I really don't want to take shortcuts anymore

Luo Qianhuai knew that this short and fat man wanted to delay time. They were outnumbered, and the longer Wei Ji held out, the greater the risk.

But she also didn't want to exchange his life for her own.

"It is said that there is no acquaintance without fighting." She smiled slightly: "Your Excellency is right. I came here today to inspect my own manor. If Your Excellency had not sent someone to cause trouble, we would not have accidentally entered this place."

She casually threw the blame back at the other party and said, "Why don't we all take a step back: you let the two of us go, and we promise to keep our mouths shut about what we saw here and never reveal a word to outsiders, okay?"

The short fat man laughed: "Madam, you are taking me for a fool. If I let you leave this place like this, I'm afraid someone will come to kill us before dawn, right?"

Luo Qianhuai sighed, "You are the one who should reason, and you are the ones who say it is not possible. If I die here today, you will not get any benefit. Just think about it, I am the Marquis' wife, who was appointed by His Majesty, and Qinglu Garden was given by His Majesty himself. Whether it is dead or missing, His Majesty and my Marquis will definitely investigate it thoroughly, and you will not be able to escape by then."

"No." The short fat man shook his head. "What if Your Majesty and Marquis Xiang investigate and find out that Madam came here to inspect the manor, but actually took the opportunity to elope with a servant?"

He squinted his eyes, trying to endure the severe pain of his dislocated arm and said, "Madam, don't worry. We will do everything properly. Madam and this young guard eloped on a rainy night, encountered a mountain torrent, and accidentally fell into the valley. The bodies were found by hunters in the mountains. We guarantee that there will be no loopholes."

Wei Ji was extremely angry after hearing this. The veins on his hand holding the hilt were exposed. He pressed the blade down unconsciously, and it was about to cut the blood vessels on the side of the man's neck. He raised his voice and said, "Don't delay any longer! I'll count to three. If you don't give way, I'll kill you first!"

“Hey, hey, hey!” The short fat man waved his hands repeatedly: “What I just said is only the worst possible scenario. Aren’t we still discussing it?”

Wei Ji ignored him and shouted in a deep voice: "One!"

As he spoke, his other hand seemed to have eyes, tightly grasping the short and fat man's right wrist, and easily snatched the dagger that he had quietly taken out from his waist and stabbed back, and put it against the opponent's waist, and pushed forward slightly. The short and fat man immediately shouted loudly: "Retreat, everyone retreat, let the Marquis's wife go!"

The crowd behind Luo Qianhuai parted silently, making way for a passage, which was the corridor they came from.

While pushing the short and fat man forward, Wei Ji said to Luo Qianhuai, "Madam, hurry up!"

"Let's go together." Luo Qianhuai retreated while looking behind Wei Ji. Those men in green were getting ready to make a move, but after being glanced at by her, they could only give up.

Luo Qianhuai and Wei Ji took care of each other, looked at each other's backs, and slowly walked out of the mine.

The rain was getting heavier. When I stepped outside, I was soaked through and felt cold and wet. The visibility was terrible.

The short and fat man couldn't help but said, "Now that the people have been sent out, can you let me go?"

"Shut up!" Wei Ji thrust the dagger forward again, and the short and fat man cried out in pain and shut up obediently.

"Madam, you just go ahead." Wei Ji pursed his lips and said, "I will be here later."

In the mine, those men in green clothes quickly rushed out, holding long swords in their hands, and silently surrounded him and the short and fat man.

Luo Qianhuai's hands and feet were extremely weak at the moment, and even if he really dropped his halberd, he couldn't escape far.

What's more, she also vaguely saw that there seemed to be human figures in the deep passage in the dense forest behind her, and she was afraid that she would fall into someone's hands as soon as she passed by.

In front of her, Wei Ji's face was becoming paler and paler. The massive blood loss and the heavy rain accelerated his hypothermia, and it was obvious that he could not hold on any longer.

Luo Qianhuai had no choice but to give it a try.

She raised her hand to tidy up her hair that was messed up by the rain, and said in a raised voice: "My husband and I have nothing to do with the King of Xingping. Why do you have to insist on going to the end and force everyone to become enemies?"

The short and fat man had been making various small moves, and his subordinates were signaling each other with their eyes. He saw a hope of escaping from the predicament and making sure the two invaders would be killed without a burial place, when he heard these words.

"I don't understand what Madam is saying." He sneered and refused to admit it.

"It's useless to deny it." Luo Qianhuai said, "Your Excellency has been mining here for many years. It is not easy to transport a large amount of unrefined hematite ore out, but the capital has never heard of it. This can only mean one thing - the place where the ore is located is very close to this place and does not need to pass through any checkpoints."

"And if I'm not mistaken, a few miles outside this forest is connected to a tributary of the Wei River. Going downstream, it only takes an hour to reach Xingping. There are few ships on this route, and there are no other checkpoints. If it doesn't flow into the fiefdom of King Xing, I can't think of any other possibility."

This guess was made after Luo Qianhuai called up a geographical map of the mountains and rivers of the vast domain, and then magnified the surrounding area several times with himself as the center, and made a rough inference.

She was panicking inside, but appeared calm and confident on the outside.

“Hahaha.” The short fat man laughed bitterly: “Madam is really smart. But don’t you think that since you have guessed this, even if I want to let you go, it’s impossible?”

As he spoke, the men in green behind him, under the orders of the previous leader, no longer cared about the short and fat man's life or death, and rushed directly into the rain curtain and surrounded her.

After a few whistles, twenty or thirty people rushed out from the dense forest. They wore straw hats and raincoats, held swords in their hands, and silently blocked Luo Qianhuai's way.

The leader of the green-clothed people stood up and bowed to the short fat man: "This is related to the prince's plan. I can only do this. I hope you won't blame me."

The short fat man sighed, "It's my fate... But with my wife accompanying me on the journey, I'm not lonely at all."

Seeing that the man in green was about to order a kill, Luo Qianhuai hurriedly shouted, "Wait a minute! You all know what kind of person my husband is. He and your prince are of the same kind. Why don't we take this opportunity to sit down together and discuss the possibility of cooperation?"

The man in green pursed his lips coldly and said, "I am stupid and only know how to follow orders. Farewell, Madam."

He raised his hand high. The dark night with wind and rain made the knife light even more dazzling.

Luo Qianhuai knew that when his hand fell, he and Wei Ji would be doomed.

The latter obviously understood this as well. A determination appeared in his eyes. He exerted force with his hand and was about to stab the dagger into the back of the short and fat man.

"Stop it!" Luo Qianhuai wanted to continue fighting. She looked at the short and fat man who was trembling with fearless attitude, and said solemnly: "Listen to my last words!"