Chapter 48 The elopement was my own doing, and I did it willingly, Princess…
Less than half an hour later, it was completely dark.
They hadn't seen a single thatched hut along the way. Yu Nie landed lightly on his horse and led it a few steps forward.
Shen Yan was puzzled as to why she suddenly dismounted, but he didn't say anything. He pulled on the reins and dismounted.
Upon seeing him dismount, Nie Lanting, who had been following behind her and listening to him talk to Yu Nie, leaped off her horse almost without stopping and walked swiftly to his side.
Shen Yan stared intently at Yu Nie, who was looking around, and couldn't understand why she was acting this way. He asked, "What are you looking for, little Taoist priest?"
Yu Nie turned around and replied, "Let's find a place to stay for tonight."
Before she finished speaking, she moved to a flat area, carefully stepped on the ground to make sure there were no loose stones, and then continued:
"We definitely won't reach the Zuli River tonight, and it's getting dark. We might as well find a place to set up camp and get some rest. We can set off again at dawn tomorrow."
After saying that, she pointed to the withered tree behind her.
The tree has enormous branches, half of which has long been hollowed out. Even with only half remaining, it is still enough to demonstrate the tree's immense size.
If this tree were in perfect condition, even three strong adults wouldn't be able to fully encircle it.
"This spot is perfect for sheltering us from the wind. The three of us can sleep here tonight without worrying about the rain."
It was now completely dark, and without a tinderbox to light the way, they would not be able to find each other if they walked a little further apart.
In such a situation, it is indeed difficult to move forward.
When Nie Lanting heard that Yu Nie wanted to stay overnight, he immediately prepared to object.
He was about to speak when Shen Yan quietly tugged at his sleeve and shook his head.
Knowing that she intended to stay as Yu Nie wished, Nie Lanting hesitated, her expression revealing a hint of worry.
Yu Nie, who was still surveying the area to determine its safety, had not yet discovered the hidden intentions between the two.
After confirming several times that there were no snakes or insects around, she approached Shen Yan and Nie with a delighted expression: "Young Master Shen, Young Master Nie, I have just checked carefully. There are no snakes or insects hiding here, nor any traces of other wild animals. We can set up camp here."
"What do you two think?"
"Of course, that's excellent."
At this moment, Shen Yan withdrew his hand and smiled, "Young Taoist priest, you are quite bold at such a young age, daring to go and investigate these dangerous things alone."
Yu Nie chuckled: "Young Master Shen flatters me. I'm not particularly brave. We're going to live here eventually, so of course we have to eliminate these dangers one by one."
She added, "The main reason is that you two are here. It's obvious that Nie Langjun knows kung fu. With a sword, he can easily slay birds and beasts."
"Don't you think so... Lord Nie?" She turned her gaze to the person diagonally opposite her.
Hearing her praise, Nie Lanting didn't say a word. He merely glanced at her, then led his and Shen Yan's horses alone towards the withered tree ahead.
That was a real blow to the horse's hoof.
Yu Nie grinned dryly, seemingly unconcerned.
During the half hour the three of them walked, the man didn't say a word, his mind completely absorbed in the surrounding noises, as if a wolf was chasing him from behind.
Anyway, she's just a proud and aloof person, so if she doesn't want to talk to me, so be it.
She was quite easygoing, but Shen Yan felt very bad about it and explained to her again, "My brother is just troubled by something important. He's not usually like this. Little Taoist priest, please don't take it to heart."
It seemed that this was not enough, so Shen Yan immediately went to pull Nie Lanting over to apologize to her.
Although they had only known each other for a short time, Yu Nie had already gotten used to Nie Lanting's cold demeanor.
She pressed down on Shen Yan's hand, stopping him, "Oh, it's alright, Shen Langjun. Everyone has their troubles. When he's in a bad mood, I can tell he's a good person based on how good he is to you. Since he has other reasons for doing this, I won't blame him. Let him be."
Whether it was subconsciously mistaking the person next to him for a woman or not, Yu Nie didn't feel at all that there was anything wrong with touching the back of her hand.
They even took a couple more shots.
It was these two light pats that made Shen Yan suddenly realize his current identity.
He hurriedly pulled his hand away.
Yu Nie also suddenly came to her senses, but before she could speak, she did not.
Shen Yan first bowed his head nervously and clasped his hands, saying, "I was in a moment of haste and mistakenly took the Daoist's hand. I apologize for my rudeness..."
“Please forgive me…” Yu Nie saw his flustered and apprehensive demeanor, as if he had taken liberties with some young lady, and couldn’t help but tease him: “My lord has said similar things countless times on the way here, I’ve almost memorized them.”
It was dark then; if there had been light, she would have no doubt that the faces of the people in front of her were flushed.
Yu Nie sighed inwardly. Such a handsome young man was really fun to tease.
That's incredibly cheap for Nie Lanting.
Shen Yan's words caught in her throat, and then she heard her say, "It was clearly me who touched the back of your hand, but you're the one who started by saying it was your fault. I don't know how to respond."
She teased him on purpose: "My lord, why don't you forgive me first?"
“Most importantly…” She moved closer to Shen Yan, but glanced in the direction of Nie Lanting, and said to him as if discussing something important, “Later, you must not let your brother know that I touched the back of your hand, otherwise, I’m afraid he will draw his sword against me.”
Shen Yan was about to deny it, saying that her brother would not do such a thing.
