Chapter 195 Earthquake! Live or Die Together!
Even though Xue Nongying hadn’t died, looking at the blood he puked out and the blood that gushed out from his chest which covered the ground in red, they knew that if they didn’t save him, he would die.
But the question was what would happen after they saved him?
With Xue Chang’s political stand, he would probably look the other way on the secret affair between n.o.ble Consort Gu and Qiu Shen. In a normal situation, Xue Nongying would do the same.
But Qiu Shen didn’t realize that the person in the woods was Xue Nongying, so he aimed to kill. Now, this had already happened, would Xue Nongying still hide for them and not expose them?
Besides, this was the scenario of successfully saving him. What if they couldn’t?
Even though they were in a remote corner of the Summer Palace, Empress Jiang controlled the government and the Imperial Harem. All of the concubines were like mistresses that didn’t have any status. If n.o.ble Consort Gu had wanted to ask for an imperial doctor, she would need to go through Empress Jiang.
Even if she had faked her illness, how could she do it here?
If she had wanted to carry Xue Nongying to her Residential Hall. How could she hide this from the Empress?!
Thinking about the means that Empress Jiang used to discipline her, n.o.ble Consort Gu wanted to die right now. “He can’t be alive! Otherwise, not only will we be miserable, but our family will also come to an end! And Weize and Weizhou… He can’t be alive at this point!”
n.o.ble Consort Gu grabbed Qiu Shen’s arm. She said with a pale face, “Hurry up! Kill me!”
Qiu Shen was startled, “Are you mad?”
“That’s the only way.” Even though n.o.ble Consort Gu trod as if on thin ice these years because of Empress Jiang, she did survive. She was able to come up with an idea at this curial moment. “Kill me. And disguise it like Xue Nongying was a.s.sa.s.sinated here and I ran across it, so I was killed too. Only in this way can we hide it!”
Speaking of which, she looked at the maid in yellow clothes with regret. She was the one whom Xue Nongying mistook. “Liuer, I’m so sorry! If I didn’t get too excited when I saw Shen, you don’t need to bring me my medicine. You would have gone back. There would be no need for you to step into this mess. But now since you are here, if you don’t die with me…”
“Your Grace, it’s my luck to continue serving you!” Liuer said decidedly.
n.o.ble Consort Gu sighed heavily. She looked at Qiu Shen with tears, “Shen, do it! I’ll see you in my next life!”
“No!” Qiu Shen had a straight face. He held her face and said deeply, “I’d rather die than lay my finger on you. I would never kill you!”
n.o.ble Consort Gu said hurriedly, “Shen. There’s no time for this!”
“The banquet is not over. We still have some time!” Qiu Shen interrupted her, “Go with Liuer. I’ll find a quiet place and bury him. Then I’ll clean up the blood. I think we can hide it!”
“How?! The Summer Palace is not big enough. If they bring a dog, it can smell it!” n.o.ble Consort Gu reb.u.t.ted, “Use my way! Kill me!”
Qiu Shen took a deep breath, “Listen to me. Before I was sent out, I used to be a guard in the Summer Palace. That’s how we met, right? I know the ca.n.a.l in the Summer Palace leads outside. It’s full of lotus flowers and leaves and water plants in this season. I’ll carry him and swim outside. Then, if the dog finds him, it would be outside the Palace. You don’t know any martial art. With his wounds, there’s no way they’ll suspect you. So just go! Leave this to me!”
n.o.ble Consort Gu was dazed, “The ca.n.a.l can lead outside, but it has net blocking the way!” Otherwise, if a.s.sa.s.sins had chosen to enter from the ca.n.a.l, it would have been chaos!
“I know all the mechanisms there! I can find my way out!” Qiu Shen shouted, “Trust me! How would I risk your future and safety?!”
n.o.ble Consort Gu was startled by his shout!
They looked at each other for a while. n.o.ble Consort Gu retreated in the end. She left while turning to look back repeatedly at every step.
