Chapter 265: With me here, he won"t die
When née Xu raised her hand for a second slap, Ning Xiaoyao quickly fell on the ground and rolled out of the way. Seeing this, née Xu lifted her leg for a kick, but Ning Xiaoyao only cried out and rolled towards the side of the road like a giant ball.
"It"s about time, right?" Beneath the eaves of a storefront down the street, a Dragon Guard asked Lou Zigui, who had stolen Shadowgale"s job here tonight. "His Majesty even got a big slap to the face."
Lou Zigui stared at the man, who shrank back and shut up.
"Erya and I will wait here," Lou Zigui ordered. "You guys go rescue the emperor. Remember, you have to say that you"re Xie Wenyuan"s men."
The Dragon Guards were all dressed in the uniform of the Grand Preceptor estate guards. All of them nodded in response to the orders.
"Go on," Lou Zigui pointed ahead of him. All of the Dragon Guards ran out towards Ning Xiaoyao and the rest, shouting for the beating to stop. By now, Ning Xiaoyao herself had already ran to a corner of the wall to crouch down and cradle her head.
Oil Jar stuck out his head from her sleeve and asked with trepidation, "You, you"re getting beaten for real?"
Ning Xiaoyao"s swollen face was already healing, but now she felt a few teeth coming loose in her mouth and quickly went to heal that next.
"Xiaoyao?" Oil Jar asked.
"It"s okay. Don"t be afraid, Oil Jar, hah," Ning Xiaoyao patted Oil Jar"s head. "You have to make sacrifices if you want to cheat people. All I got was a slap, which isn"t serious at all."
Oil Jar only bared his teeth at née Xu. He wanted to go get revenge for Ning Xiaoyao"s sake, but the memory of her slap scared him as well. "Xiaoyao, that person"s so fierce. I can"t beat her."
Ning Xiaoyao sighed and patted his head again. "Oil Jar, be good. Don"t be at odds with humans all the time." A little mouse wanting to beat up humans, now what"s up with that?
"The Grand Preceptor"s men," née Xu said coldly as she saw a new wave of people hurrying their way.
The Dragon Guards saw the n.o.ble woman with the willow brows scrunched up in fury. Yikes, she really does look brutal…
All of the Chen estate servants retreated behind née Xu and glared at the Dragon Guards and Ji Yuerong, who were now s.h.i.+elding Ning Xiaoyao behind them as she cradled her head.
One of the Dragon Guards put on an act and said, "My lady, we"ll escort you safely out of here."
Ji Yuerong nodded. Right now she was nothing but wretched. Her face was unharmed, but her clothes were full of footprints. Who knows how many times she had been kicked and stepped on?
"I want to see brother-in-law!" Ning Xiaoyao hollered. Jie Yuerong and the Dragon Guards collectively looked at Ning Xiaoyao with one thought in their heads: please, don"t make another ruckus!
"M-miss," the same Dragon Guard who spoke up now stammered again. "My master has orders to escort you and her ladys.h.i.+p back home. Miss, it"d be best if–if you go home now."
Ning Xiaoyao only shot née Xu a hateful glare and declared, "This isn"t over!"
Née Xu stared icily back. "I"ll be waiting for you."
Ning Xiaoyao immediately grew alarmed. It"s better if you don"t.
"Hurry and go," Ji Yuerong urged the Dragon Guards. She never wanted to face that Xu woman again! Seeing this, the Chen estate servants moved to stop them.
"Let them leave," née Xu ordered.
"Hmph!" Ning Xiaoyao was still staunchly turning up her nose at née Xu.
"Come on!" Ji Yuerong threw away the rules of propriety between men and women and simply took Ning Xiaoyao by the hand. Like that, their group slipped away under the tigress"s eyes.
"My lady?" one of the nannies called out carefully once Ning Xiaoyao"s group was out of sight.
Née Xu hadn"t spared Ning Xiaoyao"s group a glance, but was simply standing in place for a long time in silence. Finally, she said, "Go back to the estate and call for my people. I want to find Chen Lu."
She"s not even calling him general now, but by his full name. The nanny knew that things were bad. She wanted to coax her mistress a bit, but the woman"s black expression completely stole away her nerve. She muttered a yes and hurried back to the Chen estate with a few stewards in tow. None of the other servants dared to say a peep. When née Xu had married into the family, her dowry included a team of bodyguards that were handpicked and trained for their mistress by her father. Now she was bringing those guards with her, which only made them fret for their own General Chen. Is our general doomed?
—
Once Ning Xiaoyao"s group was certain no one was following them, they ended up making their way through the twists and turns of the back alleys before doubling back to spy on née Xu from another alley.
"She hasn"t left yet," Ning Xiaoyao muttered to Ji Yuerong.
"She"s definitely waiting for her backup to arrive," Ji Yuerong declared.
"She"s a really fierce person," Ning Xiaoyao remarked.
"Everyone says she"s a tigress, after all." Ji Yuerong could only grit her teeth as she stared at née Xu.
Meanwhile, all the Dragon Guards stared at Ning Xiaoyao and Ji Yuerong still holding hands while they exchanged knowing looks. Looks like Miss Ji is going to be our Majesty"s woman in the future.
Soon enough, Lou Zigui came over with Xiaoqiu in his arms and Erya leading the way. "Are you alright?" he asked Ning Xiaoyao with concern as soon as he saw her.
Ning Xiaoyao shook her head. "Why did you come? Where"s Windy?"
Lou Zigui just stared at Ning Xiaoyao"s face. When she"d been slapped, he had vowed never to forgive née Xu. "Shadowgale left the city," he explained simply.
