Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Living life.

At night, Qi Yushi applied medicine to Lin Zhen, and the two of them lay on the bed with their clothes on.

Lin Zhen was supposed to sleep with his back to him, but he didn't turn around. Instead, he slightly moved closer to him and said in a low voice, "These past two days, I've felt like someone was following me."

Qi Yushi, whose breathing was slightly stagnant due to Lin Zhen's approach, immediately put aside all distracting thoughts and said seriously, "Follow you?"

Lin Zhen nodded slightly, then asked, "What about you? Is there anyone following you?"

Qi Yushi shook his head slowly. All his secret guards had been deployed near Li's residence and would be taking action tomorrow. If there was anything unusual, he should have received the news long ago.

Furthermore, they were already in the mansion, so if they wanted to monitor someone, every servant could act as a spy. There was no need to hide in the dark, which would make it easier for them to be noticed.

Lin Zhen lowered his head, sighed softly, and said, "Maybe I'm thinking too much..."

"Tomorrow morning, I'll find a way to get the message out so they can confirm everything before taking action." He placed his hand gently on Lin Zhen's forearm and whispered, "Tomorrow, the sword will be merciless. No matter what happens, remember to prioritize your own life."

"Yeah, I know."

Lin Zhen naturally understood that taking good care of himself was the greatest help to him.

"Xinyi will also sneak into the banquet tomorrow. She will protect you closely."

"……good."

"After being rescued, the Marquis of Yong'an will be quickly transferred to a secret place and cannot be kept in the Chen Mansion."

As for where he was going, Qi Yushi never told her, and she never asked.

Marquis Yong'an is her uncle and a close friend of her father, so she is naturally concerned about his safety. However, if one less person knows about this matter, it will be better for both her and Marquis Yong'an.

"They dare not make public the fact that they secretly imprisoned Yong'an Marquis. They will definitely be more restrained in the search and wait until the momentum has passed before sending Yong'an Marquis away."

Qi Yushi carefully told Lin Zhen about these arrangements that he had told her many times before entering the Li Mansion, just to make her feel at ease.

Seeing that she was breathing evenly and seemed sleepy, he slowly took his hand away.

Lin Zhen slept with him in bed without any precautions. He could clearly hear her even breathing. They were in danger now, and it was clearly a critical and difficult moment, but he only felt calm and comfortable.

After closing his eyes and waiting for a moment, he turned his back. He was afraid that he would be too greedy and would be reluctant to let go and would regret it.

*

Lantern Festival banquet.

The Li family held the banquet in the front hall, with colored glass lanterns lit everywhere and maids running around, making it very lively.

Lin Zhen had dressed Qi Yushi neatly in the morning and wrapped the breastplate tightly around his body. Even so, Qi Yushi was sitting in a wheelchair and had difficulty moving. Lin Zhen couldn't help but worry about him and kept looking at him.

Noticing Lin Zhen's gaze, Qi Yushi gave her a comforting look.

The man and woman sat opposite each other. Someone noticed their eye contact and jokingly said, "I've heard for a long time that the magistrate and his wife are deeply in love. Seeing them today, it's true. Even at this close distance, they can still exchange glances."

"This lady doesn't know that Master Chen's marriage was not easy to come by. Back then, when Master Qin was wrongly imprisoned, it was Master Chen who, along with the other students, petitioned and beat drums in front of Shuntian Prefecture to protest his injustice. He received thirty lashes of the cane, which led to a retrial and cleared the Master's name. It was for this reason that Master was willing to marry his only beloved daughter to Master Chen, who was then a poor scholar!"

Lin Zhen had already memorized the deeds of Chen Liangji and his wife. When he heard them mention it, he nodded calmly and responded with a few words.

Qi Yushi also joined in the casual conversation, but Lin Zhen heard one of his words very clearly.

"Since I was young, I have received guidance from you, and you have given me the opportunity to learn and write. Your kindness is as heavy as a mountain. I will never doubt your character."

When Qi Yushi said this, he was looking at Lin Zhen. Their eyes met, and she almost thought he was saying it on purpose for her to hear.

"Mrs. Chen is so lucky to have a husband like the prefect!"

The woman's words at the side made Lin Zhen suppress the absurd thoughts that just flashed through his mind. He must hate his father to the core. If he knew her true identity, he would not be willing to say such words to her even if it was just a pretense.

After the banquet in the front hall ended, Li led the female family members to the backyard to listen to a play. It was at this time that Xinyi appeared beside Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen knew that action was about to take place, and she couldn't help but gently hold the handkerchief in her hand.

Sure enough, within half a minute, screams and shouts were heard from the front hall. Everyone didn't know what was going on and looked at each other with frowns.

Li called a halt to the actors on the stage and was about to order her maid to check the front yard when she saw a crowd of people rushing in and shouting, "Bandits! Run!"

Bandits?!

After hearing this, Li stood there in a daze, and had to be dragged back to the house by several maids.

Lin Zhen also retreated back to the room under Xinyi's protection.

This Lantern Festival banquet was organized by Li Puhe in order to win over the powerful and wealthy, and guards were specially dispatched from the government office to ensure the safe conduct of the banquet.

At this moment, the guards of Li's mansion were fighting with the "bandits" who suddenly broke into the mansion and attacked.

