Chapter 147

The north wind howled outside the window, and the warm light in the room dispelled the chill of this cold night.

Xie Zheng looked at the girl with bright and clear eyes in the candlelight, and the dark and wounded emotions in his heart were miraculously smoothed out. He raised his hand slightly, and in front of Fan Changyu's stunned gaze, he pressed the girl into his arms.

His dark eyes stared calmly in one direction, but beneath that calmness, there seemed to be more chilling emotions hidden: "Let's stop with the Han family. There will be plenty of opportunities to clean up later. Tonight, we have already alarmed the officers and soldiers of the Dali Temple. It is not appropriate to go to the Han family again. You should get some sleep. I will take you back to the Jinzouyuan at five o'clock in the morning."

Living in Jinzouyuan would undoubtedly expose every move of his to the royal family's sight.

Fan Changyu was able to get out tonight because he used the same trick again, disguised as a guard from the Jinzouyuan who was out shopping. Tomorrow morning at five o'clock, the people from the Jinzouyuan kitchen would go out to buy food again, and Fan Changyu could change his clothes and sneak in at that time.

Fan Changyu half leaned in Xie Zheng's arms. She was not sleepy after being robbed the night before. However, Xie Zheng's pressing on her neck made it difficult for her to raise her head. She could only look up in an awkward position and said, "I'm not sleepy now. I think the housekeeper of the Changxin Palace is also in the prison. Why don't we strike while the iron is hot and rob the housekeeper as well?"

When she said this with her large eyes, which were clearly black and white, and a sincere look on her face, it was as if the most diligent and motivated student in front of the teacher suddenly said calmly that she was going to kill someone and set fire to something.

Xie Zheng paused while stroking her long hair, and remained silent for several breaths.

Fan Changyu asked awkwardly: "No?"

Xie Zheng raised his hand and pressed his forehead. When he looked down at her, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly unconsciously: "Tonight is not the right time. The Dali Temple is not like other government offices or prisons. Once the security is tight, not even a fly can fly out. Although there are many soldiers searching the city for robbers tonight, most of them are from the Wucheng Bingmasi. The Dali Temple is not weakly defended. If we go to rob the prison now, we will undoubtedly walk into a trap."

Fan Changyu said awkwardly: "Okay."

She was not very clear about the deployment of troops in the capital, and she thought that many officers and soldiers from the Dali Temple had been lured away tonight. It was a perfect opportunity to rob the prison at this time, catching them by surprise.

Xie Zheng glared at her and asked, "You don't seem to be studying the art of war seriously?"

Fan Changyu scratched his hair and said, "I have only been back to the capital for a short time. I am trapped in the Imperial Court every day and I am not very clear about the duties of each office in the capital. I dare not act rashly in the army. A battle concerns the life and death of hundreds of soldiers! If I did not know that with our skills, even if we cannot rescue the housekeeper by sneaking into the Dali Temple, we will never fall into the hands of the soldiers, I would not have said this."

Xie Zheng then asked, "Have you finished reading the military books I gave you?"

Fan Changyu straightened up unconsciously, like a student being asked to recite poetry by his teacher: "I have finished two books and just started the third one."

"Which two books are you reading?"

After Xie Zheng asked this question, Fan Changyu was about to answer when a loud noise came from outside.

"Open the door!"

"Sir... this... this is unacceptable! The people staying in this inn are all guests. How can we disturb their sleep in the middle of the night?"

"The Dali Temple has lost a wanted criminal from the imperial court. We are now searching every household. If you dare to obstruct us, you will be treated as an accomplice of the imperial criminal!"

Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng were both martial artists with very good hearing. When they heard what was happening outside, their faces turned a little ugly.

The soldiers had already entered the yard. If they went out at this time, they would be discovered and recognized, and all their efforts would be wasted.

When Xie Zheng heard the footsteps of the soldiers approaching, he quickly flicked his sleeves to extinguish the candles, raised his head and said to Fan Changyu, "Replace the hot tea in the teapot with cold water in the basin."

Fan Changyu picked up the kettle on the table and poured all the tea into a bonsai tree in the room, and then poured cold water from the basin into it.

This tea was brewed by the old man in the inn when he led them in. Fan Changyu didn't know what kind of medicine Xie Zheng was selling in his gourd, and as the situation was urgent, he didn't bother to ask more questions and just did as he was told.

By the time she put the teapot back on the table, Xie Zheng had already been stroking the bedside and turning on some mechanism. Fan Changyu heard the faint muffled sound of the stone slab being pushed and pulled.

With the help of the torchlight coming in from the doors and windows, she could barely see that one side of the bed had collapsed, revealing a dark space that was barely big enough for two people to lie down.

Xie Zheng looked at her and said, "Hide inside."

As soon as Fan Changyu lay down, Xie Zheng turned around and walked in.

Squeezing another person into the small space of a coffin box would suddenly make it extremely cramped.

Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng were almost neck to neck, shoulder to shoulder, and their breathing could be clearly heard in this cramped space.

Fortunately, it was pitch black in the dark room and no one could see each other's appearance clearly. It wouldn't be too awkward if they looked at each other from above.

Fan Changyu smelled the faint scent of soapberry on Xie Zheng's clothes. Perhaps because of the severe winter, it was also permeated with a chill of ice and snow. He did not dare to put all his weight on her, and used one hand to prop up his body a little, but in this narrow space, this posture undoubtedly became particularly strenuous.

Fan Changyu hesitated and said, "How about I stay up there?"

Even though it was pitch dark, Fan Changyu still felt that Xie Zheng seemed to have suddenly turned his head to look at her. Because she couldn't see, her perception of her surroundings was based on instinct. The feeling of being stared at by a beast in the dark became more and more obvious, and the hairs on Fan Changyu's hands stood up unconsciously.

