The prince was obviously frightened, and after falling in, he struggled desperately, causing water to splash everywhere. The sound echoed in the deep well, sounding ghostly and eerie.
Chu Xinian hid nearby and was splashed with water. He calmly wiped it off with his hands. Xie Jingyuan watched coldly, turned away in disgust, and didn't want to pay any attention to him.
The prince struggled for a long time, and finally calmed down. He looked around subconsciously, and found himself at the bottom of a dark well, with Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan looking at him not far away.
The prince was obviously confused for a moment: "Why are you here?"
Xie Jingyuan frowned tightly: "It fell down."
idiot.
When the prince saw that there was someone accompanying him, he calmed down. He swam to Xie Jingyuan's side and asked, "How do we get out?"
Chu Xinian suddenly had a bad feeling when he heard this: "Where is your Highness's entourage?"
"I..." The prince paused, feeling a little guilty, "I thought they were getting in the way, so I asked them to wait on the side of the road..."
This sentence extinguished their last glimmer of hope. Xie Jingyuan gritted his teeth silently: "What are you doing here alone? Are you feeding the wolves? It would be fine if you didn't bring your followers, but you fell into the well yourself. When will you change your reckless nature?"
"Thank you Jingyuan!" The prince was so angry that he smashed the water surface, splashing the well water on the faces of the three people: "You are so smart, how did you fall in here?!"
Chu Xinian was afraid that they would get up, so he reached out and pulled Xie Jingyuan to his side, separating the two of them without leaving a trace, but he was so cold from the other person's body that he retracted his hand.
He glanced at Xie Jingyuan's pale and blue lips and frowned unconsciously.
Xie Jingyuan closed his eyes and said nothing, not because he was afraid of the prince, but because he didn't want to argue. Just let him go crazy for a while.
The prince was not in a hurry: "What are you afraid of? When they can't see me, they will naturally come to find me. Are you still afraid that you can't get out?"
Theoretically it is feasible, but I am afraid Xie Jingyuan can't hold on.
Chu Xinian scooped up a handful of cold well water, not knowing what he was thinking, and simply began to feel around the well wall. Before she died, Jiu Niang had dragged her dying body and crawled for a distance, right near the well mouth. If she wanted to seek help, she should have crawled to the side of the road, why did she crawl into the depths of the dense forest
Is there something hidden in the well
Xie Jingyuan folded his arms and leaned against the wall of the well. Seeing Chu Xinian groping around, he raised his eyelids and glanced at him: "What are you looking for?"
Chu Xinian shook his head: "I wonder if there are any clues in there, but I can't be sure."
The prince had no idea what they were talking about. He looked up at the well mouth, hoping that those damned servants would come quickly. However, he accidentally touched the wall of the well, and something suddenly hit his lower back. He thought it was a water snake, so he reached out to grab it, but his fingertips touched a piece of hard paper.
"Huh?"
The prince fished it out of the water and looked at the moonlight coming through the well. He saw a soaked envelope and frowned, "Why is there a letter?"
As soon as he said this, Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan all came over. They swam to his side and saw a blank envelope with no signature. It was bulging inside, so it must be hiding something.
Chu Xinian said: "Your Highness, can you lend it to me for a look?"
Before the prince could answer, Xie Jingyuan had already taken the envelope from his hand and threw it into Chu Xinian's arms: "It's nothing, take it as you like."
The prince said to Xie Jingyuan, thinking that his character was a little abnormal, and was unhappy: "Xie Jingyuan, do you understand what is the etiquette of being a minister?"
Xie Jingyuan closed his eyes and said, "Wait until the day when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince becomes the Emperor and then tell me these words."
As long as the emperor is alive, the rest will be his subjects. So what if he is the crown prince? Even if he is related by blood, he is still a subject.
The prince snorted, but because Chu Xinian was beside him, he didn't respond. If this got out, it would be suspected of being a threat to the throne, and the Emperor of Yan was always suspicious, so there was no guarantee that it wouldn't cause some disturbance.
Chu Xinian checked the seal of the letter, then opened it and saw a letter inside, and a piece of jade hidden inside. The letter was made of oil paper, and although it had been soaked in the well for a long time, the letter inside was still intact.
The prince urged, "Hurry up and write something."
