Quand l'amour approche, c'est comme la neige

Chapitre 93

Without a second thought, Prince Duan gave the medicine to the Princess. A moment later, the Princess woke up and, seeing Prince Duan looking at her anxiously, smiled and said, "How did you fall asleep like that?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; clearly, the one who threw the knife wasn't an assassin, but the person who saved the princess. Someone said, "Who could it be?"

Prince Duan didn't order a search for the assassin who delivered the antidote; it seemed all his thoughts were focused on his princess. Everyone knew of Prince Duan's infatuation, so it was understandable that he wouldn't be preoccupied with the princess's poisoning. Everyone could only keep their speculations to themselves, offering only smiles and congratulations to the princess on her recovery. The worshippers and monks, their clothes soaked with sweat, breathed a sigh of relief, relieved to be safe.

A breeze carried the unique fragrance of the mountains and forests through the courtyard. Prince Duan waited for a full half hour, and only after confirming that the princess was indeed unharmed did he pick her up and softly say, "Let's go back." It was as if nothing had happened.

The princess looked at Prince Duan suspiciously, but the look in his eyes made her smile sweetly: "I'm very tired, let's go back. Don't make things difficult for the monks and worshippers in the temple."

Prince Duan nodded, unable to resist turning back to look at the main hall. In the end, he sighed and left without looking back.

Yongye watched as Prince Duan and his wife left the temple, surrounded by soldiers. Just as she was about to leap off the roof, a sudden sense of danger arose. She rolled along the ridge to avoid them, only to find a row of arrows already embedded in her hiding place. The arrows were coming from the front hall and the side walls flanking the dragon-shaped eaves. The arrows continued to rain down, forcing her to rush towards the rear hall. Like a black bird, she swiftly emerged from the rear hall and leaped into the forest.

As soon as she entered the forest, Yongye regretted it. The enemy had deliberately left a path leading to the rear hall, but a heavy ambush had been laid within. Cold sweat soaked her back as she barely dodged. She threw her hidden weapons around like they were free; a sword thrust at her, and a sharp pain shot through her back. Using the momentum, she sprinted away. She was secretly relieved to still be wearing her armor vest.

She had accompanied Princess Duan to Yishan before and knew that the famous Yishan Sunset was just ahead. The best place to watch the Yishan Sunset is a cliff on Sunset Peak, where a stone platform extends out of the cliff. Standing on the platform, as the sun sets, the sea of clouds churns and the whole mountain turns golden.

It was the last hour of the day, and although it wasn't as glorious as sunset, the mountain peaks could still be seen bathed in sunlight from the stone platform, and the distant mountains were majestic.

Yongye leaped onto the stone platform and saw that the clouds below were swirling and bottomless, indicating that there was no way back. Looking back, he saw several people slowly walking out of the forest.

They wore the same black shirt, black pants, and black headscarf, and their faces were covered.

She sat down and smiled, "I entered the valley in the twelfth year of Yujia. What about you? How have you been since graduation?"

Suddenly, someone asked, "Are you that idiot from Building 10?"

"Haha! A fool can come out alive? You're the fool!" Yongye retorted, bursting into laughter.

These must be the people who left the building back then. Youli Valley is really willing to spend money; they finally managed to train a dozen or so top-notch assassins, and now they've all been sent to Anguo.

"Actually, Gu Li didn't expect to really kill Prince Duan, did she? Otherwise, if you few had infiltrated the pilgrims and carried out the assassination, you would have had a better chance of success." Yongye understood. The princess's poison was not a rare or unusual one. Taking advantage of the chaos outside the palace, she took a sniff of the incense and knew that the antidote pills she carried with her could cure it.

"You're very smart. Come back with us," one of them said calmly, a hint of jealousy flashing in his eyes as he looked at Yongye.

"What good would it do me to go back? My martial arts skills aren't that great, why bother going to all that trouble to capture me? If you want Anguo to be in chaos, if you want Anguo's power, why not just take the Crown Prince, the First Prince, and the Third Prince hostage? Or at the very least, kill Prince Duan, that would be more useful than capturing me. Is the Valley Master a pig's brain?!" Yongye said, curling his lip.

She was telling the truth. She couldn't understand why the target was to lure her out instead of harming Prince Duan.

