It was very dark in the carriage. Xiao Yichen leaned over and stared at Ji Lingxue's eyes which were still shining in the darkness. Their breath sprayed on each other's faces. It was so quiet that they could hear each other's breathing and heartbeats. The atmosphere was somewhat ambiguous.
Ji Lingxue's cheeks flushed and her mouth suddenly felt dry. She swallowed and her mind was confused and she couldn't remember what she wanted to say.
Xiao Yichen lowered his head and pecked Ji Lingxue's red lips, then gently held her in his arms and said, "Is it because I'm not around that you can't tell? Go to sleep, we have to travel tomorrow."
Ji Lingxue was silent for a moment and asked, "What did you do just now?"
Xiao Yichen said: "Some of the matters sent from the capital need to be handled by me personally, so I will go out to deal with them in order to avoid disturbing your sleep."
Ji Lingxue said with an "oh", her eyes turned and she smiled, "We were not in the palace on New Year's Eve, and those two concubines must have resented me again. They have been begging for your little favor, but unfortunately...Your Majesty, you betrayed the beauty."
Xiao Yichen's mouth twitched. Where did the regret in Ji Lingxue's tone come from
Ji Lingxue turned to look at Xiao Yichen, even though she could not see anything in the darkness.
After a while, Xiao Yichen said, "I have given my true heart to you, Xue'er. You must not let me down."
Ji Lingxue hummed, and fell asleep hugging Xiao Yichen's arm. Looking at Ji Lingxue sleeping peacefully in his arms, Xiao Yichen sighed helplessly. This woman was so intimate with him because she knew for sure that he would not take her in the carriage.
The next day the carriage continued to move forward at a much faster speed. Today there was no one and the journey was as calm as yesterday. First the road was blocked and Ji Lingxue and Xiao Yichen had to get off the carriage, and then they encountered a wave of assassinations.
Xiao Yichen was not surprised at all. The assassin seemed to be dressed like a bandit, but his actions were ruthless, very much like an assassination organization in the underworld.
Xiao Yichen fought with Ji Lingxue on his back. Ji Lingxue sprinkled poison powder on the assassins from time to time. In less than a quarter of an hour, a group of people were poisoned.
Ji Lingxue gave the secret guard the antidote, jumped off Xiao Yichen's back, clapped her hands and said proudly, "The poison powder took effect quite quickly this time. I'll make more next time, and each of you can keep a pack on you for self-defense."
Poison is indeed a much faster solution than sword fighting. Xiao Yichen nodded in agreement, "Thank you for your hard work, Princess."
Ji Lingxue smiled and raised her eyebrows at Xiao Yichen. Her eyes seemed to say: Now you know how powerful I am. If you betray me one day, this will be your end.
Xiao Yichen raised his eyebrows and smiled. He would not let that day come.
The secret guards quickly cleaned up the scene, and after a while there was no trace of blood on the snow. It was hard to imagine that a fierce assassination had just taken place. The carriage was repaired, and Ji Lingxue and Xiao Yichen sat back in the carriage and continued to move forward.
Ji Lingxue, who was bored sitting in the carriage, pulled Xiao Yichen to play a few games of chess. When she was bored, she took a nap in the carriage. Ten days passed like this. Finally, they were about to reach the border of Dayan Kingdom. Xiao Yichen slowed down again.
Ji Lingxue asked: "Why are you walking so slowly? Who are you waiting for?"
Xiao Yichen said: "I have sent a message to Yuchi Ruge. He will send someone to pick us up in the next few days."
Ji Lingxue nodded. Xiao Yichen had entered Dayan secretly in the first place, and the fewer people who knew about it, the better. If Yuchi Gongru knew that they had arrived in Dayan, they would inevitably resort to violence.
Three days later, Ji Lingxue arrived and was greeted by Yuchi Ruge in person.
Although it was dark at night, with the dim moonlight, Ji Lingxue saw Yuchi Ruge whom she had not seen for half a year. The two looked at each other and smiled, which was considered a greeting.
Yuchi Ruge turned her gaze away and looked at Xiao Yichen, bowed and said, "Prince Chen, long time no see, I hope you are well."
Xiao Yichen smiled, with a hint of wariness in his eyes, as if he was looking at a love rival, "My king is fine."
After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Yuchi Ruge asked his subordinates to deliver two sets of clothes so that Xiao Yichen and Ji Lingxue could disguise themselves as his personal guards, making it easier for them to move around in Dayan.
Xiao Yichen readily took the clothes, went back to the carriage with Ji Lingxue to change clothes, arranged for his guards to stay on standby, and then entered the city with Yuchi Ruge.
When the Emperor of Dayan was critically ill, Yuchi Gongru immediately transformed himself into a filial son and took care of the old emperor in the palace. He also did not allow Yuchi Ruge to show filial piety in the palace.
Bai Mo arrived in Dayan one step earlier than Xiao Yichen. As a miracle doctor, he is popular wherever he goes. While Yuchi Ruge was sleeping at home, she took Bai Mo to the palace to take the old emperor's pulse.
After a night of treatment, the old emperor's condition gradually improved. The next day, he was much more conscious and able to speak. All of Yuchi Gongru's people in the palace were removed and replaced with people the emperor could trust.
Apart from Bai Mohao who was taken care of in the palace, Yuchi Ruge also paid her visits to the old emperor on time in the morning and evening, and never mentioned a word about the emperor's will in front of him to avoid any suspicion.
Xiao Yichen and Ji Lingxue were brought into Yuchi Ruge's residence. After briefly understanding the current situation in Dayan, Yuchi Ruge had someone serve the meal so that Ji Lingxue and Xiao Yichen could rest early.
