"Master, there are more and more refugees along the way. It seems the situation in Jiangnan is very serious."
Listening to the sigh of the servant boy beside him, Lu Yunxiao silently watched a group of common people not far away, supporting the elderly and carrying the young. Their spirits were actually not too bad, and they all carried large packages on their backs. It was evident that those packages were somewhat heavy. Based on the experience Lu Yunxiao had gained from predecessors who had served as Disaster Relief Imperial Envoys, these people did not seem to have any reason to leave their hometown and country. After all, he and the Imperial Court's disaster relief team had already arrived in Yunfang Prefecture, and another disaster relief team led by Lord Liu from the Ministry of Revenue was traveling by the canal and was likely not far from Zhoushan by now. The boatmen or trackers on the canal should have received the news long ago. If that was the case, why were there still so many fleeing common people?
Picking up his teacup and taking a gentle sip, Lu Yunxiao instructed indifferently: "Go to the back and notify Lord Shi to speed up the journey. We must arrive at Zhoushan in five days."
"Ah? We need to speed up even more?"
The servant boy Zhao Yun, who had just spoken, shrank his neck and muttered in a low voice: "Master, the disaster relief team is so massive; you can't expect them to keep up with our speed. After all, there are only three of us, traveling light. It is already a test for Lord Shi to be able to trail behind us without falling behind. If we speed up again, even if those soldiers are willing to risk their lives out of fear of your orders, I'm afraid those mules, horses, and donkeys won't agree. If they end up rolling on the ground and refusing to get up..."
"Enough, enough. Why do you have so many strange remarks?"
Muyun, the other servant boy beside Lu Yunxiao, shook his head, stood up to tidy up his clothes, and said to Zhao Yun: "You take good care of Master; I will go to the back to notify Lord Shi."
"Hey, rest assured, good brother. With me here, I guarantee I will take care of Master appropriately." Seeing Muyun take the initiative to take on this errand, Zhao Yun was so happy he almost jumped up. He agreed crisply. Watching Muyun walk away, he then fawningly stepped forward and looked at Lu Yunxiao: "Master, the tea is cold. Would you like another cup?"
"No need."
Lu Yunxiao glanced at Zhao Yun: "I'm surprised you have the nerve. You always let Muyun do such thankless work. Do you have any shame?"
"Master, although I look happy on the outside, I am very moved on the inside, but I dare not show it in front of you..." Zhao Yun was a slippery character, and Lu Yunxiao couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Who told Muyun to spoil such a lazy scoundrel? He waved his hand, signaling that Zhao Yun could roll to the side and stop bothering him. Zhao Yun followed suit and rolled to a spot five steps behind Lu Yunxiao, looking around.
They had been on the road for over a month. The further south they went, the more beautiful the scenery became. The peach, plum, apricot, and pear blossoms along the road were in full bloom. A light rain last night had scattered petals all over the ground, making Zhao Yun think of the magnificent rear garden in the Marquis's Estate. He imagined the young ladies were probably looking at the fallen flowers and reciting poetry right now.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yun couldn't help but glance at Lu Yunxiao, thinking proudly in his heart that if it came to reciting poetry, how many people could compare to his Master? It was just a pity that the young ladies didn't worship their own Brother, but instead treated those so-called talented scholars who had only written a few poems as if they were poetry immortals or sages. Bah! Could what those people wrote even be called poetry? Doggerel, perhaps? It was just that Master didn't care about such things, saying that poetry was a trivial skill. Otherwise, if he were to write a few poems and have them spread, he feared those talented scholars' faces would be trampled into the dirt...
Just as Zhao Yun was feeling indignant for his "all-powerful" Master, he suddenly saw Lu Yunxiao stand up abruptly. He was stunned for a moment and quickly stepped forward: "Master, what is it?"
"Someone is calling for help ahead."
Lu Yunxiao frowned and walked out of the pavilion in a few steps. At this moment, an intermittent cry for help reached them.
"Master, let this servant handle it."
Usually, for such opportunities to show loyalty to his Master, Zhao Yun would stand behind Muyun and express his loyalty loudly. But today, Muyun was not there, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step up.
Lu Yunxiao walked with long strides toward the direction of the sound, looking at him with amusement, and shook his head: "How is it? Did your calculation fail? You should have known to let Muyun stay behind to handle this dangerous errand, right? You deserve it. This just goes to show you that Heaven is not blind."
"Master, at a time like this, please be more mindful. The young lady is still there calling for help." Zhao Yun said with a mournful face, trotting behind Lu Yunxiao. They soon turned a corner and saw on a grassy slope below, more than a dozen tall and sturdy men surrounding three people, laughing cruelly.
Among the three people surrounded, two of them were clearly women dressed as men. Lu Yunxiao shook his head, secretly thinking that he didn't know which prominent family's spoiled young lady or maidservant this was, running away from home over some trivial chicken feather matter. It served them right; let's see if they know how dangerous the world is now.
