Chapter 31 Crisis "How could you be so reckless!"
Ning Xian was quite surprised by the arrival of the Third Prince. He was very vigilant about his surroundings. The mountains here were continuous and the road was rugged. If he encountered assassins sent by the Emperor, it would not be easy to escape.
Now that someone's suddenly appeared out of nowhere to cause trouble, it's unclear how those spies hiding in the shadows will be dealt with.
Ning Xian lifted the carriage curtain and smiled, "Oh, it's Third Brother. What a coincidence!"
He slowly stepped down from the carriage: "Third brother, how is your arm? It's been raining these past few days, is it very painful? Father Emperor cut your salary in half, do you have enough money to buy medicine and clean it?"
"If you don't have any, I'll give you some as a reward."
After speaking, Ning Xian took out some silver coins from her bosom and threw them onto the Third Prince's empty left arm.
Mentioning his disability was clearly a sore spot for him. The Third Prince threw the broken silver back at him, gritting his teeth and chuckling, "Ning Xian, do you still dare to mention it in front of me?"
He angrily dismounted and grabbed Ning Xian by the collar: "Things are different now, you know? Without your backer, you're just a drowning dog, a maggot that anyone can step on!"
Seeing that Ning Xian was still acting nonchalant, the Third Prince laughed and said, "Someone! Give our Crown Prince a little surprise."
Upon receiving the order, the attendants behind him carried the muddy water that had been prepared beforehand and poured it into Ning Xian's carriage. That wasn't enough. After splashing dirty water and releasing poisonous snakes, the travelers searched the carriage and threw all the luggage on the ground. They also casually killed several of the accompanying maids.
The Third Prince lifted one of the bulging bundles: "Oh, you're such a grown-up, why do you still need to sleep with a doll?"
He scoffed and immediately hacked Ning Xian's rabbit doll to smithereens with his sword.
"Ning Xian, you have nothing now. The only valuable thing you have is your Crown Princess. Why don't you lend her to me for a few days?"
Ruan Yang raised her eyes after hearing this.
In the blink of an eye, her personal clothing was being held in the hands of the Third Prince, leaving her completely exposed to everyone.
"......."
Ruan Yang didn't want to get involved in the deep-seated feud between the two, and quietly stayed in a corner with Ah Chou, pulling weeds. But he still couldn't avoid being caught in the crossfire.
She whispered, "Ah Chou, I have a feeling that this whole Ning family isn't quite right in the head."
"Um?"
Ah Chou was taken aback, and after recalling for a moment, he said, "It seems so."
Especially Ning Xian...
Ah Chou never imagined that all she wanted was to marry into a wealthy family, but she ended up disfigured and enslaved. Even though Ning Xian died before her, the strange poison in her body would haunt her for the rest of her life.
"I think this might be what medical books call a family disease, with each one more abnormal than the last, and there's a 70% chance it will be passed on to future generations."
Ruan Yang glanced at Ning Xian and couldn't help but feel fortunate that she hadn't had a child with him. Otherwise, if she had given birth to a madman, she would never have been able to live with herself for the rest of her life.
...
"My woman has been with a beauty like me, would she ever be interested in a toad like you?"
Ning Xian inexplicably praised herself, then looked at Ruan Yang: "Yang Yang, our Third Prince likes you, do you want to spend a few days with him?"
Ruan Yang nodded and then suddenly shook his head.
"I don't want to go with anyone else, Yangyang only wants His Highness the Crown Prince."
The Third Prince had no time to play along with the couple's back-and-forth. As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and pulled Ruan Yang into his arms.
"Shut up, it's not up to you whether you want to or not!"
He pinned the man down on the haystack, pulled aside Ruan Yang's outer robe, and said, "Why are you looking at me? Go cut off Ning Xian's hands!"
Soon, the sound of tearing cloth echoed through the woods. Ruan Yang was pinned down and unable to move. She turned her head to look at Ning Xian being held down by them, and the flashing blades in the air hurt her eyes.
