Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Can you please not hold me so tightly...
Last night the spider came to see her with a bamboo flute, but she turned him away.
The spider knew very well that Hanyu would not want to see her, so she did not forcefully ask for a meeting. Instead, she sat in the yard in front of the door and quietly played the bamboo flute.
On a quiet night, the melodious sound of a flute reached Hanyu's ears. Before she finished playing, Hanyu opened the door and asked her, "How do you know this piece of music?"
This song is the music played by the tomb-guarding tribe every New Year and festival. It is impossible for outsiders to have heard this song, so when the spider's flute sounded, Hanyu began to wonder if she had sneaked into her tribe.
But she was a Miao girl from southern Xinjiang, located in the remote and humid southern border. If such a foreign woman had ever sneaked in, she would definitely have been discovered.
The spider continued to play the entire song, which reminded Hanyu of the New Year celebrations with her father and other tribesmen. Tears welled up in her eyes unconsciously.
Tears streamed down her face as the song ended. She watched the spider slowly stand up and walk towards her. Undeterred, Hanyu questioned her again, "Have you been to the Snow Mountain? Have you ever stayed in our tribe?"
The spider shook its head and replied, "I haven't been there, but I know someone who has lived in the Snow Mountains. He's not from your tribe, but he taught me this song."
"Apart from us, the Tomb Guardians, who else would know this song? No! You must be lying!"
"Think carefully, have any of the foreigners you've spent time with heard this song?"
The spider's words reminded her of someone, but the next second she immediately shook her head to deny it. It couldn't be his. A Jiang had been missing for quite some time, so how could the spider know him?
"Are you thinking of someone? I can't tell you whether it's that person you're thinking of yet. Seeing is believing, and some truths can only be understood by visiting them in person. So...are you willing to follow the prince and me to Southern Xinjiang? Perhaps there's someone you want to see there."
From her past life to the present, the only hope that keeps her alive is to find A Jiang. Now there are new clues. Even though she knows there might be a trick, she still wants to give it a try.
So, in order to meet the person she wanted to see, Hanyu followed Na Zhu and Yin Jinglong on the journey to southern Xinjiang.
The journey is long and it is unknown when he will be able to return. Yin Jinglong is worried that if he is away for too long, his sick leave will be discovered sooner or later. If someone with ulterior motives uses it to make a fuss, it will threaten his position as regent.
He found a guard in the palace who was somewhat similar in build to him, and asked him to pretend to be him and stay in the palace. He then disguised himself as a guard and took a group of private soldiers from the palace dungeon and left the city late at night, claiming that he was sent to the southern border to support the prince consort on the orders of the regent.
Hanyu and Na Zhu both disguised themselves as soldiers and mixed in with them. Among the private soldiers who went with them was Xin Da, who was acquainted with Hanyu.
The guard guarding the city gate took a look at the jade seal handed to him by the leading private soldier, and only let people out of the city after confirming that it was indeed the seal of the regent.
After leaving Shangjing City, in order to speed up the journey, Yin Jinglong sent people to buy a few fast horses, but the two women, Na Zhu and Han Yu, did not know how to ride horses at all.
He assigned a private soldier to take the spider onto the horse, while he himself brought a black horse and signaled Hanyu to quickly get on his horse.
But Hanyu didn't even look at him, but walked straight to Xinda's horse and asked him if he would like to give her a ride.
Xin Da didn't think much about it at first and agreed readily. Just as he was about to carry her onto the horse, he heard Yin Jinglong's scolding voice shouting, "Anyone who dares to take her onto the horse will never be able to return alive!"
Hanyu had just stepped onto the horse when Xin Da pushed her off again, looking apologetic and embarrassed.
"I'm sorry! Miss Min, I dare not disobey the prince."
Seeing that no one was willing to take her on the horse, Hanyu glared at Yin Jinglong fiercely, but he looked smug, as if saying: I just want you to beg me.
The spider, who had already mounted the horse, saw that the night was getting late and urged, "Miss Hanyu, please stop struggling. You should put the overall situation first. The prince's horse is the strongest and fastest, so it's most suitable for you to take it with you."
In order not to delay the progress, Han Yu reluctantly got on his horse. Yin Jinglong put his hands around her waist and held the reins. With a wave of the whip, the black horse galloped away as if it had been injected with chicken blood.
The bumps on the horse's back left her no time to care about the love-hate relationship with the person behind her, and she dared not act rashly. She held on to the horse's mane tightly, fearing that she would fall off.
Suddenly, she felt a force around her waist. Yin Jinglong held the reins with one hand and tightly tied her waist with the other.
"Don't worry, I won't let you fall. After all, you are still useful to me."
"Then could you please not hold me so tightly? I'm a little... out of breath..."
“…”
Seeing that she was out of breath due to the bumpy ride, Yin Jinglong slowed down. Feeling a little tired after running all night, the group found a nearby inn to rest for a while and continue their journey tomorrow.
When Hanyu got off the horse, her legs went weak and she couldn't stand steadily, and fell into Yin Jinglong's arms.
"Are you... okay?"
She stood up with the help of Yin Jinglong's shoulders to show that she could still walk, but after taking a few steps, she felt nauseous and had stomach pain, so she squatted aside and vomited.