But as soon as she turned her head, she saw Nie Lanting leaning quietly against the tree trunk, looking at her with such seriousness in his eyes, and with a tenderness that only the two of them understood.
Her heart skipped a beat, her eyes shimmered slightly, she tilted her head and lowered her brows, replying to Yu Nie's words in a voice barely audible: "I...I understand."
Yu Nie noticed that her tone had suddenly changed, and her eyes unconsciously returned to Nie Lanting's side.
Seeing the interaction between the two, she couldn't help but have a question.
If we replace light bulbs with candles, how many candles could she possibly burn?
*
To prevent wild animals from roaming at night, they gathered some firewood nearby.
The firewood was all wet from the continuous heavy rain, and unlike the caravan, they couldn't use dry firewood.
There weren't enough tinderboxes, and Shen Yan was worried about how to light the wet firewood on the ground.
Fortunately, Yu Nie had made preparations in advance. When she left the temple, she guessed that it was impossible to find an inn to stay in at all times, and that she would inevitably have to endure wind and rain on the road.
Because of the rain, she brought a bottle of saltpeter powder. This saltpeter powder was made by her before. It was a little less pure to make gunpowder, but it was more than enough to be used as a combustion aid.
She carried these things with her when she went out, just in case she needed firewood but couldn't light it.
Seeing that Nie Lanting had finished piling up the firewood, she squatted down, unscrewed the cork of the bottle, poured a small pinch of saltpeter powder into her palm, and sprinkled it on the damp firewood.
Seeing her posture, Nie Lanting finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you scattering?"
“Saltpeter powder,” Yu Nie replied calmly.
"Saltpeter powder?" Shen Yan and Nie Lanting asked in unison.
"Hmm." Yu Nie took out a tinderbox, opened the lid, brought it close to the opening, and blew on it.
In no time, the flames inside were visibly burning.
She placed the tinderbox, which had been lit, onto the spot where saltpeter powder had been sprinkled, and after a short while, the pile of damp firewood slowly began to burn.
Watching her finish all this, Shen Yan suddenly realized:
"Ordinary people use saltpeter as medicine or for alchemy. But the book 'Tiangong' says that saltpeter has the effect of aiding combustion and can be used to increase fire. The young Taoist priest is really clever, he thought of this point that is not well known to most people. I didn't even realize it before."
Saltpeter can aid combustion; this is not uncommon knowledge in this era.
Yu Nie didn't use the more effective water-burning method because she didn't want to be too conspicuous and arouse suspicion.
Saltpeter powder is just right at this point.
"Oh, not at all... I just like to tinker with these weird and wonderful things in my spare time. It's just something I do when I'm in the mood," she replied modestly.
From the moment she took out the saltpeter powder to the moment she lit the firewood, Nie Lanting, who had been secretly observing her, said seemingly casually, "I know that the sect uses this to refine pills, but it's rare to see someone carrying saltpeter powder out. Daoist's behavior is truly unusual."
Yu Nie didn't detect the suspicion hidden in his words. She sincerely and meticulously repeated to him the reason why she had brought such a thing on her long trip, without missing a single word.
She was telling the truth, so Nie Lanting couldn't see any falsehood in her words.
But along their escape route, they encountered quite a few people who pretended to be good, as well as many strange and ill-intentioned individuals.
Even though she told the truth, Nie Lanting still remained wary of her.
When they went to sleep at night, he refused the suggestion of taking turns keeping watch, saying that he would keep watch by himself and let the two of them rest.
Unable to bear seeing him not sleep all night, Shen Yan woke up in the middle of the night.
Nie Lanting, who was dozing with his eyes closed, opened them when he heard the noise.
Before getting up, Shen Yan gently covered Yu Nie, who was fast asleep beside him, with his clothes.
Yu Nie, whose sleep quality was exceptionally good, leaned his head against his travel bag and slept as soundly as a snow slave in a cage.
Shen Yan tiptoed to Nie Lanting's side, and she sat down next to him on the empty wooden stake.
Why don't you keep sleeping?
Knowing that the fake scars on her face would itch over time, he carefully removed them for her.
Shen Yan let him carefully remove the scar, her voice soft: "I can't sleep well when you're keeping watch alone at night, so I wanted to get up and keep you company."
She gazed at him with tender affection, and even though this wasn't the first time they had been so close, he still felt a subtle flutter in his heart and blushed.
He removed the fake scar from her face to conceal her identity. Because it had been on all day, he could see the mark left on her cheek by the firelight, and he touched it tenderly.
He felt extremely guilty: "It's all because of me that you've suffered so much. I'm so sorry."
“Don’t say that about Lanting…” She placed her hand on the back of his hand: “If I hadn’t loved you, you wouldn’t have had to spend the rest of your life on the run. If I weren’t a member of the royal family, but an ordinary woman, we could have lived a harmonious and loving life like countless other couples.”
"Now you have become a wanted criminal by the imperial court because of me, and have lost your promising future and freedom."
"Lanting..." she called softly, "It's me... I'm the one who should apologize to you."
Hearing this, Nie Lanting felt heartbroken, and her eyes welled up with tears.
He held her hands with reverence, as if he were cherishing the most unique treasure in the world.
If others were to see this, no one would believe that Nie Lanting, the cold and selfless eldest son of the current Situ, would be willing to lower himself to become a guard for a woman of no value, and even abandon everything to elope.
His eyes were as soft as cotton wool, and he spoke sincerely and affectionately:
"It is my will, Your Highness..."
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