Chapter 220 A wet body draped over Xie Qi's arm
Xie Qi stepped on the Di man with one foot, pulled his long sword from behind him, and lifted Jiang Zhi off the horse with one hand, covering her with his cloak.
"Thank you, Your Highness..." Jiang Zhi, having escaped a desperate situation, still felt her heart beating irregularly.
At this moment, Xie Qi was like a god descending to earth to her.
Xie Qi turned to look at her, moonlight falling into the corners of his half-closed eyes, beneath his eyelashes a sharp, almost scalding edge. "Zhi Zhi, I knew it was you."
He knew something was wrong with the woman who was dying in the carriage outside the city.
When we entered the city, I clearly heard her banging on the carriage wall and shouting. How could she have become so sick and dying in such a short time?
He realized something was wrong and immediately dispatched a troop of soldiers to give chase.
However, after following the trail for half a minute, they discovered that the group had returned to Black Ridge.
After finally finding a sheltered spot where they were resting, it turned out to be deserted, with nothing left behind.
Xie Qi then realized.
This is very likely Jiang Zhi trying to save herself.
A sense of pride welled up within him.
As expected of the woman Xie Qi had chosen, she not only outmaneuvered a group of fierce-looking Di people, but also managed to escape.
However, he was also filled with lingering fear.
If it weren't for Zhizhi's quick thinking, they might have already passed each other by and never seen her again.
He held Jiang Zhi tightly in his arms, and his men easily subdued the remaining Di people.
"Take them back and interrogate them thoroughly. If they refuse to talk, kill them. There's no need to leave any survivors." After issuing the order from his high vantage point, he leaped onto his horse, ordered the guards to open the city gates, and then took Jiang Zhi back to his general's mansion.
Jiang Zhi had been bound like livestock by the Di people all the way, and was exhausted, hungry and thin. Now, nestled in Xie Qi's arms, she felt that there was no place more comfortable in the world. Soon, she could not suppress her exhaustion and fell asleep on the horse.
Xie Qi looked down at the person in his arms.
When I saw her earlier, she was disheveled, her face was sallow and dirty, and she was so thin that she was almost unrecognizable. She looked like she had been pulled out of a mud pile.
Where is her former beautiful and charming appearance?
I wonder how much hardship they endured along the way.
His heart ached with tenderness and sorrow, and disregarding the dirt on Jiang Zhi's body, he placed a trembling kiss on her tightly closed eyelids.
If it weren't for the need to keep those Di people around for interrogation, he would have loved to pierce them all through.
In her hazy state, Jiang Zhi felt as if she were soaking in a warm spring, her pores opening up and her whole body feeling refreshed, as if the sticky dust that had accumulated on her body over the past few days had been swept away.
She opened her tired eyes and found herself indeed soaking in a huge bathtub, completely naked. She was surrounded by rising steam, like a plant that had been deprived of water for a long time finally receiving sweet rain.
But she soon realized something was wrong.
Behind her, a pair of hands were slowly massaging her back, as if afraid of hurting her, the movements gentle and careful.
Jiang Zhi initially thought it was a maid or servant that Xie Qi had found for her, but the broad, calloused touch on her back told her that it was a man's hand.
She turned her head in surprise, meeting Xie Qi's half-closed peach blossom eyes through the mist.
He opened his eyes as if sensing something, not expecting Jiang Zhi to wake up at this moment. He was stunned for a moment, and then the cloth he was holding was thrown into the water with a "smack".
Especially after meeting Jiang Zhi's slightly glaring eyes, he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.
"I didn't mean to be disrespectful to you. The doctor said you were deficient in qi and blood and needed proper care, so he specially burned some calming incense for you to rest first. That's why I..."
He realized something was wrong halfway through his sentence, as if he had deliberately done this while she was asleep. He quickly explained, "There are no maids or servants in the mansion, and I don't trust anyone else, so I had no choice but to wash you myself. Don't worry, I kept my eyes closed and didn't see anything."
Jiang Zhi burst out laughing at his flustered appearance.
"To have the heir of the Marquis of Wuyi, who commands a large army, wipe my body is a privilege that not everyone can enjoy."
She smiled weakly, "I trust Prince Xie's character, but I can do it myself now, so please excuse me, Prince Xie."
Xie Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she didn't seem to mind.
Just as she stepped out of the room and was about to close the door, she heard a "plop" sound from inside. Jiang Zhi was trying to get up but lost her balance and fell back into the bathtub.
Xie Qi didn't care about anything else and rushed into the room to pull Jiang Zhi, who was submerged in the water, out of the room. "Are you alright?"
Jiang Zhi choked on her water and felt a little embarrassed.
She overestimated her health. She thought she would be fine after waking up, but she didn't expect that her hands and feet would be sore and weak, and she couldn't even stand up. It was really embarrassing.
Her wet body clung to Xie Qi's arm, soaking half of his sleeve.
Xie Qi had been wiping Jiang Zhi's body with his eyes closed the whole time, but now, in his haste to rush in, he ended up seeing everything clearly.
A surge of heat rushed to his head, and he could hear his heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of his throat.
But no matter what, it was impossible for him to let go of the hand that was around Jiang Zhi.
"Let me help you." He took the handkerchief from the side and closed his eyes again.
He scooped her up with one hand and gently wiped her with the other.
Jiang Zhi lay half-reclined in his arms across the bathtub.
Although Xie Qi was blind, the sensation in his hands was magnified infinitely. It was so soft and delicate, like cheese that would break at the slightest touch, that he had to hold his breath.
After finally cleaning up, he was covered in sweat, his undershirt sticking to his body.
After Jiang Zhi was dressed, the meal prepared by the servants was brought in.
Those Northern Di people were not human at all. In order to prevent Jiang Zhi from having the strength to escape, they did not let her eat her fill and would feed her muscle-relaxing powder from time to time.
The doctor who treated her said that she was severely deficient in qi and blood, and her restlessness was also depleting her vital energy. She had also taken extremely strong drugs before. If she did not receive timely treatment, her lifespan might be shortened.
Xie Qi wished he could tear those Di people to pieces.
He held Jiang Zhi and sat her up, carefully feeding her spoonfuls of brown sugar millet porridge that had been stewing for a long time.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Wei Yu, a personal guard, said that he had something important to report.
Xie Qi has been watching over Jiang Zhi ever since he brought her back.
There are countless matters to attend to in the military, and there is absolutely no time to waste.
Wei Yu had previously been ordered to guard Jiang Zhi's residence, so he was not surprised to see Jiang Zhi upon entering. He simply looked straight ahead and said, "General, the plague in the city shows signs of spreading, and the remaining medicine in the city is running low. What should we do?"
Xie Qi frowned deeply.
The plague outbreak in Yaocheng has lasted for more than half a month. Although he tried his best to control it from the beginning, it has continued to spread slowly.
Medicines were in short supply in the city, and the neighboring county had already been saturated with supplies he had sent people to purchase.
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