Chapter 979 Husband and Wife United (Xinyang VS Xiao Jifan)
Above ground, the snowfield, which had just experienced a terrible collapse, was in complete disarray.
Zhang Hu nearly fell in and was buried along with the others, but Long Yi saved him in time.
At this moment, the two were standing twenty steps away from the collapse point, with a hundred guards behind them who had been keeping their backs turned and eyes closed.
Zhang Hu didn't have time to give them the order to open their eyes. He looked at the snow that had collapsed into pieces, and his legs went weak, causing him to kneel on the ground.
That's it, that's the end of us!
Marquis Xuanping and Princess Xinyang both perished right under his nose!
If this matter were to reach the capital, he would be held accountable for failing to protect his master. He might have a chance of survival if he couldn't protect others, but these two are Empress Xiao's most trusted elder brother and the emperor's most beloved younger sister.
Even if he wanted to find someone to vent his anger on, he and these hundred-odd people were not enough to vent the Emperor and Empress's hatred!
His gaze suddenly fell on Long Yi, who was standing to the side.
Although it shouldn't be said, he did have a fleeting thought of silencing him for a moment.
Of course, this was just wishful thinking. He and the hundred-meter-long soldiers behind him combined probably couldn't do anything to the other side.
Heaven is going to destroy him... Heaven is going to destroy him!
Long stared intently at the collapsed snowfield, paused for a moment, then turned and walked forward.
"Lord Long...Lord Long!" Zhang Hu called out to him, trying to muster his courage. "Are you...going back to the capital to report?"
Could he stay a couple more days? At least let him give his family some time to make his final arrangements.
"Find the exit and rescue them," Long Yi said coldly.
Zhang Hu was taken aback at first, then a surge of joy welled up inside him. However, even though he had guessed it, he still needed to verify it: "Lord Long, do you mean... the Marquis and the Princess... are still alive?"
"Mm." Long Yi nodded.
The sealing of the cave entrance did indeed block the sound from spreading to some extent, but Princess Xinyang was crying so loudly that even a deaf person could hear her.
Zhang Hu, who hadn't heard anything: ...I feel offended.
Zhang Hu intended to search with him, but Long Yi refused, saying, "Don't come over, you'll collapse it."
Zhang Hu's raised foot froze in mid-air. He awkwardly pulled his foot back and asked Long Yi, "Is there anything I can do?"
Long Yi thought for a moment and said honestly, "Disappear."
Zhang Hu: "..."
...
Underground, the two trapped in the dark cave were completely unaware of the conversation on the surface.
Princess Xinyang was held stiffly in someone's arms.
It was pitch black all around, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, but the loss of sight amplified the other senses.
His warm breath landed on her head, and his strong heartbeat reached her ears, vibrating her entire heart.
His words, "Qin Fengwan, I heard you," ignited a raging fire in her heart, engulfing her with the embarrassment that had accumulated over thirty years, and her cheeks flushed crimson.
She is a person who cares about her image.
She is a princess.
She thought he was dead, which is why she cried and screamed, saying those unbearable things.
If she had known he was still alive, she—
That's how people are; they come here intending to say those things, but when they're actually heard, they vehemently refuse to admit it.
“I didn’t say anything,” she insisted. “You misheard.”
Xiao Ji repeated her words verbatim. He was thick-skinned and did this kind of thing without any pressure.
Princess Xinyang wished she could find a hole in the ground and stuff him inside!
How come you never had such a good memory when we were in school!
Xiao Ji, his face pale, gave a weak smile: "There's one last thing, 'I like you.'"
Princess Xinyang blurted out, "That's not true! You're talking nonsense!"
Xiao Ji said "Oh": "So you admit that those few sentences from before did exist."
Princess Xinyang, caught off guard and tricked: "...!!"
"Cough cough cough!" Xiao Ji coughed violently. He was seriously injured and should not talk much, but he had said so many cheeky things in one breath. He was practically courting death.
"You, you're already like this, can't you just say less!" Princess Xinyang's anger and shame turned into heartache. Afraid of pressing on his wound, she reached out to leave his embrace.
He tightened his grip on his fractured left arm, pulled her into his embrace, and said with an air of nonchalance, "To die beneath the peony is to die a romantic death."