After traveling for half a month without having a good bath, Ji Lingxue saw that there was a hot spring in Yuchi Ruge's mansion and ran there excitedly to take a bath. When she reached the door of the hot spring, Yuchi Ruge had just come out, and the two met again.
Yuchi Ruge said: "Is Dayan's food to your taste? It's not as good as Dongqi's, and it's definitely not as good as Qingfeng Yashe's dishes."
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "Every place has its own characteristics. Why do you have to compare? By the way, my Qingfeng Yashe has opened a branch in the Imperial City."
Yuchi Ruge suddenly remembered the days when he worked as a secret guard for Ji Lingxue. Unfortunately, time could not go back, and he could never go back to the carefree Ruge.
Ji Lingxue rummaged in her sleeves and took out a porcelain bottle and handed it to Ruge, "This is for you."
Yuchi Ruge looked at the porcelain bottle in Ji Lingxue's hand, raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is this?" This porcelain bottle was made in an ordinary way and had no special features. It looked like a small medicine bottle in size, but he was not sick and did not need to take medicine.
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "I just developed a new drug. It's quite effective. It's colorless and odorless. Within a quarter of an hour, even the most powerful masters will faint."
When she came to Dayan and lived in other people's houses, she didn't prepare any gifts, so she could only give her latest poison research as a gift.
Yuchi Ruge smiled and readily took the porcelain bottle from Ji Lingxue's hand, "Princess, your gift is very special."
He had heard of people giving gifts when visiting relatives and friends, but he had never heard of anyone giving poison. He would remember her for the rest of his life.
Ji Lingxue smiled, then suddenly thought of a question and asked seriously, "Did you leave a letter under my roof tiles before you left?"
Yuchi Ruge shook his head. Writing letters was not his style. He preferred to say things in person.
Ji Lingxue frowned. Ruge didn't write to her, so where did Ji Yuqing get the information about her life from? She even asked the storyteller to spread it. If Xiao Yichen hadn't stopped it in time, this matter would have reached the ears of the emperor Xiao Yimo, and she would have been deposed. What a vicious scheme.
Yuchi Ruge asked, "What's wrong?" Did he cause trouble to Ji Lingxue after he left
Ji Lingxue asked: "Can you help me investigate what happened after Liu Mei'e came to Dayan 20 years ago?"
Yuchi Ruge nodded, "Okay, I'll send someone to check right away, and the results will be out in two days. It's getting late, you should go to bed early."
Ji Lingxue nodded, watched Yuchi Ruge's back disappear into the distance, then turned around, opened the door and entered the hot spring pool.
With her whole body soaked in the warm water, Ji Lingxue leaned comfortably against the pool, closed her eyes, and fell asleep unknowingly.
"Dong, dong, dong..." It was the sound of a rattle. A beautiful woman was holding a swaddling cloth in one hand and shaking a rattle in the other hand to tease the baby who had just woken up. "Xue'er, smile..."
Ji Lingxue's mother's appearance was a little vague in her memory, and she seldom dreamed about it. She didn't know if it was because she was in Dayan, but the dream became extremely clear. The beautiful woman's face gradually became clear. It was a face that was 70% similar to her own. The beautiful woman wore a blue dress with white flowers, had a simple bun, and her eyes were full of kindness.
“Mom…” Ji Lingxue stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the beautiful woman’s face, but suddenly her body tilted and fell downward, with the water rumbling below her.
Water had entered her nose and ears, and she could still hear a sneer in the dimness: "Drown you vixen, I am obviously the legitimate daughter, and the Princess of Chen should have been me, but you stole my Prince of Chen."
Ji Lingxue struggled, but her head felt heavy.
Suddenly, a pair of strong arms lifted her up, the sound of water splashed, her body was turned over, and big hands slapped her cheeks, calling her name.
The next moment, Ji Lingxue felt a warm current entering her wrist, and the water that was held in her abdomen was forced out. Ji Lingxue opened her eyes hazily and looked at the person who came. The blurry figure gradually became clear, and Xiao Yichen's tough facial features were engraved in her eyes.
"Your Highness!" Ji Lingxue's voice was a little hoarse.
Xiao Yichen hummed, patted her back with a look of disgust, "You can even make yourself pass out in the bath. If I hadn't come, you would have been dead at the bottom of the hot spring."
Ji Lingxue hugged Xiao Yichen and exhaled, "You saved me from the gates of hell! Why are you talking nonsense? With you here, what can happen to me?"
Looking at Ji Lingxue who was shaking his arms and acting coquettishly, Xiao Yichen's frown never relaxed. He bent down, picked up Ji Lingxue and carried her out of the hot spring pool. He picked up the clothes on the ground and put them on Ji Lingxue, then carried her back to the room.
Seeing that Xiao Yichen's frown showed no sign of relaxing, and seeing that Xiao Yichen was angry, Ji Lingxue felt inexplicably flustered, and moved closer to his face to pretend to be obedient and flattering, "Prince, are you angry?"
Xiao Yichen turned over and turned his back to Ji Lingxue, ignoring her.
Ji Lingxue stretched out a finger and poked his back and said, "Don't be angry, okay? I swear there won't be a next time."
Xiao Yichen still didn't say anything. Ji Lingxue hugged Xiao Yichen's waist, put her face on his back and said, "I just fell asleep in the hot spring pool, and I dreamed of my mother... Don't you think it's strange? She left me when I was very young. I have never seen her face since I was old enough to understand..."
Xiao Yichen slowly turned around and looked at Ji Lingxue behind him. Her eyes were covered with a layer of mist, like a wounded rabbit. He had never seen Ji Lingxue so fragile and sad.
(End of this chapter)