Chu Xinian carefully unfolded the half-damp paper and barely made out the wet ink marks on it in the moonlight, only to find that it was a confession of guilt. The handwriting was beautiful, and it must have been written by a woman, telling the whole story behind the scene:
My name is Jiuniang. I lost my parents when I was young and I don’t know my surname. I was originally from Nanjun. Due to the war, I was exiled to the capital. In the sixth year of Qisheng, I was adopted as the daughter of the Right General Qin Daoyan. I learned martial arts from him and later hid in the red-light district to help him find out the secrets in the capital.
Qin Daoyan was stubborn and narrow-minded. He joined the army when the emperor was in power. He participated in many expeditions over the years and was gradually favored. After the emperor ascended the throne, he was promoted to the rank of general for his merits and was granted a fief of 1,000 households. In the 19th year of Qisheng, he was transferred to the position of Minister of War and participated in the government affairs, which was highly praised.
In the 21st year of Qisheng, Jiuniang suddenly received a secret letter from Qin Daoyan, ordering me to lure the two sons of the Chu family out of the capital, kill them in the suburbs, and put the blame on Xie Jingyuan. However, something unexpected happened, and his guards rushed over, so I failed.
Since the sixth year of Qisheng, Qin Daoyan has secretly taken in hundreds of fake sons, hiding his evil intentions and dangerous actions. I am increasingly worried, thinking of the "chaos" at Tai'an Gate in the past, and I am afraid that I will be silenced, and there is no point in playing chess or fish on the chopping board. So I left this letter and hid it in a dry well as a solemn evidence.
The letter paper was made of flexible material, as if it had been specially waterproofed, and there were bloodstains on it. Before she died, Jiu Niang used her last breath to crawl to the side of the well, probably to attract people to discover the things inside.
Chu Xinian glanced at the letter, thinking, and finally confirmed his thoughts. He muttered to himself: "It is indeed Qin Daoyan..."
It turned out that his guess was correct. In the past, the entire Xie family was beheaded because they were involved in the Tai'an Gate Rebellion, and Qin Daoyan was one of the people who led the troops to capture the Xie family.
But Jiu Niang's words were ambiguous, seeming to imply that there was something more complicated behind this matter.
The prince held a jade pendant hidden in the envelope and turned it over and over for a long time: "I seem to have seen this jade pendant before. Qin Daoyan has countless adopted sons, and each of them has one. What Lai Jiuniang said is true. This old man has no grudges against you in the past or present. Why did he harm you for no reason? Is he targeting me?"
Xie Jingyuan did not speak. The shadow in the well fell on him diagonally, making him look more and more like a lifeless stone statue. After a while, he slowly spoke: "In the past, he and... General Xie Bi were colleagues in the army. During the duel, he was not as skilled as the other person, so he used a shady trick and ended up blinding himself. Since then, they have been enemies and have been making things difficult for the Xie family."
Chu Xinian glanced at Xie Jingyuan imperceptibly.
Xie Bi was the original head of the Xie family. According to seniority, he should be considered the uncle of Xie Jingyuan. According to rumors, he led troops into the palace with the intention of rebellion, and was later captured and killed in the palace. How could Xie Jingyuan, a bastard from a side branch, know the secrets of his early years
The prince sneered, "Old man, why did I say he wore a blindfold every day to pretend to be a one-eyed dragon? It turns out he is blind!"
After saying this, he looked up at the well mouth and shouted, "Damn it! I haven't been seen for so long, why haven't they come to look for me yet!"
The prince felt as if the days passed by in the cold well as if they were years. In fact, according to current time, it was only less than eight minutes since he fell in.
Xie Jingyuan didn't say anything. His lips were pale and bloodless, and his eyebrows were filled with a green deathly aura. He didn't say a word. He seemed to be thinking of something old, and was lost in thought.
Chu Xinian said: "Qin Daoyan originally wanted to kill me and frame you, but he failed. He simply killed Jiu Niang to silence her and dragged you and me into this. It seems that he really hates your Xie family."
Xie Jingyuan coughed violently, his voice low and disdainful, with a hint of arrogance hidden in it: "I have made countless enemies in my life, and I don't need him to be one of them."
The prince was quite loyal. He slowly rolled up his sleeves, and said, "This old man dared to trip us up in secret. Let's deal with the King of Jin, and then deal with him, and kill this turtle bastard."
Chu Xinian didn't say anything. He held Xie Jingyuan's hand in the water and pinched his wrist, but found that his pulse was getting weaker and weaker, knowing that it was caused by the cold. He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly frowned and pulled Xie Jingyuan into his arms.
