3. Distance

When it was already dark, Xiangbao found the tomb.

It was pitch black and there was no moonlight. Xiangbao looked around for a long time, only to see a little light not far away, it should be the hut guarding the tomb, where Gou Jian lived.

Carrying a long skirt that was a little in the way, Xiangbao walked forward quickly.

"Your Majesty." Xiangbao knocked on the door, but no one answered the door for a long time, and she couldn't help but wonder in her heart, and she was faintly uneasy.

He had just taken a few steps back when the door suddenly opened. About a dozen men in black who looked like dead soldiers rushed out and surrounded her. Xiangbao was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood that this was a game set up by Mrs. Jun.

Before she could think about it, a man in black had already stepped forward and was about to grab her. After steasing his mind, Xiangbao said loudly: "Why did Mrs. Jun kill me?!" ”

Hearing her shout "Mrs. Jun", the man paused, seemed to be slightly stunned, and then sneered in a low voice: "You're not stupid." ”

"What did I do wrong?" Xiangbao clenched his fist.

"What's the use of leaving the city in trouble? It's better to honor our brothers......" he laughed.

Xiangbao subconsciously took a step back, feeling compassionate.

Sure enough, this poison was practiced by Gou, and now it is different from the past, after such a long period of rest and recuperation, Yue Guo can't wait to solve the problem of husband? It's just that...... Mrs. Jun is so sure that her husband will die? Is she so sure that she has no use value? She's so breathless that she wants to get rid of her as soon as possible?

Who is in the way of her existence? Why was she so desperate to be killed?

With a flickering long sword, the clothes belt broke, and the big straps on Xiangbao's body fell to the ground, and even the outer robe was cut open, revealing the white single clothes inside. A chill struck suddenly, and Xiangbao couldn't help but shrink back. Everyone laughed, and another sword stabbed at her, and Xiangbao took a step back, and the sword that was meant to pick her clothes was stabbed straight into her shoulder.

With a pain in her shoulder, Xiangbao bit her lip.

"Ah, your swordsmanship is really not good." Someone laughed and shouted.

"What are you hiding! Don't blame my sword for not having long eyes...... "The man with the sword was a little annoyed and angry, and he slammed his sword back.

Dark red blood poured out quickly, and Xiangbao raised her hand to cover her shoulder.

"I'm coming!" The other laughed and stabbed with his sword.

Xiangbao bit her lip fiercely and leaned away. Seeing that the sword was about to pierce her chest, only to hear the sound of "dang", one of the black-clothed men suddenly jumped out, drew his sword in front of Xiangbao, and opened the sword that stabbed at Xiangbao.

"What? Do you want to disobey Madame Jun's orders? The man with the sword cried out in dissatisfaction.

The man was slightly stunned and did not answer. Standing behind him, Xiangbao seemed to be able to hear the rattling of his finger bones. was in a stalemate, and suddenly someone reached out and pulled Xiangbao into his arms. Frozen suddenly, Xiangbao turned his head with a pale face, and then was stunned for a moment.

It's Fan Li.

"Dr. Fan?" The men in black also saw the man in front of them clearly.

Fan Li didn't answer, but suddenly drew his sword and stabbed straight at those black-clothed people with lightning speed.

"Doctor Fan, ......" The man's eyes widened and he collapsed on his back in disbelief. He really couldn't see it, and probably until the moment he died, he couldn't understand why Dr. Fan, whom he had always respected, would personally send him to Huangquan Road.

After a few muffled sounds, the surroundings fell silent, and only the long sword in Fan Li's hand faintly shone with a faint red blood light.

The moon didn't know when it showed its face, and the snow stopped.

Between heaven and earth, a piece of silver is covered. Xiangbao stared at his blood-spattered white robe in a daze. She had always thought he was gentle, she had never seen him kill, so resolute and unhesitating...... Even though the other party trusts him so much, he is defenseless.

Turning around, Fan Li looked at the only remaining man in black.

The man in black stood with his back to Xiangbao, the man who had just stood in front of her and blocked the deadly sword for her. He turned around slowly, and although his face was covered, Xiangbao still recognized that the person was ...... Shi Lian.

Fan Li didn't speak, just pointed the long sword in his hand at him.

Shi Lian raised his sword and cut a long bloody wound on his arm with his backhand, Xiangbao couldn't see his expression clearly, and only heard him say lightly: "The assassination mission failed, all the horses have been ambushed and died, Shi Lian was seriously injured, and desperately fled to recover his life." ”

Glancing at Xiangbao, Shi Lian threw down the blood-stained sword, raised his hand to cover the wound, and turned to leave.

Looking at Shi Lian who gradually disappeared into the darkness, Xiangbao felt a warmth on her shoulders, and when she looked down, Fan Li had already taken off her robe and wrapped it around her body.

"Are you alright?"

"Well, it's fine." Xiangbao nodded.

The red blood imprinted through Fan Li's white robe little by little, and slowly bloomed like a bright flower.

By the moonlight, Fan Li saw the large blood stains on her body, and was panicked for a while: "You are injured!" ”

Xiangbao looked down, but he didn't think that when he saw it like this, his legs immediately became weak, he opened his mouth, his body shook for a while, and he fell down.

