Chapter 26: The Oil Lamp in the Secret Room, the Princess Escapes
In the dim secret room, there was a master and servant with their hands tied.
The rain outside had not stopped, and the visibility was already limited. The only ventilation hole on the upper left side of the secret room did not let in much light.
There was no light in here, and no one's face could be seen clearly. One could only vaguely make out a figure leaning against the bed, and another lying leisurely on the ground, with his right leg crossed over his left, swaying from side to side from time to time, looking not at all panicked by being locked in a secret room and at the mercy of others.
"Your Highness..."
A low female voice sounded particularly clear in this silent place.
The man lying on the ground moved his head slightly, "What's wrong? Xiaoman?"
Xiaoman said worriedly, "Princess, are we just going to sit there and wait for death?"
"What else?" Xiao Qinggu said with a desperate look on his face, "Can you climb up to that vent? Or break down the door and kill the two guarding it? And finally take me away?"
Xiaoman: “…”
She was speechless because she really couldn't do that.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
The voice of the guard was faintly heard outside. Xiao Qinggu's eyes rolled around and were instantly filled with tears. He staggered to Xiaoman at a very fast speed and buried his head in her shoulder.
Xiaoman: “…”
Then Xiaoman also changed into a pitiful look, and kept whispering comfortingly: "It's okay, Princess, the Crown Prince is here, the Crown Prince is here..."
“Squeak—”
Mingshu bent down with his head down, holding the food box in his hand. He pushed the door open and took a step back. Xiao Qingji then walked in.
He held an oil lamp in his hand and placed it on the table, adding some light to the secret room.
"Fifth sister, come here, it's time to eat."
Xiao Qinggu pulled out his tear-stained face, which looked particularly funny under the light, "Second brother... Fifth sister knows she was wrong, and she will never dare to do it again..."
Mingshu silently took out the food from the lunch box one by one. Xiao Qingji walked forward, squatted down, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped Xiao Qinggu's face.
"Second brother, why aren't you speaking? Don't you believe fifth sister?" Xiao Qinggu's voice was sobbing.
Xiao Qingji smiled gently, the dim light from the fire in the room dancing on his face, making people inexplicably feel a bit of hypocrisy.
"Second brother naturally believes that Fifth Sister will definitely not run around outside in the future."
Xiao Qinggu sniffed the tiny bit of snot that he had managed to hold back and asked pitifully, "Really? Then why don't you let me go now, second brother?"
Xiao Qingji still smiled gently: "No."
Xiao Qinggu: “…” Such a stubborn man really doesn’t know what’s good for him.
Xiao Qingji helped Xiao Qinggu up, and the two of them walked to the table and sat down together.
"Come, these are your favorite foods, second brother will feed you."
Xiao Qinggu looked aggrieved and turned his head away, avoiding the chicken thigh in front of him. "Hmph, I won't eat it."
Seeing her insistence, Xiao Qingji put down his chopsticks and asked, "Why?"
"My second brother doesn't believe me and won't let me go." In fact, he was afraid of being poisoned to death after eating it.
Xiao Qingji patiently explained: "This is an order from our father, there is nothing we can do about it, brother."
Xiao Qinggu's eyes turned towards him, "Really?"
Xiao Qingji nodded. "Of course. When has my second brother ever lied to you? Do you think our father knows nothing? Why do you think you were safe and sound while running around all these years?"
Xiao Qinggu pursed his lips and said, "Okay then." With his father here, there shouldn't be any poison in the meal.
Mingshu, who was standing next to Xiaoman, lowered his head with an expressionless face.
The two siblings have finally finished their performance and can pack up and leave soon.
Xiao Qingji fed Xiao Qinggu mouthful by mouthful. Under the candlelight, he had a momentary illusion.
It really looks like it.
Since childhood, the Fifth Sister had loved the vast world outside the Imperial Palace. She had been away from Kyoto for most of the year, so the number of times they had met could be counted on one hand. All these years, he hadn't even noticed that she and she... looked so similar.
Xiao Qingji smiled bitterly in his heart. He could only say that she was indeed his own flesh and blood. He had someone protect her so well.
He was so cherished and loved by that person, even though he had been willing to go through fire and water for her since he was a child, he had never received anything more.
Xiao Qinggu didn't notice anything was wrong with him. When he saw Mingshu was about to take the oil lamp, he immediately stopped him and said, "Wait a minute! Leave this!"
