The moment Wen Jiang locked eyes with Bai Qingqing, he knew—he was doomed. Of all times, why did he have to walk in now?

Forcing himself to act as though he had heard nothing, he stiffened his spine and maintained a calm expression. “My lord, something happened ahead.”

“Speak.”

Wen Jiang reported that their scout had returned with word: a maid was blocking the road ahead. She claimed that her young mistress’s trade caravan had been attacked—captured, with their fate uncertain. She begged them for help.

Bai Qingqing’s heart clenched. Attacked? Robbed?

“In broad daylight? Who would dare commit highway robbery? Are they not afraid of the law?”

Wen Jiang sighed. “Outlaws care nothing for the law. There’s been a bandit den in these hills for years. The court had long planned a campaign to root them out, but for various reasons, it’s been delayed again and again. Eventually, people just stopped taking this road. But it’s still the fastest, most convenient route. I suppose the young lady’s caravan decided to risk it… never imagining…”

Bai Qingqing couldn’t understand. “What reasons could possibly justify letting bandits claim a mountain as their kingdom—turning a public road into a roll of the dice?”

Roads exist so people can travel—don’t they? She couldn’t fathom how known bandits had been left unchecked for so long. Was this not sheer disregard for human life?

As they spoke, the maid had already been brought over. Wen Jiang opened the carriage door, and the maid’s voice broke forth in sobs laced with blood. She threw herself to the ground and kowtowed furiously.

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“My lord! I beg you—please save my mistress! I beg you!”

Her forehead was already bloodied from kneeling, her clothes torn and disheveled. Her hair had come undone, and one of her shoes was missing—clearly, she had fled for her life.

“Please, I beg you, save my mistress. She just got engaged—she was on her way home to prepare for the wedding… I beg you, my lords, save her…”

The maid’s cries were heart-wrenching, tearing straight through Bai Qingqing’s chest. But she knew her sympathy couldn’t sway Ning Yan’s decision—the safety of their entire entourage rested on his shoulders alone.

She could only sit quietly in the carriage, hands slowly curling into fists inside her sleeves, silently praying that the young lady would survive this calamity.

Ning Yan asked about the time the bandits had appeared, then turned back to remind Bai Qingqing to stay in the carriage and not wander. When he saw how pale her face had gone, his tone softened. “Don’t be afraid. They’re just bandits. Can you guess why I chose this route?”

He left with a smile. Bai Qingqing leaned out the carriage window, watching as he swung into the saddle and led a few armored guards into the forest until they vanished among the trees.

The convoy came to a halt. The remaining guards went about their duties with quiet diligence. Outside, the maid’s helpless sobs continued. Bai Qingqing wanted to go and comfort her, but Ning Yan’s words held her back.

Thankfully, Wen Jiang stepped in, helping the maid up from the ground and calling to Bai Qingqing to help apply medicine.

The maid’s worst injuries were on her forehead and the soles of her feet—especially her feet, which were covered in bloody gashes, the wounds muddied with grit and gravel.

Wen Jiang brought over a basin of water, but when the maid shrank back from him, refusing to let him clean her wounds, Bai Qingqing crouched down beside her. “Would it be all right if I do it?”

The maid looked at her for a moment, then nodded, loosening her grip on her injured foot.

It wasn’t easy to pick out the mud and stones lodged in the wounds. As Bai Qingqing carefully cleaned them, the maid trembled with pain, and she herself seemed to flinch with every touch. She whispered soothing words as she worked, cleaning each wound thoroughly, applying medicine, and finally wrapping the feet in clean cloth strips.