"How do you plan to save me?" Nan asked the man hanging beside her. "Can't you use your brain? Hanging here, unable to get up or down, are you going to become a dried sausage?"
I should at least have prepared a rope or something, but to my surprise, without saying a word, once she was sure she was down there, this guy floated down without saying another word.
Her tone carried a hint of affectionate complaint. There was someone who disregarded their own safety and jumped off a cliff without hesitation to save her. It would be a lie to say she wasn't moved.
Nan Yi was so moved she was in tears. What did she do to deserve Zheng Yong risking his life to save her? Forget about the idea that it's only natural for a servant to save his master. She had never treated him like a servant, and besides, he wasn't her servant either.
I owe this huge favor; I can never repay it.
Even in such a predicament, Zheng Yong remained calm and composed, saying, "Don't worry, just hang in there a little longer, I'll take you down right away."
"Get down, are you sure?" Nan Yi looked at him like a monster, even though it was night and they couldn't see.
"The only option is to go down. I know the terrain here well. Below this cliff is a deep pool of water, not deep enough to kill anyone."
Nan Yi quickly shook his head, "I can't swim, let's think of something else." In the dead of winter, you might not drown, but you could freeze to death.
"I will. Just remember to grab me, and I'll keep you safe and sound."
"No, my hands are too weak. I've been hanging from the tree branch for a couple of hours, and I'm exhausted."
She was telling the truth; otherwise, she wouldn't have thought of giving up her life. At the critical moment, it was Zheng Yong's timely arrival that saved her.
"Forgive my abruptness, but I can only hug you and jump. Don't worry about anything, just close your eyes." Zheng Yong freed one hand to take out a tinderbox for lighting.
It seems there's no other way.
Nan Yi sighed softly, then looked at the tinderbox in Zheng Yong's hand and thought of the treasures she had collected. "Wait, use this."
She handed Zheng Yong a luminous pearl the size of a fist.
Zheng Yong's eyes lit up. "This is a good thing. It looks like something from the palace."
Nan Yi hummed in agreement and casually said, "It was a gift from His Majesty. By the way, are you alone? Didn't our master come with you?"
Fearing she would be disappointed, Zheng Yong unusually spoke up for the Fourth Master, "The princess in your household is ill. I felt something was wrong halfway there and wanted to come back to check on her. They don't know that."
Nan pursed her lips, her expression unchanged. It was all her bad luck, and she had no one else to blame but herself. "If you hadn't come today, Consort Tong of the Fourth Prince's residence would have passed away in a few days," she said self-deprecatingly.
She was missing or dead. The prince's residence absolutely could not allow a missing concubine; the only acceptable explanation was death from illness.
“You won’t die. I told you, there’s a pool of water below.” Zheng Yong held the luminous pearl in his left hand and hugged Nan Yi tightly with his right. “You are a martial artist with profound internal strength. I don’t need to teach you how to hold your breath.”
Nan Yi, “…” Okay, she was naive.
Despite saying she had no strength, she still clung tightly to Zheng Yong's waist. She didn't know what he ate to grow up like this; his waist was just as thin as hers, but the only difference was that his waist was much stronger and more muscular than hers.
While Nan Yi was still thinking about random things, Zheng Yong didn't give her any time to prepare. He grabbed her and jumped off the cliff. With someone by her side, jumping off a cliff didn't feel scary at all.
Nan didn't even scream, burying her head in Zheng Yong's chest, the rapid fall leaving her speechless.
Until her body fell into the pool and water filled her mouth and nose, she only remembered Zheng Yong holding her the whole time. She choked on a few mouthfuls of water, and when her head came out of the water, she swung her free left hand a couple of times and found that the water was actually warm.
"It's a hot spring, Yong-ge."
“No, there’s no sulfur smell.” Zheng Yong calmly raised the luminous pearl to illuminate the surroundings, then swept it to the shore not far away. He dragged Nan Yi towards the shore and paddled.
From jumping in to falling into the water and then getting ashore, Nan Yi didn't suffer any hardship. If she had to say something, all she could say was that it was thrilling.
Similar to modern times, Zheng Yong was like a safety buckle on her body.
The two men got ashore, their clothes soaked through, but strangely, they didn't feel cold.
Nan Yi wrung out the water from her clothes and asked Zheng Yong, "Brother Yong, do you feel that something is different here? Logically speaking, even if it's warm in the valley in November, it shouldn't feel like summer."
Zheng Yong used the luminous pearl to illuminate his surroundings. Under the dim light, what he saw within a few meters surprised him greatly.
He crouched down and reached out to touch the green grass on the ground. It was real. Strange, he had always known there was a deep valley here, but he never knew there was a hidden paradise at the bottom of the valley.
Feeling a sense of kinship, Nan Yi and Zheng Yong embarked on a two-week adventure to explore the valley floor.
Xiao Shunzi and the others in the villa waited until dawn, but their master did not return, and the servants were very worried.
Judging that the city gates should be open, Xiao Shunzi left half an hour early to return to his residence and report the news.
The little princess born to Lady Nian was still gone. Lady Nian was heartbroken, and Yinzhen stayed by her side the whole time. He also came to the mansion every thirteen days to report on the progress of the interrogation of the man in black.
The two brothers sat in the study and finished discussing official business. Thirteen remembered something and said to Fourth Brother, "Fourth Brother, after you left yesterday, that Guard Zheng said he had something to finish and returned to the villa. Fourth Brother, who exactly is he? I've never seen him before."
Yinzhen gave a casual "hmm" and didn't take it to heart. He knew that Zheng Yong had a private relationship with Nan Yi and was also a secret agent of the eunuchs, so he didn't pay it any mind.
"You've never met the people around Father Emperor."
Thirteen was stunned. "Ah, could it be a spy from Father Emperor's side?"
Yinzhen glanced at him and said, "It's good that you know what's going on. Why are you making such a fuss?"
"Oh, I was making a fuss over nothing." Thirteen put away the overly shocked expression on his face.
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