In the evening, Jiang Wanyue drove the carriage away from the imperial city, unaware that Madam Zeng, who had caused trouble earlier, had already died silently at home.
Of course, even if she knew, she wouldn’t care.
After eating two meals of feed mixed with space pasture grass, the old horse looked much more spirited and seemed to understand human nature a little.
It seemed to have recognized Jiang Wanyue as its master.
Without needing any effort, it started running on the official road on its own.
Jiang Wanyue, wearing clothes made of cotton, sat outside the carriage, leisurely watching the sunset on the horizon.
How beautiful!
How peaceful this ancient world is!
Bored, she rested her chin on her hands and watched the running old horse.
“Maybe I should give you a name. Little Black? Old Horse? Long Hair…”
Jiang Wanyue was terrible at naming things, and the names she blurted out made the running old horse snort in dissatisfaction.
“Let’s call you Little Black. Little Black?”
The old black horse…
Continued running.
“Little Black?”
The old black horse…
Kept running.
She crossed her arms and took out a lot of pasture grass from her space, placing it beside the driver’s seat outside the carriage.
Sure enough, upon smelling the fresh scent, the old horse perked up, stopped, and drooled with a slurping sound.
“Little Black, do you want to eat space pasture grass?”
“Little Black?”
The old black horse snorted loudly, reluctantly agreeing.
Jiang Wanyue was satisfied. She parked the carriage by the roadside and let it graze.
“No picky eating.”
Seeing the horse pick out the roadside grass without eating it, she put her hands on her hips.
“If you’re picky, you won’t get any more space pasture grass to eat.”
The horse whimpered pitifully twice before starting to eat the roadside grass.
Night fell, and it was getting late.
Jiang Wanyue decided to set up camp right there. She tied the horse to a thick tree trunk.
Then, she took an inflatable pad from her space, inflated it, placed it inside the carriage, and lay down to sleep.
After the apocalypse, she had never slept soundly, fearing she might be killed in her sleep.
Now, although she slept more peacefully than before, she had developed a vigilant nerve, waking at the slightest disturbance.
“Who is it?”
Her eyes snapped open, meeting the gaze of a tall man dressed in a night suit.
The man had just lifted the curtain when he was caught red-handed.
Immediately, he drew a dagger from his body and pressed it against Jiang Wanyue’s neck.
His gaze was sharp, and his voice was hoarse, carrying a murderous intent.
“Don’t make a sound, or you die.”
Jiang Wanyue only felt a strong smell of blood assault her senses, seeping into her nostrils. She frowned.
This person was dressed in a night suit with his face covered. His shoulder had been slashed, and the deep wound, visible to the bone, was gushing blood.
Crossing her arms, she sneered coldly, as if the knife at her neck was nothing.
“If I were you, I’d find a way to stop the bleeding first. Tsk tsk, you’re even poisoned. How pitiful. With such a severe injury, you’ll soon bleed to death.”
She had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, killing countless zombies and mutated beasts. Even humans, she had eliminated many.
Would she fear such a small threat?
Her light mockery made the man in black grit his teeth.
He simply put down the dagger, covering the wound on his shoulder, but blood continued to flow endlessly from between his fingers.
Feeling dizzy, he gritted his teeth and held on.
“Enough nonsense. Drive the carriage quickly.”
Jiang Wanyue rolled her eyes. “You tell me to go, and I go? That would make me lose face.”
The man in black gritted his teeth in anger and was about to knock her unconscious when he heard hurried footsteps approaching from outside.
Not good—they were surrounded.
A sharp, raspy voice, thin and piercing like a duck’s quack, rang out from outside.
“Archers… ready.”
The black horse, startled, neighed and stamped in place.
Jiang Wanyue shouted toward the outside, “Stop yelling, it’s annoying.”
Then, with a half-smile, she looked at the man.
“Got any money?”
“What?”
The man in black was busy thinking of a way to escape when he suddenly heard the woman beside him speak. For a moment, he didn’t process her words.
She repeated herself.
“Got any money? I can save your life.”
The men in black widened their eyes, staring at Jiang Wanyue as if she were insane.
“What nonsense is this?”
A delicate woman without any internal energy, daring to speak so arrogantly—she must be crazy.
The sharp, duck-like voice called out again.
“Listen up, inside there! I am the Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace. That person is an assassin who broke into the imperial palace at night. Hand him over quietly, and I’ll spare you a whole corpse.”
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not daring to act rashly.
That man was incredibly powerful. Even after being poisoned with Soft Tendon Powder, he had still managed to kill countless Inner Palace Guards while escaping.
Getting too close would only risk being killed in return.
Hearing this, Jiang Wanyue grew furious.
Damn it, “spare you a whole corpse”? I’ll spare your mother’s whole corpse!
She glanced at the man in black, considering whether to throw him out, when her sharp eyes caught sight of the jade pendant hanging from his waist.
It looked quite valuable.
Seizing the moment while he was fully focused on the archers outside, she snatched the pendant.
“Consider this your payment for your life.”
The man in black reached back to grab his waist, but the pendant was already gone.
Such speed?
A glint flashed in his dark eyes.
His vision grew even blurrier, dizziness overwhelming him, and he could barely keep his balance.
Suddenly, a faint fragrance drifted past his nose, and the woman in the pink-blue dress stepped out of the carriage.
What a… fearless woman.
Thud—his head slammed heavily against the carriage floor.
Damn it, the drug was taking effect. His body felt weak, and he couldn’t muster any internal energy.
Outside the carriage, under the moonlight, Eunuch Xu saw a young woman emerge. Her delicate features showed no trace of fear; instead, she looked as relaxed as if she were on a spring outing.
Frowning, he asked, “Who are you? Harboring a wanted criminal of the court is punishable by the extermination of nine generations!”
Her casual demeanor put Eunuch Xu on high alert.
As Jiang Wanyue jumped down from the carriage, she was immediately met with the fierce, watchful gazes of the surrounding archers, radiating a solemn killing intent.
She brushed aside the stray hairs by her ear and spoke in a calm tone.
“You’re right. How about this: I’ll toss the person inside to you, and we’ll go our separate ways, pretending we never met. What do you say?”
The man in black inside the carriage…
She already took the payment for his life. What was he even expecting?
But after planning for so many years, it was hard to accept defeat.
Hearing Jiang Wanyue’s words, Eunuch Xu let out a scornful laugh.
He looked at her as if she were a fool. “Do you really think you can leave here alive?”
She was already caught up in this disaster—death was inevitable.
Jiang Wanyue shook her head and sighed.
“Sigh, I just came here to retire. I really don’t want trouble. Why do you have to push me?”
Suddenly, she looked up and flashed Eunuch Xu a bright, almost eerie smile.
“Since that’s the case, then… you all can die.”
A silenced pistol appeared out of nowhere in her hand, its dark muzzle aimed squarely between Eunuch Xu’s eyebrows.
Eunuch Xu was taken aback at first, then his expression turned strange.
Could this woman be here just to make a fool of him?
Then, anger surged within him. He had even felt wary earlier because of her calm demeanor, but it turned out she was just insane.
"You…" he had just uttered a single syllable.
"Thud…"
The sound of metal piercing flesh caused no disturbance in the night. The birds on the branches remained peacefully nestled in their roosts.