Yin Jinglong was about to go forward to check, but was blocked by the spider. "Men and women should not touch each other. After all, she is the master's woman. Your Highness should avoid suspicion for the time being. Let me take care of her tonight!"
The spider brought Hanyu to the guest room of the inn and took out a pill and handed it to her.
"This is a reassurance pill. Take it and you won't feel so bad."
Hanyu looked at her doubtfully, not believing that a woman who played with spiders all day could be so kind as to help her. Could this pill be poisonous?
"I've heard from the elders of our tribe that you, the Miao people of Southern Xinjiang, make a living by refining poisonous insects, but I've never heard of you refining elixirs. Your sudden kindness makes me wary!"
The spider put the pill into its mouth, chewed it a few times and swallowed it to prove that the pill was non-toxic.
She explained, "We in Southern Xinjiang don't just have Gu! Many of the best elixirs in the world also come from the Miao people. This reassurance pill is just one of them. I'm helping you out of kindness, so if you don't appreciate it, forget it."
The spider turned and walked away.
"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you."
The spider stopped and gave Hanyu a meaningful smile. She gave the remaining two reassurance pills and said, "Don't underestimate these pills. When the Heart-Eating Gu attacks, just take one pill and it will relieve the symptoms. I'm giving you an extra one in case you need it in the future."
"Go to bed early. We have to travel early tomorrow morning. Don't delay the prince." After saying that, she waved goodbye.
After taking her tranquilizer, Hanyu indeed felt much more comfortable. Perhaps because she was too exhausted physically and mentally, she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. She slept until dawn and didn't even notice when Yin Jinglong came in.
The next morning, the moment she opened her eyes, she saw Yin Jinglong sitting in front of her window. She almost screamed in surprise. He was holding a "teacup" the size of a teacup in his hand. Seeing that she woke up, Yin Jinglong handed the "teacup" to her.
Hanyu slept all night and felt her lips were dry. She thought he was kind enough to give her some tea. When she took the "teacup" and prepared to drink the water, she saw a thumb-sized golden spider lying inside. She was so scared that she immediately threw away the "teacup".
"ah!"
The golden spider inside fell out of the "teacup" and lay motionless on the ground, not knowing whether it was dead or alive.
"It seems that the tranquilizer you took wouldn't have been of much use. Even this little thing could scare you like this?"
Yin Jinglong gently picked it up and put it back into the cup, his words tinged with sarcasm.
Han Yu pushed him away and angrily shouted, "I am a human being, not a little spider in your hands! If you want to test the medicine, please don't use me!"
"I was just joking with you, but you took it seriously? Never mind, there's no need to say anything extra. Time is running out, so let's get going!"
Their group of more than 20 people had to rush from Shangjing City in the north of the Central Plains to the southernmost border village. The fastest journey would take three days, and if they traveled day and night, it would only take two days. However, he was worried that Hanyu's body could not bear it, so he slowed down his pace.
Along the way, the spider released her gray messenger spider to explore the way every time she passed a post station. When they were near the Miao village in southern Xinjiang, the little gray spider in the spider's hand began to become restless. She asked everyone to rest for a day at a nearby post station, and she took the little gray spider into the village first.
Hanyu learned about the spider's life experience from Yin Jinglong. It turned out that although she was from the Miao village in southern Xinjiang, she was not liked by her tribe members. She didn't know whether she could return to the Miao village smoothly this time.
"Since she's from the Miao village, why isn't she welcomed by her fellow villagers? Could it be that she has the same unspeakable past as me?"
Yin Jinglong shook his head. "You are treated differently by your tribe because your biological mother colluded with outsiders, but she is feared by her tribe because of her innate abilities."
Before bringing the spider to the capital, he had already sent people to find out her identity. The Miao people make a living by refining Gu, but the purpose of the Miao people's Gu is to heal.
The spider has been carrying the Gu worm for making poisons in her body since she was born. She can be said to be the most talented poison maker. However, her Gu worm is different from other Miao people's Gu. Not only does it have no healing function, but it is more like a kind of evil magic. Therefore, she is feared and rejected by her tribe members, and even abandoned. They want to expel her from the Miao tribe.
Hanyu asked, "What about her parents? Are they going to abandon her too?"
"Hmm~" Yin Jinglong nodded. The word "abandon" sounded a bit hurtful, and it made him think of his childhood self.
He looked sadly at the gradually graying sky outside the post station and muttered to himself, "They always say it's fate, that Heaven has abandoned you, but I refuse to believe it. Even torrential rain, lightning and thunder can't stop some people from moving forward."
A rainstorm is coming, and the guards are worried that it will affect their progress. Someone comes to ask the prince if he needs to rest for a while and wait for the rain to stop?
Yin Jinglong rebuked the guard: "If we stop at the first hint of rain, how can we accomplish anything great?"
"But... I'm worried that Miss Min won't be able to handle it! Your Highness, don't you think she's getting paler?"
Yin Jinglong turned around and looked at Hanyu beside him. It was true. Her lips gradually turned pale and her face looked a little ugly.
At this moment, Hanyu suddenly felt dizzy and didn't know why. Before she could ask any questions, she closed her eyes and fainted.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
