a little money, they were extremely stingy with it. Even though they could afford to eat meat, they still drank vegetable porridge twice a day, so thin that you could see your reflection in it.

She was worried that she wouldn't get it back once she gave it away. It would be better to keep it as capital for trading, and then share the profits!

The soldiers arrived just before dusk, accompanied by a group of bodyguards. It turned out that there was also a branch of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency in Hezhou, and they had come to provide support.