The General Seized Her by Force - Chapter 1

“General, a carriage is blocking the road ahead. Shall I have Haiqing blow the horn to have them clear the way?”

It was the fourth lunar month of late spring. Even though it was only mid-mao hour (around 6:00 AM) and just starting to brighten, the sky was already shedding its grey shroud.

Guan Lu had excellent eyesight; she saw the carriage blocking the middle of the road from a great distance.

Since it was not yet broad daylight, anyone traveling at this hour must be in a hurry to reach the capital, just like her General.

Three horses galloped abreast, but the black horse ridden by the woman in red athletic wear in the middle took the lead. Guan Lu and Haiqing, who had pulled out a horn, were merely personal attendants and could not make the decisions. After Guan Lu spoke, they both looked toward the person on the lead horse.

The person riding at high speed was none other than General Li Chu, who was returning to the capital by imperial decree.

Li Chu did not slow down, simply saying, “Go forward and take a look.”

For a carriage to be blocked in this manner, either the carriage itself had broken down, or something had happened to the people inside. Regardless of the reason, since they had encountered it, they could not ignore it.

At this moment, in front of the carriage, bandits who had suddenly crawled out from the grass on both sides of the road and charged with knives were forcing the people inside to come out.

The carriage driver had already curled into a ball, clutching his legs, wishing he could disappear from the spot. The seven or eight maids, elderly female servants, and male servants who had traveled with the Wen family were holding wooden sticks and attempting to put up a direct defense in front of the carriage.

There were six bandits in total. Though their numbers were few, each was fierce and strong. They stood in a scattered formation, surrounding the entire carriage so that the masters inside could not jump out and escape.

Inside the carriage, the Old Matriarch of the Wen family hugged her daughter-in-law, who was already trembling and sobbing incessantly, tightening her arms to protect her.

They were the only two masters on this journey. The Old Matriarch had to suppress her trembling voice and speak as steadily as possible to negotiate with the attackers: “We will give you whatever money you want. My eyes are old and dim, so I cannot see your faces clearly. I beg you, good men, to spare our lives.”

Whether in Pingjiang or later in the capital, their Wen family was known for being honest people. They treated others with kindness and never came into conflict with anyone; naturally, they could not have enemies. Since they had no grievances, the other party could only be after wealth.

Money was, after all, a worldly possession. If she could use these gold and silver baubles to protect everyone’s lives, the Old Matriarch would be one hundred percent willing.

However, today’s situation was clearly much simpler than she had imagined.

The bandits’ attitude did not soften in the slightest after hearing this.

The ringleader, Yang Pu, had intended to force the people inside to come out to see how many were in there. Who would have thought that the old woman who spoke would shrink inside and refuse to come down? They were hired to do a job, and their patience was already thin, especially with the faint sound of hoofbeats approaching from the distance.

This place was the junction where two roads from the north and south merged into the road to the capital. Even if they had misheard the sound, the light was gradually brightening, and pedestrians and carriages would become more frequent. The longer they dragged it out, the more likely a mishap would occur.

“Move quickly, kill them all,” Yang Pu ordered.

Before the person riding the horse in the distance arrived, it would be enough time for them to create the appearance of a robbery-murder.

The Wen family members, who had held onto a sliver of hope that they could pay to resolve the disaster, instantly plummeted from spring into the depths of winter. The despair in their eyes could not be hidden. Compared to the bandits in front of them, they were like chicks facing eagles; it was no exaggeration to say they had not the strength to truss a chicken.

Madam Wen was already timid; upon hearing this, she nearly fainted, whispering through sobs, “Shu’er, my Shu’er.”

It was a pity her child had only just had the palace examination results released today. If not for rushing back to the capital for this matter, perhaps they would not have encountered such a disaster.

The Old Matriarch covered the woman’s ears with her palms to prevent her from hearing the commotion outside, closing her own eyes and instinctively praying, “Amitabha, may the Bodhisattva protect us.”

Perhaps the Bodhisattva heard her prayer, for after a sharp sound of breaking air, the painful scream that followed did not come from her servants.

Something had changed outside.

The Old Matriarch was startled and carefully lifted the carriage curtain to peek outside.

At sixty years of age, her hearing was indeed declining, and she could not hear the distant hoofbeats. However, she could clearly see the bandit who had been struck in the chest with an arrow, lying collapsed in front of the carriage.

The Old Matriarch’s heart pounded; her face turned pale with fright, but a light appeared in her eyes.

There was a way to live.

They had a way to live.

The bandits who had been brandishing their knives, preparing to slaughter them, were now lying on the ground. The situation seemed to have reversed.

The servants of the Wen family, who had expected certain death, slumped to the ground in relief. Their eyes were fixed on the man lying in front of them and the arrow shaft protruding from his chest.

