Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 77 Self-rescue
Seeing the target enter the river, the killers in charge of catching him ran to the riverside and turned to look at their leader.
They really couldn't swim, so they could only run a few steps along the river bank, asking their leader with their eyes what to do.
The leader opened his eyes wide and kept searching on the river, but found no trace of Li Yuechen.
How could they know that with Li Yuechen's swimming level, it would not be a problem for him to dive sixty or seventy meters into the water, not to mention that the Luo River was still flowing.
After running forward for more than ten meters, the leading assassin suddenly stopped and shook his head slightly.
"Why stop?" asked the assassin behind him.
"We can't catch him..." The leading assassin said calmly, "Mission failed!"
Hearing what he said, the assassins behind him looked at each other and said, "Then I will wait..."
"I can't go back." The leading assassin looked around. "There are so many people watching here. If I go back, my master will be exposed."
The other assassins nodded, already understanding what he meant.
The next moment, all the assassins took out a small porcelain bottle from their arms, opened the lid, tilted their heads back and poured the medicine inside into their mouths.
After a while, several assassins covered their necks and began to twitch.
The people watching nearby were startled and stepped back.
After twitching a few times, the assassins fell to the ground and gradually became silent.
…
On the other side, Fulai rode a horse that came from nowhere and galloped all the way to the imperial city.
The soldiers in charge of guarding the imperial city immediately pointed their spears at Fulai who was running towards them, and the soldiers on the city wall also drew their bows and arrows and aimed at him .
Seeing that he was being targeted, Fulai hurriedly stopped and cursed in a sharp voice: "Asshole! I am Wang Fulai! Get out of the way quickly, I have something important to report to the Saint!"
When the soldier on duty saw that it was really him, he immediately waved his hand to let him pass.
Seeing that Fulai was about to rush in on horseback, and considering that he had been with the princess when he just went out, he instinctively felt that something big might have happened.
Seeing Fulai riding his horse all the way to Renshou Hall, the soldier on duty quickly reported his thoughts to his superior.
After thinking about it, the commander immediately told all the soldiers to cheer up so that they could assemble quickly in case there was any mission.
Fulai rode his horse all the way to Renshou Hall. Zhang Chengxin, who was standing at the door, saw a horse galloping towards him from a distance.
When he saw it was Fulai, his face immediately darkened, and he trotted forward to stop him: "Asshole! How dare you ride a horse in the palace!"
"Grandpa, I have something urgent to report to the saint!" Fu said as he was about to rush into the palace.
Zhang Chengxin grabbed him and said, "If there is anything, let us report it first. It's your turn now..."
"His Highness has been assassinated. We can't wait, Grandpa!" Fulai looked anxious. He shook off his arm and walked straight inside.
Zhang Chengxin was stunned, and then immediately followed Fulai into the Renshou Hall.
Inside the hall, everything was still the same as usual. Wu Zetian was reviewing memorials to the emperor while Li Zhi was burning incense and drinking tea beside her, curling up with a health ball, and lying in a rocking chair with his eyes closed to rest.
Fulai didn't even bother to take off his shoes, he ran into the hall, came to the table and knelt on the ground, with an anxious look on his face: "Saint, His Highness has been assassinated!"
Li Zhi, who was about to give him a lecture when he saw how flustered he was, suddenly stood up and said, "What did you say?!"
Wu Zetian, who was standing behind the desk, was also shocked. The brush in her hand fell with a "click", leaving a large stain on the memorial.
Fulai knocked his head to the ground and said, "Just now, when your highness and I were returning to the palace, we were assassinated. The guards at the gate couldn't resist..."
"Asshole!"
Li Zhi's eyes widened, and he roared, throwing the health ball in his hand directly. It hit the floor with a clang.
The emperor was furious, and Zhang Chengxin behind him quickly knelt down.
"Why did you come back when the princess was assassinated? Where is Chen'er now?" Li Zhi asked loudly.
Seeing the emperor's anger, Fulai trembled all over, but he did not dare to stop and continued: "The princess saw that the gate guards could not resist, so she climbed over the wall and left. Some of the assassins chased after her. I and the gate guards fought with the remaining assassins, and then I hurried back to report..."
Wu Zetian, who was standing next to him, suddenly asked, "Chen'er ran away by himself? He wasn't injured?"
"I didn't see His Highness get hurt..."
"Then why are you still standing here? Send someone to find him!" Wu Zetian said coldly.
Zhang Chengxin, who was standing behind him, immediately stood up and said, "I'll go right away!"
After saying that, he quickly ran out.
