"Brother Xu, can you still leave?"

At the bottom of a valley in Gyeonggi Province, the night was getting thick. Tan Ting walked to Xu Yuanming, holding a tree, and saw him falling to the ground and gasping for breath, and stretched out his hand.

Xu Yuanming held his hand and stood up, trying his legs.

"I can still walk a few steps."

The two of them fell into the valley, and they were lucky that they were not seriously injured.

At this time of night, the valley was very wet and cold. It was inconvenient for the two of them to stay here for a long time, so they had to find a way out.

Xu Yuanming looked at the darkness around him warily and asked Tan Ting softly.

"Yuan Zhi thought, where did these bandits come from, that they dared to ram the carriages and horses of the imperial officials?"

"Of course they didn't come from ordinary places."

Tan Ting snorted, "There were several people inside, and they were probably not bandits at all . Fortunately

for the two of them, one was from a military background and the other was taught by a strict eldest son and had the skills to defend himself, otherwise he would not have been able to escape this disaster.

But Xu Yuanming didn't quite understand.

"The pacification of Gyeonggi Province has been completed. Those who encouraged the candidates are all dead. We have not caught any clues. If the people behind it still want to kill us, what use will it be to them?" The overall

situation of this year's Spring Festival It has been decided that this conflict between the common people has been suppressed, and they will not be able to make any waves for a while.

Xu Yuanming really couldn't understand why he was killing people at this time.

"Can you still be so embarrassed that you become angry?"

"That's not the case." Tan Ting shook his head.

A person who can secretly create chaos among candidates for a long time is not a person who will become angry due to shame.

So what is the reason why they continue to attack?

He was silent for a while, and then Xu Yuanming said something again.

"Maybe it's not the person behind the scenes before, maybe it's someone else? I really can't figure it out..."

Maybe, just to make people confused, he hid his purpose... ...

Just at this moment, there was a movement not far away, and Tan Ting immediately pressed Xu Yuanming's shoulder.

The two quietly retreated behind the rocks aside, and from time to time they saw someone walking over with a fire folding bag.

"Is it going to fall behind? The boss said that we have found someone to tell us not to do anything, and let the men in black handle it personally."

The men in black will handle it in person?

Tan Ting and Xu Yuanming looked at each other.

The two of them hid, and then heard the person who came to them with a fire certificate talking.

"To be honest, we bandits don't dare to touch the court officials. This is Gyeonggi Province after all. How close to the capital is it? Those men in black dare to touch the court officials. I don't know how much money they paid to the leader to do this." "

But this time it's troublesome. I've lost it. I don't know whether I'm alive or dead. Tsk tsk..."

the bandits said, taking pictures of the big stone where Tan and Xu were hiding. Come over.

The firelight illuminated the boulder, but nothing was found.

A few bandits took pictures to the other side, and two people were sent out to search in the cave on the other side.

Tan Ting and Xu Yuanming hid behind the big stone and both breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, they heard the bandits say something again.

"This time we have to put people to death. I don't know if that person can escape with his life."

That person...

Tan Ting and Xu Yuanming were both surprised.

Did that person mean that the person this group of people wanted to kill was actually just one of them?

who is it?

Both of them were silent for a moment, then heard the bandits speak. "Speaking of which

, the eldest son of the Tan family can be regarded as a young and promising official, right? At least he is willing to speak for us nameless people. I don't know who wants to kill him..."

As soon as the sound hit the ground, Xu Yuanming opened his eyes wide and looked at Tan Ting.

When he saw that Tan Zongzi was silent, he smiled lightly and looked over until the bandits were gone.

"It seems that Tan is dragging Brother Xu down?"

"Yuan Zhi, please don't say that!" Xu Yuanming shook his head repeatedly, "Yuan Zhi also did things for the people that led to his death!"

Is it just that simple?

Tan Ting said nothing, looking at Xu Yuanming's injured leg, wanting to leave alone.

However, at this moment, a cold light suddenly flashed, and a man in black suddenly emerged from the darkness and slashed at Tan Ting.

As soon as he said it, Tan Ting suddenly turned sideways.

The knife struck the air and fell again.

But this time, Tan Ting didn't give the man a chance, so he drew out the sword from his waist and blocked him.

Although the man in black was very skilled, Tan Ting was also assisted by Xu Yuanming, so he was unable to succeed. Instead, he was pressed by the two of them step by step. Seeing that the momentum was not good, he was about to escape temporarily when the whistle blew.

But the next moment, the sound of breaking through the air came, and Tan Ting's sword wiped away the blood beads and was placed directly on his neck.

"Don't move, I just want to ask one thing,"

Tan Ting narrowed his eyes, "Who sent you to kill me?"

"Yes...yes..."

