After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

"May I ask if Mr. Ouyang is in the car?"

"Master!" Ouyang Zheng waved his hand, signaling his disciple to be quiet.

He then lifted the carriage curtain and asked, "Are you all Lord Gao's men?"

"Indeed! Upon receiving the letter from the gentleman, the lord immediately took control of the Qianzhou Prefecture government and the Chuanling County government."

"Really? Master, we've come all this way for nothing! The governor is quick on his feet!"

Li Haisheng was still thinking about the horses at the inn, and now he wished he could turn around and go back to the inn in Chuanling County immediately.

Those horses cost tens of taels of silver each!

Jiang Xiaoqi and the others in the carriage behind also heard that the newcomers were friends, not enemies, and their worries subsided.

They had been running for a night and a day, and had already traveled a hundred li outside of Sichuan. Going back would only add another two hundred li, which was still acceptable.

Just as the group decided to turn back, a group of men claiming to be under Governor Gao's command approached on horseback and suddenly drew their swords and attacked the two carriages!

"What's going on!" Li Haisheng was stunned for a moment by the sudden change, and immediately drew his sword to meet the slashing blade.

The opposing team consisted of more than a dozen people, each with considerable skill, and their attacks were all deadly, clearly indicating their intention to spare the lives of the eight people.

"Fight the enemy!" The heart that had just been put at ease was raised again. Ouyang Zheng was also filled with doubts. Could it be that Gao Xuan was really one of the bandits?

"Kill! Leave no one alive!" the leader commanded, his attacks becoming increasingly vicious and ruthless.

Lin Yueniang and Jiang Xiyue each wielded a soft whip and a nine-section whip, respectively, preventing the group from getting close for the time being.

Ah Niu wielded two axes and hacked wildly, while Wen Bin used a sword and Li Mo used a knife, both engaging in battle with their opponents, resulting in a fierce and evenly matched fight.

The opponent was skilled and outnumbered, so Ouyang Zheng disregarded all the rules of the martial arts world and launched a barrage of hidden weapons.

Caught off guard, three or four of the attackers fell to the ground.

"Using hidden weapons? How despicable!"

"Bah! Who are you calling despicable! You're still more upright than your underlings who impersonate imperial officials! You are the truly despicable ones!"

Li Haisheng was attacking and exploding at the same time. Anyone who dared to insult his master was asking for death!

Jiang Xiaoqi almost strained his back from the newly coined phrase by his senior brother. Holding the cicada-wing soft sword, he moved with the grace of a dragon, and after several dozen moves, he finally finished off one of his opponents.

Seeing her son's swift and decisive action, Lin Yueniang also abandoned her whip and switched to a sword. This was no time for womanly compassion; it was either the other side who would die, or they would perish!

Jiang Xiyue was slightly taken aback, but she immediately put away her nine-section whip under Li Haisheng's cover and drew her soft sword from her belt.

This cicada-wing sword was a gift from her younger brother. She usually couldn't bear to use it. Her mother and eldest sister both had one. Except for the pattern on the hilt, which they usually used as belt decorations, the swords were exactly the same.

The sword's edge hummed, a sound unlike any ordinary iron.

On the other side, Ouyang Zheng used his hidden weapons with unparalleled skill, and in the blink of an eye, several more people were hit and fell to the ground.

Seeing that things were not going well, the remaining people exchanged glances and suddenly retreated at the same time.

They pulled something out of their pockets, threw it into the air, and a cloud of smoke instantly filled the air.

When the smoke cleared, the remaining people had already disappeared.

"Master, should we pursue them or not?"

"If the location is unclear, do not act rashly."

"So what do we do now? These people are impersonating Governor Gao's men, so the information they're providing must be false. Does that mean we can't go back to Chuanling County?"

"The person may be a good imposter, but the information may still be true."

"Huh? Why is that? Would the thieves really be so kind as to send us news that the Qianzhou government office is under siege? What are they after?"

