Thirteen came to see them in the afternoon. He was unshaven and his eyes were covered in stubble. He looked even worse than his brother who had been assassinated.
Upon seeing his fourth brother, his eyes immediately turned red. He had arrived with his troops at dawn, only to find the courtyard filled with corpses. Of the remaining guards, less than one in ten remained. Fortunately, his fourth brother was not among them, and he deduced that Tong Xiaosao had protected his fourth brother and helped him escape.
Early in the morning, someone came to inform me of Fourth Brother's news.
"Fourth Brother, I'm so glad you're alright. I'm so sorry I arrived late to rescue you." Thirteen's throat tightened, still shaken, and his eyes filled with tears as he spoke.
"This is not your fault. I'm actually glad you weren't here, otherwise your fourth sister-in-law wouldn't have been able to protect the two of us."
Thirteen was startled upon hearing this, "Fourth Sister-in-law, he?"
Yinzhen frowned. "She took two knife wounds for her brother. Her health... sigh!" Her old ailment hadn't healed, and now she had new injuries.
The doctor said I have too many hidden injuries and need careful recuperation. I cannot conceive or have children for at least two to three years.
"How is Fourth Sister-in-law?"
"His life is not in danger, but he needs to stay in bed for the time being. By the way, is the imperial physician from the capital alright?" Yinzhen thought of Physician Liu. He had foreseen that something was wrong and had sent guards to protect him. Moreover, the imperial physician did not live with them.
"He's fine, he's doing well at the inn," Thirteen said.
Thirteen sent someone to Shihezi Mountain, while he himself came to pick up Fourth Brother, fearing that something might have happened to the two of them.
The assassins came prepared, but their plan failed. Thirteen and Yinzhen were unharmed, and Shihezi Mountain was deserted. The soldiers they sent returned empty-handed.
Thirteen was so angry that his liver hurt. He had been tricked for no reason and almost lost his life, but they hadn't even touched the assassin. How could he not be furious?
The matter of Shicheng ended without resolution. With many affairs in the court, they could not stay in Shicheng for long. They left guards there to investigate in detail, and Yinzhen and his entourage returned to the capital.
Inside the carriage, Nan Yi was arguing with Yinzhen. Yinzhen, holding pastries, frowned and glared at the woman huddled in a corner of the carriage. He asked helplessly, "It's been so long, you haven't eaten or drunk anything. What are you doing? Explain yourself to me."
Nan Yi fiddled with the decorations on the car wall and said calmly, "I said I want freedom, would you give it to me?"
"That's impossible, don't even think about it." Yinzhen flatly refused. Freedom, she was free, but what about him?
He longed for her every day but could not see her again. Not keeping her tied up in the mansion was the limit of his tolerance.
"Then I won't eat it. It would be better if I starved to death. You can just dig a hole and bury me on the spot. When you get back, just say that Lady Tong died of illness and build her a cenotaph. Then you can have some peace and quiet."
"Nonsense!" Yinzhen scolded angrily, put down the pastries, got up and went to Nan Yi's side, pulling her into his arms. "We will be born together and die together. After a hundred years, you will surely lie in the same place as me."
"Ouch~ Be gentle, you're trying to kill me with pain." Nan Yi frowned, the wound on her waist was less severe than the one on her shoulder, and even the slightest movement could easily tear it open.
"Did you aggravate your wound? Let me see." She said, reaching out to lift Nan Yi's clothes.
"Snap!" Nan Yi pressed down on his hand. "Looking at it won't make you feel better right away, so let go."
She was wrapped up like a rice dumpling, with layers upon layers of outer robes.
There wasn't a maid among the servants accompanying him. The wound was on the upper and lower left chest, a sensitive area, so even the imperial physician wasn't allowed to get close. The Fourth Master took care of everything himself, from dressing to eating.
She turned her head to the side, her expression forlorn, her eyes staring blankly out the car window. After a long while, she murmured, "I can't even sort out what happened in life, so who knows who I'll be lying with after I die?"
Yinzhen turned her head and asked, "Besides me, who else would you like to lie down with?"
"In short, I don't want to be with you."
"Why?" A voice, tinged with gritted teeth, rang out, and anger gradually appeared on the face above.
Nan stared straight into his eyes and said, slowly and deliberately, "I find it too crowded."
The thought of becoming a ghost after death and having to fight with a group of women made her wish she could grow wings and run far away.
Yinzhen was neither angry nor upset about this reason. In the end, he sighed. He seemed to have an epiphany, and his mood inexplicably improved.
He twitched his fingers, looked at the woman resting on his lap with affection, and slowly lowered his head to kiss her lips.
Thirteen rode ahead on horseback, listening intently for a while. He couldn't help but admire Fourth Brother's patience, as Sister-in-law Tong made a fuss every day.
Even though he knew that Sister Tong was deliberately picking a fight, he still went along with her wishes and accepted any difficulties without complaint. As an outsider, he was stunned by her coaxing words.
"Thirteenth Prince?"
"Thirteenth Prince?"
"Hmm, what is it?"
A guard rode up to him and said, "Your Highness, there is an abandoned temple ahead. The building is still in relatively good condition. Shall we stop and rest?"
How far is it from here?
"About ten miles."
Thirteen glanced around and saw that this was an official road with no shops or villages in sight, surrounded by mountains and forests on both sides. In his opinion, it was not a good place to stay for long.
But Sister-in-law Tong didn't eat on time, and she'll probably cause trouble for Fourth Brother again.
The injured have the right to be willful.
He rode his horse to the carriage, ignoring the blush-inducing sounds inside, and coughed lightly to remind the two of his presence.
"Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law."
Nan Yi pulled her hands away from her body and said casually, "Scratch me again later, my back is so itchy it's making me feel uncomfortable all over."
"Um."
Yinzhen pulled her clothes up for her and lifted the curtain of the carriage window. "Thirteenth Prince, shall we stop and rest for a while?"
Thirteen glanced into the car, his expression strange. He had just heard something about scratching an itch, so he must have misunderstood.
"Fourth Brother, there's an abandoned temple about ten miles away. Why don't we rest there?"
Before Yinzhen could speak, Nan appeared at the window in a flash. "We can't rest, especially not in those dilapidated temples, Taoist monasteries, or nunneries. These places are high-risk areas. We need to hurry on our way and rest at the post station."
In novels and television dramas, the most classic scenes of accidents occurring in remote, desolate places often take place in such locations.
Having been through the world, she remembered this common sense quite well. Art comes from life, and practice has taught her that she cannot be careless. Back then, she met Xiao Xi in an abandoned, dilapidated temple.
Yinzhen and the Thirteenth Prince exchanged a glance and nodded, which was considered as their agreement with Nan Yi's decision.
Without resting, the group continued straight past the temple, naturally missing a carefully planned encounter.
When one plan failed, the other side devised another.
Ten miles from the post station, the lead guard saw a man and a woman on the road. The man was having difficulty moving and seemed to be injured, while the woman was struggling to support him.
The woman was petite and weak; she lost her balance and the man fell to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
The guard felt sympathy and wanted to help, but he was burdened with heavy responsibilities and his master was of high status, so he dared not make a decision for fear of causing trouble. Instead, he went to report to the Thirteenth Prince.
He went to the back and reported to the Thirteenth Prince, who agreed without much thought and had the guards vacate a horse for them.
The master and servant quickly stepped forward to express their deep gratitude.
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