Chapter 8: Who is more important, me or him?
Seeing the disappointment that flashed across Yang Yan's face, Tuoba Yuanli became even more cheerful: "Haha, that's really interesting. It seems that you really don't have a good relationship with this lady." After saying this, he pressed Chai Heng's hand and quickly moved the direction of the bow towards Yang Yan.
This time, the arrow was aimed right at his heart. Yang Yan did not answer, but his face turned slightly pale.
Chai Heng's breathing stagnated, and Tuoba Yuanli forcibly grasped her hand and suddenly began to pull the bow and arrow with force.
When a person is tied to a rack, he can dodge if the arrow is shot at other places, but if it is shot at the heart, there is no way to dodge it. At the critical moment, Chai Heng still used brute force to break free from Tuoba Yuanli's hand, causing the arrow to move suddenly downward.
The feathered tip of the arrow sank into the flesh, making a terrifying sound.
The arrow hit his left leg.
Yang Yan closed his eyes slightly, and his already pale complexion turned even paler. Blood flowed out of the wound.
Although Tuoba Yuanli failed to let the arrow shoot into Yang Yan's heart as he wished, killing him was not the goal. The most interesting thing was to torment these Qi people and watch them kill each other and become suspicious of each other. Having achieved his goal, Tuoba Yuanli laughed happily:
"Come here, release this gagged man and send him back to the cabin."
"As for Lord Yang, since your wife has abandoned you, you should sober up alone in the wild mountains."
He waved his hand, and several Western Rong soldiers hurried over to untie the ropes on the rack. They split into two groups, one to send Xu Jianxian away, and the other to carry the injured Yang Yan away.
Chai Heng breathed a sigh of relief when the bullet didn't hit her heart. She glanced worriedly in Yang Yan's direction and tried to leave, but was blocked by Tuoba Yuanli.
Tuoba Yuanli had been proficient in riding and shooting since childhood. In his entire life, he had never seen a woman from the Central Plains who could use a bow so well. For a moment, he became interested in the seemingly weak girl in front of him.
"Mrs. Yang, don't be in such a hurry to leave. I won't make things difficult for you. How about staying and playing a couple of rounds with me?"
His words seemed like a question, but since he was at the mercy of others, Chai Heng had no right to refuse. Although he was extremely reluctant, he could only smile dryly and say, "Okay."
…
After being released from Tuoba Yuanli's camp, Xu Jianxian's legs felt weak. He was tough in words but honest in body. After coming back, he drank several gulps of water, which calmed him down a little.
The Xirong people are so terrifying.
Ji Zhangqing had no idea when this would end, so he could only ask Xu Jianxian, "The imperial court is no longer willing to negotiate. Are they really going to send troops?"
"Prince Jing has already received the token. The army is now blocking the border. Whether to fight or not is just a matter of waving the flag."
Xu Jianxian arrived in Xirong somewhat late, after all. The emperor's decisions were unpredictable, but this time, he wasn't kidding. Peace talks had their advantages: avoiding war meant the treasury's surplus grain could last for several years, even if natural disasters were to occur. But winning a war also had its advantages: pinning the enemy to the ground and rubbing them hard would intimidate them completely, forcing them to stay quiet for twenty or thirty years.
Ji Changqing originally advocated peace, but this time he was completely defeated by Tuoba Yuanli. He felt that if there were real peace talks, it would not be a good thing to let these perverts of the Tuoba clan be so arrogant on the border. He was completely discouraged.
"beat!"
"I hope Prince Jing can remain as powerful as he was in the past!"
After saying this, he suddenly remembered that his other two companions were still in the hands of that pervert.
"Where are Chai Si and Lord Yang?"
Xu Jianxian: "Ah Heng was left behind to practice horseback archery with Tuoba Yuanli. Lord Yang was thrown into a wild mountain. Ah Heng will probably go find him later."
"ah?"
Ji Zhangqing asked anxiously, "Is Lord Yang seriously injured?"
