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Lu Shiqing was so upset by Yuan Cixian's desperate move that he was distracted and failed to notice the unusual movement at the first time. He subconsciously reached out to block it when the tip of the knife was three inches away from his heart.
But when he stretched out his hand, it suddenly stopped and stopped just outside the blade.
After a moment, the dagger had pierced his chest. With a "chi" sound, it penetrated about an inch into the flesh.
Yuan Cixian only had time to rush to him, kick away the assassin who was trying to stand up despite being seriously injured, and supported him in shock: "Sir!"
After she finished shouting, she looked in surprise at the man in black who had already died on the ground, and then at Lu Shiqing.
The man in black was at the end of his strength, and the last stab of the knife was made with willpower, not very powerful. Although he was a step late when he stretched out his hand just now, he still had time to hold the tip of the knife, and the worst that could happen was that his palm would be cut.
But why did he lose consciousness at the critical moment
Lu Shiqing felt dizzy and subconsciously grabbed Yuan Cixian's wrist, but he knew that she could not bear his entire body's strength, so he held on and did not fall down until he vaguely heard hurried footsteps and saw a figure rushing up.
It was Zheng Zhuo who arrived and ran forward to support him.
Lu Shiqing finally relaxed his strength, borrowed his arm strength, gritted his teeth and said to him: "Tell her to leave..."
At this juncture, he still used Xu Shan's voice.
Zheng Zhuo knew that he was afraid of fainting from the serious injury and exposing his identity. He glanced at the dagger stuck in his chest and frowned, saying, "I know." He then asked Yuan Cixian, who was obviously frightened and had trembling lips, "Is the county lady's carriage nearby?"
Yuan Cixian's eyes were fixed on the knife in Lu Shiqing's chest. She didn't hear the conversation between the two people just now. It was not until she heard the word "County Lady" that she came back to her senses and asked, "What did you say?"
Zheng Zhuo repeated, "I mean the carriage. The master is seriously injured and cannot ride on the horse any longer."
She nodded her head vigorously, said "I'll go find it", and turned around and ran down the mountain.
After she left, Lu Shiqing was helped by Zheng Zhuo to sit down in front of a rock. He stared at the direction where Yuan Cixian left and asked, "Have the assassins in the mountain been cleared?"
"It's clean now, don't worry." Zheng Zhuo answered, carefully tearing open a corner of his shirt to avoid pulling on the knife handle. While checking his injuries, he quickly said, "It's not a vital part, but the position is a bit precarious. It's too dangerous to draw the knife now. I'm afraid we really have to wait for her to find a carriage. You hold on for a while."
He had just sent Yuan Cihan away to prevent Lu Shiqing from being exposed, and now it seemed that a carriage was indeed necessary.
Lu Shiqing didn't care about his own injuries first. He blinked hard to stay awake and said, "Go and see the death of that assassin..." He was referring to the man in black who suddenly jumped up at the end.
After Zheng Zhuo found out who it was, he hurriedly stood up to check, then turned around and replied, "He died of excessive blood loss. Face down, legs straight, left hand on chest." He seemed to realize something and added, "It's on the exact same spot as your wound."
Lu Shiqing coughed softly and said weakly: "Change his left hand to press the palm of his right hand..."
Zheng Zhuo quickly did as he was told and then walked back and asked, "What's going on?"
In fact, he had felt something was wrong just now. He was a martial artist, and it was obvious that the knife was soft. Logically speaking, Lu Shiqing should not have been hit.
The dagger had not yet been pulled out, and Lu Shiqing was still able to maintain his consciousness and replied: "Prince Ping is suspicious of me..."
The Jiang family fell too easily and efficiently, and King Ping sensed something was wrong. He suspected that "Xu Shan" was not a commoner strategist, but most likely an official hidden in the court.
Today's group of assassins were sent by King Ping. Their primary purpose was to get rid of "Xu Shan". When their plan failed, they had to settle for the next best thing and tried to verify his identity.
The man in black knew that even if he sneaked up on "Xu Shan" and uncovered his mask, he would not be able to return alive to report the news, so he chose to leave wounds in obvious places on his body. He pretended to use a seemingly fierce killing move just to force a person to react subconsciously when in danger.
