Chapter 181: To Save Prince Su, Luo

Li Qingluo stripped herself completely clean.

She kept only a white pair of briefs and a pale yellow butterfly-shaped dudou.

Li Qingluo also thought, why not just drag Prince Su outside? Since he's already burning up, tossing him into a snowdrift or stream might actually help him cool down quickly.

But she quickly dismissed that idea.

She worried that doing so would turn the Prince Su she had painstakingly saved into a completely cold and stiff corpse by morning.

So, there really was nothing else she could do.

However, before stripping herself clean, she first removed Prince Su's clothes as well.

She still left him only a pair of long trousers as a final cover.

Not for fairness, but because removing his clothes would cool him down more easily at this moment.

A fire still burned in the cave.

The firelight fell on her beautiful naked body, casting on the wall a reflection of her shapely, tall, and healthy figure.

Li Qingluo naturally felt embarrassed in her heart.

Seeing a young, strong male body for the first time, she couldn't help but feel shy, so she almost wanted to keep her eyes shut the whole time.

So she still bent over, picked up a thin garment, lightly covered herself with it, and then turned to walk outside.

She lay in the cold snowdrift, covering herself completely with snow and sand.

Even though she wasn't really afraid of the cold anymore.

But the sudden shock to her body still made her shiver uncontrollably, her teeth chattering "ge-ge-ge".

Soon she felt so cold her blood seemed to be freezing, so she painfully crawled out and hurriedly flung herself back into the cave.

Before going out again, Li Qingluo had already stepped on and extinguished the firelight.

However, in the darkness she had already confirmed her position, so she walked straight to that large boulder and quickly slipped into Prince Su's embrace while trembling.

His scalding skin gave Li Qingluo a violent jolt.

Perhaps feeling that face-to-face was too intimate, she slowly turned sideways, pressing her back against Prince Su's chest.

Gradually she felt warmer, while the skin of the person behind her finally cooled somewhat.

One time wasn't enough; seeing that this method worked, Li Qingluo quickly got up, went out, and buried herself again.

When she dove back into Prince Su's embrace, she found his body scorching hot again, just as before.

No, she had to work faster, or else if he kept burning, all her effort might still fail to save his life.

Li Qingluo, trembling and suppressing her shame, pressed her hands, feet, and head against Prince Su's body.

She strained to touch his legs, feel his face, and press herself to his neck and chest.

"Prince Su, Prince Su, I've sacrificed so much to save you—you must pull through!"

"Just consider it repayment for the many times you've saved me before."

"The time at Xia Qingguan, the incident in the Qinhuai River, and the occasion at Qishan—I remember them all."

"Ah… this time I've thrown aside all the propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame expected of a daughter. Although my reputation for purity isn't that important to me, from now on I won't be able to righteously scold Li Qingzhu for being shameless—do you know what a loss that is?"

"But if I can truly save your life, then it's all worth it."

"After this, we can consider our debts to each other settled."

Having said that, she rolled over and left the cave again.

Going back and forth like this, constantly running, cooling her body, lowering the temperature, after half an hour she really had reduced his temperature considerably.

Li Qingluo suddenly exclaimed with delight: "Great! Two more rounds like this and you should pull through this bout!"

She said that without hesitation, turned, and went out of the cave again, burying herself unreservedly in the snowdrift once more.

At daybreak, Li Qingluo woke to find herself still lying in Prince Su's arms—had she actually fallen asleep without realizing it?

She hurriedly sat up, put on her clothes, then bent low to feel his forehead.

Li Qingluo let out a heavy sigh of relief: "Great, finally back to normal."

"I just don't know whether, after burning like that all night, I'll wake up as sharp as before."

"Ah, everything can only be left to fate."

Having said that, she picked up the nearby fire again and got it going.

Then she went out to wash her face, preparing to hunt some game today to eat.

She didn't know that, the moment she left the cave, the person who had been keeping his eyes shut suddenly opened them.

Li Qingluo caught a wild chicken and brought it back.

She first killed the chicken by the river, cleaned its innards thoroughly, then brought it in and placed the whole bird on the fire to singe off the feathers.

The smell of burnt feathers instantly filled the cave, yet she seemed not to notice, continuing to pound herbs nearby, her mind undistracted as she processed the aromatics.

Only occasionally did she turn the chicken over to continue singeing the other side.

Soon the feathers were almost completely burned off, and Li Qingluo smelled the meat's fragrance.

"Wait! Don't rush—it's not yet time for you to be cooked!"

Having said that, she grabbed the chicken's head and lifted it up, about to rise and go out to wash off the char, but absentmindedly she lifted her head and glanced at where Prince Su lay.

That glance met a pair of clear, cold, wide-open eyes!!!

Li Qingluo: "Ah——!!"

She was so startled the wild chicken slipped from her hands into the fire, and without worrying about the present situation she hurriedly bent over and fished out the chicken, whose feathers she had just managed to burn off completely!

Wait, Prince Su woke up?

Did he really wake up?

Li Qingluo grabbed the chicken and lunged over, thought for a moment, then tossed the chicken aside and carefully examined Prince Su.

He really is awake!!

Li Qingluo's face was very tense: "Your Highness, do you still remember who you are?"

Duan Rongshi: "……"

"You…… cough, where is this? What day is it today?"

Li Qingluo's face then showed a smile: "Your Highness, today is already the nineteenth of the twelfth month. I, a commoner girl, am very glad to still see Your Highness awake; it's truly great!"