"Think for yourself." Ouyang Zheng said helplessly. Runzhi was both talented in literature and martial arts, but sometimes his mind just didn't like to work.

"Mingfei, do you know? Tell your senior brother about it."

"Uh..." Why are they calling out names? "If I'm not mistaken, this group doesn't know the current situation in the prefectural city. Senior brother, think about it, will our pace be slow after we leave Chuanling?"

"Of course it was fast! At first, even though we didn't have horses or carriages, we didn't rest much. After we got the carriages, we raced all the way, the wheels were practically sparking!"

My butt was practically shaking to pieces, but that's quite a pace!

"Yes, we rushed as fast as we could, yet we were still overtaken by the so-called 'Governor Gao's' men. Isn't that strange, senior brother?"

"No matter how fast Master's carrier pigeon is, it will still take time for Lord Gao to receive the message and send someone to Qianzhou. The garrison commander of Qianzhou will then receive the message and surround the government office, which will take even more time."

Therefore, these people could not possibly have been sent by Lord Gao. Even if Lord Gao were confident, he wouldn't send a message to his master before even carrying out his duties; that's not the logic of an official.

Therefore, the master and his junior brother were on guard against that group of people, which prevented them from being stabbed in the back.

Jiang Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow. Her senior brother had finally figured it out!

Li Haisheng didn't feel inferior to his junior brother. He believed that the most accomplished person is a teacher, and he was grateful that his junior brother didn't mind his slow thinking and was able to guide him without reservation.

My junior brother is truly an upright gentleman. If I were to be jealous of him, I would be unworthy of the title of "senior brother".

Ouyang Zheng was satisfied. He glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground and went forward to search for any tokens that could reveal the identity of the person who came.

“Master, these assassins wouldn’t be so foolish as to carry the master’s token, would they?” As soon as Li Haisheng finished speaking, Ouyang Zheng took out a token from one of the men’s pockets.

"The Marquis of Chengen's residence? The Empress's maternal family! How could the Marquis of Chengen's residence be dragged into this? The Marquis of Chengen is colluding with bandits? Can Lord Gao handle them? They have powerful backers!"

It's the Marquis of Chengen's mansion again? Jiang Xiaoqi clenched his fists secretly. Back in the Northern Frontier Camp, Yang Guozhong should have died of illness!

Ouyang Zheng's expression was solemn. Many things get out of control when they involve powerful officials in the court, and Gao Xuan might be in trouble.

If Gao Xuan handles this improperly, he may get himself into trouble. Gao Xuan is an upright person and may suffer the consequences!

"It is not possible to conclude that this matter is related to the Earl of Chengen based solely on a token. Without other evidence, the Earl of Chengen could simply say that he lost a token and that it was picked up by someone with ulterior motives to frame him."

Jiang Xiaoqi: "In any case, the behavior of the Marquis of Chengen in the northern border is very suspicious. If he were not in the northern border, our soldiers might have driven the barbarians away much sooner."

Jiang Xiaoqi wronged the Marquis of Chengen in this respect. The Marquis of Chengen, Yang Guozhong, was simply incompetent, which is why he dragged the army down.

"Master, should we return to Qianzhou now or continue south? Should we send another message to Lord Gao to inform him of the situation here, so that he is prepared?"

“Alright, Runzhi, you take your junior brothers and continue south. I will return to Qianzhou.” Ouyang Zheng decided to split the forces into two groups so that even if something happened in Qianzhou, he could easily escape on his own.

“Master, let me go with you! Let my senior brother take my mother and the others to continue south.”

Lin Yueniang looked worried, but didn't say anything to stop her. Jiang Xiyue wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, she kept quiet.

She wanted to go back to Qianzhou with Mr. Ouyang, but that was just a thought; her mother and younger brother would never agree. Sigh...

Li Haisheng looked helpless as his junior brother stole his lines, but he was quite happy to be able to escort Miss Jiang Er south.

There will be plenty of time to get to know each other along the way, hehe, hehehe!

He generously gave up his chance to return to Qianzhou to his junior brother!