This time the carriage abruptly screeched to a halt. Because of the sudden momentum, the unprepared duo fell onto the cold carriage floor.
Both Xiao Anhao and Yao mama groaned in pain as they lay on top of each other, their limbs spread hilariously like that of a broken butterfly.
"How atrocious!"
Yao Mama shouted as she crawled on the floor like a roach,
"Doesn't that coachman know that the Princess is present here! She even got hurt because of his carelessness."
Yao Mama extracted Xiao Anhao from the floor too as she grumbled about the coachman's poor driving skills. Was the coachman newly appointed? How dare he drive so recklessly! It was such an abrupt stop, almost broke their bones.
'Was he doing these deliberately?' Xiao Anhao wondered. But she was interrupted by Yao Mama, 'How dare a peasant like him looks down on Princess Mei!'
To their surprise, Nuwa didn't respond. They deduced that since Nuwa was a new princess, she might be overlooking everything to forgive his negligence.
'She needs to act like a proper princess.' Yao Mama thought, 'Otherwise, she may die before understanding the reason of her death!'
Yao mama had been serving the empress dowager for almost all her life so she had seen many dirty schemes of the harem with her own eyes. Some of them were even plotted by her along with the Empress. So it was normal for her to worry.
On the other hand, Xiao Anhao looked at Nuwa and pondered, 'Why is miss so focused? Is something happening outside?'
Even though Xiao Anhao had been serving Nuwa for a long time, she could never actually understand Nuwa. Nuwa was always so calm and collected, unlike the girls of her age who would frown over the slightest of things. Xiao Anhao was older than Nuwa by three years but she always found herself a baby compared to Nuwa. It was just impossible to know what was happening on in Nuwa's mind.
Nuwa was focused because she had shockingly discovered that the group of bandits was slowly approaching their procession. The flares that were far were now slowly getting bigger.
So without minding the duo's remarks, Nuwa took out a sharp dagger from a bag and hid within her dress. Then she started to move around the carriage's windows to peek at the situation outside. Actually, she was planning to go out. Too bad, the ruthless Ruo Xie didn't let her go.
She was about to lean out of the window to take a closer look. However, out of nowhere, Ruo Xie's extremely grim face suddenly appeared in front of her.
Nuwa almost fell backward with shock. Ruo Xie bitterly looked at Nuwa's horror-stricken face and his mouth twitched with an unknown satisfaction.
"Close the windows. Don't come out of the carriage if you wanna live. YOUR HIGHNESS!"
Ruo Xie's thunderous voice almost made Nuwa jump in fright. Her body flinched slightly. It was the first time after Liena's death that Ruo Xie had actually spoken to her and she could perfectly sense the scorns in his voice. Even a fool could understand that he was dissatisfied with Nuwa and he was totally unwilling to serve and accept her as his master.
If he wanted to blame anyone, he should blame King Lin. Nuwa thought. It was King Lin who ordered Ruo Xie to serve her and Ruo Xie knew it better than anyone else. So, why was he still so disrespectful to her?
Ruo Xie disdainfully adjured Nuwa. For him, Nuwa was the luckiest servant girl who had somehow climbed onto the position by hugging Princess Liena's thigh by doing some evil schemes in the back door. So, in his eyes, Nuwa was just another palace maid.
Ruo Xie couldn't believe he had to serve this lowly girl now instead of her Highness! Day by day she was becoming so brazen that now she didn't show even an ounce of respect to him. How dare she directly look into his eyes! Was she challenging him???
Ruo Xie couldn't understand why everyone was so compassionate about her. Nuwa had nothing but a face that had some similarities with Her Highness. She wasn't even comparable with Liena's nail.
He cursed Nuwa inwardly.
Taking a deep breath to cool his head, Ruo Xie roughly closed the window screen on Nuwa's face. He was doing this deliberately to let her know her place. He would rather die than submit himself to her.
Following that, he closed the rest of the carriage windows one after another. Finally, he closed them all. The carriage was specially made so that it could be closed from both sides for extra caution.
Balling his fists tightly, he left the carriage and ordered his subordinates to guard it in his place.
Ruo Xie jumped onto his horse. His calm expression turned frosty when he saw some bandits riding on a horse while others ran barefoot behind them while raising their swords in a threatening manner and yelling vulgar words at them.
"Give everything you have to us if you want to live. Otherwise, we won't spare your lives."
'Dream on!' Ruo Xie's murmured as he ordered his subordinates,
"ATTACK!!!"
*******
Nuwa picked up the veil from the ground as she covered her face once again. She didn't want to waste her breath arguing with this petty man. She knew it was utterly impossible for him to accept her. For him, Liena was his one and only master.
Well, in this regard both of them, were actually on the same page.
Xiao Anhao and Yao mama finally realized that something was off. The way General Ruo Xie behaved just now was rather odd.
Their face turned ashen the moment they heard screams from everywhere.
"W-What is happening?" Both of them stuttered in fear.
"Bandits," Nuwa replied curtly.
"W-What will happen now? H-How will we go to the Qiu Kingdom?" Yao mama asked breaking down into tears.
Nuwa didn't answer. She had no idea. But she was sure that no matter what, they'll reach the Qiu Kingdom safely. She trusted Ruo Xie.
Suddenly Xiao Anhao tightly grabbed Nuwa's hand while taking out a dagger from her sleeves.
"Miss, please stay behind Yao mama. I'll protect you."
Yao mama nodded her head, agreeing with Xiao Anhao.
"Yes, Princess. Please stay behind me." She said like a protective mother hen while Xiao Anhao shoved Nuwa behind her and guard them.
Nuwa frustratingly bit her lower lip. She really hated being a helpless person in situations like this. It should be her protecting others. Not them.
'Damn.'
Nuwa cursed silently. However, she still listened to them. After some arguments, Nuwa silently sat behind Yao mama. She knew it was useless to protest against the stubborn duo. She didn't want to waste her breath so she slowly closed her eyes while comfortably sitting on the seat. Let them manage everything as they wish.
"AHHH....!!!"
The trio's bodies jolted in fright when they heard a shrill cry. If they were not wrong, the source of the voice was in their close proximity.
"I-It's the coachman." Yao mama yelled.
All of them became more and more nervous as their backs got drenched in cold sweat.
They heard rough knocks on the carriage door. The whole carriage shook violently as the sound turned louder and louder as if the door would break at any moment.