Xu Jianxian thought for a moment and said, "He lost a lot of blood, but he shouldn't be dead."
With this sentence that he would not die, Ji Changqing felt a little relieved. When he raised his eyes, he caught a glimpse of two people walking unsteadily from a distance.
One was a very pretty girl, wearing a pink dress and a pearl hairpin in her hair. Although the dress was covered in dirt and the wooden box she was carrying was tattered, she looked like a daughter from a wealthy family.
The other one was a young warrior. He looked gentle and refined, but his eyes were filled with hostility and he looked very fierce.
Ji Changqing judged at a glance: Well, these two people are from Qi.
Before he could express his judgment, he saw Xu Jianxian coming forward: "General Chu, Miss Xue!"
…
The mountain road was dangerous. Chai Heng took a branch in his hand, pushed away the gravel and weeds blocking the way, held a lamp, and searched for the "injured person" all the way.
Tuoba Yuanli didn't make things too difficult for her this time. After a few rounds of competition, he actually let her go. Not only did he let her go, he was so happy that he sent a lot of goat milk and supplies to their cabin.
When Chai Heng first searched for Yang Yan, she relied solely on her voice. However, it was cold, and the air she breathed in was cold. After shouting twice, she decided to protect herself from becoming mute, so she continued to rely on her eyes. Fortunately, there were fresh bloodstains along the way. Chai Heng followed the bloodstains all the way forward, and finally found Yang Yan leaning against a huge rock at the entrance of a pitch-black cave.
Before she arrived, he had seen the protruding arrow as an eyesore and had simply pulled it out. The Xirong arrow was sharp, piercing into the bone. Yang Yan's actions had caused him to lose a lot of blood, and he didn't have the energy to bandage it anymore, so he simply closed his eyes and rested. By the time Chai Heng arrived, his cold and handsome face had long since lost some of its color, and the wound was still oozing blood.
"Why don't you wait for me inside?"
It was windy and cold outside. If it were her, she would have cleverly rolled herself into a ball and waited for rescue in the relatively warm cave.
To be fair, Yang Yan didn't wait for her for very long.
But for some reason, during the two hours that passed, many things flashed through his mind.
Firstly, he kept thinking about the sight of her legs when he opened her coffin after her death in his previous life. As always, he wondered how she had managed to return with a broken leg. Did she hate him when she returned? Did she really think he had set the trap, that he was going to cut off her limbs?
Secondly, he felt that if he stayed in the cave and she didn't see him after a rough search, she would turn around and leave. If she really left and gave up looking for him, he didn't know what excuse he could give her, so he simply stayed in the most conspicuous place and gave her a chance to find him.
At this moment, he had a lot to say, but out of all the words he wanted to say, he only had one sentence left: "I'm worried your eyesight is not good."
"Nonsense, even Tuoba Yuanli praised my good eyesight."
Chai Heng squatted down, holding the lantern in front of Yang Yan's leg to shine a light on it, while carefully examining it. Although she had never studied medicine, she had been caught in a trap in her past life, so she had some ability to tell whether his leg was broken or not.
However, the light was too dim, and the wind outside was too strong and cold. Chai Heng checked for a while and decided to go in and take a look.
"Get up and move into the cave." She patted him and motioned him to go in by himself.
"Give me a hand." He was still injured. If it were the old Chai Heng, she would have come to help him long ago. But now, he didn't say anything and she didn't move. This made him very unhappy, but he still opened his mouth to remind her.
Chai Heng's current principle towards this person is that if she wants and feels it is necessary, she can take the initiative to help him. But he can't speak shamelessly.
So she simply refused him: "Get up by yourself."
Earlier, when Xu Jianxian fell to the ground, she was able to help him up, but she couldn't do it with him? Yang Yan raised his eyelids and glanced at her, the mockery in his eyes was obvious, but he didn't show any intention of moving.
After all, he remembered that until now, she had not explained to him why she chose to aim the arrow at him instead of Xu Jianxian.
