Chapter 108 Chapter 108 (revised, 1000 words added) ^^…
Emperor Jiaqing went crazy and paid no attention to what was happening around him. He raised his sword above his head with both hands and was about to chop down Li Xuanbai.
Although Li Xuanbai had martial arts skills, Chang Da was right below him, and he also held the title of Regent. He did not dare to kill the king no matter what, so he stood up and jumped aside.
Unexpectedly, as he stood up, a white light struck him in front of him, splitting the armrest of the chair in half: "Fuck!"
Half of the ministers on the ground were wailing and surrounding the mad emperor, while the other half were crying and surrounding Gu Huaijin in the middle.
Gu Huaijin covered his chest and breathed heavily, his hands tightly clutching the front of his shirt, his knuckles so tense that they were almost transparent.
Nan Qiong Shuang glanced at him, then looked away.
Although it was the backlash of his martial arts skills, he probably wouldn't die.
As for Li Xuanbai, if something really happened, there's no telling what kind of commotion the Regent's court officials would make. Chang Da saw it all and wondered what kind of rebellious thoughts they would harbor. Today's matter would be impossible to resolve.
She made a prompt decision and ran towards the mad emperor again. She saw that there was an empty space next to Emperor Jiaqing's feet, and there was a low table under her feet. She pretended to trip over her skirt and rushed forward.
The small table immediately slid to the feet of the Crazy Emperor.
Emperor Jiaqing was just about to raise his sword to strike again when he suddenly tripped and fell, bending over suddenly. He rolled over the small table, and the sword in his hand was embedded in the back of Li Xuanbai's chair and could not be pulled out.
Li Xuanbai barely dodged it, then stood up and leaped to her side.
The two exchanged glances in tacit understanding.
When he looked up again, he saw the Mad Emperor leaning on Li Xuanbai's chair, panting and trying to draw his sword.
Li Xuanbai looked at his struggling appearance and suddenly laughed.
Nan Qiongshuang was just worried that Emperor Jiaqing would draw his sword and attack again, when she suddenly heard him laugh. She looked at him with a horrified look:
"how?"
Li Xuanbai leaned over and looked at the Mad Emperor who was raising his leg and drawing his sword, and whispered in his ear:
"Look at his butt, it's so round."
Nan Qiong Shuang almost suspected that she was crazy because she heard such words. After a while, she was so angry that she almost fainted:
"Are you sick?!"
When she raised her eyes, she saw that Gu Huaijin had raised his head at some point, his back hunched and he was gasping for breath. The blood at the corner of his lips had not yet stopped flowing. His face, wrapped in black silk, was staring towards her.
She couldn't see his eyes, but at this moment, even if she was a fool, she knew he was looking at her.
The relentless gaze almost wrapped her up, strangled her, and hanged her.
He recognized her, he definitely recognized her.
She shuddered in her heart and instinctively hid behind Li Xuanbai. She turned her head and saw the Mad Emperor stumbling towards her with his sword in hand. Just as she was about to dodge to the side, her eyes suddenly blurred and with a "click", the Emperor Jiaqing's sword, which was shining with white light, was immediately pushed aside and slipped out of his hand.
She gasped in shock and took two steps back.
In front of her, Emperor Jiaqing suddenly lost his sword. Standing in front of her and Li Xuanbai, he felt dizzy and had a splitting headache, unable to react for a while.
Gu Huaijin stood opposite the three men, the long sword in his hand flashing with an astonishing green light. He cut off Emperor Jiaqing's sword with one stroke, but did not put the sword away. Instead, he smashed the sword hard to the ground, making a loud clang.
Floor tile fragments flew everywhere.
He shouted: "Have you had enough of this?"
She was yelled at so hard that she didn't even dare to breathe.
Before she could think of a way to reply, the Emperor Jiaqing in front of her suddenly yelled and grabbed his hair hysterically: "Mr. Lian also scolded me! Even you dare to scold me! Fine, fine--" He turned around, grasped the hilt of Li Xuanbai's sword, pulled out his sword in a swish, and raised it above his head towards Gu Huaijin, with a flash of sword light.
Nan Qiong Shuang was so frightened that she couldn't think of any more words: "Your Majesty!"
Li Xuanbai had already pulled her away.
She staggered two steps and looked back desperately. The beads on her hairpin were shaking in a mess. From between the beads, she watched Li Xuanbai's sword, which could cut through iron like mud, slash straight down towards Gu Huaijin's shoulder.
