Nanny Zhang instinctively wanted to shout out. This was a main road with quite a few passers - by. Moreover, in this prosperous and peaceful era, bandit attacks shouldn't happen here.
Just as the words were about to escape her lips, Nanny Zhang shut her mouth again. The young lady had behaved extremely arrogantly today. If she didn't receive a little lesson, Nanny Zhang couldn't relieve the hatred in her heart.
Just wait. According to the schedule, the imperial guards would patrol here soon. There was no need to worry. She just wanted to watch the young lady tremble with fear, just like the girl on the ground.
However, Nanny Zhang underestimated those bandits. A fat bandit came up, grabbed Nanny Zhang, and raised his knife to strike.
Nanny Zhang was so scared that her soul almost left her body. She pleaded for mercy repeatedly: "Sir, spare my life! Spare my life!"
Such a thing hadn't happened in her past life. In her past life, Shi Ning'an had stayed in the carriage all the time and returned to the capital early. She never expected such a change in this life.
The girl on the ground clung tightly to Shi Ning'an's shoes. This was her last straw: "Benefactor, I'm Zhao Yiyi, a daughter of the Zhao family in Maoming. As long as the benefactor is willing to save my life, my grandfather and father at home will surely reward you handsomely."
Shi Ning'an frowned slightly. The Zhao family in Maoming was a royal merchant. Although they were merchants, the title of "royal" made them seem especially noble. Therefore, they could gain a little face in front of the nobles.
However, in her previous life until the age of twenty - six, she had never heard that the Zhao family had a daughter named Zhao Yiyi.
But in this situation, the young girl in front of her couldn't be lying about her identity. It was very likely that Zhao Yiyi in her past life had already been killed here.
Shi Ning'an looked up and secretly sized up these bandits. They didn't seem like ordinary highway robbers. Instead, they seemed well - trained and had deliberately followed them. Obviously, they had already killed the girl's family members and servants, but still chased after her, intending to wipe her out completely. So, this was a revenge killing!
Thinking of this, Shi Ning'an couldn't afford to be soft - hearted. The most urgent thing was to save their own lives.
She struggled to pull her leg out, bowed to the leader of the bandits, and said, "Gentlemen, we are just passing by to enjoy the flowers. We've disturbed you. We'll leave now."
But how could those big men let them go so easily?
"After seeing what we've done, do you think you can escape?"
Then there came a stench. It turned out that Nanny Zhang had soiled herself out of fear. The bandit holding her was very disgusted. He threw her on the ground, and she landed head - first.
At this moment, Nanny Zhang no longer had any dignity of a senior nanny. She quickly knelt down and pleaded: "Sir, spare my life! Spare my life! I'm..."
Seeing that Nanny Zhang was about to reveal their identities in this critical moment, Shi Ning'an quickly stopped her and only said, "Gentlemen, we've come from the countryside. We don't know anything about the Zhao family in Maoming. We'll surely keep our mouths shut about today's matter and won't talk about it outside. Please be kind enough to spare our lives."
A big man beside them stroked his chin after hearing this. A lecherous smile appeared in his eyes. He walked to the leader and whispered, but Shi Ning'an and the others could hear clearly: "Boss, this girl is quite nice. Since we're already living a life on the run, why don't we..."
The leader slapped him on the head: "Lust is a double - edged sword. You may not care about your life, but the rest of us do. The imperial guards patrol here from time to time. Hurry up and finish them all!"
The Shi family had a dozen or so guards and servants, but obviously they were no match for these desperadoes. In a short while, they were defeated.
The lecherous big man didn't dare to act recklessly after receiving the boss's order. He stepped forward with his knife, about to kill Shi Ning'an.
Shi Ning'an and Lu'er hugged each other, trembling with fear. But as two weak women, they couldn't fight back or run away. They could only wait for death.
She wondered what the heavens had in store for her by bringing her back to life. It was only the first day after her rebirth, and now they wanted to take her life?
In the blink of an eye, a flash of cold light appeared. The big man fell to the ground with a thud, and the surroundings fell into silence.
Shi Ning'an finally summoned the courage to look up. She saw a young man in silver - white clothes standing in front of them, looking indifferently in the direction of the bandits. The young man wore a jade crown, and his clothes were obviously not something an ordinary family could afford.
He had his back to them. Shi Ning'an only saw a small part of his face, but immediately recognized him as Rong Sui.
Her eyes turned red. Rong Sui, the one who had been at odds with her for ten years. But it was only when she was about to die that she realized everything Rong Sui had said was true. Even when Rong Sui escaped from prison, he probably intended to take her and Zhi'er to flee.
Rong Sui looked at the remaining bandits indifferently: "Under broad daylight, you dare to do such evil deeds. It seems that I can't spare you."
The bandits looked at each other. Just as they were about to move, Rong Sui quickly grabbed one of them by the chin, picked up his sword, and the poison sac in the bandit's mouth was picked out.
In a short while, the several guards who came with Rong Sui also captured the other bandits and removed the poison sacs from their mouths in the same way.
The leader of the bandits roared angrily: "Who are you!"
Rong Sui smiled faintly: "Rong Sui."
The bandits were greatly shocked. Then they became dejected and stopped resisting. They all knew that once they fell into the hands of the Rong family, there was no chance of escaping or committing suicide.
