Jingtan's dark eyes turned: "If you kiss me, maybe I'll consider it."
Shang Rui raised his eyebrows again, and without hesitation, he said, "Come here."
Jingtan was not polite. He climbed into the car and squatted down in front of Shang Rui.
Shang Rui quickly touched her lips.
Jingtan touched his mouth and laughed: "I won't admit it if you treat me like this."
"Then come closer." Shang Rui said coldly.
Jingtan smiled and did as he was told.
So he opened his mouth and took her lips in.
The carriage was actually not narrow, but Shang Rui deliberately wanted to sit next to Xia Yue.
So the two of them were almost arm to arm.
At this moment, Jingtan and Shang Rui were kissing very closely. Even if Xia Yue was thick-skinned, she couldn't bear to watch it and quickly turned her back.
Jingtan's breathing became more and more rapid as he was kissed. Xia Yue's ears were filled with the sound, making her feel ashamed.
I don't know how long it took before I heard Shang Rui ask in his slow voice, "Is this enough?"
Jingtan seemed a little dazed, her breathing was unstable and she replied shyly, "I'll go get someone." Then she lifted the curtain and walked out with her red lips kissed seductively.
Xia Yue was almost dumbfounded. After Jingtan left, she sat there for a long while before saying to Shang Rui, "You are really open-minded."
"I'm not a chaste woman." Shang Rui looked at her coldly, "Besides, who am I doing this for?"
"We're all going to live to the end anyway, so what difference does it make whether one hand is disabled or not?" Xia Yue said.
He suddenly asked, "If I die with you, would you be happier?"
"If possible, I hope it was Zijin who came in just now." She told the truth.
"You don't want me to die?" he asked.
"He and I have nothing to worry about except each other. We can die together without involving others. This is not a bad ending."
Shang Rui heard this and smiled self-deprecatingly: "I am that other person."
At this time, Jingtan brought people to untie Xia Yue. Jingtan was very cautious, fearing that Xia Yue pretended to be injured to deceive her and let Shang Rui take advantage of the opportunity.
She ordered someone to watch Shang Rui while asking someone to check Xia Yue's injuries. At this moment, there was definitely no medicine. The other party randomly used wood chips to fix her bones, and then tied her back.
When the men left, Xia Yue took the opportunity to look outside the car. It was already pitch dark. "Why haven't they done anything yet? Where are they taking us?"
"They are still waiting." Shang Rui replied.
"What are you waiting for?" Xia Yue was puzzled.
"Wait for the right time. Do you think Jingtan tried every means to capture me just to make you and I a pair of star-crossed lovers?"
"… "
The pain in Xia Yue's hand eased a lot, and her mind became clearer. Thinking of the bearded man just now, she reminded Shang Rui, "There are Wusun people among these people."
Shang Rui did not show much surprise after hearing this, but just murmured: "Xu Zizhang still led the Xu family to betray the country and surrender to the enemy."
Their car never stopped, shaking and bumping as it sped along.
Xia Yue only had her hands tied, so at least her legs could move left and right. Shang Rui's hands and feet were all tied. He was calm, leaning against the carriage, resting his energy.
After a while, someone got on the bus and covered the eyes of the two people with cloth.
After another incense stick of time, the carriage seemed to enter the backyard of a farm. Jingtan climbed onto the carriage gently, untied the ropes on Shangrui's feet, and urged them to get off the carriage quickly. The two men were blindfolded and stumbled for a while, and were locked in a dark room again.
"Now I don't even have to use my eyes." Shang Rui sighed.
"What are they going to do?"
"I have no idea."
"Didn't you know everything just now?" Xia Yue said.
Shang Rui didn't say anything else.
The cloth covering their eyes was still there, and both of them were facing the darkness at the same time. The atmosphere became solemn.
"Are they going to take action?" Xia Yue began to realize why he was hesitating.
"The people who cleaned up the mess must have run into trouble. I guess Yao Chuang has come looking for us, so they hurriedly hid us here temporarily."
