"Get down! Open the curtain!" the armed unit's commander shouted from outside, pounding on the carriage wall with the hard hilt of his sword.
The coachman hurriedly jumped down and fell to his knees, his body trembling violently. "Mercy, sir! Mercy! There's only our unmarried young mistress inside. If you insist on searching the carriage, you'll ruin our lady's reputation and honor!"
"To hell with her honor!" the Commander snapped, thrusting the tip of his unsheathed sword straight at the coachman's throat. "We're pursuing a high-level fugitive! If you try to obstruct us, your head will be the first to roll!"
"U-Uncle... mercy, sir..." The coachman grew even paler, utterly helpless.
CRACK!
The carriage curtain was violently yanked open from within. Qingyan stepped out and stood tall in the carriage doorway, her chin held high. Her gaze was so cold and intimidating that the soldiers, who had been acting so ferociously moments earlier, suddenly hesitated.
"Who dares act so tyrannically in front of me?!" Qingyan shouted.
The Commander narrowed his eyes and looked Qingyan up and down. "Who are you?! Don't interfere with our business!"
Instead of being afraid, Qingyan curled her lips into a mocking smile. From beneath her loose sleeve, she produced a solid object made of pure brass, engraved with a dragon emblem and gold characters.
She held it directly in front of the Commander's face.
"Open your eyes wide!" Qingyan barked. "Look closely at what kind of plaque this is!"
The Commander's eyes flew wide open. So did those of the dozen or so soldiers behind him. They recognized the distinctive engraving and seal at a glance.
"T-The private plaque of the Lin Prime Minister's Residence?!" the Commander stammered, his voice suddenly trembling violently.
"Exactly!" Qingyan planted her hands on her hips, enjoying the panic on the soldiers' faces. A doctor's focus never misses; judging by their uniforms, this man in front is only a low-ranking commander who can easily be intimidated.
"I am the Prime Minister's legitimate daughter!" Qingyan continued in a thunderous voice. "Inside this carriage is a close relative of the Prime Minister who is heavily pregnant and suffering from the long journey! If you force your way inside and frighten my relative into miscarrying here... do you and your entire unit dare shoulder the wrath of Prime Minister Lin?!"
The soldiers exchanged pale, terrified looks. Provoking the Prime Minister was tantamount to courting death for themselves and their seven generations of descendants.
"P-Please forgive us, Eldest Miss!" The Commander immediately sheathed his sword and knelt on the ground, followed by his entire unit. "I didn't know this was a party from the Lin Prime Minister's Residence!"
"Next time, use your brain before pointing a sword at someone!" Qingyan warned, twirling the plaque around her finger. "If I ever see you acting tyrannically toward the people on this road again, I'll make sure my father strips every one of you of your posts!"
"Yes, Miss! Please forgive us! You may continue on your way!" the Commander cried out fearfully.
Qingyan swished her dress and climbed back into the carriage. "Drive on, Coachman!"
Meanwhile, in the capital, the Lin Prime Minister's Residence was in complete chaos.
"Where is it?! Where's my plaque?!" Prime Minister Lin roared, smashing a flowerpot until it shattered across his study floor. The middle-aged man frantically rifled through the stacks of papers on his desk. "Who dares steal my Royal Authorization Plaque?!"
Consort Yan stood in the corner of the room with the servants and whispered, "Master... Last night, when Miss Qingyan was throwing a tantrum, didn't she approach your desk? It must have been that wretched girl who took it before she left!"
"How dare she!" Prime Minister Lin roared, slamming his desk repeatedly. "That demon girl really intends to bankrupt me and destroy my reputation!"
Inside the carriage as it continued down the road, Qingyan chuckled in satisfaction, imagining her father's panic.
The injured man disguised as a pregnant woman in the corner of the carriage stared intensely at Qingyan. His voice sounded deep and heavy from behind his veil.
"You... you're Prime Minister Lin's daughter?"
"Yep. Why?" Qingyan replied casually, leaning back. "Forget it. Just rest. We'll talk again when we reach my residence."
"No," the man firmly refused. He tried to straighten his body despite groaning in pain. "Drop me off here. I can't get involved with the Prime Minister's family."
"No negotiating!"
Before the man could react, Qingyan's fingers moved as fast as lightning. TAP! TAP! Two of her fingers pressed hard against the acupuncture points at the base of his neck and shoulder.
In an instant, every muscle in the man's sturdy body went limp. His large body collapsed against the carriage wall, his eyes widening in shock.
"W-What... what did you do?!" the man whispered furiously, realizing that his entire body was paralyzed.
"I just pressed a temporary nerve point," Qingyan replied casually as she adjusted her sitting position. "I'm a doctor—I mean, I understand medicine. Once I decide to help someone, that means I'll help them until they're completely healed. If you have a grudge against my father or some problem with him, that's not my concern. Besides, that old man and I don't exactly see eye to eye either. If you want to take his life, go ahead. I don't care. But before that, you need to recover first."
The man stared at Qingyan with a complicated look mixed with astonishment. The woman in front of him was truly crazy, unique, and impossible to predict.
"My best advice is that you should go to sleep," Qingyan added.
Then Qingyan leaned toward A-Man's ear and whispered a secret order. A-Man's eyes widened for a moment before he nodded firmly.
"A-Man understands, Miss."
"Coachman, stop for a moment," Qingyan called out.
A-Man hurriedly followed suit and climbed down from the carriage, then disappeared behind the roadside bushes in the borderlands.
The paralyzed man narrowed his eyes behind his veil, his voice hissing suspiciously. "You... what did you order your servant to do?"
Qingyan gave him a mysterious smile and patted her own knees. "That's... none of your business, sir. Better stay quiet and enjoy playing the pregnant woman."