Chapter 520 Jiaojiao's Fury (First Update)
On the other side, the silver-foxed man went to find Gu Jiao with a murderous aura. The patrolling soldiers were so frightened by his imposing presence that they didn't even dare to salute him.
It's no wonder the silver fox man was so angry. He was smart all his life but made a foolish mistake and suffered such a big setback at the hands of a brat!
He was unwilling to admit his stupidity, nor did he want to regret what would have happened if he hadn't been so stubborn and had listened to his uncle instead.
But there are no "what ifs" in this world, only consequences and results.
He couldn't deceive himself; he regretted it so much that he wished he had never met that Zhao soldier!
If he were given another chance, he would kill him without hesitation!
It's too late to kill him now, but he has nowhere to vent his anger, so he has to do something!
To the silver fox man's surprise, when he kicked open Gu Jiao's door, he found an empty room waiting for him.
Where are they?
"Medical officer!"
There was no physician.
"My lord!" A soldier patrolling nearby came over at the sound and bowed to the silver-foxed man.
The silver-foxed man pointed towards the house and said coldly, "Where did the people inside go?"
The soldier said with a strange look, "Are you asking about Physician Tong, sir? Didn't you send Physician Tong to treat the princess?"
"When will I..." The silver-foxed man hesitated, then looked deeply at the empty house. As if remembering something, his expression changed, and he pushed past the soldier and strode towards his courtyard!
As he approached the courtyard, he heard a commotion, and then he saw thick smoke billowing and flames raging in the distance.
"Quickly! Water!"
A corporal directed his soldiers to run around fetching water, and the scene was in complete chaos.
The silver-foxed man grabbed a soldier who was fetching water and demanded sternly, "What happened?"
The soldier exclaimed in alarm, "Sir! Your yard is on fire!"
His yard?
The silver-foxed man's expression changed again, and he abandoned his soldiers and rushed over.
The fire started inside his study. At first, the soldiers didn't notice it, but by the time it spread outside, the fire had grown quite large. Almost all the documents and important items in the study were burned to ashes.
Jade disc.
Their imperial jade tablets from the Dali Dynasty!
That's their Huangfu family's genealogy!
Every descendant of the royal family is recorded on a jade tablet, which is the only way to trace their identity!
Without the jade tablet, who knows what descendants the Huangfu family has left, and who knows what kind of person Huangfu Zheng is from the previous dynasty's royal family!
The Imperial Seal of the State can be found if it is lost, and it can be made if it is damaged. However, once the genealogy of the royal family, which has been passed down for hundreds of years, is lost, it can never be recovered.
This fire burned not only the jade tablets of the Dali Dynasty, but also the fate of the Huangfu family.
The Huangfu family's fate has run its course...
Huangfu Zheng stared in disbelief at the raging fire that seemed to have consumed the Huangfu family's destiny, his heart churning with rage!
His body gradually became unsteady.
He refused to accept the thought that flashed through his mind! His hand holding the sword began to tremble slightly!
"Is the princess alright?" he asked the soldier beside him, forcing himself to remain silent.
The soldier said, "The princess has gone out."
Huangfu Zheng frowned and asked, "What do you mean by 'went out'?"
The soldier replied, "The princess said she wanted to go for a walk."
Huangfuzheng never restricted Princess Ning'an's freedom to leave the courtyard; as long as she was on the mountain, she could move around freely.
But she didn't leave the house for the past few days, yet she went out today?
Huangfu Zheng then remembered that Princess Ning'an had summoned Physician Tong to treat her illness. He rushed over because he felt something was amiss, but when he saw the fire, he completely forgot about the important matter.
No, the real problem is that the fire burned the jade disc.
But since it's already burning, how could he possibly retrieve the ashes of the jade disc and piece it back together?
Huangfu Zheng went to Ning An's room. Everything seemed unchanged, but a closer look revealed that Princess Ning An's token was missing, as were the snacks and dry rations on the table.
Huangfu Zheng narrowed his eyes coldly. Ning An, you'd better not betray me!
In the woods behind the mountain, Princess Ning'an, wearing a sable cloak, slipped and fell heavily.
"Princess!" Lian'er quickly helped her up.
Princess Ning'an shook her head: "I'm fine."
There were four of them: Princess Ning'an, Lian'er, Physician Tong, and Gu Jiao.
All four wore masks and braved the biting cold wind as they traversed the forest behind the mountain.
Princess Ning'an is not as delicate as the rumors in the capital suggest, at least not now.
