48. Carjacking
◎The Princess is still bathing◎
Chapter 48
The snow has been falling heavier these days. Not only at night, but even during the day, fewer and fewer people go out, and many shops have even closed.
Fortunately, there were soldiers clearing the snow on the streets, so it was not so difficult to move around in Shengjing City.
Jiang Qiuye had three meals delivered to the imperial prison every day.
Except for the first day, she had not been able to see Ji Ci, mostly because he was not in the imperial prison and his whereabouts were unknown. Even when Lian Tian came, Jiang Qiuye had never seen him.
There were also several times when he was in the imperial prison and was extremely busy, and in the end the jailer had to deliver food to him.
Two days later, Jiang Qiuye still hadn't seen Ji Ci at dinner time, so she had no choice but to return to the palace alone. At three o'clock in the morning, after hearing Jinhong's report, she quickly tied her hair into a simple braid, put on a black mask, and then put on her nightgown, quietly avoiding the palace guards and leaving.
Jinhong stayed in the main courtyard and sent Mingyue away so that no one would know that the Princess was away.
In the dark night, the moonlight was blocked by dark clouds, and the snow continued to fall, hitting the face and feeling a bit biting.
Jiang Qiuye squatted on the roof near the Ministry of Justice and soon saw a completely black prison van coming out of the Ministry of Justice. Led by a captain, a total of 15 heavily armored soldiers escorted the prisoners towards Zhaoyu.
The breath from the soldiers' mouths quickly condensed into white in the air. She observed carefully and confirmed that these soldiers were equipped with swords, but no arrows or crossbows.
She only has one chance, and she must succeed in one go. If King Zhuo Jun is sent back to the imperial prison, it will be difficult for her to have another chance.
She moved quickly across the rooftops, her footsteps making no sound at all, and followed closely behind the prison van.
Fortunately, due to the blizzard, there was no pedestrian left on the street, so this escort team was particularly conspicuous and completely concealed Jiang Qiuye.
When the prison van turned the corner and left the main road, Jiang Qiuye knew it was now!
She drew the soft sword in her hand, flew down towards the prison car and went straight for the captain.
Because her movements were too light and too fast, the captain had his neck cut by a knife before he even noticed her approaching. He fell to the ground without making any sound, and blood splattered, staining the white snow around him.
"Who?"
The other armored guards reacted instantly upon seeing this, and were furious. They shouted and drew their long swords. Four armored guards stuck to the prison van to protect it, while the remaining armored guards all went towards Jiang Qiuye.
Black boots stomped through the snow, sending it splattering like foam. Jiang Qiuye's soft sword swung and yanked, avoiding the heavy armor and slashing across the neck sharply and swiftly without a moment's hesitation. Suddenly, aside from the four armored guards clinging to the prisoner van, only three remained fighting Jiang Qiuye.
One armored guard slashed with his heavy sword, and another armored guard rushed forward. Seeing that she could not avoid it, she leaned back and used the icy ground to slide past the man. At the same time, she cut the joints where the armored guard was not protected, and the armored guard fell to the ground.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the four men immediately drew their swords and rushed forward.
Seeing that only these few people were left, Jiang Qiuye felt that it was difficult for her to make a difference. Suddenly, she thought of the Buddhist beads given by the Empress Dowager, and finally sighed and retracted the soft sword.
She used one man's shoulder as support, flipped over lightly, and slashed accurately at his unarmored neck. She did the same to the remaining men.
In less than a quarter of an hour, except for the person lying on the ground with a thigh injury, the rest of the survivors had fainted.
The man was unable to move. He had no idea who the assassin was and how his martial arts skills were so advanced. His movements were swift and sharp. He could only watch as the assassin took the key from the dead captain's waist and opened the prison van.
King Zhuo Jun had a haggard face, disheveled hair, and was wearing a thin prison uniform. His hands and feet were still shackled, and there was a long-standing scar on his face that ran from his eyes to his jaw.
"You? Who are you? Are you here to save me or to kill me?" King Zhuo Jun sat cross-legged in the prison car, his voice hoarse, and asked Jiang Qiuye in shock.
She did not answer a word, but stretched out her right hand to grab his collar and dragged him out of the prison cart. King Zhuo Jun was caught off guard and staggered. She knocked him unconscious with a knife and threw him to the ground casually.
Just as she was about to carry King Zhuo Jun up, the armored guard who was injured in the thigh and unable to get up suddenly jumped up, pulled out two daggers, and threw one of them at her. Jiang Qiuye immediately dodged to the side, and the mask strap on her face was cut off by the flying knife and fell off.
While Jiang Qiuye was still not turning around, he rushed forward with another dagger in his hand. She had no time to draw her knife, so she could only hold the sharp blade of the dagger with her bare hands. The pain in her palm made her tremble, and blood slid down the sharp blade and her clenched palm.