Once he realized he had survived, he scrambled toward the carriage in terror, crying for help, “Help, help!”

Everyone pressed against the carriage compartment, shouting for help toward the direction from which the arrow had been shot!

The Wen family saw a path to survival; their faces and eyes shone with light. The expressions of the bandits were the exact opposite.

Yang Pu reacted the fastest. He quickly crouched down and pulled the arrow from the corpse, wiping the blood from the arrowhead with his hem to examine it closely. The silvery, gleaming arrowhead was stained with pale pink blood and shone brilliantly in the morning light. As he rotated the arrow shaft, he could vaguely see a small character carved on it:

Li.

There were only two people who could come from the northern road and possess such arrows.

One was the Marshal of two dynasties, the Second Master of the Li family, Li Zhongshen.

The other was the current General, the eldest daughter of the Li family, Li Chu.

Regardless of who it was, he should not stay long.

Yang Pu did not hesitate to vault onto his horse, saying in a low voice, “Kill the Old Matriarch. I will go to draw their attention.”

In the few short moments from just now until now, as the sound of hoofbeats drew closer, another bandit had fallen to an arrow.

Originally they were to kill everyone, but now they must at least kill the Old Matriarch of the Wen family.

Yang Pu’s departure had the intent of fleeing the battlefield, but it could also distract the enemy, allowing the other bandits to take the opportunity to kill the Old Matriarch.

At the same time, the bandit closest to the back door of the carriage heard the command. He reached out, ripped the carriage door open, stepped onto the carriage rail, and raised his knife, which shimmered with cold light—

Two miles away, Li Chu sat firmly on her horse. With three fingers hooked on the bowstring, she did not aim at the man fleeing on horseback, but at the bandit by the carriage door.

The silver arrow left the string, and Li Chu immediately pulled another one, shooting it toward the person fleeing on horseback.

The two arrows were shot mere moments apart, so quickly that they were almost simultaneous.

Yang Pu, caught by surprise as he turned his head, only just managed to adjust his posture, preventing the silver arrow from piercing his chest.

The bandit at the back door did not have his reaction speed. His rusted red blade was raised, but just as it was about to fall, an arrow pierced his chest, the tip poking through.

As he looked down, his arms went limp. As the knife fell onto the carriage’s rear floorboards with a dull thud, he tipped over backward.

The Old Matriarch’s forced steadiness collapsed the moment the blade struck the wood. She let out a scream. She was trembling, but her arms remained tightly wrapped around Madam Wen’s head, preventing her from looking up.

Of the six bandits, one was severely wounded and had fled; of the remaining five, four were dead on the spot, and one lay on the ground, gasping for his last breath.

The rapid, powerful sound of hoofbeats gradually slowed and faded.

Li Chu neatly stowed the large bow into the quiver on the saddle and flipped off her horse. She walked directly toward the survivor with great interest, saying, “I want to see what kind of scum is running loose in the capital’s suburban lands.”

Guan Lu followed closely behind, trotting over. She picked up the arrow quiver from the General’s saddle, walked to the corpses, stepped on one with her foot, and pulled the arrow out with one hand, wiping it clean before returning it to the quiver. She grumbled to herself in a tone full of regret, “Oh, we lost one arrow.”

The General is too careless; in the past, she wouldn’t even lose an arrow while hunting rabbits!

Haiqing: “…”

The Wen family had long been frozen in terror, standing stuck against the carriage, staring blankly at the three people approaching on horseback. Before they could feel panic, they watched the woman in red who had just shot the arrows and her green-clad maid get off their horses to retrieve the arrows. “…”

The scene was terrifying yet carried a touch of absurdity.

Haiqing gave two light coughs, standing by the carriage to draw the group’s attention back, and declared loudly, “General Li is here. Why do you not offer your respects?”

It was not that she was abusing her General’s authority; it was that under these circumstances, the Wen family was already panicked. Announcing the identity first would calm their hearts.

“Is… is it General Li Chu?” Madam Wen’s young, trembling voice asked tentatively.

Haiqing stood straight, her posture upright, her tone filled with pride: “Exactly.”

The Old Matriarch was the first to step out of the carriage, with Madam Wen following closely behind, trembling.

Madam Wen dared not look at the pile of corpses on the ground, so she looked up to find the eye-catching figure in red, calling out softly, “Little Chu?”

Li Chu, who was stepping on the survivor’s ribs and about to bend down to pull the arrow from him, froze. She looked back, confused and bewildered.

Guan Lu looked at her General with wide, surprised eyes, and the words tumbled out, her voice crisp and curious: “Big Li, so your name is also Little Chu?”

Li Chu: “…”