But Lu Shiqing came to his senses at the last moment and took the blow. The man in black pressed his chest before he died, indicating that he had stabbed "Xu Shan" in this position. Once Prince Ping sent someone to collect the body and got this information, it would be possible to find Lu Shiqing.
The fact that "Xu Shan" was a counselor was exposed, and even the fact that the Yuan family and Zheng Zhuo were proven to be involved was not a fatal situation. Only when his side was revealed would all the years of lurking and step-by-step planning come to an end.
Fortunately now, he asked the assassin to leave a false message.
After hearing this, Zheng Zhuo figured out what was going on. He sighed, took off his mask, and seeing his pale face and sweat on his forehead, he smiled and said, "If you don't want her to be a widow, then hold on. Your death means two lives, Lu Zishu is gone, and Xu Congxian is gone too."
Lu Shiqing sneered, and then he seemed to have regained some consciousness: "She won't die. She has a bad temper and a long life." After saying that, as if he wanted to say something that would cheer him up, he made a "hiss" sound and asked Zheng Zhuo, "Do you think she is too nice to 'Xu Congxian'?"
Zheng Zhuo glanced at him and said, "Aren't they all you? What's the difference?"
"Of course it's different..." Lu Shiqing smiled tiredly.
He didn't have to make things difficult for himself. But when he played the role of a teacher, he followed his speech habits, behavior, and even his hobbies, ideals, and way of thinking. Although he later distorted the image of a teacher in front of Yuan Cixian several times because of his emotions, he really couldn't tell how much of this "Xu Shan" was himself and how much was the teacher. And how much of Yuan Cixian's good impression of this "Xu Shan" came from him or the teacher.
He relied on this annoying question to prop up his drowsy eyelids until he heard a burst of hurried footsteps. He suddenly woke up and struggled to get the mask.
Of course, Zheng Zhuo was one step faster than him. He slapped the mask on his face as if to destroy his appearance, and he almost groaned in pain.
It was Yuan Cixian who came back. She was running out of breath, and her voice came before she arrived: "The carriage is coming..."
Zheng Zhuo helped Lu Shiqing up, walked with her down the mountain, and put him on the carriage.
The carriage came so fast, but it actually relied on picking branches and green jade. After Yuan Cixian rode away, the two immediately rushed to the nearby post station to get new horses and chased all the way here. There was a rugged and narrow section of the mountain road going up, which was not wide enough for a carriage to pass. The master and his servants had to cut through the thorns and drove up with all their might.
Upon learning that Xu Shan was injured, the two maids hurriedly took the utensils originally prepared in the carriage to fetch water and prepare.
Yuan Cixian also wanted to lift the curtain and go in, but was stopped by Zheng Zhuo: "I have to treat the master's wound. Please ask the county lady to escort me on horseback."
She had no choice but to listen to him and nodded: "Then I'll ask Shi Cui to help you."
Zheng Zhuo was afraid that refusing again would arouse her suspicion, so he nodded in agreement.
Yuan Cixian ordered Jianzhi to drive to Chang'an City, while he himself rode fearfully beside him. After a while, he faintly heard a muffled groan from inside the car, followed by a lot of rustling noises.
She pursed her lips and said nothing, whipping her horse stiffly all the way until Zheng Zhuo's guards came to pick him up.
This decision was not wrong. The Yuan family's carriage must be returned to Yuan Cixian.
Yuan Cixian watched as several guards carried the unconscious Lu Shiqing to another carriage, and hesitantly asked Zheng Zhuo, who had lifted the curtain, "How is the master?"
Zheng Zhuo didn't even have time to wipe the blood off his hands, and simply said, "It's okay for now, don't worry, County Lady."
Yuan Cixian didn't feel relieved when she heard the words "it's okay". She just glanced at his hand and nodded reluctantly.
In terms of relationship, Xu Shan and Zheng Zhuo were closer, so it was unreasonable for her to ask for help. However, considering the overall situation, she could not personally send Xu Shan back to the city to take care of him no matter how anxious she was.
She really couldn't do anything, nor was she suitable to do anything.