Qiu Shen took a deep breath and started cleaning quickly. He used some old fallen leaves to cover the blood. He looked at Xue Nongying who was still twitching and said quietly, “Don’t blame me. Nothing actually happened between n.o.ble Consort Gu and me! Before she entered the harem, because of Empress Dowager Gu, she often came to the Palace. And I was in charge of guarding the place which she always pa.s.sed by. After some time, we fell for each other. I wanted to beg my uncle to propose our marriage to the Gu Family. Yet before I could ask my uncle, the Empress Dowager ordered her to enter the harem.”
“That’s why I was asked to leave the city for many years. I thought I’d forget about her. But it turns out that I just miss her more. So, I came back to Jing City. This time I only want to ask her about how she was because I saw that she didn’t look well. But we didn’t expect that you could see it!”
“If I knew it was you, I wouldn’t hurt you. But now if I save you, you won’t necessarily make it. And you would be our burden. So, I’m sorry. Just die! I owe you in this life. In my next life, you can revenge at your discretion!”
He covered the blood with leaves. Then he cut down the two ends of the bamboo that was sticking in Xue Nongying’s body with his hand. He grabbed some dirt and fallen leaves to cover the wound. He took off his robe and covered Xue Nongying. Following the layout of the Summer Palace in his memory, he quickly found the nearest ca.n.a.l. Seeing n.o.body was around, he carried Xue Nongying and jumped into the water. He quickly hid behind the lush lotus leaves.
At this moment, in the pavilion outside the Summer Palace, Jiang Yashuang told sweet words and gags. Finally, Qiu Yelan was no longer angry and smiled, “You think I don’t know what you’re thinking? You’re just worried that if I tell my brother, he would punish you!”
Even though she still sounded like she was complaining, but she said it with a smile. Jiang Yashuang knew her personality. This meant that she had forgiven him. He was relieved. So, he was bolder. He stroked her face with a smile, “I’m not afraid of your brother! Because you always care about me!”
“I won’t!” Qiu Yelan rolled her eyes at him, “I’d rather you get your a.s.s kicked by my brother!”
Jiang Yashuang smiled and said, “You don’t care about me? Last time when your brother scolded me, who was the one that came back to defend me, even if she was sent to Ruan Ciyi?”
“I was just getting bored with waiting, so I went to see my brother.” Qiu Yelan pouted, “Then I saw someone annoying was still there, who occupied my brother and wouldn’t give us a chance to talk alone. So, I thought that I’d better say something nice and send you away!”
“Really?” Jiang Yashuang pinched her face, “You naughty! You never admit it!”
Qiu Yelan grimaced, “What I’m saying is true!”
When they were talking, Su He and others who were guarding outside the pavilion suddenly shouted, “Your Grace! Young master! Look!”
Following their shouts, they looked up with surprise. Yet underneath the clear sky, in a place that looked close yet far away, they saw the earth suddenly projected a gorgeous glow!
The glow was magnificent and splendid. It was like a pillar or a belt. When it was cruising, a gust of wind and fog rolled with it!
Everyone was dazed by this strange view!
Su He who noticed it first was excited, “I’ve heard of an auspicious sign before. This is the first time I see it. The Emperor’s birthday is indeed…”
“Auspicious?” Before she could finish her sentence, Qiu Yelan stood up. The expression on her face changed sharply. At the same time, Jiang Yashuang also turned pale. They all went to grab each other. They quickly walked out of the pavilion and shouted, “This is earthlight! It’s the sign of an earthquake! Hurry up! Find somewhere open to hide!!”
Servants who were still in the exciting mood of seeing the “auspicious sign” of the Emperor’s birthday all changed their expression after hearing this, “Earthquake?”
People in this era didn’t really know the pre-disaster signs well. Let alone this time, even in her past life, Qiu Yelan learned about earthquake knowledge in primary school, but how many people could distinguish it before an earthquake?
Qiu Yelan didn’t bother to explain to them in detail. The pavilion was built on a small hill. To better see the view, they also built a lot of stone hills around. On top of it was an exuberant willow. If the earthquake was big, they would be crushed into a pie in a second!
