Chapter 120 [VIP] Lifesaver (7)
Jin Lili turned around and walked out of the tent. He originally just wanted to go out for some fresh air, but he didn't expect to walk farther and farther.
It was so far away that we couldn't even hear any movement near the tent. All around us was endless darkness and silence, and only the occasional sounds of crickets and katydids chirping in the grass.
Maybe it was because of what Nan Yan said in her drunken dream, but Jin Lili felt confused and complicated for a moment. He even thought that maybe it would be nice to let go of his obsession and just live with Nan Yan.
Maybe the girl who saved him had already married, and she didn't come to see him just because she was afraid that he would disturb her, or maybe she didn't care about him at all, otherwise it would be impossible for her to be unwilling to see him for so long. Although she thought so in her mind, she felt a little unwilling in her heart...
He doesn't know what's wrong with him?
Just as Jin Lili was hesitating and struggling, a cool breeze suddenly blew around him, and the sound of someone's footsteps came from the grass. The sound was very light, but he still heard it.
Jin Lili frowned and was about to ask who the man was and why he was following him stealthily, but before he could say anything, there was a "whoosh" sound in the darkness, and a sharp arrow suddenly flew towards the direction where he was standing.
With the force of breaking through the air and carrying a fierce murderous intent.
Jin Li reacted quickly and turned around to dodge. Seeing that his attack missed, four or five assassins lurking in the dark immediately revealed their weapons and surrounded him with murderous intent.
Jin Li narrowed his eyes, his eyes were slightly cold, but his facial expression did not change. He stared coldly at the group of people around him, "Who are you? The emperor is out hunting, and you dare to come and assassinate him. Are you planning a rebellion?"
Several assassins were stunned when they heard this, obviously they didn't expect that they would be inexplicably accused of treason in such a short time. They still understood the difference between assassinating a court minister and assassinating the current emperor, and they only killed the corrupt official in front of them at the request of their master.
The leading assassin saw everyone pause, and immediately swung his sword and shouted coldly, "You dog official, stop talking nonsense. We are here to eliminate harm for the people and to take your life!"
Without saying much, he started to attack Jin Xinli again. Several people beside him rushed forward at the same time. Jin Xinli frowned slightly and subconsciously took out a soft sword from his waist. The autumn hunting trip was full of dangers. How could he be completely unprepared? After all, there were too many people who wanted to kill him. But he didn't expect that there were people who dared to assassinate him even near the tent.
I don't know if this group of people went to the camp first, or followed him here directly. If they went to the camp first, then Yanyan...
Jin Yingli's eyes suddenly became dark and gloomy, and murderous intent flashed in his eyes. However, no matter how good his martial arts were, he could not defeat these four or five carefully trained assassins attacking at the same time. His arm was accidentally cut by the knife, and the blood instantly dyed his clothes red.
Jin Xinli rolled on the ground to avoid the attack on his chest, but just as he was concentrating on dealing with the assassin in front of him, a hidden weapon was shot out from behind him. Jin Xinli was not aware of it and thought he would be seriously injured today. Even if he didn't die, he would at least lose a layer of skin. However, he didn't expect that at this moment, a woman suddenly rushed out from behind him and blocked it for him without hesitation.
"careful!"
Jin Shili was thrown to the ground unexpectedly. He subconsciously hugged the woman in his arms. His eyes fell on a familiar face. He suddenly recognized that the woman was Li Nanyan's half-sister Li Qingrou. But he couldn't understand why she was so desperate to save him?
The assassin who was originally chasing saw that people were already rushing over, and he couldn't kill the official immediately. In order to avoid revealing his identity, he had to leave quickly.
Jin Li, who was standing by, was still a little dazed. The sticky wetness on his palms made him realize that the woman in his arms was badly injured. He almost subconsciously called her a few times.
"Wake up..."
Li Qingrou's face was pale with pain, and she wished she could lose consciousness, but the pain in her back made it difficult for her to faint. Her eyes fell on the ferocious man in front of her, and a miserable smile suddenly appeared on the corner of her mouth, "Why do you always look so ferocious every time I see you?"
These words shocked Jin Lili. For a moment, he didn't understand why she would say such a thing.
