Gu Zhen's eyes trembled, his hands clenched behind his back as if he was trying hard to endure it, his handsome face was cold and serious.
The yard was silent for a while, with only the sound of the woman sobbing from time to time.
“…Get up, what are you talking about!” Gu Zhen still had a stern face, but his tone was not as cold as before.
Song Jiaren lowered her head and her expression could not be seen. One could only guess from her twitching thin shoulders that her eyes were red and she must be still crying.
"If you don't get up, I won't take you away!" Gu Zhen shook his legs that she was holding tightly.
Song Jiaren stood up suddenly, her face clean without any trace of tears.
"Thank you, Your Highness! I will never forget your life-saving grace!" She clasped her two little hands together and bowed to Gu Zhen, acting like a young master from a wealthy family. There was no sign that she had just been lying on the ground like a rogue, hugging his thigh and pretending to be pitiful.
A middle-aged man in a navy blue robe came out from the back of the hall. He had thick eyebrows, old and gloomy eyes, an unshaven beard, and a burly figure. The robe looked a bit out of place on him. He had a loud voice and walked briskly out of the hall to greet Gu Zhen, looking like an old acquaintance.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince has graced us with your presence. I'm so sorry for not welcoming you! I'm so sorry for not welcoming you!"
Song Jiaren and Ling Yun were both confused and didn't understand what was going on. They stood by with pastries in one hand and tea in the other, waiting to watch the show.
"Lord Yin?" Gu Zhen had a deep memory of Lord Yin. When his father was alive, he was very wary of the Yin family. The Yin family had strong military forces and abundant financial resources, and even the concubines sent to the palace were deeply loved by his father.
It’s just that the emperor is always suspicious. The Yin family’s achievements surpassed their own, and many people in the court found evidence against them. They were demoted to commoners and were never allowed to enter the capital again.
"Lingyun, are you all the killers of Lord Yin?" Song Jiaren didn't expect that following the Crown Prince out of the palace would lead to a court fight.
Ling Yun also didn't know the identity of the hall master and could only shake his head.
The wrinkles at the corners of Yin Guangfa's mouth deepened, and he smiled sweetly, as if he had no idea what had happened. "Your Highness the Crown Prince still remembers me. I am very pleased!"
Gu Zhen was impatient to deal with him and was fed up with the intrigues in the court.
"You sent these assassins to kill me?"
Yin Guangfa shook his head in denial. "I did not send anyone to assassinate Your Highness. I simply wanted to invite Your Highness to come and reminisce about the past. I was afraid Your Highness would not want to see me, so I came up with a plan. Your concubine is now returned to Your Highness safely."
Song Jiaren cursed in her heart, "Old thing, you are even more shameless than her!"
Gu Zhen narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and resisted the urge to separate Yin Guangfa's head. "What do you want?"
Yin Guangfa smiled with satisfaction. "Your Highness truly understands my intentions. If you only bring me the tiger talisman from this borderland, I will let you and your people leave, and I will also provide you with wealth and food to live comfortably."
"The tiger talisman is in my hand, but do you think I would be interested in the wealth that you mentioned?" Gu Zhen gave Song Jiaren a look, signaling her to come closer and prepare to retreat, but he saw the woman chatting and laughing with a baby-faced man, and she was very happy. He was so angry that he clenched his teeth and his veins were throbbing.
Yin Guangfa's mouth sank, his face showing a sinister look. "Hmph! Your Highness, don't blame me for being merciless!"
More than a dozen masked men approached from all sides with knives. Gu Zhen held the knife handle tightly, while guards such as Changfeng and Shitou drew their knives and confronted him.
"Seize the tiger talisman! No matter life or death!!" Yin Guang gave an order, and masked men swarmed in. The wide front hall was filled with the sounds of fighting and weapons clashing.
Song Jiaren and Ling Yun were confused again. They were so busy chatting that they forgot about the business. Now they didn't even know how the fight started. What a mistake.
"So... do I have to run away? And then you can chop me with a knife?"
Ling Yun quietly called Song Jiaren over and said, "We are friends. Killing and hacking will only hurt our relationship! No one is paying attention to us right now. Let's hide here and wait and see who wins. What if we go out now and get hurt by mistake? Right?"
Song Jiaren thought about it and felt that what he said made sense. Swords and knives have no eyes, so it’s better to hide and see how the situation develops.
The two of them hid behind a rock outside the hall without any psychological burden, paying attention to the fighting scene not far away.
Gu Zhen already had an arm injury, and the wound opened wider due to his haste in getting on the road. The enemy had more people and was immediately at a disadvantage. Several of the guards were seriously injured, and Changfeng and Shitou gradually felt overwhelmed.
While dealing with the masked man, Gu Zhen searched around and saw Song Jiaren hiding with the baby-faced man behind a rock.
Cowardly! Indecent!
Gu Zhen's chest rose and fell rapidly, and he was obviously very angry. He shouted sternly, "Retreat!"
When he left, he grabbed the woman by the collar and took her away.
The masked man was chasing them relentlessly. Gu Zhen led the guards to the edge of a cliff. The rushing river below was bottomless. Standing on the cliff, the cold wind made Song Jiaren's cheeks cold.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?" Song Jiaren had a bad guess in her mind.
Gu Zhen glanced at the pregnant woman. Her usually pink and fair face was now pale, and the tip of her nose was a little red from the cold. Her eyes were wide open, and her face was radiant and cute.
