Chapter 12: Swollen Lips

  Bang——bang——

  "The cold wave is coming, extinguish the candles and close the doors!"

  The night watchman's wooden clapper struck twice, marking the second watch!

  The thatched hut was drafty and cold, with a pungent smell of grain wafting from the corner bucket, making one's scalp tingle. The entire space fell silent and desolate.

  Listening to the sound of the watchman's rattle, Xia Qi sat down at the far corner of the wall from the nightstool, propping up her chin in the darkness.

  Did she miscalculate?

  That little golden tiger is not important to the king?

  The second watch has arrived, will the third watch be far behind?

  Buried alive...

  With the earthy smell of withered leaves and twigs, one shovel after another was thrown onto her face, into her neck, and into her mouth. One by one, ants crawled over her body, into her clothes, biting her flesh... Suddenly, she felt a jolt of life, and something scurried across her feet with a rustling sound.

  "Ah!"

  She sprang up from the ground, darted onto the wooden bed with a "creak", hugged her arms tightly, and perked up her ears to listen. In the darkness, it was very quiet, except for the sound of her heartbeat, there was also a rustling sound that made her hair stand on end.

  If it's not a rat, then it must be a snake.

  In the first seven days of summer, I'm not afraid of heaven or earth, but I'm afraid of things like this.

  Despicable person! He's ruthless indeed!

  She fumbled out a small peach-wood mirror and slowly approached the door of the thatched cottage, finally making up her mind - to escape!

  "Bang! Bang!"

  She knocked on the wall lightly.

  It was around midnight when people usually feel drowsy, and there were no sounds from the guards outside.

  During the day, she had deliberately observed that there were two guards, who changed shifts every two hours. She was still unclear about the situation of the night patrol soldiers outside. However, no matter what, it was all just a dead end, and at worst, she would just become a female Hanzi again. In order not to be accompanied by snakes, rats, and urine, she slowly cut through the wooden door with a small knife.

  Fortunately, it fell to the ground today. Zhao Zhuang was teased and left in a hurry, and he didn't even think of picking it up.

  A square area was cleared by her, and she slowly pulled open the wooden board.

  She puckered up her mouth, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it hard through the doorway into the distance.

  The two guards immediately woke up, "Who's there?"

  "You stay here, I'll go take a look——"

  The sound of footsteps faded away, Xia Qi took a deep breath, grasped the stone in her hand again, and did a forward roll from the doorway. She rolled on the ground and before the guard could react, she heavily smashed his Baihui acupoint, "thud" and he fell to the ground.

  She turned back to look at the woodshed and then took out a small knife and wrote several words on the wall with a "swish swish" sound.

  "What are you doing?"

  As expected, she got struck by lightning! Just as she hesitated for a moment, the guard who had left just came back, seemingly unaware of why she was standing outside the woodshed. He looked confused for a moment. Xia Chuqi flashed him a sly smile, made a "shh" gesture, and then turned around and ran away.

  "The prisoner has escaped!"

  "Come quickly, the prisoner has escaped!"

  A shrill cry pierced through the silent darkness.

  Soon, the relay station was illuminated by torches, shining brightly into the sky.

  Fighting Xia was not great on the seventh day of summer, but if you want to talk about running skills, she is one of the best. In the past, in the Red Thorn Special Forces' assessment, which was notorious for being abnormal, her 10-kilometer loaded cross-country run was no worse than any male soldier's.

  What a pity——

  What a relay station, it's clearly a city. Houses are lined up one after another, the building area is astonishingly large, and the worst part is that there are thick rammed earth walls all around, surrounding the inside like a sieve, guarded so tightly that even wings can't fly out, let alone the fact that there's still a string of tails that can't be shaken off behind.

  Alas! She supported her knees and panted heavily.

  The clanging of weapons grew louder and closer.

  What to do? Run away!

  She darted to the left, dodged to the right, ran east and west, she was running extremely fast, but those bastards were like they had eaten rat poison, chasing after her like madmen, chasing her until she was almost out of breath, before finally happening upon a dog hole under the city wall.

  To drill or not to drill?

