Despite her injuries, You Shuyao managed to escape by blending into the servants' ranks when the officials searched the house next to hers.
However, such strenuous activity—using her internal energy and running at breakneck speed—reopened her wounds. She felt warm liquid gushing out from her back, soaking her clothes. After tearing a piece of clothing and hastily bandaging it, she hid in the darkest corners of the city for another eight days. During these eight days, the city gates remained heavily guarded, and the Imperial Guards were everywhere, with sentries every few steps. Eventually, they even questioned every beggar. You Shuyao felt she could barely move, wondering how long Huo Jingsha would stop his investigation. Inns were out of the question, and she dared not linger in one place. For the past few days, she had been sleeping in dilapidated houses or abandoned huts, sometimes without even a roof.
Although it was not yet autumn, it was the end of summer, and the nights were quite chilly. Her injuries were serious, and with the continuous escape over the past few days, her wounds were showing signs of festering and worsening.
You Shuyao cursed under her breath. If it weren't for the Embroidered Uniform Guard making the whole city paranoid and fearful, she wouldn't have to suffer the hardships of sleeping in the open, nor would she have to hide like a rat crossing the street. She would have been out of the city enjoying herself by now.
I managed to buy two pancakes from a street vendor this morning and drank some cold water, but I still felt dizzy and lightheaded. I've been hiding for eight days, and the pressure is getting bigger and bigger. I just don't know when this will end.
She couldn't let the wound continue to worsen; if it caused a high fever and she fainted, it would be disastrous. So... she had to find a pharmacy to get some medicine.
"What injury did you sustain, young lady?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile.
"It wasn't me, it was my older brother who got injured and asked me to get some medicine for him," You Shuyao replied.
The shopkeeper then asked, "Oh, then the young lady must also specify what kind of injury the elder brother suffered? Is it a bruise, a knife wound, or something else? Randomly prescribing medicine won't be effective."
"Uh... my older brother got into a fight with someone at a restaurant yesterday and was cut by a knife."
"I understand, it's an external injury." The shopkeeper, with an understanding expression, began to prepare medicine for her behind the counter.
After a while, he suddenly smiled and said to her, "Please wait a moment, young lady. There is one medicine that we don't have here. I'll go to the backyard to get it."
You Shuyao looked at him and nodded with a smile. "Thank you for your trouble, shopkeeper."
The shopkeeper lifted the curtain and walked towards the backyard. As soon as his figure disappeared, You Shuyao turned and left without saying a word.
She didn't mention her injury when she entered the room. Apart from her face being painted black, she didn't reveal any details about herself. However, the shopkeeper's first question was about what kind of injury she had suffered.
Moreover... his movements as he fetched the medicine were slow and he wasn't as efficient as usual. Although he had a smile on his face and looked harmless, he kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Now he said that one ingredient was missing and asked her to wait a moment.
Sima Zhao's intentions are all too obvious; he's clearly stalling for time.
Based on all of the above, she was now 80% certain that both the pharmacy and the manager of the shop were problematic.
She quickly left the shop, slipped into the nearest alley across the street, hid behind a large tree, and waited quietly...
As expected, a few moments later, several Imperial Guards hurriedly entered the pharmacy. You Shuyao immediately turned and left. Her first thought was that she would never be able to enter the pharmacy to get medicine again, as there were probably spies everywhere providing intelligence to the Imperial Guards.
It's now certain that everything is aimed at her. First, they're looking for a young woman; second, she's injured! From this, we can deduce... that Huo Jingsha is after her.
You Shuyao knew only that she absolutely could not be captured. If she fell into Huo Jingsha's hands, even if she didn't die, he would skin her alive. She had only walked a short distance when, in the quiet and secluded alley, she was suddenly startled. She felt a strong wind blowing from behind. Shuyao immediately turned around, and a palm strike came. In her haste, she hurriedly tried to block her head with her hands, but she was still shaken and staggered back several steps.
She fell to the ground, and in a sudden rush of heat, she vomited blood. But just as she was about to get up, a cold blade was already at her neck, leaving her unable to move forward or backward.
Shu Yao was very familiar with this move; it was from a fellow assassin!
Looking up, Shu Yao saw the patterns on the clothes of the men in black in front of her and knew that they were people sent by the organization. Her heart sank.
She racked her brains to evade the Imperial Guards, but managed to escape the pursuit of people from different factions.
But before she could even speak, everything went black, and she was knocked unconscious.
When the black cloth covering You Shuyao's head was roughly ripped off, she felt that the light in front of her was extremely dazzling. It wasn't until her eyes adjusted that she could gradually see the man in front of her clearly.
He had long, narrow, cold, almond-shaped eyes, sharp eyebrows, a straight nose, and a slender figure. Despite his refined and handsome appearance, his serious and cold expression gave him an air of unapproachability and intimidation.
It must be said that this man's demeanor perfectly matches the image of a cold and ruthless assassin.
"Are you Qi?"
This was the first time she had seen Qi Yizhen's true face. Previously, they had always met in the dark of night, when he always hid his face. Even on the day of the assassination attempt at the inn, he was disguised. Although she didn't know his features, she recognized his eyes; they were very easy to identify.
Seeing that he only stared at her with cold eyes, neither admitting nor denying, Shu Yao became even more certain that it was him.
Undeterred by his piercing gaze, she did not back down and responded with a cold laugh.
"Excuse me, what are you doing? Do you... intend to kill your own people?"
"Hmph! Good question!" Qi coldly shrugged. "What do you think I'm doing? You should know the consequences of betraying the organization."
Shu Yao retorted sharply, "I really don't know if you guys have any brains. If I had really betrayed the organization and joined Huo Jingsha, wouldn't it have been better to stay in his mansion and enjoy a life of luxury? Why would he have chased me around like this? I couldn't even get medicine! If it weren't for saving you, would I have missed the opportunity to get close to Huo Jingsha?"
Upon hearing this, all the men in black present were stunned.
Qi paused for a moment, then sneered.
"You've saved Huo Jingsha from my hands more than once, and now you've taken a sword for him again. No matter how you look at it... it was you who saved his life!"
“You only know the surface, not the underlying principles. That day, did you really think he was under the influence of aphrodisiacs and only had four guards with him when he left the mansion? No! In fact, he was just using Princess Gu’an to turn the tables on her. Moreover, he had already laid an ambush near Hongfu Restaurant and arranged everything, just waiting for you, the big fish, to take the bait.”
Qi listened, pondered for a moment, then narrowed her phoenix eyes, sharp light shining directly at her through the gap, trying to discern the truth of what she said from her face.
Seeing his skeptical look, You Shuyao continued, "When he leaves the manor, there are plenty of women in the backyard. He could easily choose any one to accompany him. Why did he choose me, who has already fallen out of favor? Think about it carefully, don't you find it strange?"
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