La pluie écarlate submerge la ville

Chapitre 29

She responded with a sneer, then said disdainfully, "That red color is so tacky."

"No way." I stepped forward and looked at the golden phoenix embroidery on the bright red wedding dress. I felt a little ashamed and joked, "Red is so festive. Before I got married, my mother spent half a year embroidering a mandarin duck wedding dress for me. Once you see it, you won't think this dress is too gaudy."

Jinglian opened her eyes wide in surprise and asked me, "You've been married before?"

I immediately withdrew my hand from the wedding dress, turned to look at her, and smiled, "No, I meant that my mother once said that she would embroider my wedding dress by hand when I got married."

She pouted, looking down as she fiddled with the pendant at her waist, saying, "Your mother really dotes on you. If my mother were still alive, she would never agree to my father marrying me off to that fat bastard..."

Seeing her indifferent expression, I quickly changed the subject, saying, "You didn't call me here today just to show me your wedding dress, did you?"

"Of course not!" She suddenly came over mysteriously, pulled me to sit on the edge of the couch, and whispered, "That... demonic man from the Demonic Sect, is he your friend?"

My expression faltered for a moment. "Yan Shu?"

"Yes, yes! It's him." Jinglian looked at me seriously. "Tell me quickly, is he your friend?"

I thought about it for a moment, and said, "Well... we're sworn enemies, sworn enemies who can't stand each other at all."

"Enemies?" She clearly couldn't understand the meaning behind it, pondering it with great confusion.

I asked in surprise, "Why are you asking this?"

She couldn't figure it out, so she simply stopped thinking about it. She pulled me close and whispered in my ear, "I saw the Queen lock him up that day. He looked like he was about to die. I also heard people in the palace say that the Queen wanted to cut out his heart and give it to that fat bastard..."

She looked at me with some trepidation and tentatively said, "He doesn't seem to be doing well..."

I asked her, "Was it the imperial physician who said a heart transplant was necessary?"

"No, not at all." She thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the Queen invited some kind of miraculous medicine master who said that the fat man would die if he cried and wouldn't live much longer. No one in the palace dared to mess with him. This medicine master said that he could find someone with a bloodline to transplant his heart." She frowned slightly, "Isn't that demonic man a priest of the demonic sect? How could he have a bloodline connection? He doesn't look like the fat man at all."

I got up and poured myself a glass of wine. Looking at the pale amber color in the small silver cup, I suddenly turned around and asked, "Do you still want to escape from Licheng Palace?"

She paused for a moment, looking at me in astonishment, and then asked, "You...do you have a solution?"

I asked her again, "Do you want to?"

She abruptly stood up, nodding and then shaking her head frantically, her fingers tugging at the pendant in a flustered manner. "Of course I want to, but... what will happen to my father if I run away? The Prince of Licheng will be furious... he will definitely make things difficult for my father..."

I smiled at her troubled expression. "You've changed a lot. You've become... afraid."

She raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "Is this... good or bad?"

"Alright then." I turned around, lowered my head, and swirled my wine glass, smiling faintly. "The more you grow up, the more you fear. Do you think growing up is good or bad?"

She shook her head in confusion. I picked up my wine glass and walked over to her, looking at her as I asked, "Would you be willing to do me a favor?"

"What can I do for you?" she asked, her eyelashes fluttering. "There's nothing I can do to help you. Just tell me. I don't have many friends, but I've always considered you one."

Her eyes were clear and bright, with no attempt to hide their light. She asked me, "Su Xie, are we friends?"

Is it good or evil to exploit trust?

I looked down at my fingers for a long time, then looked up at her and said, "Yes, we've always been friends, and if possible, I hope we always will be."

She patted my shoulder and laughed, "Don't make any unreasonable requests, or I'll get angry."

I handed her the small silver wine cup, saying, "I'd like to offer you a toast."

"Why are you suddenly toasting me?" She looked at me suspiciously, took the teacup, and asked, "Is it something difficult?"

I watched her drink it and laughed, "It's not difficult. Just take a nap. When you wake up, everything will be over."