"No matter what you say, it's useless. The Valley Master has already ordered that you be captured and brought back. You know that the influence of Youli Valley is all over the world; you have nowhere to escape."

Yongye stared at the men in black before her; they were all highly trained fighters. Even if she managed to break through their defenses, she would be severely injured and wouldn't get far. She glanced back at the sheer cliff below; jumping would be certain death. Yongye sighed, "I'll go back with you. We're not fighting anymore."

Her words surprised the man in front of her, who seemed to think that capturing her was too easy. The man in black who spoke slowly walked towards her, holding a needle in his hand and laughing, "The Valley Master said that if we give you the medicine, our fate will be as miserable as those three brothers from Chen Kingdom."

Yongye laughed, "It's just that the medicine doesn't taste good. If it were as sweet as candy, I would definitely enjoy it." He secretly cursed himself, realizing that he had killed two people in Chen and escaped, but he had left behind traces of his murders.

A sharp pain shot through her neck, and she went limp, unable to even move a finger.

The man in black pulled down his mask, revealing a handsome face. Yongye looked at Moyu without surprise, but seeing the smugness and ruthlessness in his eyes, he couldn't help but laugh: "You're not only patient, but also vengeful."

Mo Yu whispered in her ear, "I'll show you how patience is cultivated, my lord!"

Just as he finished speaking and was about to pick up Yongye, a laugh suddenly came from the forest: "I want this person."

With laughter, a figure slowly emerged from the forest, dressed in a black robe, his face hidden in a hood, only half of his face visible, his beard bristling, and holding a long sword in his hand.

"Feng Yangxi!" The man in black frowned, looked at Mo Yu, and asked in a low voice, "Young Master?!"

"Leave her here, and I will not kill you." Feng Yangxi's voice was as gentle as the spring sun.

Mo Yu said slowly, "Why does Hero Feng have to interfere when Youli Valley is dealing with traitors?"

"Haha, don't you know that I, Feng, have always been the mortal enemy of Youli Valley?" Feng Yangxi approached step by step, seemingly relaxed, but clearly exuding a murderous aura.

"Do you know her identity? She is not only Xinghun, the assassin from Youli Valley, but also the heir of Prince Duan and the Marquis of Yong'an, personally appointed by the Emperor." Moyu maliciously exposed Yongye's identity.

Feng Yangxi smiled. "I don't like repetition." Her voice changed abruptly, and she snapped, "Get out!"

Mo Yu glanced at Yong Ye and said in a low voice, "If you fall into his hands, you'll die even faster! Sometimes dying quickly is a blessing!"

Yongye seemed so terrified that he couldn't even speak, his eyes revealing an expression that was hard to tell whether he was happy or worried.

Mo Yu's pupils contracted sharply: "Go!"

The man in black followed his lead without question and disappeared in an instant.

Feng Yangxi quickly walked over, pressed Yongye's wrist pulse, took out a pill and fed it to her, then picked her up: "Xinghun! Let's go!"

After walking for only a short while, the effects of the sleeping potion wore off. She reached out to pull at his beard, which came off easily. Looking at his handsome face, she said softly, "Why did you come back to Anguo? Why take this risk? If we're exposed, we'll both die."

Beneath the hood, Yue Po's expression was gentle and tender, yet she held him tighter: "I'm worried about you."

Yongye stopped speaking, burying her face in his chest, a sweet feeling rising in her heart.

Immortal Life

As the sun dipped below the western mountains and dusk began to fall before the forest, the moon and the eternal night arrived in the valley.

Looking up in the long night, the clouds and mist had obscured the view of the stone platform halfway up the mountain. No one would have imagined that there was a bamboo house beneath the cliff below the stone platform.

A mountain stream meanders around the house, and a meadow lies beside the stream.

The air was filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers, and birds chirped as they returned to the woods.

A pot of mushroom and pheasant soup was simmering in the pot, its aroma filling the air.

Yuepo was bending over to wash wild vegetables. Yongye lifted the pot lid, scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it to cool it down, and drank it down. It was so delicious that her mouth watered. She reached out and picked up a piece of chicken, but it was so hot that she jumped up and down, yet she couldn't bear to give it up.