It was obvious that they had never had any contact, and he was sure that there was nothing wrong with his memory. When he went to the Li Mansion before, he was very polite to her half-sister because of Li Nanyan, but why would she say such things now?
Jin Lili's fingers trembled slightly, and he suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart, as if something was struggling to break out of the mist, and he subconsciously grabbed Li Qingrou's shoulders.
"What did you say? Why do you say that? What do you know?"
When Li Qingrou heard what he said, she felt the mist in her eyes getting heavier. She looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks without her knowing when, and she couldn't stop feeling disappointed. "It turns out you had forgotten me a long time ago."
She shook her head, her voice becoming weak. "Forget it. It's good to forget it. Then I won't have any extravagant hopes. After all, saving your life on the farm was just a piece of cake. It's not a big deal at all."
When Jin Lili heard her words and looked at the pale face in his arms, he seemed to understand everything at that moment.
His chest was trembling slightly and his heart was beating like a drum. He didn't know whether he was nervous or excited. He just felt that his emotions were confused and he didn't know what to say.
Only the strength of the person in my arms kept tightening, as if I had finally found my most important treasure.
It was her, it was her! But why, why didn't she keep the jade pendant?
Jin Lili held her hand tightly. He was excited and happy at the moment. He asked subconsciously, "It's you! It's you, right? The girl who saved me, took care of me, bandaged my wounds, and secretly brought me food in the woodshed that night was you, right?"
"But why, why didn't you keep the jade pendant I left for you? I have been looking for you, hoping to find you through the jade pendant!"
Li Qingrou suddenly stared at him blankly, with obvious confusion in her wet eyes, "What jade pendant? I have never received a jade pendant from you."
Jin Lili's expression paused for a moment. He looked down at the person in his arms, and seeing the confused and hypocritical look on her face, he suddenly asked, "Don't you know that I left you a jade pendant?"
Li Qingrou shook her head in certainty, her eyes blank.
Jin Lili looked at her like this, and for some reason, his chest suddenly felt oppressive and blocked. "The arrow wound on my body was too serious at the time, and the wound was too deeply poisoned, causing temporary blindness in my eyes. Later, the guards came in advance, and for safety reasons, I had to go back to detoxify and heal my wounds."
"Before I left, I was worried that you would be anxious and sad if you didn't see me when you came back, so I left a jade pendant in the haystack. I will come back to find you after your injury heals."
Jin Li squeezed her palm tightly and looked at her with burning eyes, "Do you really have no impression at all?"
"Later, I saw the jade pendant on Li Nanyan. At first, I thought she was my savior, so I took extra care of her. But after we got engaged, I found out that she wasn't my savior. I always thought you gave her the jade pendant. Why didn't you know about this?"
He described what happened afterwards in great detail from beginning to end, hoping to see a look of understanding in her eyes, but unfortunately, she was kept in the dark from beginning to end.
Li Qingrou tried hard to recall what happened that day. The more she thought about it, the more she felt wronged. Tears welled up in her eyes. She finally shook her head helplessly, "I didn't receive any jade pendant."
"On the day you left, my elder sister's maid secretly told me that I was meeting a man in the woodshed. I really had no choice but to ask the maid to inform you to leave early, but I didn't expect that the maid was intercepted on the way! Later, Li Nanyan heard the maid's complaint and rushed into the woodshed with a group of servants in anger. They searched the woodshed randomly, but did not find any man. I don't know what happened after that..."
At this point, she felt a little down, as if she was sad that neither of them had said goodbye, and at the same time, she felt an uncontrollable sense of disappointment.
"When the storm had passed, I went to the woodshed to secretly visit you again. But the place was empty and there was nothing left."
"That's when I realized that you must have left early." Li Qingrou looked up at him and spoke slowly, "If you really left behind a jade pendant as a token, it was probably taken away by Li Nanyan during the search."
As she said this, her tone could hardly conceal her resentment towards her eldest sister. Since ancient times, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children had been clear, and no matter in terms of status or anything else, as long as she was in the Li Mansion, Li Nanyan would always be superior to her. No matter what she did, she could never compare to Li Nanyan, that stupid young lady who only had looks but no brains.