Zheng Zhuo was so worried about Lu Shiqing that he didn't pay any attention to Yuan Cixian. Only now did he realize that she was covered in blood and mud, and even her clothes were torn in several places. He couldn't help but frown and sighed that he was careless. He said, "Go back home quickly. I will send you the news as soon as I have it."
Yuan Cixian glanced in the direction of Lu Shiqing, nodded and said, "Thank you, Your Highness." Then she turned around and returned to the carriage.
He picked up some branches and drove towards the city.
As soon as Yuan Cixian lifted the curtain and entered, he smelled a strong smell of blood. When he lowered his head, he was shocked by two basins of shocking blood.
Shi Cui was cleaning up inside. When she saw her coming, she quickly cleared a barely clean spot and motioned for her to sit down, saying, "Young lady, please make do with it. Just now, His Highness pulled out the sword from the gentleman. The situation was dangerous, and blood was splattered everywhere."
Yuan Cixian said "hmm" and sat down woodenly, not seeming to care too much about the dirt.
Shi Cui was of course perceptive and hurriedly comforted her, "Don't worry too much, young lady. His Highness's technique is superb and he has stopped the bleeding. His guards have also brought medicine, so I think the master will be fine." After that, she took a clean handkerchief and wiped her face.
Yuan Cixian remained motionless while she served him. After a while, he asked, "Shicui, Master treats me like this, what can I give to you?"
Shi Cui's wiping movements paused.
How could she not understand what the young lady said? Mr. Xu was such a wise man, but the reason why he was easily tricked by the enemy today was actually because he was too concerned.
She hesitated and said, "My dear, I know I should advise you not to think too much, but just now..."
Yuan Cixian tilted her head and stared at her: "What happened just now?"
"Just after the knife was removed, the gentleman fainted and spoke nonsense while in his sleep. It seemed that..." She said with a bitter face, "he called your full name."
Yuan Cixian paused when he heard this, lowered his eyes and stared at the blood under his feet without saying anything.
*
Shi Cui was telling the truth. It was just that Lu Shiqing's voice was hoarse due to his serious injury, and it was vaguely whispered in his sleep, so she couldn't recognize it. With Zheng Zhuo around, the mask was naturally not taken off, and she was not familiar with Lu Shiqing's body, so she didn't notice any clues when she was helping.
Yuan Cixian had been busy all day, and it was already dusk when she returned to Yuan Mansion. Exhausted, she cleaned up, ate a quick meal, and went to bed. But when she lay down, her mind was in a mess, and she couldn't fall asleep.
The answer that she had been unwilling to accept before inevitably hit her heart with what happened today: Xu Shan's treatment of her was indeed extraordinary.
She actually had some admiration for Xu Shan.
She was first attracted to him when they were watching chess that day. When she heard him talk about the fish and shrimp in Xunyang and his ideals and ambitions, she felt envy and admiration. Later, when he came to Yuan Mansion for a banquet, she got drunk and took off his mask, saw his scars, and learned about his life situation. She felt guilty and pity for him, and she didn't hesitate to expose her own scars to comfort him.
Her initial liking for Xu Shan actually had nothing to do with appearance or age. It seemed that she simply felt that she was very compatible with this man's spirit and soul.
Then Xu Sanniang appeared.
The disappointment brought by Xu Sanniang made her a little confused. Was this admiration just pure appreciation or was there some inappropriate feelings between a man and a woman? So she was very embarrassed and guilty when she looked at the black-sailed boats in the middle of the Lushui River.
So after that, she pulled back from the brink and forced herself to cut off all thoughts about Xu Shan. And she did it. Maybe this relationship was not a romantic one, maybe she was concerned about Xu Sanniang, maybe she had developed feelings for Lu Shiqing, or maybe it was all three, but after seeing Xu Shan again, she was no longer in such a state of embarrassment.
However, the thought that she had finally let go of came back to her mind again when she learned about Xu Shan's feelings for her.
She didn't want to accept that Xu Shan was a fickle person, nor did she allow herself to be fickle, but she was indeed in a mess now and couldn't help herself.
Yuan Cixian lay there for a while, looked at the dark night outside, then stood up and hurried to Yongxingfang.
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