"Then what?"
"Abandon the pawns and keep the general..." He uttered these four words lightly.
After hearing this, Xia Yue stopped talking.
Shang Rui was the same. Yao Chuang was much later than he expected, maybe something unexpected happened on the way. Thinking of this, Shang Rui became nervous and shouted into the dark void with a trembling voice: "Zhaoyang, come here."
"how?"
His legs were tied up with ropes, so he couldn't move. He coaxed her softly, "Come over here and talk."
She hesitated for a moment, then slowly moved towards him following the sound. Just as she reached him, the door was kicked open.
A murderous aura came towards me.
"It's inconvenient to carry two people. Let's get rid of this woman immediately. The dog emperor will stay for a while." The speaker was the bearded man.
Before he could finish, Shang Rui had already protected Xia Yue behind him and shouted, "Whoever dares to touch her, I, Wei Shang Rui, will tear him into pieces!"
He originally had the aura of an emperor who was majestic without even getting angry, but now such a rebuke actually made people feel a little daunted.
Unexpectedly, Jingtan burst out laughing and said, "Uncle Jiu, your performance of the hero saving the beauty was so wonderful. I was almost moved."
Shang Rui moved forward a little and used his body to block Xia Yue.
Jingtan walked over, ripped the cloth off Xia Yue's eyes and said, "I just found out that my uncle, Jiu, deliberately surrendered to me in order to win your heart. He wanted to be a hero and save the beauty, and then use a self-torture trick to make you reluctant to part with him."
Xia Yue squinted her eyes, somewhat uncomfortable with the sudden light, and turned her face away.
"Wei Jingtan!" Shang Rui said angrily, "Don't touch her."
At this time, the bearded man kicked Shang Rui fiercely on the chest, and then pushed him heavily against the corner with his foot, instantly separating the two.
His chest and lungs were shaken violently, a fishy-sweet taste rushed up his throat, and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.
Jingtan grabbed Xia Yue's chin and turned her face to Shang Rui viciously: "Before you die, you really have to take a good look at him to see what kind of person he is. He can use you to control Yu Ranyu to deal with my father, and he can deliberately instruct the imperial physician to teach you how to treat diseases so that you will not want to leave. Now he is using me to make you change your mind. In his eyes, everyone in this world is just a chess piece, and he can control it at will. If he likes you, he will hold you in high esteem, and if you are no longer valuable, he will discard you like a worn-out shoe."
Xia Yue didn't say anything, secretly preparing to kick Jingtan. Unfortunately, just as she was about to kick, the bearded man saw through her intentions and raised his long sword, cutting off a piece of flesh from her leg.
Shang Rui had been blindfolded and had no idea what was happening. He only heard Xia Yue let out a muffled groan, and then the smell of blood filled the air.
The rope on his hand almost cut into his flesh. His eyes were red with anger. "I swear in the name of the Emperor David that if I get out alive today, I will definitely destroy the Wusun Kingdom in the future!"
After saying that, he once again tried to struggle to get up and move towards Xia Yue. The bearded man stabbed with his right hand, inserted the sword into Shang Rui's shoulder blade, and taunted: "You have to survive to tell the story." Then, with another force, the tip of the sword pierced through the flesh and bones of his shoulder blade and nailed him to the corner.
Jingtan looked at Xia Yue's bloody leg and shook his head: "What a pity! I wanted to give you a quick death for Brother Yu's sake."
Xia Yue endured the severe pain and said nothing.
"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing," Jingtan said, "I heard that Uncle Jiu is planning to add you to the Wei family's imperial genealogy, and pair you and Brother Yu up as a real sibling, so that he can only look at you but not marry you in this life. How do you think my Uncle Jiu could come up with such a brilliant idea?"
At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door and footsteps outside the courtyard. Jingtan and the bearded man looked at each other, and they both closed the door and went out.