He didn't even try to avoid it.
She didn't dare to look and turned away.
Why is it like this again? It's either her or someone else. Why is this person being stabbed all day long?
Suddenly, I heard Li Xuanbai whistling.
Li Xuanbai smiled and said, "Okay, I have something."
She opened her eyes.
Emperor Jiaqing gnashed his teeth with anger, and the blood vessels on his head and hands bulged. He exerted so much force that even the tendons in his wrists were stretched and throbbing.
However, no matter how hard he tried, the murderous sword could not cut through and was stuck half an inch above Gu Huaijin's shoulder.
Gu Huaijin's face showed no sign of fluctuation, as if he didn't take it to heart at all. He said calmly:
"emperor."
Emperor Jiaqing swallowed.
Seeing that he was restrained by Gu Huaijin, the remaining ministers crawled over on their knees, some climbed up his legs, some hugged his feet, and clung to Emperor Jiaqing and howled.
The broken sword that had just been cut off by Gu Huaijin was kicked far away by the ministers.
Nan Qiongshuang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Turning around, she saw that Chang Da had already left without her knowing, and the entire hall was in a mess.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to this side, she whispered to Li Xuanbai:
"Let's go, I have something to say."
Look up again.
Gu Huaijin's face turned towards the two of them at some point.
She shuddered involuntarily.
How scary.
However, he turned his head back without saying a word or making any unnecessary movements.
Suddenly, all the ministers in the hall exclaimed in surprise.
Wang Maoxing burst into tears, "Your Majesty! How could Your Majesty hurt Mr. Gu! Your Majesty—!"
Emperor Jiaqing's sword chopped into his shoulder, the tip of the sword sank into his flesh, leaving only half of the sword body, reflecting the cold light.
Gu Huaijin lowered his head, without any emotion.
She was so shocked that she almost lost her voice.
Wasn't it blocked? How did it get hit again, and so deeply?!
Li Xuanbai urged her: "Aren't you leaving? Go ahead."
She pointed at the auspicious cloud pattern on her sleeve and winked, signaling him to go first.
Emperor Jiaqing was being held by his ministers by his legs and could not escape, but he refused to let go of the hilt of his sword no matter what.
Opposite him, Gu Huaijin didn't resist at all, letting the sword cut through his clothes and get stuck in his shoulder, as if he had no feeling.
She took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and walked forward step by step with trepidation.
Gu Huaijin was there, and she really didn't want to go near him. However, Emperor Jiaqing was a madman, and madmen couldn't be moved by words or controlled by people's minds, so they had to be forced.
She dug a little intoxicating incense with her fingernails, put it in the middle of the handkerchief, rubbed the handkerchief to spread the medicine evenly, and held it in her hand.
A hand gently covered the Jiaqing Emperor's stiff hand that was gripping the hilt of the sword:
"emperor."
Gu Huaijin slowly raised his head.
Her scalp tingled.
"Your Majesty, why are you doing this? Chang Da was scared away long ago, and the Regent was forced back by your sword. Mr. Gu has always been devoted to your Majesty. Now, is your Majesty going to ignore his own health and punish Mr. Gu?"
Gu Huaijin faced her, his vague gaze making her stomach twist in knots.
She took a handkerchief and carefully wiped the cold sweat off Emperor Jiaqing's face in front of him, forcing a smile and saying:
"Not only has Mr. Gu been injured, but Li Chang and his allies are eyeing him covetously. If his headache strikes again, there won't even be anyone to treat the Emperor. If he ends up ruining himself, wouldn't that be a loss for his loved ones and a joy for his enemies?"
Emperor Jiaqing was panting and sweat was dripping from his chin.
"Deyin..."
She forced a smile and wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose with a handkerchief.
Emperor Jiaqing rolled his eyes and suddenly fell down.
The man, who was already being pushed to the point where he could hardly stand due to the efforts of the ministers, suddenly collapsed.
She was startled and rushed forward to catch him, but the pressure from Emperor Jiaqing made her knees bend and she almost fell down.
A hand stretched up from her waist, and the palm was so big that it directly supported her lower back and held her steady.
Then, withdraw quietly.
Her heart rumbled loudly, her lower back felt so hot that she didn't dare to look down.
Gu Huaijin didn't react at all and his face was pale.
