No, how could I... how could I hurt Gu Zhong?
Lingyan struggled, but she still managed to rip her heart out of Gu Zhong's chest and crush it.
The crystals, as clear as crystal, turned into specks of light and vanished into the world in an instant.
“Ayan…” Gu Zhong’s voice was filled with unspeakable sorrow. Blood stained his black armor, as if it had been coated with a new layer of paint.
She fell heavily onto Lingyan, tilted her head slightly, looked at her with a smile, and slowly moved her hand upwards with trembling hands, gently touching her brow.
"I...don't care!"
"I am here... did you have a nightmare, sir?"
The soft voice woke the sleeping woman from her lingering nightmare.
She struggled to open her eyes, and the light streaming through the window gently enveloped the person sitting by the bed, casting a halo around her and conveying tenderness.
Staring blankly at Gu Zhong, Ling Yan couldn't bear to look away from her for even a moment.
"Sir? Someone, summon the imperial physician!"
Seeing the gentleman's expression, Gu Zhong immediately shouted loudly outside.
"I'm fine..."
Ling Yan suddenly awoke, and the Gu Zhong from ten thousand years ago gradually separated from the person before her.
She quickly called out to Gu Zhong, only to find that her voice was completely hoarse when she opened her mouth.
"Sir, you have been unconscious for three days!"
Gu Zhong's words were reproachful, as if he was extremely dissatisfied with her neglect of her health.
I don't know if this counts as repaying the many lessons Lingyan taught her before.
The imperial physician quickly entered the hall. Under the pressure of Gu Zhong's gaze, he dared not be negligent in the slightest and only dared to speak after repeatedly examining the patient.
"Lord Ling was merely mentally exhausted, but he is now fine and only needs to rest."
"Where's your hand?" Gu Zhong pressed, dissatisfied.
"Your Highness, rest assured, the prescription I wrote is extremely effective in removing necrotic tissue and promoting tissue regeneration. If you apply the medicine on time every day, you will recover completely in a little over a month. During this period, remember not to get it wet."
After confirming that Lingyan was indeed alright, Gu Zhong impatiently waved for the imperial physician to leave, then carefully lifted his robe and sat on the edge of the bed.
The room, filled with the aroma of medicine, was now empty except for the two of them. Gu Zhong pulled Ling Yan's hand out from under the brocade quilt and frowned as he looked at her bloated body wrapped in thick gauze.
"Your Highness."
Lingyan instinctively tried to pull her hand back.
"Sir, please don't move. I'll help you change your dressing. You heard me just now, that the dressing needs to be changed on time. Sir, you care so much about your appearance, you don't want to have a scar on your hand, do you?"
Gu Zhong held her down, his face brooking no refusal.
“A servant can serve you; how can Your Highness do this personally?” Lingyan stubbornly struggled.
"Others? I don't trust them!"
As he spoke, Gu Zhong skillfully removed the gauze from the previous day. The bloodstains on his hands had been wiped away, leaving only dark scabs from which tender new flesh emerged, accompanied by an unbearable itch.
The young princess bent down and picked up a clean gauze bandage with fresh ointment applied from a wooden shelf. She carefully and patiently wrapped the bandage around the wound, as if afraid of hurting the injured person. Before long, her forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat.
"That's the proper way."
After wrapping it up, Gu Zhong looked at his masterpiece and nodded in satisfaction.
Lingyan looked at her hands, which had been turned into rice dumplings again, and felt both amused and exasperated. She realized that the thick gauze bandages from before were also the work of the young prince.
"Your Highness has just escaped danger and should be recuperating properly. There is really no need for Your Highness to worry about me."
When Lingyan woke up, she noticed that Gu Zhong's face was still pale, probably because he had been frozen under the snow for too long and his blood and energy were depleted.
"It's alright, I know what I'm doing."
Gu Chongfeng raised an eyebrow and rejected her again, showing no sign of moving. It seemed he intended to stay here and guard Lingyan.
"Ahem... Your Highness, those two guards and the assassin..."
Knowing that she could no longer command this very opinionated Crown Princess, Lingyan turned to the main topic.
"That night was extremely difficult; a team of soldiers searched for a long time but couldn't find her. They finally dug her up the next morning after daybreak. But it was too late..."
At this point, Gu Zhong was quite disheartened, unsure whether he was saddened by the deaths of his attendants or regretful that he couldn't find out the assassin's origins.
Have you found any clues?
Lingyan pressed further, explaining that each family's assassins would have some kind of special mark on their bodies, otherwise even their masters would have difficulty recognizing them.
"A pattern of a ringed serpent was found on the back, which I had never seen before."
Gu Zhong took out a square handkerchief from his pocket, on which was a copied pattern. "Have you seen it, sir?"
When Lingyan saw the ringed snake, a thought flashed through her mind, and she pondered for a moment.
