Transmigrated Female Official

191 Ambush

Ji Kingdom, Nanyu City.

At this time, Gongsun Yu had been guarding the southernmost border city of Ji State for two days.

No matter how he imagined it, he felt that Chu Qingluo's journey would be fraught with intrigue and danger. Therefore, he could no longer stay at home and wait for her, but instead came to the border ahead of time.

However, what he least expected was that he would run into the Fifth Prince Ji Qili in Nanyu City, which made his unease even stronger.

Gongsun Yu secretly observed Ji Qili from a distance, wanting to know what his purpose was in coming to Nanyu City. But what happened next shocked him greatly!

Ji Qili and his group, disguised as cloth merchants, planned to transport several carts loaded with cloth out of the city. Strangely, an old woman and a little girl were also with them.

When leaving the country, Ji Qili deliberately concealed his identity as a prince and passed through customs discreetly.

This made Gongsun Yu even more certain of his ill intentions, so he quickly packed some dry rations and followed him.

Fearing that the sound of horses' hooves would attract the attention of Ji Qili and his group, Gongsun Yu could only keep a relatively long distance from them.

After traveling for about a day, they chose to stop in a relatively dangerous place.

The terrain here is considered dangerous because the road is very narrow and sloping, only wide enough for one carriage to pass at a time. Therefore, when crossing this section, one must first observe whether there are any carriages coming from the other side of the slope before proceeding safely.

Besides, on the other side of the road is the Ram River, which runs through the border between the two countries. Normally, carriages slow down and travel slowly in this section, because if they slip, they risk falling into the river.

As darkness fell, Ji Qili and his men unloaded the goods under cover of night. Gongsun Yu secretly peeked closer and discovered that hidden beneath the cloth were a pile of bows, arrows, and weapons.

After unloading the goods, the wagons that transported them left first, leaving the group and their horses behind. They hid in the bushes on the slope and changed into black night clothes. Then, Ji Qili, leading a dozen or so people, including the old woman and the little girl, rode onward…

Gongsun Yu's heart was pounding in his throat. This was clearly a vicious murder plot being planned!

Without much thought, he rode his horse across the section and continued to follow Ji Qili.

The assassins lying in ambush in the bushes ignored Gongsun Yu, who was passing by at that moment, because they only needed to wait for Ji Qili's signal to deal with the person they needed to deal with.

Ji Qili and his group stopped about five miles ahead, hiding in the bushes nearby, and sent people to take turns watching the vehicles coming from the direction of Yuezhi Kingdom.

Gongsun Yu carefully led his horse and hid around them.

He was thinking to himself that if he went to the border city of Yuezhi right now, not only would he be unable to enter the city without a pass, but even if he could enter, he might not be able to find Chu Qingluo. If he were to miss her so carelessly, that would be truly terrible.

Therefore, he decided to stay here quietly, just like Ji Qili, without alerting the enemy. If Ji Qili made any unusual moves, he could jump out to protect Chu Qingluo immediately.

……

After a day of observation, Gongsun Yu finally discovered Ji Qili's sinister intentions in bringing the old woman and the little girl with him.

It turns out that these two were just bait.

The old woman was specifically responsible for lying on the ground in the middle of the road and pretending to faint, while the little girl desperately stopped every carriage coming from the direction of Yuezhi Kingdom, and then pitifully begged the people in the carriages to get off and help her...

On the sixth day, a carriage escorted by more than twenty men on horseback came into their view. Only then did Ji Qili's lips curl into a meaningful, sinister smile.

The carriage didn't give the impression of a princess traveling in grand style. It simply seemed to be carrying a woman from a wealthy family, escorted by her entourage to the Kingdom of Ji.

Such a disguise would be impossible for anyone else to see through.

However, Ji Qili, who was quite familiar with the Sixth Princess and Ji Qiran, was confident that he could see through her disguise as a beggar at a glance!

The old woman remained lying on the ground, while the little girl burst into tears. As the carriage approached, she suddenly knelt down in front of it, crying out, "Please save my mother!"

The little girl was kneeling right in front of him, so the coachman had to tighten the reins and quickly stop the carriage.

A male voice from inside the carriage asked, "Why did you stop?"

The coachman said, "There is a little girl kneeling in front of the carriage."

The man inside the carriage was silent for a moment, then lifted the curtain and stepped out. The instant he lifted the curtain, Ji Qili, with his sharp eyes, noticed that there were still several people sitting inside the carriage.

The man nimbly jumped off the carriage, helped the little girl up, and asked, "Don't cry, tell your brother what happened?"

The little girl sniffled, pointed to the old woman lying behind her, and said with tears in her eyes, "My mother... she suddenly fainted!"

Following her gaze, the man also saw the old woman on the ground. He walked over, called out to her twice, and when she didn't respond, he helped her up and pressed his thumb on her philtrum...

At this moment, the old woman suddenly woke up, and the old woman and the young man hurriedly thanked the man.

The man laughed heartily twice and said that since there was nothing else, he would continue on his way.

Under normal circumstances, he might have gone all the way to being a good Samaritan. But these are extraordinary times, and he cannot afford to be careless in the slightest.

Even with such caution, the moment he stepped out of the carriage, Ji Qili recognized him at a glance... Prince Zhi Jun of the Yuezhi Kingdom.

Since Zhi Jun was in this carriage, it meant that the other people in the carriage were the Sixth Princess and Ji Qiran. Even though the two of them neither spoke nor showed their faces, the sympathy they inadvertently revealed completely betrayed them.

Zhi Jun returned to the carriage, and they continued on their journey, completely unaware that they were gradually finding themselves in perilous situations.

Ji Qili stared at their carriage, a ruthless glint in his eyes. Suddenly, he waved his hand, and arrows rained down from the bushes...

"Not good! An ambush!" a guard shouted, drawing his sword to block the arrows. The coachman quickly cracked his whip, spurring the carriage forward at full speed!

Gongsun Yu had also seen Zhi Jun, but he had never met this foreign prince before, so he couldn't be sure if Chu Qingluo was inside the carriage. However, seeing that the carriage was under attack, he had no time to hesitate. He immediately leaped onto his horse and galloped out of the bushes!

"Qingluo—!" Gongsun Yu called out as he chased after the carriage.

The guards, mistaking him for an assassin, drew their swords at him. While defending himself, he continued to shout Chu Qingluo's name!