Unknowingly, Shen Lingli and his group had spent three days in the tunnel. These three days could be described as a hellish life for them.
During these three days, they had to hide in this narrow tunnel every day to avoid waves of hidden arrows that might fly at them at any time. At the same time, they had to be careful not to touch anything casually, otherwise other mechanisms would be triggered accidentally.
At the beginning, they were very reckless. In order to find the entrance, they even wanted to dig through the cave, which directly triggered multiple mechanisms, including hidden weapons such as arrows, darts, and rolling stones, and even some toxic substances such as paralyzing poison powder and poisonous grass. Although there was no fatal injury, in just one day, everyone was scarred and very scared.
No one died, but most were injured. Many guards' wounds were not treated effectively, and the tunnel environment was already harsh, so some began to become inflamed and festered. In addition, there was no food or water, and some guards had already collapsed on the ground, waiting for death in despair.
As for Shen Lingli, she was slumped against the wall with lifeless eyes. There was a scratch on her face. The blood had dried, but the wound, like those of the guards, had not been effectively treated and was still bright red. Compared with Shen Lingli's pale face, it looked particularly hideous. From a distance, she looked like a wronged ghost written in a storybook.
For a woman, especially a young lady from an aristocratic family like Shen Lingli, appearance is as important as life to them. Especially for a girl born out of wedlock, without appearance, she has no capital to compete, and her final fate will be no better than that of a stray dog on the roadside.
Shen Lingli had been in the deep mansion for so long that she naturally understood this. So when her face was cut, she desperately grabbed the guards around her and asked if there was anyone who knew medicine or had medicine to treat her face, but those people shook their heads, and no one was even willing to pay attention to Shen Lingli.
Shen Lingli saw contempt and ridicule in those people's eyes. The disgusted expression pierced Shen Lingli's heart. She immediately became crazy and ordered those people to turn around and not look at her. However, in the current situation, no one could protect themselves. No one was willing to pay attention to Shen Lingli anymore. They just let her go crazy and pretended not to see anything.
In despair, pain, hunger and cold, everyone seemed to have accepted their fate. At the beginning, some people were crazy, crying and screaming, but now there was only dead silence.
Three days is not a long time, but for people in despair, every second feels like a year. Shen Lingli and the others didn't know how they survived those three days. When the entrance to the tunnel opened, everyone was dazzled by the sunlight and rushed out like crazy.
Just when they thought they were saved, a group of Li soldiers came over, surrounded Shen Lingli and his group, tied them up with ropes, and arrested them.
"Let me go! Do you know who I am? How dare you tie me up? You're so brave!" Shen Lingli shouted.
The soldier sneered, "We are here to arrest you under the orders of His Majesty. You'd better behave yourself, or we will treat you rudely."
When Shen Lingli heard that they were people sent by the emperor, she immediately became obedient. She knew without thinking that Li Han and the others had escaped back to the Li Kingdom Palace. This time it ended in failure again. Shen Lingli felt unwilling in her heart, but she had no choice.
On the way back to Beijing, Shen Lingli and his companions thought about escaping, but because they had no food or water in the tunnel for three days and were covered with scars, they really did not have the strength to resist and finally had to accept their fate.
Shen Lingli knew that her life would be hanging by a thread if she went back this time, so she kept thinking about how to escape. "Brother Soldier, I have a stomachache. Can you let me go to the toilet?"
The soldier was a little conflicted and reluctant, but considering that Shen Lingli was a girl, he finally gave in and untied the rope on her hands. "Okay, go ahead. It's best to be honest and don't play any tricks."
Shen Lingli nodded, and after her hands were freed, she slowly walked into the depths of the woods. It was inconvenient for the soldiers to get close to her, so they just stood guard from a distance, but they could see Shen Lingli's clothes.
After a while, the soldier noticed that there was no movement in the distance, and the clothes remained motionless. Feeling strange, he walked over and found that the clothes and coat were actually placed on the grass, but the person was gone. The soldier immediately panicked, thinking that if the person was lost, he would be doomed.
At this moment, Shen Lingli suddenly appeared from behind the tree next to the soldier, holding a big stone in his hand, with a ferocious expression, and smashed it hard on the soldier's head.
However, things did not go as Shen Lingli expected and the soldier was not knocked unconscious. The soldier felt something strange behind him and dodged to the side, avoiding Shen Lingli's attack. The soldier's face turned black and he slapped Shen Lingli.
The wound on Shen Lingli's face was bleeding after being slapped by the soldier. She felt her head go blank and buzzing. Before she could react, the soldier pulled Shen Lingli's hair and pulled her back roughly.
After a long time, the soldiers finally brought Shen Lingli and her group back to Li State. After Li Han got the news, she personally waited for Shen Lingli at the city gate because she had something important to ask.
Looking at Shen Lingli, who was covered in scars, with messy hair and a ferocious expression, Li Han was not moved at all. He walked up to her and asked coldly, "Where is the real Shen Yuaner now? What did you do to her?"
Shen Lingli raised her head, met Li Han's eyes, and suddenly laughed, "Guess?"
Li Han frowned and looked at Shen Lingli in this state. She was very angry. If it weren't for Shen Yuaner, she would have wanted to deal with her immediately.
Ever since the last time he met Shen Yuaner, Li Han had vaguely felt that something was wrong, so he sent someone to investigate. He discovered that Shen Yuaner's personality had changed drastically since she and Shen Lingli left the palace, which made Li Han suspicious.
A person's character cannot change suddenly. If Shen Lingli had cast a spell to control Shen Yuaner like Hua Yunyun did, the effect would not have been so quick. So Li Han's first reaction at the time was that the people had been switched, and the real Shen Yuaner should have fallen into Shen Lingli's hands. In this case, Shen Yuaner would definitely not have an easy time, and Li Han had been very worried for so long.
"Believe it or not, I can kill you right now!" Li Han grabbed Shen Lingli's collar fiercely and said angrily.
Shen Lingli didn't care at all, and looked at Li Han coldly, "If you kill me, you will never find the real Shen Yuaner, and I will let her be buried with you!"
"You dare!"
"Why shouldn't I dare? I'm already in this state, what can't I do?"
"What do you want?"
"I want you to let me go and let me escape safely!" Shen Lingli's mouth curled up slightly.
Li Han's eyes were sharp and he clenched his fists. Although he was very reluctant, he still agreed.
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