She turned her head and stared into the eyes of the armored guard. The guard had never expected that the assassin was actually a rare beauty with a pure face, and was suddenly shocked.
"you!"
Jiang Qiuye frowned and could only stretch out his other hand, but he twisted the man's neck with such force that he broke it directly. The man finally fell limply to the ground.
"I wanted to let you go."
She murmured with great regret and looked down at the scar on the palm of her hand. The scar was so deep that the bone was visible and blood was flowing.
A gust of cold wind blew past, bringing with it snow. She felt a surge of regret. She hadn't failed a single mission in all these years because she was so hard-hearted and cold-blooded.
As long as she takes action, no one will be left alive.
But she almost failed just now because of her damn compassion.
The compassion that sprouted because of Ji Ci.
She picked up the mask and covered her face again, glanced at the people on the ground who had fainted from the knife attack, clenched her fists, and her eyes darkened.
…
He carried the unconscious King Zhuojun on one shoulder, brought him to the deserted backyard of Jingshan Academy, and threw him directly to Zhang Yi.
Seeing this usually sweet beauty so irritable, the other party was speechless. He immediately took out the antidote from his arms and handed it to Jiang Qiuye, saying, "This is the antidote. Please accept it, Master Qiuye."
Jiang Qiuye was in a very bad mood. He grabbed it and watched the three bronze ghosts who were quietly approaching from the side salute him. Then he lifted up King Zhuo Jun and quickly disappeared into the night.
"big......"
She had no intention of listening to Zhang Yi's idle chatter, so she swallowed one pill, stuffed the other into her arms, and flew onto the roof and left.
After climbing over rooftops and walls, she finally returned to the palace. However, when she just ran up a nearby tree, she saw Ji Ci's carriage returning home.
Oh no!
As soon as Ji Ci returned, she keenly noticed that the number of secret guards around the palace had increased.
Just as she was about to return the way she had come out, she discovered a hidden guard trapped in a tree. Jiang Qiuye immediately retreated, biting her lip. Finally, she decided to enter the palace through a waterway, avoiding the hidden guards there. She had stumbled upon that waterway during her first visit to the palace. It wasn't big, but it was a loophole.
When she emerged from the waterway, she was soaking wet and her nightgown was covered in mud.
Fortunately, she had been in the palace for a long time, and after successfully entering, she naturally knew the layout of all the secret guards, but it still took a lot of effort to bypass them. When she returned to the main courtyard, Ji Ci had already arrived there. Her heart was pounding like thunder. She heard Jin Hong trying to delay, but how could she delay?
"Where is the Princess?" Ji Ci looked at the candlelight burning in the bedroom, thinking that he had not been back for several days, and felt a little panicked and excited.
Even after the wedding night, he was still not used to having another person in his bedroom and on his bed, but he was inexplicably looking forward to it.
It's a very strange feeling.
"Princess, Princess is still bathing." Jinhong lowered her head and did not dare to look directly into Ji Ci's eyes.
After hearing this, Ji Ci just nodded and continued to move towards the dormitory.
"Your Highness! Would you like to have a meal?" Jinhong tried to stop him stiffly.
“No need.”
"Your Highness..." Seeing that Ji Ci seemed to be getting more and more impatient, Jinhong didn't dare to stop him and lowered her head to move aside.
Ji Ci was suspicious, but didn't want to delve too much into it, so he went straight back to the dormitory.
Jinhong watched the dormitory door close, glanced at the eaves, then turned around and went to the back of the main courtyard.
Jiang Qiuye turned over and went down to the empty back of the main courtyard. While running quickly, he quickly took off his night clothes, shoes, etc., let his hair down, and climbed into the bathroom window naked. He then quickly hid in the bathtub that Jinhong had prepared with hot water in advance.
Just as she squatted down with sweat on her forehead, Ji Ci walked out from behind the screen and entered the clean room at the same time.
Jiang Qiuye controlled her breathing, her heart beating like thunder, and looked at Ji Ci who came back in front of her in surprise.
In the past, my surprises were ninety percent acting, but today’s surprises were not due to any acting at all.
It was because she really didn't expect Ji Ci to suddenly return to the palace.
"...Husband! Why did you come back so suddenly?"
Ji Ci approached and looked down at her in the bathtub. Her cheeks were slightly red, her skin was whiter than snow, and she was incredibly beautiful. His breathing suddenly became a little heavy, and he said, "What? Don't you want me to come back?"
"No! I am so surprised that my husband is back." Jiang Qiuye smiled shyly. To be honest, although she was panicked and irritated, she was really happy that Ji Ci could return to the palace.
He left immediately that night, and it would be a lie to say that he didn't feel lost.
