Chapter 213: How Dare You Endure for So Long Without Flinching
Chapter 213: Chapter 213: How Dare You Endure for So Long Without Flinching
"Anning!" Cui Mingrui swept his wife into his arms. "Anning, wake up!"
The woman in his arms kept her eyes tightly shut, unresponsive.
Meanwhile, the assassins were being rounded up. Li Yong had wanted to take one alive, but they were all dead men—suicide agents with poison hidden under their tongues. Seeing no chance to complete their mission, they bit down on the poison sacs and took their own lives.
Li Yong was a step too late to stop them and gnashed his teeth in frustration.
Turning to see what was happening, he immediately ordered the guards to fetch an Imperial Physician and bring a stretcher.
Cui Mingrui called to his wife for a long time without getting any response. His face was ashen as he reached out with a trembling hand to check if she was still breathing.
Feeling the faint wisp of air on his finger, his breath caught in his throat. He raised his reddened eyes and looked to his sister. "What happened?"
At his side, Cui Lingyao’s face was already streaked with tears. At his question, she choked out, "Something was wrong with Sister-in-law’s horse. It suddenly went wild and charged straight for me at top speed. The Shadow Guard had to cut it down..."
She gave him a brief account of what had just happened.
When he heard that his sister had used her own body to shield the two sharpest points of the rocks, Cui Mingrui’s pupils constricted. "Are you alright?"
"I’m fine..." Cui Lingyao shook her head again and again. "Don’t worry about me. Sister-in-law is hurt much worse. I..."
"Cui Lingyao!"
Her words were cut short by the man’s furious shout.
Witnessing her use her own body as a cushion to protect someone, Xie Jinbai was already beside himself with terror. He’d been suppressing it, holding it back this whole time.
But now, hearing how little she cared for her own well-being, the terror he’d been holding back finally erupted into a blazing rage.
Xie Jinbai’s eyes were blood-red as he glared at her, his teeth clenched. "You’re not made of iron! How could you possibly be fine?!"
’Her shoulder took a direct hit! How could she be fine?!’
The red in his eyes was so deep he looked as if he might weep blood. "I’m begging you. Even if you won’t think of yourself, can’t you at least think of me?!"
"Won’t you?!"
’The man before her was completely losing control.’
’Even when she’d forced him to take a concubine, he hadn’t been this... distraught.’
Cui Lingyao, stunned by his shouting, just stared at him blankly.
Her gaze was vacant.
Xie Jinbai reached out to embrace her, but then hesitated, afraid he might accidentally aggravate her wound and cause her more pain.
He was utterly at a loss.
No matter how furious, anxious, or enraged he felt, he didn’t dare to make a single rash move.
’He was afraid of hurting her.’
’Terrified.’
’Her death in Pingzhou City that day had left a deep scar on him.’
’He blamed himself for everything.’
’If only he hadn’t insisted on leaving the capital while severely injured, just to follow her to Pingzhou.’
’If only he hadn’t been so possessive and impatient, getting too close to her and allowing Liu Yue to discover her identity.’
’If only he hadn’t infused her body with his Inner Strength.’
’She wouldn’t have died!’
Just then, two guards finally brought over the stretcher.
Li Yong said, "We’ve already sent for the Imperial Physician. Let’s head back toward the training grounds. The physician should be arriving around the same time."
"Quick!" Cui Lingyao snapped out of her daze. "Get my sister-in-law back first! Let the Imperial Physician examine her."
Cui Mingrui nodded. Just as he was about to lift her onto the stretcher, he saw the eyelids of his unconscious wife suddenly twitch.
Xie Anning’s brow furrowed slightly, and she let out a soft moan.
A trickle of fresh blood seeped from her slightly parted lips.
Cui Mingrui froze, then his face lit up with joy. "Anning! Anning, you’re awake!"
"..." Xie Anning struggled to open her eyes. Seeing her frantic husband, her lips parted and closed gently.
"What are you saying?"
There were too many people in the woods, and it was too noisy for Cui Mingrui to hear clearly. He leaned in, putting his ear to her lips.
