The attire, the bearing, they looked like thugs from a wealthy household at first glance!
As if to confirm their thoughts, the leader of these men spoke, "Hey, have you seen two women pass by here!"
Upon hearing this, Huangfu Xu smiled faintly, elegantly spitting out a chicken bone from his mouth and said, "There were at least ten, if not twenty, women who passed this way. How would I know which one you're asking about?"
The leader pulled out two portraits from his embrace. Two pictures of smiling beauties with striking features caught their eyes. One was of unparalleled beauty, the other, overwhelmingly so. Both were women rarely seen in this world!
"Naturally, I'd have an impression of such beautiful young ladies. But why are you looking for them? And who are you? What if you are bad people, and I reveal the whereabouts of the young ladies to you? Wouldn't that be harming them!"
Huangfu Xu was speaking nonsense with a straight face, his face not blushing, his heart not pounding. He was actually joking with a group of men who didn't look like good people in broad daylight. It was unclear if he thought his life was too resilient, or if his neck was made of adamantium, unafraid of being chopped or cleaved!
The leader's brow furrowed tightly. Looking at their group, laden with packages and bags like refugees, even with a carriage, he still couldn't discern any noble bearing from them!
No wonder they didn't recognize them!
"I am a steward from the Zhang Manor in Hedong Prefecture. Our young lady went out and got lost, and we are searching for her. Everyone in Hedong Prefecture knows us. Quickly, tell me, which way did my young lady go!"
Their fierce demeanor made them seem less like people searching for a lost young lady, and more like someone searching for lost money!
Huangfu Xu didn't believe a word of it. He casually pointed to a small path to the west, "They went this way, about an hour ago!"
Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, the men actually believed him and galloped away on their horses!
Meanwhile, Zhao Jiaqi, who had been occasionally observing the two women begging for food, revealed a hint of mockery on their faces when she heard them talking about searching for a young lady.
Fan Zehao, while placing a chicken leg into his wife's bowl, said unhappily, "Those two are skinny as chicks, there's nothing to see. It's more important to fill your stomach!"
"You don't understand this. The tender ones might not be practical, but they are pleasing to the eye. Seeing them makes one feel good. Who wants to stare at a cucumber that's been painted and pretending to be young all the time, tell me."
One sentence almost angered Fan Zehao. He leaned his sinister head directly in front of Zhao Jiaqi, their faces almost touching, "I am in my prime, strong and healthy. Do you want me to demonstrate my stamina and physique to you right now!"
Suddenly, her face flushed with embarrassment. She pushed the man in front of her away and said coquettishly, "What are you thinking in your head? You have no filter on your mouth. Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you!"
Huh?
Huangfu Xu found her words strange. There were only three of them here. They were a couple, so he was the outsider!
He quickly declared, "It's fine, you two continue. Just pretend I don't exist. I'm not embarrassed anyway!"
Not only was he not embarrassed, but he was accustomed to it. If he didn't get a bit of "dog food" every day, he felt like he hadn't eaten at all.
As soon as he said this, neither of them gave Huangfu Xu a good look!
Zhao Jiaqi lifted her chin and said to the two women who had come to exchange food earlier, "They are disguised as men. And when those five riders arrived, both of them had their backs to those five. I think these two are the young ladies they are looking for!"
Fan Zehao was slightly stunned. He sat in place, staring at the two women. They ate slowly and deliberately, truly not like men who devoured meat and drank wine heartily.
"If they are indeed looking for these two, and those five riders chase after them and can't find them, they will return. Bringing them along would be quite troublesome!"
Adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble than to invite it," Fan Zehao didn't want to travel with troublesome people. Their purpose for this trip was to sightsee and enjoy the scenery!
Zhao Jiaqi pointed to the nonchalant Huangfu Xu beside her, "Just throw him to them. He brought this trouble upon himself, so let him solve it!"
"This might not be good. What if that young lady Zhang uses the 'saving a life' act to offer herself in marriage as thanks to her savior? Then he would be the ultimate beneficiary!"
The couple discussed matters without any regard for the person next to them.
Huangfu Xu's mouth twitched as he heard this, "Brother, Sister-in-law, why do you both enjoy watching me fall for the same trick on this road?"
The first time, he married a principal wife who then cuckolded him. This time, if he were to save a woman again and marry her, he would be too foolish!
"A good man will never make the same mistake on the same road. Never!" He vowed sincerely, his expression not suggesting he was lying!
However, Fan Zehao didn't seem convinced and immediately retorted, "Men are all animals who think with their lower halves. I see that the two women in the paintings are extremely beautiful. You can barely control yourself, and your younger brother is probably even less so. Let me tell you from experience, don't speak too soon, be careful not to be slapped in the face!"
Huangfu Xu ignored him and didn't bother to argue. He was pure-hearted now, without any ill intentions. What was there to fear about his younger brother or anything else!
He raised his forearm and said, "If we really encounter trouble, I'll handle it!"
Fan Zehao waited for this very statement. "A word spoken by a king is hard to retract. No backing out!"
Huangfu Xu didn't take it seriously at all. He was a prince, after all. How could dealing with an obscure manor like the Zhang family be difficult for him?
After eating and resting briefly, they prepared to set off again. As they were about to depart, Huangfu Xu's heart also grew uneasy. If those two men were truly disguised as women, then it might indeed be trouble.
So, before leaving, he specifically instructed his guards to give them some loose silver and urged them to leave quickly!
Just as everything was planned, an unexpected obstacle appeared, blocking their path!
The steward from the Zhang Manor rode back on his horse. The two women, seeing this from afar, immediately hid behind Zhao Jiaqi's carriage, attempting to slip away unnoticed!
Huangfu Xu and Fan Zehao saw this scene clearly. It was undeniable that those five people were looking for these two women!
Fan Zehao gave him a disdainful look, "This is your doing, you go and resolve it."
Huangfu Xu rubbed his nose. "What's so difficult about this? Just hand them over!"
The two girls disguised as men heard this and were instantly terrified, their faces losing all color. They knelt down and begged Huangfu Xu to save their lives, saying, "They are guards from the Zhang Manor, but I am not the young lady of the Zhang Manor. It is our Zhang Manor master who wants to forcibly take my sister and me as concubines. We had no choice but to flee home to escape this marriage!"
As they clarified the situation, they wiped tears from their faces. Their faces, originally smudged with dirt, were now streaked with tears, gradually revealing their true appearances!
Huangfu Xu was somewhat shocked. He had seen all sorts of beautiful women, but even he, who was usually unflustered, was stunned by their appearance!
These two were more than a little bit prettier than the women in the paintings. He had thought the paintings were intentionally beautified, but he never expected such peerless beauties to truly exist.
Zhao Jiaqi, looking through the carriage window, exchanged a knowing smile with Fan Zehao, who was on horseback. They both held a "wait and see" attitude, neither saying a word, just waiting to see what Huangfu Xu would do!
He raised his eyebrows, turned to Fan Zehao beside him, and said, "Brother, seeing these beauties in tears truly evokes a desire to protect them, don't you think!"
Fan Zehao turned his head away, giving him a pair of disdainful glances, "Beauty? Perhaps your eyesight is the problem. Who in this world is more beautiful than my wife?"
A noble heart and a beautiful soul, that is true beauty.
Someone with a mere beautiful face but a venomous heart like a snake, no matter how beautiful they are, is ugly in his eyes!