He looked at her quietly, waiting for an explanation and for her help.
Chai Heng met his gaze, confused as to what had gone wrong with him. She thought it was already quite generous of her to have come all the way to this small, wild mountain to find him; there was no point in trying to guess what he was thinking.
"Are you moving?"
"I'll count to three."
Chai Heng picked up the lamp on the ground again. She planned to count to three. If the man didn't move, she would turn around and leave.
However, he remained motionless until she actually counted to three.
Chai Heng: ...
No matter how good her temper was, it was almost worn out. She even began to admire herself, wondering how she had been able to stay with such a bastard for so long in her previous life.
She turned around and left, not wanting to care about him anymore. After taking two steps, she heard him rubbing the ring on his hand and asking:
"Am I some kind of monster? Why do you hate me so much now? Do you want to be like this with me for the rest of my life?"
There was suppressed anger in his words.
Chai Heng didn't think there was any life left between them.
That's what she thought and that's what she said.
"Where do we get our whole life? In a dream?"
Yang Yan didn't respond, but continued, this time his voice was calm but also a little tired:
"Are you aiming your arrow at me because you think Xu Jianxian is important, or is it simply because there's no tacit understanding between you two? Do you think he's so weak that he's doomed to die?"
In the empty woods, apart from the chirping of birds and animals, these words were the only sounds left.
This sentence actually has a deeper meaning. When she heard this sentence, Chai Heng subconsciously wanted to answer the latter, because the latter was her most instinctive reaction at the time.
But for some reason, when she heard him say that, for a moment, Chai Heng thought of herself many years ago. Every time he took action to protect Xue Ruyue, she actually wanted to ask him the same question.
She wanted to ask him, did he always help Xue Ruyue because he really thought Xue Ruyue was right, or was it simply because he liked her? But she never really asked this question, because she knew that once she asked this question, her self-esteem, which was already as low as dust, would be further lowered.
And at this moment, he actually asked such a similar question. She hadn't intended to retaliate against him, but he insisted on climbing up the ladder. Out of the little bit of bad intention in her heart, she didn't turn back, but just imitated his attitude in his previous life and said sarcastically: "Compared to Mr. Xu, you are not worthy."
"What did you say?" Yang Yan almost thought he had misheard.
Chai Heng repeated, "Compared to Mr. Xu, are you worthy?"
She rarely said such harsh words, and had only said it once in this life and her previous one. After saying it, although she felt that she had become very mean, she felt relieved at once.
Yang Yan never expected her to say that.
I didn't expect that she would dare to say that.
The ring on his hand was almost crushed by him.
For a moment, the last bit of rationality in his heart disappeared. He wanted to sneer and question her. He was just a merchant selling goods. Could his relationship with her really be that close? Had Xu Jianxian shared life and death with her? Had he shielded her from hidden arrows and enemy knives? Had he ever taken the beating in court for her?
I don't know who it was, but in the previous life, after he blocked so many hidden arrows and knives for her, she went to the temple with red eyes to ask for a copper coin bracelet for him. She stood by his bed, crying, and said that he would always be the most important person in her heart. Is this all bullshit?
But soon, he forced this emotion down and sneered back at her.
"Yes, I don't deserve it."
"So, compared to Xue Ruyue, you are not worthy." His eyes were deep and his mouth seemed to be filled with poison.
Chai Heng was unmoved by these words.
I just thought, it was all in vain that Ji Changqing said that his temper had improved. He couldn't pretend for more than two days, because his true face from his previous life was revealed.
But it doesn't matter, she has heard this too many times.
"If you don't deserve it, then don't. I hope you and Xue Ruyue will be together forever."
After saying this, she never looked back.
…
Chai Heng came back by herself. When she came back, Chu Yanhuai was busy building a new house with Xu Jianxian, and Xue Ruyue was sitting beside them passing them wood.
"Where's Lord Yang?"
