Chapter 7, Chapter Seven: Bloodstained Mountains and Rivers. I finally escaped this pit, and now...
Zhilan's pupils contracted, and his blood seemed to stop flowing at that moment. Almost subconsciously, he rammed into the second brother's shoulder, narrowly deflecting the fatal sword, which instead pierced Fu Yun's shoulder, before being swiftly pulled out.
Blood splattered out instantly, staining the open space in front of Fu Jun red.
"Ouch!" Fu Yun winced in pain, a look of agony appearing on his handsome face.
Xiao Ba exclaimed in shock, "Oh my god, you've been stabbed! What are we going to do...?"
Fu Yun stopped her in a hoarse voice: "Don't make a fuss... you weren't stabbed in a vital spot... you won't die."
This body was already sickly, and this blow nearly killed him. He managed to stagger back a dozen steps before finally collapsing to the ground.
Zhilan kicked the second brother away, then rushed to Fu Jun's side and asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"
Fu Jun was already dizzy and disoriented. Before she could reply, everything went black, and she lost consciousness...
The second brother got up from the ground and once again thrust his sword at Zhilan.
However, before her sword could even get close to Zhilan, she was stabbed hard from behind.
The second brother's eyes widened suddenly as he stared blankly at the long sword embedded in his heart. He slowly turned to look behind him, and upon seeing the face of the person behind him, his face was filled with disbelief: "You..."
She uttered only one word before collapsing to the ground.
Hearing the commotion, everyone present turned to look.
"Second brother!" The bandit leader's eyes widened in fury.
The other village leaders looked on in disbelief.
"Sisters, let's fight them!"
"Kill them!"
In an instant, the sounds of fighting were deafening.
The woman in red drew the sword from the second son's body, walked to Zhilan, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, I deserve to die. I have frightened you."
Zhilan shifted her gaze from Fu Yun's face and asked coldly, "How is it?"
The woman in red said, "Everything has been arranged. They have no way to escape."
Zhilan raised her eyes and swept them over the two groups of people fighting together. Her gaze fell on the bandit leader, and a chilling killing intent flashed in her eyes: "Kill them all, leave no one alive."
"Yes!" The woman in red accepted the order and turned to head onto the battlefield.
The fighting lasted all day, and everywhere one looked, corpses lay strewn across the land, and blood stained the entire mountain red...
When Fu Jun slowly awoke from his coma, he found himself back in his familiar room, the cage that had imprisoned him.
He was immediately distraught: it seemed he had taken that sword through his shoulder for nothing.
Of course, you didn't take that sword strike for nothing; at the very least, you changed her first impression of you.
"Huh?" Fu Yun looked puzzled. "Whose first impression?"
[The Empress!]
"Who?" Fu Jun asked in confusion, "Where did this empress come from?"
【Zhilan.】
"What?" Fu Yun was shocked: "It's Zhilan, not Zilan?"
【right! 】
"Isn't he a man?"
Do you understand what it means for a woman to dress as a man?
Fu Yun: "!!!" So she's the female lead who tore the original body apart?
That's right!
Fu Yun's fist hardened: "Damn it! Why didn't you say so sooner? Did you want me to die before I even got started?"
Calm down! I haven't done anything to you yet!
"Calm down?" Fu Yun said angrily, "Calm down my ass! I finally managed to escape from the Su family, and now I'm back to square one. You call this not doing anything to me?"
【Um...it was just an accident. Didn't she save your life too?】
Fu Yun took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to smash Xiao Ba's head, rubbed her temples, and said wearily, "Forget it, I guess it's just that we're incompatible. I'll just stay away from her next time."
There's really no need to get angry with a system.
No wonder I was amazed when I first saw Zhilan; she had an extraordinary aura, which is probably what is called the aura of a king.
The Empress Wu Zetian humbled herself, using herself as bait to venture deep into the enemy's lair to suppress bandits. This was truly remarkable and showed that she was indeed a woman capable of great things.
Fu Yun wasn't the type to hold onto one thing and never let go. Now that things had come to this, he could only think of other solutions.