Shang Rui coughed heavily, bringing out a pool of black blood. He lowered his head and rubbed the corner of his mouth on his shoulder, then called out, "Zhaoyang?"
There was no response from the other end.
He was a little flustered: "Yu Zhaoyang, speak up!"
Xia Yue replied hoarsely: "I'm fine."
"Come here and sit next to me." he said softly.
"My legs hurt and I can't move," she replied.
The tone was a little cold.
She didn't believe all of Jingtan's words just now, but it wasn't that she didn't believe them all. Yes, if he wasn't sure he could escape unscathed, with Wei Shangrui's personality, how could he risk his life
Thinking of this, Xia Yue smiled bitterly and finally couldn't help asking, "Is He Xiang dead?"
Shang Rui didn't say anything.
"Did you kill her?" she asked again.
"She committed suicide." Shang Rui replied.
After getting this answer, Xia Yue turned her head, pressed her face against the cold wall, and burst into tears: "She is of no use to you, so it's not a pity for her to die, right?"
He remained silent.
Xia Yue closed her eyes and burst into tears: "Wei Shangrui, do you have a heart?"
He was blindfolded, listening to Xia Yue's question in the dark, and after a while he slowly replied: "Zhaoyang, everyone in this world can ask me this, except you."
six
At this moment, the door was pushed open again.
There was a shadow standing in the darkness outside the door, but there was no movement.
Shang Rui smiled and shouted, "Why are you hiding? Come in, Master Tian."
When Xia Yue heard the name, she looked up in surprise.
Tian Yuan really came over from the darkness. "I didn't expect that even though the emperor can't see at this moment, he can still have such good eyesight."
"You are actually a Wusun spy." Shang Rui said.
Tian Yuan looked calm and asked curiously, "How did you guess it was me?"
Shang Rui pointed his chin at Xia Yue and said, "She told me."
Xia Yue was confused.
"She told me before that He Xiang was dead. This news must have been told by Jingtan. As for how Jingtan knew it, when Minglian came to report the news of He Xiang's death, there were only three people present in Kangning Palace."
"Then why don't you doubt Helan Xun?"
"Because the letter to Jingtan was delivered by you, not him," Shang Rui said.
"You are really smart." Tian Yuan said with a smile.
"Did you deliberately infect her with the black sha? So that she would die in my hands without knowing it, and make Yu Ranyu and I become enemies?" Shang Rui asked again.
Tian Yuan nodded: "Yes, but what's the point of you guessing it all? It's too late for you to know now. You arranged for Yao Chuang to rescue you, but unfortunately he has been intercepted by me. At this moment, Xu Zizhang should have revolted in the city. When he breaks into the palace and cooperates with the Wusun cavalry, you will not be a king who has lost his country."
Shang Rui laughed instead of getting angry: "Are you sure Xu Zizhang has already started an uprising in the city?"
At this moment, Wei Shangrui's face was pale, blood was hanging from the corner of his mouth, his eyes were covered, and there was a sword on his shoulder. No matter how you looked at him, he was in a very miserable state. But the bright smile on his lips suddenly frightened Tian Yuan.
He took two steps back, turned around and left the house, and hurriedly sent someone to verify the news from Xu Zizhan.
At this moment, two dark shadows floated down from the roof and landed in the darkness under the eaves.
Seeing that the room was heavily guarded, they felt 70% sure, and the two of them killed the four guards at the door together.
One of them called softly through the crack in the door: "Your Majesty?"
"I'm here." Shang Rui recognized Yao Chuang's voice and added, "Miss Min is here too."
Yao Chuang breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his voice and apologized, while briefly reporting the recent situation: "I almost fell into Tian Yuan's trap on the road, and I came to rescue you too late."
The other shadow learned that Xia Yue was also there, and hurriedly lowered his voice to test, "Miss, I am Chu Zhong. How are you?"
Xia Yue said, "I'm fine."
After getting confirmation from the two people, Yao Chuang blew a whistle into the air.
At the same time, Chu Zhong drew his sword and cut off the lock on the door with one stroke.
