Zhuang Wan's heart finally fell to the ground when she heard this voice.

She raised her head and looked outside. The fake Yan Cheng looked like a human but had a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. At first glance, he looked like a desperado who was robbing families and homes.

She asked how could Yan Cheng gather such a mob to oppress the people here.

Xiao Jingchen was dubious when he saw the appearance of the former prince. Although he had never met Emperor Wen Zhao, everyone knew that he was a handsome man, and his queen was even more powerful. How could their son be so wretched?

"How do you prove that you are the former prince?"

"Does this need proof?" the wretched man said: "The Xiao family killed my father, and I will not let him live in peace in this country. If you surrender to me today, I will spare your life and wait for the attack someday."

I won’t treat you badly even if you enter Kyoto.”

Xiao Jingchen sneered a few times, "What a loud tone! Then do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are, I just know that you will die in my hands today."

Xiao Jingchen: "Okay! Let's see who dies in whose hands today."

"Fuck me!"

The wretched man gave an order, and dozens of minions rushed in. Seeing Xiao Jingchen resisting alone, Zhuang Wan hurriedly said: "I'm going to help."

Rong Li grabbed him: "How can you, a girl, help in such a dangerous situation?"

"Then go ahead!" Zhuang Wan said.

Rong Li: "..."

"Okay, just stay there! It's not like I haven't seen this kind of scene before."

Zhuang Wan looked around and saw a dog beating stick standing in the corner, picked it up and rushed over.

To put it bluntly, those minions are just a bunch of idle vagrants with no skills. Let alone beating Xiao Jingchen, he can't even get close.

"What are you here for?" Xiao Jingchen said impatiently: "If anything happens to you when you go back, I will make you complain all over."

"Prince, please leave me alone!" Zhuang Wan did not dare to kill anyone, so he only beat the legs and feet of those little minions.

But she didn't have to worry at all. The male protagonist was the male protagonist after all, and he quickly beat these people until they were lying on the ground and howling.

The wretched man panicked, shouted angrily and rushed over with a knife. He was quite powerful, but he only had three-legged cat skills. He was restrained by Xiao Jingchen within two rounds and begged for mercy again and again.

Xiao Jingchen asked him: "Who are you?"

"I...I am the former crown prince Yan Yun."

Zhuang Wan wanted to kick him because he didn't even know what the former prince's name was and he dared to pretend to be one.

"Ask you again!" Xiao Jingchen tightened his sword a little, and the wretched man saw blood directly on his neck, "Who are you?"

The wretched man hurriedly said: "Don't... don't kill me. I will tell you the truth. I am not a prince from the previous dynasty, nor do I have a surname of Yan. My surname is Wu. I am the fourth in the family. I am a dog. I live in Shitang Village dozens of miles away.

, these people are all idle men in the countryside."

"Then what are you doing in Huaihua Village? Why are you pretending to be the former prince?"

"A few months ago, someone came to our village and asked me to pretend to be the prince of some former dynasty and rob houses in the mountains. At that time, I said I didn't dare. If I become a bandit, the government won't come to suppress it? The man said that he wanted to let the government

The man knew it and said that even if the government arrested us, there would be a way to keep us out. I saw that the man was generous, so I gave him a hundred taels in one go. I thought he must be a big shot, so I did as he said. But we were on the mountain.

After squatting for two months, I robbed a few passers-by and went down the mountain to raid a few times. However, the village was too poor and I didn’t rob anything. The government didn’t send anyone to suppress it, so I took my brothers down the mountain.

, occupied this village, I thought these villagers should go to the government to report the crime! But in the end, all of them ran into the mountains."

Zhuang Wan was filled with doubts when she heard this. Logically speaking, few people should know that Yan Cheng, the former prince, was still alive. And the sponsor of the money obviously didn't know what happened back then. Otherwise, how could Yan Cheng be contacted?

I don’t even know Cheng Cheng’s real name.

But why did he do this? Was he trying to bring out the real prince of the previous dynasty, or was he trying to bring out the so-called "remnants of the previous dynasty" like Zhamu?

Then who would do this?

Obviously, only someone in the court, even the emperor himself.

After hearing this, Xiao Jingchen also had some guesses about the person behind the scenes, and said: "We will discuss this later. With your people, please first invite all the villagers who entered the mountain back."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Wu Si quickly ordered the howling minions on the ground: "Brothers, stop lying down. Didn't you listen to what this hero said? Invite all the ancestors back quickly!"

After everyone left, Xiao Jingchen mounted his horse, and Rong Li quickly asked: "Where are you going, Your Highness?"

"Go find Lan'er." Xiao Jingchen said and rode into the mountain.

"Then let's help find him too!" Zhuang Wan said.

Rong Li nodded and said, "Okay!"

…

The snow stopped, and Mu Qiulan had to go into the mountains again to find food to satisfy her hunger. In addition, she also wanted to find some medicinal herbs.

Mrs. Mu caught a cold yesterday and lay on the hay unable to stop coughing.

