L'hibiscus comme peinture

Chapitre 60

"What? Jinxuan, are you out of your mind?..." Aojun exclaimed in shock. He had actually broken free of his acupoints to save her. How could he be so foolish? Why did he cause her so much heartache and leave her so helpless?

"I'm really fine, don't worry." Jin Xuan smiled slightly, trying to reassure her, but the cold sweat dripping down his forehead made his words sound unconvincing. Seeing that Ao Jun was still frowning, he turned to Huang Ying and said, "Thank you for your concern, Miss Huang. I'm fine. Why don't you take a look at Jun first?" He didn't care how badly he was injured, as long as Jun was alright.

"Hmph." Huang Ying snorted coldly, took Ao Jun's hand, and began to take her pulse. A chill ran down her spine... She...

The Strategist and the Princess: Battlefield Chapter 49 - People from the Capital

"Hmph." Huang Ying snorted coldly, took Ao Jun's hand, and began to take her pulse. A chill ran down her spine... She...

"You are...you?" Huang Ying pointed at Ao Jun with trembling hands, staring at her in disbelief. She couldn't be wrong; she was a woman. The number one strategist in the world—Young Master Mo Jun—was actually a woman! My god! This news was too explosive.

"Ahem... Miss Huang, I'm fine." Seeing Huang Ying staring at her with surprise and disbelief, Ao Jun realized that she must have discovered that she was a woman. It seems that the ancients were right when they said that you could tell whether a person was male or female from their pulse. She withdrew her hand uncomfortably and coughed lightly.

"Mmm!" Huang Ying nodded slightly in agreement. She didn't understand why she was cooperating with her. Perhaps it was her innocent and bright eyes that made her feel a sudden good impression, or perhaps it was the thought that she could achieve so much as a woman that made her feel deeply admiring!

"Miss Huang, is Jun really a delicacy? Then why does she look so weak? She..." Jin Xuan asked anxiously, disbelieving. He could clearly see the exchange of glances between the two. What were they hiding? Was Jun seriously injured? Why did Huang Ying's expression look so strange?

"You don't believe me?" Huang Ying said angrily, pointing at Jin Xuan with her hands on her hips. Actually, she was feeling guilty. She had witnessed Prince Jin's intelligence and wisdom firsthand, and he must have figured something out just now.

Ao Jun rolled her eyes. Should she call this person an idiot? Or naive? Isn't this just making things more obvious? It would be strange if Jin Xuan, with his keen insight, hadn't noticed!

As expected, Jin Xuan's eyes narrowed, his face darkened, and he said in a cold voice, "Miss Huang Ying, I want to hear the truth."

My goodness! Such a strong sense of oppression! As expected of Prince Jin, so cool and aloof, but the divine physician Huang Ying is no pushover either. She roared, "Fine, I'll tell you the truth, your strategist..." She deliberately paused, and sure enough, our Prince Jin clenched his fists, looking extremely nervous. As for Strategist Mo? Impressive, he remained completely unmoved, as if it weren't his business. Huang Ying felt another surge of admiration before slowly continuing, "Your strategist's internal energy has been sealed, that's why he's so weak. Why are you so nervous?"

"Is that really all?" Jinxuan asked, still somewhat skeptical. It turned out that Jun's internal energy was sealed, which explained why she seemed to have no internal energy at all.

“Jinxuan, what Miss Huang said is true. Yelü Ying was afraid I would escape, so he sealed my internal energy. He didn’t say anything just now because he didn’t want you to worry.” Ao Jun said sincerely in front of Huang Ying. If Huang Ying continued, Jinxuan would definitely see that something was wrong.

"So that's all there is to it. Miss Huang, can you help Jun untie this?" Jin Xuan's expression softened as he spoke calmly to Huang Ying.

"You! Who do you think I am? Do you think I'd be bothered by such a small matter? But we must go back first. Your injury can't be delayed any longer. As for Strategist Mo, that's just a minor issue." Huang Ying was about to unleash a torrent of abuse, but after a moment's thought, she decided to tell them the truth. That Ouyang Jinxuan was too despicable. She had said so much, yet he didn't believe her, while Mo Jun believed her after just one sentence. How infuriating! But out of compassion for a healer, and considering his injury, she decided not to hold it against him.