Princess Xinyang: I think you're asking for a beating again.
"Cough cough cough!"
The injured man's boasting lasted only three seconds before he coughed up blood.
Princess Xinyang promptly straightened up from his embrace, groped around on his chest, and finally found the tinderbox.
He made a sound several times during this time, as if he wanted to speak, but each time he coughed and swallowed it back down.
Princess Xinyang could already guess what he wanted to say—"Even after I've gone this far, you still dare to plot against me, Qin Fengwan, you beast."
Princess Xinyang couldn't help but laugh at the thought that he had wanted to say something but hadn't, and that his attempt to flirt had failed.
But when she blew on the tinderbox and saw his injuries, she couldn't smile at all.
He was seriously injured, much more seriously than she had imagined.
He grabbed her hand just now and deliberately provoked her with his words, but in reality, he didn't want her to touch the wound on his waist.
The skin and flesh were torn open, dripping with blood, and the bone was visible deep inside.
But this was by no means the only injury on his body. Some wounds were visible, while others were completely unknown, covered in sticky blood.
The scene before us was nothing short of shocking.
"How did you... get hurt like this?" She forced herself to calm down, but her voice still trembled uncontrollably.
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Ji told the truth: "They captured Xiao En and Xiao Ze."
The trap was originally intended for the two brothers. He risked his life to pull them up, but at the cost of falling down himself.
Princess Xinyang couldn't accuse him of being reckless in this matter, after all, Xiao En and Xiao Ze were also his sons.
"How are Xiao En and Xiao Ze?" she asked.
He leaned his head against the wall behind him and sighed, "They captured me from the Eastern Barbarians."
Princess Xinyang analyzed, "The Dongyi people kidnapped them to threaten you. However, since your whereabouts are currently unknown, the Dongyi people cannot find you and are unsure of your attitude, so they should not do anything to Xiao En and Xiao Ze for the time being."
"Cough cough!" Xiao Ji coughed up another mouthful of blood.
Princess Xinyang hurriedly went to get a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his wounds, but when she touched her purse, she unexpectedly found two bottles of medicine.
She didn't remember having these two medicines with her, but she recognized them; they were Jiao Jiao's secret recipe. The jade bottle contained medicine for external wounds, and the white bottle contained medicine for internal injuries, which had anti-inflammatory and hemostatic effects.
When Xiao Ji was recuperating in Bishui Hutong, she saw Jiao Jiao give him these two kinds of medicine.
It must have been that when Long Yi threw her clothes down, he casually slipped them into her purse.
She was pleasantly surprised. She uncorked the white bottle, poured out two brown pills, and fed them to him, saying, "Take your medicine first."
She remembered it was this dosage.
Xiao Ji didn't eat; instead, he frowned and looked at her hand.
Her palms and the edges of her hands were all worn raw. This princess, born into a noble family, had never suffered such injuries except for the time she carried Ah Heng out of the fire.
"Eat quickly, what are you standing there for?" Princess Xinyang urged.
Sometimes he could concoct something out of nothing, but when he actually saw evidence that she was "deeply in love," he stopped teasing her altogether.
He silently took the medicine.
Princess Xinyang carefully put away the white bottle and then opened the jade bottle containing the wound medicine.
"Wait a minute," he said. "This medicine seems to be expired."
"No."
"Yes, but the taste is wrong."
"What's wrong? Long Yi gave it to me, it can't be expired medicine. I'll show you if you don't believe me." As she spoke, she uncorked the bottle, dipped her fingertip in the wound medicine, and applied it to her affected area. "No redness or swelling!"
Xiao Ji curled his lip and said, "Your hands are too rough to test it, try it on your knees instead."
"So many problems." Princess Xinyang lifted her trouser leg and applied a thin layer of the wound medicine to the injured area of her knee. "It's not expired, it's good medicine!"
Seeing that she had applied the cream to all the areas that needed it, Xiao Ji gave a nonchalant "oh".
Princess Xinyang belatedly realized what had happened; she already didn't have much medicine, and now she had been tricked again.
Xiao Ji took the medicine bottle and said with a look of disgust, "You're too heavy-handed, I'll do it myself."
Princess Xinyang was about to speak when he didn't give her the chance, "Turn around and don't peek at my body."
