Volume 1 Chapter 12: Encountering Danger (Part 1)

  The weather was very good today, with sunshine everywhere and the earth radiant.

  It's summer, and the suburbs are everywhere with green water and green mountains, weeds and wildflowers are all over the place, and the dense trees are even more shaded. Such vitality, as if the whole world is surrounded by green.

  In modern times, only the countryside where I lived as a child had such scenery. So, Shangguan Qing'er curled up in the carriage and from time to time ran to the window to gaze out, breathing in the fresh air that was not polluted at all, looking at the beautiful scenery she had never seen before, and was overjoyed.

  Xia Jinhans as the crown prince, naturally couldn't sit in the carriage with Shangguan Liang'er together, so beside Shangguan Liang'er there was only Lihua serving her.

  After the last incident, Pear Blossom's attitude towards Shangguan Qing'er was obviously much worse. Previously, she would at least smile when looking at her, but now she had a cold face all day long, with an expression as if she wanted to eat someone up.

  It's no wonder, though. Last time, Shangguan Qing'er had her eat fifty slaps, and now when Lihua walks, she still seems a bit unnatural, clearly the injury was not light.

  Shangguan Qing'er felt a little guilty in her heart, so she was much nicer to Lihua.

  "Lihua sister, how much longer until we arrive in the capital?" Shangguan Qing'er stood on the chair inside the horse carriage, gazing out at the scenery outside the window, and turned her head to smile at Lihua.

  Sweet voice, gentle and soft, sounds very comfortable, but can't change the color of Lihua's face at all. "It will take about ten more days to arrive."

  "Ah..." Shangguan Qing'er plopped down into the chair, her face scrunched up in tears. "It's been a long time since I didn't like riding in carriages."

  This ancient transportation is really inconvenient, they have been walking for five days already, she thought that with their speed, it should take at most another five days to arrive. But in fact, they still need to walk for more than ten days, sigh, sitting in this horse carriage, her bones are almost falling apart.

  With both hands supporting her chin, Shangguan Qing'er was thinking hard about how to make the time pass more quickly. Li Hua was a person who didn't like to talk much, answering only when asked, and in this carriage, apart from Li Hua, there wasn't even a third person.

  Suddenly, Shangguan Qing'er popped out her head, looking around in all directions. When she saw Xia Jinhans riding a horse and moving forward in the distance, a bright smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she called out, "Brother... Jin brother..."

  She called out loudly, and almost everyone around her heard it. Her words made the people around her change their expressions one by one, they all widened their eyes in shock, staring at her in disbelief.

  Only Xia Jinhan's body stiffened for a moment, and then she turned her head, catching sight of the one standing at the carriage door, with one hand lifting the curtain and the other supporting the carriage, revealing a dazzling smile directed at herself - Shangguan Qing'er. Clearly just a three-year-old girl, but those sparkling eyes, that smile brighter than the summer sun, made Xia Jinhan's heart tremble for a moment.

  He pulled on the reins, turning the horse's head, his face still expressionless, and came to her side, coldly asking, "What's wrong?"

  Xia Jinhans actions caused the entire team to stop advancing, they all looked at Xia Jinhans, not understanding why their lord was being so kind to that mysterious little girl.

  "Brother, Lighter wants to ride horses with you..." Shangguan Lighter still had a smile that was more beautiful than a flower, with shallow dimples on her cheeks and the two front teeth she revealed, all of which made people love and adore her.

  Xia Jin Han frowned and looked at her small body, saying, "No way, the horse is too bumpy, you can't take the tossing around, be good and sit in the carriage."

  Shangguan Qing'er pouted slightly with some resentment, "Ji Gege, Qing'er wants to be together."

  Her voice was soft and sweet, plus her eyes that were full of pleading, and her chubby little face, looked pitiful, making people unable to refuse any of her requests. Especially her eyes were filled with mist, as if not agreeing with her, she would burst into tears at any moment.

  At this time, Qingyun finally reacted and said in a low voice, "How dare you, who allowed you to call the master's name directly?" The master allowed her to call him brother, but this name taboo cannot be called casually. This little girl, even if she wanted to get close, was too ignorant of the rules.

  Xia Jin gave Qing Yun a cold glance, causing Qing Yun's face to freeze in anger. For some reason, he felt that the prince was being unusually special towards this girl, which didn't seem like him at all...

  Shangguan Qing'er looked at Qingyun with a fearful gaze, then turned to Xia Jinyan and said, "Then, what should I call you? Brother Han?"

  Xia Jin's mouth twitched, and he pulled her from the carriage to his side, letting her sit on the horse in front of him. He said calmly, "You can call me whatever you like."

  Upon hearing this, Shangguan Jing'er smiled complacently and raised an eyebrow, giving Qingyun a triumphant look.

  Qingyun was indeed angry but could only grit her teeth and glare at her, not daring to say anything more.

  "Aren't you afraid of falling?" Xia Jinhan asked slowly as he rode his horse forward.

  "Don't worry, it's boring in the carriage," she said, her hands tightly grasping the back of Xia Jinhan's clothes, revealing a beautiful smile to him.

  "In a little while, you will be crying, don't blame me." Xia Jinhan said, whipping the horse with force, and immediately rode the horse to gallop away.

  Since this little girl thought of riding with him, he would fulfill her wish. Xia Jinhan naturally knew that Shangguan Qing'er was intentionally getting close to him, but she was just a child, and he wouldn't be afraid of her. Anyway, the horse ran so fast, if she got scared later, she would naturally go back to the carriage obediently.

  It turned out that Xia Jinhan thought the three-year-old little girl would not be able to withstand the toss, but unexpectedly she was not only not afraid, but also grabbed his clothes with one hand and waved her other hand, making "heh heh" sounds, while shouting excitedly, "Oh... flying, flying... haha..."

  After all, she was just a three-year-old child. Xia Jin Han lowered her head and looked at the little dot's happy face beside her, and the corners of her mouth also involuntarily stained with a faint smile.

  He suddenly felt that it would be better for her to leave the palace, a place of deceit and trickery. However, if she followed him from now on, wouldn't they continue to encounter those dark things?

  Shouldn't he bring her back to the capital?

  "Brother, what mountain is that? It's so beautiful..." Shangguan Qing'er pointed with her small hand at the straight stone mountain not far away, her eyes filled with delight.

  Xia Jin Han followed her hand and saw that it was a towering stone mountain, mainly composed of a single pillar of stone supporting the sky. The peak was straight and steep, with no people or vegetation covering the waist of the mountain, only the top was lush with trees, looking very unique and extraordinary.

  Xia Jin Han held the reins with one hand and gently stroked her fluffy short hair with the other, "It's just an unnamed mountain peak." Although unique, this place was a desolate wilderness, surrounded by mountains everywhere, so naturally no one would come to give this mountain a name.

  However, Shangguan Qing'er revealed two rabbit teeth and smiled, "High places are hard to bear the cold, it should be called 'high mountain'."

  Tall Mountain? Is this also considered giving a name to a mountain? Xia Jinhan's mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't respond.

  It was Shangguan Qing'er, who had been riding her horse all along, gesturing and pointing at this and that, chattering away in a loud voice that somehow made Xia Jincheng feel less lonely on their journey.

  She was right, it's freezing up high, does she want to stand with herself at a high place? Xia Jin's icy face had a hint of regret, looking at the exhausted Shangguan Qing'er who fell asleep on horseback, he raised his large hand and swept her into his arms, then leaped into a nearby carriage.

  And almost at the same time, a sharp arrow suddenly flew from the front and shot straight through Xia Jinhan's original position, piercing into the armor of a soldier behind him.

  Digression

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