Xie Jingyuan was startled: "What are you doing?"
The prince was also shocked: "Chu Xinian, do you have any shame?!"
Chu Xinian looked calm. He stuffed the letter back into his arms, tightened his arms, and hugged Xie Jingyuan's cold body to give him some warmth: "Your Highness, don't you know that he has been poisoned and his body is as cold as ice. He can't be frozen for long."
Xie Jingyuan struggled unconsciously, but was held down by Chu Xinian and could not move.
The prince was speechless, and he obviously remembered this incident. He swam to Xie Jingyuan and said, "Are you cold? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
As he spoke, he squeezed in, as if he wanted to join them, but Xie Jingyuan pushed him away without mercy, saying sinisterly: "Why are you joining in the fun!"
The prince was too embarrassed to say that he was also cold, and shivered as he said, "Xie Jingyuan, you are like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, you don't know the human heart!"
Xie Jingyuan frowned and looked away, closing his eyes and saying nothing. He seemed calm, but in fact, his heart was in a mess. He inadvertently tilted his head and touched Chu Xinian's jaw, causing a subtle itch.
Chu Xinian was as bright as the moon in his white shirt, but now he was wearing the dark clothes of a follower, which made him look even more handsome. The moonlight in the well fell on his shoulders. He hugged Xie Jingyuan quietly, without slackening his strength.
Xie Jingyuan did not struggle anymore. His body was stiff, and he slowly relaxed after a while.
"… "
The prince stared at them expressionlessly. After a moment, he lowered his head to the well water, then raised his head to the well mouth again. He didn't understand why he had fallen to this point.
"Xie Jingyuan, you killed me," the prince wiped his face and said half-truthfully, "I would rather be a prince of the Great Yan Dynasty who froze to death in a well."
Although he was a naughty boy, he had a young face and it was not difficult to see the ambition hidden in his eyes. When the prince said this, he had no idea that he might be imprisoned in the East Palace in the future because of his failed rebellion. Later, when the emperor ascended the throne, he directly granted him the right to hang himself.
As a result, Xie Jingyuan also suffered a crushing defeat.
The moonlight was dim, slanting down into the well, vaguely illuminating the ending of the two of them in the original novel.
Chu Xinian lowered his eyes and asked the prince thoughtfully, "Your Highness, what do you think is the most painful way to die in the world?"
Imprisoned and hanged, or died in a well
The prince thought for a moment, then said, "Of course he was strangled to death."
Chu Xinian raised his eyes: "Why?"
The prince spoke a shocking secret in a casual tone: "My mother was strangled to death..."
Xie Jingyuan suddenly interrupted: "Prince, be careful with your words!"
The prince paused after hearing this, met Xie Jingyuan's warning eyes, then smiled nonchalantly and said nothing more. Obviously, he didn't think this matter was a secret, but Xie Jingyuan didn't want him to mention it.
Chu Xinian's thoughts surged when he heard this. He lowered his head to look at Xie Jingyuan, and saw that the part of his neck exposed outside his collar was as pale as paper, with faint blue veins visible. He placed his palm, which was barely warm, on top of him.
Chu Xinian asked him in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Are you still cold?"
Xie Jingyuan stared at him darkly, unable to tell whether he was cold or not. Chu Xinian felt that his body temperature had warmed up a little, and he agreed.
It is hard to tell who is keeping whom cold, or who is warming whom.
Chu Xinian rested his chin on his shoulder, hugged Xie Jingyuan tighter, moved his lips silently, and slowly uttered a few words in his ear: "Is it the emperor..."
The royal family announced that the queen had died of illness, but the prince said that she was strangled to death. Who could easily strangle the queen, the mother of the country, who was in charge of thousands of people? This person wanted nothing else but the emperor.
Xie Jingyuan closed his eyes silently. He knew that he couldn't hide it from Chu Xinian. Once this person found some clues, he would be able to figure out the truth of the whole thing quickly: "You don't have to say it even if you know it. Some things are better left rotten in your heart."
Knowing too much can easily lead to fatal disaster.
The prince saw the two of them hugging each other and whispering, not knowing what they were talking about. He swam over quietly, his eyebrows raised high, "Are you saying bad things about me?"
This prince was accused of being delusional.
Xie Jingyuan was about to push him away, but accidentally touched Chu Xinian's chest, which felt a bit painful. He frowned and took out a dagger from his arms.
