Chapter 7 Chapter 7 You and your brother are neither husband and wife in name nor...
Although Yin Jinglong was skeptical about her words, he had no other way out at the moment, so he had to follow Hanyu in the dark, and the two of them walked out of this winding secret passage step by step.
As Hanyu expected, the secret passage extended down the mountain along the terrain, and the exit was a dense forest next to the icy lake at the foot of the mountain. The cabin built by Hanyu and her husband Ajiang was located in this dense forest, not far from the icy lake.
She finally saw hope of survival and ran towards the cabin in ecstasy, but left Yin Jinglong, whose arm was injured, in the secret passage.
Yin Jinglong stood at the bottom of the secret passage, looking up at the ground more than a meter high, cursing inwardly, "Could this woman take his jade seal and abandon him in this desolate mountain? I don't understand how my brother could fall in love with such a selfish woman."
In desperation, he had to endure the severe pain in his arm and tried to crawl out of the secret passage. Unexpectedly, not long after, Hanyu came back and brought a thick hemp rope and threw it down to him.
"You...you still remember to come back and save me, you still have a conscience!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Find a rope. How can a weak woman like me pull a strong man like you?"
Yin Jinglong tied the hemp rope around his waist and kicked his legs on the uneven wall of the secret passage. Hanyu above him took a lot of effort to pull him out of the secret passage.
It was already late at night when they arrived at the dense forest at the foot of the mountain. As dawn approached, the blizzard was a little stronger than in the first half of the night, but the two men were wearing thin clothes, and they felt the biting cold wind after they came out of the secret passage.
Yin Jinglong untied the hemp rope around his waist and put on Hanyu the only blue-brown fox fur coat that could keep him warm.
"you……"
"Ayu saved me, so I naturally cannot treat you badly."
Hanyu couldn't discern his true purpose for the moment, but she felt much warmer in the fox fur coat. Since he offered it, she accepted it with a clear conscience. Regardless of his good intentions, she put it on to keep warm first.
"Ahead is the simple wooden house that my husband and I built. It's still dark, and the snow is not going to stop anytime soon. If Your Highness doesn't mind, you can come with me to my humble abode to avoid the cold."
When he arrived at her humble home, Yin Jinglong stood outside the door for a long time, muttering to himself.
"Brother, you've lived a life of luxury in the palace since you were young, yet now you're willing to stoop to this lowly place for a woman from a foreign race? It seems not only are his martial arts skills ruined, but his brain has also been damaged."
Hanyu, who was sweeping the snow in front of the door with a broom, heard his taunting voice and retorted mercilessly, "So what if it's just a small place? Ah Jiang isn't as picky as the prince. Besides, this is the wedding room he and I built with our own hands, piece by piece. If the prince doesn't want to be here, then you can find shelter outside! Our humble home can't accommodate a giant like you!"
She struggled to sweep the thick snow under the eaves, but due to the large amplitude of her movements, the scattered snow splashed onto Yin Jinglong's robe. The snow stuck to the robe, and the half-melted snow water seeped into the lapels, making her shiver with cold.
Yin Jinglong looked displeased. He brushed away the salt-like snow grains on his collar with his big hand, walked past Hanyu, and strode into the wooden house.
The moment he entered the room, he was stunned. What caught his eye was a wooden bed covered with bright red satin. The crimson curtains and gauze curtains covered the simple little wooden bed. The bedding and pillows on the bed were still neatly placed in their original places, and it didn't look like anyone had slept in it.
Turning around, I saw two unfinished glasses of wine on the round table in front of the window.
He seemed to understand something, and the corners of his mouth raised in an intriguing arc. Seeing Hanyu returning to the wooden house after sweeping the snow and stamping her feet in the cold, he suddenly sneered, "Are you and brother really husband and wife? Is this your wedding room?"
"Of course. If I hadn't met you thieves along the way, my husband and I would have been living a happy married life, with the man farming and the woman weaving, and we respect each other like guests."
Yin Jinglong approached the wooden bed, pulled off the obtrusive red gauze curtain, and took a sniff of the wine glass. "The quilt is still there, but the warm wine has gone cold. Your lover has disappeared, leaving your lovely wife alone in her empty room. It seems that you and your brother are not husband and wife in name only, nor in reality!"
After saying that, he sat down on the edge of the bed without any hesitation, then lay straight on her wedding bed, closed his eyes and rested.
Han Yu angrily cursed, "Why did you pull down my bed curtains and lie down on my marital bed? What do you think of me and A Jiang's boudoir affairs? Get up right now! This is not the place for you to sleep!"
"What boudoir matters? Look at the reality! He doesn't love you at all. Otherwise, how could he have been with you for three years without even touching you? I'm tired. Let me borrow your bed to take a nap."
"That's because Ajiang respects my wishes and won't...won't force me," Hanyu's voice became weaker and weaker.
The man on the bed showed no intention of getting up. After he lowered his eyes, he could soon hear his even breathing, and it seemed that he was really asleep.
Hanyu sighed helplessly, and since he had handed the jade seal to her, she would let him go for the time being.
It was already dawn outside, but because the cabin was located deep in the dense forest, the tall pines and cypresses blocked the hurricane while also blocking the morning sun, making the cabin still as dark as night.
