Young Master Mu sat below Zhuge Yue. He was wearing a rose-red brocade robe tonight. Few men could wear this color as well as he did. This color matched his appearance, making him look even more feminine. He said with a smile: "It's rare to see the Fourth Young Master bring his female relatives to such an occasion. It seems that this girl is very favored by the Fourth Young Master."
Someone laughed and said, "To be favored by the Fourth Young Master Zhuge, she must be the most beautiful woman in the world."
Zhao Yang sat aside, with a faint smile on his lips, "She is such a beauty, isn't it a waste of talent to wear such a heavy veil? Zhuge, why don't you let her take off the veil and let us open our eyes?"
Ever since Zhao Yang led his troops to fight a great battle with Chu Qiao in the southwest, his worth has skyrocketed, and he is no longer the powerless and down-and-out prince. As soon as he spoke, the others started to make a noise, asking Chu Qiao to take off her veil.
Zhuge Yue said calmly, “She is very ugly, if I take it off I’m afraid it will scare you.”
Mu Yun and the others all voiced their disbelief. Zhuge Yue only chuckled upon hearing this, but said nothing. Seeing him like this, others naturally understood that he was unwilling and stopped forcing him.
It was late at night and Zhao Zhongyan and his friends were already drunk, so the city guard arranged for people to help them return to their rooms one after another. Chu Qiao had just stood up when she heard the city guard's sister scream and fall towards her. She was so skilled that she pushed her body skillfully with both hands and straightened it. The woman's face flushed, and she patted her chest and said in fear, "Thank you very much."
Chu Qiao shook her head and lowered her eyes, only to see that the hem of the woman's skirt was stepping on Zhao Yang's feet. Seeing her looking at him, he remained calm, just moved his feet, nodded to her politely, turned around and left the hall first.
Chu Qiao's eyebrows twitched slightly, but Zhuge Yue suddenly turned around and said, "Are you not leaving yet?"
Chu Qiao lowered her head and hurried to follow. The night wind was a little cooler, and the horses made rustling sounds as they walked on the road. The Zhuge family has property in Amber County, so they don't need to live in the residence arranged by the city guard. Chu Qiao pushed the car window open a little and looked quietly at the dark long street. Zhuge Yue, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly said, "Are you leaving?"
Chu Qiao said in a deep voice: "If you try to stop me, I will die with you."
Zhuge Yue didn't even open his eyes, "If you want to leave, leave quickly, close the window, and don't disturb my sleep here."
Chu Qiao was stunned, she opened the car door and jumped out, but Yue Qi and the others seemed not to see her and let her leave openly. Only after walking two blocks away did Chu Qiao dare to believe that she had actually walked away from that evil star in such a swagger. Did he actually let her go?
wrong! Chu Qiao frowned. She had threatened him in every way before and had fought with him several times but she couldn't escape. Why was he so straightforward this time? But there was no time to think about it now. She quickly identified the direction and ran towards the city gate. However, less than half a cup of tea had passed, and the sound of killing was heard from the rear, sweeping in like a tide.
Chu Qiao paused and then stopped.
The enemy came so suddenly that they surrounded the long street in an instant. Yue Qi led his men to protect Zhuge Yue's carriage and shouted, "Who are you? Do you know whose carriage this is?"
Those people did not answer, and one of them said in a deep voice: "Hand the person over."
Zhuge Yue pushed open the car door and said calmly, “Let’s get started.”
With a sharp sound, these people actually carried a lot of small bows and crossbows, and arrows rained down like a forest, densely packed. By the time Yue Qi and others rushed to the enemy, everyone was injured. The shouts and screams shattered the tranquility of the entire street. Someone kicked the carriage open, but before he could get a closer look, the white sword light was like a startled dragon, and with just one sword, half of the man's head was cut off. The other assassins were horrified and rushed forward. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the roof of the car shattered. Zhuge Yue leaped into the air, his sword gleaming like an umbrella, and no water could penetrate it. Zhuge Yue's long robe fluttered in the wind, and he quickly fell down. His face was pale, his lips were red, and there were two drops of blood on his forehead, making him look even more charming.
"Master Zhuge, we have no intention of offending you. As long as you hand over that person, we will leave immediately."
Zhuge Yue pretended not to hear anything and pierced a man's hand with his sword. The man held his hand and screamed miserably.
The leader's eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice: "In that case, I'm sorry."
Several torches suddenly lit up on the street, and on the roofs of restaurants and shops on both sides, dozens of black-clad assassins were seen lying densely, each holding a crossbow, aiming at Zhuge Yue and his companions from a distance. The crossbow arrows were cold and flashing with sharp cold light, as if they were waiting for the man to make a gesture before they would be shot. Yue Qi and the others were horrified, knowing that this was not an ordinary crossbow. With its power, coupled with the advantage of being in such a high position, their situation would suddenly become even more unfavorable.
However, at this moment, there were suddenly a few sharp sounds of breaking through the air, and the assassins holding torches fell to the ground one after another, and the street suddenly fell into darkness. Almost at the same time, Zhuge Yue flashed forward and killed the leader with a single sword strike. However, there was no trace of joy on his face, and he shouted loudly, “Who told you to come back?”
Chu Qiao's whole body felt as soft as if ants were crawling over it. When she just touched the roof, she had an encounter with an assassin. Because she didn't dare to alert the people below, she was unable to use her killing move in time and was stabbed by the man. She didn't expect that the knife was poisonous, and the speed at which the poison took effect was beyond her expectations. Almost in a breath, all movements were petrified and he couldn't even move a finger. For the first time, there was panic in her eyes. She could clearly see every movement of the enemy's knife, but she couldn't dodge it. The blade was sharp, and the intimidating sharpness almost pierced her skin. She stared with wide eyes, watching the sharp weapon attack her body, but she couldn't even move.
