Chapter 741 If I were not the crown prince, would you... choose me?
"What is that?" Gu Qingchen lowered his voice very low.
Zhao Chen'an didn't answer. He stuck the torch in the crack of the stone, his eyes fixed on the dim light, and said in a deep voice, "Stay here and don't move."
After saying that, he took a deep breath and dived into the icy deep pool.
"You're crazy!" Gu Qingchen exclaimed and rushed to the edge of the pool.
The cold water instantly swallowed his figure, leaving only ripples spreading outward.
Gu Qingchen's heart suddenly rose to her throat. She lay on the rocks beside the pool, looking down anxiously.
The water surface soon returned to calm, with only the flames dancing on it. Nothing could be seen clearly underwater.
Just when she almost thought that he had an accident, there was a "splash" and the surface of the water was suddenly broken.
Zhao Chenan's figure emerged from the water. He was gasping violently, his face looked a little pale in the firelight, and his black hair was wet and stuck to his forehead.
He swam hard to the shore, supported himself on the rock with one hand, threw something at Gu Qingchen's feet, then turned over and climbed up, his whole body dripping with water.
Gu Qingchen's attention was immediately attracted by that thing.
It was something wrapped in some kind of shark silk, and it felt slightly cool to the touch. It was this material, as thin as a cicada's wing, that emitted a faint light in the water.
Zhao Chenan didn't bother to wipe the water droplets off his body. He took the thing and quickly untied the shark silk on the outside.
When the contents inside were completely exposed to the firelight, Gu Qingchen's breathing suddenly stopped.
It was a tiger talisman made entirely of black iron, with a simple shape and intricate cloud patterns carved on it.
"This is..." Gu Qingchen's pupils suddenly contracted, "The military token of the previous dynasty!"
Zhao Chenan's face instantly turned so gloomy that water seemed to drip out of it.
He turned the military token over and saw two seal characters clearly engraved on the back - "Xuanjia".
The Black Armor Army was the most elite and mysterious army of the previous dynasty. It was said that it had long since disappeared with the fall of the last emperor.
But how could its military token appear in the royal hunting grounds of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and be hidden at the bottom of such a secret deep pool?
Zhao Chenan raised his head, his eyes like lightning, and looked at Gu Qingchen, "What happened today, and the military token here, are not allowed to be mentioned to anyone outside this cave, not even a word."
His eyes were more serious than ever before; this was no longer just a grudge between the two of them.
Gu Qingchen was not someone who didn't know the seriousness of the matter, so she nodded heavily.
Zhao Chen'an wrapped the military amulet in the shark silk again and hid it in his arms. He glanced at the bottomless pool and said in a deep voice, "I need to go down again to see if there is anything else down there."
"Don't go!" Gu Qingchen subconsciously stopped him, "It's too dangerous."
Zhao Chenan looked at her deeply, his eyes were complicated and difficult to read. In the end, he just shook his head and dived into the water again.
This time, the wait was longer.
The fire in the cave crackled, and after the great shock and tension, there was endless fatigue and cold.
Gu Qingchen hugged his knees, leaned against the cold stone wall, and stared blankly at the dancing flames.
After an unknown amount of time, a robe with a warm and dry scent was gently draped over her shoulders.
Gu Qingchen's body suddenly stiffened, and he subconsciously tried to pull it off.
But the outer robe carried the fresh scent of ambergris belonging to Zhao Chenan, mixed with the warmth of the firewood, which dispelled some of the coldness from her body.
She raised her head and saw that Zhao Chenan had come out of the water at some point and was sitting on the other side of the fire, silently warming his wet underwear.
He seemed not to notice her movements, but was staring intently at the flames.
Gu Qingchen curled his fingers, but ultimately did not push away the outer robe.
She pulled her clothes and wrapped herself tighter, but her tense shoulders relaxed slightly without her even noticing.
The cave was so quiet for a moment that the only sounds were the crackling of sparks and dripping water.
In the flickering firelight, Zhao Chen'an's eyes fell on her arm. He frowned, "You are injured."
Gu Qingchen followed his gaze and found that there was a cut on his arm caused by the cliff wall. It was not deep, but it had turned white after being soaked in cold water.
"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious." She said nonchalantly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Chenan stood up, walked a few steps to her, and pulled her arm without saying a word.
"What are you doing!" Gu Qingchen wanted to break free, but his wrist was held by his warm big hand and he couldn't move.
"Don't move." His voice was low and magnetic, and it was particularly clear in the empty cave. "It will be contagious."
He took out an exquisite white jade bottle from his arms, which was the royal medicine for wounds.
Zhao Chenan pulled out the cork, poured out some medicine powder, rubbed her skin with his warm fingertips, and carefully applied the medicine to her.
Gu Qingchen's heart skipped a beat. She could clearly feel the calluses on his fingertips brushing against her skin.
She turned her face away in embarrassment, not daring to look into his eyes, but her heart was in a turmoil.