She had teased her and made her look foolish in front of others, but that was because she was not smart enough. When provoked, she would become closer to others than to her own sisters. It was only natural for her to teach her a lesson.
何況她做的那些都是小打小鬧，只是于名聲上有些不好聽罷了，她從沒有真正意義上的傷害過她。
可是她呢！她真的不明白，為什麽，為什麽連那塊玉佩都要搶她的呢？
明明她已經什麽都有了啊，為什麽連這唯一的、原本就屬于她的東西也要不聲不響的搶走？
靳厭離這下終于明白了，所有的事情全都串起來了，眼前的李清柔才是當初救了他的那個姑娘，從頭到尾就只有她。
可是為什麽？
他只覺得此刻胸口被什麽堵塞住了一樣，難受的厲害，讓他實在忍不住出聲詢問，“為什麽，你為什麽不來找我？既然知道當初救的人是我，為什麽在後來我登門李府的時候，你從來都不肯告訴我？”
李清柔擡眸看着眼前的男人，眼底帶着一絲絲的溫柔，但卻沒有進入眼底深處，她輕輕地問，“我告訴你……之後呢？”
“當時我願意救你，只是不希望看到一個努力求生的人就這麽死去罷了。我救你一命，從來都沒有想過要從你這裏得到些什麽的，只要你能活下去，我就算是做了一件好事了，更何況，當初也只是舉手之勞罷了。”
她臉頰輕輕靠在靳厭離的胸口，聽他心髒發出沉悶的聲響，“我不是挾恩圖報的人，何況，當時你跟李南嫣已經在一起了，我怎麽能再上前打擾你們……”
靳厭離胸口微微震顫，有那麽一瞬間，她的面容似乎與他心中一直幻想的模樣重疊了，那個在黑暗中救贖自己的女子，就應該是她這種溫柔又安靜的樣子。
可是又聽到她後來提到的南嫣的，靳厭離的呼吸陡然停滞了一瞬，他腦海中立刻浮現了南嫣的面容。
她貪玩的模樣，她被鵝啄之後委屈巴巴來找他作主時的樣子，她在靳府折騰得烏煙瘴氣跟雪獅打架的樣子，還有她醉酒時很溫順地窩在他懷裏睡覺的模樣……很多很多。
多到數不清的回憶，只要一想到她，他的心底就有種說不出的柔軟，嘴角更是下意識地抿出一道細微的弧度。
也就是這一下，讓懷裏的李清柔看到了他臉上一閃而過的柔情，更讓她确定了，眼前這人對她的嫡姐李南嫣并不是一絲情意都沒有的。
她眼淚瞬間溢滿眼眶，掙紮着想從他懷裏起來，“靳大人，你放開我吧，如今這樣已經是我們之間最好的結局了。你跟李南嫣已經定過親了，你如今喜歡的人也是她，沒必要再揪着過去那點救命之恩不放手了。”
“我來找你也只是想把事情說清楚而已，從今往後我們就當作不認識吧，否則靳大人您的未婚妻又要不高興了……”
原本還在糾結猶豫的靳厭離聽到這話猛然間清醒過來，他看着眼前的李清柔，腦海中記憶不斷翻轉，思緒也變得愈發混亂起來，尤其是看到她眼中溢出的那滴淚水，靳厭離只覺得心口猛地悸動，手掌竟下意識地抓緊了她的手腕。
怎麽能當做不認識？怎麽可以呢！
他找了她那麽久的，從一開始他為之心動的女子就是她啊，他喜歡的一直都是那個在黑暗中默默照顧自己的女子，倘若不是因為那個誤會，他們倆早就在一起了。
怎麽能當作什麽都沒發生過一樣呢？
若是從前沒找她也就算了，可是如今他都已經找到她了，而且她這已經是第二次救他了，這讓他怎麽可能心甘情願的放手呢！
他不甘心，他心動的人從頭到尾就只有她，一直都是眼前這個女子。
他至今都記得自己在黑暗中無助恐慌時的那種感覺，那種絕望感，是她不離不棄地守在他身旁，替他治療傷口，陪伴他度過孤獨的場景，不是李南嫣！不是那個冒牌貨。
更不是那個從一開始就欺騙他的女子！
他喜歡的應該是眼前的女子才對，從一開始就是她，靳厭離在心中一連重複了好幾遍，也不知道是心底最真實的想法，還是在努力說服自己？他用力抓緊李清柔的手腕，着急道，“我喜歡的人從頭到尾就只有你，我一直以為李南嫣是我的救命恩人，所以才會對她多加照拂，所以才會在之後上門提親，但是從頭到尾，我心動過的人就只有柴房裏那個默默無聲照顧我的姑娘而已。”
靳厭離目光灼灼地盯着眼前的人，雙手緊緊握着她的肩膀，
“我不會放棄你的，我已經決定好了，等秋獵結束我就會去李府退親，我想娶的人一直都是你，你願意給我這次機會嗎？”
而在靳厭離說完這番話，懷裏人掙紮的動作也終于停了，她一時間還以為自己聽覺出現了問題，有些難以置信地望着他，
“你說的……是真的嗎？”
她眼裏閃爍着淚光，眼眸怔怔哦，眼淚忽然就順着臉龐無聲滑落了，“你真的，從頭到尾喜歡的人……一直都是我嗎？”
靳厭離胸口微窒了一瞬，他目光落在了眼前這人期盼的臉上。
只這麽一瞬間的功夫，靳厭離便感覺自己的心頭仿佛被什麽蟄了一下似的，細細密密的，可還沒等他徹底分辨清楚那到底是什麽，眼前的李清柔就因為承受不住傷口的疼痛而陷入了昏迷之中。
“李清柔……”
靳厭離下意識喊了聲她的名字。
“你快醒醒？” 他又伸手掐了她的人中，懷裏的人依舊毫無反應。
靳厭離這下是真的着急了，慌忙将昏迷的李清柔抱起，他此刻的心情實在是有些混亂複雜，完全沒辦法再去深思研究心頭突然出現的那一抹窒悶不适的情緒了。
直接抱着這人去了自己的營帳。
……
靳厭離抱着李清柔一路趕回營地，幸好此時天色已暗，沒什麽人瞧見，不過營地的下人看到靳厭離那渾身是血的模樣，頓時臉色大變，“大人，您受傷了。”
靳厭離直接抱着人進了旁邊的內帳，邊走邊着急道，“本官并無大礙，靳五，營帳內沒有發生任何意外情況對嗎？”