Lin Zhen became more and more frightened as she watched the flashing of swords and sabers outside the window. The Li couple had not dispelled their suspicions about them. She wondered whether Li Puhe would take this opportunity to have the guards attack Qi Yu in the chaos, and then put the blame on the "bandits" who broke into the mansion.

"Turn off all the lights in the room. I'll find a place to hide. It should be fine. You should stay and watch over him."

After Lin Zhen finished speaking, the person behind her did not respond. She turned around and saw Xinyi hurriedly packing her bags on the bed.

"Xinyi..." Lin Zhen asked with some confusion.

Xinyi had finished packing neatly, strode over to her, bit her lower lip and said, "It's a little painful, just bear with it."

Lin Zhen frowned. Before he understood what she meant, he felt a sudden pain in his neck and fell on Xinyi.

At the same time, a man in black broke through the door and took the person from Xinyi's arms. He said in a low voice, "Go!"

Xinyi stopped where she was, staring at Lin Zhen's face, and murmured to herself, "You're right, I should stay by his side..."

"The carriage is at the entrance of the alley, take her away quickly!" Xinyi handed the bundle in her arm to the man.

Watching the two figures leaving in the dark night, Xinyi felt mixed emotions.

She wasn't that annoying actually...

On the contrary, she had considered her one of them.

But the young master took the trouble to send her away at this critical moment. It was obvious that he didn't want to abandon her, but he cared about her to such an extent...

*

As Lin Zhen expected, when Li Puhe really intended to take advantage of the chaos to get rid of Qi Yu, he couldn't tell the truth from the false, so he decided to go all out and would rather kill the wrong person!

When Xinyi hurried to the front hall, Qi Yushi was forced into a corner by several people. The two people who had been following him were struggling to resist. Although their martial arts skills were not bad, they were outnumbered. In addition, Qi Yushi had difficulty moving, so the opponent soon found an opportunity and stabbed him with a sword.

Seeing the situation, Xinyi quickly leaped forward and kicked the man away.

"Young Master!"

Xinyi arrived a little late, and the sword had already stabbed him. Fortunately, Qi Yushi was wearing a chest armor, so his life was not in danger. However, the sword was so powerful that he was hit hard and slammed against the wall, gasping for breath.

"Sir, how are you?!"

After a long while, Qi Yushi finally recovered his breath. Seeing that the person coming was Xinyi, the first thing he asked was, "Where is she? Can you get her out of the city safely?"

Xinyi knew that she was disobeying the young master's order, so she pursed her lips and said nothing.

"Sir, there's news from over there that we succeeded!" An inconspicuous man came through the chaotic crowd and quietly reported to Qi Yushi.

"Really?" Xinyi said happily, "Master, did you hear that? We're done!"

Qi Yushi's gloomy expression remained unchanged as he simply said, "Let everyone evacuate."

Xinyi knew that she had done something wrong, but she would rather the young master scolded her and punished her as usual, rather than remain silent like he was now.

She was extremely panicked.

It was not until she returned to Chen's house that she learned that just as she had sneaked into the back garden of Li's house, the people sent by the young master to investigate in the morning brought in new information - General Ji Rui had secretly arrived in Qizhou half a month ago and was currently in Li's house.

"The city gates haven't been closed yet. I'll go to the dock right away!" It was they who rescued Lin Zhen from that man. Xinyi naturally knew what this meant, and she said anxiously.

Qi Yushi sat in a wheelchair, his eyes lowered, his voice flat, "The city gates haven't been sealed yet, they're just waiting for someone to fall into their trap."

Xinyi paused at the door, her voice trembling unconsciously: "Then, then she..."

No one responded to her voice, and the room was silent. Everyone knew that now they could only wait for the message from the secret guard.

Finally, before the midnight watchman sounded, they saw the failure signal sent by the secret guard before his death.

"Even if Li Puhe doesn't think I was responsible for this riot, my escape from the Li Mansion will surely increase his suspicion."

"Qizhou, you can't stay here for long."

After Qi Yushi finished speaking, he slowly pushed the wheelchair back to his room.

*

Weiye.

Two carriages, pulled by several fast horses, galloped along the narrow road.

In the carriage in front, a man in black clothes was sitting in the carriage, holding a woman in a lotus-colored brocade skirt in his arms.

After a long period of bumpy ride, the woman's hair, which was originally tied up, had already fallen apart, and her ink-like black hair blended into the black hem of his clothes.

The man's hand was gently held on her neck, and the even pulse beating from his fingertips showed that she was alive.

His face was calm, but his heart was surging with undercurrents. The surging tide washed over his burning heart again and again, but it could not cool it down at all, but made it even hotter.

The carriage, which was constantly shaking as it galloped forward, made him feel even more like an immortal, as if only in a fairyland could he see the goddess of the nine heavens.

The cold wind whistled in from the car window. Lin Zhen hummed uncomfortably, his thin lips slightly parted.

The man was eager to prove that this was reality and not an illusion. He slowly placed his hand on her warm red lips, rubbing them back and forth with his fingertips.

But this seems far from enough.

The lava that is about to erupt needs more comfort.

When he leaned over and pressed his cold lips on that warmth, when he used his soft lips to explore between her white teeth, when he completely swept up her sweet saliva.

Finally, I felt a sense of clarity in my heart.