The standoff on the carriage continued. Mingyu thought that a long time had passed, but in fact it was just a moment. The ferocious man hesitated for a moment, and then he saw a group of people running towards him from the corner of the street. He could recognize the leader even if he turned into ashes. It was the murderous Anxi Marquis Sima Hong!
The man no longer hesitated. How bold could a Han Chinese woman be? He immediately roared and rushed forward, ready to reach out and grab Mingyu. As long as they had a hostage in their hands, they were not afraid of Sima Hong.
Mingyu no longer hesitated. Just because she had never killed anyone before didn't mean she would surrender. As soon as she loosened her grip, the crossbow in Mingyu's hand shot through the man's chest, causing a stream of blood to splatter.
Sima Hong was riding on a horse and saw everything clearly. The moment he saw the man rushing into the carriage with a knife in hand, he was so scared that his heart almost burst. Holding the knife in his hand, his eyes were filled with murderous intent. If anything happened to Mingyu, he would definitely massacre the Tartar headquarters.
Sima Hong had already arrived, but the Tartars who had gone to rob people failed, and the surprise attack had already lost the initiative. With a whistle, several Tartars dropped their knives, turned around and disappeared into the chaotic crowd. However, Sima Hong had already seen the faces of the two Tartars, and he ran all the way and slashed them in the crowd without mercy, blood splattering on his face, with a murderous look on his face.
As the two heads rolled down in the crowd, there was a burst of horrified screams. The maids guarding the car saw that Sima Hong had the situation under control. In just a moment, several people seemed to have gone through a life-or-death experience, and they cried as if they had survived a catastrophe.
Sima Hong clenched his teeth, dismounted and ran to the carriage, kicking away the Tartar corpse blocking the door. What he saw was Mingyu's lively face, smiling at him. Behind Mingyu was her mother, trembling with fear but unharmed.
"Okay, it's okay, it's okay..." Sima Hong knelt at the door of the carriage and grinned. As he laughed, tears flowed out, leaving two marks on his blood-stained face.
Mingyu struggled to crawl to the door holding her belly, and took out a handkerchief to wipe Sima Hong's face. Perhaps because of fear, her hands were still shaking. She reached out several times but couldn't reach Sima Hong's face. Sima Hong grabbed Mingyu's hand, folded their hands together, and wiped his own face with the handkerchief in Mingyu's hand.
Bai Hao and Lin Hui had blocked the exits at both ends of the road, and the remaining Tartar spies must have been mixed in the crowd. However, the incident happened in the Qiancheng area, with many traveling merchants coming and going, and even foreigners from the Western Regions and Liaodong. It was difficult to determine who the Tartar spies were at first glance.
Baihao wanted to take all the people back and interrogate them one by one, but the crowd started to make a commotion. Many people shouted that the soldiers wanted to capture ordinary people to pretend to be Tartars and claim military merits. For a moment, the cries of women and children rang out again.
Sima Hong shook Mingyu's hand and kissed her forehead gently. "Don't be afraid," he said. Looking at the pale-faced Miao behind Mingyu, Sima Hong said, "Stay with your mother in the carriage and don't come out. I'll handle it soon."
Mingyu's heart moved, and she grabbed Sima Hong's hand as he turned away, and whispered, "Can't you see the difference between the Tartars and the Han people?"
Sima Hong smiled and whispered, "The Tartar spies all shave their beards, comb their hair, and speak authentic Northwestern dialect. You can't tell the difference just by looking at their appearance. Moreover, the Tartar spies are not necessarily all Tartars. Many of them are Han people who have defected to the Tartars... There is also this matter. Mingyu was silent, but did not let go of Sima Hong's hand. Sima Hong thought Mingyu was still afraid, and was about to comfort her when he heard Mingyu say, "Let me try, maybe I can help you find a spy leader."
Baihao had already roughly screened the people. Excluding the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled, the women and the children, there were only about 20 to 30 people left. They were squatting on the ground with their hands on their heads, being pointed at by dozens of soldiers holding spears.
Mingyu put on a veil and walked over with the support of Sima Hong. The twenty or thirty people looked up at her, most of them lowered their heads after taking a glance, and some silently looked away.
Sima Hong ordered to leave a gap in the encirclement, enough for one person to enter or leave. Mingyu said to the people in the circle, "Come here one by one and say "Capture Sima Hong's woman!" Let me hear it."
She remembered the somewhat deep voice in the chaos, and if that voice spoke again, she would definitely recognize it.
Many people were eager to try and wanted to speak first, but seeing that others did not take any action, they had to hold back for the time being and wait and see what would happen.
