Chapter 38 Wearing the same clothes? Who do I have here? It's Lao Liu...
The torrential rain pattered against the dense vegetation on the mountainside, creating a sound like a rapid drumbeat.
Qi Jingxuan's vision was blurred, and he was panting heavily as he ran aimlessly through the mountains and forests.
He didn't know where he was going, he only knew that he had to escape, he had to escape, he absolutely couldn't let the person behind him catch up.
The rain made the mountain path very muddy. He slipped and fell forward, almost rolling down the hillside. He quickly grabbed onto the rocks with his hands and feet and managed to regain his balance.
The sound of footsteps behind him came again, and his heart tightened. He gritted his teeth and climbed toward the top of the slope.
Having finally reached the top of the slope, he took a breath and stood up. Just as he was about to descend, a thunderclap suddenly struck from the sky, illuminating the darkness and the figure below the hillside.
The man had a bluish-black mark on his forehead, and he was drawing his bow, the gleaming arrow pointing directly at him.
Qi Jingxuan's mind exploded, filled with disbelief.
How could this be? He was clearly behind him just now, how could he suddenly be in front of him?
Qi Jingxuan stood there, stunned, his eyes fixed on the man drawing his bow and the arrowhead gleaming.
His body was frozen in place, unable to move, and he could only watch helplessly as the arrow flew towards him.
Suddenly, another bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, landing squarely on the incoming arrow. However, the arrow did not fall to the ground; instead, it continued forward, carrying the power of the lightning, and pierced straight through his brow.
Qi Jingxuan felt a sharp pain in his head, and his charred body fell backward, rolling down the hillside...
"Your Highness, Your Highness, wake up, Your Highness!"
An anxious call rang in his ears. Qi Jingxuan held his head and slowly opened his eyes, seeing two familiar faces in front of him. They were the two servants who were on night duty tonight.
There was a thunderstorm today, and two bolts of lightning struck the sky just now. The two vaguely heard some movement in the inner room, but they were not sure, so they came in to check.
Upon closer inspection, they saw that Qi Jingxuan had rolled off the bed at some point and was now writhing on the floor, clutching his head, looking extremely pained.
The two were terrified and called out several times before they finally woke Qi Jingxuan up.
It took Qi Jingxuan a long while to come to his senses. He looked around and then out the window to make sure he was in the Prince's mansion. Only then did he realize that he had just had a nightmare and that he was perfectly fine in the mansion and had not been chased by that archer.
He let out a long sigh of relief, and when the servants asked him if he wanted to call a doctor, he waved his hand and said, "No need, you can all leave."
After saying that, he climbed into bed, wrapped himself in the blanket, and lay down again.
In his previous lives, he often had such nightmares after being reborn, but in this life, ever since Shen Yan agreed to marry him, he has never had such dreams again.
What's wrong with me today? I'm having this kind of dream again.
Qi Jingxuan frowned, muttered a few curses, tossed and turned in bed for a while, and then fell asleep again.
………………
Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, a grand dragon boat race is held on the Yanliang River in the capital, along with many painted boats for pleasure. In earlier years, the emperor would personally leave the palace to celebrate with the people, but since the establishment of the crown prince, this matter has been handed over to the crown prince, and this year is no exception.
Qi Jingxuan wasn't really interested in boat tours or dragon boat races, but since the Crown Prince was in charge of organizing them, the Emperor required him to attend, so he had no choice but to show up every year.
With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, he was afraid that Li Yaozhi and Gu Niannian would take Shen Yan away in advance, so he brought up the matter with her early on, wanting to settle things first. However, Shen Yan refused.
"Why"
Qi Jingxuan asked incredulously, "Did Li Jiu already make an appointment with you?"
Li Yaozhi was the ninth child in her clan. Qi Jingxuan called her Miss Li when he was happy, and Li Jiu when he was unhappy.
Shen Yan shook her head and said, "No, I'm afraid of water and don't dare to ride in a boat. It's fine if I just watch the dragon boat race from a distance on the shore, but if I have to go on a painted boat... I really don't dare."
She nearly drowned in a river when she was a child, and ever since then she has never dared to go near water, not even to the well. Her father has always been the one to fetch water for the family, and this was the case after she went to Beijing.
So no matter who invites her, she will not agree.
Qi Jingxuan suddenly realized, but also felt somewhat disappointed.
He wasn't really interested in these things to begin with, and he was initially happy that Shen Yan could go with him, but now that she couldn't, he suddenly felt bored and listless.
Shen Yan, puzzled, asked, "I heard that dragon boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are very interesting, and the banks of the Yanliang River are always bustling with activity at this time of year. Why does Your Highness seem... not to like them very much?"
“It’s not that I don’t like it,” Qi Jingxuan muttered. “The Yanliang River is wide and the scenery is nice. It’s actually quite interesting to take a boat ride on ordinary days. But during the Dragon Boat Festival, the river is packed with boats, and you can’t move at all. All you can see are boats all around you, so you can’t even see the scenery. And you always have to greet people with fake politeness, which is troublesome and boring.”
Shen Yan thought about the scene after hearing his words and also felt quite stifled. Logically speaking, given Qi Jingxuan's personality, he would never have gone.