With a swish, a long sword suddenly flew over and pierced the assassin's heart. Zhuge Yue reached out and took over her fallen body, and asked in a deep voice, “Are you poisoned?”
Chu Qiao felt a fishy taste in her throat and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
Zhuge Yue frowned and made a prompt decision: “Yue Qi! Lead the troops to cover our retreat!”
Yue Qijian was like a swimming dragon, leading his guards to fight among the assassins. Hearing this, he loudly replied, "Yes! Young Master, go first!"
Zhuge Yue picked up Chu Qiao, turned over and jumped onto a warhorse. With a sharp shout, the horse raised its hooves and galloped away in an instant.
"Don't let him run away, chase him!" A wave of men in black came forward like a tide.
Zhuge Yue controlled the horse with his legs, held Chu Qiao in one hand, and wielded his sword to meet the enemy with the other. Several thunderous clap sounded, and heavy rain poured down instantly, making it almost impossible to see people's figures. The arrows shot in the dark were inaccurate, and the assassins on the roof jumped down one after another. Seeing that the enemies ahead were increasing in number, Zhuge Yue placed Chu Qiao on the horse, tapped the horse's back with his toes, then jumped off the horse and rushed forward with his sword in hand. His speed was astonishing, and in a flash, he had carved out a bloody path. Chu Qiao's horse followed that road and disappeared in a few seconds.
“Chase her! She’s running… ah!” someone shouted loudly, but before he could finish his shout, Zhuge Yue killed him with a single strike of his sword. It was raining heavily, but the fighting continued. Zhuge Yue kicked open the temple door and saw a few ragged beggars sitting in the corner. He rushed over and grabbed one of them, asking in a deep voice, “Have you seen a woman in a green dress come in?”
He was in ragged clothes and covered in blood. The man was frightened by him and could not speak, but just kept shaking his head. He turned to look at the others, only to find that they were all fleeing in panic. Outside the temple, there were lightning and thunder, and heavy rain. The cold wind swirled on the ground, rolling up the dead grass in the corner. The dead grass flew low, like paper money on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.
Zhuge Yue frowned, his temples throbbing. He had fought hard all the way here and was almost exhausted. He felt dizzy, his eyes were blacking out, and he could hardly stand. His ears were ringing, and he seemed to be still running in the pouring rain, with the sound of water splashing all around him. He swung his sword to overturn the thatch in the corner and looked around for Chu Qiao, but found nothing.
At this moment, another group of assassins broke through the siege of Yue Qi and others and chased after them. Zhuge Yue rushed forward with his sword and fought with the enemy as swiftly as the wind. He drew his sword extremely quickly, and white rays of light pierced through the rain and fog, causing a bright red blood flower in the air. Zhuge Yue leaped up, stepped on the assassin’s shoulder, flipped over and leaped onto the roof, and after a few leaps and bounds he headed east.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, making it almost impossible to open one's eyes, and the wide post road was full of mud. Zhuge Yue ran wildly with his sword in hand. His gorgeous clothes were no longer recognizable in their original color. His face was pale and his lips were blue, except for two drops of blood on his forehead, like two dots of cinnabar dripping on the snow.
He had been running for nearly an hour, but there was still no sign of Chu Qiao. An ominous thought gradually arose in his mind. He felt depressed and frowned. He chopped down a teahouse flag with a sword. The flag fell into the mud with a bang, splashing a large amount of dirty water. He rushed to the teahouse and kicked open the tightly closed door. It was pitch black inside and full of cobwebs. It was obvious that the place had been abandoned for a long time. A strong wind blew in through the door that he had kicked over, raising a layer of dust half a finger thick all over the ground.
“Are you here?” Zhuge Yue shouted. But apart from the rumbling thunder, there was only the monotonous sound of wind and rain responding. He ran into the back room, but still saw no one, so he went out and continued to head east. At this moment, he suddenly heard a horse neighing. He turned his head and saw a chestnut horse standing in the rice field behind the teahouse, with bloodstains on its neck.
His eyes lit up and he rushed in in a few steps. The rain was so heavy that it flooded all the nearby rice fields. The water in the fields was more than three feet deep, almost covering his legs. He ran towards the horse with great effort, wading through the mud and rice, exerting all his strength with every step. The heavy rain poured down on his face. He kept wiping the rain from his eyes while trying hard to find Chu Qiao's shadow in the field.
No, no, nowhere.
Just as he was about to get close to the horse, his foot was suddenly tripped by something soft and he almost fell into the mud. He was stunned for a moment, then leaned over and dived into the water, groping under his body with his hands. After a while, he pulled out the person he touched. This person was Chu Qiao. At this moment, Chu Qiao's eyes were closed, her face was purple, her mouth and nose were covered with mud, and her hands and feet were cold, as if she was dead.
Zhuge Yue held her horizontally in his arms, staggered out of the rice field, and placed her on the muddy post road. He deftly wiped the mud from her mouth and nose, then hit her abdomen and chest hard.
"Wake up!" He gritted his teeth and said viciously, pressing her swollen belly with his fists again and again, "Don't die, wake up!"
Chu Qiao's face was blue and purple, her whole body was cold, and her body was shaking with each heavy blow.
Zhuge Yue frowned, pinched her mouth and nose with his hands, and breathed into her mouth over and over again, but she still didn't show the slightest sign of life. His heart was beating violently, just like the gloomy weather, chaotic and gloomy, with no light at all. An inexplicable anger rose up in his heart. He looked at the woman who had gone against him time and time again and shouted, "You are not allowed to die! Do you hear me? I told you to wake up!"