Chapter 281: Volume 1, Chapter 281: Empress x Courtesan (11)

He hadn't finished speaking when Jiang Zhi angrily interrupted, "If it weren't for the Xu family… Xu Congshu (Xu Rui's mother), I… I would definitely have killed him and Leng Qianyan!"

Her words, spoken syllable by syllable, were unsteady in breath from fury, incoherent.

A chill rose in Yan Yao's eyes as he grasped her icy fingers, saying, "No need to be angry, A Zhi."

Jiang Zhi shook her head, shook off his hand, and continued walking: "Yan Yao, I'm tired, you go back to the mansion."

Being cuckolded—what's the point of a male side character joining the fun?

Yan Yao paused for a long while before finally responding with a soft "yes."

After seeing him leave, Jiang Zhi hurried forward.

After changing back into guard uniform, she ordered her trusted eunuchs to handle various matters, then immediately went to her residence.

She heard the alert tone of the God Pillar System.

【3.】

【2.】

At the second the count reached one, she hurried into the room, quickly shut the door, collapsed onto the floor, and her body suddenly grew cold.

As if she were in an ice cellar, the cold breath invaded her flesh, as if it would freeze her viscera.

This wasn't a real sensation but a mental punishment inflicted by the God Pillar System.

Wen Ci, who had just awakened on the cot, heard the movement, blankly looked at the guard lying on the floor, hesitated a moment, endured the pain in his back and got out of bed, not daring to get too close, and probed:

"You… what's wrong?"

Jiang Zhi, unconscious from the cold, twitched her lips and spoke haltingly.

"Cold… cold…"

Seeing this, Wen Ci lit the charcoal fire in the room, hesitated a moment, then still helped her to the side of the fire.

Just as he was about to let go, the guard shouting cold suddenly wrapped both arms around his waist, tightly burying herself in his embrace, her body continually trembling, obviously freezing to the extreme.

The body he touched wasn't icy, its temperature normal, but the guard's expression and demeanor showed she wasn't joking.

Wen Ci let her hold him as he sat on the blanket.

Not knowing how to comfort others, he could only imitate others like a parrot, raising his hand to gently pat her back.

Jiang Zhi was frozen alive for three hours, then directly fainted from the cold.

When she woke, it was already late at night.

Outside the window the sky was dim and gloomy, as if about to rain.

The faint light allowed her to barely make out the situation beside her.

The boy held her body, curled up on the floor and fell asleep.

Jiang Zhi smiled with relief.

The punishment she endured for venting her anger on him didn't seem to be in vain.

She carefully removed his arm, then immediately lifted him onto the bed.

After extinguishing the room's charcoal fire, she stretched, wanting to sleep another round.

Lying down lightly beside the boy, just as she was about to pull the blanket over herself to sleep, in the darkness she met his eyes suddenly snapping open.

Wen Ci, whose second personality had taken over, reacted swiftly, lifting his foot to kick her down.

Clang.

She fell straight down, seeing stars.

Wen Ci's face expressionless, he looked at the guard on the ground and said coldly, "What are you intending?"

Jiang Zhi sat up straight, rubbed her sore buttocks, and snapped, "Just sleeping."

Wen Ci belatedly realized this was her residence, and the mattress beneath him was also her bed.

Seeing Wen Ci still silent, Jiang Zhi thought he felt guilty, she propped herself up and said, "You were just awakened and frightened by me; I don't blame you."

Wen Ci shifted his body, intending to get off the bed and leave.

Jiang Zhi saw this and stopped him: "Your body is still not fit to get out of bed and move."

The hand extended before him was slapped open with a "pa."

The force was strong; soon a red mark appeared on the back of her hand, the culprit showing no remorse: "Don't touch me."

Jiang Zhi swallowed her anger, withdrew her hand, and stopped bothering him.

Sure enough, the boy hadn't taken two steps before collapsing to the ground, his back wound tearing open, blood seeping through and staining his collar.

"I told you, you still can't get out of bed and move,"

Jiang Zhi didn't go forward to help him; instead she walked to the table, poured herself a cup of water, and soothed her dry throat from the night.

Wen Ci wanted to crawl out of the room, but his limbs lacked strength from blood loss, he panted heavily, staring fixedly at the direction of the door.

Jiang Zhi asked, "Where do you want to go?"

Wen Ci remained silent, completely unwilling to engage with her.

Jiang Zhi wasn't annoyed either: "The place I guard every day is far from the inner palace."

Wen Ci heard the words and glanced sideways at her.

Jiang Zhi shrugged and continued: "A consort in the inner palace has gone missing; His Majesty sent people to search everywhere—I suspect that person is you."

Wen Ci's voice hoarse: "Why… why don't you hand me over?"

Jiang Zhi thought and said: "You're seriously injured; although I don't know where you got the wound, your top priority now is to heal. Since I saved you, I won't just leave you be."

Wen Ci didn't believe her explanation.

In this world everyone has ulterior motives; she knows he is a consort in the inner palace, and the Empress is searching everywhere for his trace— a guard would not risk deadly danger for a stranger.

"What's your scheme?" he asked bluntly.

Jiang Zhi was not surprised.

The villain was naturally suspicious and deep-minded; a guard saving him for no reason, even unafraid of death, was utterly impossible.

She stirred the teacup at the table's edge and said, "I heard you are Your Majesty's most beloved consort; after your wound heals and you leave, could you save someone for me?"

Wen Ci asked, "Who?"

Jiang Zhi lowered her brows, sincerely fabricating a story: "He is my brother; imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison for some matter, I hope you can rescue him."

Wen Ci asked an important point: "How can you be sure that after my wound heals and I leave, I will save your brother?"

He narrowed his eyes, his dark pupils flashing an unfathomable light, "Moreover, if I safely return to the harem, how could Your Majesty not suspect me? If it is discovered that I have stayed here, even sharing a room with you, Your Majesty will not let me go, and your fate will also be death."

Jiang Zhi was at a loss for words.

The villain's logic was too sound; disguising as a guard to save him already had many loopholes, the first personality was easily fooled, but if the second personality said even a sentence poorly, he would not trust her.

"Whether you believe me or not, I've said my piece." She simply gave up.

Wen Ci carefully observed her behavior and actions, hoping to discern something.

Now he quite suspected whether she was really a guard.

In disguising as a guard, Jiang Zhi was very talented; she had once worked as a guard in the cannon fodder world, so her every move conformed to guard standards.

The villain could see nothing.

Jiang Zhi walked up to him and said, "Your wound needs changing medicine."

The wound that had finally stopped bleeding had split open again; the boy was truly not at all reassuring.

Seeing he offered no resistance, Jiang Zhi lifted him onto the bed, then took out the ointment and placed it beside the bed, reaching to undo his clothing.

Wen Ci's pupils froze; he gritted his teeth, "I... I will change it myself."

Seeing his stubborn expression, Jiang Zhi felt helpless, sincerely hoping that at this moment the first personality occupied the body.

"You can't move at all; how can you change the medicine?"

After saying that, she disregarded his wishes and opened his thin clothing; in her view, a expanse of snow-colored skin revealed two ferocious knife wounds.

In his peripheral vision, the boy's ears turned red, he clenched his teeth, enduring with great effort.

Tsundere and cute.