Chapter 386

Chapter 386: She Also Knows She’s Hated

That’s right-Yu Zhi Yi did not take Du Zi Heng with her.

To her, he was worse than a stranger. She was in a hurry. She wouldn’t bother with something thankless. Besides, she was disgusted with him and didn’t want to waste time or effort. Mount Ming was safe now. When he woke up, he could go down the mountain by himself. At most, after she reached the Capital City, she would send word to Chancellor Du and his wife so they could come fetch their son. That would be kindness enough.

When Du Zi Heng woke, he felt dazed.

He had been reborn.

But the point in time he returned to was terrible.

In his last life, he was skilled in both civil and martial arts. With a good family, good looks, and good character, he had been the idol of the Capital City-the very model of a winner in life. After he married, his luck grew even clearer. His wife, Yu Zhi Yi, was intelligent and beautiful, gentle and generous, and strong in Mystic Arts. At eighteen, he fell for her at first sight and proposed marriage, even though she was only the adopted daughter at the Ministry of Revenue Minister’s Manor. After they wed, they were in harmony and very much in love. She had high talent in Mystic Arts and helped him through many crises. He respected her, felt grateful to her, and he loved her.

Later, he took his father’s place as chancellor-son following father. A few years after, Chancellor Du and the emperor died one after the other. He helped a young emperor ascend the throne. With threats at the Imperial Court inside and out, he and his wife held the realm of the Great Sheng Empire together.

He died of old age. His wife, being of the Mystic Sect, did not show her years. He didn’t know what came after. He only opened his eyes-and he was back.

But what had he been doing in this life before his rebirth? How could he have been such a fool? He had fallen for another woman? And a woman whose bad intentions anyone could see? He suspected someone had cursed him. Otherwise, he would never have acted so brainless.

“Yi’er!” he cried.

Remembering that Yu Zhi Yi needed to return to the capital to report, Du Zi Heng ran outside to chase her. The sun blazed high already. The steward said Second Miss had left about an hour earlier. Du Zi Heng covered his face. In this life, Yi’er seemed to hate him.

He was only down for a moment, then he picked himself back up. They had been a loving couple before. He believed she would fall in love with him again. Their bond had been that strong. For him, she had even given up the chance to become an immortal.

Yu Zhi Yi suddenly sneezed.

Xiao Qing Xuan tensed, asking: “Did you catch a cold?”

Her child had stayed up in the middle of the night to set an array down the mountain. After learning that, Xiao Qing Xuan’s heart had been tight with worry, afraid her daughter would get a fever.

Yu Zhi Yi pinched her fingers to divine and said: “Don’t worry, Mother. I’m not sick.”

Xiao Qing Xuan had just begun to relax when her daughter added, lightly: “Someone’s probably cursing me.”

“?”

Xiao Qing Xuan huffed, saying: “Who could be so awful? My Jin’er is so good-why would anyone scold her?”

Yu Zhi Yi smiled, saying: “I’m not a coin. I can’t make everyone like me.” Besides, there were two people right behind them who already hated her.

Because they had to hurry, Yu Zhi Yi didn’t take a carriage. Except for Li Rou, everyone in their group could ride. Even Li Rou, after hearing they would ride on the return trip, asked for leave to practice. As for who taught her-Yu Zhi Yi saw but said nothing. She didn’t like to meddle in other people’s feelings.

Riding had one drawback: they also had to bring two prisoners. The biggest problem was Gao Wen Feng. He couldn’t die, and they couldn’t abandon him. How to carry him back to the capital?

Jiang Liu Yi heard his sister’s worry and offered a plan: stage an assassination on the way down the mountain, then pretend someone got badly hurt.

Then they could openly bring the “unconscious” Gao Wen Feng along. For people of the Martial World, fighting, getting hurt, and blacking out is common. Being carried while unconscious is normal.

The staged attack was very realistic. Chen Ruo Lan and her daughter turned pale with fright. But both were sly as eels. After a heartbeat of panic, they traded a look and decided to use the chaos to escape. They didn’t care that their hands were still tied and their feet still shackled-while others fought, they spun around and ran.

That was also part of Yu Zhi Yi’s plan. If those two didn’t run, it would be hard to swap people. They were too sharp; if they spotted even a hint, the whole plan would fail.

Because their escape had been expected, they did not get far. After only a few hundred meters, Tang Ming Xuan dropped from above and carried them back like chickens.

By then, the bodyguard used as a decoy had slipped away, and Gao Wen Feng, dressed in a bodyguard’s uniform, had taken his place.

They rested where they were and counted the wounded. To make the attack look real, the twenty Martial Alliance bodyguards had all taken some injuries. Tang Ming Xuan and the inner guards, who had stayed close to protect Yu Zhi Yi and her mother, were mostly unharmed.

Even with their eight hundred schemes, the mother and daughter saw nothing wrong. Before they ran, they had watched the Guard Corps deploy against the “assassins.” With that kind of lineup-and a clear win-it wasn’t strange that the inner defenders were unhurt.

The only thing they found odd was this: why would Yu Zhi Yi still bring an injured man on the road?

Soon, they heard Yu Zhi Yi answer it herself: “I must return to the Capital City within two days and have no time to settle him somewhere to rest. Bai Zhi Yuan, please carry him along.”

Bai Zhi Yuan was captain of Team One of the Martial Alliance bodyguards, a well-known name in the Martial World. Years ago, enemies hunted him and nearly killed him; Jiang Yu Chuan happened to pass by and saved his life. After that, Bai Zhi Yuan joined the Martial Alliance to repay that debt. Other Guard Corps members might have signed on for money or a future, but he joined for gratitude. Loving what his benefactor loved, he treated everyone Jiang Yu Chuan valued with special respect.

To Chen Ruo Lan and her daughter, Yu Zhi Yi looked fake. She kept boasting about being fair and kind, yet she wouldn’t let an injured man stay and rest. Clearly she knew people hated her and didn’t dare let anyone leave her side. To protect herself, she’d ignore a badly hurt man’s life.

“Ptui.”