Xie Anning clutched her lower abdomen, her voice trembling. "My... stomach... it hurts..."
She had fallen from a great height and suffered internal injuries, so stomach pain was to be expected.
It was normal.
But Cui Mingrui, devoted to his wife, dared not take it lightly.
Hearing this, his gaze subconsciously shifted to his wife’s abdomen.
Xie Anning was wearing a cloak for the winter ride, and it now enveloped her slender frame completely.
Cui Mingrui raised a hand and lifted one side of the cloak.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
As if he had seen something horrific, Cui Mingrui’s gaze locked in place.
Cui Lingyao’s eyes followed his...
She clapped a hand tightly over her mouth.
Xie Anning was wearing a bright red riding outfit, but at this moment, her trouser legs were already soaked through.
’They’d been married for eight years without a single pregnancy. It couldn’t be such a coincidence...’
Like a bolt from the blue, the realization struck him. Yet, in the face of it, Cui Mingrui grew surprisingly calm.
He reached out, straightened his wife’s cloak, wrapped her up tightly, and lifted her onto the stretcher.
"It’s alright, don’t be afraid. They’re just minor injuries. I’ll take you back, and the Imperial Physician will have you better in no time."
His voice was steady, capable of giving people a great sense of security.
Especially for Xie Anning, who had just cheated death.
Hearing her husband say it was alright, she relaxed and closed her eyes.
Cui Lingyao had watched the whole thing unfold. Having seen that spreading crimson stain with her own eyes, her expression had frozen over. As the stretcher was carried away, she collapsed backward as if all her strength had deserted her.
"My sister-in-law... she..."
’An internal injury... how could it cause bleeding from... there?’
Xie Jinbai caught her securely in his arms, not saying a word.
’In his eyes, there was only the woman in his arms; there was no room for anyone or anything else.’
With Cui Mingrui and his wife gone, the woman in his arms grew much quieter. He placed a hand on her left shoulder, his touch feather-light as he probed the area. After a moment, his expression darkened.
"You have a broken bone, do you realize that?! How dare you just grit your teeth and bear it this whole time without showing a hint of pain!"
’She was usually so delicate, so afraid of pain. In bed, if he was even the slightest bit rough, she’d kick him, refusing to endure the smallest discomfort.’
’But now, she’d been standing there with a broken collarbone all this time without crying out once.’
Cui Lingyao seemed not to hear him. She stared at him blankly and asked as if begging for help, "Internal injuries, can they... be like that?"
Careful to avoid her injured shoulder, Xie Jinbai swept her up into his arms. He glanced down at her and said coolly, "Whatever the case, it has nothing to do with you. Don’t you go blaming yourself for this."
Before Cui Lingyao could speak, Li Yong happened to lead a horse over.
Xie Jinbai set her on the horse before leaping up behind her. He wrapped her in a large cloak, then took the reins in one hand. With his other arm holding her securely by the shoulder, he urged the horse back the way they came.
When she remained silent in his arms, he took a deep breath to suppress his anger. "Xie Anning chose that horse herself today. There are six lanes at the Horse Racing Ground, and she chose the very one you were on. If she’s innocent, then it was just her rotten luck, and she was fated to suffer this ordeal. You risked your life to save her; you’ve more than done your duty. But if she’s not innocent..."
"...What do you mean?"
Cui Lingyao snapped her head up, catching the flash of malice deep in his eyes.
She was stunned. "How could my sister-in-law possibly try to harm me on purpose?"
"That’s hard to say," Xie Jinbai’s voice was ice-cold. "Prince Yong and the Empress have a history. He’s a staunch member of the Empress’s faction and has done a great deal for her over the years."
Prince Yong was Princess Anning’s father.
He was also the current Your Majesty’s full-blooded younger brother.
In the past, before he and the Empress had their falling out, back when they still played the part of a loving mother and filial son, Prince Yong had indeed been very close to him.
But in the three years since the Empress was poisoned, the relationship between uncle and nephew had been fraught with tension.