其實早在靳厭離進來時就發現營帳四周守衛森嚴，應該是什麽事情都沒有發生的，否則不可能這麽平靜，但心中還是有些緊張，難免就多問了一句。
靳五知道自家主子問的應該是那位李小姐的安全，便趕緊回複道，“李小姐的營帳一直都有丫鬟守着，其他地方也都有侍衛盯着，暫時都沒有任何異狀發生。”
靳厭離這才放松下來，又想起什麽，趕緊朝身旁的人吩咐道，“好，本官遇刺一事暫時不要聲張，立刻讓禁衛軍在行宮四周增派人手多加防範，務必要保證聖上安全！”
“另外，聖上性子固執，此時狩獵正值興起，萬不可讓此事擾了皇帝興致，否則聖上一怒，行宮內所有人都要問罪，記住了嗎？”
四周侍衛一同應聲道，“是”
靳厭離吩咐完這些，又趕緊朝身旁的靳五喊道，“去請太醫，快點拿本官的官印去請太醫，就說本官不甚落馬摔傷了手臂，這會兒疼得厲害，趕緊去将大夫請來！”
靳五得了命令這才立馬退了出去，只是離開時瞧見自家主子懷裏抱着的女子，那不是李小姐的庶妹嗎？大人怎麽會和這女子在一起的？還一同遇刺受傷了。
靳厭離吩咐完一切終于松了口氣，又讓屋內的丫鬟先替李清柔清理了一下傷口。
片刻之後，太醫就拎着藥箱來了，一番診治下來才知道李清柔受的是皮肉傷，幸好暗器上沒有塗毒，所以沒有生命危險。
不過傷口有些深，還是要小心調養着，否則傷口很容易裂開感染。
靳厭離下了死命令一定要保證這李姑娘安然無恙，太醫也只能老老實實地聽從吩咐，只是心中仍疑惑不解不是說這靳大人落馬摔傷胳膊了嗎？怎麽受傷的是個女子呢？
而且這女子還堂而皇之的睡在這靳大人的營帳之內，這未免有些太不合禮數了吧。
不過很顯然，這些事情都不是他一個太醫能夠置喙的，老太醫搖了搖頭，又給這李姑娘開了些止疼的方子，最後确定沒什麽大礙之後，這才拎着藥箱轉身離開了。
而另一邊，靳厭離讓丫鬟将藥熬好，喂李清柔喝完以後，榻上蹙眉昏睡的女子總算平靜了許多，連眉頭也漸漸舒展開來了。
看到這樣的李清柔，靳厭離總算放心了不少，他已經忙碌了一個晚上了，直到此刻才終于有一些時間來梳理自己的情感。
屋內煩悶的空氣跟藥味忽然讓靳厭離覺得有些疲倦不堪，大腦一片混沌，整個人都是心煩意亂的，胸口像被巨石堵住了一樣，讓他有些不知道該怎麽辦才好了。
他下意識地走出了營帳，原本只是想出來透透氣，卻在不知不覺中就走到了南嫣正安睡的營帳，兩邊的丫鬟正要問安行禮，卻被靳厭離直接揮手趕出去了。
When he opened the curtain, he saw a figure sleeping soundly on the bed. His eyes were unconsciously focused on her. He saw that she restlessly kicked off the quilt, and both her hands were exposed.
He took a few steps closer, looking deeply at her. Perhaps because she was still drunk, there was still a faint red on both sides of her cheeks. Her black hair covered her face, as if she had been dyed with rouge. I don't know what she was dreaming about, but she was still murmuring softly...
It was not until this moment that Jin Xinli truly understood why she always strictly forbade him to have any contact with her half sister, and why she always spoke ill of her half sister in front of him!
And why was it that every time she mentioned that half sister, she always had an attitude of disgust and disdain? And why was it that every time he accidentally met her half sister at the Li Mansion, she always looked nervous and guilty... There were traces of all this.
Everything is clear now.
It turns out that she knew everything from beginning to end!
She knew that the person who saved him was her half-sister, and she shamelessly took the jade pendant for herself. But this was not the end of it. She was also afraid that her half-sister would come into contact with him and expose the truth, so she never let him meet Li Qingrou.