Gu Zhen said as calmly as possible, "I'm going to take you to jump from here, don't be afraid."
Song Jiaren cursed in her heart, you want to take me to jump off a cliff, and you tell me not to be afraid?
Are you kidding me?
This isn't bungee jumping, there's not even a safety rope. You'll be crippled if you don't die.
Song Jia felt hopeless. "Gu Zhen, please put me down. I don't think they will kill me. One of those masked men is a new friend of mine. Don't worry, I can survive..."
Gu Zhen took a deep breath to calm himself down. He was afraid that he would impulsively throw this chattering woman down and let her die!
She mentioned other men in front of him many times and flirted with other men. He remembered it!
Song Jiaren was still trying to persuade Gu Zhen, but suddenly she lost her balance and was carried down the cliff by him. The sound of the rushing wind rang in her ears and her cheeks were deformed.
Song Jiaren cursed "son of a bitch~"
Changfeng and Shitou jumped down immediately afterwards, and the guards also jumped off the cliff one after another, falling into the icy autumn river with a "splash".
When Yin Guangfa and his men chased after him, the shore was empty. He was so angry that his shoulders shrugged and his chest bulged. He turned around and slapped Ling Chen in the face.
Five fingerprints appeared on Lingchen's cheeks, the corners of his mouth were salty and numb. He touched the corner of his mouth with his tongue and tasted blood.
Ling Yun knelt down in front of Yin Guangfa, frowning, "Master, it is my subordinates who have failed to perform their duties. I ask for the punishment myself."
Ling Chen originally wanted to take the blame for Ling Yun, so he kept silent and took the beating. Unexpectedly, Ling Yun was afraid of him being punished and took the initiative to admit it.
Yin Guangfa snorted coldly, clenching his hands behind his back. His eyes were red with resentment and anger. "Waste! What's the point of keeping you? Go and get your 50 lashes!"
Ling Yun kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Hall Master."
Although he escaped, he felt bad. He and Lingchen were taken in by the hall master when they were ten years old. Since they started learning martial arts later than other children, they suffered a lot. Lingchen was serious since he was a child and studied harder than him. When he grew up, Lingchen was often punished for him. Although he was only a mediocre martial artist and unreliable, he didn't want Lingchen to take the blame for him all the time.
But I didn’t expect it to hurt so much, wuwuwu.
Ling Yun lay on the couch, not daring to put on clothes or cover himself with a blanket. The whip wounds would surely hurt more if touched, so he could only lie there with his teeth bared and sleep.
"Squeak"
The shabby wooden door made a slight sound, and in the early morning, someone entered the house carrying medicine and hemostatic drugs, stepping quietly without making any noise for fear of waking up the sleeping person.
Ling Chen took a look at the bloody and crisscrossed back. There was not a single piece of good flesh on the originally smooth and thin area, and the wounds were red, swollen and bleeding.
He didn't dare use the medicine rashly, for fear that the sleeping person would suddenly bite his tongue due to unbearable pain, so he could only wake him up carefully.
"Lingyun, wake up."
Ling Yun hadn't slept well to begin with, so he opened his eyes when he was called, and looked hazily at Ling Chen who was sitting beside the couch.
Lingchen took a clean handkerchief and asked him to bite it. "If it hurts, bite the handkerchief. Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to apply medicine on you. It will be a little painful. Just bear with it."
Ling Yun frowned and bit his handkerchief, feeling nervous and scared. A stream of cold liquid poured onto the burning wound on his back. It was cool and comfortable at first, then it was followed by a piercing pain. He bit the handkerchief hard but still broke out in a sweat. He couldn't help but groan, and the veins on his neck were exposed.
Lingchen felt uncomfortable too, his fingers were shaking a little, and the disinfectant was bubbling on his scarred back. He subconsciously breathed lighter, as if gasping would worsen his injuries.
Ling Yun endured it, and after the momentum subsided, he collapsed on the couch, his face pale and his handkerchief falling out of his mouth.
Lingchen took another handkerchief and wiped the thick sweat from his forehead. "It will be fine soon."
"Well, let's apply the medicine."
In the early morning, sprinkle white powdery hemostatic medicine evenly on the wound, and then bandage it with a clean white cloth.
Finally, I finished taking the medicine, breathed a sigh of relief, and packed up my things in the early morning.
"How are you?"
Ling Yun turned her head to look at him, tearfully complaining, "It hurts so much! Those guys didn't let me off the hook at all, they beat me so hard! Woo woo woo, luckily you came to apply medicine on me, otherwise it would have hurt so much."
Lingchen paused for a moment while packing up, and said in a hoarse voice, "Then why did you rush out to admit it this time?"
"Because I don't want you to always take the blame and punishment for me. Not only am I not as good as you in martial arts, but I also always cause you to get hurt." The more Ling Yun spoke, the more uncomfortable he felt. What made him feel even more guilty was that he had never applied medicine to Ling Chen.
"But why are you acting like usual after being punished? You can't even tell if it hurts. Are those people afraid to bully you and are deliberately letting you off?!"
Ling Yun widened his eyes in anger. He had a baby face and no dignity at all, and when he was angry he just looked cuter.
Ling Chen put down the potion and handkerchief in his hand, stood up with his back to Ling Yun, silently untied his belt, took off his outer and inner clothes, and as the clothes fell to the ground, a strong, honey-colored, broad shoulder and narrow waist were exposed.
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