novelzi Chapter 43.2
Chapter 43.2
On the day of the surprise attack on Panlong Gully, Lin Zhao had also experienced a close brush with death.
Seeing Lin Yao now, she couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional, but she wasn’t one to be sentimental.
She just grunted softly, “Brother.”
Lin Yao reached out and tousled her neatly braided hair into a mess, saying, “You, this girl, how many times have you been caught now? Stop getting yourself into trouble in the future!”
Lin Zhao retorted, “Last time it was Wu Xiao who betrayed me! This time, didn’t we protect Qiyun Village?”
Lin Yao couldn’t help but laugh at her frustration. “You were the one rushing to protect Qiyun Village?”
Lin Zhao fixed her messy braid, muttering, “I couldn’t just stand by and watch Sister Azheng being taken away alone.”
Wang Biao chimed in, “Big Brother, as long as Miss Azheng is back safe, you don’t have to keep scolding her.”
Wang Biao and Lin Yao were brothers, and he also saw Lin Zhao as a sister.
Hearing Lin Zhao’s words, Lin Yao sighed and didn’t scold her anymore.
“The people of Qiyun Village indeed owe Mrs. Cheng a huge favor.”
Lin Zhao remembered the days she and Qin Zheng were trapped in the villa, the various methods the official used to make Qin Zheng happy.
She couldn’t help but worry for the couple.
Looking around and not seeing Qin Zheng and Chu Chengji, she asked, “Where did Sister Azheng and her husband go?”
Sister Azheng and the official were betrothed to each other.
Sister Azheng didn’t remember, but her husband did.
It would be best if these two didn’t have any grudges.
Wang Biao pointed to a tree stump, “They’re over there.”
Lin Zhao sneakily glanced over and saw Chu Chengji sitting on a large rock, rolling up his sleeves to reveal half of his arm.
Qin Zheng was crouched beside him, carefully bandaging the wound on his arm with a strip of cloth.
The two of them looked quite affectionate, not like they had any grievances. Lin Zhao finally relaxed.
Chu Chengji had several cuts on his arms from clamping down on the spears.
He carried medicinal powder with him, and Qin Zheng applied it to his wounds before carefully bandaging them with torn strips of cloth.
Although he had been in Shen Yanzhi’s hands for several days and had some grievances with him, Chu Chengji hadn’t mentioned a word about it from the road to now.
Qin Zheng didn’t know if he didn’t intend to ask or if he planned to ask after they returned.
After some thought, she broached the subject, “How did you know we would be taken out of the city today, husband?”
“Today, when we entered the city, we happened to encounter a messenger being intercepted and killed by the officials outside the city.
By chance, we rescued him and found out that he was delivering a letter to the magistrate of Qingzhou, accusing Shen Yanzhi of harboring you.
After entering the city, we learned that the magistrate of Qingzhou had been raided.
I figured Shen Yanzhi would have known about the letter, so I guessed he would transfer you overnight and had people watch the movements of the villa.
The ambush was set up after you left through the east city gate,” Chu Chengji explained calmly.
He was usually concise with his words, so explaining this much was rare for him.
In the woods at night, there were many mosquitoes.
Chu Chengji had already killed many with his sword.
He didn’t light a torch for fear of revealing their location.
Qin Zheng’s eyesight wasn’t as good as his, so she couldn’t see the mosquito corpses around her.
She thought he was just poking the ground with his sword out of boredom.
Recalling the scene where he fought the soldiers alone on the road, Qin Zheng still felt a bit frightened.
She pursed her lips and said, “Dealing with the soldiers alone was too risky.”
“Warfare is all about deception,” Chu Chengji replied calmly.
As long as he could win unexpectedly, it was good enough.
Bringing more people to face the enemy head-on would only result in more lives lost to arrows and spears.
Every time he talked about military strategy, Qin Zheng always felt that he was distant from her, yet she also had the strange feeling that he was trying to make her understand him.
This thought was abrupt and somewhat strange, just like when she saw him fighting the soldiers alone, she always felt that there was another person’s shadow on him.
Qin Zheng didn’t say anything more about the matter and finished tying the bandage.
Chu Chengji pulled down his sleeve and stood up to get the water bottle from the horse.
When she reached out to take it, their fingertips accidentally touched, causing a slight tingling sensation.
She pretended nothing had happened, uncorked the bottle, took a few sips to moisten her throat, and handed the bottle back to Chu Chengji.
There was still a little water left in the bottle.@@@@
He took it and drank it all in one gulp.
His Adam’s apple moved gracefully as he swallowed, giving off an inexplicable charm that made one want to lightly bite it.
Seeing this scene, Qin Zheng remembered that she had just drunk from this bottle.
A flush rose to her face.
She quickly averted her gaze, telling herself that there was only one water bottle on the horse and there was no need to be so particular about it while traveling.
After drinking the water, Chu Chengji closed the bottle and put it back on the horse.
When he saw that it was the cavalry from the south city gate, he was almost so angry that he spat out blood.
