On the Straight Road leading to the East of the Passes, a force of roughly two hundred soldiers galloped along, the lush green scenery on either side continually receding behind them.
The convoy kept a low profile, but judging by its warhorses and standardized weapons, these were certainly elite troops.
This was the party escorting Jia Xu and Cai Yan to Zhao City.
Since parting with Luo Kong, they had killed an unknown number of people along the way, and traces of blood still clung to their blades.
Recalling everything he had seen and heard on the journey, Jia Xu lifted his carriage's window curtain and looked toward Cai Yan's carriage, inwardly marveling.
Luo Kong had asked him to converse more with Cai Yan, and with Jia Xu's intelligence, handling a young girl like her was simplicity itself.
Jia Xu had initially assumed Luo Kong valued Cai Yan for her beauty. After all, the Luo Clan were good-looking and cared a great deal about their partners' appearance.
But the result had astonished him. Cai Yan really could remember everything she read, and eloquent compositions flowed from her lips. She was nothing short of a treasure.
It was no exaggeration to say that marrying Cai Yan would provide the foundations of a classical studies-scholar clan, especially for high officials who had risen abruptly and lacked deep roots.
Moreover, Cai Yan came from the Cai Clan of Chenliu, and her father was a Great Confucian of the age. A daughter of the direct line from such a clan would have to be the principal wife in any family she married into. Anything else would be an insult.
Never mind Cai Yong's objections-even many unrelated gentry clans would refuse to accept it.
Cai Yan's conversation and bearing were also extraordinary, marking her at