"You won't say it?" Sima Hong said coldly, "Then come one by one." He started with the person closest to him, and raised his hand high. Lin Hui had already taken a knife and was ready to fight. He just waited for his wife to say "It's him". As soon as the Marquis's hand fell, he would chop off the man's head. At this time, a young man who had been squatting in the middle of the crowd laughed and lowered his hand from his forehead. He was wearing a short blue cloth jacket and trousers, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, just like most farmers nowadays. He looked at Sima Hong with disdain and snorted coldly, "I didn't expect that Sima Hong, a traitor, would have such a smart wife..."
Before he finished speaking, Sima Hong picked up the copper kettle hanging on the soldier next to him and smashed it over, hitting the young man on the head. With a loud bang, the man fell to the ground.
Gah... Mingyu only felt three crows flying in front of her. When this man just stood up and admitted it generously, she still felt that he had some of the spirit of a villain boss. Even if he was defeated, he was defeated with some grace. Unexpectedly, he was KOed by a copper kettle in the end. It was really... You are the traitor!" Sima Hong cursed with a twisted face.
Baihao looked even more miserable, "Master, if you smash him to death, how can we get the rest of the people out of him?" Sima Hong snorted coldly, and the words were almost squeezed out from between his teeth, "Take everyone back and investigate one by one!"
Sima Hong helped Mingyu get back on the carriage, tied his horse to the carriage, and escorted his mother and wife home. Miao's face was pale. Seeing Mingyu get into the carriage, she seemed to have found her backbone. She hurriedly helped Mingyu sit down, holding Mingyu's hand and asking repeatedly: "How are you? Are you injured? How is the child?"
Mingyu smiled, "I'm fine." She lowered her head to look at her belly, touched it, and smiled, "The baby should be fine too."
Miao let out a long sigh and patted her chest with one hand. She didn't let go of Mingyu with the other hand, and held Mingyu and said in a nagging voice, "I was really scared just now. They dared to come up and hurt people in broad daylight!"
"There are probably two groups of people." Mingyu analyzed, "One group was guarding the door of the house, and when they saw us coming out, they were waiting for an opportunity to attack. The other group immediately chased after us when they found my husband. I'm afraid they didn't want to choose to attack in a crowded place in the city. If they delay any longer, my husband will meet us and they will have no chance."
Miao nodded, her attitude was both respectful and flattering, "Did you call Bao Ge'er?"
Mingyu smiled and nodded, "Mother, please don't blame your wife for making decisions on her own."
"How could it be? How could it be!" Miao said hurriedly. The moment the Tartar man lifted the curtain of the carriage, the white blade gleamed coldly in the sunlight. She was really scared. It was Mingyu who stood in front of her and shot the terrible Tartar to death with a crossbow. She didn't expect that Mingyu, who had always been weak, had such a tough side. It was too much of a shock to her.
"I'm sorry to have scared you today." Miao hugged Mingyu and said, "You should rest for a few days when you go back and take care of yourself."
Mingyu raised her eyebrows slightly. At this point, Miao should be considered to have admitted her mistake and apologized in disguise. However, with Miao's personality, it would be harder than climbing to the sky to get her to say "I was wrong". Just like now, regarding the matter of Luo Lingxiu, she only thought that Luo Lingxiu was hateful, but did not think it was her fault.
After returning home, Miao changed her previous attitude and personally helped Mingyu to go to bed. She also arranged for a doctor to come and take Mingyu's pulse.
Mingyu thought for a moment and said, "Mother was also frightened today. You should go to bed early. I have servants watching over you. Nothing will happen. Don't worry."
Miao said gently, "How can that be? You can sleep without worry. I'll be watching over you. It's not tiring at all. There are servants running errands. I'm just talking." She hugged Mingyu in her arms again, patted her back with pity, and said, "Bao Ge'er has good vision. You are a good person, better than anyone else. Let's not talk about the past. Live a good life in the future. As long as I am your mother-in-law, I will protect you. If Bao Ge'er dares to make you angry, come and tell me and I will punish him!"
Mingyu smiled where Miao couldn't see. In fact, this was the first time in her life that she had received such an "honor". She was lucky enough to be hugged so affectionately by her cold and domineering mother-in-law and hear such caring words. If it were when she had just come here, she would have thought she was dreaming.
"Thank you, mother. You should take a rest. You have been busy all day and you are tired." Mingyu smiled faintly. As long as Miao Shi didn't come to trouble her in the future, she would thank God and pray to the Buddha.
Miao had been through a whole morning of thrilling events, and she didn't notice Mingyu's perfunctory response. She intercepted the chicken soup brought by Liu Saozi, fed Mingyu spoonful by spoonful, and said with a smile: "From now on, this mansion will still depend on you. Your health is the most important thing. Your mother is not around, so just treat me as your mother taking care of you. I know you are a good and filial child, so don't have any thoughts in your mind."