Li Zhi suppressed his desire to kill, took two deep breaths, and came to Fu Lai. He gritted his teeth and said word by word: "Now, tell me what happened! Don't leave anything out!"
Fu Lai agreed and immediately began to explain.
After Zhang Chengxin ran out, he immediately issued an order, sending all the guards in the palace out to look for the princess, even if they had to dig three feet into the ground!
After the order was issued, a large number of soldiers began to gather in the imperial city.
Zhang Chengxin sent someone to call Xiao He and asked her to bring some people who had seen the princess to serve as the team leader.
After all, few of these soldiers knew what the princess looked like, so someone had to be responsible for identification.
When Xiao He heard that the princess had been assassinated, she was shocked and went back immediately to prepare.
However, before the soldiers had completed their assembly, they received news that a group of people were seen chasing a child in South City.
The child eventually jumped into the Luo River, and all the people who were responsible for chasing him on the river bank committed suicide.
Zhang Chengxin, who received the news, did not dare to delay and immediately reported the situation to Li Zhi.
"What? Jump into the Luo River?" Wu Zetian opened her eyes wide, but then suddenly felt her legs go weak and she fell unconsciously on the chair.
Li Zhi patted her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Mei Niang. Chen'er is very good at swimming. He will be fine!"
After that, he gave the order: "Pass the order down, tell all sixteen guards to go out and search along both sides of Luoshui. We must find Chen'er's whereabouts!"
"Yes!" Zhang Chengxin agreed and ran out quickly.
Li Zhi took a deep breath and felt his head swelling. He then shook his head and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
He was also anxious, but he was the emperor. If he had a seizure at this time, the palace would be in chaos.
The news spread quickly and spread throughout the palace almost instantly.
Li Yuechen's two sisters and four brothers all ran over and entered the Renshou Hall with anxious looks on their faces.
Li Zhi saw the children coming and waved his hand before they could say anything: "I have sent people to look for them. Don't worry! Just wait!"
"Grandpa!" Li Xian took a step forward and said gloomily, "Who tried to assassinate Yuechen? I will tear him into pieces!"
Hearing what he said, Li Xian also came out and said, "I'll go too."
Li Lun didn't say anything, but walked out just as firmly.
Wu Zetian gathered herself and quickly calmed down. Seeing that Li Zhi was also very upset, she immediately waved to the children and told them not to speak.
…
After entering the river, Li Yuechen rushed forward along the current. After more than a hundred meters, he raised his head to take a breath, and then continued to dive and swim forward.
It was not until he was about to leave Luoyang City that he turned back and looked for a while, and found that his bet was right, those people really could not swim.
He wanted to go ashore, but at this moment Li Yuechen's strength was completely exhausted and he couldn't move at all.
There was no one on the surrounding river banks, and there was no way to call for help.
After thinking about it, he relaxed his body, lay on the water and let the river carry him forward.
He raised his hands and looked at them. The palms of his hands had been cut by the bark. Fortunately, the river water was cold, which invisibly cooled down the temperature and stopped the bleeding.
At this time, there were more than ten bright red blood streaks on the palm of his hand, accompanied by bursts of pain.
Damn, I hope I don’t get infected... Li Yuechen could only think so and try to keep his hands above the water and not get them wet.
They quickly floated down the river to the outside of the city. Li Yuechen looked around at both sides of the river, thinking that it would be great if he could meet someone.
But now the sun has begun to set and there is no one to be seen on either side.
In desperation, Li Yuechen decided to swim to the river by himself. After all, it was only March and the water was still very cold.
If I really stay here all night, I will definitely freeze to death!
Li Yuechen swung his legs, lying on the water and gradually floating towards the river bank.
After finally reaching the shore, Li Yuechen felt weak all over and his head was dizzy.
Using all four limbs, he finally got out of the water and struggled to get ashore.
Li Yuechen walked towards the shore with difficulty, her white, tender and delicate little feet stepping on the mud.
I touched my head and felt it was very hot.
I actually had a fever. It’s normal when I think about it. I was sweating after the intense exercise, and then I soaked in the water for so long. Finally, my body couldn’t take it anymore.
My clothes were soaked through and almost translucent. Now the most important thing was to change clothes, otherwise my fever would get worse.
He looked around and realized that he was not far from Luoyang City. However, it was impossible for him to walk back in his current condition. He might even faint on the way.
But this place is so remote and there is no village or shop nearby, so I might have to spend the night here.
Li Yuechen had already prepared for the worst, so he picked up two branches on the roadside and found some dry grass, intending to try to make fire by rubbing two sticks together.
But now Li Yuechen felt dizzy and weak all over, and nothing he did worked.
