Chapter 126
Layers of gauze blocked the view, and the scent of borneol floating in the air made people feel groggy.
Yu Qianqian was not unfamiliar with this smell. Her entire back felt as if it was split apart. She lay on the soft bed without moving, her eyes closed and her black eyelashes drooping, as if she was still in a coma.
The cold and low voice of the person in the room reached her eardrums: "The person was kidnapped by Xie Zheng?"
The shadow guard who was half-kneeling under the table was sweating profusely and clasped his fists: "Marquis Wu'an's men took advantage of the time when we were fighting with Wei Yan's minions to kidnap the old members of the Meng family. Your Highness, please punish them?"
“Crack—”
There was a slight cracking sound, and it was Qi Min who crushed the white jade ring on his hand.
Half of his face was facing the light, and his sharp features looked even more gloomy in the shadows. He raised his head slowly and spoke slowly, "Failed? Then why did you come back to see me alive?"
The air around them became thinner. A drop of sweat fell from the shadow guard's forehead. He hurriedly took something out of his pocket and handed it to Qi Min: "When I rescued an old member of the Meng family from Wei Yan's private prison, I revealed my identity to him and he gave me this."
Another shadow guard hiding in a dark corner of the room stepped forward, took the object that the kneeling shadow guard was holding above his head, and presented it to Qi Min.
The object was about one inch high and three inches long, completely black, shaped like a tiger or leopard, with ancient inscriptions engraved on it. It was a half-tiger talisman.
Qi Min identified the origin of the tiger seal from the inscription on it, and narrowed his eyes slightly: "This is the Changzhou tiger seal from seventeen years ago."
According to the laws of Dayin, one place has one tiger talisman, and only after obtaining the other half of the tiger talisman from the court can the local provincial government's army be mobilized.
He looked at the shadow guard kneeling on the ground, "What did the old Meng family member say?"
The shadow guard knew that his life was saved, and quickly replied: "He begs Your Highness to clear the wrongs for General Meng!"
Qi Min raised his eyebrows slightly.
Yu Qianqian, who was lying between the beds, also tensed up and pricked up her ears to listen carefully, but suddenly there was no more talking outside.
Qi Min raised his hand to signal the shadow guard to keep quiet. He listened to the trembling breathing coming from the bed behind the layers of curtains. The corners of his lips seemed to be curled up. He suddenly said, "Go down. You can cut off Xuan Jian's arm. The one who got hurt should learn a lesson."
Yu Qianqian was terrified when she heard this, and her intuition told her that the Xuan Jian that Qi Min mentioned was the shadow guard who wanted to kill Baoer.
The shadow guard kneeling outside didn't ask any questions, just replied "yes" and left.
Yu Qianqian heard the sound of the door closing. She didn't know why Qi Min didn't let the shadow guard continue to tell the truth about the battle of Jinzhou. She was anxious, but she didn't know what to do.
When she heard the muffled footsteps coming towards the bed, Yu Qianqian quickly pretended to be asleep.
The layers of gauze curtains were lifted up and hung on the golden hooks beside.
Even with her eyes closed, Yu Qianqian could feel that the light around the bed had suddenly become much brighter.
The bed was a little lower, and she guessed that Qi Min was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Even without opening her eyes, she could imagine the man's venomous gaze scanning her body. She instinctively tensed up, and her fingertips under the quilt were almost clenched white.
She tried hard to pretend to be asleep, but she didn't know that the person sitting beside the bed was looking at her black eyelashes trembling uncontrollably, and curled the corners of his lips in ridicule.
She had an injury on her back, and after applying medicine, Qi Min did not even let the maid change her clothes. Under the soft silver-red gauze quilt, her half-naked back was snow-white and delicate, and the vicious knife wound added a bit of sadistic beauty, like a delicate orchid that had been rubbed.
Qi Min looked at the person who was trying hard to pretend to be asleep, the curve of his lips became bigger, and he stretched out his pale and slightly cool hand to touch her back.
Sure enough, the next moment, Yu Qianqian's arms were covered with goose bumps.
Yu Qianqian knew she couldn't pretend any longer, so she opened her watery eyes and glanced coldly at Qi Min: "Take your hand away!"
Qi Min not only did not withdraw his hand, but also clamped her chin and asked slowly: "Are you not pretending to sleep anymore?"
Yu Qianqian felt as if she had been bitten by a poisonous snake. She said in disgust, "How could I have heard your conspiracy if I hadn't pretended? Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, but you want to kill your own son. I really don't know why those people are loyal to you. Aren't they afraid that you will kill them one day?"
Qi Min released her chin and raised the corner of his lips nonchalantly: "Are you mad that I want to kill that little bastard?"
Anger flashed in Yu Qianqian's eyes, but he suddenly approached her and said coldly and mockingly: "You and he both stayed by my side obediently, so I didn't touch him, did I? You ran away with him and ended up in Xie Zheng's hands. You are so smart, you must know that Xie Zheng can use him to command the princes, right?"
Yu Qianqian didn't say anything, but her face turned a little paler. She still stared at Qi Min with an angry look on her face.
Qi Min's pupils were cool and cold, as if they were the eyes of a real snake. His thin lips were almost touching Yu Qianqian's ear, and he said viciously: "It's not me who wants to kill him, it's you who is forcing me to kill him."
He stepped back a little, admiring Yu Qianqian's trembling expression, not knowing whether it was due to fear or anger, and said sympathetically: "Qianqian, it was you who almost killed the child."
