Protect her
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuyi raised an eyebrow and was about to turn around and deliver another lash with the whip.
Unexpectedly, a sudden change occurred. Almost the instant she turned around, the horse beneath her went berserk, and with a single hoofbeat, it threw her off its back, causing her to slam heavily onto the scattered pastries in her bag, rolling around covered in crumbs.
Before she could react, the horse's hooves came crashing down on her again.
In extreme fear, Zhou Yuyi froze, closing her eyes tightly before the shadow approached, as if the hoof wouldn't fall if she didn't open her eyes.
Amid a gasp of surprise, the horse's hooves landed heavily.
"Thump—"
Having not felt pain for a long time, Zhou Yuyi slowly opened her eyes with trembling hands.
Then she saw Xie Xiangsi holding the reins with one hand and stroking the horse's neck with the other, whispering something to the horse. When she saw her looking over, she raised an eyebrow and smiled at her.
Provocation! Absolutely provocation!
Seeing her piercing smile, Zhou Yuyi trembled with rage, pointing at Xie Xiangsi and shouting, "How dare you hurt me! Do you want to die?!"
Sensing the hostility in her tone, Qing Shu couldn't help but be startled. She stepped forward with some concern to protect Jie Xiangsi behind her, but Jie Xiangsi gently patted her and gave her a reassuring look.
Zhou Yuyi, who was still lying on the ground unable to get up, smiled, while Jie Xiangsi tilted her head and said seriously, "Who said I hurt you?"
Seeing Zhou Yuyi's confusion, Jie Xiangsi kindly pointed to the ground and said, "Look."
Zhou Yuyi looked in that direction and saw that the hem of her clothes was pressed tightly against the horse's hoof, right next to her knee. Seeing this, Zhou Yuyi couldn't help but feel a chill.
If the horse's hoof had landed even an inch off course, she probably wouldn't have been able to keep that leg by now.
"You...bitch." Zhou Yuyi tugged at her clothes while glaring fiercely at Xie Xiangsi, wishing she could whip her until her skin was torn and bleeding.
Hearing that she still refused to back down, Jie Xiangsi raised an eyebrow and her hand holding the reins moved almost imperceptibly.
The next moment, Zhou Yuyi's hem, which she was about to pull out, was stomped down by the horse's hooves.
"you!"
Zhou Yuyi was both shocked and angry. Seeing Xiangsi looking at her calmly, she felt inexplicably humiliated.
In her rage, the string of reason snapped in her mind. She quickly drew a short knife from her waist and, with a swift motion, cut the piece of clothing that was being crushed by the horse's hoof. She then rose up and plunged the knife heavily into the horse's thigh.
The red horse, provoked by the pain, reared up and let out a agonizing neigh. It then suddenly bolted towards the crowd of onlookers. Xie Xiangsi, who was holding the reins, had not expected Zhou Yuyi to pull this stunt and was immediately thrown off balance by the fierce horse.
At the same time, Zhou Yuyi suddenly pounced on Xie Xiangsi, biting her shoulder while saying viciously.
"You little bitch! I'll kill you!"
Jie Xiangsi couldn't avoid it and was caught off guard. Feeling the pain from her shoulder, she thought to herself: Is Zhou Yuyi a dog?! Then she frowned and raised her knee straight for Zhou Yuyi's abdomen.
Not to be outdone, Zhou Yuyi grabbed Jie Xiangsi's hair.
Seeing this, Qing Shu rolled up his sleeves, shouted loudly, and hurriedly joined the battle.
"Girl! I'm here to help you!"
For a moment, you pulled her, she tugged at her, she bit her—the scene was utterly chaotic. Suddenly, a piercing shout came from afar.
"Imperial Guards on patrol, all of you, stop right now!"
Under the gloomy sky, Su Feng rode a pure black steed galloping over, still holding the horse that had just been stabbed by Zhou Yuyi in one hand. He was now looking seriously at the three people in the center of the commotion.
Sensing someone's arrival, Jie Xiangsi secretly flicked her wrist to push Zhou Yuyi away, then cried out "Ouch!" and fell to the ground, inadvertently revealing the injury on her arm. She looked up at Su Feng, and two lines of clear tears slowly slid down her cheeks.
"grown ups……"
When they faced each other, Su Feng finally saw the people on the ground clearly.
After a moment of silence, Su Feng exclaimed in surprise, "Yan Zhi's cousin?!"
Only then did I realize who it was, Jie Xiangsi: "..."
It was Su Feng who arrived?!
...
The main hall of the Dali Temple.
Zhou Yanzhi had just finished interrogating prisoners in the dark prison when his subordinates reported that Su Feng had come to see him. He suspected it was something important, so he hurriedly washed his hands and, still smelling of blood, rushed into the main hall without even changing his clothes. Without looking up, he said, "Su Feng?"
Unexpectedly, he was answered by another soft voice.
"cousin."
Zhou Yanzhi: "Cousin?"
