"How are you and Ajin?" I asked subconsciously, the sound of fierce fighting just now seemed to still linger in my ears.
He chuckled: "The bleeding won't stop and the pain is unbearable. Miss Mu, you owe us a huge favor!"
I was speechless for a moment and followed him out of the house. Birds were chirping all around and the ground under my feet was soft and wet. It seemed that we were in the mountains.
I was about to pull the fabric away when someone grabbed me and said, "Wait a minute."
"Why?"
"Will your benefactor harm you?"
I was speechless. I only heard Duan Xiao say to A Jin, "Stay here for a while. I'll be there later."
Thinking of the fierce look on Ajin's face when he drew his sword just now, it is hard to imagine that he is the same servant who carried the candied haws.
Today's kidnapping is still a bit confusing. The kidnappers are targeting Duan Sheng. Duan Xiao seemed to have just said "Big Brother." I tentatively asked, "Did you know they were originally planning to kidnap Princess Shengyang? Princess Shengyang might be in danger."
"I know," Ajin's voice was surprisingly calm. "I also participated in the kidnapping."
I subconsciously took a few steps back. The familiar voice outside the prison door instantly overlapped with the voice of Ah Jin in front of me. But he was silent and motionless, and I didn't dare to act rashly.
A moment later, Duan Xiao returned and snatched the black cloth from my eyes. The sudden burst of light made me feel a little uncomfortable, and I squinted my eyes to see the man in front of me clearly—he was wearing a common woodcutter's linen shirt, and his half-smile was tinged with water droplets.
Did I remember it wrong? Why did I remember him wearing a handsome black gown?
He threw another linen shirt to Ajin. I looked at Ajin cautiously. Ajin was wearing black clothes, and there were a few places that seemed to be wet and darker in color, but I knew it was not water.
He took the linen shirt and put it on, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Duan Xiao. There were gravels under his feet, and he banged his head on the sharp gravels without hesitation.
Duan Xiao leaned over and looked at him: "The reason."
"He once saved my life."
After saying that, he drew the sword from his waist, but Duan Xiao grabbed it with one hand: "No need."
Ah Jin struggled for a moment, but Duan Xiao still held him firmly: "You brought me here, and our merits and demerits offset each other. You don't owe me anything."
Ajin was stunned for a moment, only to see that his eyes were red and even watery.
Duan Xiao grasped his wrist with one hand and with the other, sheathed his sword back into the scabbard at Ajin's waist. "Go back and tell him I have no intention of fighting, but if he still harbors suspicions, I don't mind helping him realize his dream."
Ah Jin said nothing, and Duan Xiao let go of his hand: "Let's go."
Ah Jin pursed his lips, stood up, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times, his dark forehead flushed red. As he turned to leave, Duan Xiao suddenly called out to him, "Wait."
Without hesitation, Ah Jin turned around and walked up to Duan Xiao. Duan Xiao said calmly, "After meeting him, go to the gate of Pingchuan Town and find a soldier who is blind in his right eye. He will protect you."
Ah Jin's body froze, tears streaming down his dark face, his shoulders shaking from sobbing. Duan Xiao turned away from him and said to me standing beside him, "Miss Mu, are you enjoying the show? If you're satisfied, then go ahead."
I glanced at Ajin, who was still standing there with blood and tears on his face, and followed Duan Xiao.
"Thank you for today." The sunlight was dazzling and the mountain road was empty and deserted.
Gu Xiao was still holding a khaki cloth bag in his hand. He turned around and smiled at me: "Actually, you don't have to thank me."
Then he told me this story naturally as we walked: The eldest prince of Qixia sent people to capture Duan Sheng, and Duan Sheng happened to get into my carriage.
Then the group of people driving my carriage separated from the main group when the mountain road forked, and were chased by the guards. They found the overturned carriage and the unconscious Xiao Cui and Duan Sheng on the ridge of the field.
After Duan Sheng woke up, he quickly told Duan Xiao about this. Ah Jin, who had been away, suddenly came back and brought him here to save me. I guessed that this was probably another case of brothers fighting for the throne.
Duan Sheng and Duan Xiao have a good relationship, and the eldest prince wants to use this to get rid of Duan Sheng, firstly to intimidate Duan Xiao, and secondly, this incident happened in Song Hua Kingdom. If Duan Sheng gets into trouble, it will definitely be difficult for Duan Xiao to negotiate an alliance with Song Heng, thereby eliminating the king's love for Duan Xiao.
As for Ajin, he was saved by the king once. It was he who revealed Duan Sheng's whereabouts, but in the end it was also he who informed Duan Xiao.
Duan Xiao suddenly stopped and squinted at the bright sunlight: "Do you think I really need to be more restrained? Why does he always think I'm going to steal his things?"
I paused and said, "Just listening to what you said, I don't think so."
He turned to look at me and shook the cloth bag in his hand: "What do you mean?"
"To be truly recognized, you should prove your own strength instead of suppressing your opponent's limelight." I scratched my hair with my hands, trying to straighten out my messy hair.
He put away the cloth bag, looked at me for a moment, and suddenly threw his head back and laughed: "That's right, that's right."
I was taken aback by his reaction. He recovered and continued walking forward: "I've always believed this. Whenever there's a competition or training session between princes, I'll do my best to win first place. Since I can do it, why should I hide it?"
"But seeing how much trouble he's gone through today, inviting the Twelve Demons and plotting to instigate Ah Jin..." He paused, then laughed heartily, "Well, let's talk about it when we get back home."
We were at a fork in the road. He was about to turn right when he stopped. He looked at me with his peach blossom eyes and said casually, "Miss Mu, I'm not fighting for the throne, and you're not fighting for the queen position. Today is a rare opportunity. Let's just run off and wander around the world."
???
What's going on?
I paused. What he said made sense. Today was indeed a good opportunity to run away, but—
"I'm broke, how can I run away?"
"With me here, can't I still support you? It's no problem to make you fatter."
…
"Who needs you to support me? I still have my parents and my brother!"
"Then why did you run away afterwards? Besides, you didn't have much contact with them in the palace."
…
"I'm a concubine in the harem. If I run away today, I'm sure the soldiers will come to catch me!"
"This is a good opportunity to fake my own death. It won't be hard to find two disfigured bodies to carry back."
…
Yes, I was almost convinced by him, but in the end I still insisted -
"No, I absolutely can't do this without money. I still need to save money!"
"Then I'll go to the posthouse to get the money and then we can run."
"Why do you always ask me to run with you? If you want to run, run by yourself. I will definitely keep it a secret for you!"
He didn't say anything else, just smiled at me again, and then continued to walk to the right: "Let's go, let's go back to the palace."
I quickly followed him, and for a moment we both stopped talking. He walked in front, and I followed behind. The only sound in the mountains was the crisp sound of our feet stepping on gravel.
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