Chapter 64 His Appearance
Qin Yunuan’s tone was as faint as the breeze sweeping through a pine forest, and her glance was as wide as the sea surface. Leng Wu couldn’t help but stunned. He followed Leng Changxi at war for many years. Even men would be nervous and frightened when they first saw dead people on the battlefield, let alone a woman. However, the Third Miss Qin stayed so calm towards such a sudden incident, which really proved her better than the others. No wonder his general cared so much about this woman.
Leng Wu didn’t seem to show any resistance because of Leng Changxi’s command. He arched his hands and said, “Just ask me anything, Third Miss Qin.”
He thought that Qin Yunuan would ask about why his general asked him to follow her, or why these people wanted to assassinate her today. He thought that she would either be emotional or angry, but what Qin Yunuan asked was, “These people who tried to kill me, were they actually after your general?”
Her guess was exactly right. Leng Wu returned to his mind, arched his hands and said, “Yes. Those people have been bothering the general since he returned from East Qin.”
Looking at Qin Yunuan’s inquiry-like gaze, Leng Wu took a deep breath and said frankly, “They are the remnants of the East Qin royal family, led by the youngest prince of different surname of East Qin, Prince Anyang, Zhao Huijin. They fled when the general conquered the capital of East Qin, and they had retreated to Tu’er Mountain with their remaining men and hidden by the advantage of the terrain. Later, after the East Qin royal family surrendered by sending the first beauty of East Qin, Princess Yuanning, Wei Xian, into the Royal City, Zhao Huijin brought with him his best soldiers and lurked into Qi. He tried to recapture Princess Yuanning Wei Xian several times, but he was discovered by the general in advance. After several times, Zhao Huijin decided to aim at the general.”
“It’s all for a woman,” Qin Yunuan shook her head, “This Prince Anyang Zhao Huijin is really passionate to Princess Yuanning, but what I heard is that Princess Yuanning Wei Xian is now a favored imperial concubine of the emperor. Whether Zhao Huijin has the ability to get rid of General Leng, it’s very likely that he couldn’t take away an imperial concubine from the emperor of Qi in the well-guarded palace.”
Qin Yunuan was suddenly stunned after she got the conclusion from her deduction. She said slowly, “So, Zhao Huijin was not actually trying to kill me today, but to take me as a hostage instead?” One for one, he could not only guarantee the direct confrontation with Leng Changxi, but also increase his chance of successfully taking away the imperial concubine. But why her?
Leng Wu saw that Qin Yunuan had already figured out, so he did not try to keep the fact away from her, “The general guess that Zhao Huijin wanted to exchange his beloved one with the general’s beloved one.”
Beloved one….
These words hit Qin Yunuan’s heart like heavy drumsticks, and her heart seemed to beat twice as fast.
This was a very ridiculous title. Qin Yunuan figured a bitter smile. She had only met Leng Changxi a few times in general. How could it be….
But she clearly knew that Leng Changxi had a different way of getting along with the others. Although all her conjectures had not been accurately certified….
In her past life, she had never experienced love. Nor had she owned true love or feelings from anyone else. In this life, she wanted to live smart, and she never thought about love and relationships. The sudden tenderness left her a little flustered. But soon, she adjusted her emotions and reached out to gather the clothes for Maner. No one could tell what kind of rough feelings had just gone through her heart.
The night in the mountains was extremely cold. Leng Wu was keeping watch. Even though he kept adding firewood to the fire, he didn’t dare to go too far away in order to ensure Qin Yunuan’s safety. Hence, the fire gradually became smaller.
Maner’s forehead became hotter, but fortunately, the venom on the wound had been almost cleared by Qin Yunuan, and there was no sign of pus or inflammation. Qin Yunuan was worried that Maner would get cold again, so she took off her cloak and outer shirt and put it on for Maner. She just slept next to Maner and spend the night.
Her distracted mood couldn’t resist her exhausted mind. Soon, in the symphony of the jackdaw call and the mountain breeze, Qin Yunuan fell deeply asleep.
After some time, there was warmth coming from her cheeks in her dreams. It was not the kind of fiery heat that warmed people up, but gentle like a stream, like a spring breeze kissing the lake. There was a trace of tenderness in the gentle touch of the palm which brought safety and tranquility.
It was a hand! A man’s hand!
Even in her sleep, Qin Yunuan was also extremely cautious. She opened her eyes violently, holding the sharpened wooden thorn in her right hand which she made before she went to bed, and pierced it towards the black figure in front of her. Almost in an instant, a strong hand held her right wrist tightly. Although he was fast, he controlled the strength of his grip as he meant no harm to Qin Yunuan.