Upon hearing Xie Xiangsi's voice, Zhou Yanzhi realized that Su Feng was not the only one in the main hall today, and looked up.
On one side of the main hall, Xie Xiangsi and Qing Shu were wiping away tears with handkerchiefs, while on the other side was the Fifth Princess Zhou Yuyi, who was furious. Su Feng was sandwiched between the two, smiling bitterly. Oh, and Mo Yue and Yu He were making faces at Zhou Yuyi.
Wow, it's quite lively.
Upon seeing Zhou Yanzhi enter, Zhou Yuyi instantly stood up from her chair, shoved Su Feng aside, rushed to Zhou Yanzhi, and said in a sweet voice, "Cousin! She bullied me!"
Seeing this, Xie Xiangsi rushed over, not to be outdone, and grabbed Zhou Yanzhi's sleeve, scolding, "Cousin..."
That cry sounded exceptionally weak and vulnerable.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuyi's anger, which she had managed to suppress, flared up again. She grabbed Zhou Yanzhi's sleeve and said aggrievedly, "Cousin, she deliberately made me fall off my horse and embarrass myself."
Unexpectedly, Jie Xiangsi also raised her injured arm and said weakly, "Cousin, the Fifth Princess whipped me..." As she spoke, tears slid down her cheeks, making her look particularly pitiful against the shocking whip marks.
As expected, a hint of heartache flashed in Zhou Yanzhi's eyes, who was still not quite understanding the situation. He turned his head and looked at Zhou Yuyi on the other side with a deep voice: "Your Highness?"
The blame in his words was not concealed.
Zhou Yuyi glared angrily. This bitch, she did it on purpose, didn't she?!
Su Feng gave her medicine earlier, but she didn't use it. Why is she acting pitiful now?!
Unable to contain his anger, he shouted, "Now that you know I am the Fifth Princess, why don't you kneel down and confess your sins?!"
Jie Xiangsi choked back tears as she retorted, "I know that the Fifth Princess is of noble birth and of the highest rank, but even so, there is no such thing as a powerful family being able to hurt people at will. Fortunately, Your Highness only hit a commoner today. If Your Highness were to swing your whip without seeing who it is and injure another noble one, that would be terrible."
Hearing this, Zhou Yuyi forced a laugh in anger. This little bitch hadn't said that to Su Feng just now.
At the time, he was incredibly eloquent, quoting classical texts to ridicule her thoroughly. His implication was that she had gone mad and attacked people, and that being run over by a horse's hooves was her own fault. He also subtly mocked her for falling because of her poor horsemanship.
But only Zhou Yuyi knew that she had secretly flicked something onto the horse's belly, which startled the horse and caused it to rear up and throw her off.
“It was clearly you…” Zhou Yuyi said angrily.
"That's enough," Zhou Yanzhi said in a deep voice.
Upon hearing Zhou Yanzhi speak, Zhou Yuyi stopped talking, feeling wronged. However, Jie Xiangsi smiled at her while wiping away tears, silently mouthing: "That's right, it's me."
Zhou Yuyi gritted her teeth and was about to reach out to pull her away.
The next second, the outstretched arm was pulled away forcefully.
Zhou Yanzhi said coldly, "Your Highness!"
Seeing the coldness in Zhou Yanzhi's eyes, Zhou Yuyi lowered her head dejectedly.
From childhood to adulthood, the person she feared most among the royal family was Zhou Yanzhi. While her other brothers were still giving in to her, Zhou Yanzhi had already learned to point out her mistakes without mercy and was not afraid of her threats at all.
Therefore, although the two were cousins, they had no affection for each other whatsoever.
Not daring to throw another tantrum, Zhou Yuyi returned to her chair sullenly.
Seeing this, Jie Xiangsi was overjoyed. If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, she would have loved to burst out laughing and mock her.
Just then, Zhou Yanzhi pointed to an empty seat for her, his tone equally indifferent.
"You sit down too."
Jie Xiangsi: "..."
Jie Xiangsi: "Oh."
Releasing Zhou Yanzhi's wrinkled sleeve, Jie Xiangsi obediently returned to her chair and sat down, looking as well-behaved as could be.
Seeing their equally disheveled appearance, Zhou Yanzhi sighed heavily. Thinking about why he sighed, he turned to Su Feng, who was preparing to sneak away and be done with it, and said, "Yunyun, you tell me."
Upon hearing this, Su Feng, caught red-handed, froze, clapped his hands, turned around gracefully, and recounted from beginning to end how he saw the mad horse and why the three of them were fighting.
As he spoke, he glanced at Xie Xiangsi, who was sitting upright to the side, and thought to himself, "You really can't judge a book by its cover. She looks like a gentle and delicate girl, but I didn't expect her to be so sharp-tongued and ruthless."