Ning Xiaoyao pinched her face. "Don"t stare anymore. See this? I"m not missing a single piece of skin from my face."
Seeing that her cheek was still white and tender without being red or swollen, Lou Zigui"s expression warmed slightly. "It"s good that Your Majesty"s unhurt."
Ji Yuerong only rolled her eyes. Why doesn"t he ask after my welfare instead. I was kicked about!
"You guys should go back now," Ning Xiaoyao said. "I"m going to check out Fangqi Lane."
Hearing this, the Dragon Guards all sucked in a collective breath. You"ve already earned yourself a slap. Your Majesty, are you still asking for another beating?
"What are you all thinking?" Ning Xiaoyao asked them. "I"m going to see Chen Lu and the Grand Preceptor fight. Did you forget who I am?"
"You"re His Majesty," many of the Dragon Guards chorused back.
Ning Xiaoyao glared at them.
"Your Majesty is das.h.i.+ng enough to pierce the Heavens," another Dragon Guard offered with clasped hands.
"That"s right," Ning Xiaoyao said. "You have to have faith in the das.h.i.+ng and handsome me."
Ji Yuerong rolled her eyes again. If you were really das.h.i.+ng enough to pierce the Heavens, would you have gotten slapped as soon as someone saw you?
"Your Majesty, I"ll come with you," Lou Zigui said after handing over Xiaoqiu to a Dragon Guard.
Ning Xiaoyao wanted to say it wasn"t necessary, but after seeing Lou Zigui"s gaze, she relented. "Sure."
"The rest of you, escort Erya, Xiaoqiu, and Miss Ji safely back to the palace," Lou Zigui ordered the Dragon Guards.
"How about I come along too," Ji Yuerong was getting worried again. "Suppose something unexpected happens again?"
"It"s fine," Ning Xiaoyao said. "If anything like that happens, Supreme Commander and I will run away. If we can"t eat them, we can still flee, right?"
"……" said the rest. If you say things like that, we"ll worry even more!
"I"m off, see ya," Ning Xiaoyao waved das.h.i.+ngly at her pals before slipping into the darkness with Lou Zigui behind her.
—
In one of the courtyards at Fangqi Lane, Grand Preceptor Xie was sitting in the main hall before ten famed doctors sent to treat his patient. "Is there really no hope for Chen Lu"s injuries?"
The doctors all shook their heads. They"d expended their greatest abilities just to keep Great General Chen alive to this point. Grand Preceptor Xie knit his brows and asked the steward by his side, "Née Xu still hasn"t arrived yet?"
The steward replied, "Judging by the time, Lady Xu should arrive at any minute."
Grand Preceptor Xie waved a hand at the doctors. "You should all go watch over Chen Lu instead."
The doctors were were grateful for the general pardon for not saving the general, and hurried to retreat from the hall.
"Grand Preceptor," the steward said, "Will you go back to the estate first?"
Grand Preceptor Xie waved his hand again. He had to wait for née Xu to show up before leaving. With Chen Lu on death"s door, he hadn"t done much more than check in a few times. If he left the man to die just like that and alienated née Xu"s heart because of it, that would be a big mistake.
—
Outside Chen Lu"s bedroom, Lou Zigui used a small branch to prop open one of the back windows while Ning Xiaoyoa tossed in some rocks to knock out the young pageboys waiting on his bedside. Then she jumped through the window and picked them up before handing them to Lou Zigui.
Lou Zigui placed the two boys in the flowerbed. That wasn"t enough to ease his worries, so he hit them on the back of their necks to make sure they were really unconscious, then tied them up with rope and gagged them. Finally, he returned act as Miss Ning"s lookout outside the window.
Ning Xiaoyao stood in front of Chen Lu"s bed while a team of doctors were currently discussing his prognosis in the room beyond. She listened keenly to their diagnosis, but couldn"t understand much of the medical terms or medicine names they were throwing around. Oil Jar stuck his head out of her sleeve again to stare at the unconscious Chen Lu on the bed.
"Is he almost dead?" he asked her.
"He won"t," Ning Xiaoyao replied.
Oil Jar always believed Ning Xiaoyao without fail, so he believed that Chen Lu wouldn"t die as well. Ning Xiaoyao reached out a hand and placed it on Chen Lu"s chest. She could sense his life force flickering within and knit her brows. It"ll take a lot of energy to save this guy.
"At most, Great General Chen can last another hour," one of the doctors outside said with a heavy heart. The rest all sighed–they"d really tried their best.
Pale green light began to gather in a small orb at the tip of Ning Xiaoyao"s fingers. Oil Jar watched curiously as the b.a.l.l.s of life-filled light floated into the air before settling down in Chen Lu"s chest. Ning Xiaoyao"s face paled with the exertion. She paused to raise her hand for a break and wipe away her sweat, before pressing her fingers back down against his chest and continue the treatment.
Gradually, Chen Lu"s ashen pale face regained its color. His wound began to mend itself, the pain causing him to knit his brows even while unconscious, then smooth out as the pain abruptly vanished. Ning Xiaoyao removed her hand when she was done, the short effort costing her forehead to be covered in sweat.
"Xiaoyao, is he alright now?" Oil Jar asked.
"He"s fine now," Ning Xiaoyao said as she tucked the covers over Chen Lu"s body. "With me here, he won"t die."
"Xiaoyao, you look really tired," Oil Jar looked up in worry.
Ning Xiaoyao furiously rubbed her face until her pale complexion turned rosy again, then relaxed enough to murmur back, "What happened just then was a secret. Oil Jar, you have to hide it for me sake, oh."
Oil Jar quickly nodded his head. He wouldn"t even tell Ancestral Grandfather about this!