Lu'er got up, still in shock. She gently patted Shi Ning'an's cheek: "Miss, wake up, miss. Are you scared?"
Over there, Rong Sui didn't even look at them. He went to deal with the bandits on his own and then arranged for people to handle the other dead bodies in the woods.
Zhao Yiyi had already stood up. She tidied up her clothes slightly and walked slowly in front of Rong Sui, bowing: "Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life. I'm Zhao Yiyi of the Zhao family in Maoming. In the future..."
Rong Sui didn't even look at her and turned around to leave.
The guard beside Rong Sui laughed: "Miss, haven't you heard of the name of the third young master Rong? He dislikes women getting close to him the most. But today's matter is what we should do. We'll arrange for someone to send you back later."
Zhao Yiyi seemed unwilling. She glanced at Rong Sui's back, then lowered her head, gritted her teeth, and replied yes.
Rong Sui wiped his sword on his own, put it back into the scabbard, instructed his subordinates a few words, and then walked towards his horse.
"Cousin."
Rong Sui was stunned for a moment. He turned around, still with a cold and expressionless face. He saw the young girl not far away, the one he had saved from the bandits' knives. Perhaps she had just come to her senses. She was running towards him with a bright smile.
"Cousin."
She called out again.
Rong Sui frowned and asked, "Me?"
Shi Ning'an nodded emphatically: "Yes. Didn't you say you're Rong Sui of the Rong family? Then you're my cousin. Cousin, I'm Ning'an, Shi Ning'an."
Shi Ning'an? Rong Sui sized her up. Sure enough, aside from the panicked look on her face, her features did bear a resemblance to the portrait of his aunt in his grandfather's study.
Shi Ning'an walked over happily, grabbed Rong Sui's sleeve, and looked up at him: "Cousin, I'm so happy to see you as soon as I came back."
Rong Sui pulled his sleeve uneasily, but failed. He thought for a moment and decided to let it go. Shi Ning'an was his aunt's daughter. His grandfather had always missed his early - deceased aunt and this cousin who had been raised outside since childhood. Yesterday, his uncle had scolded his eldest brother and him, saying that his cousin was coming back. If they saw her, they must take good care of her.
Since she was his cousin.
Rong Sui took a deep breath and forced a smile: "So it's Ning'an. You're back?"
Shi Ning'an nodded: "Yes, I'm back. Father said he missed me and sent someone to pick me up from Nanling."
Rong Sui instinctively turned to look at Shi Ning'an's carriage, then at the bustling dozen or so people. The carriage was an ordinary blue - topped one. There was a useless nanny, a young maid, and the rest were all coachmen and guards.
Looking at what his cousin was wearing and what was on her head, they were all ordinary.
For some reason, the image of the eldest young lady of the Shi family appeared in his mind. She always had a large entourage when going out. When had she ever been so shabby?
Shi Ning'an's soft voice continued: "Cousin, why are you here? Do you want to go back to the capital together?"
Rong Sui then came back to his senses: "I have official business. Don't worry. I'll arrange for someone to escort you back to the capital."
Shi Ning'an nodded with a smile. She hesitated and then asked: "Cousin, can I come to your house to play with you in the future?"
Rong Sui was stunned again. Looking into his cousin's shiny black eyes, he couldn't help but feel happy: "It will be my grandfather's birthday in a few days. You'll surely see us then."
Shi Ning'an looked shocked: "Is it grandfather's birthday? But I didn't know. I haven't prepared anything yet."
Rong Sui looked up and saw the senior nanny beside his cousin hiding in the carriage to change clothes. He frowned slightly. Since his aunt's death, the Shi and Rong families had been on bad terms. But for this birthday banquet of his grandfather, because he missed Shi Ning'an, the invitation had been sent to the Shi family early on, and the Shi family had accepted it, clearly indicating that they would come. In such a situation, they didn't even inform his cousin?
He didn't have a good impression of the Shi family, but no matter how bad the impression was, he wouldn't say it in front of his cousin.
After seeing Shi Ning'an into the carriage, Rong Sui turned to leave. When he looked back, he saw his cousin lifting the curtain of the carriage, smiling at him. There were two dimples at the corners of her mouth, and a cute little canine tooth showed when she smiled.
This younger sister was quite cute.
Rong Sui also showed a faint smile.
After he walked far away, the guard beside him walked to the carriage and looked at Shi Ning'an in surprise: "My goodness, Miss Shi, this is the first time I've seen the third young master Rong smile at a woman."
Shi Ning'an asked naively: "Doesn't my cousin usually smile?"
The guard stared blankly at Shi Ning'an. He thought to himself, this fairy - like girl could make anyone lose their soul with just one look. It was only because the third young master Rong had strong self - control that he could remain calm under her smile. If it were an ordinary man...
Tsk tsk tsk.
Shi Ning'an closed the curtain of the carriage and resumed her calm look.
All the way, Nanny Zhang kept silent. She had soiled herself in front of so many people just now. It was really embarrassing. She didn't feel it at that time, but now that they had survived the crisis, she wished she could find a hole to hide in.
It was just that the young lady was okay, looking straight ahead without saying a word. But Lu'er kept glancing at her from time to time, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. She felt that Lu'er was laughing at her.