She was led by Jiang Yashuang with him holding one of her hands. She grabbed Su He with the other hand, “Go!”
Jiang Yashuang also shouted, “Go somewhere open and flat! Hurry up!” He grew up with high hopes and his family was wealthy and powerful, so he had access to all kinds of books. He recognized the earthlight almost at the same time as Qiu Yelan. And he knew, when the earthlight showed up, it meant that in hours or very short minutes, the earthquake would happen!
And where were they now? Up in a mountain!!!
And near the Summer Palace!
They could see a different view with every step they took. At the usual time, this would be beautiful. But when there was an earthquake, this place that had tall trees, mountains, stones, and a winding landscape would kill them!
If Qiu Yelan hadn’t grabbed Su He, he would have carried her and found a safe place with his Qinggong!
Under the guidance of some panicking bodyguards, they ran to the nearest open place. It was a small valley. It had wildflowers and gra.s.ses all over the place, but without any tall trees. Usually, n.o.body would come here, since there were no trees to create shades, but now it was the best place to stay safe!
The only problem was that there was a stream running through the valley. In the stream and beside the stream, there were a lot of stones. Even though most of them were mellow because of the wash of the stream, but if they hit it during the earthquake, they would get hurt.
“Stay away from the stream. Watch out and hold on to the flowers and gra.s.s underneath you…” Before Jiang Yashuang finished his sentence, they all felt the earth shook. The earthquake had begun!!!
At this moment, the sky was twirling and the earth was shaking. No one could stand still. They all rolled onto the ground!
Dirt and stones erupted from the nearby mountain. At the direction of the Summer Palace, they heard the sound of buildings collapsing and people screaming. The earth underneath them was shaking and rolling as if a beast that had been waiting for too long wanted to get up and break free!
Jiang Yashuang was a master at martial arts, yet he couldn’t use any of that.
He tried his best, yet all he could do was holding Qiu Yelan tightly during the unstoppable earthquake.
In the noise that seemed endless, the sound of their heartbeats was so clear as if it could fill the whole s.p.a.ce between the earth and sky!
“Don’t be scared! Don’t be scared!” He shouted with all his strength. Was he consoling everyone or just Qiu Yelan?
It was endless as if years had pa.s.sed. The frequency of the shaking finally decreased. Slowly, the scenery of flying dirt and stones disappeared. The stream was running again. The earth that like a malicious beast a while ago was back in peace.
Looking at the sky that was covered by smoke and dust, Jiang Yashuang was exhausted. He rolled over and sat up. He anxiously asked Qiu Yelan who was in his arms, “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Just a bit nauseous.” Qiu Yelan sat up with a pale face. She was wobbling. Just when she sat up, she fell back into his arms, “How about you?”
Jiang Yashuang checked her pulse and was relieved. He didn’t even think about himself, “I’m fine too!”
Qiu Yelan rubbed her forehead, “And other… Your hand?” She suddenly saw a large part of the skin that was sc.r.a.ped off the back of his hand. The blood was running out!
“It’s nothing.” Jiang Yashuang didn’t even look at his wound. He raised his hand that was intact to stroke her back to ease her nauseous feeling. His voice was trembling, “Do we count as having lived and almost died together?”
Qiu Yelan tore off a piece from her clothes painstakingly. She used her unstable fingers to slowly patch up for him. She smiled subconsciously after hearing this, “Of course. Why do you…?
“Then promise me. No matter what news we hear from now on, don’t get too sad!” He grabbed on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. He said word by word, “Promise me! OK?”
“Brother!!!” Qiu Yelan immediately realized what he was talking about. Since they were fine, the people they worried most now would be their family. Qiu Jinglan couldn’t come to the Emperor’s birthday because he was mourning. Now he must be in the Green Villa! And the layout of the Green Villa was very delicate. In another word, there were not many open s.p.a.ces!
Besides, he was hurt and he couldn’t move easily…
Qiu Yelan’s mind went blank!