Just as I was about to take off my clothes and let the air dry myself, I accidentally saw an ox cart slowly moving towards me.
Li Yuechen did not go over immediately, but leaned against a tree trunk by the river, hugged his legs and sat down, intending to see what was going on.
The oxcart slowly approached, and a man who looked less than 30 years old but had a beard on his face was lecturing a child next to him.
This child seems to be about the same age as Li Yuechen, and still has a childish look on his face.
They listened to their father's teachings with a humble attitude. Perhaps because the people in the village outside the city had been working in the fields for many years, the skin of these two people was a little tanned.
"I don't want anything else now. If I can have a good harvest and support you in your studies, and you can learn to read in the future, that would be..."
Wu Da, who was sitting on the ox cart and was giving his son a lecture, noticed that his son suddenly became absent-minded, as if he had not listened at all.
"Asshole! Didn't you hear me talking to you?"
However, the son pointed to a willow tree by the river and said, "Grandpa, look, there is a person over there!"
Wu Da looked in the direction his son pointed, and sure enough, there was a child sitting under a tree by the river.
She hugged her legs and leaned against the tree trunk, her face flushed, her eyes drooping, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep.
His entire body seemed to be soaked through, and his hair was disheveled, with only a hairpin holding it up mostly.
Some of it was in clumps, hanging down against her face, but even so, it was still obvious that she was a beauty.
Li Yuechen was now feeling dizzy, and when he saw someone stop, he grinned slightly.
Wu Da saw that the girl had fair and tender hands and feet, and she looked like a child from a wealthy family. He wondered how she could be in this remote place where there was no village or shop nearby.
The son jumped off the ox cart with a curious look on his face, came to Li Yuechen, squatted down and observed him.
Then he turned his head and said, "Master, this man is still alive!"
Wu Da walked over and said inwardly, "What a pretty girl! She looks like a porcelain doll."
But he was obviously not in good spirits, as if he was seriously ill.
"Grandpa, can we help her?" asked the son.
"Yeah." Wu Da laughed and patted his son's head, jokingly saying, "This girl is so pretty, maybe if you pick her up, she can become your wife in the future!"
Hearing his words, Li Yuechen raised her head slightly, a smile appeared on her pale lips, and she said in a hoarse voice: "Father-in-law, I am afraid you can't bear it if I am your daughter-in-law..."
Hearing her words, Wu Da frowned slightly.
He often brought animal skins to the city to sell, and had met many people from wealthy families. The little girl in front of him had the same temperament as them, and even more so.
After thinking for a while, he asked, "Who is the young lady?"
"No need to ask any more questions." Li Yuechen replied, "As long as you turn the car around now and take me into the city, I can guarantee you a life of wealth and glory!"
Hearing Li Yuechen's words, Wu Da frowned. When such a little girl said such a thing, his first reaction was that he had encountered a psychopath.
But this girl spoke clearly and logically, and she didn't sound like a crazy person. But if you think about it carefully, if she really came from a wealthy family, maybe this is an opportunity for me.
It's just a matter of walking a distance. Even if it's fake, I won't lose anything. At worst, I can take her back to be my daughter-in-law.
However, there was still some worry on his face: "The city gate is about to close, why don't I take you back to rest for a night, tomorrow..."
"It's okay. They will open the door when they see me." Li Yuechen shook his head. "Besides, I'm seriously ill now. If I die in your house tonight, you will be in big trouble."
Wu Da stood there thinking for a while, and finally nodded: "Okay!"
It’s just a matter of walking a distance, so just give it a try.
So he just turned the car around by pulling the old ox. Before his son could react, he asked, "Grandpa, what are you doing?"
"Into the city!"
Wu Da turned the car around, picked up Li Yuechen and placed him on a pile of straw at the back of the car, then sat on the frame and started driving towards Luoyang.
But ox carts are not as powerful as horse carts. At this speed, it would probably be midnight by the time we reached Luoyang City.
Li Yuechen lay on the straw, feeling sleepy, but she didn't dare to sleep. After all, she didn't know whether she could trust the father and son. She still wanted to wait until they got into the city before sleeping, so she forced herself to lean her upper body against the frame.
Seeing that the little boy was staring at her, Li Yuechen decided to talk to him to keep herself awake.
So he smiled slightly and asked, "Do you have a name?"
"My name is Wu Gouzi, what's yours?" the little boy asked curiously.
"Me? It's better if you don't know my name." Li Yuechen smiled.
This is not to put on airs, but after telling him, if it is made public and heard by official people, and the common people call the princess by her name, they may be killed directly!