"Auntie, I'm leaving!"

Mu held her hand and said, "Be careful."

Mu Qiulan nodded.

Before leaving, she took out three half-burned dead branches from the fire and inserted them in front of the mountain god statue, which was regarded as "incense". In the past, she would pray to the mountain temple to bless her safety before going out.

When she and her aunt first came here, luckily the oil lamp in front of the statue was still on so they could have a fire to keep warm. If not, they would have become frozen bones on the roadside. Therefore, she felt that this mountain god was quite efficacious.

It was very quiet in the forest, but it was not actually dead. You could often see animal footprints in the snow, probably squirrels, and there were also some nut shells left behind.

This time she saw the soil dug out by the wild boar again, and she didn't know if it was the same wild boar. She picked up a few kudzu roots in the soil dug out, but they were only as thick as her thumb. She couldn't stay long, if the wild boar was still

Yesterday's enemy was extremely jealous when they saw each other. She didn't know if she could escape this time.

According to the previous position of the sun, the direction she walked today should be south. Apart from picking up a few pieces of kudzu left by wild boars, she gained nothing along the way. At this time, the herbs had withered and were buried in the snow.

, and there is no trace.

She sighed, and when she was about to turn back, she suddenly saw a little red appearing in front of her, which was particularly eye-catching in this world of ice and snow.

There were no wild fruits in this icy and snowy environment. She wondered if they were dates hanging on the branches. So she quickened her pace and approached, only to find that it was a red plum. On the branches covered by snow, bright red flower buds broke through the ice.

She had not seen such bright colors for a long time. She faced the vast white snow every day, and her eyes were almost blurred.

Now that she saw this vibrant scene, she rekindled hope. As long as she survived the winter, she would be able to eat all the wild flowers, bamboo shoots, wild fungi, and wild fruits.

She wanted to break off a plum blossom and take it back, but she couldn't bear to waste such a beautiful flower, so she let it bloom freely!

She gently patted the snow on the flower branches and took great care of the buds.

Suddenly, she heard a strange sound, like heavy breathing stuck in her throat, which sounded creepy.

She raised her head and looked around cautiously, and saw a wild boar hiding behind a tree not far away, looking at her fiercely.

The wild boar was as big as a small pony, with sharp tusks pointing upwards, and the bristles on its back standing upright like iron thorns.

She was too frightened to move. She looked around and saw that there were no trees to climb. Moreover, the wild boar was so close to her. If she ran away, it would soon catch up with her.

She tried to scare it away with her voice, but the wild boar seemed to be hungry. Instead of retreating, it lowered its head and rushed towards her with its fangs exposed.

She could only run with all her strength, but the wild boar immediately caught up with her, getting closer and closer. Within a moment, it would catch up with her and tear her into pieces.

Just when she thought she was certain to die, someone suddenly rushed out of the forest on horseback. She felt a tightness around her waist, and was carried onto the horse, falling into a warm embrace.

She looked up and saw Xiao Jingchen's face that looked slightly weathered, with green stubble on his chin.

At this moment, she felt extremely at ease, even though the two of them were not out of danger yet.

The wild boar behind is still chasing after him.

Xiao Jingchen took an arrow and shot the wild boar in the leg. The injured animal stopped and watched the two people getting farther and farther away, and finally limped back to its lair. In this winter, hunting is not allowed.

It won't live much longer.

The wind and snow blew against her face, but Mu Qiulan didn't feel any pain at all. Xiao Jingchen wrapped her completely in his fox fur cloak and stopped his horse only when they reached a safe place.

"Let's take a rest!" Xiao Jingchen took her off the horse.

Mu Qiulan didn't dare to look at him, "Why is the prince here?"

Xiao Jingchen said coldly: "You left without saying goodbye, you should give me an explanation!"

Mu Qiulan: "I..."

"What?" Xiao Jingchen said: "You were the one who said you wanted to be my woman, and you were the one who left me and ran away. Could it be that in your eyes, I'm just someone who comes and goes quickly..."

Mu Qiulan covered his mouth with her fingers: "Stop talking!"

Tears couldn't help but fall down, and she choked with sobs: "I'm sorry..."

Xiao Jingchen couldn't help but feel moved, because the resentment she had for leaving without saying goodbye was now gone. He just wanted to kiss her cold lips and didn't want to let go...

Zhuang Wan, who was following closely, saw this scene and said, "It seems there is no need for me to take action."

Rong Li said: "When love is deep, there will naturally be no knots that cannot be untied."

"I hope they can really achieve success this time."

"Those who love each other will always get married. Only through ups and downs can we learn to cherish each other."

Zhuang Wan sighed: "It's easy to fall in love but hard to get along with each other. It's easy to love someone. It's rare to love only one person in your life."

Of course, she is not worried about Xiao Jingchen's single-mindedness. The male protagonists in the novel are all perfect. If he is half-hearted, readers will not agree.
Chapter completed!