Her eyelashes trembled twice, and she turned Emperor Jiaqing to the guard beside her and said to Wang Rang:
"Eunuch Wang, summon the imperial physician to the Emperor and Mr. Gu. Send the Emperor back to the Purple Palace. Stop Mr. Gu's bleeding, and then invite him to come see the Emperor. I will remain in the Purple Palace to accompany him."
Gu Huaijin suddenly spoke:
"Gu's injury is not a big deal, the emperor's health is more important."
She frowned: "Sir, don't you want to bandage it?"
Gu Huaijin didn't say anything.
When she lowered her head, she saw that the ground was already dotted with bloodstains, trampled into a mess by everyone.
Today, there is only one person injured in this hall.
Still the one with the highest martial arts skills.
Did he do it on purpose?
She was so upset that she didn't want to care about it anymore. She didn't even bother to say anything and just walked away.
*
Gu Huaijin sat cross-legged behind Emperor Jiaqing, closing his eyes and practicing his skills.
Emperor Jiaqing was also sitting cross-legged, with silver needles stuck behind his head. The area under his eyes was very dark and blue. If Li Xuanbai were to describe it based on his mouth, he would probably say that he had "a beard growing under his eyes."
He slowly rubbed his palms together, his long hair floating with the energy in his body, raised his palms, and pushed towards the center of Emperor Jiaqing's back.
The air trembled. Even Nan Qiongshuang, sitting beside the dragon bed, felt her cheeks tremble slightly and tingle.
Is this his boundless inner skill? His martial arts skills have really improved greatly now.
Fortunately, her target wasn't him, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to kill him.
He waved his hand, and the eighteen silver needles that had pierced the back of Emperor Jiaqing's head retreated with a whoosh and hovered in the air.
Emperor Jiaqing twisted her hand and made a hissing sound.
She was nervous and glanced at Gu Huaijin's face.
He had no expression on his face.
There was an extremely strange silence.
She never dreamed that she, a psychological assassin, and her two targets would one day get to know each other.
Besides, both of them are crazy.
"Alright." He opened his palm and the silver needles flashed with light and flew into his palm one by one. "Is your Majesty feeling better?"
"Much easier." Emperor Jiaqing opened his mouth slightly, staring at a lamp on the ceiling of the hall, his eyes blurry with pain. "However, sir... I have been feeling a tightness in my chest lately. Could you please give me acupuncture for a while longer?"
The silver needles were removed and Emperor Jiaqing fell limply. Nan Qiongshuang, who was sitting beside the couch, leaned over and carefully placed Emperor Jiaqing's head on the pillow.
Gu Huaijin waited for her in silence.
For some reason, the calmer he was, the more uneasy she became, especially when he was blindfolded and facing her with no expression, she felt uncomfortable all over.
It's so close, how can it be so scary?
The smell of blood in the air became thicker and thicker.
Blood soaked his wide black collar, and one drop after another dripped down the hem, shattering onto the ground.
Even though he's in this state, he still doesn't treat his injuries.
She tilted her head.
"My Lady."
She was so distracted that she didn't notice it.
"My Lady." He raised his voice a little.
She shuddered: "What?"
"His Majesty is calling you."
Emperor Jiaqing's sweaty hands grasped hers and rubbed them twice. "Deyin, I feel dizzy and need to take a nap. But there is something I need to tell you first."
She forced herself not to think about the sweat on Emperor Jiaqing's hand and leaned forward with a forced smile: "Your Majesty?"
"You've always... understood me best." He panted, his chest rising and falling with difficulty. Every word was so weak that it sounded like a dream. "I'm sick. Now, with the wind and rain blowing and the tigers and wolves lurking around, I don't know how much longer I can hold on."
Nan Qiongshuang was confused. The tone sounded as if he was leaving a last will.
She squeezed out a few tears and kept them under her eyes: "Your Majesty, you are not allowed to say such words. Mr. Gu is here..." She glanced at Gu Huaijin, and her heart was momentarily uneasy. "No one can take the throne of the emperor, so just focus on recuperating."
Gu Huaijin seemed to sneer for a moment.
"Recuperate... It's still hard to say how long it will take." Emperor Jiaqing took a long breath and slowly exhaled, "So, Deyin, come here."
She had no choice but to hold her breath and put her ear close to him.
Emperor Jiaqing's dry and cracked lips opened and closed with difficulty.