Ruan Yang couldn't bear to watch any longer. She thought that if Ning Xian's hand were really cut off, it would at least ease her hatred.
The man who had imprisoned her became increasingly brazen, disregarding the fact that they were in broad daylight. Although Ruan Yang was not as strong as the Third Prince, she was fortunate to have all four limbs intact. Taking advantage of the man's momentary lapse in concentration, she crawled out from under him.
"You bitch, grab her!"
Among the accompanying guards, one of them swiftly rushed through the crowd to Ruan Yang. The young man moved nimbly, grabbed Ruan Yang's hand, and pulled her backward, completely separating Ruan Yang from Ning Xian.
At the same time, an arrow that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the forest stirred the frozen air and shot straight into the crowd.
Ning Xian turned her head slightly, and the arrow missed its mark. However, the assassin in the shadows seemed unwilling to give up, and arrows continued to be shot from all directions.
The guards who had captured Ning Xian were startled and had no choice but to release him temporarily. Ning Xian understood that these people were coming for him, so in order to avoid them, he quickly pulled Jinlian, who was beside him, in front of him.
"ah!"
Jinlian cried out in alarm, clutching her hair that had been pierced by an arrow, completely bewildered.
...
Ruan Yang tried to struggle again, but the next second, the man's sword was placed in front of her.
"Keep quiet."
The boy's voice was deep, but it didn't carry a trace of pressure.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ruan Yang obediently retreated with him behind a tree trunk.
After hearing this, the man whispered, "Would you like to stay by Ning Xian's side?"
Ruan Yang was taken aback and shook his head, saying, "No."
"Then do as I say. I can't take you with me this time. After you leave with Ning Xian, just pretend you never saw me. Don't alert them."
She felt the man looked familiar: "Who are you?"
The man paused, then loosened his grip on Ruan Yang's arm: "The person you don't want."
Ruan Yang understood what those words meant. Her heart skipped a beat, and she said in a hoarse voice, "...Is it Wen Jin?"
Lu Wenjin was disguised at this moment, and had changed her face.
Ruan Yang suddenly became agitated: "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to worry about me?"
"Do you know that if either Ning Xian or the Third Prince discovers you, you will be in danger?"
How could you be so reckless!
Before him stood a scene of flashing swords and strewn corpses. Ning Xian, fighting alone, had sustained numerous wounds and was already overwhelmed with his own survival.
Lu Wenjin led her to a safe place, then whispered into Ruan Yang's ear, "Yangyang, do you know, a few days ago I was so stupid that I went to the temple to throw the Holy Grail and asked a master to tell my fortune and ask about my birth date, but they all said that our earthly ties were over and we would never be together."
“But I, Lu Wenjin, refuse to accept my fate.”
His voice was moist: "Today I saw you walking alone under the scorching sun, clearly exhausted, but Ning Xian wouldn't let you get on the carriage. He's not a good husband; you won't be happy with him."
“It’s much better for me to stand behind you than for you to face him alone.”
Ruan Yang sighed, "But what can I do now? I was so stupid. I fell in love with him without knowing it, and he played me for a fool. I even prayed to God that Ning Xian could only love me for the rest of his life."
She had once happily declared that she wanted to marry Ning Xian and bear him children, but now the lies she had woven had been torn apart, her past devotion had become a joke, and she had been severely slapped in the face.
She regretted ever praying to heaven that she would live to be a hundred years old.
Lu Wenjin frankly said, "Back then, Ning Xian treated you well, and you wanted to repay her tenfold. This only shows that you are a good girl who knows how to repay kindness. The despicable one is someone else. There is nothing to blame yourself for."
“We are both victims, and I will think of a way to get you out of this mess.”
Ruan Yang's eyes welled up with tears, unsure how to express her gratitude: "Thank you for standing by my side, but what can I do so that I won't be a burden to you?"