Because of Xia Qingyu, Lu Yunxiao hated these willful and arrogant young ladies who insisted on pretending to be elegant and noble in front of others to the extreme. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to help, thinking that they needed to suffer a bit to realize that traveling was not easy. Perhaps from then on, they wouldn't be so willful. If that were the case, their future husbands should really thank him.
The appearance of the third person among the three was somewhat strange. Although the figure was slender, the stature was not short, and it looked like they knew a little Kung Fu. It was clear that this was a man. Of course, what was strange was not this, but the half-iron mask on his face. For some reason, looking at the half of the face exposed, the features were clearly extremely exquisite and handsome, yet the other half of the face wore a grim iron mask, which looked very eerie. If it weren't for this group of scoundrels and desperate thugs, ordinary people would likely have avoided that mask at all costs.
"Pretending to be mysterious?"
Lu Yunxiao shook his head, secretly thinking that such a disguise could only scare those who were ignorant. If they really encountered these ruthless characters rolling at the bottom of the Jianghu, what use would it be? It was just a bit strange that the iron mask hadn't been taken off yet.
"Master, those three people don't seem to be able to hold on much longer."
Zhao Yun leaned over and reported in a low voice. Lu Yunxiao nodded: "Hmm, you go down."
This "go down" clearly did not mean to retreat, so Zhao Yun couldn't help but pull a long face. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Lu Yunxiao glance over: "What? With just these few rotten fish, do you still want Master to take action?"
Zhao Yun thought to himself, Master, we can't be this unreasonable. You touch your conscience and tell me, are those just a few rotten fish? Those are clearly more than a dozen rotten fish, okay? Two fists are no match for four hands, and a hero can't handle a pack of wolves, let alone the fact that I'm not a hero.
However, he only dared to think these words in his heart; he absolutely did not dare to say them out loud. He had no choice but to jump down with a mournful face, wailing: "Muyun, Brother misses you," as he charged into the crowd.
The servant boy following Lu Yunxiao naturally couldn't just be good at serving tea and water or making beds. After all, he was a Top Scholar of Martial Arts. If the people under him didn't have a few moves of Kung Fu, would they have the nerve to greet people on the street?
However, this scoundrel Zhao Yun was usually spoiled by Muyun and was lazy. His so-called Kung Fu was just so-so. Not to mention comparing him to Lu Yunxiao, even compared to Muyun, one couldn't say Muyun could knock him down with a little finger, but if he added his middle finger, it would be a matter of minutes, without even needing the thumb to get involved.
However, even so, this meager Kung Fu, which was not held in high regard by Lu Yunxiao and Muyun, was enough to deal with those dozen cruel and ruthless thugs. By the time Muyun returned from delivering the message, the battle was already over. The thugs fled in panic, and Zhao Yun led the three people up from the slope with his head hanging low.
"How is it?"
Muyun looked at Lu Yunxiao's expression. Seeing that he had no expression, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his Master was not angry. It was true; although the result was not very brilliant, given Zhao Yun's lazy temperament, it was not bad to be able to fight like this, not to mention that he had been wounded.
"My eye is bruised." Zhao Yun didn't dare to complain in front of Lu Yunxiao. He walked to the side with Muyun, a dozen steps away, and only then dared to voice his grievances, pointing to his two dark circles under the eyes: "Also, the corner of my mouth is broken. That leader was really cruel. Damn it."
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll boil two eggs for you to apply to your eye later. The corner of your mouth isn't swollen either. As long as your teeth are fine, it's okay." Muyun checked Zhao Yun's injuries and finally sighed: "You, this time Master was deliberately teaching you a lesson. It's no wonder Master is angry. You are usually too slippery. For example, with this Kung Fu, others want to beg Master to teach them a few moves and can't, but you, you just keep thinking about avoiding it..."
Before he could finish, he saw Zhao Yun roll his eyes and mutter: "Isn't there you? Alright, you've seen my miserable state now, and I still have to listen to your scolding. Are you trying to make me not want to live?"
Muyun was so angry at this scoundrel that he couldn't do anything. Yet, looking at those wounds, he felt a bit soft-hearted. He looked up at Lu Yunxiao's side and saw that the three people had already reached his Master, and were bowing to express their gratitude.
Sang Luzhi never dreamed that just by running away from home, she would encounter such a terrifying thing. In the legendary storybooks she read in secret, whenever a young lady ran away from home because she was dissatisfied with her wedding arrangements or for some other reason, she would either meet a young knight whose sword shook the world or a young Great General who was a peerless hero. But for her, nothing had happened along the way, and it was only when she was about to reach Jiangnan that she encountered such a group of scoundrels and thugs, and was almost robbed of her money, and even almost insulted. Even though she had a temperament that feared nothing, thinking about it now, she felt her body go weak.
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