She frowned and asked, "What?"
Emperor Jiaqing was dying, his lips moved twice, and with a trace of crystal tears in his eyes, he looked at her hopefully.
She still didn't understand.
"The Emperor said," Gu Huaijin said briefly, "Liubo."
Emperor Jiaqing's face suddenly broke into a smile. He closed his eyes contentedly, snuggled into the brocade quilt, and fell asleep.
She sat up and faced him in disbelief.
Now, whenever she looked at him for a moment, her heart would be tormented and her whole body would go numb.
"Liubo, a type of chess."
His tone was surprisingly calm, and she had no idea what was going on with him.
Hadn't he already recognized her identity? Otherwise, why would he have blocked her by the lotus pond, watched her cultivation suddenly backfire, and inexplicably tested her with that dream?
If I knew who she was...
His reaction was so weird.
If he hated her, why would he save her from the Mad Emperor's sword, and why didn't he just kill her directly.
If he loved her, how could he, a jealous man, tolerate the fact that she and Emperor Jiaqing had been in love for such a long time?
Even—she looked up at him.
Gu Huaijin looked at her and Emperor Jiaqing's hands holding each other with a gentle smile.
"Liubo is a popular sport in Qinghe. Your Highness is from Qinghe, how could you possibly have never heard of Liubo?"
She was stunned for a moment.
"That's right. I heard that the queen was lost when she was young and only returned to her family in recent years. It's understandable that she didn't know."
She looked at his overly calm face and became more and more confused about what he was thinking.
This man is now dressed in black, like a pool of deep water with no bottom in sight, completely dark.
"Your Majesty has chest tightness and needs acupuncture. Needles need to be inserted into the chest." His voice was calm. "Gu is blind. Please, Your Majesty, help the Majesty undress."
The wind outside the Purple Palace blew for a while, blowing in through the window lattices and shaking the bright lights above.
Want her to undress Emperor Jiaqing?
Could it be that he really couldn't see it and didn't recognize it?
But……
She said, "Sir, you can see the seat, but not the clothes?"
"In the acupoints, there is the flow of Qi. Clothes are inert matter."
She was skeptical.
However, if Gu Huaijin recognized her, he would not tolerate her undressing for another man.
She hesitated for a while, lowered her head, and unbuttoned Emperor Jiaqing's dragon robe one by one.
Lift up the sides to reveal a large area of chest.
Naked man's chest.
Her heart almost jumped out of her chest as he stared at her in silence.
He didn't react at all. "Gu is guarding this place. Your Majesty is frightened again. Please go back."
She felt uneasy and thought for a moment.
It was so easy to let her go.
Perhaps he really didn't recognize her.
But what happened to those things before?
Drops of blood dripped onto the floor tiles, making a muffled sound.
She just remembered and looked back, even his fair arm, which was beginning to practice his energy again, was bleeding glaringly, a scarlet color.
He didn't care at all.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"The master is still bleeding. Yuanxiang, Qinglian," she turned around and ordered, "go and call the imperial physician for the master."
He woke up as if from a dream, raised his elbow calmly to look at it, and then used acupuncture again. Eighteen silver needles whooshed into Emperor Jiaqing's chest.
"Gu is injured, and your Majesty is concerned?"
His tone was light, as if he was asking casually.
She didn't answer.
After a long while, she said, "I'm afraid the blood will disrupt the dragon's energy."
Gu Huaijin smiled.
"My Lady," he called softly, "could you please lend me a handkerchief to wipe the blood?"
If he really didn't recognize her, there was nothing wrong with that.
She took out a handkerchief that had not been touched by the intoxicating fragrance from her sleeve and handed it out.
Gu Huaijin stretched out his hand and groped around in the air for a while, and his slender bamboo-like hand touched her fingers.
Her heart suddenly shook.
But he didn't step away. Instead, he touched the edge of her palm. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, his five fingers gently brushed across her fingers.
Linger for a moment, then withdraw in an instant.
She felt as if she was electrocuted, and suddenly turned her head to look at Qinglian and Yuanxiang.
Qinglian and Yuanxiang had just passed the message outside and turned around and walked back.
No one noticed.
The two maids came back and reported: "Eunuch Wang has sent someone to invite them."
She breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing what she was nervous about.
She nodded and was about to leave, but when she looked up, she saw Gu Huaijin, without any emotion, stroking the place where his hand had just touched her.
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