Ignoring the blood still streaming down her face, Feng Jin staggered away from Mu Qiye and bowed to the Empress, saying, "Since Your Majesty has arrived, Feng Jin will take her leave."
The Empress glanced at her, then nodded expressionlessly: "Go."
Having broken into the Emperor's palace, Feng Jin's face was covered in blood and her clothes were disheveled. She quickly attracted the attention of the palace maids and eunuchs. Their mocking voices and strange looks made her feel even more pathetic, like a laughing stock.
She ran quickly out of sight, and for a moment, she really had the urge to cry. Even though she had experienced life and death several times, and even though she had fought and killed people all the way for revenge, when had she ever suffered such humiliation? The palace... such a filthy place, she didn't want to take even a speck of dust with her.
With a deafening roar, thunder rang out, followed by howling winds. The dim sky enveloped everything in the world. Pedestrians on the roadside were running forward as fast as they could, quickly passing by her sight. She slowly bent down, curled up in place, and waited for the heavy rain to fall from the sky.
Passersby, with their hands above their heads, hurriedly said, "Young lady, you'd better go home and take shelter from the rain as soon as possible; the weather is about to change."
Feng Jin did not respond, but stared blankly at the suddenly changing sky, frozen there like a statue.
Go home? She couldn't let Mu Beichen see her like this. His mind was so meticulous; he could always see through people easily. She also couldn't drag Mu Beichen into this, at least not now. Otherwise, all their efforts so far would be in vain.
In the blink of an eye, a torrential downpour began, the rain pouring down like pillars, constantly drenching her thoughts and washing away the bloodstains on her face. The world before her was blurred, and she could not distinguish whether the water was tears or rain.
At this moment, Hua Mancheng, who was wandering around, vaguely saw the figure gradually collapsing in the rain. It seemed somewhat familiar. He immediately rushed over in a few strides and saw that it was Feng Jin.
Feng Jin was in a semi-conscious state, muttering intermittently, "No...don't go back to the Prince's mansion..."
"Princess?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, and without a moment's hesitation, he swiftly scooped her up in his arms.
Upon arriving at a nearby inn, both of them were soaked to the bone. Feng Jin was in a deep coma, and the innkeeper and other guests cast strange glances at them. The atmosphere remained tense and eerie.
Hua Mancheng rushed inside in a great hurry and immediately ordered, "Innkeeper, prepare two excellent guest rooms for me, along with hot water..."
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man. He carefully examined Hua Mancheng and the woman in his arms, his face darkening as he said, "Young master, I'm very sorry, we have no rooms available here. You'd better look elsewhere."
"No, it's so late now, all the other shops have already closed." Hua Mancheng immediately became anxious. It was already late, and this might be the last inn that was still open. Besides, she couldn't afford to get wet in the rain any longer.
"Hmph! That's your own business, what does it have to do with me?" The middle-aged man glanced at him and sneered, "Besides, you're a man and a woman alone together in the middle of the night, what if you cause me trouble..."
Before he could finish speaking, Hua Mancheng's expression suddenly turned cold. He flashed forward, grabbed the man by the neck with one hand, and roared, "Enough with the nonsense! I think you're the type to refuse a toast and only know how to drink a forfeit!"
The middle-aged man was lifted into the air, struggling like a chick, his throat in danger of being snapped at any moment.
Everyone knows that Hua Mancheng was born with a chivalrous spirit and has never shown mercy to those who bully the weak and fear the strong.
Seeing this, the people who had been watching the commotion around them were all too frightened to speak. As the man's breathing grew weaker and weaker and he no longer had the strength to struggle, Hua Mancheng threw him dozens of meters away with a powerful swing.
Hua Mancheng walked straight up to the man, looking down at him with a cold smile: "How about it, shopkeeper? Do you still have the things I asked for before?"
"Of course..." the man nodded vigorously in response, "Waiter, quickly prepare two guest rooms for this guest!"
After settling Feng Jin in the room and preparing everything, the most important thing now was to change her wet clothes and give her a hot bath to warm her up.
But he is an outsider after all. Since ancient times, men and women have been different. Even if he meant well, he would not choose to do something unethical. In the current situation, he can only think of another way.
Hua Mancheng then had another woman do these things for him. After taking a hot bath, changing into clean clothes, and drinking some warming ginger soup, Feng Jin slowly woke up.
Feng Jin got out of bed, looked around in confusion, and hurriedly asked, "Hua Mancheng, where are we?"
He gazed thoughtfully at Feng Jin and replied in a deep voice, "This is Mingxuan Tower, the inn closest to the palace."
"Can I ask you for a favor?" Feng Jin stared intently at him, then suddenly changed her expression. "If possible, I don't want this matter to be leaked, especially not to the Jing Prince's residence."
Hua Mancheng stared at her increasingly solemn expression, as if he had caught some important information in an instant. He felt that she must be hiding something very important from him.
Immediately afterward, his expression turned tense. "Then can you tell me what exactly happened today?"
"His Majesty... wanted to make me a concubine, but the Empress arrived later, and I managed to escape." Feng Jin knew she could no longer hide it, so she sighed and reluctantly told the truth.
Hua Mancheng was shocked when he heard this. He did not expect that the situation would develop to such a serious extent in just a few days.
"But does Mu Beichen know about this big thing that happened?"
Before he could finish speaking, Feng Jin quickly stopped him, saying, "We can't let him know all this, otherwise he'll clash with the Emperor, and at that point... I'm afraid it will cause an even bigger disaster."
"Alright, let's not talk about this for now." Hua Mancheng sighed and continued to ask her, "Have you thought about what to do next? Even if he didn't succeed this time, what if there's a next time?"
"I don't know..." Feng Jin stared at the ceiling, her eyes filled with despair. Now, did she still have a choice? The only last resort was to prove her point with her death.
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