Yun Qi felt angry in his heart, but he didn't know whether it was due to Lu Anran's attitude or the entanglement he had been struggling with in his heart for two days and two nights.
His eyes were up and down several times, and finally he lowered his eyes and said, "I saw you fall off the cliff. Because Nangong Zhi happened to come over, I didn't take action."
After saying this, he turned around, his hands were still dripping with water, one drop or two... soaking the white pebbles and spreading into water-colored circles.
His heart was like a pebble soaked by something, and he was a little suffocated. His eyes stared at her motionlessly, with unprecedented concentration, as if he wanted to pry out some inner secrets from her calm expression. .
However, to Yun Qi's disappointment, Lu Anran's expression did not change, and his tone remained calm as he said, "I understand." No one knew that the fingers hidden in his sleeves curled up inadvertently.
Yun Qi tried various things, but he never expected that she would say these three words so clearly and rationally.
He opened his mouth, his voice a little hoarse, "Don't you have anything else to say?"
"From the first time you and I met, I knew that the prince had to hide the difficulties in his actions. It may be of great importance to the entire Prince Yun's palace. How could he be exposed so easily for one person?"
What's more, why is she just an outsider?
"You don't blame me?"
"People are born independent. As long as it concerns their own affairs, no one else can comment." However, there was a hint of loneliness in her heart, which she quickly suppressed and asked others, "Wufang and the two people who helped me." How is the secret guard doing?"
Yun Qi did not avoid the topic. He stood up and walked slowly to Lu Anran, his figure covering her body as if hugging her.
"But I regret it." He sighed softly.
Lu Anran tightened his fingers suddenly and looked away, "Did the Crown Prince and Princess Ding'an jointly plot to kill me?"
"no."
"The prince pushed me off the cliff?"
"No."
She finally raised her head and looked into his eyes. Her eyes were clear and bright. She smiled slightly at the corner of her mouth and said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to feel guilty about this. Although you and I can be regarded as mutual aid and allies, we have not yet reached the point where our lives have been entrusted to us. If From the perspective of the Crown Prince, it is really not worth it to cause a crisis for the Crown Prince and Prince Yun's Mansion due to my changes. Therefore, the Crown Prince's consideration was not wrong at the time."
"Lu Anran," he shouted, but didn't say anything for a long time. His peach-blossom eyes were raised even if he didn't smile, but his eyes were clear. Even his eyebrows were covered with autumn flowers, and his face turned cold.
After a while, he stared at her and said slowly: "If you don't know what compassion is, is it because no one has ever taught you, or because you have never felt the compassion given to you by others?"
Lu Anran's eyes trembled slightly, and he slowly lowered his upper eyelids to cover the expression in his eyes.
She didn't dare to reveal her emotions easily, just like she didn't dare to ask what Yunqi's 'regret' meant.
Lu Anran was not stupid, she even vaguely sensed the unknown emotions contained in Yunqi's low sigh.
From the time she could remember, Lu Anran knew that she was generally unpopular. From the frightened eyes of the servants, her grandmother's undisguised disgust, her second aunt's acrimony and her third aunt's trepidation, she knew I know that I live in the rejection of others all the time.
She can be calm now because her heart has been tempered many times, but in the beginning, no one had a diamond heart in their body.
Reasonable, fearless, and ignoring the eyes of others, Lu Anran lived calmly.
Because she chose to give up some things, such as emotions.
No expectations also means no harm.
In fact, when Yun Qi told the truth, Lu Anran did not have any other special emotions except a little loss. At most, it was a realization that it was like this.
"Your Majesty, regret is the past, and the past means the result." Lu Anran caught a glimmer of clarity in his uncertain thoughts, with various emotions settling in his eyes, and finally said: "The meaning of the result is that it cannot be changed."
"You gave the wrong answer."
"Your Majesty is not satisfied with my previous answer, so I will correct it."
Yun Qi seemed unwilling to let it go, and asked: "Do you not care if someone saves you, or do you not care if that person is me?"
Lu Anran's heart skipped a beat, and she pursed her lips and said, "Your Majesty is a smart man, why should he be aggressive?"
With Yunqi's ability to observe words and emotions, he should have understood that she was avoiding answering, but she just didn't want to answer.
"What if I insist on getting an answer?"
Even though she has a calm temperament like Lu Anran, there is still a certain amount of anger in her heart. After all, it is Yunqi who teases her all day long, Yunqi is the one who says some specious words, and it is Yunqi who trusts her, but at the last moment she is guarding her. It was Yun Qi who selfishly abandoned her, so why could he question her openly now?
"Why?" Lu Anran raised his eyebrows slightly, and a few lake lights reflected in his eyes, forming shallow ripples inside, "Given that I am the direct daughter of the Lu family in Mengdu, I am also the chief disciple of Jixia Palace Medical Debate, so maybe I have some It’s a small piece of work.”
She smiled, with a cold brow, "How can I, an outsider, force you, the Crown Prince of Prince Yun of Shengle County, to risk everything to save me?"
