freenovelworld Chapter 173 I won't let anything happen to you.
Chapter 173 I won't let anything happen to you.
Jiang Mian looked up in surprise: "What does Your Highness mean?"
"I wish to marry you and make you my Crown Princess."
His expression was solemn, and his words were earnest.
Jiang Wan hesitated, then said, "But His Majesty has already decided that Miss Chi will be the Crown Princess. I'm afraid this is not something Your Highness can change..."
“It was Father Emperor who decided, not me,” Ning Zhi said firmly. “As long as you agree, no one else’s opinion matters. At worst, I will no longer be the Crown Prince.”
"Your Highness, please be careful with your words!" Jiang Mian hurriedly stopped her. "This matter... this matter requires caution, after all, the Emperor's will is hard to change."
Ning Zhi looked slightly deflated: "So you... don't want to?"
"I....."
"Or is there something you're having trouble saying?"
“…” She clenched her fists, hesitant to speak.
Ning Zhi raised his hand to indicate, "You all go out first."
"Yes."
Everyone else took their leave, leaving only the two of them in the room.
Can I tell you now?
Jiang Mian took a deep breath and lowered her voice to a whisper: "Your Highness... I killed Xiao Hengzhi."
"what?!"
Ning Zhi's expression changed drastically.
The Red Slave was incredibly powerful and difficult to defeat; even though he sent many secret guards, none of them could get close to him.
How could Jiang Mian possibly handle him?
But she couldn't have just made up those words on the spot.
He asked seriously, "How did you kill him? Did you have any accomplices?"
"I was alone. He was off guard today, so I took advantage of his momentary lapse in attention and attacked him with a dagger..."
Are you sure he's dead?
"I..." Jiang Wan closed her eyes, not wanting to recall the details. She said, "I heard someone shouting that someone had died in the tower, that blood was dripping... The tower was sealed off today; it was just him and me. If anyone had died, it would have been him..."
Ning Zhi stared intently at her, still in shock.
He asked in a low voice, "Did anyone see you make the move?"
Jiang Mian shook her head: "No one should have seen it, but many people know that I was with the Prince today, and they will probably suspect me immediately. Perhaps the Empress Dowager will summon me to the palace for questioning tomorrow. I don't want to implicate His Highness."
"Don't be afraid, leave this to me."
He lowered his eyes in deep thought, his brows furrowed.
"You must not stay in the capital. Tomorrow I will take you away to the border region. Would you like to come with me?"
Jiang Mian's eyes suddenly reddened.
Just like in her previous life, no matter how much trouble she caused, Ning Zhi would always stand in front of her and say, "Leave it to him."
It's as if even if the sky were to fall, he would be there to hold it up.
Hot tears welled up unexpectedly and slid down her cold cheeks.
She hurriedly lowered her head to wipe it, but he held her hand tightly.
"Trust me, I won't let anything happen to you."
Jiang Mian nodded, but her tears flowed even more fiercely.
It was resentment, fear, and the lingering shock of killing someone.
It was also a kind of heavy emptiness that even she herself was unwilling to face.
Ning Zhi let her cry.
My gaze drifted out the window to the swirling snowflakes.
Once she's tired of crying, take her to the next room to rest.
Ning Zhi closed the door, his brows furrowed, and stood under the eaves, feeling the cold wind.
"Lu Fang."
"My subordinate is here."
"The case in Chuizhou cannot be delayed; we will depart as planned tomorrow."
"Yes." Lu Fang paused. "Then, Miss Jiang..."
"Find two female guards to take care of you along the way, and make sure nothing goes wrong."
Lu Fang frowned: "Your Highness, are you really going to take Miss Jiang with you?"
"Did you hear everything?"
Lu Fang bowed his head: "I was guarding the door without any intention. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Ning Zhi glanced at him and said, "Never mind, I know what I'm doing."
Lu Fang added, "But plotting to murder the Prince of Beiqin is a heinous crime, and the Empress Dowager will certainly not let it go. If Your Highness takes her along, you might get involved."
"..."
Ning Zhi remained silent, letting the snowflakes patter against her hands and melt quickly.
He didn't care about any entanglements.
This problem wasn't enough to bother him.
What he cared about was that Xiao Hengzhi was dead.
"...He actually...died..."
He repeated slowly, his fingertips lightly tracing the damp spot.
After the initial shock, I felt a bit relieved.
"Go and have someone keep a close eye on the Prince of Beiqin's residence and the Empress Dowager's side. Report any unusual activity immediately."
Lu Fang hesitated for a moment, then finally bowed deeply and said, "Your Highness... please rest early as well."
Having said that, he quietly retreated into the darkness.
Ning Zhi stood alone by the window, looking towards the tower, letting the cold wind brush against her face.
Xiao Hengzhi is dead.
One of his greatest threats disappeared in such a sudden and unexpected way.
Although Jiang Mian didn't elaborate, he could roughly guess what she meant.
The word "love" could actually cause such a person to perish.
But that person was Xiao Hengzhi.
If it were someone else, he probably wouldn't have thought much of it.
But that person was someone even the Red Slaves feared.
Did it really just disappear like that?
As he was pondering, a muffled thud suddenly came from the next room, like a heavy object falling, followed by the crisp sound of porcelain shattering.
Ning Zhi's expression hardened, and he immediately turned around and pushed open the door to enter.
Inside the room, Jiang Mian curled up on the bed and knocked over a teacup.
She held her head in her hands, her face ashen, her whole body trembling, and painful gasps escaped her throat.
"Miss Jiang!" Ning Zhi quickly stepped forward to help her up. "What happened?!"
"It hurts...it hurts so much..."
"Where does it hurt?" Ning Zhi asked anxiously.
“…medicine…” Jiang Mian squeezed out a word through gritted teeth, then suddenly turned her head and spat out a mouthful of dark red blood.
Ning Zhi's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately shouted in a low voice, "Lu Fang! Call a doctor! Quickly!"
The accompanying doctor was quickly brought in and was shocked to see the pool of blood on the ground and the state of Jiang's body.
While taking the pulse, the doctor's brows furrowed more and more, and his expression changed unpredictably.
"How is she?" Ning Zhi stood by the bedside, holding Jiang Mian's other cold hand, his voice tense.
“Your Highness…this young lady’s pulse is extremely strange, as if an extremely yin poison has penetrated deep into her lungs and internal organs, but it has been forcibly countered and neutralized by a blazing energy…the two are fighting each other, hence the symptoms of vomiting blood, high fever, and severe pain in her meridians.”
The doctor carefully chose his words: "May I ask what kind of medicine Miss Jiang is taking? Its effects are so strong and potent that I have never heard of it in my many years of medical practice."
Jiang Mian kept her eyes tightly closed and weakly shook her head: "I don't know what it is either."
She hadn't yet figured out how to tell Ning Zhi about the Spring Bitterness Powder.
Ning Zhi stared at her pale face, his mind filled with doubts.