Lu Wenjin said, "With the fall of the Ji family, Ning Xian seems to have lost his backer, but that's not the case. I have been fighting him openly and secretly for several years and know that he has secretly trained a secret guard army. They are elusive and their strength is unfathomable. Many of my men have been killed by them."
“Ning Xian still dares to be so arrogant because of them. I want you to stay by his side for the time being to gather information and find out where his stronghold is.”
Ruan Yang frowned: "You want me to be a spy?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Wenjin knocked down several arrows that were flying towards him and pushed Ruan Yang out: "Let's go, remember to be careful of the people around you."
Ruan Yang staggered forward a few steps, then suddenly turned around, only to see the boy change direction and run towards the seriously injured Third Prince.
People around Ning Xian surged forward like a tide, only to be overwhelmed by another wave of guards who appeared out of nowhere.
Ning Xian has been able to hold out for so long, so he must have had his own people secretly helping him. Judging from his current abilities, he could have easily wiped out everyone present. There is only one possible reason why he didn't do so: he is hiding his true strength.
Ning Xian cleared away the surging assassins and saw Ruan Yang standing in the crowd, looking bewildered. He reached out his hand to her and said, "Ruan Yang, come to my side."
The Third Prince's horse had its hooves cut off, and the once triumphant man was now thrown off his horse, kicking up dust.
Seeing Ruan Yang exposed to danger, he desperately crawled over, grabbed Ruan Yang's ankle, then climbed up and pinched the back of her neck, pinning her to the ground: "Ning Xian, you better tell your men to stop, or I'll kill her!"
Seeing Ruan Yang's pitiful face covered in mud, her skirt disheveled, and that lecherous hand tightly wrapped around the girl's waist, Ning Xian was furious. Too lazy to waste words, he snatched the weapon from his attendant and shot it at the man's throat.
Warm, sticky blood sprayed all over Ruan Yang's face. When he looked back, the man was already dead.
Are you alright?
Ruan Yang shook her head, crying, and snuggled into Ning Xian's arms.
Ning Xian helped Ruan Yang tidy her clothes and noticed that she had disappeared for a while but was unharmed and had even started to feel sticky.
He pressed his index finger against the person's forehead, pushed the person away, and sneered, "What did the person who kidnapped you say to you?"
With blood smeared on her face, Ruan Yang, still shaken, said, "That man told me to abandon you and go with someone else. I didn't agree, and he was going to kill me. I was scared."
Ning Xian scoffed: "So you're scared and you're trying to burrow into my arms? Don't you hate me so much that you never want to see me again?"
“But compared to the Third Prince, you are much better than him.”
"Really?" Ning Xian snorted and said, "Then who's better, me or Lu Wenjin?"
Ruan Yang: "..."
“You said that day that we should let bygones be bygones and that no one should mention it again. Why did you say it again? If this makes me unhappy, I will get angry and you will yell at me. After you yell at me, you will start crying yourself.”
"Anyone who didn't know better would think you were the one who cared about Lu Wenjin."
The little girl was sobbing, but Ning Xian was smiling, as if the deep and shallow scars on his body didn't exist. He snorted coldly, "Fine, I won't mention it anymore. I really can't do anything with you. Don't cry, you hear me?"
Ruan Yang pointed to a pile of tattered leather and cotton on the ground: "That doll is very important to you, isn't it? Can I take it back and sew it up for you?"
After speaking, she took a few steps and caught a glimpse of a man in black lurking in the bushes. When she touched the doll, she decided that it would be better to faint at this point.
The person hiding in the shadows saw Ruan Yang faint and then appeared, saying, "Your Highness, what should be done with the Third Prince's body? His death was so mysterious that it's hard to keep it from His Majesty."
"I never intended to hide it from him. He's wanted to kill me for a long time, so what's one more disaster?"
Ning Xian squatted down and picked up Ruan Yang in her arms: "We've come to this point, I can only move forward, there's no turning back now."
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