Chapter 13: Two lives lost were saved, and the blame actually fell on her, a mere ten...
The green leaves on Tiger Head Mountain are lush and green, and the cicadas chirping on the treetops are like a thin nerve ignited by the summer sun, burning brightly and pricking painfully.
"Brother, my eyes hurt..."
Meng Cizhang lay motionless on the ground. Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window, which was barely a window, and shone into his eyes. His gold-embroidered eye patch had been stolen by the bandits long ago. Now, his shrunken eyeballs twisted helplessly beneath the thin eyelids.
The blood from his head had already congealed, and with every movement, there was a faint crackling sound as the scabs crumbled in his hair. His hands were bound behind his back with thick hemp rope, and he had been stuck in this cramped thatched hut for two hours. The pampered young master had never suffered like this before, and he kept whimpering, wanting to find his brother.
But Meng Shutai wasn't much better than him.
With his hands bound in front of him, his moon-blue gauze dress was stained with bits of withered yellow straw. As he rode at breakneck speed, it seemed as if cold air had entered his trachea. Meng Shutai leaned against a pile of rotten, rain-soaked hay, coughing and frowning.
"Cizhang, wait a little longer..."
Before losing consciousness, Jiang Yingyun did her best to hide a shard of the broken pottery wine jar in her sleeve, and while the bandits were all away drinking and their guard was down, she devised a plan:
Her identity made her the most vulnerable, so she escaped first to scout ahead. If she wasn't caught, they would also flee; if she was captured, they would do their best to stall until the government and Meng family's reinforcements arrived, at which point they would be saved.
The place where she was imprisoned was just a thatched roof and wall. Jiang Yingyun dug a hole with her bare hands and ran out.
The cave entrance stood silently on the wall, with bits of grass and fluff drifting along its edges, swaying gently in the breeze. Outside, the sun grew brighter and the temperature rose, and Meng Shutai grew bored and drowsy.
In the stillness of the mountains, a hand suddenly reached into the grassy cave, followed by another.
"Is that Sister Jiang?" The physical pain made Meng Cizhang's senses, except for his sight, unusually sensitive. He longed for someone to save him and his brother.
"It's me."
Fortunately, Le Jin's body was thin enough to allow her to climb into the house. But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she immediately gasped.
"Young man!"
She rushed over, knelt down, picked up Meng Cizhang's head, and placed it on her lap, only to find her hands covered in blood.
Le Jin was terrified and cursed under her breath, "These bastards, they even attacked a child!"
Meng Cizhang murmured in a sobbing voice, "I'm scared," and buried his face in Le Jin's arms, sobbing.
Le Jin was heartbroken. She wrapped her arms around him, gently stroked his neck, and softly comforted him, "Don't be afraid, Xiao Lang. I'm here to save you. Everything will be alright..."
"...My eyes hurt."
She carefully touched Meng Cizhang's withered eye sockets. Her hands were icy cold from rushing all the way, so she could use the touch to soothe the burning sensation.
His goggles were gone.
With a "rip," Le Jin tore a strip of cloth from her robe.
"Young man, come here." She gently lifted Meng Cizhang's head and carefully covered his eyes with a strip of cloth. While wrapping the cloth around his eyes, she wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face.
Meng Shutai watched all of this quietly.
He was waiting. Waiting for the young eunuch to finally notice him.
The next moment, Le Jin's gaze turned to Meng Shutai beside the haystack, "How is my husband?"
Meng Shutai subtly avoided her gaze, and before he could speak, he coughed violently, the situation speaking volumes.
Le Jin couldn't believe that one day, two lives would be on the shoulders of a girl in her teens.
Le Jin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. The bandits here were truly ruthless; after all, "Jiu'an" had died by their blades.
"My lord, are you still able to move?"
Meng Shutai's eyes fell back on Le Jin. He didn't answer her immediately, seemingly deep in thought. Slowly, he pulled his leg back, his face showing difficulty: "I originally wanted to deal with them, but I was ambushed and fell off my horse. My leg seems to be broken."
