Zhou Huairang covered his ears with his hands. He couldn't hear what the young prince and the crown prince were saying, but he could guess what was going on by looking at their expressions.
No one understood His Royal Highness the Crown Prince better than him. For example, he was very familiar with His Royal Highness's domineering demeanor. Once His Royal Highness used this expression, his voice would be as cold as ice, and the words he said would either be sarcastic or commanding.
The reason why His Highness asked him to cover his ears this time was probably because he was going to scold him very harshly, and not letting him hear it was to save some face for the young prince.
Looking at the little prince again, he was stunned for a moment. He could understand that the little prince must be confused after being scolded just after escaping death.
Then the little prince slowly smiled... and smiled? The little prince actually smiled
Oh, he could understand that. Sometimes when His Highness asked him if he could be smarter, he couldn't do it, so he could only laugh foolishly to make His Highness laugh.
But he can’t smile as beautifully as the little prince.
As Zhou Huairang was daydreaming, he felt a slight tremor under his feet. At first he thought it was his feet that were numb, but the tremor became stronger and stronger, and the sand above his head kept falling. The underground palace seemed to have been affected by the explosion in the kitchen and was on the verge of collapse.
Zhou Huairang's face turned pale, and he shouted in panic: "Your Highness, the underground palace seems to be collapsing!"
"Won't it collapse if you shouted so loudly?" Zhao Mian calmly helped Wei Zhenfeng up, "Come and help."
Zhou Huairang quickly lifted up Wei Zhenfeng's other arm. The two of them, one on each side, supported Wei Zhenfeng and ran towards the gate of the underground palace. The strong vibrations were chasing them from behind, as if a gravel rain was falling behind them.
Just as the collapse was about to catch up with them, they finally saw the gate to the underground palace.
Zhou Huairang felt that if he was a step late, he might be buried under the yellow sand and die, and he shouted anxiously: "It's going to collapse, Your Highness, it's going to collapse!"
Zhao Mian had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and he accelerated with Wei Zhenfeng to sprint.
Wei Zhenfeng was sandwiched between the two: "Wait a minute."
Zhou Huairang said anxiously: "There is no time to wait!"
Wei Zhenfeng managed to squeeze out a sentence with difficulty: "No, I just feel that I can run faster if you don't support me..."
Zhou Huairang could no longer hear Wei Zhenfeng's words. He shouted heartbreakingly, "Don't worry, young prince. His Highness and I will definitely get you out!"
They only have ten steps left to the gate of the underground palace. Will they make it in time
Six more steps, five more steps...
At the last moment, Zhou Huairang couldn't help but shout out the countdown in his mind: "Three, two, one!"
As the word "一" fell, his feet left the ground and he rushed out of the underground palace on his face. He covered his ears, closed his eyes, and buried his face in the soil. The loud noise did not deafen his ears, and the flying sand and gravel did not hit his vital parts. He was fully prepared to deal with the collapse of the underground palace.
However, the expected loud noise and gravel did not attack him. He waited for a while longer, and still... nothing happened.
This shouldn't happen. What's going on
After a long time, so long that he could hardly breathe, Zhou Huairang carefully raised his head.
I saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince holding the little prince and standing beside him, with no expression on his face.
"Your Highness?" Zhou Huairang looked up with a concerned look on his face, "Are you okay?"
Wei Zhenfeng, who was exhausted, leaned most of his upper body on Zhao Mian. He wanted to laugh but didn't have the strength: "I feel like the three of us have read too many novels. He didn't collapse at all."
Zhou Huairang was shocked: "Didn't it collapse?"
Zhao Mian pressed his brows and said, "Look for yourself."
He never expected that he would be led astray by a naive person one day. But Zhou Huairang could not be blamed for this. Under the circumstances at that time, the underground palace was indeed unsafe, and it was right to come out early.
Zhou Huairang looked back and saw that the underground palace was indeed standing intact, not shaking or swaying, and looked extremely solid. He couldn't help scratching his head and said, "This, this is really different from what is written in the storybook."
When he saw similar plots in the stories he read, as soon as the protagonist reached a safe place, the secret realm or maze behind him would immediately collapse.
After all this ordeal, the three of them were exhausted. Even Zhao Mian abandoned the proper manners of a prince and sat on the ground with the two of them.
Wei Zhenfeng's wound was bandaged but still oozing blood. His face became increasingly ugly, and he gradually became so weak that he couldn't even sit still. He leaned against Zhao Mian and said, "Can you be alone? I want to sleep for a while."