She has lived in the harsh border region for so many years, often mingling with the herdsmen. She has herded sheep, farmed, and done dirty and tiring work. Her hands are no longer the delicate hands of someone who has lived a life of luxury, and her face has lost its fair and radiant skin due to the frost and sun exposure.
But she still possessed a noble air of royalty.
"ah!"
Princess Ning'an tripped and fell again.
Soon after, Physician Tong also tripped and fell.
There was nothing we could do; the snow was too deep.
"Princess! Let me carry you on my back!" Lian'er said with heartache.
Princess Ning'an waved her hand: "You can't carry me, I'm too heavy."
As she spoke, she glanced back at the path she had come from.
Even though it was night, the entire back mountain was still very bright due to the moonlight reflected off the snow, and their mottled footprints were all over the ground.
"Hurry up, they'll catch up soon!"
Princess Ning'an said, panting.
Gu Jiao paused, then asked Princess Ning'an, "Where is the secret passage?"
Princess Ning'an raised her slightly sore hand and pointed behind the woods: "Beyond this woods, there is an ancient well, and below the well is a secret passage... if I remember correctly."
The last sentence made Physician Tong's eyelids twitch: "Princess, what do you mean 'if you're not mistaken'? Do you know about the secret passage or not?"
Princess Ning'an said with difficulty, "I only saw the blueprints for the secret passage in the study, and I vaguely remember them..."
"Ah..." Physician Tong was speechless.
If this is a mistake, and they are left with no way out, wouldn't they die an even more tragic death?
"Let's go," Gu Jiao said.
Doctor Tong gritted his teeth and followed.
Now that we've escaped, there's no going back.
Lian'er and Physician Tong helped Princess Ning'an, while Gu Jiao, holding a red-tasseled spear, tried to maintain a safe distance from the others.
They walked through the woods and came to the vicinity of the ancient well.
The ancient well was covered by a thick layer of snow, and it took the group a long time to find the well cover.
"It's locked!" Physician Tong said in despair.
Gu Jiao extended her red-tasseled spear, raised her hand, and easily broke the lock.
The dumbfounded physician, Tong, was speechless.
Gu Jiao lit a tinderbox and threw it into the ancient well, using the firelight to see the scene on the well walls and at the bottom.
A rope ladder was hanging on the well wall, and the bottom of the well was empty; no danger was found at the moment.
"I'll go down first."
Gu Jiao said.
"Be careful!" Princess Ning'an warned her.
"Hmm." Gu Jiao turned around, nodded slightly, and leaped into the well with her red-tasseled spear in hand.
The group was surprised to see that she jumped down directly without using a rope ladder.
Gu Jiao picked up the tinderbox, looked around, and said, "There's a passage down there. I haven't found any danger yet. You can come down."
"Princess, please go down first," Lian'er said.
Princess Ning'an nodded and slowly descended the rope ladder to the bottom of the well.
Next up was Lian'er.
She was carrying a bundle on her back and almost got stuck at the well opening.
"Put your bundle down," Gu Jiao said to her.
"Alright, Brother Gu, you caught it!" Lian'er tossed the bundle to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao caught it without hesitation.
Lian'er carefully climbed down.
After regaining her balance, she looked up at the well opening and said, "Doctor Tong, you should come down quickly too!"
Doctor Tong had one foot over the well opening, but the other foot hesitated to move: "I...I...I'm afraid of heights..."
"It's not high! There's a ladder!" Lian'er said.
The physician trembled, almost crying with fear: "No, I really can't do it..."
Just then, a soldier's stern shout came from not far away: "Sir! They're over there!"
Doctor Tong quickly put his leg in and scurried down the ladder!
Everyone: "..."
Gu Jiao handed the tinder to Physician Tong, then quickly climbed up to the well and put the well cover on. The well cover originally had a built-in mechanism; Gu Jiao turned the iron rod under the well cover, and the well cover locked from the inside.
She jumped down and said to the group, "Let's go!"
The group entered the secret passage.
The secret passage was pitch black. At first, Gu Jiao could use a tinderbox, but after walking for a while, the tinderbox stopped working.
"Lian'er, bring out the luminous pearl!" Princess Ning'an said to Lian'er.
"Okay!" Lian'er took out a luminous pearl larger than her fist from her bundle.
Gu Jiao had never seen such a large luminous pearl before, and found it quite novel.
Princess Ning'an lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly: "It was a gift from my mother on my birthday."
Gu Jiao didn't know what Princess Ning'an felt when she mentioned her great-aunt again. Her great-aunt had tried every means to stop the marriage, but Princess Ning'an was blinded by love and was determined to marry the prince consort. What she got in return was a scheme and betrayal.