Mingshu paused and looked at Xiao Qingji.
Xiao Qingji looked at this eccentric sister and pretended to be silent: "...Fifth sister is afraid of the dark?"
Xiao Qinggu nodded repeatedly.
"Why didn't Fifth Sister tell you before?"
Xiao Qingji has locked Xiao Qinggu up here for several days.
Xiao Qinggu looked aggrieved, "It's because my second brother was too scary before, so I didn't dare to say it..."
Xiao Qingji couldn't refute this.
When he was still in Kyoto, he accidentally learned about his sister's other identity. He was furious and had a quarrel with that person before coming to Luzhou City.
When he caught Xiao Qinggu, he saw that her face was extremely similar to that man, and his heart was twisted and furious. No matter how hard he tried to pretend to be like a normal person, it didn't work. The vicious look in her eyes was no different from that of someone who wanted to eat someone.
"Then stay."
Xiao Qingji knew very well what Xiao Qinggu wanted to do by leaving this candlelight, and he could not hide this little trick from him.
This is good, as he happened to be thinking about how to make this troublesome sister "escape".
Mingshu left the oil lamp, took the food box and followed Xiao Qingji away. The door of the secret room was closed again.
The secret room became quiet again, and Xiao Qinggu and Xiaoman looked at each other.
Xiaoman stood up unsteadily and pressed herself against the door to listen, then mouthed to Xiao Qinggu: "Walked away."
Xiao Qinggu nodded, stood up from the stool, stretched out his tied hands, and pretended to use the oil lamp to burn the finely crafted but tightly tied rope.
Xiaoman quickly ran over to hold her, and mouthed: [I’ll do it!]
Seeing that she insisted, Xiao Qinggu took a step aside.
The hemp rope tied around Xiaoman's wrists was very thick and a little prickly. She stretched out her hands and endured for a long time before the fire from the oil lamp burned the hemp rope.
She didn't care about her burned wrists and hurriedly untied the rope that had turned Xiao Qinggu's wrists purple.
"Your Highness, you have suffered."
Xiaoman's eyes were filled with heartache, but Xiao Qinggu simply lifted her wrist and put it to his mouth to blow on it.
"You've suffered a lot since you were a child following me. This is nothing."
Xiao Man was about to speak, but Xiao Qinggu interrupted her, "Stop talking nonsense, come and help me burn this secret room!"
Xiaoman was stunned at first, then reacted and nodded firmly.
After a stick of incense had passed, someone shouted, "Hurry up! There's a fire! There's a fire!"
Xiao Qingji stood in the corridor, looking calmly at the black smoke rising from not far away.
Mingshu stood aside, still expressionless.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Gao Zhu rushed over from where the black smoke was coming out, covered in dust and dirt, and bowed to Xiao Qingji.
"As you instructed, Her Royal Highness the Princess and the maid have already escaped during the chaos."
"Well, step back."
Gao Zhu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "So, you're not going to ask anyone to follow you?"
A prince and a princess, these two important figures are both in his Luzhou City. If anything happens to one of them, his head will be in danger! Not to mention that he had previously obeyed the prince's orders and locked the princess in a secret room for several days. The princess might remember this and return to Kyoto to complain to the emperor!
"Just pretend to follow for a bit." Xiao Qingji glanced at him sideways and smiled faintly. "I spent a lot of effort to capture this sister. Does the City Lord think that my fifth sister is a fool who can't even protect herself?"
"Or does the Lord City Lord have some talented individuals under his command who I don't know about, and who can track us without being seen?"
"No, no, no, I dare not, I dare not..."
The cold sweat on Gao Zhu's back was as cold as the gradually getting heavier rain, and he said goodbye and left in a hurry.
Xiao Qingji raised his head and stretched out his hand to catch the rain.
Mingshu reminded in a muffled voice: "Your Highness, be careful not to catch a cold."
Xiao Qingji snorted and laughed, "Do you think I'm that useless big brother? After my appearance was ruined, my body was also in tatters."
Mingshu fell silent and stopped talking.
"Mingshu."
"yes."
"Tell me, has she lied to me in any other way?"
Mingshu, still with his eyes downcast, answered the same question: "Your Highness, that person treated you very well."
Xiao Qingji remained silent as he watched the rain getting heavier.
After a long moment, he whispered, "Really?"
Mingshu lowered his head and responded, "Yes."
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