He didn't finish the sentence. , a burst of rapid footsteps approached.

Those footsteps were not the footsteps of ordinary people at all. It was clearly the whistle that this person had just released that led to rescue.

In the next breath, the man didn't utter a word. He suddenly jumped up, took out the dagger from under his leg and stabbed Tan Ting in the neck.

"Yuanzhi, be careful!"

In the next breath, the dagger pierced the skin and blood spurted out.

The night is thick among the trees in the deep valley.

Tan Ting stood there without moving, but the man in black in front of him suddenly fell to the ground.

Tan Ting took back the sword stained with blood from the man's neck, pulled out the dagger stuck in his arm, and left quickly with Xu Yuanming before those footsteps arrived.

The Tan family in Beijing.

The lights are brightly lit all night.

Tan Jianlu sent several groups of people one after another to look for Tan Ting. Mrs. Lin also heard about it, and together with Mr. Lin, she mobilized people from the Lin Mansion to look for Tan Ting.

Yang Zhen couldn't bear it at night, so she lay down on the coffee table and fell asleep for a while. Then she opened her eyes and looked up to see her sister-in-law standing in front of the door, her hands clasped together, standing motionless.

Before she fell asleep, her sister-in-law had been standing like this at the door. But when she woke up from a daze, her sister-in-law was still standing like this.

It was already dawn, and the light of day jumped out from the horizon. The morning mist still enveloped the courtyard desertedly, and the spring flowers in the courtyard seemed to have lost their color in the fog.

Yang Zhen saw her sister-in-law standing motionless in front of the door and couldn't help but step forward.

"Sister-in-law, you should take a rest. You have been standing all night."

In addition to the Tan family and the Lin family, the East Palace personally sent people to look for him, but the night passed, the sky in the capital became brighter, and he still did not come back.

Xiang Yi stood still and kept looking outside, his eyelids drooping a bit.

The mist blew in along the wind, and poured into the cuffs of people's necks and sleeves together with the cold air. Xiang Yi felt cold for a moment, but he just hugged his arms and continued to wait in front of the door, saying softly.

"It's okay, I'll wait for him for a while."

He will be back soon.

Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, he will definitely come back before the fifth day of the Lunar New Year...

Xiang Yi tightened the hands clasped in front of him.

At this moment, a shout suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard. The sound was so loud that it suddenly broke the silence in the deserted courtyard.

"Uncle is back!"

The moment he said the words, the hand clenched in front of him suddenly loosened, and Xiang Yi stepped out in one step.

...

Tan Ting was not seriously injured, and Xiao Guan led his people to find him before the men in black.

Before he reached the house, Tan Jian rushed over and circled around him three times.

"Brother, are you really okay?! It scared me to death! It scared me to death!"

Tan Ting glanced at his younger brother, "That's all."

He subconsciously wanted to scold him again, but he expected to hear the steward say something else. I am doing everything well at home and taking care of everything. The people sent to look for him this time actually arrived before the people from the East Palace and Lin Mansion.

Thinking of this, the phrase "it's useless" didn't come out of my mouth.

Tan Ting glanced at his younger brother, and his voice softened a bit.

"You did a good job when I was not at home."

As soon as the words fell, Tan Jian was so stunned that Tan Ting even took a few steps towards the door, and he even picked his ears in disbelief.

"Brother, did you praise me? Did you praise me?!"

Tan Ting just walked to the door in one step, but when he saw the person coming in the courtyard, his heart skipped a beat.

He was still wondering if his wife was waiting for him in the main courtyard. With her always reserved temperament, she wondered if she would pick him up at the entrance of the courtyard?

But now, he saw someone walking quickly in front of him.

She wore an off-white long coat and light red armor. The clothes were wrinkled for some reason. She only had a pearl hairpin on her head, and it hung down a bit because the bun was loose.

The wind swept her steps forward quickly, and blew the hem of her skirt into the air.

Her appearance seemed different from her usual reserved and dignified appearance.

Tan Ting stared at her blankly, seeing her walking forward very quickly and raising her head to look at him.

Tan Ting saw the bloodshot eyes in his wife's eyes.

He was stunned, "Yizhen..."

But she just looked at him repeatedly, looking back and forth several times, Yuanshan frowned and asked him.

"Where is the injury, uncle? Is it serious?"

The morning breeze blew by, and it seemed that the fragrance of flowers in the whole courtyard was blowing over.

Tan Ting's heart also seemed to be blown by the spring breeze, and a burst of spring warmth and flowers bloomed.

He looked down at his wife and spoke in an extremely soft voice.

"Yizhen, I'm fine, just keep an eye on me."

He subconsciously raised his arm to show her.

But as soon as he raised his right arm, the deep wound of the dagger started to hurt.

