Translator: Storm in a Teacup
Early the next morning, Long Xiaoyuan set off openly with a large group of people.
When they set off, the morning court had not started yet, so the ministers did not come to see him off.
Long Xiaoyuan took with him five thousand imperial guards and hundreds of Shadow Guardians.
The imperial guards were led by Qiu Ming.
Long Xiaoyuan was satisfied with the performance of the young general in a few operations.
He was thinking of cultivating Qiu Ming, so he was willing to take him along.
He knew that young people were the future pillars of Tianlong Dynasty.
Therefore, Long Xiaoyuan tended to take the younger generals with him so that they could grow more experienced as soon as possible.
After they set off, Long Xiaoyuan stayed in the carriage… catching up for sleep.
Shi Qingzhou was also in the carriage.
Last night, both of them were excited after they exchanged their secrets, so they couldn’t control themselves.
Their passion lasted until dawn, which meant that they slept for only an hour.
Therefore, they were very sleepy.
After they got into the carriage, Long Xiaoyuan held Shi Qingzhou and went to sleep.
Shi Qingzhou felt tired as well.
However, they were in the carriage. Long Xiaoyuan couldn’t sleep well as the road was a little bumpy. Therefore, he soon woke up.
They had only set off for two hours before they encountered a group of assassins!
There were only three assassins, but they were carrying grenades.
However, it was not easy to get grenades, so the three assassins had only six grenades.
When the three assassins appeared, they threw grenades at the carriage with the dragon pattern.
There were a total of six grenades, all aiming at the carriage. They attempted to catch them off guard and explode Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou into pieces.
Their plan was good, but they targeted at the wrong carriage.
Since Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou came out to be the bait, they were well prepared, as they were not looking for death.
Therefore, there were a total of ten carriages.
Furthermore, there was some distance between each carriage.
Some were placed in the middle of the soldiers, some were disguised as cargo carriages, and some were directly driven by Shadow Guardians.
Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou took one of the carriages.
Liu Suifeng and Ouyang Chuan were in the carriage close to the most luxurious carriage with dragon pattern.
There were too many grenades, plus the assassins threw them from high places.
Therefore, even though Liu Suifeng and Ouyang Chuan were tough, they could only dodge the grenades instead of catching them.
The grenades shattered the dragon carriage instantly, but there was no one inside.
The three assassins had the intention of killing themselves after the mission, as they knew they couldn’t escape after they threw the grenades.
Therefore, when several Shadow Guardians surrounded them, the assassins knew that they couldn’t run away, so they chose to kill themselves.
Therefore, Shadow Guardians only brought back the bodies of three assassins.
Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou had woken up, standing in front of the bodies of the three assassins.
Shi Qingzhou said slowly, “The court doesn’t have many grenades, which are not so powerful. These can be used in war.”
Long Xiaoyuan smiled. “Yes, that’s right.”
Shi Qingzhou glanced at Long Xiaoyuan. “Shall we continue?”
Long Xiaoyuan shrugged. “Of course. We have been delayed for a while now.”
Liu Suifeng paused and said, “How about this? We’ll send more scouts to explore the way. If there’s no problem, we will continue. We should be careful about this.”
They had suffered some casualties in the explosion.
Four guards died and seven were injured.
Those who were injured couldn’t move anymore.
After Liu Suifeng spoke, Long Xiaoyuan touched his chin and thought for a moment, saying, “Okay.”
Shi Qingzhou went to arrange it.
A moment later, he returned. “Let’s go slowly.”
Long Xiaoyuan smiled. “Okay.”
It was lunch time, and Long Xiaoyuan simply asked them to halt.
The army stopped to make lunch and have lunch.
Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou walked around, while Liu Suifeng and Ouyang Chuan followed them.
Ouyang Chuan said, “With our speed, it’ll take us a month to reach the border.”
Long Xiaoyuan said indifferently, “One month is fine. Anyway, we’re not in a hurry.”
Liu Suifeng giggled. “Yeah, we are not the anxious one.”
Ouyang Chuan didn’t say anything.
Shi Qingzhou said, “I see a hare. Wait here and I’ll be back soon.”
He leapt out like an arrow.
A short time later, Shi Qingzhou returned with a hare in his hand.
“I’ll roast it,” Shi Qingzhou said.
Long Xiaoyuan blinked. “It’s plump, but it’s not enough for us to share.”
Liu Suifeng and Ouyang Chuan immediately said that they didn’t want to eat it, and they would catch it themselves if they wanted to eat.
Long Xiaoyuan smiled. “Good. We’ll eat it ourselves.”
Shi Qingzhou was good at roasting the hare. Besides, he took all kinds of spices with him.
Therefore, the hare soon was roasted with golden crust, looking delicious.
Long Xiaoyuan felt his appetite improved just by smelling it. “Qingzhou, it smells good. I feel my mouth is watering.”