Yun Qi has seen Lu Anran who can be calm and self-possessed, but can also be duplicitous. He is a bit ruthless and cold-blooded, but more of an innocent person who pursues the right path, but he has never seen this side——
He was obviously smiling, but the words he spoke were invisibly pushing people away.
Yun Qi suddenly found that his heart was extremely sour. He knelt down, the two of them looked at each other, and sighed: "Lu Anran, you are just Lu Anran in my heart. Putting aside your identity, appearance, and all external things, in your heart The purest soul that lives in it.”
Lu Anran opened his mouth, and all the remaining sarcasm was blown away by the wind.
"I want to ask for an answer, just to tell you..." Yun Qi raised his right hand and pointed his index finger between her eyebrows, "If there is a next time, I will not hesitate."
Lu Anran's eyes flickered, and the fingertips between her brows were slightly cold, which seemed to spread to the bottom of her heart, making her whole heart agitate. She wanted to ask what she meant, but she felt that she knew what she was asking.
Smart people know that this is not good.
The hazy barrier surrounding them seemed to have been driven away by the sun and almost disappeared, leaving only a clear confession to put an end to all Yunqi's abnormality.
But the two of them fell silent at the same time, as if they were accumulating emotions, reaching a high point and then releasing them all.
This kind of silence was a tacit understanding between Lu Anran and Yun Qi, but it made it difficult for Nangong Zhi who suddenly barged in. He only saw two people talking from a distance and thought they were applying medicine until he got closer and saw When Yunqi put his hand on Lu Anran's face, he immediately turned his head like a gentleman.
"Prince Yun, Miss Lu." Nangong Zhi coughed lightly and said as a last resort: "I just want to inform you that the stretcher has been prepared and I am ready to leave immediately. It is best for you two to go together. Lin Shen is in danger, plus this There seem to be many secrets hidden in the forest, so it’s not advisable to stay there for too long.”
Yun Qi put down his hands naturally, flicked his robe and stood up. He moved with ease and ease, and raised his brows, "Of course."
—
Nangong Zhi was a considerate person. Seeing that Lu Anran had difficulty with his legs and feet, he asked someone to make a simple sedan chair out of two branches and vines.
Lu Taotao kept asking her, "What were you and Yun Qi talking about just now? We are so close to each other, are you saying something bad about someone? It's fun for me."
Fortunately, Nangong Zhi let her get down to business before pulling her away, "Through Miss Hehe's account and what we saw on the road, we can prove that there are indeed people in the forest, and they may still live here, but whether it is related to the Yaksha case remains to be seen. It will be known through subsequent investigation.”
Lu Anran drew inferences and immediately said: "What Shao Fu said, does it mean that someone may be hiding in the forest pretending to be a yaksha?" He frowned again, "But the Zhou family can be wiped out overnight. Most people can't do it."
"So it's possible that some people just like to live in dark and secluded places." Yun Qi mumbled.
Nangong Zhi always believed that there was something fishy in this, "I might miss the clues, so I should pay more attention."
"Okay." Yun Qi responded quickly and added in the second half: "Thank you for your hard work, Young Master."
Nangong Zhi choked, shook his head and laughed, "Isn't this a case that the Criminal Division should investigate?"
Yunqi spread his hands, "Young Master, those who are capable work harder, but this prince is disrespectful, so I reluctantly accept your hard work."
Nangong Zhi's eyes implicitly circulated between Yun Qi and Lu Anran, thinking secretly in his heart that indeed, Prince Yun's previous disorder was all due to Miss Lu's disappearance.
He didn't know the entanglement of the process, but he guessed the result correctly.
Just as he was thinking about it, Lu Taotao patted his shoulder hard, and turned to face a pair of big round eyes, "Brother Nangong, let me help you."
Lu Taotao used to like to call him little brother on purpose, but now the sudden addition of his last name was a bit awkward, and it reminded him of another person - Princess Ding'an.
Nangong Zhi's eyes drooped and he began to think about how to mention this matter to the emperor.
Yun Qi glanced at him with his peripheral vision, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a subtle mockery.
It took a lot of time to search because I didn't know where the person was, but when I went out, He He took a shortcut and went up a lot faster. I went back to the low mountain caused by the collapse of the rocks and soon found the path. Then I went back from where I came in to hunt.
As expected, the iron fence had been dismantled. Except for the corpses of beasts and dried blood on the ground, no one knew that a conspiracy had occurred here.
There were guards scattered outside. After seeing them, they ran over excitedly and were relieved to see that the prince was fine.
Nangong Zhi didn't even get a breath. Someone from the escort reported: "Master Shaofu, Qi Shen has not returned for two days. We don't know the news yet."
"How could that happen?" Nangong Zhi was shocked.
Before he could ask, Lu Taotao next to him said quietly: "Oh, no wonder I always feel that there is something I forgot to mention. That little weakling Feng Qing is with Qi Shang. If Qi Shang is missing, then Feng Qing must be missing too. .”
Nangong Zhi's voice was a little louder: "Little Marquis Feng is also missing?"
He thought it was over, but when he returned to the county office, a large formation was set up at the door, catching him off guard.