They deliberately chose to strike places where others couldn't see. The female healer had just said that although the Fifth Princess appeared unharmed, her injuries were actually internal and required proper care. As for Jie Xiangsi, apart from her disheveled hair, a whip mark, and a few bite marks, she was otherwise unharmed.
Thinking this, Su Feng patted Zhou Yanzhi on the shoulder and gave him a pitying look.
One is her cousin, the other her maternal cousin; the former is of noble birth, the latter of humble origin.
But the former was at fault first, so how should the case be judged? This is quite a worry.
Zhou Yanzhi, however, seemed untroubled. After hearing Su Feng's account, he made up his mind and said to Zhou Yuyi, "So, Your Highness injured someone first?"
Jie Xiangsi nodded frantically, while Zhou Yuyi reluctantly hummed in agreement.
"Why?" Zhou Yanzhi frowned.
Zhou Yuyi tugged at her whip, saying hesitantly, "She bought the last batch of Golden Silk Pastry Cake, and I didn't get any. I was already upset, and then I saw her and the maid next to her laughing, which made me angry. In a moment of impulse, I..."
"Just because of a pastry?" Zhou Yanzhi found it unbelievable.
Zhou Yuyi nodded listlessly.
At the beginning of this year, she was sent by her father to Huguo Temple to practice Buddhism. She ate vegetarian food for several months in a row, which made her very irritable. She thought of secretly going down the mountain to buy some food, but she didn't expect that the last portion would be bought by someone else. Her temper flared up immediately.
Upon hearing this, Su Feng's eyes widened in surprise. The Fifth Princess's temper really was growing stronger every year. She made such a fuss over a pastry. It was truly... hard to know how to evaluate her.
Zhou Yanzhi laughed in exasperation, "So you beat my cousin up like that?"
Sensing the dissatisfaction in Zhou Yanzhi's tone, Zhou Yuyi said with some grievance, "I'm also your cousin, didn't she hit me too? Why are you only siding with her?"
Hearing these nonsensical words, Zhou Yanzhi didn't want to pay any attention.
Su Feng, being kind-hearted, tried to smooth things over, saying, "Oh, Fifth Princess, well... after all, the girl didn't do anything wrong. You hit her first, so how can you expect Yan Zhi to side with you? Besides, you ran away from Huguo Temple without permission, and Yan Zhi hasn't exposed you yet, which is already considered as him siding with you."
Seeing that the situation was slightly more relaxed, Su Feng beckoned to a guard and said with a smile, "How about this, Princess, you go back to Huguo Temple first, and when you return to the palace, I will personally buy a pastry to give to you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuyi thought for a moment, then nodded, indicating her agreement with Su Feng's statement.
Seeing this, Su Feng breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally able to get rid of this big shot. Zhou Yanzhi was the Fifth Princess's cousin. He could get away with offending people, but the Fifth Princess might not let him off the hook. If he didn't handle it well, there would be endless trouble in the future.
What a miserable life! Why is he the one on duty today?
With a smile on her face but tears in her eyes, Su Feng saw the person off, patted Zhou Yanzhi on the shoulder, and left with a heavy heart.
As for the remaining cousin, let Yanzhi handle it himself; he's really no longer capable.
...
Seeing that Zhou Yuyi had really left, Jie Xiangsi lowered her eyes and tried her best to suppress the corners of her mouth from turning up, afraid that she would burst out laughing if she wasn't careful.
But how could Zhou Yanzhi not notice her little scheme?
But he didn't expose her, and just said helplessly, "Alright, cousin, the person is gone, can we apply the medicine now?"
He noticed it when she was struggling with Zhou Yuyi earlier; the whip mark on her arm hadn't been treated yet. It was quite remarkable that she was still secretly provoking Zhou Yuyi even in that condition.
She wasn't ashamed that her feelings for him had been exposed, and she generously extended her arm to Qing Shu, who had already prepared the tools to clean the wound. However, because it was too late, the inner fabric of her clothes inevitably stuck to the wound.
Qing Shu said softly, "Miss, the fabric is stuck to this. I'll try to be as gentle as possible."
Just as Jie Xiangsi was about to say that it wasn't necessary to go to such trouble, Zhou Yanzhi stepped forward, took the tools from Qing Shu's hands, and said in a deep voice, "I'll do it."
Before Jie Xiangsi could refuse, he tore off the cloth stuck to the flesh and blood, and in an instant, layers of blood gushed out from the mangled wound.
Seeing Xie Xiangsi's eyes well up with tears from the intense pain, Zhou Yanzhi pursed his lips and said earnestly, "Cousin, it's better to end the pain quickly than to suffer for a long time. You must be strong."
Qing Shu, Mo Yue, and Yu He, who thought Zhou Yanzhi would be chivalrous, were speechless.
Thinking her plan to win his heart had taken a big step forward, Jie Xiangsi thought: "..."
Suppressing the urge to punch Zhou Yanzhi, Jie Xiangsi smiled through her tears.
"Okay, thank you, cousin. I will be strong."
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