"Let's put this behind us. Next time, remember to let me know in advance if there are any important people around."
【no problem. 】
Fu Yun didn't say anything more. His throat was parched and sore, and he felt a dull ache in his shoulder. The sword wound wasn't minor, but it wasn't serious either, though it did affect his mobility to some extent.
He braced himself on the bed with his arms, intending to sit up, but he was too weak and collapsed back down uncontrollably.
Fu Jun, no longer wanting to complain about this body, called out in a hoarse voice, "Is anyone there?"
With a creak, the door was quickly pushed open.
"Oh! You're awake?"
Su Zi entered, her gaze sweeping over Fu Jun's face with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes: "Still trying to run?"
After shouting those three words, Fu Yun's throat was already sore. She wanted to retort, but her throat was so dry that she couldn't make a sound, so she had to temporarily give up using her fragile voice.
He swallowed hard and looked at the teapot on the table.
Su Zi naturally understood Fu Yun's needs, but she deliberately didn't move, crossing her arms and looking at Fu Yun leisurely, as if to say, "If you want to drink, you'd better beg me!"
How could Fu Jun not see through her scheme? Wasn't she just deliberately making things difficult for him because he ran away?
He stopped talking nonsense, closed his eyes, and ignored Su Zi.
Anyway, I won't die of thirst. I can just wait until I can stand up before drinking.
"Let's see how long you can keep this up!" Su Zi was furious at Fu Yun's stubborn refusal to admit his mistake, and turned to leave the house.
Fu Jun remained calm and began to close his eyes to rest. Before long, he drifted off to sleep again...
With a crisp "creak," it seemed as if someone had pushed the door open and entered.
Fu Yun suddenly woke up from her dream, her head spinning as she opened her eyes, only to see Su Mang carrying a tray toward the bedside.
He didn't know how long he had slept, only that his bones ached all over, he had no strength, and his stomach was completely empty.
When Su Mang looked at the bed, she met Fu Yun's half-awake gaze. Her expression paused slightly, and she seemed to be thinking of something. Her gaze became somewhat complicated until she walked to the bedside and then returned to normal, saying, "Your cold is not yet cured, you should take your medicine."
Without waiting for Fu Yun's response, she casually placed the tray aside, reached out to help him slowly sit up, and leaned against the headboard.
Fu Yun glanced at her in surprise, somewhat puzzled. Could it be that Su Mang wasn't as wicked as Su Zi?
Su Mang picked up the bowl and handed it to Fu Yun, her gaze falling on Fu Yun's pale, flawless face, her eyes revealing an unreadable emotion.
Fu Yun could tell that Su Mang must have something on her mind, but he wasn't interested. He took the bowl, tilted his head back, and drank the medicine in one gulp.
Although traditional Chinese medicine is very bitter, it is still barely tolerable.
After all, the warm liquid sliding down my throat relieved the dryness, like parched land being irrigated in an instant, giving me a feeling of coming back to life.
He paused for a moment, handed the bowl back to Su Mang, and prepared to lie down and continue to recuperate.
After Su Mang took back the medicine bowl, she did not leave with the tray, but stood in front of the bed without moving.
As Fu Yun shifted his body, he looked up at Su Mang. He had originally intended to remind her that he didn't like people standing in the room when she was resting, but he noticed that her expression was gloomy, her gaze was unfocused, and she seemed somewhat anxious.
Noticing Fu Yun staring at her, Su Mang immediately lowered her eyes, quickly placed the bowl on the tray, turned around, and put it on the table.
He then stood motionless by the table for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.
Fu Yun knew that the woman named Su Mang was not talkative, so he let her be.
He tried to slowly lie back down on the bed, but the movement aggravated his wound, causing a sharp pain. It seemed that the injury was more serious than he had imagined.
He took a deep breath and, after catching his breath, touched the spot where he had been stabbed by the sword. The wound had been carefully bandaged, so it shouldn't take too long to heal.
However, given the current weakness of this body, it is definitely not advisable to make any large movements, otherwise the wounds will reopen at any moment.
Fu Yun was still checking his injuries when Su Mang suddenly spoke up: "Young Master."
