Chapter 293 Border

Only the dead can keep secrets, and besides, the money given to this old woman is enough for her whole family to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Ren Shun strode to his horse, supporting Qi Yuxuan with his right hand, gripping the reins with his left, stepping into the stirrups, and mounting the horse.

"drive--"

The raindrops stung his face, so he took off his coat, held it in his teeth, and used it to shield the person in his arms from the wind and rain.

Two hours later.

Qi Jun heard Sun Miao say for the second time that Princess Chang Le had disappeared. His heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, and his hands trembled with pain.

He gritted his teeth and asked, "Who's with her?"

Sun Miao naturally knew he was referring to the Qilin Guards who had been secretly protecting Princess Chang Le, and quickly sent people in.

The two young Qilin Guards were already ashen-faced, knowing what they would face upon entering, and they made no attempt to conceal it:

"Your Highness, Princess Chang Le and her bodyguard Ren scaled the wall of the North Garden and headed straight for the capital in the south. We gave chase, but about ten miles outside the North Garden, Bodyguard Ren spotted us and deliberately took a detour to shake us off. Then the two of them rode off and disappeared without a trace..."

He tried his best to recount the events completely, but after listening to his words, it all sounded like Princess Chang Le and Guard Ren had eloped and fled. No wonder they were so unreliable.

Qi Jun suppressed the unease and anger surging in his chest and gripped the phoenix-headed white jade hairpin in his sleeve.

He had planned to put this hairpin on her when he went to see her today.

"Keep searching, ten miles, a hundred miles, a thousand miles south, I must find out where she is."

Whether she truly eloped with the guard or there was another hidden story, he wouldn't believe anyone's side of the story; he wanted to see her in person and get the answer from her own mouth.

Seven days later.

Ren Shun traveled day and night through wind and rain, changing three horses and losing a lot of weight, finally arriving at the border between Qi and Yue, separated from the Yue Kingdom by only a wall.

"The Jiaozhi people are about to invade, how dare you still come?" The innkeeper spoke, looking at Ren Shun holding a woman, assuming they were a newlywed couple, and was somewhat puzzled.

But when the proprietress looked closely, she saw that the woman's eyes were closed, her face was haggard and pale, and her whole body was surrounded by an aura of death that she could not shake off.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with your wife...?"

Ren Shun lowered his eyes to look at Qi Yuxuan, who was quietly leaning against him. His voice, which had been silent for a long time, was unusually gentle:

"She is seriously ill and is always in a coma. I brought her here to seek medical help. Please tell me if the city gate is still open? I need to go to Nanyue."

As Ren Shun spoke, he placed a silver ingot in front of the proprietress.

This seemingly unassuming guest was so generous that the proprietress immediately accepted the money, saying with feigned concern, "The city gates haven't been opened for over ten days. Are you going to Nan Yue to seek medical treatment? Aren't they known for their expertise in poisons? Do they have any miracle doctors there?"

Although there have been frictions between the two countries, they are not mortal enemies.

The common people, though far from the emperor's reach, still engaged in trade and exchanges with each other. Therefore, when the topic of Nanyue came up, the proprietress only asked a perfunctory question and did not express any strong sense of duty or responsibility.

Now that the two countries are at war, the people on the border don't really care about winning or losing. As long as the official in charge of them is a good official who doesn't exploit the people, it doesn't matter who the emperor is.

The people are the foundation of the nation, and labor is even more so. Unless absolutely necessary, every citizen is of vital importance, and there will be no indiscriminate killing or even massacre of a city.

Ren Shun nodded absentmindedly, "Then I'll trouble you to book a superior room and find an experienced woman to... wash my wife."

Even though he was traveling every day, he still didn't want her to be covered in dirt and dust, so he would find an inn every day or two and ask a woman to wash her body to keep her clean and fresh.

He didn't want the little girl to wake up covered in dirt and feeling uncomfortable.

Seeing that the young man's ears were slightly red when he mentioned "my wife," the proprietress knew perfectly well that this was the behavior of newlyweds, and immediately patted her chest and volunteered herself:

"There's no need to find anyone else. I'll help your wife wash up. This money isn't much; the money I gave you earlier was enough."

Ren Shun tacitly agreed.

The people of this border town are simple and honest, and business at the inn has been slow lately. As the landlady washed the young woman in the bathtub, she smiled at the young man behind the screen:

"Tell me, you newlyweds are already shy? Didn't you see or touch anything on your wedding night?"

Ren Shun's cheeks flushed at these words. He buried his head and diligently wiped his short sword, his voice slightly strained:

"Just wash yourself properly, you don't need to talk to me."

The proprietress chuckled and continued, "Oh my, I've never seen a young man so thin-skinned. I can tell you're from the city just by looking at you; you can't stand even the slightest bluntness."

"Back in the day, my husband was just like you. He would get so shy about holding hands and kissing. He was more like a little wife than a man... It's just a pity that he's gotten older and his skin has thickened. It's all in the past now."

The proprietress was a chatterbox, and she kept talking about her past with her husband. Before she knew it, she had finished cleaning Qi Yuxuan.

"Alright, that's all for now. Help your wife get dressed. We can't leave her alone downstairs for too long. I need to hurry down!"

The proprietress covered her mouth and chuckled as she left. For some reason, Ren Shun didn't stop her immediately. By the time he realized what was happening, she had already vanished without a trace.

Separated by a screen, Ren Shun silently finished wiping the short sword in his hand and sat silently for a while.

Fifteen minutes later.

The proprietress looked at the young man who was still standing outside the screen with a look of deep sorrow in her eyes.

"You can't even dress your own wife, what kind of husband are you?!"

Unfortunately, the proprietress had already witnessed the young man's taciturn nature, and receiving no response, she could only snort and leave.

Ren Shun carried the person away from the inn.

With the city gates closed, he had no choice but to take a detour to Nan Yue, which was quite a distance, and he couldn't afford to waste any more time.

However, just as Ren Shun rode his horse into the border of South Vietnam, a group of weathered Qilin Guards rushed into the small border town.

They worked tirelessly, barely closing their eyes, following the trail of Princess Chang Le and Guard Ren until they arrived here.

This is already the border between Qi and Yue. If they still can't find it, they must return immediately.

The guards had long been replaced by soldiers under General Duan, who had fought against Nanyue. Upon seeing the Qilin Guards, they assumed it was a new imperial decree and hurriedly went to report to Duan Wei and Xiahou Zhong.

However, after inquiring about the cause and effect, the expressions of the two generals changed almost imperceptibly.

Princess Chang Le has disappeared?! The Princess Chang Le who wrote to us just over ten days ago, was kidnapped all the way from the capital to the border between Qi and Yue?!