"What?!"
Le Jin's vision went black.
Meng Shutai is probably in no condition to walk on her own, and Meng Cizhang is also in a difficult situation. How can she move both of them by herself?
Le Jin was filled with sorrow, her helpless gaze shifting back and forth between the two wounded.
To avoid alerting the enemy, the Meng family guards she brought only stayed halfway up the mountain, which would also make it easier to meet them and the government troops, but they were quite a distance away from here.
To escape, they had to leave in batches.
But who should she protect as she goes? Or rather, who should she choose to stay behind and face the vicious bandits?
Le Jin frowned deeply, struggling to make up her mind.
At this critical moment, Meng Shutai suddenly spoke up: "Cizhang is not in good condition. You should leave first. They only want to teach Jiang Si Niangzi a lesson and occasionally extort money from the Meng family. They wouldn't dare to take my life."
"Hurry up."
Meng Shutai gritted his teeth and uttered those two words before closing his eyes and leaning against the haystack, utterly exhausted.
His once soft pink lips were now pale, beads of sweat clung to his short, wispy hair, his eyebrows and eyes were ashen and broken, and his whole being resembled a paper-cut flower, devoid of light and color, its fragrance gone.
He wasn't in good health to begin with...
Le Jin picked up Meng Cizhang in her arms, took one last deep look at Meng Shutai, and then squeezed out of the grass hole with difficulty.
This is the escape route taken by Jiang Yingyun in the book.
The thicket was dense with bushes, casting heavy shadows. Occasionally, flocks of birds would flutter by in alarm, startling Le Jin into holding Meng Cizhang even tighter.
Stepping on layers of withered leaves and branches, the creaking and crackling sounds continued without ceasing, even becoming more and more rapid.
Jiang Yingyun will encounter her cousin Jiang Xian on the way, and in the ensuing confrontation, she falls off a cliff. She is rescued by Chen Bo, who is brewing wine, and thus begins her new life as a poor wine brewer.
She has her ups and downs and her dazzling moments, but none of that matters to Le Jin at this moment.
Someone needs her more.
Le Jin ran to a small flat area and gently put Meng Cizhang down from her arms.
He is still a child, full of energy. Although he was frightened earlier, now apart from eye discomfort, everything else is almost normal.
"Young man, you can walk along this road to the middle of the mountain, right? Your family is waiting for you there."
Meng Cizhang gripped Le Jin's forearms tightly with both hands and asked urgently, "Where are you going?"
Le Jin's hand landed in his.
"Go back and find your brother."
“Young Master, being abandoned is a terrifying feeling. Even if you are an adult, you should not be taken for granted as a sacrifice.”
Le Jin squatted down and cupped Meng Cizhang's round face in her hands. His cold sweat and tears mingled and dampened her palms, but Le Jin simply smiled and gently stroked the child's cheek with her thumb.
"I should go back and save him."
Meng Cizhang's terrified heart seemed to settle miraculously in Le Jin's palm.
Her breathing and the air around her as she spoke were so close that he gradually stopped being afraid.
I shouldn't have abandoned my brother in the first place.
"Yes, I can walk by myself."
As Le Jin's footsteps faded into the distance, Meng Cizhang stood still and slowly removed the strip of cloth from his face.
His eye still hurt, and he squinted with his healthy eye, trying hard to remember the image of Le Jin running away.
He was just a young eunuch who had only known them for a short time, yet he was not afraid of his terrifying eyes and did not abandon his brother in danger.
He's so nice.
He was a good person who left an indelible mark on Meng Cizhang's short life.
——
A tingling, numbing excitement spread from my heart throughout my body. My breathing was no longer as chaotic as when I was fleeing for my life. Instead, it felt as if a heavy stone had been lifted and a clear spring was gushing forth with exhilaration.
