Lin Jian nodded at Xiao Fang in agreement. "Indeed... I wonder who has the gut to do all that?!"

Xiao Fang asked, "The Han Emperor will certainly hunt down the perpetrator! This is not a small matter! The bandits make the Han Emperor lose face in front of the other kingdoms!" Even though her words looked like she cared, but her eyes couldn"t contain her excitement. Yao Ling could only shake her head at her childish behavior.

Yao Ying laughed at Xiao Fang"s silliness. "If the bandits dare to do this, I"m pretty sure that they have a strong backing! Otherwise, no one will be bold enough to do that!" There was a glint of smugness in his eyes when he said that.

Yao Ling nodded at Yao Ying"s explanation. "That"s true ah~ I wonder who the backing is. Well... at least, we should look at the positive side! We have more time to save Han Xiang, isn"t that right, Xiao Fang?"

Xiao Fang nodded excitedly. "Yes ah~ whoever did that... I must thank them in advance! Without their help... we probably will have only one night to save Han Xiang... but with this... it must have been taking a little while for the Han Emperor to prepare the new bridal dowries! I heard he had prepared more than twenty crates of treasures..."

Xiao Fang didn"t know that she had been thanking the perpetrators directly... Yes... that was their doing! That was the first step of Yao Ying and Lin Jian"s plan!

When they heard that the Han Kingdom wanted to frame their kingdom, Yao Ying and Lin Jian decided to retaliate in their own way. Lin Jian had been going to Lin Zhou for a few times and he stayed there for quite some times. Because of that, he had a certain understanding of the terrain and it was easy for him to make a plan to rob the wedding entourage.

On the other hands, they had a lot of human resources from their organization to mobilize their own people. Lin Jian had been given his father"s token to move the best martial artists pract.i.tioners and he did just that. Mostly, they were Jiang Hu people and it would be hard for the Han Kingdom to track them and know that it was their doing. They also prepared the clothes that the bandits on the Han Kingdom usually wore.

The treasures that they had robbed would be taken into the organization"s treasury, but they didn"t feel sad or unreconciled about it. Lin Jian already explained to Yao Ying that the organization would divide it properly --- Xiao w.a.n.g wouldn"t make them feel a loss. This was also the reasons why people were loyal to the organizations. They really appreciated their members and didn"t hesitate to divide the profits to those who deserved it.

They just needed to wait for Han Xiang at their inn.

"Wait! If there are a lot of casualties, is Han Xiang okay? Will she be able to come here by herself?" Xiao Fang asked worriedly. She quickly stood up and probably would have already run away to save Han Xiang, if Yao Ling didn"t stop her.

"Where are you going?" Yao Ling asked.

Xiao Fang answered, "I want to save Han Xiang."

"Young Miss!" Han Yi --- Han Xiang"s first rank maidservant said in a voice full of worried. "You can"t!" However, her words were stopped by Xiao Fang"s glare.

Yao Ling thought that probably she should teach Xiao Fang a thing or two about being patient and stopped being impulsive all the time --- even Han Yi noticed about this flaw of hers. However, how could a mere maidservant able to stop the stubborn master? Xiao Fang should have understood that she was already big enough to think about the pros and cons of things that she did. "Sit down first!" Yao Ling ordered sternly.

"But..."

Yao Ling glanced at her and once again said, "Sit down first!"

Xiao Fang was surprised by Yao Ling"s sudden sternness, but she obediently sat down and Han Yi sighed in relief. The men didn"t want to have anything to do with this matter so they only stay silent at the side.

Xiao Fang pouted and asked, "Why did you stop me?"

"I want to ask you some questions. Where do you want to go?" Yao Ling directly asked Xiao Fang.

"Save Han Xiang." Xiao Fang answered meekly, under Yao Ling"s scrutinizing gaze.

"Where?"

"Er... I don"t know?"

"Then...why are you so hasty for?" Yao Ling asked while raising one of her eyebrows.

Xiao Fang nervously answered while biting her lower lips. "I"m sorry. I should have asked where she is before running away." Han Yi was quite surprised by the meticulous questions that Yao Ling asked. Did she try to teach her young miss? If yes, she really wanted to cry in happiness. She had been trying to give advice to Young Miss, but the latter had never listened to her advice!

"After finding her, what do you plan to do?" Yao Ling asked.

"Just take her away with me. I will come back to meet you here and then bring her home with me!" Xiao Fang answered proudly. Yao Ling could only sigh when she saw how simple-minded she was.

"Have you ever thought about the consequences after you do that?"

"Er... no? What could possibly happen?" Xiao Fang answered doubtfully and in confusion.

"What will happen when you show up right there? Don"t you know? There"s a possibility that the Han Emperor will think that the bandits are your plan..." Yao Ling trailed off.

"How come?! I am only a woman! Why would I become friends with a bandit?" Xiao Fang exclaimed.

"That"s what you think, but what about other people? I also know and think that way, but other people don"t necessarily think so too..." Yao Ling explained. "What more... the bandits" matter is still fresh in people"s mind. You suddenly appear here and take the bride away... What will the Han Emperor think?"

Xiao Fang started to realize something and asked, "There"s a possibility that the Emperor would throw the blame at me?!"

Yao Ling nodded. "Your Emperor is still embarra.s.sed due to his subordinates" incompetence when guarding the princess and he needs a scapegoat. Why do you want to serve yourself on a silver platter for him?"

Xiao Fang nodded in understanding. "But what about Han Xiang?"

"I"m sure the Emperor will certainly arrange something for her. Besides, she"s being escorted by a general, so what could possibly happen to her?" Yao Ling said.

"But..."

"You should not think only about Han Xiang"s sake! What about your family?"

"My family?" Xiao Fang looked taken aback. "What of them?"

"If the Emperor puts the blame on you... you will implicate your whole family! If you bring Han Xiang home with you and the Han Emperor found her there, what do you think will happen to your whole family?" Yao Ling explained without sugarcoating anything.

Xiao Fang started to feel her whole body sweating. She indeed didn"t think that far ahead. In her mind, after bringing Han Xiang home, her father and brother would help her deal with everything --- like how it had always been.

Xiao Fang started to realize that she indeed knew nothing about how the world worked. She was never allowed to go outside by his father, thus her current lack of understanding. She sighed in embarra.s.sment but knew that Yao Ling said all of this for her own good.

"Thank you for reminding me," Xiao Fang gratefully said despite her pale face. "What do you think I should do now?" Xiao Fang decided to ask Yao Ling"s advice.