Zhao Mian told him not to worry, and Wei Zhenfeng closed his eyes with peace of mind.
Once the tension in his body was loosened, the symptoms of excessive blood loss emerged one after another. Soon, Wei Zhenfeng fell into a drowsy state. In his current condition, it was impossible for him to cross the desert and return to the Yuan Army base camp.
After weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Mian decided to return to the underground palace to look for herbs that could stop the bleeding, and then make other plans after Wei Zhenfeng's injuries got better.
At this time, Zhao Mian vaguely heard a voice, which seemed to come from the ground. Zhou Huairang also heard it, and with a horrified look on his face, he asked, "Your Highness, could this be the reinforcements from the Imperial City Division?"
Zhao Mian said coldly: "Shut your crow mouth."
If the people coming this time are really reinforcements from the Imperial City Bureau, can he still escape with the unconscious Wei Zhenfeng and Zhou Huairang
After coming to the desert for so long, Zhao Mian's heart has never been so uncertain as it is now. It's not that he has never been on the verge of death before, but whether it was in Nangong Mountain, in the sandstorm, or even in the disaster they just experienced in the Imperial City Division, Wei Zhenfeng stood by him and fought side by side with him.
And now, there are only him and Zhou Huairang.
Zhao Mian looked down at Wei Zhenfeng. The boy's head was resting on his shoulder. He seemed to have fainted completely. Two teardrop moles were hidden under his long eyelashes. His face was a mixture of blood and paleness, and there was not a single clean spot on his clothes.
It looked messy, broken, disheveled and fragile, completely different from Wei Zhenfeng's usual carefree and unrestrained appearance.
Zhao Mian raised his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of Wei Zhenfeng's mouth with his sleeve.
What was he doubting? Of course he could protect Wei Zhenfeng and Zhou Huairang.
He is the Crown Prince of Nanjing. His two fathers are one the emperor and the other the minister. As long as he wants, there is nothing he can't do.
He can do whatever he wants.
Just as Zhao Mian was trying desperately to encourage himself, the voices on the ground became clearer and clearer, and a familiar feeling came over him.
"Young Master—"
"Little Prince—"
“Your Highness!” Zhou Huairang’s voice was hoarse, and he was so excited that he made a duck-like quack. “It’s Old Shen and the others! They’re here!”
“Old Shen, old marquis!” Zhou Huairang ran all the way along the stone steps leading to the ground, “Your Highness and I are here! Old Shen, wuwuwu…”
Zhao Mian and his two companions successfully joined up with Shen Buci and his companions. According to An Yuanhou, after the sandstorm, they were found by Wu Yuanchang one after another, but they were nowhere to be found and two camels were also lost.
Seeing that the food and water were about to run out, no one dared to give up the search and return the same way. They had lost the extremely respected Crown Prince and the young prince. If they couldn't find these two people, even if they returned to the base camp safely, they would still die.
Not to mention Shen Buci, who had barely slept in the past few days and nights, with only one thing in his mind and eyes: finding the Crown Prince. If it weren't for Marquis An Yuan persuading him, he would have searched for him without sleep and without food.
Now that the Crown Prince was fine, everyone in Nanjing was smiling and overjoyed. But the people in Beiyuan were no longer smiling. Yun Yong and Hua Ju took over the task of taking care of their own prince from Zhao Mian. The two girls saw that the little prince's injuries were so deep that their eyes were red with heartache.
Zhao Mian led everyone back to the underground palace. After investigation, it was found that only the area around the kitchen collapsed, and the rest of the place was intact. Among the people accompanying him was a military doctor from the Yuan army, who found some precious hemostatic herbs in the storehouse of the underground palace, which happened to be available for Wei Zhenfeng to use.
With Wei Zhenfeng unconscious, Zhao Mian naturally became the person in charge of the overall situation. He ordered An Yuanhou to take people to the dining room to deal with the aftermath, and received a reply that there were a total of twelve people from the Imperial City Division, four of whom were assassinated, seven died in the explosion, and only one was seriously injured.
The one who was seriously injured but not dead was the boy who called Gu Shaodeng his master. Before the explosion, Gu Shaodeng firmly protected him under his body and used his body to block the damage of the explosion for the boy.
Although the boy survived, one of his arms was blown off. When he was found, his body was covered with the blood and flesh of his master, and he was holding on with his eyes open. If he was left alone, he would have died within half a day.