On her way back, Le Jin inexplicably felt a surge of joy.
She's saving Meng Shutai!
The most renowned young nobleman in Luoyang is now trapped in a ditch, his life hanging by a thread.
She was on her way to save him, just as Meng Shutai had helped her several times.
A sudden inspiration struck Le Jin, and she suddenly understood why she had been so anxious when she asked Meng Shutai to gather information.
From the moment she transmigrated into the book, due to the difference in their social status, she always placed herself in a very lowly position, looking up to Meng Shutai, who was as revered as a Bodhisattva.
We beg him to be magnanimous, to be kind, and to sacrifice himself for others.
She enjoyed Meng Shutai's kindness, but never reciprocated in any way; it was he who was always giving her handouts.
It may seem like they've gained an advantage, but in reality, it reinforces the disparity between them.
But this time is different.
In this perilous situation, she was no longer just a lowly, insignificant eunuch's servant. Her heart pounded with joy; she too could save the precious and noble young master of the Meng family.
That felt great! That felt so good!
The wind was still whistling in her ears. Le Jin hurried back to the thatched hut. The bandits must have been drinking and missed the time, because the guards in front of the hut had not yet returned.
A golden opportunity.
She secretly slipped into the grass hole and whispered to him, "Young Master Meng, I've come to get you."
But as soon as she passed through the grass hole, crawling on the ground like a dog and not yet getting up, she was so frightened by the corpse lying across her face that she dared not move.
The man was only five steps away from her. A clean, sharp cut across his neck was so deep it seemed to have severed his throat, leaving a bright red stain. His chest remained completely still.
"Jiang Xian?"
Shouldn't he be arguing with Jiang Yingyun on the mountain path?
Her terrified gaze was fixed on the fresh corpse, and Le Jin swallowed hard: "Dead..."
Jiang Xian was indeed a tool, but did he die after pushing Jiang Yingyun to completely break away from the Jiang family?
Le Jin seems to have forgotten.
Meng Shutai stood blankly beside Jiang Xian's corpse, his long eyelashes drooping, his face indifferent, as if his soul had left his body.
He must have been frightened.
Le Jin's legs were so weak that she couldn't stand up for several moments. Finally, she managed to stand up by holding onto the grass wall behind her and ran to help Meng Shutai up.
She asked him softly, "How is your leg, my lord?"
"Was Jiang Xian the work of those bandits?"
As she asked, she pulled Meng Shutai toward the grassy cave.
The most urgent thing now is to run.
But the person being helped remained unmoved.
"Jiang Yingyun is dead."
"Huh? How could that be?"
His arms were trembling, and his palms were as cold as ice. Le Jin guessed that he was in a bad condition and quickly rubbed them to warm them up.
"Jiang Xian said she fell off a cliff."
That's correct.
From Jiang Xian's perspective, Jiang Yingyun must have died from the fall.
But why did he come to tell Meng Shutai? It's completely unrelated.
"Perhaps, Miss Jiang is just lucky? My lord, don't think such things. Let's go."
Why did you come back?
Le Jin tried to pull him again, but still couldn't budge him, and she slumped her head in frustration.
Why is Meng Shutai being so stubborn at this critical juncture?
But then he thought about it again. He had experienced the kidnapping of his beloved younger brother, the injury he sustained while riding alone, and the imprisonment by bandits and corpses. He didn't even know if the bandits had committed the crimes in front of him...
Le Jin's heart softened, and she patiently explained, "I came to save my husband."
"My husband is so good to me, how could I easily abandon him?"
She patted her chest, her eyes sparkling: "I'm grateful and loyal to the most!"
Suddenly, Meng Shutai grabbed her forearm and tightened his grip, like an eagle's claws hooking its prey, causing Le Jin's face to contort in pain.
"Ah—my lord, let go! It hurts!"
"You saved me because I'm good to you?"
A note from the author:
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Finally, finally!
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