Princess Xinyang: "..."
She turned around.
He blew out the tinderbox.
Princess Xinyang clenched her fists: "I won't look!"
Xiao Ji: "I don't trust you."
Princess Xinyang was speechless again.
His injuries were far more numerous than Princess Xinyang could see at a glance; the act of removing his armor nearly cost him his remaining life.
He clenched his teeth and didn't let out a single groan.
He then applied the ointment to all the areas of his body that could be treated, but not to wounds that were too shallow or too deep, as the former was unnecessary and the latter was useless.
Princess Xinyang had been waiting for quite a while and asked suspiciously, "Are you done yet? Do you need my help?"
Xiao Ji endured the pain, cold sweat pouring down his face, and said, "Don't even think about... coveting my body..."
He used a dagger to cut off a piece of the hem, used the dagger as a splint to immobilize his fractured left forearm, and finally used his teeth to bite the strip of cloth and tie a knot.
He did not sling his left arm around his neck.
He thought it was ugly.
He leaned against the stone wall to catch his breath, suppressing the exhaustion and excruciating pain throughout his body, and said, "I'm all better now."
Princess Xinyang turned around and reached out to support his arm in the darkness: "There seems to be a passage ahead. I'll go see if I can get out. You wait here for me."
"Let's go together," he said weakly.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Princess Xinyang asked, expressing her doubts about his physical condition.
Xiao Ji used his male pride to compensate for his lack of strength: "Qin Fengwan, didn't anyone tell you not to say a man can't do it? Besides, whether I can or not, haven't you tried it yourself?"
Princess Xinyang clenched her fists.
Two nights.
He raised two fingers with distinct knuckles, finally pushing himself to the brink of disaster, "Should I remind you... how many times in total?"
Princess Xinyang is about to explode!
How did she even fall for this guy?!
Is it too late to regret it now?
I really want to kill him!
...
He's too weak to fight now, so Princess Xinyang held back.
A gentleman takes his revenge, even after ten years.
Once you're healed, I'll show you what I'm made of.
Princess Xinyang took a deep breath, regaining her elegant demeanor as a royal princess. She helped him up and said calmly, "Let's go."
Even without looking, Xiao Ji could sense her murderous aura, but she was unable to retaliate due to his injuries.
Just imagining her with a dark expression, wanting to explode but unable to, made Xiao Ji laugh.
Princess Xinyang gritted her teeth: "If you laugh again, I'll leave you behind!"
...
The two walked along the passage for an unknown amount of time before finally seeing a glimmer of light.
Princess Xinyang was overjoyed: "There's an entrance! We're going to get out!"
Xiao Ji, however, kept his eyes fixed on the direction from which the light was coming, remaining alert to any movement from any direction.
His caution proved to be correct. The moment the two stepped out of the cave, two Dongyi soldiers suddenly turned around and drew their scimitars at them.
Xiao Ji was wearing the armor of a Zhao Kingdom soldier, making him easily identifiable.
The two rushed forward to capture them alive, but Xiao Ji shielded Princess Xinyang, who was supporting him, behind him, snatched the curved knife from one of them, and then with a swift stroke, killed them both with a single blow!
The two soldiers collapsed in the snow before they could even call for help.
Xiao Ji felt a sharp pain in his chest and fell weakly to the ground. He knelt on one knee in the snow and used his curved sword to support his body.
"Xiao Ji!" Princess Xinyang stepped forward, squatted down, and looked at him with concern.
"I'm fine." He glanced warily ahead and said quickly, "Quickly change into their clothes!"
Princess Xinyang would never wear another man's clothes, but in this life-or-death situation, she couldn't care less about that now.
She stripped the armor and outer garments off the two Dongyi soldiers.
The two changed clothes in time.
Marquis Xuanping buried the armor and clothing he had taken off in the snow, and also pushed the bodies of the two Dongyi soldiers into a nearby ditch to cover them with snow.
Princess Xinyang also lent a hand. She raised her sleeve, about to wipe the sweat from her forehead, but then remembered that it was someone else's clothes and immediately put her hand down.
She said breathlessly, "Is this all right?"
As soon as they finished speaking, the two turned around and saw an elderly woman leaning on a cane standing in the snow not far away, staring at them intently.
(End of this chapter)
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