When Xie Zheng grabbed her waist, her whole body tensed up.

After switching positions with some difficulty, both of them were sweating. Fan Changyu thought it was because of the lack of air circulation. It was uncomfortably hot in this small dark room.

She pricked up her ears and tried to listen to the noise outside, but her heartbeat quickened at an inappropriate time. She didn't know if it was because her nerves were too tense or for some other reason.

But Fan Changyu doubted that Xie Zheng could hear the heartbeat that was like a drum.

However, Xie Zheng seemed to have a drum in his chest, and she could hear it especially clearly when she lay on his chest.

He didn't hit her as fast, but each time he hit her was extremely heavy, as if he was trying to hit someone on the heart.

Xie Zheng's breathing was still steady, but the breath spraying on his ear seemed to become hot.

Fan Changyu's ears were very sensitive, and she subconsciously wanted to hide.

But when she moved her head slightly, Xie Zheng pressed her shoulders firmly. His voice was very calm, but in order to lower his voice, it was much lower than usual: "Don't move."

At this moment, there was a loud noise outside, obviously the door was kicked open roughly.

Fan Changyu didn't dare to move at that moment. He just lay on Xie Zheng and listened attentively to the movement outside.

"Sir, this room is empty, no guests have stayed there yet!" The innkeeper who had been following them all the way was still wondering in his mind, but after entering the room and seeing that there was no sign that anyone had ever lived in it, his eyes moved slightly, and he immediately began to cry and complain.

The small leader of the soldiers who entered the house to search ignored him and allowed the soldiers under him to open all the boxes and cabinets in the house with their rough hands and feet. They even pulled the bedding on the bed to the ground after reaching out to feel the remaining warmth.

Seeing that they were still moving the bottles and jars on the shelf, as if they were looking for some secret room in the house, the shopkeeper cried out, "Hey, sir, please be gentle. These are porcelains from the Ge kiln. If they are broken, I won't be able to explain to my boss..."

The small chief still had no intention of asking his men to calm down. He sat down on the stool with a big sword and raised his hand to take the lid of the teapot on the table.

Fan Changyu was lying on top of Xie Zheng. He heard the footsteps of the soldiers searching the bed fade away. He just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a loud sound of porcelain breaking and a soldier shouting, "How dare you!"

Her heart suddenly shuddered again, and her fingertips unconsciously grabbed Xie Zheng's collar.

Xie Zheng seemed to have sensed her nervousness, and he changed his grip on her shoulders to press on the back of her neck, asking her to stick as close to him as possible. His hot fingers touched her delicate skin, and although there was no place to go beyond that, it still burned Fan Changyu so much that she involuntarily shrank her neck.

The tip of her nose lightly brushed the skin on Xie Zheng's neck, and Xie Zheng's breathing suddenly became heavier.

Fan Changyu only felt that heat was coming out of his body. She put her hand on his chest, and through the not-so-thick long robe with arrow sleeves he was wearing, she could even feel the sweat underneath.

Why is he still sweating?

Is it because the space is too small and two people are squeezed together, so it's too hot?

Fan Changyu wanted to stay away from him quietly to let him breathe better, but Xie Zheng's hand on the back of her neck was like a branding iron, pressing down on the wrinkles without moving, and even showing a tendency to tighten.

Outside, the shopkeeper's terrified voice could be heard: "Sir, what's going on?"

Fan Changyu had no intention of moving anymore and just listened carefully.

The little leader slammed his palm as big as a palm fan on the round table: "I came here late at night to search for prisoners and wanted to drink some hot tea. The tea in your teapot is not only cold, but also has no tea flavor at all. How dare you be so disrespectful?"

How could the shopkeeper not hear the hidden meaning of the little leader's words? The officers and soldiers of the Five Cities Military Division often looked for money from merchants under various pretexts. They would definitely not be able to squeeze anything out of ordinary people's homes during the search tonight. Even if they could not find anyone in places like inns and taverns where all kinds of people mixed together, they would still have to give the military leader some money.

The shopkeeper still looked terrified, but his eyes had calmed down. He immediately scolded, "Where has that lazy waiter been? Why didn't you even change the pot of cold tea in the room?"

Then he bowed to the little leader and said, "Master, please calm down. Master, please calm down. I will ask someone to make you the best tea in the store."

While complimenting him, he did not forget to hand a purse to the little leader.

The little leader weighed the weight of the purse, and the anger on his face dissipated a little. He said, "Okay, I still have important tasks to investigate, and I don't have time to drink your cup of tea!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he got up and left. The soldiers who had searched the house and found nothing followed him.

The shopkeeper glanced at the bottom of the bed from the corner of his eye, then bowed and closed the door before leaving, and sent the little leader away with compliments all the way.

Inside the room, Fan Changyu heaved a sigh of relief as she listened to the soldiers' footsteps walking away. A thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead, perhaps because she was stuffy or hot.

She whispered to Xie Zheng, "They're gone."

No one below responded.

Fan Changyu found it strange and stretched out a hand to feel around the side of the stone wall, trying to find the switch to open the secret chamber and get out. However, the hand pressing on the back of her neck suddenly exerted force with such ferocious force and determination that Fan Changyu inexplicably felt a sense of fear.

But the struggle became impossible in the narrow space. She could only lower her head, and his lips were kissed cruelly, as if he wanted to tear her apart and swallow her. Her teeth were quickly pushed open roughly, and the big tongue drove straight in.

Xie Zheng was like a wild wolf that had endured a whole harsh winter hungry and had been staring at a piece of fat meat for three days without taking a bite. At the moment when his rationality ran out, he finally couldn't suppress the hunger rising from his bones, and he bared his sharp teeth to bite his prey.

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Happy New Year, my dears~ I'll give you some candy~