Under the cold moonlight, Leng Changxi’s bat-shaped mask seemed to add a bit of coldness. His pure black costume seemed to be integrated into this deep night. His knuckles were strong and slender, and he pulled out the wooden thorn that Qin Yunuan held tightly in her hand with a bit of strength. It was just a wooden stick as thick as a writing brush, but Qin Yunuan sharpened it for self-defense.
Leng Changxi playfully sandwiched the wooden thorn between the index finger and middle finger of his right hand. With a hard click, the wooden thorn easily broke into two pieces and fell to the ground.
“See? Your self-defense is not really good,” Leng Changxi said faintly.
Qin Yunuan turned her head and said, “Not every master like General Leng likes to embarrass a young girl like me.” Qin Yunuan was not surprised that Leng Changxi appeared. She knew that there was a set of strict internal contact system in the Leng Army. Maybe Leng Wu had already gotten in touch with Leng’s people using smoke bombs or some signs while he was picking up firewood. What she didn’t expect was that Leng Changxi would actually come in person.
However, recalling what Leng Wu said in the afternoon, Qin Yunuan inexplicably felt a bit embarrassed. She turned her head away with a stiff face, and saw seven or eight adult men dressed like Leng Wu suddenly appearing around the woods. They cleaned up the traces of fire on the ground and covered the footprints with pine leaves and mud. Leng Wu was carrying a special seat on his back. With this seat, Maner could be carried down the mountain more easily.
Leng Changxi was helping her.
Qin Yunuan’s heart was warmed, but Leng Changxi’s words floated in lightly like catkins, “You made the right choice to stay here without hurrying to make your way. It’s raining these days and the mountains are slippery. The steep cliff on the west side of the mountain has slipped on our way here.”
“How’s it at the Qin Family now?” Qin Yunuan couldn’t help asking.
Leng Changxi stood up and looked at Qin Yunuan, who was so cold that her body was stiff and unable to move. He said numbly, “This shouldn’t be your concern.” Then, he took over a velvet-covered crane robe and wrapped it around Qin Yunuan tightly. Then he held Qin Yunuan across his chest with his big hands.
“What are you doing?” In a hurry, Qin Yunuan had no time to take care of her image. She tried to push Leng Changxi away by her hands, but she was too cold that she had no strength to do so.
The two were so intimate that if someone saw it, she would be chased out from the Qin Family. Qin Zhi was so stubborn that he wouldn’t allow his daughter who hadn’t gotten married to contact with any man. She still had Baochuan and nurse Liao to take care of. She couldn’t be so careless.
Leng Changxi’s warm manly breath was blowing on Qin Yunuan’s cheeks, which made her slightly distracted. Leng Changxi seemed to see Qin Yunuan through, and there seemed to be a smile on his face. He said, “You can rest assured that no one will see us. There’s not even anyone here to save you in this wilderness. Besides,” Leng Changxi raised his mouth diagonally, “If it’s me who have a relationship with you, take it as a blessing.”
“To use the general’s beloved one to exchange for his own beloved one.” Peculiarly, Qin Yunuan’s mind sounded these words right when Leng Changxi finished his words.
Qin Yunuan shrank the shyness which was apparent on her face. She bowed her head and said, “I can walk on my own.”
Leng Changxi paused and looked at Qin Yunuan, who was calm and indifferent in his arms. He was curious about her disparate personality with Zizhan’s description. He used to sneer at her indiscriminate means. He had praised her calmness and courage and he had been doubting himself for his special feelings for her many times. However, he was sure about his feelings now.
He had always disliked stupid women who were easily troubled by everything, and he also felt that none of those vulgar and scoundrel rich young masters deserve her. He liked her. He wanted to help her, and more, he wanted to own her, best for the rest of her life.
And at this moment, the woman who made him wanted to own for the first time was in his arms. He was looking at her white neck, feeling her trembling slightly because of the cold, sniffing every hint of the floral fragrance fluttering out of her hair.
Leng Changxi loosened his arms and slowly put Qin Yunuan down. He turned his face away slightly, so that the strange heat that just burnt inside him from nowhere could dissipate quicker.
Qin Yunuan subconsciously supported herself against an old locust tree beside her, as her toes were already too cold that she couldn’t stand stably.
Leng Changxi narrowed his eyes and calmed down. He just looked at the somewhat embarrassed Qin Yunuan with a gentle gesture. Although it was already April, the mountains were colder than the cities. Moreover, the location they were at was facing away from the sun. The temperature at the moment was not much different from the snowing days. As for Qin Yunuan, she covered her cloak for Maner. She stayed cold for the night, and it was not so easy for her to recover.
Seeing that Qin Yunuan had turned better, Leng Changxi dragged Qin Yunuan over and changed a posture to put Qin Yunuan on his back. He said in an irresistible tone, “Don’t try anymore if you can’t walk. I’ll throw you directly down the mountain if you are verbose.”