So Huang Ying helped Jin Xuan up with all her might, and with her other hand she supported Ao Jun. Fortunately, she was skilled in martial arts and was able to help the two of them slowly walk back to the Longxuan military camp.

It's so cold! Winter has arrived, and this weather is really cold. Only an idiot would get up so early! It's better to sleep in a little longer, but it seems someone doesn't want Aojun to be so comfortable.

"Brother, are you getting up or not? If you don't, don't blame Ying'er for being ruthless!" Mo Yueying stood by Ao Jun's bedside with malicious intent, threatening him with a wicked smile.

"Good Ying'er, no! Please spare me!" Ao Jun said to Yue Ying with a smile, her eyes slightly open, trying to appease her. But in her heart, she kept crying out: Heavens! Ever since she made up with Ying'er, she had to go back to her old "painful" days, being dragged out of bed by Ying'er every day. And ever since the Chi Yu incident, Ying'er seemed to enjoy this task even more.

"No, Miss Huang said she's coming over later, so get up right now." Yueying forcefully pulled back Aojun's blanket and dragged him out of bed, showing no mercy whatsoever, acting like a wicked wife.

Helpless, Ao Jun could only stand up and sleep while Yue Ying dressed her in an outer robe and a cloak like a puppet.

"Brother, you're amazing, you can even sleep standing up?" Yueying's eerie voice startled Aojun, making him much more awake. He quickly smiled and said, "No, I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting with my eyes closed."

So why would the fearless and aloof top strategist be so afraid of Mo Yueying? There's a reason, of course, and that reason is…

"Hmph... Don't let me catch you sneaking back to bed to sleep again, or else... hmph..." Yueying threatened, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ao Jun swallowed hard, then nodded repeatedly with a fawning expression, saying, "Hehe... I won't sleep, I promise, Ying'er... I'm hungry!" As he spoke, he blinked his big, dark eyes pitifully at Yue Ying.

Yueying blushed instantly, her eyes fixed on Aojun without blinking, a suspicious amount of liquid at the corner of her mouth. She stammered, "Wait a moment, I'll go get the food." Then, like a machine, she slowly turned and walked forward, glancing back at Aojun's radiant smile. He was so beautiful; her heart was pounding like a deer's. How embarrassing!

As soon as Ao Jun saw Yue Ying leave, she grinned and smiled happily, showing no sign of the anger that had been forcibly dragged out of bed. This was definitely abnormal, and the reason for her unusual behavior soon came to light as she swallowed hard.

Under Ao Jun's burning gaze, Yueying slowly placed the culprit—oh no, her latest research achievement—on the table, carrying her lunch basket. Before she could react, Ao Jun pounced on her... delicious food like a wolf pouncing on a sheep.

Without a word, she picked up her chopsticks and attacked the adorable breakfast. It was obvious why Ling Aojun was behaving so strangely. When Huang Ying brought her and Jin Xuan back, that silly girl Ying'er burst into tears, her eyes widening like a floodgate opening. She had already told Ying'er she was alright, and the divine doctor had repeatedly assured her, before the tears finally subsided. In truth, she was really fine; her sword wound had almost completely healed, and Huang Ying had released the seal on her internal energy. Now, with her profound internal strength, it would be strange if anything happened to her! However, apart from Jin Xuan and Huang Ying, no one knew she possessed martial arts skills. She didn't want to cause any more trouble. If people found out, they would definitely ask her which sect she belonged to, and Huang Ying was still there! She didn't want to be taken back to be some kind of ghost sect leader.

The problem is that after Ying'er found out she was alright, she kept crying and saying she was sorry, that she shouldn't have disbelieved her, shouldn't have been unreasonable, and that she wanted to make it up to her. So she focused on preparing several delicious dishes—a loving breakfast, a loving lunch, and a loving dinner. Each dish was so delicious that Ying'er wanted to eat the plate herself, which led to her current situation of being completely devoured.

Finally, the delicious breakfast was quickly devoured by Ao Jun. Putting down her chopsticks, she stared wistfully at the empty plates, saying, "Ying'er, once you get married, I'll never be able to eat such delicious food again. I'll definitely starve to death then." Ever since she tasted such delicious food, her palate had become increasingly picky. If she couldn't eat Ying'er's cooking one day, she would either die of craving or starve.