"I've heard that the emblem of the secret guards kept by the previous dynasty's royal family was a snake. I wonder if it's this ringed snake."
"Remnants of the previous dynasty!"
Gu Zhong's expression changed drastically. If it really involved the rebels of the previous dynasty, then Beiling was probably not going to be peaceful.
"The world has been in turmoil for a long time, and many things are unverifiable. Your Highness need not panic. Perhaps it has nothing to do with the previous dynasty?"
While offering words of comfort, Lingyan secretly hoped that Gu Zhong would pay more attention to the "remnants of the previous dynasty."
She knew that the ringed serpent was indeed the emblem of the former imperial guards, but as she said, many things were impossible to verify during the war, especially those involving the secrets of the previous dynasty.
She is too young and should not have experienced the wars of the previous dynasty. Her statement is too absolute and only arouses suspicion.
Could the assassination attempt be related to Chen Muxian, the former prince of the dynasty?
If it was his doing, there would be no need for a special search and rescue operation; it would only backfire and be counterproductive.
If not, then who could it be?
"It's never wrong to overthink things. To be able to ambush me so precisely, there must be a spies within the Beiling Prefecture. And coincidentally, I haven't yet settled accounts with the Witchcraft Cult..."
"What should Your Highness do?"
"Naturally, we must stir up the grass to alert the enemy and lure them out. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of the large army that my father entrusted to me?"
Gu Zhong's words landed with a resounding force, carrying an indomitable spirit.
One force can overcome a thousand tricks; no conspiracy or trickery can escape the power of absolute force.
Since the clues have been temporarily blocked, Gu Zhong's move is an excellent way to break the deadlock.
“Excellent, that is exactly what I was thinking.”
"It's because of the teacher's good teaching."
On the same day, Gu Zhong issued an imperial decree to hold a banquet in the name of rewarding the hard work of disaster relief and honoring the officials, inviting the powerful families, officials of all ranks and their families in Beiling County to attend the banquet three days later.
Regardless of the undercurrents within, and how uneasy the guilty may be, the commotion outside the inn did not disturb Lingyan for the time being.
At this moment, she was taking a leisurely stroll in the courtyard of the post station, using the excuse of recuperating from illness.
Today the sun shines brightly, and the warmth is much greater. A winter plum tree in the corner of the yard quietly opened its buds, creating a scene of a proud plum blossom blooming alone in the cold.
"Lord Ling..." A gentle and refined voice came from behind Ling Yan.
"Chen Kuling? What is it?" Ling Yan turned her head slightly, showing no surprise at his appearance, and asked calmly.
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Author's Note:
Changing the dressing~ It's a pity my hand is injured, haha.
After my visa application failed, I took a closer look and realized that it did have many shortcomings.
Written from the perspective of an omniscient author, the early parts did seem bland and drawn-out to readers... So, dear readers, please give me your feedback.
Because I have a lot of drafts (and many plot threads), I might have to revise some parts from the beginning, so please bear with me! Previous updates have basically been about revising the text!
Chapter 12 The Imperial Tutor and the Crown Princess (Part 11)
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"Since that day, I have been concerned about your injury, sir. However, I have been busy with official duties. I was only able to visit you today. I hope you will not find me troublesome."
Chen Muxian lowered his head and bowed respectfully.
What he said made sense. Gu Zhong did not restrict people from visiting Ling Yan, but the officials from Beijun or the army were not very familiar with her. Most of them were just going through the motions, so Ling Yan was able to have some peace and quiet.
Logically speaking, Chen Muxian could be considered half their savior, so it's normal for him to come and visit.
If it weren't for the chance encounter with his troops, it's uncertain whether they could have made it back to the city in time, or whether the situation would have worsened.
It's just that everything is too coincidental.
"I'm very curious, why did Commander Chen leave the city that day?"
There's no point in hiding things from intelligent people; after an assassination attempt, it's normal to be suspicious.
"The avalanche that day covered a very wide area, alarming the prefect, who sent people to investigate and found that many official roads were buried."
Since marching or transporting grain was inconvenient, the prefect sent several teams to clear the official roads in all directions and to inspect nearby counties for any damage.
Fortunately, I encountered Your Highness and Your Excellency.
Chen Moxian's expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of guilt.
"I see."
A reasonable explanation is that Chen Muxian is merely a military armory commander; how could he possibly decide which side he would be assigned to?
However, Lingyan had a feeling that things weren't that simple. Why him of all people?
An assassin from the previous dynasty bearing the insignia of a ringed serpent appeared at the scene. As a former prince, it would be truly unreasonable to say that he knew nothing about it.
Lingyan couldn't understand why he went to search for Gu Zhong. Was it just to exchange for the Crown Princess's life-saving grace?
Compared to the value of one's life, this deal is really not worth it.