Li Qingluo reached out her hand, but then let it fall midway.

She even stepped back two steps before squatting down again.

She knew he had awakened, so she should quickly resume her identity as a subject.

"Your Highness, you have been unconscious for a full day. Do you know you were poisoned?"

Duan Rongshi: "I know. Li Qingluo, you saved me."

He gazed deeply at her, but Li Qingluo gave a relieved smile: "This is what a commoner girl ought to do. Your Highness, are you hungry? I'll quickly get you something to eat."

Having said that, she lingered no more, picked up the wild pheasant on the ground, and hurried out of the cave.

Duan Rongshi kept staring at her back until her figure disappeared, then he murmured softly: "Why not say…… what did you do?"

Only after leaving the cave did Li Qingluo let out a heavy sigh.

I don't know exactly when he woke up.

It certainly wasn't in the morning; at that time he clearly showed no sign of waking.

So, it must be that he woke up when I went hunting.

After feeling so certain in her heart, Li Qingluo cast aside all that had happened to Prince Su over the past two days.

Whether it was mouth-to-mouth feeding medicine, using mouth to give water, or last night using her body to lower his temperature, these matters should be completely buried in her heart, never to be known by a second person in the world.

After sighing again, Li Qingluo quickly cleaned the wild pheasant.

Then she went to pick plenty of fruit and brought them back to the cave together.

Prince Su had already sat up himself; Li Qingluo saw he had neatly dressed himself and placed her cloak neatly aside, whereupon her whole body almost froze.

"……"

"It's over."

She had stripped Prince Su down to his undergarments last night, leaving him completely naked!!

But when she woke up in the morning, she only put on clothes for herself and went hunting!!

So, when Prince Su woke up, he was still naked!!

Fortunately, only his upper body was considered naked.

But he must surely know that she had stripped him!!

Woo woo, her purity……

In Li Qingluo's heart a little figure clenched its fists and stared defiantly at the heavens, while on her face she still had to pretend to be calm.

"Your Highness, you're up? How is the wound? Does it still hurt?"

"Your Highness, this is the herbal medicine I found; I, a commoner girl, have used it since childhood, and it can help Your Highness's wound heal quickly. In order to apply the medicine to Your Highness, I offended Your Highness's noble body yesterday; please forgive my transgression."

Her words today were very close.

They carried a sense of helpless tension.

Even when she said these words, she almost dared not lift her head to look at him.

Duan Rongshi curled his lips.

"It's fine, thank…… Miss Li for saving this king's life."

Does he really not mind?

Li Qingluo hurriedly picked up the already prepared herbal medicine beside her: "Your Highness, shall we change the medicine today?"

However, Li Qingluo still first roasted the chicken, then went to change Duan Rongshi's medicine.

Duan Rongshi remained just as he had been when unconscious, making not a sound, as if the flesh wound on his back where Li Qingluo was applying medicine were fake.

After bandaging his wound, Li Qingluo hurried to turn over the roasting chicken.

Although this wild pheasant was a bit thin, fortunately Li Qingluo had roasted out all the fat, making the skin crisp and the interior tender and juicy.

Duan Rongshi received a drumstick and ended up eating a few bites.

Does it have an herbal flavor?

Indeed, it is just an ordinary roasted chicken with no seasoning, yet she managed to make it fragrant without being greasy.

After finishing the roasted pheasant, Li Qingluo handed the persimmon, which had been kept warm beside her, to Prince Su.

"Your Highness, please try? This persimmon and the dates are quite sweet."

Duan Rongshi furrowed his brows: "This king does not like overly sweet things."

Li Qingluo: "Oh."

She was about to withdraw, but Duan Rongshi suddenly grabbed her wrist.

He took the persimmon away.

Then, in front of her, he slowly took a bite.

Although his brows furrowed higher and higher, he still managed to eat the whole persimmon!

Li Qingluo turned her head away and couldn't help laughing.

She finally understood: saying one thing while meaning another is his Prince Su nature, and being aloof and noble is also his Prince Su nature!

Pfft——

After eating, Li Qingluo observed that Prince Su's lip color was still somewhat dark, but fortunately it was no longer as dark purple as yesterday.

He should have, completely come back to life, right?

Li Qingluo was truly happy; her speech became involuntarily more lively.

Your Highness, would you like to go out for a walk? The beauty of the mountains and streams outside—perhaps you have never seen it before.

Duan Rongshi followed out of the cave; after seeing the silvery-white snowy mountain scenery, his empty, deep eyes seemed to be instantly filled.

Such a pure, flawless world.

A beauty untainted by the mundane.

It feels as if one is inside a scroll as beautiful as a painting, giving one a sense of stunning wonder.

Li Qingluo formed a snowball, and taking advantage of Duan Rongshi's inattention, she threw it with a "Pa!" sound.

"Pfft—haha, Prince Su, Your Highness, let's have a snowball fight!"

She is truly extremely bold!!

She even dares to provoke the Prince Su, whom everyone in the court fears at the mere mention of his name.

Is she truly not afraid of death?

Duan Rongshi turned his head to look at her, raising his hand to gently brush off the snow on his collar.

In his eyes, an unconscious hint of danger warning shone through.

Li Qingluo knew she had caused trouble.

She was so carried away by her joy that she forgot he was both a noble prince and a demonic god who kills without blinking.

To save her life, she turned and ran.

However, a "Pa-jik!" sound.

A huge snowball flew from behind, heavily striking Li Qingluo's head, actually knocking her into a face-plant in the snow.