After applying the medicine, Zhao Chenan did not let go immediately.
He still held her slender wrist, the firelight dancing in his deep eyes, and the usual calculation and majesty seemed a little soft.
"Qingchen, if...if I wasn't the crown prince, would you... choose me?"
Gu Qingchen's brain buzzed.
How should she answer this question?
Say no? Wouldn't that be too hurtful?
Say yes?
Just when she was in a state of confusion, her lips moved but she couldn't say a word.
Suddenly, a vague sound came from the depths of the dark corridor from which they came.
The expressions on their faces changed at the same time!
Zhao Chenan's hand around her wrist suddenly tightened, then quickly released it.
He stood up in an instant, and that brief warmth and fragility disappeared without a trace.
He grabbed the torch stuck in the crevice of the rock and protected Gu Qingchen in front of him.
"who?"
Deep in the dark corridor, something seemed to be approaching.
Gu Qingchen also held his breath, his heart beating like a drum, and subconsciously shrank behind him.
The footsteps came closer and closer, becoming clearer and clearer, and there was more than one person.
"Qingchen!"
"Qingchen! Are you in there?"
"It's Daddy!" Gu Qingchen's eyes were hot.
Before he finished speaking, a fire broke out at the corner of the corridor, and a team of imperial guards holding torches walked out quickly.
The leader was tall and straight, dressed in a dark suit. He was none other than the Duke of Zhenguo, Gu Junze.
When he saw his daughter safe and sound beside the fire, a trace of excitement and fear that was hard to conceal appeared on his face which had been frozen for many years.
"Qingchen!"
Gu Junze rushed over in two steps. He didn't even look at the prince next to him. All his attention was on his daughter.
He grabbed Gu Qingchen's shoulders and looked her up and down. When he saw the bandage on her arm, his eyes suddenly tightened.
"Are you hurt?"
"Dad, I'm fine." Gu Qingchen shook his head. Seeing his father's bloodshot eyes, his heart ached. "It's just a minor injury. It's nothing serious."
Holding my father's broad and warm hands, all my fears and grievances found an outlet at this moment.
She was no longer the Miss Gu who confronted the prince with bared fangs and claws, but just a frightened daughter who finally saw her relatives.
Gu Junze finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was fine.
He turned around and his eyes fell on Zhao Chen'an, who was also in a mess, and his expression returned to the respect and aloofness that a subject should have.
"Your Majesty, I am late in coming to your rescue. Please forgive me."
Zhao Chen'an shook his head. He glanced at the imperial guards behind Gu Junze and said in a deep voice, "My Lord, please stand up. This is not the place to talk."
Gu Junze nodded. His sharp eyes, honed on the battlefield, swept across the hidden cave and he had already made a judgment in his mind.
"Yingqing," he ordered without turning his head, "You and your men must guard the cave entrance. No one is allowed to approach."
"yes!"
After the strangers left, only the three of them were left by the empty lake.
Zhao Chenan no longer hesitated. He met Gu Junze's scrutinizing gaze and took out the thing wrapped in shark silk from his arms.
"My Lord, after Qingchen and I fell off the cliff, we accidentally discovered this object at the bottom of the pool."
He handed the thing over.
Gu Junze took it and held it slightly heavy in his hand.
When he untied the glowing silk, he saw the ancient black iron tiger talisman inside.
"Black Armor."
He finally understood why the assassination attempt on the prince was chosen at the Xiyuan Hunting Ground and why they were forced onto this cliff.
It turns out that the real goal is this.
Gu Junze glanced at his bewildered daughter, then glanced at the solemn-looking Crown Prince. This incident had far exceeded their imagination.
He acted decisively and gave a solemn order to Lieutenant General Li, who had just retreated: "Yingqing, send Qingchen back to the camp immediately and keep her under strict supervision. Before I return, she is not allowed to see anyone and is not allowed to step out of the tent!"
"Daddy?" Gu Qingchen was stunned. "I won't leave. What on earth is this?"
"Go back!" Gu Junze's voice suddenly rose, "This is not something you should know!"
He had never spoken to her in such a harsh tone.
Gu Qingchen was shocked by the solemnity and determination in his eyes, and the rest of his words were stuck in his throat.
Ying Qing stepped forward and said, "Be obedient, let's go back first."
Gu Qingchen looked at his father's cold profile, then looked at the silent Zhao Chenan. Even though he had thousands of questions in his mind, he could only swallow them.
She knew that her father was doing this to protect her.
She took one last deep look at the tiger talisman in Gu Junze's hand, turned around and followed Uncle Ying into the dark corridor they came from.
The footsteps gradually faded away until they could no longer be heard.
In the huge underground space, the only sounds were the crackling of burning torches and the clear sound of dripping water.
Gu Junze turned around and stared at Zhao Chenan with his eagle eyes.
"Your Highness," he lowered his voice very low, "besides the three of us, who else knows about this?"
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