The morning breeze seeped in through the half-open window, chilling her bones. The fire basin beside the bed held only the remains of unburned wood. She subconsciously clutched the fur coat around her shoulders, and only after touching the soft and silky fox fur did she remember it was his.
Now that it was daybreak, it was time for her to go out and find some dry firewood to make a fire to keep warm.
Last night's blizzard hit the entire snow-capped mountain, and all the trees in the dense forest were covered with thick snow. Even if a few branches could be cut down, they were soaked in snow and could not be burned.
Fortunately, there was a village not far from the foot of Yulong Snow Mountain. Hanyu often did business with the people in that village. She had no money, so she exchanged rare herbs picked from the snow mountain for silk or dry firewood and charcoal for heating.
Hanyu returned to the wooden house, took the few remaining herbs stored in the drawer with her and went down the mountain. She came to a medicine shop in the farm where she used to go often and asked the shopkeeper for some charcoal.
The shopkeeper's family had not yet gotten up when they were awakened by Hanyu's anxious knocking on the door. He opened the door with an impatient face and a lot of resentment. When he saw that it was her, the shopkeeper held back the curse that was about to come out.
"The rooster hasn't crowed yet, the sky hasn't even broken, and the shop hasn't even opened yet. Why are you here so early to exchange things? What good herbs did you bring today?"
The shopkeeper rubbed his sleepy eyes and took a fancy to the fox fur coat on Hanyu. His eyes lit up and his sleepiness instantly disappeared by half. He couldn't help but reach out to touch the soft and smooth fur on the coat.
"This fox fur coat is made from the fur of an Arctic blue fox. Not only are blue foxes incredibly rare and difficult to capture, but the craftsmanship used to make it is also top-notch! As far as I know, only the nobles of the Central Plains could wear such an expensive fur coat. Where did you get it?"
Hanyu was stunned. She had no idea this humble fur coat was so valuable. No wonder it was so warm and comfortable.
She had been worried that the shopkeeper would look down on the few herbal dregs she had saved and refuse to give her charcoal, but now that he had taken a fancy to this fox fur coat, she might as well use it in exchange.
Thinking of this, she silently hid the box of herbs in her arms behind her back and gave the shopkeeper a shy smile.
"You have a good eye! This is indeed something I got from a nobleman from the Central Plains. If you like it, I can exchange it for something I want."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course it's true."
The shopkeeper, as if he had received a distinguished guest, immediately bowed and nodded to invite her in, and also called out his wife who was still resting in the inner room.
"It's cold and windy outside, let's go inside and talk."
The shopkeeper's wife was also reluctant at first. After all, anyone would get angry if they got up so early in such a cold weather.
But when the shopkeeper put the blue-brown fox fur coat on the lady, the woman's face froze, and then her eyes widened in an instant, and she asked about the origin of the coat.
Upon learning that it was Hanyu who brought the girl, the shopkeeper's wife, who used to look down on her as a poor orphan girl from the snowy mountains, immediately became a different person. She helped her to sit down, brewed hot tea for her, and even considerately gave her a hand warmer.
"I wonder what Miss Ayu is here to exchange for this time?"
"Just give me some charcoal."
"Just charcoal? That...that's easy enough. Honey, hurry to the kitchen and give her all the charcoal we just delivered!"
The shopkeeper's wife instructed the shopkeeper to get the charcoal, and asked her considerately if she could carry it and if she needed help to carry it up the mountain.
Hanyu politely declined. While waiting for the shopkeeper to fetch charcoal, she stood up and walked over to the neatly stacked medicine cabinets in the shop. She asked the woman, "I wonder if there's a poisonous herb in this world that's colorless, odorless, and kills people without being noticed? If so, could you give me some?"
"Poison...poison?"
The shopkeeper's wife trembled slightly as she hugged the fur coat, and felt that the woman in front of her was a little scary.
"What do you want with this poison?"
"Madam, just answer whether I have it or not. Don't ask any more questions, or you'll get into trouble."
The woman didn't dare to answer easily, and the shopkeeper who had gone out to get charcoal came back by chance.
He was a fifty-year-old man carrying a large sack of charcoal and came to them panting. Before he could even catch his breath, his wife pulled him aside and asked him about this matter.
Hanyu guessed from the panicked expressions of the two that there must be some, but this was a poison that could harm people after all, and she was afraid that the shopkeeper would not be willing to give it to her.
So she pretended to be disappointed and sighed, "If there isn't any, I'll go ask somewhere else and won't take the charcoal for now."
"Hey hey hey~ Miss Yu, don't go yet! We didn't say we didn't have it! I'll ask the old man to look for it for you right away."
The shopkeeper had no choice but to walk to the medicine cabinet and search left and right, while his wife spoke to Hanyu in a soft voice, rubbing the fur coat on her body with her palms, and it seemed that she liked this fox fur coat very much.
"Miss Ayu! I won't ask too many questions. I just want to tell you that this poison was taken from us. If anything happens in the future or someone dies, I hope you won't give away our pharmacy. My husband and I are both over fifty years old and have no children. We rely on this small pharmacy for a living. I hope you will understand."
"Don't worry about this matter. I requested the poison privately and will never reveal a single word to anyone. But I must make sure that the poison is capable of killing someone instantly and irreversibly. Don't try to fool me with some ordinary herbal remedy that can only injure a person slightly but not kill them!"
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