  Nonsense! What's the point of having a good reputation if it can't even compare to being alive? As long as she manages to crawl out from here, her future will be bright and prosperous. She'll make money, buy a house, raise a white-faced kid, and marry a rich and handsome guy, welcoming the peak of her life. Taking a deep breath, she finally managed to squeeze herself out of the dog hole in the city wall, that squeeze was so tight it seemed to have made her flat chest even smaller.

  "Grandma, she's run away!"

  Zheng Er Bao puffed out a round white chubby face, pushed open the door and entered the inner room, laughing so hard that his mouth was almost closed.

  Zhao Zhu leaned against the edge of the bathtub, lightly closing his eyes in a feigned sleep. He didn't react much to what was said, and his usual coldness and severity had dissipated somewhat. It was a chilly winter month outside, but inside the room, warm charcoal fire was burning. In the damp air, a faint scent like fresh grass floated around, and it wasn't until the ripples on the water's surface had stilled that he finally spoke up.

  "Has the dog dug a hole?"

  Zheng Er Bao covered his mouth, with a happy face, and his sharp voice was exceptionally gentle.

  "Grandpa's clever trick worked, it went through, it went through..."

  "Hmm, is Chen Jing following up on it?"

  "Caught up, caught up..."

  Zhao Zun seemed to have not heard, and remained silent for a long time in the misty steam of the hot soup. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at Zheng Er Bao, with a glint of cunning, pleasure or a hint of evil in his dark pupils, an expression rarely seen on his face.

  "Dog hole, is it still a good fit?"

  "Small is small, but that little body can drill in swiftly..."

  Zheng Er's hand suddenly stopped in mid-air, frozen in place with a silly grin still plastered on his face.

  "What's wrong with Dad..."

  He originally wanted to ask the master of the house why he cared about the size of the girl's body when digging a dog hole, but after seeing his slightly swollen mouth, where did he dare to ask more?

  Zhao Zhuo gave him a glance, got up from the bathtub, took a large towel and casually wiped off the water droplets on his long hair, then loosely tied his robe over his night clothes, revealing a large expanse of chest with water droplets.

  "If you have something to say, then speak up, don't make a fuss in front of your grandfather!"

  Zheng Er Bao thought for a moment, then changed the subject, hehe smiled, "Sir, that Fan Cong Liang is a sensible person. His daughter was beaten, and he still sent five beautiful women to pay respects to you. What do you think about tonight..."

  Zhao Mou glanced at him and asked, "How much silver did you get from him?"

  "Ah yo!" With a slap on the mouth from Zheng Er Bao.

  "Master, how dare I, I was just thinking that you're not getting any younger, and all the princes in the capital have children and grandchildren, enjoying family bliss. But you're still alone, master, it pains me to see this."

  Zhao Zun snorted and waved his hand in a mixture of laughter and tears.

  "Alright! Go down!"

  Zheng Er Bao feared that he really thought his own family had embezzled Fan Cong Liang's silver, and originally wanted to explain a few more sentences. However, looking at his cold face, it seemed as if the good mood from hearing the interesting story earlier was gone, so he retreated towards the door. But as he walked, he suddenly remembered something else, and hastily came forward to report carefully.

  "Grandpa, that girl also wrote a few words on the wall of the woodshed."

  The eunuchs in the Jin Wang Fu, those who could read were rare, and the situation of the Jinyiwei guards was not much better. Zhao Zun put on a soft-haired brocade cloak and rushed out of the door, walking quickly towards the woodshed.

  "Grandpa, look quickly—"

  Zheng Er Bao held up a lantern and shone it on several characters on the wall.

  For a long time, he didn't hear Master's voice, only the cold wind blowing against his ears, making them ache.

  He shuddered, but Zhao Zhuo's face was cold and gloomy as he stared at the wall, where a few large characters were written.

  "Zhao Zhu, your old man has come here for a visit, won't keep you company anymore!"

  Digression

  "Hmph, who's getting angry at whom, and who's plotting against whom? These two are constantly exchanging blows, the outcome depends on when one of them makes a move..."

  What's up, Er Jin is shamelessly asking for evaluation votes, the free kind that the system will give after consumption. No need to spend money, thanks girls!

  Also, there's another thing, Android users can download the Xiao Xiang client and sign in every day to receive yuanbao, which seems to be a lot, enough to read books. Girls can start signing in now and save up coins for V, hehe!