Chapter 176 I'm not dead, why are you crying?
Traveling through the mountains in the dead of winter is by no means an easy task.
The cold wind lashed at my face like a knife, and beneath the snow lay protruding rocks and sharp thorns; a moment's carelessness could easily cause me to twist my ankle.
The two struggled through the snow, using tree branches to erase their footprints as they went.
Before long, Chen Yanqing was panting and exhausted.
He looked at Li Yuanzhao in front of him and saw that she was still walking without stopping, as if she did not feel tired at all.
But as he looked around, Chen Yanqing suddenly realized something was wrong.
Li Yuanzhao's black coat was already torn to shreds by the rubble on the cliff.
In particular, the sleeve of his right arm was ripped open with a large tear.
The fabric there was noticeably darker than the surrounding fabric.
...like blood.
A faint smell of blood seemed to linger in the air, mixed with the chill of the snow, subtly seeping into the nostrils.
Chen Yanqing's heart tightened, and he quickly quickened his pace to catch up.
"Your Highness, are you injured?"
"Did you get scratched by a rock when you jumped off the cliff?"
"Should we deal with this first?"
Li Yuanzhao looked down at his arm, then looked up at Chen Yanqing.
When she jumped off the cliff, she deliberately kicked Chen Yanqing down first, so that he would clear the way for her.
Unexpectedly, when he fell from the same cliff, he was the only one who got injured.
I don't know if God is blind or too blind.
She looked away and said calmly, "Let's get out of this forest first."
Li Yuanzhao looked up at the sun in the sky; there were still two hours until nightfall.
After dark, the temperature will be colder and visibility will be worse.
It's inconvenient for both the assassins to search for them and for them to escape.
The most urgent task at hand is to find a safe place to hide and wait for Shen Churong to lead his army to our aid.
Chen Yanqing's gaze remained fixed on her blood-stained sleeve.
With so much blood, just how badly injured was she?
In the freezing cold, if her bleeding continues, excessive blood loss could easily lead to heat loss, with potentially disastrous consequences.
He grew increasingly anxious and couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, we've been two hours late in returning to the army camp. General Shen and the others must have noticed something amiss by now, right?"
After saying that, he looked around worriedly and continued, "I just don't know when General Shen will arrive? This mountain forest is so vast, will they be able to find us?"
These issues were completely outside Li Yuanzhao's consideration.
If she can't even do this much, then Shen Churong doesn't need to stay by my side any longer.
She continued walking deeper into the dense forest without stopping.
Shen Churong waited in the camp for an extra hour. The sun gradually set in the west, dyeing the sky a pale gold, but Li Yuanzhao still did not return.
His fingertips unconsciously stroked the hilt of the sword at his waist, and his unease grew heavier.
Your Highness is always prudent in your actions. Even if you were delayed for a few hours at the Great Ci'en Temple, it would never be this late.
He realized something was wrong and immediately ordered two hundred elite soldiers to ride at full speed to the Great Ci'en Temple.
Unexpectedly, halfway there, the scene before him made his heart sink.
Broken arrows were scattered all over the official road leading to the Great Ci'en Temple.
The tree trunks along the roadside were still covered with a dense array of arrows, and the ground was covered with messy, crisscrossing hoofprints, all of which indicated that a fierce battle had taken place here.
Shen Churong's pupils suddenly contracted.
Someone actually dared to lay a hand on the Princess in the heart of the outskirts of Beijing, right under the Emperor's nose!
He didn't have time for a detailed investigation and immediately followed the clues.
Along the way, there were chaotic hoofprints and countless arrow marks.
The further he went, the heavier his heart became.
He knew the princess's skills; an ordinary assassination attempt would be futile against her.
These people probably knew this too, so they chose the arrow rain tactic, which was impossible to defend against, clearly intending to kill her.
Besides, she has that little guard with her, and if His Highness brings him along, he will inevitably be a burden.
