Chapter 152 You almost trampled me to death
Xie Mianmian lifted her skirt and squatted down beside the Seventh Prince, her slender neck lowered as she carefully examined the marks on it.
"The wound is small and doesn't look like it was bitten by that woman. You can see for yourself."
Before the Seventh Prince could stop her, Xie Mianmian rolled up her sleeves and bit her own arm.
As soon as she released her grip, an oval bite mark appeared on her fair arm.
"You can bite me next time," the Seventh Prince said, frowning. This idiot, he really has the heart to hurt himself.
"No way! What if you break my teeth by straining your muscles?"
"How could I do such a thing?"
"I was just joking." The Seventh Prince said in a serious tone, which was quite amusing.
Xie Mianmian placed her arm next to Zhao Shilang's neck, comparing the similarities and differences between the two bite marks.
“Your Highness, look, there are four deep holes in Minister Zhao’s wound. It was caused by an animal bite. Human teeth are blunt and cannot bite such deep holes.”
“I think the woman’s head was about the same size as mine, so logically, the teeth marks she left shouldn’t be this much smaller than mine.”
The seventh prince took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket, unscrewed it, and saw that it contained a bluish-green plaster.
He slid his fingertips around the solidified ointment a few times, then gently applied it to the wounds on Xie Mianmian's arm.
“It was a fox. When I broke down the door, it must have just bitten me. Otherwise, Minister Zhao would have died from a broken neck vein and spitting blood.”
Xie Mianmian nodded, hiding her arm with the ointment applied behind her back. A gust of wind blew by, and the cool, refreshing sensation on her arm was impossible for her to ignore.
The Seventh Prince handed her the small porcelain bottle, saying, "You're always so impulsive and careless." He's a worry for her.
Xie Mianmian took it, thinking resentfully, "Isn't this cleverness and intelligence?"
"Your Highness, so it's not the work of a fox demon."
Her tone carried an indescribable regret; she still wanted to see what the fox spirits who seduced the country bumpkins in the storybooks looked like.
"It's man-made. This is the fifth time. I'm afraid someone is training wild animals to deliberately target the Great Zhou."
Xie Mianmian met his serious and earnest gaze. "Who could it be?"
The Japanese pirates were thoroughly driven back many years ago, and their small country became a vassal state of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Since the fifth prince ascended the throne, the Western Barbarians have resumed normal trade relations with the Great Zhou.
So the most likely remaining possibility is...
"Northern Rong".
The two of them said in unison.
"However, it seems we cannot rule out the possibility that they are bad people from other countries who are eyeing the Great Zhou, or traitors harboring evil intentions within our country," Xie Mianmian said, stroking her chin.
After a moment of silence, the two decided to leave and report the incident to the patrolling guards.
Suddenly, Xie Mianmian's ears twitched as she heard a faint sobbing sound, a very mournful one.
"Your Highness, can you hear that? Someone is crying."
The Seventh Prince shook his head. "I didn't hear anything."
Even a martial arts practitioner with keen eyesight couldn't hear it, so there must be only one truth: the one crying wasn't human, but an animal, which is why only she could hear it.
Xie Mianmian looked in the direction from which the crying was coming. "Who is crying? Tell me, maybe I can help you."
She could only hear the voice but not see the person, so Xie Mianmian refused to believe it and searched everywhere.
"Ouch, you almost stepped on me!" a voice came from the floor.
Xie Mianmian quickly took a few steps back, squatted down, and slowly searched forward.
Finally, I saw a very small ant.
Why are you crying?
"I didn't find anything to eat today, and they're going to scold me when I get back, boohoo."
Xie Mianmian knelt on the floor, and the Seventh Prince squatted down beside her, watching as she pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve.
When I unfolded it, I saw a piece of osmanthus cake sitting there perfectly.
"You even remember to hide food while on a mission?"
Xie Mianmian placed the pastries against the wall. "I can take them out and eat them when I'm hungry. We'll ignore the little ant. These are pastries for you."
"Thank you!" the ant cried with joy.
"By the way, while you were foraging for food here, did you see the woman who was being all lovey-dovey with that person on the ground? Was there anything strange about her?"
"Her?" the little ant said, spinning around a few times. "She was sitting on a chair, and she smelled so good that I wanted to eat her. But she had a lot of foxes hiding in her skirt, and one of them swept me off with her tail. Waaah, luckily I didn't die."
Xie Mianmian relayed these words to the Seventh Prince, and then asked, "Anything else? Does she have any markings or anything special about her?"
The little ant's two antennae twitched as it pondered deeply. "Yes, she quietly took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a small pill, and threw it into the wine glass for the man to drink. I saw that a big dog was engraved on the bottom of the porcelain bottle."
Big dog? Xie Mianmian recalled the totem of the Northern Rong. She was young then and had never seen a wolf, so she mistook the wolf's head for a dog's head.
She shared this conjecture with the Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince stood up and reached out his hand to the woman on the ground. "I understand. This matter will be thoroughly investigated."
The Seventh Prince's hands were different from those of other pampered young masters; they were rough and calloused.
Such a hand, capable of snagling silk when it touches it, brings her a great sense of security.
Xie Mianmian placed her hand on his large, broad hand, and before she could even put any effort into her legs, he easily pulled her up and made her stand firmly on the ground.
"Thank you, Your Highness." She withdrew her hand.
Feeling the sudden emptiness in his palm, the Seventh Prince paused for a moment, then naturally let his hand hang down by his side.
"It's getting late, I'll take you home."
"It's no trouble for Your Highness," Xie Mianmian declined. "The guards will escort me safely back to the manor."
The Seventh Prince insisted, "I don't trust anyone else."
Xie Mianmian could only nod and agree.
After handing Zhao Shilang over to the guards, the two left Yueya Garden. Xie Mianmian followed behind the Seventh Prince to a low-key yet luxurious carriage.
"Your Highness, please wait a moment."
She made a few unusual sounds, and soon a snow-white figure swept through the darkness. A large figure squatted down in front of Xie Mianmian, nudging her hand with its head, wanting to touch it.
It is a snow wolf. Ten years have passed, and it is now an adult, with a large and robust body.
The slightly long hair was well cared for by Xie Mianmian, soft and smooth, like a fluffy white cloud descending to earth.
In the blink of an eye, the giant python appeared in front of them, its tail tip affectionately encircling Xie Mianmian's ankle.
As she stroked his fluffy head, she said to the Seventh Prince with a grin, "This is my professional bodyguard team, what do you think?"
Black Wolf was not around; it had taken the parrot back to patrol Qinglong Mountain. Old Master Gao, being too old to care for the parrot, sent it to the Xie family.
Over the past decade, they have used Qinglong Mountain as another stronghold, returning from time to time for hunting and gathering wild fruits, vegetables and mushrooms.
The Seventh Prince crossed his arms and stared at the snow wolf's large paws. Hidden within the pink paw pads were bloodthirsty claws. He had secretly sparred with the snow wolf before.
The comfortable life in the capital did not diminish its wolfish nature. Under the tutelage of its two fathers, Black Wolf and Giant Python, Snow Wolf's fighting prowess should not be underestimated.
He rarely makes jokes, but he said, "It's terrifying."
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