Seeing her alone, Xu Jianxian put down the wood in his hand and walked over in surprise. "Did something happen to you on the way? Why didn't he come back with you? Are you injured anywhere?"
"No, he's still on the mountain." Chai Heng has been very tired every day since she came here. She didn't want to talk much at the moment. After saying this, she just wanted to go into the house and rest, so she didn't even look at Xue Ruyue and Chu Yanhuai, and went straight into the house.
Ji Zhangqing had just coaxed Little Thirteen to sleep when he saw Chai Heng, upon returning, lying down on the bed with a carefree attitude. He was also shocked. On the one hand, he was worried about Yang Yan; he was, after all, a colleague. On the other hand, seeing Chai Heng resting with her eyes closed, he didn't think she looked like she'd lost her husband. So, he privately concluded, Yang Yan must still be alive, but something had happened between them.
Thinking of this, he cautiously approached Chai Heng and asked, "Did you abandon Lord Yang?"
Chai Heng did not deny it.
He continued to test: "Did you have a fight?"
"Not really, I mocked him," Chai Heng said. In fact, he also mocked him back, but based on her understanding of Yang Yan, he should be more angry.
"Then where did you leave him?"
"On the west mountain." Chai Heng thought for a moment, then handed the lantern back to Ji Zhangqing. He sighed and said, "Go up from the entrance to the Tuoba camp on the west mountain and head south. There are bloodstains on the road. If you follow the road, you'll find him half-dead, leaning against a large rock in front of a cave. You can go there if you want to find him."
After a pause, she continued, "If you don't go, he can actually come back on his own. Yang Yan is better than you and me when it comes to finding his way back. He can find his way back on his own."
Ji Changqing took the lamp handed to him by Chai Heng: "Mr. Xu said that your arrow hit Yang Yan's leg. How can you come back with an injured leg?" He could imagine why Chai Heng didn't bring Yang Yan back. After all, his temper was not something that ordinary people could stand. Even the best-tempered people would always be unhappy sometimes, but it was unlikely that a person with a leg injury would come back by himself.
Chai Heng recalled his previous life. Even with a broken leg, he was still able to climb out of a big pit. The process was a bit difficult. It was also a bit difficult when he dragged his disabled leg back to the Marquis' Mansion, but didn't he still reach his destination in the end?
"Sure." She said firmly.
"How do you know?"
"Because I broke my leg once."
Ji Zhangqing was speechless for a moment: "How did it break?"
Chai Heng glanced at the man outside and smiled, "I overestimated my own abilities and tried to touch the person he was wholeheartedly protecting. He taught me a lesson."
The air suddenly became stagnant.
If such a thing had ever happened before, then he really deserved to be left behind.
Ji Zhangqing silently picked up the lamp and started walking. After taking two steps, Xue Ruyue came to meet him.
"Master Ji, are you going to look for Xingzhi? I'll go with you."
When Chai Heng came back just now, she actually wanted to ask where Yang Yan was. But because she and Chai Heng had always had a bad relationship, she didn't bother asking for trouble.
Seeing Ji Zhangqing coming out alone, she hurried to follow him. She was a doctor and carried a medicine box with her, so if the injuries were serious, she could help.
Ji Zhangqing hesitated for a moment. "Although Chai Si told me the route, I can't guarantee that nothing will happen along the way. Miss Xue, it's not that I don't want to take you with me, but neither of us is good at finding our way. I'm afraid of losing you and I can't bear the responsibility."
"How about this, Miss Xue, you stay here first. I'll go up the mountain alone. If Lord Yang is seriously injured, I'll ask you to treat him when I come back."
"But……"
Just as Xue Ruyue was about to say something else, she saw a familiar figure limping back from a distance.
His handsome face was completely drained of color, and he looked extremely embarrassed. He pursed his lips tightly, and his first words were: "Where's Chai Heng?"
Ji Zhangqing: "I came back a little earlier than you. I'm a little sleepy and sleeping."
Yang Yan stared at the closed door.
Could she really sleep peacefully after leaving him like this?
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