"Su Xie..." She wanted to say something more, but the wine cup in her hand suddenly fell to the ground with a thud, and she looked at me unsteadily.

I reached out to support her, watching as her consciousness rapidly faded. I took out a small black box from my pocket, took out a human skin mask, smeared it on my own face, peeled it off, and stuck it to her face...

I only need to borrow your identity once.

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"Princess," the young palace maid knelt at my feet, her eyes lowered, and asked, "What are your orders, Princess?"

I stood in the corridor, wearing the human skin mask of Mirror Lotus, not daring to lower my head, and said, "Get up. I'm going to find that fat bastard Baoze. You lead the way."

The maidservant rose and asked, "Is it so late, Princess, going to find the little prince?"

"What? You can't?" I walked past her without turning back.

She hurriedly said, "This servant wouldn't dare," took the palace lantern, and followed me to lead the way. I suddenly remembered something and turned back to instruct the other palace maids, "Su Xie is drunk. You don't need to disturb her. Just wait here."

The palace maids responded in unison, and I followed one of them around the corridor, winding and turning for quite some time before finally arriving.

The young palace maid announced that they had arrived, and then said, "This servant will go and report."

"No need, no need." I quickly grabbed her, flicked my sleeves, and said sternly, "I'll go in myself."

The main hall was lit. When I entered, the palace maids all knelt and bowed. Baoze was lying on the couch eating. When he saw me, he hurriedly wiped his mouth, pulled the quilt over his head, and shouted, "Tell her I'm asleep!"

The palace maids looked at me with great difficulty. I waved my hand to dismiss them all, then went to the bedside and poked the round, plump brocade quilt.

Baoze mumbled at me, "I already told you, I... I fell asleep! Don't hit me anymore!"

I bent down and looked at the trembling brocade quilt, saying with great regret, "What a pity. I wanted to show you the beauties, but you fell asleep. It seems I'll have to go alone."

As he turned to leave, he heard Baoze whisper behind him, "You're lying to me. Where are you talking about beauties?"

I turned around and saw him biting the quilt, his round little eyes blinking pitifully as he looked at me. I said nonchalantly, "I just found out that the beauty we both saw in the dungeon is still in Licheng..."

"Hmph!" Baoze promptly flashed tears, "Where's my beauty? Where's my beauty?"

I squinted at him and asked, "Do you want to come with me out of the palace to see the beauties?"

He tumbled off the bed with a thud, spilling a bag of pastries and dried fruit all over the floor. He tugged at my sleeve and grumbled, "You're not allowed to lie to me..."

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When Baoze and I arrived at the palace gate, we were stopped. The guard was quite oblivious and bowed to Baoze, asking awkwardly, "Where is the little prince going so late?"

I interrupted, "We're going to see the beauty at Alliance Leader Ruan Bicheng's place."

The guard froze, scratched his head, and asked, "Do the prince and Princess Jinglian have any royal decree?"

"Hmph," Baoze looked at me with teary eyes, "We..."

I secretly pinched him hard, and he cried out, his skin so delicate and fragile. I quickly helped him up, saying, "Prince! Prince! You can't cry! If you cry yourself to death, we'll all die with you!"

The oblivious guard panicked for a moment, and I glared at him and shouted, "What are you standing there for! If the prince cries himself to death here, how many heads do you have to pay for it?"

He hesitated for a moment, then an old soldier kicked him aside and yelled, "Princess Jinglian will take care of the prince when he leaves the palace! Are you trying to kill yourself by blocking the way? Hurry up and get the carriage ready to let the prince and princess out of the palace!"

Chapter Thirty-Four

I declined the carriage and, with Baoze under an umbrella, left the palace, listening to him mutter and grumble all the way, "Where is the beauty? Where is the beauty?"

I ignored him and led him into an extremely secluded inn, where we booked a bedroom.

A moment later, I returned to the palace alone.

The oblivious guard noticed me and bowed obsequiously, saying, "Why is Princess Jinglian the only one who returned? Where is the little prince?"

I glanced at him and said, "The little prince saw the beauty and didn't want to come back, so he stayed there." I walked past him and went straight into the palace, saying, "I have no choice but to come back and live alone in my empty room."

