Xin Jiuwei felt a sharp pain in her back and turned to see Qi Huaiyu thrusting his sword at her with a contorted expression—while Xiao Xun stood in front of her, the sword piercing through his shoulder!
"Xiao Xun!"
Blood instantly stained his robes. Qi Huaiyu grinned maliciously as he drew his sword, intending to stab again, but was struck in the arm by a suddenly flying arrow. Xin Jiuwei turned her head and saw her sister Xin Xiyao and Qi Huaihe leading a group of men rushing into the hall; the arrow had been shot by Qi Huaihe.
"Wei'er!" Xin Xiyao rushed over, "Are you alright?"
Xin Jiuwei didn't have time to answer; she steadied the swaying Xiao Xun. Fresh blood gushed from his shoulder, mixing with the black blood from the previous poisoning, a horrifying sight.
"Why..." her voice trembled, "Why did you block that sword?"
Xiao Xun smiled weakly, "Because... I still have something to say." He struggled to take a jade pendant from his robes, "About my background..."
The jade pendant was engraved with unfamiliar characters, and on the back was a pattern of a blooming snow lotus—exactly the same as the century-old snow lotus in the Second Prince's residence.
"A token from the neighboring country's royal family..." Xiao Xun said breathlessly, "My father... was the former crown prince of that neighboring country. He secretly visited us years ago, along with my mother..."
Before he could finish speaking, another violent cough interrupted him. Xin Jiuwei frantically tore off a piece of her sleeve to bandage his wound, her mind reeling as if struck by lightning. Xiao Xun was not only her mother's child, but also of royal blood from a neighboring country? This meant...
"Capture them! Don't let a single one escape!" The Second Prince's roar came from afar. Although he was in a sorry state, he still led the remaining guards in a desperate resistance.
"There's no time." Xiao Xun grasped Xin Jiuwei's hand. "The bronze whistle has triggered the final mechanism; the envoy from the neighboring country should already be outside the city. They will..."
"I don't care about envoys!" Xin Jiuwei interrupted him, tears blurring her vision. "I only care that you're alive!"
These words seemed to drain all her strength. In both her past and present lives, she had never revealed her feelings so openly. Blood ties and social status were no longer important at this moment.
A glimmer of light flashed in Xiao Xun's eyes. He laboriously raised his hand to wipe away the tears on her face: "Silly girl... I won't die." Suddenly, he lowered his voice, "Xue Lian has actually been cured of the poison; the coughing up blood just now... was a pretense."
Xin Jiuwei's eyes widened. This liar! The pained expression on his face when he blocked the sword, and his current weakened state...
"Then why..."
"To lower the Second Prince's guard," Xiao Xun winked slyly, "and also to... hear you say that."
Xin Jiuwei was both angry and delighted, wanting to punch him but unwilling to touch his wound. At this moment, Xin Xiyao and Qi Huaihe had dealt with the surrounding guards and rushed over.
"Reinforcements have arrived!" Qi Huaihe pointed outside the hall. "They're the Emperor's men!"
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