"You're talking nonsense!" Yu Qianqian said angrily. Her emotional excitement pulled at the wound on her back, and her face showed some pain and turned even paler.
Qi Min frowned slightly, suppressed his sarcasm, and held her shoulders, "Don't move, be careful that the wound will open again."
Yu Qianqian broke out in a cold sweat from the pain on her forehead, but suddenly sneered, "Qi Min, why don't you just kill me too."
Qi Min's ten fingers that were gripping her shoulders suddenly tightened, his fingertips almost sinking into her flesh. He stared at Yu Qianqian gloomily for a few breaths and said, "I won't kill you, and you won't want to die."
He let go of Yu Qianqian, paused, and softened his tone: "If you like children, we will have more in the future. You can have as many as you want. That child came at the wrong time from the beginning."
Yu Baoer was born as his replacement.
He couldn't like a child who could replace him at any time, and even not killing Yu Baoer was the greatest kindness to him.
He will have an heir, but it will be a child born when he has taken back everything that belongs to him and has assumed sole power.
He hates anything that threatens him.
Tears welled up in Yu Qianqian's eyes. She endured the severe pain in her back and said "Pooh" to him fiercely. She closed her eyes and said, "If I had known this would happen, I should have let you die by the lake!"
As soon as these words came out of his mouth, the pressure around Qi Min suddenly dropped.
Finally, he just looked at Yu Qianqian and sneered: "It's too late to regret now. It was you who dragged a devil like me back to the human world. You deserve what's happening now!"
He strode away, leaving only the beaded curtain on the bed still swaying after being touched.
Yu Qianqian hugged the quilt, her face still pale due to the serious injury, but her eyes looking towards the door were clear, calm and indifferent.
-
As soon as Qi Min walked out of the room, the shadow guard standing outside waved and called out to him, "Your Highness."
Qi Min said sinisterly: "Watch her carefully."
Shadow Guard responded respectfully, and only looked towards the closed door after Qi Min walked away.
His Highness has always been suspicious. Even after Lan proposed that His Highness give birth to a child, he lost his trust in her. Only the woman in the room, who knows what kind of spell she cast on His Highness, has always treated her specially over the years.
After Qi Min took a few steps, the shadow guard who had reported to him in the house came up again, with a few spots of blood on his clothes: "Your Highness, I have been ordered to cut off Xuan Jian's arm."
Qi Min held one hand behind his back, still playing with the half tiger talisman. He didn't care at all about what Shadow Guard reported. He just asked, "What's the matter with that half tiger talisman?"
-
Every autumn rain brings a cool breeze.
The rootless water dripped down from the eaves and splashed in the corridor. The cold wind carried the water vapor to the base of the wall. The old mahogany wood of the house was soaked into a dark color by the rain. The young man standing against the wall also had faint watermarks on the bottom of his clothes.
The copper wind chimes hanging under the corridor were swaying wildly in the wind, making a desolate and broken sound.
From time to time, a few heart-wrenching moans could be heard from inside the house, but Xie Zheng pretended not to hear them. He just folded his arms and leaned against the wall, staring at the sudden autumn rain in a daze.
The cold wind blew up the strands of hair at his temples. A tiny bloodstain on his jade-like face was slightly painful from the wind. His lowered eyes were as cold as the bloodstain on his face.
After a while, the doctor who was treating the patient in the house came out with a medicine box. Xie Zhong, who was also waiting in the corridor, immediately went up to him and asked, "How is General Zhu?"
Xie Zheng's eyes also passed on indifferently.
The court doctor shook his head silently and sighed, "The tendons and bones in the leg have been broken for more than ten years. They have long been damaged. It is impossible for him to stand up again."
Xie Zhong lost a leg and an arm, and he knew the pain. After a moment of silence, he said, "Do your best to heal him."
The court doctor nodded and went down to prepare the medicine.
A servant who was waiting inside came out in a hurry and called out, "My Lord, General Zhu wants to see you!"
The truth he had been seeking was right before his eyes, but Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment before stepping into the room.
The court doctor scraped off the rotten flesh and re-healed the wound, and the smell of blood in the house was particularly pungent.
The man lying on the bed had a full beard and his hair was messy like dry grass, with lice crawling around in it. Apart from a pair of sharp and bright eyes, his facial features were almost unrecognizable.
Both of his legs were broken. After being locked up in a dark dungeon for seventeen years, his legs were so emaciated that they were barely covered with skin.
Xie Zheng looked at this old general who had served under Meng Shuyuan and his father in the past, and said only one sentence: "General Zhu, you are back home."
Zhu Youchang stared at Xie Zheng and suddenly cried out in grief, "Seventeen years... Seventeen years! General Xie's descendants have grown up to be so impressive! I, Old Zhu, will be able to see the general's descendants again in my lifetime!"
When it came to grief, even a man who had once fought in the battlefield could only pound the edge of the bed and sob.
Xie Zhong limped forward and supported Zhu Youchang, and asked with red eyes: "General Zhu, please accept my condolences. Why were you imprisoned by Wei Yan for seventeen years? Was there any hidden reason for the delay in the grain transportation that year?"
When Zhu Youchang mentioned the failure of grain transportation, he became more emotional. He choked up and said, "Wei Yan is worse than a pig or a dog! General Meng suffered an injustice that will be remembered for ages! It's a pity that the old general died with hatred in his heart. The Meng family is full of loyal and brave people, but not even a blood of theirs is left!"
The author has something to say:
Changyu & Changning: There are still two sprouts!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