Although he complained here, he did not suggest not going, which clearly indicates that he had some reason for having to attend.
Sure enough, just as she was thinking, Qi Jingxuan continued, "In the past, when Father Emperor personally went out of the palace to watch the dragon boat race, I didn't necessarily have to go. Now that the Crown Prince is in charge, Father Emperor said that if he passes away, I will have to live according to the Crown Prince's wishes. He told me not to go against the Crown Prince and to give him face when necessary. It would be best if we could be like brothers."
"So every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, he insisted that I attend. If I didn't go, he would punish me by making me copy books."
Qi Jingxuan's biggest fear was copying books, but his terrible handwriting was something no one could imitate, so he couldn't ask for help and had to do it himself.
In order to avoid copying books, he had no choice but to obediently go to Yanliang River.
Shen Yan nodded knowingly and smiled, "Then let's go. It's only a day anyway, it'll be over soon."
"It won't take a day, it'll be over in half a day."
Qi Jingxuan said, then his eyes lit up as if he had just remembered something.
"Otherwise, you can wait for me on the riverbank. I'll show my face briefly and then sneak away. We can stroll around the riverbank together."
"Actually, the riverbank is the most interesting place at this time of year, much more fun than the river itself. Many people set up stalls on both sides of the river, selling all kinds of food and entertainment. On the other hand, the pleasure boats are just a tiny space, crowded with people, and not very interesting at all."
Shen Yan frowned slightly: "Isn't this a bad idea? What if someone finds out? Besides, you're already on the ship, how are you going to get off?"
"It's nothing," Qi Jingxuan waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just a powerless and idle prince, and I was recently demoted to a county prince. Nobody cares about me. I guess no one will even notice that I'm missing by the time the dragon boat race is over."
"Even if they find out, it doesn't matter. Everyone knows what kind of person I am. Just showing my face is already giving the Crown Prince a lot of face. No one will say anything."
For someone as insignificant as him, it makes no difference whether he's present or not; all he needs to do is greet the Crown Prince and pay his respects before the dragon boat race begins.
Shen Yan still felt it wasn't quite right, but Qi Jingxuan had made up his mind, and she couldn't stop him. She could only ask him again the question he hadn't answered earlier: "How are you going to get off the ship?"
If we make a big show of having the boat rowed to the shore, wouldn't everyone see it? How would we then "sneak away"?
Qi Jingxuan wanted to explain to her, but after thinking about it, he felt that it would be pointless to say it now, so he swallowed back the words he was about to say: "You'll know when you see it for yourself."
Seeing that he was deliberately keeping her in suspense, Shen Yan smiled and didn't ask any more questions, and so the two of them decided to go on a trip for the Dragon Boat Festival.
………………
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Qi Jingxuan went to Yanliang River early because he had to report for duty.
Although he didn't like attending such occasions, since he was there, he didn't deliberately cause any unnecessary trouble. He dressed properly according to the rules and appeared in front of people looking glamorous and respectable. Even without saying a word, he had a certain imperial dignity.
He was preoccupied with finding an opportunity to slip away, and didn't notice that several more carriages were approaching, one of which stopped not far from him.
A man got out of the car. His eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Qi Jingxuan's, but his eyes were slightly wider apart, his lips were slightly thicker, and he had a square face, so he didn't look as handsome and could only be considered average-looking.
The man was stunned when he got out of the car and saw Qi Jingxuan. Then, a surge of anger rose in his heart, and he turned to look at his attendant beside him with annoyance.
The servant was so frightened that he almost knelt down in front of everyone.
"Your Highness, I was unaware of this."
Prince An had started preparing for today's outing half a month ago. After looking around, he finally chose a sky-blue brocade robe embroidered with green bamboo. The style was understated yet exquisite, so it wouldn't overshadow the Crown Prince and the others, and it also exuded a sense of elegance. He was very satisfied with it.
The emperor was handsome, and the concubines in the palace were all beauties, so the princes and princesses were all born well.
Among this group of "good" ones, Prince An, with his plain appearance, seemed a bit too "plain".
He cared a lot about this, but since he couldn't change his innate appearance, he could only make up for it with clothing and makeup.
Today, he is coming to Yanliang River to celebrate with the people. He doesn't know how many eyes will be on him, the princes and princesses. In order to make his shortcomings less obvious, he has gone to great lengths and made careful preparations for a long time.
To his surprise, as soon as he got off the bus, he saw someone dressed exactly like him.
But that person was also extremely good-looking, and immediately outshone him.
Prince An was annoyed that his servants hadn't checked beforehand, allowing him to wear the same clothes as Qi Jingxuan on such an occasion.
The servants around him also felt extremely wronged, not understanding why Prince Ping, who usually loved to dress up like a rooster in gold and silver, had changed his style today and dressed in a simple and elegant manner.
Although Prince An was furious, he couldn't reprimand his servants at this moment, so he could only mutter under his breath, "Bad luck!"
Qi Jingxuan was lost in thought and hadn't noticed him before, but when he heard the curse, he turned his head and immediately realized that Prince An was talking about him.
He wasn't annoyed, he just scoffed and deliberately drew out his words, "Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Lao Liu?"
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Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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