Chapter 33: Beauty Trap

Shen Yu looked at the tall and straight back of Xie Tingzhou walking in front of her, and suddenly a light bulb flashed in her mind.

"Your Highness," she quickened her pace and walked side by side with Xie Tingzhou, "In our team returning to Beijing--"

The voice stopped abruptly, because Xie Tingzhou suddenly coughed, and a trace of blood came out of his lips.

Xie Tingzhou raised his hand to wipe the corner of his lips, and glanced at her sideways, "Are you afraid that I will die on the road?"

The blood on his lips made his pale face very gorgeous, with a kind of broken beauty.

Shen Yu believed that he could embrace the moon, and when he grew up like this, the moon would embrace him by itself.

"Afraid," Shen Yu stared at him and said seriously: "I'm afraid that no one can make the defeat of Yanliang Pass known to the world."

This was the case in the previous life. Everyone thought that it was Shen Zhongan who was greedy for merit and reckless and harmed 100,000 soldiers and the people of Ganzhou.

Although she herself did not believe such words, she was far away in Shengjing and had no idea what happened at the border at that time. She could only marry and die in a daze.

Xie Tingzhou's lips curled up a terrifying smile. He slowly approached, his eyes close, "Then don't let me die."

Before Shen Yu understood the meaning of this sentence, the body suddenly fell towards her.

She hurriedly supported him, and when she touched him, she felt Xie Tingzhou's whole body was hot, and she was almost crushed to the ground by his weight.

Turning her head, she saw a pale cheek lying on her shoulder, his eyes closed, and his breathing was burning.

Shen Yu sighed.

Was this man just trying to use a beauty trick on her? In order to prevent herself from leaving him when he fainted?

I'm afraid that the person who least wanted him to die was herself, because she was still waiting for him to clear the grievances of his father and brother in the previous life.

Fortunately, she had practiced martial arts since she was a child, and her strength was much greater than that of ordinary women.

But after walking in the snow with Xie Tingzhou on her back for so long, she was almost unable to hold on.

Her legs were numb from the cold, and she could only swing them by feeling. She stepped on an uneven spot, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground with Xie Tingzhou.

Once the strength was removed, it would be difficult to lift him up again.

She pulled Xie Tingzhou's arm around her shoulders, and tried several times but failed to carry him.

Fortunately, they were in the wild, and there was nothing else but grass and trees. She cut a few pieces of wood with her knife, and then tore the hem of her clothes into strips to make a stretcher, dragging him forward in the snow.

She didn't dare to walk along the river, fearing that the assassins would come downstream, so she could only walk in one direction.

After an unknown amount of time, the sky gradually brightened.

A cock crowed in the wind.

It was a small village with a few farmhouses. Shen Yu hid the knife in the stretcher and dragged Xie Tingzhou to knock on the door.

The owner of the house was an old man. After hearing about their experience, he kindly let the people in.

Shen Yu didn't tell the truth, of course. She only said that the two brothers encountered a group of bandits on their way to Beijing to look for their relatives. In a hurry, they jumped into the water to avoid them, but were washed downstream and walked all night to get here.

The farmhouse only had three small houses and a kitchen.

The old man arranged the two of them in one of the rooms and found two sets of his own clothes.

Shen Yu put Xie Tingzhou on a simple wooden bed with hay on the board and a thin mattress on top.

Xie Tingzhou's clothes had long been steamed dry by his heat, and then soaked by sweat.

Shen Yu grew up in a military camp since she was a child. She had slept in the sweaty and smelly bunk beds in the tent. The idea that men and women were different was all bullshit in the face of life and death.

Xie Tingzhou was almost stripped naked by her. When she took off the last layer of underwear, she felt a little resistance.

Turning Xie Tingzhou over, Shen Yu took a breath.

It was too dark to see clearly before, but now I found that the clothes on his back had been stuck to the coagulated flesh and blood.

There was a thin layer of muscle attached to his back, and the muscles were tight and smooth.

There was only a bloody wound that destroyed this beauty, and there were some bruises on his back, like... like he hit a sharp stone in the water.