Escaping with about a hundred men in such a sorry state, it turned out that they had fallen for the enemy’s trap!
Thinking of Qin Zheng’s resolute departure towards Chu Chengji, his heart ached again.
This pain was a thousand times stronger than the pain she had caused him when she disappeared after regretting the marriage and fleeing from the Eastern Palace.
Back then, he knew she was still waiting for him.
Even if he lived like a walking corpse, as long as he knew she was waiting for him, even if it was in hell, he would go to her.
But now, she had turned and thrown herself into another man’s arms, and that man was Chu Chengji!
A surge of blood surged in his chest, and Shen Yanzhi couldn’t even tell whether it was anger or jealousy.
Everything in front of him seemed to be covered in a bloody haze, his chest felt tight, and his limbs felt like they were weighed down by lead.
A fierce black hatred extended through his body along with his blood.
There was a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, and he clenched the collar of his clothes tightly against his chest, as if this could alleviate the dull pain in his heart.
There was no light in his dark eyes, and a fragile smile appeared on his pale face.
She had simply chosen another man. What’s the big deal?
Just kill him.
If he killed the man who looked exactly like Chu Chengji but wasn’t Chu Chengji, she would come back to him.
After returning to the mansion, the doctor diagnosed Shen Yanzhi’s pulse and advised him to rest well, but Shen Yanzhi asked his guards to bring him a map of Liangshan.
His personal guard, Chen Qing, was severely injured and couldn’t leave the ground.
The other guards didn’t understand Shen Yanzhi’s temper and tried to persuade him, “My lord, it’s late at night. You should rest first and look at it tomorrow.”
Shen Yanzhi sneered, “This prince will attack Liangshan tomorrow.”
The guard widened his eyes, “To...tomorrow, I’m afraid the order to mobilize troops has already been sent.”
Shen Yanzhi applied force with his fingertips and broke a wolf hair brush in half, “Then let the order to mobilize troops arrive a few days late!”
The loss of Minzhou was nothing more than a loss, but Minzhou belonged to Li Xin, which fell into the hands of Huaiyang Wang.
What did it have to do with him?
Although he was in a fit of anger, Shen Yanzhi was extremely clear-headed.
The Lu family in Yingzhou was now joining hands with Huaiyang Wang to attack Minzhou.
Obviously, they wanted to divert the thirty thousand elite soldiers from his hands.
Once he left, the former crown prince, together with the mountain bandits inside Qingzhou City, would easily take over Qingzhou City!
Losing both Minzhou and Qingzhou would not be worth the gain.
Shen Yanzhi pressed his temples and ordered in a deep voice, “Go and investigate the secrets of the former royal family, especially those related to the former crown prince. Leave no stone unturned.”
The person who appeared tonight was definitely not the former crown prince.
It was understandable that Qin Zheng would be confused by such a person, but that didn’t mean that the man shouldn’t die!
Two Yan Mountain.
When the boat docked, it was already the middle of the night.
Qin Zheng was awakened by the sound of the signal flare exploding only when the people on the boat signaled that they were their own.
Opening her eyes, she found herself lying in Chu Chengji’s arms.
With just a glance, she could see his perfectly chiseled jawline and the starry sky above.
This scene was too much like a dream, and Qin Zheng’s brain stalled for a second.
Chu Chengji patiently waited for a moment, seeing that she showed no intention of getting up, he said in a gentle tone, “We’ve disembarked. You can sleep when we get back.”
Fully regaining her senses, Qin Zheng remembered that she had fallen asleep on horseback and hurriedly got up.
She was shocked herself.
What kind of nerve did she have to fall asleep directly halfway through the journey? She was usually not so careless.
Qin Zheng felt a bit embarrassed and dared not look at Chu Chengji.
She secretly criticized herself for being fortunate that she was not with someone else, or else she wouldn’t even know if she had been sold.
The moment this thought crossed her mind, Qin Zheng suddenly realized, did she already trust Chu Chengji so much subconsciously?
As they walked on the rugged mountain road after returning to the stronghold, Qin Zheng occasionally glanced at Chu Chengji, her expression subtle.
Back at the stronghold, he didn’t wear the mask anymore.
In the soft moonlight, his face could be described as ethereal and exceptional.
When Qin Zheng looked up at him again, she didn’t pay attention to where she was stepping and almost tripped.
Fortunately, Chu Chengji reached out in time to support her.
He glanced at her sideways and said, “Watch your step.”
Though he didn’t release his grip on her fair wrist, as if he wanted to help her walk steadily through this rugged mountain path.
Qin Zheng trailed a half-step behind him, watching him hold her wrist.
For some reason, she remembered the question he asked on horseback, “Will you come with me?”
She shook the hand held by him and whispered, “I’m following you, sir.”
Although it sounded like a response to “Watch your step,” Chu Chengji’s steps suddenly paused, and the grip on her wrist tightened.
The gaze he cast down at her made Qin Zheng’s heart tremble.