Anyuan Hou asked, "Sir, how do you want to deal with this young man?"
Zhao Mian didn't even think twice: "Kill him, and give him a quick death."
Ji Chong said, "Sir Xiao, can we wait until the prince wakes up and let him make the final decision? If we keep him alive, we might be able to get more clues about the remnants of the Imperial City Division from him."
Zhao Mian disagreed: "Gu Shaodeng is dead, and the remaining people in the Imperial City Bureau are unlikely to achieve great things. Whether there is a clue or not, your prince can kill them all. This man witnessed his master and companions die under Wei Zhenfeng's conspiracy. You can imagine how much he hates Wei Zhenfeng. He has nothing to lose. Doesn't he understand the principle of not giving up the enemy when he is desperate?"
Ji Chong was in a dilemma: "But, after all, this is our own business in Beiyuan..."
Zhao Mian gave Bei Yuan some face because of Wei Zhenfeng's injury: "Forget it, it's up to you."
Only after he had dealt with the affairs of the Imperial City Bureau did Zhao Mian have time to visit Wei Zhenfeng.
The military doctor changed Wei Zhenfeng's clothes, cleaned his wound, applied medicine powder, and rebandaged it. Yun Yong and Hua Ju stayed by Wei Zhenfeng's bedside and wiped his hands and face.
Zhao Mian asked the two girls to go down first, and then asked the military doctor alone: "Is the prince okay?"
The military doctor said, "The knife wound is not serious, but the prince has lost too much blood and is weak. In addition, he has been overworked and has not been sleeping or eating regularly. He urgently needs to rest for a while to recover his strength."
Zhao Mian asked again: "How long is a period of time?"
The military doctor said, "It will take at least ten days to half a month."
Ten days and half a month... But tomorrow is December 14th.
"I have a question," Zhao Mian asked calmly, "Does this injury affect our sexual intercourse?"
The military doctor had been practicing medicine for many years and had seen a lot. He was not surprised by Zhao Mian's question: "It doesn't matter. Wait until the prince's injury gets better..."
Zhao Mian interrupted him: "It can't wait, it needs to be tomorrow night."
The military doctor opened his mouth wide, completely stunned.
The military doctor was stationed in the desert all year round and didn't know much about things outside the desert. Others would not say anything about the young prince being poisoned. He looked at the unconscious young prince and said boldly: "Master Xiao, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but is this room of yours indispensable?"
Zhao Mian was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes."
Military doctor: “…”
Zhao Mian was in no mood to explain too much, so he just said, "It has to be the same. Otherwise, both me and the prince will die."
The military doctor didn't dare to ask more questions. He wiped his sweat and said, "If you really want to do it, remember not to get too excited. Be gentle and slow."
This is not difficult.
Zhao Mian nodded: "I remember it."
The military doctor hesitated for a while, and then said, "Also, given the prince's current condition, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for him to... uh, be the one to bear the brunt of it."
Zhao Mian looked unhappy: "Okay."
Under the careful care of Yun Yong and others, Wei Zhenfeng recovered quickly. But no matter how fast he recovered, it was impossible for him to recover to the state of being as energetic as the wind in the past, holding a beauty in one hand and untying his belt with the other hand in just one day.
The next morning, Wei Zhenfeng woke up once, took some medicine, and ate some food. After learning that they had successfully reunited with the others, he fell into a deep sleep again.
Yun Yong and Hua Ju were initially delighted that the prince had woken up. However, when they discovered that the prince had slept from day till midnight and had no sign of waking up by the time midnight came, they could no longer sit still.
The military doctor didn't know what the little prince had to do tonight, but they did.
They tried to wake the prince up, but he didn't respond. The military doctor also came to see him and said that the prince was fine and that his coma was normal.
Hua Ju was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes: "If the prince doesn't wake up before midnight, it will be serious!"
The military doctor thought for a moment and said, "How about I try to give the prince a few injections?"
Yun Yong asked: "Will this be effective?"
The military doctor told them honestly: "It depends on the individual."
When several people were anxiously waiting in the outer hall, Zhao Mian walked in. Seeing them huddled together, he knew that Wei Zhenfeng had not woken up yet.
As expected, when Hua Ju saw him, he said anxiously, "The prince has been in a coma. Master Xiao, what do you think we should do?"
Zhao Mian forced himself to remain calm and said, "It's okay, leave it to me, and you can all go back and rest."
(End of this chapter)