However, it was completely silent outside, and the palace guards who were supposed to be on guard had all disappeared!

Several assassins dressed in black burst through the door, their blades flashing as they lunged at the newcomers! Qi Mingxuan pushed Xiao Chengyu behind a screen, drew his sword to meet the attack: "Yu'er, be careful!"

Swords clashed, blood splattered. Although Qi Mingxuan was highly skilled in martial arts, he was outnumbered and had to protect Xiao Chengyu, so he gradually lost ground.

Xiao Chengyu observed calmly and discovered that these assassins were ruthless in their moves, but they didn't seem to want to take their lives. Instead, they seemed to want to capture them alive.

Her mind raced, and she suddenly exclaimed, "Mingxuan! Their goal is to capture us alive!"

Qi Mingxuan immediately understood—these people wanted to use them to threaten the royal family!

Just then, a beam of silver light shot straight at Xiao Chengyu's face! Qi Mingxuan, unable to react in time, once again shielded him with his own body—

With a "thud," the dart sank into his shoulder.

"Mingxuan!" Xiao Chengyu exclaimed in alarm as he helped him up.

In that instant, the assassin leader lunged at her! In a flash, a figure descended from the sky, sword light flashing like a rainbow, instantly severing the assassin's arm!

"Whoever harms my sister shall die!" Xiao Chengrui roared like thunder. Behind him, Ashina Yun drew his bow and shot every arrow with deadly accuracy.

It turned out they were worried and had been keeping watch nearby.

With reinforcements arriving, the situation instantly reversed. Seeing the danger, the assassin tried to escape, but was surrounded by suddenly appearing guards.

Qi Mingxuan tried to give chase despite his injuries, but Xiao Chengyu held him down: "Your injuries!"

Black blood seeped from the dart wound on his shoulder, clearly poisoned. Xiao Chengyu hurriedly took out a handkerchief to bandage it, but his hands trembled violently.

"Don't be afraid..." Qi Mingxuan's face was pale, but he still smiled and comforted her, "It's just a minor injury..."

Before he could finish speaking, he collapsed into her arms.

"Mingxuan!" Xiao Chengyu cried out in alarm, "Imperial Physician! Quickly summon the Imperial Physician!"

In the chaos, she didn't notice an assassin quietly getting up and thrusting a dagger straight into her back!

"Princess, be careful!" Qin Sang cried out in alarm. She lunged forward, shielding Xiao Chengyu, a dagger piercing her shoulder blade!

At the same time, Xin Rui roared and charged forward, ending the assassin's life with a single strike.

"Qin Sang!" Xiao Chengyu supported the swaying Qin Sang, and was extremely anxious when he saw that her wound was bleeding profusely.

The imperial physician rushed over and first administered acupuncture to Qi Mingxuan to suppress the poison, and then treated Qin Sang's wounds.

"This poison is quite cunning." The imperial physician said solemnly, "It requires the use of Tian Shan snow lotus as a guide, along with eighty-one kinds of medicinal herbs, and must be decocted for three days to detoxify it."

Xiao Chengyu immediately asked, "Are there any snow lotuses in the palace?"

The imperial physician shook his head: "The last plant from last year was used for His Majesty's chronic illness..."

"The Northern Barbarians have them!" Ashina Yun suddenly exclaimed. "My brother has several in his palace! I will write a letter immediately..."

"It's too late," the imperial physician sighed. "Lord Qi has been poisoned with an acute form of poison; he can only hold on for one more day at most..."

Xiao Chengyu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, tightly gripping Qi Mingxuan's icy hand: "No... there must be a way..."

Just then, Qin Sang weakly said, "This humble woman...this humble woman might give it a try." She struggled to sit up, "My family's acupuncture techniques might be able to force out the toxins..."

The imperial physician frowned: "Nonsense! This poison is extremely dangerous; the slightest mistake could..."

"Let her try," Xiao Chengyu said decisively. "I trust her."

Qin Sang glanced at her gratefully and took out a set of silver needles. Her face was pale, but her hands were very steady as she inserted the silver needles into Qi Mingxuan's acupoints one by one.

Gradually, black blood seeped from the needle hole, and Qi Mingxuan's face turned from pale to white. Qin Sang's forehead was covered in a fine sweat, and her technique became even faster.

As the last needle was inserted, she suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood and collapsed to the ground.

"Qin Sang!" Xin Rui quickly helped her up.

Qi Mingxuan slowly woke up at this moment, coughed up a few mouthfuls of black blood, and his breathing gradually stabilized.

The imperial physician hurriedly took her pulse and exclaimed with delight, "The poison... the poison is gone!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Chengyu burst into tears of joy, tightly gripping Qi Mingxuan's hand: "You scared me to death..."

Qi Mingxuan gave a weak smile: "Your Highness... I have worried you again..."

At this moment, Xiao Chengji arrived with the Imperial Guards, his face ashen: "All the assassins committed suicide by poison, not one survived. But..." He handed over a token, "This was found in Liu Zhijie's residence."

The token is engraved with the Northern Di wolf totem, but there is a small "Gu" character on the back.

"It really was him!" Xiao Chengyu exclaimed angrily. "Where is he?"

“They escaped,” Xiao Chengji said coldly. “But a secret room was discovered during the search of the mansion, containing letters exchanged with the Northern Di. It turns out that the Gu family had long been colluding with the Northern Di, plotting something sinister.”

The truth came out, but there was no joy among the people. This incident cast a shadow over the joyous wedding.

Three days later, Qi Mingxuan's poisoning gradually subsided, and he was able to get out of bed and walk. Qin Sang, however, suffered from exhaustion of internal energy and a relapse of her old injuries, and remained bedridden.

Xin Rui stayed by Qin Sang's bedside, never leaving her side. When Xiao Chengyu went to visit him that day, he overheard Xin Rui clumsily reading a storybook to Qin Sang.

“…The scholar said, ‘If the young lady has no intention, then I will…then…’” He hesitated, clearly not good at this kind of thing.

Qin Sang chuckled and replied, "So you'll kneel there forever until the young lady changes her mind?"

Xin Ruijun's face turned bright red: "You...how did you know?"

"I've already read this storybook," Qin Sang said with a smile. "But General Xin, when did you start enjoying reading these kinds of stories?"

Xin Rui stammered, "I just... grabbed it randomly..." As he spoke, he quietly hid the military book under the pages.

Xiao Chengyu smiled and quietly retreated. It seemed her cousin had finally met someone who could handle him.

Several days later, Qi Mingxuan recovered greatly. One day, while strolling in the Imperial Garden with Xiao Chengyu, he suddenly said, "When I was unconscious, I seemed to hear Your Highness say... if I wake up, you will tell me a secret?"

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