He frowned slightly, and Xiang Yi noticed it, and she held his hand.

"Master, please don't move again!"

She spoke very fast. Tan Ting was stunned for a moment, and then he held her hand in his hand, holding her cold hand in his hand, and said softly In her ears, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up.

"I listen to Yizhen."

...

The Tan family's old house in the capital finally became lively.

Throughout the whole day, Tan Jian said countless times, "Brother, you praised me!"

After dinner, at night, Xiang Yi boiled water and cleaned his hands, preparing to change Tan Ting's dressing.

When Tan Jian came over to deliver some plasters brought from the Yang family, he couldn't help but tell Xiang Yi.

"Sister-in-law, do you know that my eldest brother praised me this morning! He said that I did a great job at home!"

Xiang Yi had heard about it a long time ago, and he still nodded with a smile to save face.

"Yes, the second master has done really well recently, and he also sees it."

Tan Jian only felt that his sister-in-law's words touched his heart, so he stepped forward and wanted to say a few more words to her, not wanting someone to suddenly give her a cold shoulder. voice.

Tan Jian looked up and saw his elder brother, but he saw his frown.

"How many times do I have to tell you something trivial? You have no future, why don't you go study!"

Tan Jian, who was originally in high spirits, suddenly stopped on the spot.

Xiang Yi glanced at the old man helplessly, and saw Tan Jian's happy expression falling pitifully, so he had no choice but to speak.

"The second master didn't say a few words, why should he be so harsh?"

Tan Jian saw that his sister-in-law had spoken for him, and he immediately looked at her with great gratitude.

However, Tan Ting fell silent for a moment and glanced at his wife with his mouth tightened.

She always cherished her useless brother, and didn't want to think that he was still waiting for her to change the medicine...

Fortunately, Tan Jian still had the foresight, so he saluted and ran away.

When they got to the inner room, Tan Ting was still looking at his wife with his mouth tightened. Xiang Yi didn't know what to say, so he just asked him to take off his clothes, sit on the bed, and expose his arms.

The wound was on the upper arm, where the dagger penetrated so deeply that it was almost bone-deep.

Xiang Yi had never dealt with such a serious injury, and he couldn't control his emotions at the moment. Following the imperial physician's instructions, he carefully cleaned up the surrounding flesh and blood, applied some ointment, and slowly bandaged it up again. .

She was always meticulous and conscientious in her work, and now her subordinates were even more cautious, with some water drops even oozing from the tip of their noses.

Tan Ting didn't even look at the wound, his eyes only fell on his wife's face.

He couldn't help but think of the scene when he returned home in the early morning. She actually welcomed him to the front door, her steps were so fast, and she stepped forward and looked at him repeatedly.

Tan Ting couldn't help but feel excited again, and he made a mistake and only fixed his eyes on his wife's face.

Xiang Yi sat by the bed, treated his wounds, gathered up his clothes for him, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

She put the treated cloth aside and just raised her head, ready to ask him if it hurt. Suddenly something warm and soft pressed against her forehead the moment she raised her head.

She was frozen on the spot as if a immobilization spell had been cast on her.

The night is quiet.

Xiang Yi didn't move, but the man whose lips were resting on her forehead realized something after a moment of nervousness.

Before, when he came close to her, she would always turn her head to avoid him.

Especially that day on the bed and in the bathroom, when he came close to the corner of her lips, she deliberately avoided it.

But today, when he couldn't help but approach her and put his lips on her forehead, she didn't move.

She didn't avoid it.

Tan Ting's eyes gradually brightened, reflecting the light of the candle beside the bed.

Only the fragrance of medicine circulates quietly in the room.

Xiang Yi didn't move, her whole body tensed up nervously, until the lips left her forehead. Just as she was about to let out a small sigh of relief, the man's warm lips came over again, landing on the corners of her eyes.

This time, Xiang Yi didn't even dare to blink her eyes. Her whole back straightened nervously.

But the man's lips touched the tip of his nose lightly after leaving his warmth in the corner of his eyes.

The room was so quiet that the only sound was the breathing between them.

A warm current circulated between the two people's close faces, and along with the moisture between their breaths, every inch of Xiang Yi's skin seemed to tremble.

Xiang Yi heard the interlaced heartbeats. Her confused brain made it difficult for her to tell whose heartbeat was whose. She only felt that the man's intact left arm was quietly attached to her back, straightening her back more and more, which made her even more excited. Unable to move an inch.

The staggered breathing became heavier and heavier.

At this time, the lips left the tip of the nose and continued to fall, and Xiang Yi seemed to see the man's eyes.

And his lips finally moved downward, stopping less than a piece of paper away from her lips.

The candle flickered slightly and made a crackling sound.

The man's lips pressed against hers very slowly and gently.