Gu Youyou said, "Xiang Chun, if you’re really scared, why don’t you sit outside? I remember there’s a seat behind the carriage driver."
Xiang Chun quickly shook her head, "No no, I’d better stay inside the carriage to serve the two young ladies."
As soon as her words fell, a violent jolt occurred. Whatever the wheel had run over nearly flipped the carriage.
Lin Qianqing, who had been in good spirits playing with the dog, was thrown into a mess by the jolt. She fell flat on her back.
Brushing herself off angrily, she yelled to the outside, "What kind of driving is this? Aren’t you looking at the road?"
Although Gu Youyou hadn’t fallen from her chair, it had been a close call.
The hair arrangement that Xiang Chun had worked so hard on that morning was now askew.
The person driving the carriage outside was silent for a moment, then a voice came through, "Please hold tight, young ladies, this stretch of road is quite rough."
After saying that, he sped up the horses instead.
Lin Qianqing cursed loudly, "If the road is rough, why are you driving so fast? Do you want to die?"
The coachman outside ignored her and drove the carriage even faster.
Gu Youyou furrowed her brow. She could tell that the voice of the person outside was different from the carriage driver they had before—it wasn’t the same person.
Had the carriage driver been replaced just now?
Abao stood up from the ground, its large frame looking imposing inside the carriage, its ears pricked up alertly—it had sensed something too.
"What’s wrong?" Seeing Gu Youyou’s serious expression, Lin Qianqing realized something was off.
Xiang Chun also squeezed towards Gu Youyou in the corner, warily watching Abao.
Gu Youyou lowered her voice and said to them, "The carriage driver has been switched."
"Shh!" Gu Youyou quickly covered Lin Qianqing’s mouth.
"Don’t be afraid, let’s first figure out what the person outside wants to do."
Just then, Gu Youyou heard a strange rustling above the carriage, followed by something landing on the roof, a very light sound, one that Lin Qianqing and Xiang Chun couldn’t hear—only Gu Youyou did.
Gu Youyou looked even more somber, her brow furrowing deeply.
If she wasn’t mistaken, there must be someone with superb Qinggong skills on their carriage roof.
This really was something—after being in Beijing for so long, was their first outing destined to encounter trouble?
She wondered if they could arrive at Jinxiu City safely and then make it back to the Lin Residence unscathed.
Knowing her aunt’s temperament, if she learned about this incident, future outings would be even harder to arrange. Yet, Gu Youyou still harbored plans to expand her business in Jinxiu City.
Gu Youyou concentrated on the situation outside the carriage, whereas inside, Abao gradually relaxed and laid back down.
Lin Qianqing looked on in surprise and said, "The dog has lain down, cousin sister, has the original coachman come back?"
Gu Youyou turned her head and indeed saw Abao lazily sleeping on the ground, taking a nap.
Aboa wasn’t any ordinary dog; it was trained rigorously by Jin Zijin and Yue Rujing in the Lingnan Barracks. If there was danger, it wouldn’t possibly be sleeping peacefully on the ground, unless the danger had passed.
But Gu Youyou hadn’t heard any more disturbances from outside, and the coachman had not been switched again.
She said, "No." but she relaxed slightly and settled back into her seat.
"Then what do we do?" Xiang Chun in the corner clutched Gu Youyou’s sleeve tightly, carefully voicing her complaint, "Cousin miss, the dog you’ve raised seems pretty useless. When we’re facing a serious crisis, it actually wants to sleep."
Gu Youyou tugged at the corner of her mouth and said, "It seems we’re not in for a peaceful ride today. Let’s all stop talking now and just sit tight." After finishing her words, she comforted Lin Qianqing again.