All traces ceased upon reaching the edge of the cliff.
The snow on the cliff edge was trampled into a mess, along with the corpse of His Highness's mount.
Looking at these marks, he instantly understood that His Highness must have been driven to the brink of despair and chosen to jump off the cliff to survive.
The lieutenant quickly said, "General, we can take a detour down the mountain from the front; it will only take half an hour..."
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Churong took out a rope and neatly tied it around his waist.
"It's taking too long! I can't wait!"
The thought of her fighting a bloody battle somewhere made him unwilling to leave her alone and helpless for even a moment.
"General! You mustn't!" The lieutenant, understanding his intention, hurriedly stopped him. "The cliff is too steep, and there's fog below. We can't see where to land. It's too dangerous for you to go down like this!"
Shen Churong handed the other end of the rope to his deputy, saying, "Hold on tight. My life is in your hands."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he jumped off the cliff without hesitation.
Li Yuanzhao and Chen Yanqing walked for more than an hour through the snow, their steps uneven, before finally finding a hidden cave in a sheltered spot at the foot of the mountain.
The snow outside the cave was half a foot thick, completely covering the entrance, and no trace could be found unless you looked closely.
The cave was fairly dry, with no standing water. The ground was covered with the fluff of some small, unidentified animals. The space was just the right size to accommodate two people.
Along the way, Chen Yanqing noticed that while Li Yuanzhao was sweeping away the footprints with a branch, he was also making some barely visible marks on the tree trunks and in the crevices of the rocks.
Although he couldn't understand the meaning of these markings, he was relieved, thinking that His Highness must be leaving clues for General Shen.
Before it got completely dark, Chen Yanqing went out of the cave again, collected a lot of dry branches, and unexpectedly caught a half-grown wild rabbit.
When he excitedly returned to the cave with the rabbit, he saw Li Yuanzhao leaning against the cave wall alone, his eyes closed.
He thought His Highness was resting with his eyes closed, so he didn't dare to disturb him and quietly started a fire not far from the cave entrance.
The fire crackled and popped, quickly dispelling the chill inside the cave.
He cleaned the rabbit, skewered it with branches, and roasted it over a fire.
It wasn't until the aroma of the roasted meat filled the air that Chen Yanqing turned to look at Li Yuanzhao, wanting to call her over to eat it while it was still hot.
But with just that one glance, his heart tightened, and he realized something was wrong.
Li Yuanzhao's face was unusually flushed.
"Your Highness?"
Chen Yanqing couldn't help but move closer, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to touch her cheek.
It was scalding hot to the touch, as if it were burning.
He was so startled that his hand trembled, and he instantly realized that His Highness had a fever!
Could the wound on my arm be infected?
He hurriedly checked Li Yuanzhao's right arm, and after carefully peeling back the sleeve that was covered with snow water and bloodstains, a shocking wound came into view.
The gash was a full finger's width deep, with the edges turned inside out, frozen and somewhat white, and faint blood was seeping out.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Chen Yanqing called out anxiously, but Li Yuanzhao remained with his eyes closed and did not respond at all.
He was frantic, his eyes even reddening, as he gripped her shoulders tightly and shook her gently: "Your Highness, wake up! Don't sleep! If you fall asleep, it will all be over..."
At this moment, Li Yuanzhao slowly opened his eyes, looking at him with an expression as if he were a fool.
"I'm not dead, why are you crying?"
"I thought... I thought it was you..."
Chen Yanqing's voice was still choked with sobs, "Your Highness, you have a fever! A very high fever!"
Li Yuanzhao raised his hand and pressed it against his temples, his tone flat, "I know."
"What should we do then?"
Chen Yanqing paced anxiously, his gaze sweeping over the simple environment inside the cave and then looking outside.
It was completely dark outside, and it had even started snowing. The temperature was also dropping lower and lower.
If the fire continues to burn, something bad will happen.
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