Chapter 198 My Legs Are Longer Than My Life

This immediately piqued everyone's curiosity, and they gathered around to ask her, "Sister Zhao, who is she?"

Zhao Anran thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention, and lowered her voice mysteriously, "It's Lord Yu, the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Wow, they're actually Imperial Guards!

"Lord Zhao is indeed very resourceful; he even knows the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Sister Zhao, I've never seen what a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard looks like before. Could you show us?"

Zhao Anran snorted, "You're making a fuss over nothing. But since you're so eager to see it, I'll take you to see it from a distance."

The people around immediately cheered.

Zhao Anran then raised her chin and said to Feng Yuan, "The deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is not someone you can just meet. You better keep an eye on your cousin from the countryside, don't let her get scared and embarrass me!"

Jiang Zhi's heart sank when she heard the words "Imperial Guards".

It's Yu Jun.

He recognized himself, even though she was now wearing a veil, had a different identity, and her voice was completely different from before due to the effects of the fake death drug.

But to be on the safe side, it's best to stay away from him.

She said to Feng Yuan, "Yuan'er, the Embroidered Uniform Guards are nothing special, they all have one nose and two eyes. Let's go back."

Feng Yuan hesitated, "Cousin Ya Ya, this is the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He's come all the way to Xuzhou, could you come with me to see him? I admire people with high martial arts skills the most. Just take a look with me, and we'll leave, okay? I'll treat you to chestnut cake on the way back~"

She tugged at Jiang Zhi's sleeve and acted coquettishly.

Jiang Zhi's heart softened as she looked at the girl's charmingly swaying manner as she spoke to her.

When Feng Yuan was two years old, she left the capital with her family and went south, so she had no memory of the capital.

The former glory of the Feng family had nothing to do with her. She had lived in Xiao County since she was old enough to understand things, but she would occasionally hear her family talking about the old capital, so she had always been very curious about the capital.

Jiang Zhi sighed helplessly, "Alright, we'll just take one look and then leave."

Anyway, Yu Jun would definitely not recognize her if she only glanced at her from afar.

"Cousin Ya Ya, you're so kind!" Feng Yuan cheered.

This made Zhao Anran roll her eyes.

She sent her maid to the front yard to inquire, and after receiving the maid's information, she led a large group of girls to the hanging flower gate.

The hanging flower gate is a small archway that connects the backyard and the frontyard, and it is covered with wisteria flowers.

A dozen or so girls jostled and pushed each other, completely blocking the hanging flower gate.

Sure enough, after a short while, Zhao Anran said softly, "They're here."

Jiang Zhi naturally wouldn't step forward; she stood outside the crowd and deliberately avoided it.

The girls' hushed gasps rose and fell.

"That's the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard? That face, that physique..."

"My God, look at his legs, they're longer than my life!"

"If the deputy commander is this handsome, what about the commander?"

"He's practically a walking aphrodisiac."

Amidst the exclamations of praise, only Zhao Anran's brows furrowed tightly.

Although she was wearing the same flying fish robe, she had seen Lord Yu in Kyoto before, and he looked completely different from the man before her.

Who is this person?

Jiang Zhi stepped forward and pulled Feng Yuan, "Yuan'er, we've seen it all, let's go."

Just then, as several girls were shoving each other to get a better look, one of them lost her balance and was pushed backward, bumping into others who were holding onto the door frame.

Amidst the chaos, a series of faint gasps were heard, followed by several people tugging at each other's sleeves and stepping on each other's skirts, before tumbling together in a flurry of activity.

There was an empty space at the hanging flower gate. Jiang Zhi, who was far away, looked up and saw the person passing by.

Jiang Zhi's heart skipped a beat.

He was still wearing that black flying fish robe, the jade belt around his waist making his back straight, and the silhouette of his broad shoulders and narrow waist made the flying fish robe look particularly upright, and his profile was as handsome as a knife.

It was Lu Yuan.

I hadn't seen him for more than three months, and he seemed to have lost some weight.

His features were even more profound, with a hint of ferocity. His cold and murderous aura seemed to emanate from his very bones, making it difficult for anyone to breathe after just one glance.

Hearing the commotion at the hanging flower gate, he turned his gaze over.

There was no warmth in his eyes; he merely glanced at her, and the room fell silent.

Lu Yuan's gaze did not fall on the girls who were sprawled on the ground, but instead landed precisely on Jiang Zhi.

His hard brows twitched slightly, and then he strode toward the hanging flower gate.

Jiang Zhi knew something was wrong, a cold sweat broke out on her back, and she instinctively turned to leave.

But he was stopped by his own reason.

Lu Yuan was inherently suspicious.

If she leaves now, it will only arouse his suspicion.

So he stopped in his tracks and stood silently behind Feng Yuan.

"Lord Lu, Lord Lu, the study is still ahead; the backyard is over there..."

Prefect Zhao, who was behind Lu Yuan, hurriedly followed.

When the group of young ladies saw Lu Yuan approaching without saying a word, they were so startled that they all took out their handkerchiefs to cover their faces.

It was alright for everyone to gather together and peek secretly, since Xuzhou wasn't like the capital, and the local customs weren't as strict about separating men and women.

But it was extremely rude of this person to enter the backyard so openly.

And it happened when they were in a very bad situation.

So everyone blushed and lowered their heads, with only a few bolder ones glancing at them out of the corner of their eyes.

Lu Yuan had only caught a fleeting glimpse of someone, yet he had unexpectedly seen someone whose figure was remarkably similar to Jiang Zhi's.

He arrived at the entrance of the hanging flower gate, but did not go in; instead, he glanced around.

But everyone was covering their faces with handkerchiefs and looking down, clearly showing shyness and panic. It couldn't be her.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but give a self-deprecating twitch at the corner of his lips.

I've become obsessed with finding her.

I can see anyone and think it's her.

Ever since Jiang Zhi was kidnapped from the Crown Princess's investiture ceremony that night, they first searched the Prince Su's mansion, and then turned the entire capital and surrounding suburbs upside down, but still couldn't find her.

When they learned that Jiang Zhi had been ordered to commit suicide in the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, all three of them were stunned.

They frantically searched for Xiao Xuanyou, only to find that he had been claiming illness for many days and was drinking himself into a stupor every day in the Eastern Palace, clutching the memorial tablet he had carved himself.

He and Xie Qi no longer cared about the proper etiquette between ruler and subject, and pinned Xiao Xuanyou to the ground, beating him mercilessly with their bare hands.

"You killed her." Lu Yuan's eyes were bloodshot. If he hadn't retained a sliver of reason, he would have really wanted to beat Xiao Xuanyou to death right here.

Xie Qi no longer held back, as if he wanted to vent his anger, "I've always treated you as my older brother since we were little, but now it seems you don't deserve it at all!"

Xiao Xuanyou had no intention of fighting back at all; he just lay on the ground, crying and laughing at the same time.

"I am the most useless person in the world. I can't even protect the woman I love most, nor can I avenge her."

He clutched the memorial tablet tightly to his chest, sitting on the ground, utterly devoid of the demeanor of a crown prince, blood staining his lips. His once majestic phoenix eyes had lost all their luster, making him resemble a walking corpse.