Fu Yun paused in her work, looked up at Su Mang standing by the table, and got straight to the point: "Just say what you want to say."
After a moment of silence, Su Mang turned around and looked at Fu Jun with a strange expression. It wasn't hostile, but it wasn't friendly either.
“You left the manor without permission the day before yesterday. When the head of the family returned last night after finishing his business, he was furious when he learned of this. Su Zi was punished for failing to supervise you properly.”
"Oh?" Fu Yun was somewhat surprised that Su Mang would bring up this matter with her. After all, no one in the Su family liked the illegitimate son of the Su family, so why would they want to chat with him? He probably needed something from him.
"Could you...please..." Su Mang hesitated, looking embarrassed.
Just as he expected, Su Mang wanted his help but was too embarrassed to ask, so she blushed deeply.
"So, you want me to plead for you?" Fu Yun slowly sat up again, leaning against the headboard, and got straight to the point without wasting time with Su Mang.
Su Mang lowered her head, seemingly embarrassed to look Fu Jun in the eye. She kept twisting her cuffs with her fingers, and after taking a deep breath, she responded weakly, "Yes! The head of the family has given the order that if Su Zi cannot convince you to marry into the General's Mansion willingly, she will be expelled from the Su family."
"Huh?" Fu Jun was a little confused: "Whether I did it willingly or not has nothing to do with Su Zi."
"Because you have never disobeyed the head of the family, let alone dared to run away in the middle of the night. This is the first time so far. The head of the family believes that Su Zi must have instigated you to refuse the marriage and then helped you escape from the Su residence."
"No, what kind of nonsense is this?" Fu Yun retorted subconsciously, "This is my personal decision, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."
[Exactly! It's outrageous that anyone would question President Fu's decision-making ability.]
Xiao Ba chimed in indignantly.
Fu Yun found it somewhat amusing: "Is hindsight also one of your strengths?"
[...]
Su Mang's expression became somewhat agitated: "But the patriarch doesn't think so. She believes that you were clearly determined to marry General Qian even though you were willing to die, but suddenly you refuse to marry him even if it means death. That must be because Su Zi interfered."
Fu Jun was speechless: "What kind of logic is this? Can Su Zi fly to the heavens or dive into the earth? How could she possibly control my choices?"
Is the head of the Su family looking for a scapegoat? If General Qian were to blame someone, he'd just drag Su Zi out to take the fall.
[This is only one reason. There's another: she's using Su Zi as a punching bag because you've escaped her control, which makes her extremely angry. However, she can't afford to offend you right now, since you're the future general's husband.]
Xiao Ba added this with an air of importance.
Fu Yun: "..." So it seems there's nothing wrong with that.
Previously, I only thought about leaving the Su residence and did not consider the situation of Su Mang and Su Zi. No matter how strong they were, they were still just servants of the Su family and it was inevitable that they would be implicated.
Although they weren't exactly virtuous, they weren't utterly wicked either. Aside from their hostile attitude towards me, they didn't cause any real harm.
Furthermore, the incident was caused by me. What kind of man makes a woman take the punishment for him? I absolutely will not allow such a thing to happen to me.
Women's conflicts can be ignored, but if the cause involves him, then one cannot stand idly by.
It seems that fleeing is no longer an option; from now on, we'll have to confront them head-on.
Thinking of this, Fu Yun asked, "What is Su Zi's current situation?"
Su Mang's eyes dimmed, and her tone was resentful: "She has been kneeling outside the main room since last night."
Fu Yun then asked, "How long do you have to kneel?"
Su Mang shook her head.
Fu Yun turned to look at the window. The sun was shining brightly outside, and the shadow cast by the window was almost vertical, so it was obviously noon.
So, after Su Zi left, he slept until dawn? That means Su Zi has been kneeling for a whole night and half a day so far?
Is the mistress of the Su family really that ruthless? Is she trying to cripple Su Zi's knees by making her kneel for so long?
These two women repeatedly restricted his personal freedom, which made him very unhappy, but making women suffer for him was not something a real man would do.
Fu Yun immediately threw off the covers and was about to get out of bed.
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