The Wusun people then noticed the movement and rushed over with their swords drawn.
But at this moment, the lights outside the courtyard were suddenly bright, and several rows of archers suddenly appeared on the walls on all four sides. It was unknown when the outer periphery of the courtyard had been surrounded by officers and soldiers, and then Li Bingli led his men to kill his way in.
Xia Yue leaned her head lightly against the wall. She couldn't touch her legs, nor did she dare to look down. She only felt the blood flowing out.
Chu Zhong had a serious look on his face. He tore off a piece of cloth from his body and wrapped it tightly around her knees several times.
At this time, Yao Chuang had already cut off the chains and ropes on Shang Rui, but he didn't know what to do with the sword stuck in his shoulder.
Shang Rui lowered his head to take a look, then gritted his teeth and pulled it out himself, threw it on the ground, and asked, "How is it in Beijing?" When Xu Zizhang returned to Beijing, he also secretly ordered Hongwu to lead troops north and secretly stationed troops at Shilipo in the capital. However, he was still not at ease before he got the exact news.
Yao Chuang replied: "Xu Zizhang's party has been captured by General Hong in one fell swoop. However, we did not expect the Wusun people to intervene, and we lost some troops."
Shang Rui was pulled up by Yao Chuang. After listening to Yao Chuang's narration, he felt relieved and turned to check on Xia Yue.
The blood on her legs had dyed the surrounding clothes red.
Shang Rui reached out his hand to help her, but Xia Yue looked up at him unexpectedly without responding. She just relied on the strength of Chu Zhong's hand beside her to stand up by herself with the help of the wall.
She limped and took two steps forward with difficulty.
At this time, Zi Jin, who had fought his way out of the enemy with a sword in hand, appeared at the door. After entering the door, his figure flashed and he eagerly hugged Xia Yue tightly to his chest.
"Yue'er." Zi Jin called her name anxiously and happily.
Xia Yue naturally threw herself into his arms.
Zi Jin noticed Xia Yue's injury, his face suddenly changed, and he quickly carried her to a secluded place in the house for examination. Fortunately, he brought trauma medicine with him in case of emergency.
The powder was poured on the wound and the bleeding stopped, but the wound was still horrifying.
The Wusun remnants outside were still struggling desperately. Fearing that Xia Yue would be shot by a hidden arrow after leaving the house, Zi Jin had no choice but to hug her tightly and comfort her, "We will leave after a while."
Xia Yue nodded and buried her head quietly in Zi Jin's neck.
Shang Rui accidentally looked at Xia Yue. The sudden orange fire outside the window reflected on her, making her face extremely dazzling.
At this moment, the gentle and peaceful look between her eyebrows was something she had never seen before in front of him.
Not even once.
seven
This summer was extremely hot, but the entire capital was shrouded in the grim atmosphere of purging the remnants of the Xu family.
Jingtan committed suicide on that day, and the Huai Wang family was executed on the spot afterwards.
In the Kangning Palace, Ming Lian returned from outside and reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Yanping has already set off to Yunzhong to take up his fiefdom."
Helan Xun, who was discussing matters in the palace, glanced at Shang Rui. Then, Ming Lian presented another brocade box: "This was sent to the palace by Prince Yanping before he left, saying that he owed the emperor something."
Shang Rui opened the lid.
There was a longevity lock in the box. Originally, there were three bells hanging underneath the lock, but one of them was taken out and placed aside.
He picked up the bean-sized bell with his fingertips and shook it, but did not hear the silver bell sound it was supposed to make.
"Bo Luan, do you know what this is?" Shang Rui asked.
Helan Xun pondered: "Since it was presented by Prince Yanping, could this be the secret treasure of Emperor Taizu?"
Shang Rui heard Helan Xun's question but did not answer it. Instead, he placed it in his palm, examined it for a while, and smiled sadly: "I can't get it even if I want it, and I can't give it up. This is what I am ultimately like."