From afar, the old guard could be heard cursing, "What are you standing there for! Hurry up and report to the Queen that the little prince has left the palace and hasn't returned! Can't you be a little more alert!"

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The heavy rain had subsided somewhat, and by the time I returned to Jinglian's side hall, it had almost stopped. I instructed the palace maids to help Jinglian, who was sleeping with my face on her back, to a small room next to the side hall to rest. I waited impatiently in the main hall.

Originally, I thought that if Jinglian still wanted to leave the palace, I would switch identities with her, letting her leave the palace under the name of Su Xie, while I would stay as Jinglian. But now I have no choice but to resort to this last resort. I don't know how long the sleeping potion will last, and I hope nothing goes wrong.

I heard the sound of rain gradually fade away. I pushed open the window and saw the flowers and trees swaying under the eaves. It was just a very light drizzle. Just as I was about to close the window, I heard a palace maid announce that the Queen had arrived.

It's finally here.

I rushed to the main hall, where the Queen, dressed in plain clothes and without makeup, entered with two palace maids. She seemed to have come in a hurry, with raindrops on her temples and a weary expression. She sat on the side couch in the main hall, looked around, and asked me, "I heard you took Baoze out of the palace?"

I bowed and tried to recall Jinglian's tone as I said, "It was his insistence on leaving the palace to see the beauties; it has nothing to do with me."

The Queen rubbed her temples, too exhausted to argue with me, and simply asked, "Where is Baoze?"

I pondered his words for a moment and replied, "He saw that the beauty refused to come back and insisted on staying there with her, so I had no choice but to come back first."

The queen paused, squinting at me. "Where is it now?"

“He’s with Ruan Bicheng.” I looked up and replied, “Doesn’t the Queen know that Young Master Ruan is with him? Don’t worry, with Ruan Bicheng looking after him, nothing will happen.”

"Are you with the people of the Salo sect?" The queen frowned slightly as she looked at me.

I had barely nodded when she gave me a sharp look, then stood up and ordered a palace maid, "Send someone to fetch Baoze back..."

I interjected, "He absolutely refuses to come back, and sending people won't help."

The Queen frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "I'll go myself." As she hurried out, she said to me, "Jinglian had better stay put; my tolerance has its limits."

I respectfully saw her off from the palace and waited for her to walk away. Half a moment later, I left the side hall of Jinglian.

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The Little Prince had mentioned that the so-called miraculous doctor was in a side hall not far from where Yan Shu was imprisoned. I followed the trail and found only a faint candlelight inside. I gently knocked on the door and heard someone inside ask, "Who is it?" It was a very gentle male voice.

Before I could answer, someone opened the door, and inside stood a rather handsome man, wearing a crab-green shirt and with his hair neatly tied up. He looked at me and said in a refined manner, "And you are, young lady?"

This surprised me a bit; I thought the name "Miraculous Hand" belonged to a woman... Unsure whether I could win or not, I sheathed the dagger I was about to draw from my sleeve. I was about to clasp my hands in a fist salute, but then I changed it to a simple bow and asked, "Are you the Medicine King Miraculous Hand?"

He nodded. "It is indeed me." He looked me over carefully and said, "So you are Princess Jinglian."

"You know me?" I asked, slightly surprised.

He smiled slightly and said, "I have met the princess once before, have you forgotten?"

I thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you know martial arts?"

He was somewhat surprised, but still shook his head and smiled politely, saying, "I have been weak since childhood and do not know martial arts."

"What about hidden weapons and the like?"

He shook his head again.

I immediately laughed, "Excellent, excellent!"

He frowned slightly. "I wonder what the princess means by this?"

"I'm not a princess." I looked around and saw no guards. Not wanting to expose Jinglian like this, I simply wiped off the human skin mask on my face and laughed, "That's enough."

“You…” he said, somewhat surprised.

I seized the opportunity to step forward, pull out a dagger, and hold it to his throat, saying, "You can't beat me, so you'd better not move. It wouldn't be good if I accidentally hurt you."