Shi Qingzhou pursed his lips at the exaggeration. “Really?”
Long Xiaoyuan nodded earnestly. “Of course, you are good at cooking.”
Shi Qingzhou smiled. “You don’t have to flatter me like that. I’ll give it to you anyway.”
Long Xiaoyuan put on a sad look. “Qingzhou, how can you say that? I really admire you. How can you say that I’m flattering you? Ouch… No.” Long Xiaoyuan clutched his chest. “My heart is hurt. It’s too painful.”
Shi Qingzhou’s mouth twitched slightly.
“Don’t embarrass me here. Hurry up, eat!”
“Qingzhou, we are married. How can you think I embarrass you? My heart is broken.”
Shi Qingzhou rolled his eyes and thrust the roasted hare into Long Xiaoyuan’s hand. “Eat it. Cut the crap.”
“Okay. I’m really hungry.” Long Xiaoyuan smiled.
Long Xiaoyuan shared two hare legs with Shi Qingzhou, who didn’t refuse.
After they shared the roasted hare and had lunch, they continued the journey.
This time, Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou didn’t get into one of the carriages. Instead, they rode on one horse together.
Long Xiaoyuan sat behind Shi Qingzhou, his hands around Shi Qingzhou’s waist, his head leaning against his back.
“Qingzhou, I feel happy if we ride on like this to the ends of the world,” Long Xiaoyuan said emotionally.
Shi Qingzhou said with gentle eyes, “Follow you to the ends of the world? I’m not willing. It would be exhausting.”
Long Xiaoyuan snorted and pinched Shi Qingzhou’s waist.
Shi Qingzhou’s whole body stiffened.
Long Xiaoyuan knew well that was his lover’s sensitive spot.
Long Xiaoyuan smiled. “Qingzhou, are you saying that again?”
Shi Qingzhou turned his head and rolled his eyes at the man behind him. “We’re riding a horse. Don’t mess around. Do you want us to fall off?”
Long Xiaoyuan laughed. “So what if we fall? I think you are willing to be my cushion. It won’t hurt.”
Shi Qingzhou was instantly disgruntled. “Why do I have to be your cushion?”
Long Xiaoyuan blinked and said matter-of-factly, “Because I’m weaker than you.”
Shi Qingzhou’s mouth twitched, and he was at a loss for words.
The two of them bickered along the way.
Ten days later, they arrived at Jiuyang City.
Jiuyang City was the biggest city along the way.
In the past few days, most of the towns they passed by were small.
This was the first big city that they had set their foot in after they set off.
With their current speed, they might not be able to reach the border in a month.
However, Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou didn’t mind it at all.
The news that the Emperor was travelling incognito somehow spread out.
Starting from the third town they passed by, Long Xiaoyuan saw many people in every place they entered.
The local government arranged the soldiers to maintain order.
Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou saw that they were exposed, so they simply stayed in the Yamen and continued their journey the next day.
Long Xiaoyuan’s group seemed to have loose security, but in fact they kept highly alert.
Each of the several thousand soldiers that Qiu Ming brought had to be familiar with the people around him.
Furthermore, they could not act alone.
The whole team had to take action together, and no one was allowed to drop out halfway for any reason!
If there was anything wrong with the person around the soldier, he had to report it immediately.
In addition, Qiu Ming checked all the soldiers with the liquid developed by Liu Suifeng every two days.
The purpose was to see if anyone had sneaked in the army.
Indeed, they found two spies in ten days.
However, the two of them killed themselves before Qiu Ming could interrogate them.
These two people sneaked in while resting at a Yamen.
They did not know they had been exposed from the first day. One of the soldiers around them found they were abnormal and reported them.
Qiu Ming immediately checked and caught them.
This time, when they entered a big city like Jiuyang City, Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou, who had already revealed their whereabouts, were surrounded by people all the way…
Before they reached the gate of Jiuyang City, several city officials had been waiting with the commoners to welcome them.
Long Xiaoyuan felt that everyone in the city had come.
At a glance, it was a sea of people.
Long Xiaoyuan and Shi Qingzhou exchanged a glance.
Long Xiaoyuan said slowly, “After this time, we have to order the ban and forbid them to welcome us. Otherwise, once the assassins appear, the innocent people will be injured.”
Shi Qingzhou paused for a moment, thinking Long Xiaoyuan had talked about the people took charge, and he nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Long Xiaoyuan smiled, “Let’s go, Qingzhou. We still have to deal with it this time. Let’s go.”
Shi Qingzhou nodded. “Okay.”
Long Xiaoyuan took Shi Qingzhou’s hand and walked forward.
“Long live the Emperor and the Empress!”
The crowd was shouting in excitement.
Long Xiaoyuan held Shi Qingzhou’s hand and stood at the front of the group. “Everyone, get up.”
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