The prince thought it was something rare, but when he saw it was a small dagger, he took a quick look and then looked away. He was not interested in weapons at the moment, but was more interested in ladders and ropes.
Obviously, Xie Jingyuan didn't think that this dagger could help them. He was about to put it back, but Chu Xinian suddenly held his hand: "I know how to get out-"
Xie Jingyuan paused, staring at his hand holding his for a few seconds, and rarely said anything sarcastic: "... You don't want to use a dagger to dig a tunnel out?"
The prince glanced at Chu Xinian from the side and sneered at the idea: "Idiot."
Chu Xinian felt that his brain must have been infected by one of them, otherwise how could he forget that he even brought a dagger. He slowly let go of Xie Jingyuan, fumbled on the wall of the well for a while, and then scratched one of the bricks with force.
The walls of the well were made of bricks and stones and were very old. Chu Xinian did not have to spend much effort to use a dagger to dig out one of the bricks and stones, and a natural groove appeared on the wall of the well.
He threw the broken bricks aside, and after a distance, he continued the above operation and pulled out another brick. In this way, a groove for stepping on and climbing was formed.
Chu Xinian wiped the debris off the dagger with his sleeve and said to Xie Jingyuan: "How about this place to gain leverage, maybe you can climb up?"
Xie Jingyuan curled his lips and chuckled, but couldn't help coughing, acting like a sick man: "What if I say I can't?"
Chu Xinian didn't care: "Then I'll think of another way to get you out."
As soon as he finished speaking, the dagger in his hand was pulled away. Xie Jingyuan used the grooves in the well wall as leverage to leap to the middle of the well wall, and chiseled off another brick in three strokes.
Chu Xinian stood at the bottom of the well, looked up, and slowly exhaled: "We can get out now."
The prince remembered what he had just said and nodded stiffly: "If I can get out, then..."
There were weeds growing around the wellhead, and bloodstains were hidden under the soil. This used to be a village, but it gradually became deserted due to population migration.
The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the well mouth clearly. Xie Jingyuan climbed out of the well mouth and tried to pull Chu Xinian, but saw that it was the prince who climbed out, so he withdrew his hand without expression.
The prince struggled to crawl out, gritting his teeth and saying, "Xie Jingyuan, you are such a ruthless person..."
Chu Xinian was the last one to come out. After all, the prince was of noble status and he couldn't get ahead of him.
Chu Xi had never practiced martial arts, so his speed was inevitably inferior to theirs. When he climbed to the wellhead, he was already a little exhausted. At this moment, someone suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him up. When he looked up, he saw that it was Xie Jingyuan.
Chu Xinian smiled and said, "Thank you, General..."
Xie Jingyuan turned his head away without saying a word.
The prince brushed off the grass debris on his body, looking disheveled, and cursed: "These damn slaves dared to leave me alone here, how can I deal with them when I go back!"
Chu Xinian also felt strange when he heard this. The prince was missing, so big a thing, why didn't those followers come to look for him? He glanced at the grass around him and found that everything was normal. But when he came out of the dense forest, the footprints outside were messy, with at least seven or eight different marks.
"Sh ...
Chu Xinian put his index finger to his lips, signaling the prince to be quiet. Xie Jingyuan also noticed something was wrong, and listened for a moment, and when he was sure that there was no one in the distance, he slowly walked towards the roadside.
When the prince saw them like this, he also became solemn, holding his breath and following behind without saying a word. However, when he arrived at the roadside, he saw the followers lying on the ground in all directions, and they were killed.
The prince's expression suddenly became difficult: "Who did it?!"
Chu Xinian went forward and touched the corpse and found that it was still warm. He then went to the remaining corpses and found that they all died from sword wounds. The marks were exactly the same as those on Jiu Niang.
Chu Xinian shook his head slowly: "It was the killer who was good at using two swords. He came here late at night, either to chase us or for Jiu Niang's handwritten letter. However, he didn't expect that we accidentally fell into the dry well, so he couldn't find any traces and killed these followers to silence them."
The prince punched the carriage hard, his face gloomy: "Damn it!"
Chu Xinian was now more worried about another thing, whether the killer was still nearby. Among the three of them, only Xie Jingyuan was capable, and he was a sickly person.
Xie Jingyuan seemed to know what he was thinking and frowned: "There is no one around, right? Return to Beijing as soon as possible. The longer you stay, the more dangerous it will be."
Thankfully, the swordsman killed everyone except the horse that drove the carriage. Otherwise, they would have to go back tonight.