The jade pendant connects the past and present; the exiled crown prince's wife takes her entire

Dust billowed up on the mountain road as dozens of people rode up on horseback, raising a cloud of dust. Their heads were covered with black turbans, obscuring most of their faces, leaving only pairs of gloomy eyes visible.

Four men stood side by side in the front row. They had dark skin, were short and stocky, wore coarse black clothes covered in dust, had tiger skins draped over their shoulders, and carried large knives at their waists with a dim red glow, as if stained with blood.

One of them was particularly thin, with rat-like eyes, staring fiercely at Song Qingyan, holding a whistle in his hand.

Song Qingyan immediately understood that this person was the one who controlled the snakes. It's not surprising that there was such a person among the tribes in the south who controlled snakes, insects, and rodents.

"Tell me, who cut down the snakes in my village?"

"Big brother, this is the kid!"

The man addressed as "Big Brother" slowly rode out on horseback. He was extremely muscular, with a terrible scar covering half of his face. His eyes swept across the room with a sinister look, then his pupils suddenly contracted before quickly returning to normal.

He stared intently at Song Qingyan, his smile chillingly menacing.

"Young general, he knows you."

Jiang Jinning spoke in a voice that could only be heard by one person.

She was afraid of interacting with people and always looked at their eyes. The leader's tightly locked eyes just now were a sign that he recognized the young general.

Song Qingyan quickly glanced at the person's appearance and felt that he was very familiar with him.

That scar, if it had a beard...

This man is the owner of that shady shop!

No, the shopkeeper couldn't have seen him before. He felt he was familiar with him. If he wasn't a follower of a young man from Luoyang, then he must be someone from the army.

He knew all of his father's lieutenants; they were all his father's subordinates who had served him for many years and had all died in the battle in which his father was wrongly accused of treason.

Could this man be a deserter? That's why he became an outlaw?

Song Qingyan was lost in thought, various ideas rising and falling in his mind, but his expression remained indifferent, revealing nothing about him.

"Someone, skin this kid alive!"

Shouts of agreement immediately rang out from the opposing team, and the gaunt man controlling the snake drew his knife and charged at Song Qingyan.

"Wait!"

Zheng Jiechai felt bitter inside. What they feared most when escorting prisoners was encountering this group of bandits. Fortunately, they had a secret agreement with the bandits.

Zheng Jiechai took out his money bag and handed it to the scarred man at the head of the group, speaking very softly.

"I am an escort officer from Luoyang to Lingnan, which is tantamount to opposing you all. Why don't we discuss a plan, with both sides taking a step back? Consider this silver as our compensation for your beloved pet..."

In his heart, Zheng Jiecha cursed Song Qingyan for killing the snake king. He blamed him for killing the giant snake, even though Song Qingyan had clearly been excited and greedy to sell the snake skin and gallbladder.

The scarred man weighed the money pouch in his hand, then tucked it into his robes. Under Zheng Jiechai's expectant gaze, he sneered, "You, an official, actually try to bribe a bandit like me? Hahaha, officials are nothing special after all! Brothers, don't you agree?"

The bandits behind them echoed their agreement, laughing loudly in front of the escorts.

Zheng Jiechai's face was extremely ugly, his face was ashen with anger, it was hard to tell whether he was angry because he had lost face or because he had lost money.

"Brother, why waste time talking to him? In my opinion, the most important thing is to skin that brat alive."

When the thin man approached Song Qingyan, Jiang Jinning's face turned pale instantly. She instinctively wanted to protect him, but Song Qingyan stopped her.

Song Qingyan's eyes were cold and indifferent, revealing the murderous aura he had cultivated over many years on the battlefield. He stared intently at the person in front of him, holding a small knife in one hand and pressing down on a crossbow with the other.

The thin man paused.

He hadn't expected this seemingly scholarly, delicate man to possess such a heavy, bloody aura, even more so than his elder brother.

Realizing that he had been stunned by a single glance, the thin man was both angry and anxious, and raised his knife without hesitation.

"Wait a minute."

The scarred man rode forward on his horse, looking down at Song Qingyan with a hint of smugness in his eyes.

"He killed your snake, wouldn't it be too easy for him to just kill him? Let's take everyone to the village."

The gaunt man's eyes lit up, revealing a wicked look that sent chills down one's spine.

"Great, I'm just in need of a test subject, this kid is not bad."

"Guards, take them all away!"

"You, you've already taken money, why are you still arresting us? Let me go, I'm a government official!"

"They're arresting government officials, hahaha! What a foolish official I've ever met in my lifetime, practically handing over money to my boss! Hahahaha!"

Zheng Jiechai was ridiculed by the bandits, his face turning pale and then flushed, but a belated surge of determination rose within him.

"I...I'll cut you all down!"

With a light flick of his wrist, the scarred man knocked Zheng Jiechai's knife away, effortlessly.

He scoffed, his tone full of mockery.

Zheng Jiechai's newly acquired courage vanished instantly. His face turned ashen, his body trembled and curled up, and his eyes darted around in fear as he kept looking at Sun Quan behind him, seemingly hoping for advice.

The scarred man's casual toss caused Song Qingyan's expression to suddenly become solemn.

Throwing the knife with the left hand, this technique...

My father also had a lieutenant general. Unlike the other lieutenants, this lieutenant general was handsome and fair-skinned, and was unusually low-key. In a battle, he was seriously wounded. His right hand was injured and could no longer exert any force. He also injured his right cheek and had a frightening scar.

He was still young at the time, and he only heard that the man had voluntarily resigned from his position as deputy general and become a cook.

Cooks! Food!

He wasn't there for that battle. Later, I heard from others that those lieutenants, for some reason, suddenly stood still, and that's how the barbarians chopped them in half...

Song Qingyan understood everything almost instantly.

His eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he stared intently at the scarred man's back. The moment the man stopped and turned around, all the thoughts in his eyes vanished instantly.

No, he couldn't let the other person know that he knew him.

The group soon arrived at the stronghold mentioned by the bandits.

It was a remote hillside with a few houses thatched with straw.

When the group of thieves saw Song Yanxi from the second wife's house, they stroked their chins and discussed something, their eyes lingering lewdly up and down her body. Then they grabbed her and tried to take her to another room.

Song Yanxi immediately thought of her own fate.

She struggled desperately, and in the instant she caught a glimpse of Jiang Jinning beside her, she yelled at Jiang Jinning.

"You're looking for her! She, she, she... she's the legitimate daughter of a second-rank official, and also the wife of the man who killed your Snake King!"

Song Yanxi's words were exactly what the thin man wanted to hear, especially the second half of her sentence.

"Song Yanxi, I'll tear your mouth apart! How dare you harm my sister-in-law!"

"I... I'm just telling the truth. We didn't kill the snake king! I... I was implicated by Song Qingyan. There's a cause for every effect, and whoever caused the trouble should be held accountable. The best way to get revenge on Song Qingyan is to punish his wife in front of him, isn't it?" Song Yanxi struggled desperately, smiling ingratiatingly at the bandits. "Listen to me! Song Qingyan loves his wife very much. Bullying her in front of him will be worse than killing him!"

The gaunt man stroked his chin, then revealed a sinister smile.

"Alright, take this woman and this boy to my room. I'll give this young couple a good time tonight!"