"These days, I've been going to Zhaoyu every day, but I haven't been able to see my husband. Did he eat the medicinal food I sent him?"
"Yes, I ate it. I'm sorry to have troubled you. I've been busy these days."
"Does my husband like it?"
What do you like? Medicinal food? Or...
“…Not bad.”
Ji Ci coughed lightly and turned away with a cold face, "Why don't you let Jinhong Mingyue come in and serve you? Instead, you wash by yourself."
“…”
Jiang Qiuye was silent for a moment, then said, "It's been snowing recently, and it's really too cold. I wanted to soak in the water for a while, so I asked Jinhong to wait for me outside."
She raised her eyes and glanced at Ji Ci, and asked tentatively: "Husband, do you want to take a shower together?"
“…No need.”
Ji Ci was stunned and a little embarrassed. They had only slept in the same bed for one or two nights and were not used to being so close. He just shook his head and glanced towards the window.
He frowned suddenly and walked slowly towards the window.
Jiang Qiuye was startled, and her heart, which had just calmed down, started beating like a deer again. She clenched her uninjured hand into a fist.
Did he discover something?
Clothes? Or is the window not closed properly?
He watched Ji Ci walk to the window in silence. He suddenly opened the window and looked out. The surroundings were quiet and there was no clothing she had discarded. It must have been picked up quietly by Jin Hong after she found it.
"What's wrong, husband?" Jiang Qiuye restored her sweet smile, always feeling that the hot water in the bathtub was so cold.
Watch him close the window and stroke the window sill with his fingers.
Ji Ci slowly turned his head to look at her and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Jiang Qiuye was just feeling relieved when she was startled again.
Seeing the bloodstains on Ji Ci's fingertips that were wiped from the windowsill, there seemed to be a bang in his ears. He lowered his head and thought about how to explain it.
She was so careless, but she didn't expect that such a light bloodstain would be noticed by him.
Ji Ci frowned and walked closer to her, "Where are you hurt?"
Jiang Qiuye rolled her eyes and hid her hands, but he still noticed them sharply and grabbed them.
Turning her hand over, she saw a sharp cut on the palm, including a cut on the finger joints. The severity of the cut suggested it was caused by grasping the double blades too hard.
Ji Ci temporarily put aside his doubts, immediately opened the door and called Jin Hong in to wash her body.
Jiang Qiuye felt upset when she saw that he didn't even ask how she was injured.
She whispered tentatively, "Husband? Are you unhappy?"
Ji Ci's thoughts were interrupted. He just shook his head and said, "Don't let the wound come into contact with water. Don't wash it by yourself."
After saying this, he left the purification room.
Jiang Qiuye couldn't tell from his reaction. She simply let Jinhong serve her like a puppet, drying her off and putting her into her smooth, clean pajamas. Her hand was too hasty when she returned, and it touched the water again, tearing the wound even further.
After leaving the bathroom, I saw Ji Ci sitting beside the bed with bottles and jars on the table.
He had an expressionless face, asked Jinhong to leave, and waved at her.
Jiang Qiuye immediately sat down next to him, feeling uneasy.
"Hands out."
"Oh." She saw that Ji Ci was about to apply medicine on her, and stretched out her hand nervously.
Ji Ci unplugged a small brown bottle and sprinkled the powder on Jiang Qiuye's wound. She frowned in pain and couldn't help but hiss.
Hearing her movement, Ji Ci glanced up at her, and his hands moved even more gently.
After applying the powder, he took out the bandage and bandaged her palm meticulously.
He didn't say a word during the whole process, and Jiang Qiuye couldn't see any emotion from his expressionless face.
This appearance made her even more panicked.
She would rather he asked her directly, or cursed angrily, rather than having such a blank expression that she couldn't see through him.
After Ji Ci finished everything, he got up and went straight to the purification room to take a bath with the remaining water she had.
When he came out after wiping himself clean, he looked at Jiang Qiuye sneaking behind the screen and sighed helplessly, then continued walking towards the bed.
"What's the matter?"
She counted on her fingers, feeling extremely conflicted, and shook her head, saying, "Nothing."
He finally turned around to look at her, and was silent for a moment. Finally, he grabbed the cloak beside him and said, "You go to bed first. You must be tired today. I'll go to the study first."
Jiang Qiuye panicked and called out to him, "Husband!"
He stopped and turned to look at her, but Jiang Qiuye said nothing. She had not yet figured out how to explain the dagger wound.
She picked up and destroyed the two daggers left at the scene, so there shouldn't be any problem.
After waiting for a while, Ji Ci saw that she had nothing more to say, so he left the dormitory and went to the study.
She looked at the room that had become empty again, climbed onto the bed with a feeling of dejection, and had a restless sleep all night.
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