"I wonder if Mother still wants to see me."
"I did," Gu Jiao said.
My aunt has never forgotten Princess Ning'an.
Princess Ning'an's eyes welled up with tears, but she held them back.
The echoes from the secret passage were loud; Gu Jiao could hear them pry open the well cover and rush after them like a torrent.
Apart from Gu Jiao, the other three could not walk fast, and they were eventually caught up in a huge cave.
One end of the cave connects to the secret passage from which we came, while the other end is a suspension bridge hanging on a cliff.
Moonlight and the glow of snow on the cliff face slowly streamed into the cave, illuminating it.
Gu Jiao tossed the small basket to Doctor Tong, stood in front of the three of them, and coldly looked at the pursuers surging into the cave: "You go first."
"No one is allowed to leave today!"
Huangfu Zheng's voice came from behind the army.
The soldiers inside the cave immediately parted to make way for them.
Huangfu Zheng walked over with an icy expression, his gaze falling on Gu Jiao. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "I underestimated you. You have both an epidemic and frostbite, yet you still have the energy to cause trouble!"
"An epidemic?" Lian'er looked at Gu Jiao in disbelief.
Physician Tong also looked over in shock.
Huangfu Zheng took in the expressions of the two men and then turned his gaze to Princess Ning'an's expressionless face.
Princess Ning'an didn't look at him, as if she wouldn't even give him a glance anymore.
Huangfu Zheng clenched his fingers: "It seems you don't know yet, she is infected with the plague, she brought the plague here, she is about to die, if you follow her to escape, you will be infected by her sooner or later and die of the plague."
Lian'er was so frightened that she moved closer to Princess Ning'an.
Physician Tong stared blankly at Gu Jiao: "You...the medicine you gave me...was it for treating the epidemic?"
Huangfu Zheng frowned. He looked at Gu Jiao, who was now able to move freely, and then at Doctor Tong, who showed no signs of illness. In a daze, he realized something!
He exclaimed excitedly, "You have the medicine to cure the epidemic!"
"Even if I had it, I wouldn't give it to you," Gu Jiao said in a deep voice.
She deliberately lowered her voice, and with an iron mask in between, it sounded like an androgynous boy's voice at first glance.
Huangfu Zheng laughed three times: "Heaven has not forsaken me!"
No one knew what Huangfuzheng's emotions were at that moment. He originally thought he was going to die, but this kid actually had medicine in his hand!
It is a medicine that can truly cure the plague!
He and his uncle are saved!
Gu Jiao carried nothing with her, while Doctor Tong carried his own medicine box and held Gu Jiao's small basket on his back.
Huangfu Zheng coldly curled the corners of his lips: "Leave this kid to me, you guys go and stop them!"
"yes!"
His deep gaze fell upon Princess Ning'an: "Be careful not to hurt the princess!"
"yes!"
The soldiers swarmed forward.
Gu Jiao swung her red-tasseled spear, and Huangfu Zheng leaped up to engage her in combat.
Huangfu Zheng sneered, "Boy, I'm the one who saved you. If it weren't for me, you would have frozen to death in the snow long ago! Instead of being grateful, you repay kindness with enmity, harming me and my uncle, and even trying to kidnap the princess!"
"It's not kidnapping, it's rescue." Gu Jiao slashed down with her spear!
Huangfu Zheng raised his sword to defend, and the two forces fought each other in the cave, creating another battlefield!
Huangfu Zheng sneered: "Kid, you're no match for me!"
Gu Jiao was still ill, and her strength was indeed diminished, but Huangfu Zheng had contracted the plague, so he wasn't much stronger than Gu Jiao.
When Gu Jiao thrust her spear at Huangfu Zheng again, Huangfu Zheng was unable to block it and his longsword was severed in two!
Gu Jiao's red-tasseled spear suddenly pierced through his shoulder!
Gu Jiao then kicked him, sending him flying to the ground!
Huangfu Zheng immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
He didn't expect this kid to be such a good fighter!
No wonder he was able to kill Sirius!
To be fair, Gu Jiao's martial arts skills are indeed inferior to Huangfu Zheng's, but Gu Jiao is fearless, would Huangfu Zheng dare to do that?
Gu Jiao's gaze was like that of a ferocious young wolf. She took a few steps forward and launched a fierce attack on Huangfu Zheng.
She was almost completely exhausted.
We need to resolve this problem before then!
(End of this chapter)
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