Ying'er blushed: "Brother likes to eat it, and Ying'er will cook it for you for the rest of her life, and only for you." In her heart, she added: Because the person I want to marry is you.

"Really, that's wonderful." Ao Jun smiled happily. Just thinking about being able to eat such delicious food made her so happy she felt like she could fly. She didn't even think about what Yue Ying meant by those words. They were back to how things were before. Those few days when she had a falling out with Ying'er were the most painful days for her. Originally, she didn't have any particular requirements for food, but ever since she ate Ying'er's delicious food, her requirements for food had become higher and higher.

"What's so great?" Yueying blushed and hadn't spoken yet when a clear voice rang out. Huang Ying walked in with a smile.

"Huang Ying, you're here." Ao Jun greeted her warmly. She liked Huang Ying's straightforward personality very much, and she could learn about Xue's situation from her, so every day she would either go to see Huang Ying or have Huang Ying come to see her.

"Brother, I'm going out now." Yueying's expression changed when she saw Huang Ying arrive. She pouted and said in an unfriendly tone. She didn't like Huang Ying. No, she should say she didn't like anyone who got close to her brother, especially since her brother was so good to her. She knew this was different from Chiyu's situation; her brother wasn't putting on an act. Damn it, her brother was hers, and no one could take him from her. Yueying turned her head, her face hardening, and told herself this in her heart.

"She doesn't seem to want to see me!" Huang Ying said with a grin as she sat down at the table.

"You're overthinking it," Ao Jun said casually, leaning back in her chair. She had noticed that Ying'er disliked Huang Ying, but she just couldn't understand why Ying'er would hate such a lovely girl like Huang Ying. Judging from their personalities, she had always thought they would become good friends.

"You're overthinking it," Huang Ying said ambiguously to Ao Jun. Mo Yueying clearly saw her as a rival in love, which was why she treated her this way. Everyone in the camp knew that Mo Yueying liked Mo Jun, even Huang Ying, who had only recently arrived, knew. Only Huang Ying, this clueless girl, was completely oblivious. She really didn't know what to say about this person; in everything else, she was incredibly clever, but in this matter, she was dumber than a three-year-old. However, alas, Mo Yueying's infatuation was likely to be in vain, since she had fallen for a woman!

"What's with that expression? Alright, let's not talk about it. How's Jinxuan's injury?" Ao Jun raised an eyebrow at Huang Ying's ambiguous expression and said indifferently. Seeing that Huang Ying was still as deadbeat as ever, she decided not to dwell on the matter anymore and changed the subject.

"I knew you'd ask that question again. I'm telling you, don't you get tired of asking it so many times a day?..." Huang Ying kept chanting the Heart Sutra to Ao Jun, but Ao Jun remained lazily reclining, closing his eyes to rest, treating her words as a lullaby.

Huang Ying talked for a while, then, feeling bored, sighed and said, "Sigh, I give up. I don't even know if you're human. Okay, I'll tell you, the Prince's injuries are almost healed. After a couple more days of rest, he'll be that invincible 'God of War' again. I really don't understand, didn't you go to see him every day? Why do you keep asking me?" She almost muttered to herself at the end. Huang Ying, already eccentric and unconventional in her actions, hadn't expected to encounter the Empress and Empress Mo. She realized that to them, she was nothing compared to them; she was utterly normal.

Leaving aside the Empress, let's talk about Mo Jun! Surprisingly, despite her seemingly frail scholarly appearance, her internal strength is remarkably profound. She discovered this when she helped Mo Jun unseal her inner power, yet Mo Jun told her not to tell anyone. Apart from the Prince, no one in the camp knew their strategist possessed martial arts skills, which wasn't unusual. What was truly strange was her intense interest in the Empress. She demanded daily stories about the Empress, listening with rapt attention to everything that happened to her. She showed no surprise at the Empress's unusual, even shocking, behavior, treating it as perfectly normal, even occasionally flashing a knowing smile. She was certain these two women were the strangest and most extraordinary women in the world; otherwise, how could two of the most outstanding men have their hearts set on them? She had long seen that the Prince's heart already belonged to Mo Jun, but he was constantly struggling because he mistook her for a man.