This man was really patient. He was injured like this, but how could he keep his face calm? He only said to her at the last moment, "Then don't let me die."

The conditions in the farmhouse were simple, and the wound could only be bandaged simply.

Shen Yu slept and woke up from time to time. Every time she woke up, she touched Xie Tingzhou's forehead until his fever subsided and she let herself fall asleep.

As dusk fell, Xie Tingzhou gradually woke up from his coma.

The evening glow penetrated the crack in the door and hit his face.

He opened his eyes and stared at the beams on the roof, and his thoughts gradually came back.

He pulled the quilt covering him, and when he was about to get up, he realized that something was wrong.

As soon as he moved, a soft body pressed against him.

The quilt slipped off, revealing a colorful face with black and white spots on it, sleeping soundly next to him.

Xie Tingzhou froze. This was the first time he slept on the same bed with a man.

But this man...

He lowered his head and took a closer look.

This man was actually good-looking, with eyelashes as dense as crow feathers and delicate features, but this skin color...

Just as he was thinking, the man opened his eyes.

Shen Yu was confused when she woke up, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Xie Tingzhou's face close to her.

There was only a narrow wooden bed in the room, and she was so sleepy that she had to squeeze in with him to sleep.

She blinked and suddenly got up from the bed.

Xie Tingzhou's nose suddenly hurt, and he hit it with his head, and the pain made him sober up.

"Sorry." Shen Yu looked at Xie Tingzhou, who was holding his nose with a face full of resentment, and said guiltily: "Are you feeling better?"

Xie Tingzhou closed his eyes with a rage, not wanting to answer her.

He now understood that he and Shi Yu were simply incompatible. First he fell into the water, and then she cut him with a knife. Now his nose bridge might not be saved.

"Where is this?"

Shen Yu got out of bed to pour him some water, and answered honestly, "A farmer's family, grandpa took us in."

Xie Tingzhou said: "We just met and we are already related?"

Shen Yu handed him the water and whispered, "That's because I am likable."

Xie Tingzhou: "..." No.

There was a dog barking outside the house.

Shen Yu ran over to open the door, and stood at the door to see the old man coming back in the sunset, holding two wild ducks in his hands.

"Grandpa, you're back."

The old man smiled when he saw her, "Wake up, Xiaoyu, I shot two ducks, and I'll give them to your brother to nourish him tonight."

Shen Yu smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Grandpa."

She was about to run to help, but then she remembered that there was an ancestor in the house.

She turned around and saw Xie Tingzhou looking at her, with his hand holding the bowl on his knees, and one hand supporting the bed board and sitting lazily. The ridiculously simple farmhouse made him look like a paradise.

"Brother?" Xie Tingzhou raised his eyebrows.

Shen Yu said, "It's a helpless move, otherwise it's hard to explain."

"I'm fine," Xie Tingzhou turned the bowl in his hand and said, "It's just that my brother and younger brother didn't have a good ending, because,"

He looked at Shi Yu, "They all died, and those who didn't die were disabled."

Shen Yu had heard some rumors that the prince of Beilin had few descendants. He originally had four sons, and Xie Tingzhou was the only one left after they died.

It was claimed to the outside world that it was either an accident or death due to illness, but Shen Yu knew that there was probably something wrong here.

Ordinary families with a few acres of land or three or two storefronts would still fight for their property, not to mention the royal family like Xie Tingzhou.

Take the current Emperor Tongxu for example, the princes have more than ten sons, but only six or seven are alive now.

But this is not what Shen Yu cares about.

She calmly pointed to the clothes on the bed, "You are too tall to wear grandpa's clothes. I dried your underwear. The torn part is... I sewed it for you. You can only make do with it for now."

"I'll go help." Shen Yu turned and left.

"Wait." Xie Tingzhou said.

"Hmm?"

"Wash your face."

Shen Yu's body stiffened. Could he have found out?

Subconsciously, she wanted to explain, "I was always called sissy in the army and didn't look heroic enough, so..."

"Not heroic enough, just paint your face black?" Xie Tingzhou looked him up and down, "Eat more and grow taller."

Shen Yu: "..."