A Cutie Spoiled by Her Seven Uncles

"Li Qi told her to go back, and I said the road ahead was difficult, that it wasn’t convenient for a young lady to follow us, and tried to persuade her to return.

But she was stubborn and absolutely refused; she insisted on coming along.

Later we tried convincing her again, saying this journey was perilous, and it was very dangerous for a young lady to follow us.

Still, she wouldn’t listen. Li Qi had no choice but to tie her up, and we set out secretly, but she still caught up to us.

She disguised herself as a beggar and followed our group from a distance.

In the end, Li Qi’s heart softened and he let her come along.

What we didn’t expect was that throughout the journey, we were quite safe; though there were occasional petty thieves, the Government Office fortunately didn’t discover us.

Our group arrived at the destination and delivered the items, thinking that it was a stroke of luck that it was a close call without danger.

However, what we didn’t anticipate was that although the other party accepted the items and seemingly let us go, in reality, they had intentions of killing us to silence us.

It was Li Qi who noticed something was wrong and urged us to leave the city overnight, but we were still a step too late.

The city gate was closed, and we couldn’t get out, so we hid.

We were unfamiliar with the terrain of the Muta River area and knew it was only a matter of time before we were found.

It was then that Miss Xi’Er came up with an idea. She said she had a very clever brother who knew a lot about mechanisms and hidden weapons. She said her brother had once remarked that fireworks were very dangerous, and if used properly, could rival a thousand troops."

"Old Six actually talked to her about gunpowder!"

Ji Youyuan was very surprised.

Madam Ji was also quite surprised, only Ji Youzhi remained silent.

He thought he had found the reason why Old Eight had been stalling Li Qi’s matter and hadn’t been honest with their mother.

Seven years ago, Old Eight and Emperor Yuansheng had done something big, and that big thing was related to this escort mission with the Weiyuan Escort Agency!

"Indeed! That’s exactly what Miss Xi’Er told us.

That night, Miss Xi’Er changed her attire and quietly bought back a lot of fireworks. That night she crafted small packets of things, then we broke through, and blew up the city gate of Muta River to get out.

Unexpectedly, Beiyuan’s forces acted swiftly, and quickly pursued us.

We fought with them for a long time, with many of our brothers killed or injured before we managed to break through and escape a distance, but the pursuers were too many, and they would catch up soon. Someone suggested we split up and escape separately, while others said we should fight the Beiyuan Army to the death.

Later, Li Qi stayed behind alone to hold off the Beiyuan Army to save his brothers, allowing us to leave first."

"You just let him stay behind alone like that?"

Madam Ji asked Yuan Yifan with obvious excitement on her face, her lips trembling!

Yuan Yifan nodded, then shook his head.

Everyone was bewildered and looked at him with puzzled expressions.

"It was Miss Xi’Er. Many of our brothers had a bond with Li Qi and wanted to stay to help him, but in the end, they were persuaded by Li Qi to withdraw first."

"And what about Xi’Er? What did she choose at the time?"

Madam Ji anxiously asked, her heart in her throat.

Yuan Yifan took a deep breath, wiped his face with his hand before continuing.

"Miss Xi’Er’s behavior at the time surprised us all. She simply left with us without a word; she had no intention of staying to help Li Qi. Instead, she even followed Li Qi’s advice and urged us to leave quickly, saying if one of us could live, it would be worth it."

When Yuan Yifan mentioned this, Madam Ji, Ji Youyuan, and Ji Youzhi were very surprised.

"Did she really do that? Did she do anything after she left?"

Madam Ji thought, her Xi’Er was so smart; at the time, she helped Li Qi persuade the Escort Agency people to leave, she must have come up with some plan afterwards.

Yuan Yifan nodded in response, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"You guessed right. At first, we also misunderstood Miss Xi’Er’s intentions, always thinking that what we saw before, her unyielding and persistent feelings for Li Qi, was all an act, that in reality, she was just a coward who feared death.

But that wasn’t the case. She used her wisdom to save Li Qi, who was doomed, and also save all of us!"

As Yuan Yifan got to this part, he couldn’t help but raise his teacup, taking a deliberate sip of tea.

Madam Ji couldn’t resist asking, "How did she do it?"

Yuan Yifan’s face showed a look of admiration and relief and then turned to one of self-deprecation.

"Miss Xi’Er was very clever. After she persuaded us to leave, she was the last to go. When she was parting with Li Qi, she quietly said something to him. At the time, I didn’t hear what she said, but I saw a look of surprise and uncertainty on Li Qi’s face.