This is her true face.
Jin Lili suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of depression and a hint of obvious anger in his chest. She had kept it a secret from him for so long, and had done so many things in private that disgusted him.
He used to think she was innocent and harmless. Although she was a little arrogant and willful, her nature was not bad. But now, which of the things she did did not make him feel mocking and disgusted?
It was really disgusting. The funny thing was that for a moment, he was still hesitant and even thought that it might be a good idea to just go with the flow and live with her for the rest of her life...
But he knew everything she did!
Jin Xinli stared at the woman in front of him intently. Suddenly, he slowly stretched out his hand and directly pinched the other person's chin. His force was a bit strong, which made Nan Yan hum uncomfortably in her sleep.
She opened her eyes hazily, and vaguely saw that it was him, and fell asleep with peace of mind. However, in her dream, her hands entangled with his palms, and then rubbed them gently on her cheeks.
"Jin Lili, can you please be gentler..."
Her voice was still sleepy and had a strong nasal tone.
When Jin Xinli saw her defenseless look, his originally cold and deep gaze suddenly paused, and then he directly pulled back the hand that she was holding in her arms.
Regardless, he had made up his mind.
After the autumn hunt is over, he will come to cancel the engagement. Li Nanyan is Li Nanyan. No matter how she disguises herself, she is not the girl he fell in love with at first. He will not give up just like that, and he will not compromise just to make the best of a bad situation.
Thinking of this, Jin Lili covered her with the quilt, then turned around and left the tent, not wanting to look at her again.
Nan Yan, who was lying on the bed in the room, rubbed her chin which was pinched and hurt. She couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Asshole", for bullying her while she was asleep, and not using any strength at all.
She vaguely smelled blood in the air, and sure enough, when she woke up from her sleep, the original plot had already happened.
It seems that Jin Xinli has completely known the truth and found her real savior, so can she now find someone else to torment?