Fan Li looked around, picked her up, and rushed into the hut guarding the tomb. Holding Xiangbao on a simple couch in the thatched hut, Fan Li carefully untied her clothes. Xiang Baose shrank and frowned slightly.

On Xiangbao's left shoulder, an extremely deep wound pierced straight into his eye, causing his internal organs to twist. There was no medicine, so Fan Li had to tear his clothes to bandage the wound simply, and then hurriedly turned around and picked up the firewood outside the house to start a fire, probably because the firewood was covered by heavy snow, a little damp, and the fire couldn't be started. Xiangbao was curled up on the couch, his forehead covered with cold sweat oozing from pain.

Finally, he gave up on making the fire and turned to hold her tight.

"Does it hurt?" His face was anxious.

Xiangbao lowered her head, cold sweat slid down from her forehead to the corners of her lips, and her face was colorless.

"It doesn't hurt much...... she murmured, trembling.

She said she didn't hurt......

Fan Li felt his heart twitch hard, and began to hurt, the pain became more and more intense, and he couldn't even breathe. If it was before, Xiangbao would definitely lie in his arms and be coquettish, even a small wound would exaggeratedly shout "it hurts", and would bargain with him because of taking medicine......

But now, with such a deep wound, she said she didn't hurt.

He reached out and hugged her in his arms, and hugged her tightly, and his hand inadvertently touched her wound, and Xiangbao shivered in pain.

As soon as she ached, his face became even more ugly than hers. It wasn't until she fell asleep in a daze that he was relieved.

For a long time......

Xiangbao suddenly woke up.

"Are you feeling better?" He softened his face and asked lightly.

"How long have I been asleep?" Xiangbao grabbed his sleeve and asked anxiously.

"It's just dawn."

"What?! Is it dawning? Xiangbao got up in a hurry, pushed him away and got up.

"Watch out for the wound." Fan Li hurriedly helped her.

"Where is the king? I want to see you. Xiangbao said urgently.

Fan Li was stunned, and his always gentle eyes were filled with inexplicable loss and sadness.

"You're hurt like this......" He reached out to touch her face, and Xiangbao turned his head sideways to dodge, his hand frozen in the air for a long time before withdrawing.

"I'm going back." Xiangbao pushed him away, "I'm going to see you." ”

He held her hand tightly and refused to let go.

Xiangbao turned around and looked at him holding her hand, the palm was very warm, it was the warmth she had once coveted. Xiangbao looked at his hand steadily, at his slightly white phalanges.

Suddenly, the door was blown open by the wind, and a cold wind poured in, blowing Xiangbao's scattered hair, Xiangbao woke up suddenly, gritted his teeth and pushed Fan Li's hand away.

Fan Li's hand was stretched out alone in the cold wind, and his dark eyes were full of incomprehensible pain. He raised his hand and plucked the hairpin on his head, on which his hair was still entwined, and the loose hair rose in the wind, half-covering his emaciated face.

He stepped forward and blocked the biting cold wind for Xiangbao. He stretched out his hand, combed his five fingers, gently combed her long hair, smoothed the raised strands, pulled them up, and slowly inserted the wooden hairpin in his hand that still wrapped around his hair into her bun.

Xiang Bao looked at his chest and let him pull her long hair, not moving.

The wooden hairpin in his hand suddenly fell to the ground, making a slightly dull subtle sound, Fan Li bent down to pick it up, lowered his head and lowered his eyes, still carefully inserting the wooden hairpin into her hair, the cold wind blew his scattered hair, and brushed on Xiangbao's face.

Xiangbao's pale face suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, and she gritted her teeth, she turned around and rushed out the door. It was very windy outside. The pace gradually slowed down, Xiangbao looked down, and saw that he was wrapped in Fan Li's white robe, and there were spots of blood on it.

"Do you know where the king is?" Behind him, Fan Li's voice sounded softly.

Xiangbao turned to look at him.

Sighing softly, he reached out and pulled up the robe on her body: "I'll accompany you to him." ”

Fan Li helped Xiangbao and found the horse he had ridden when he came in the grass in front of him. Avoiding her wounds, he carefully carried her onto the horse, carefully protected her in his arms, and Enoch took her to find Goujian.

Because of the snow, it was muddy all the way. It was already dawn, and Xiangbao's face was even more anxious.

"Here?" Standing in front of the row of low houses in front of the Wu Palace, Xiangbao was slightly stunned.

"Well, the king has been living next to the tomb of Helu, but recently the husband has just bought a batch of good horses, so he ordered the king to live here so that he can take care of the horse farm."

Fan Li stretched out his hand and knocked lightly.

"Dr. Fan? Come on in. Madame Jun's voice sounded inside.

Xiangbao was suddenly a little curious, what kind of expression would Mrs. Ruojun have when she saw that she was still alive? Push the door into the house, and the lights are lit in the house. Xiangbao looked around, and it was really broken. When I looked up, I saw Mrs. Jun, and I saw her eyes wide, looking at her in a daze, completely forgetting to maintain her bearing.

"Xiangbao?" It was Gou Jian's voice, slightly surprised.

"I've seen you." Xiangbao turned his head to look at Gou Jian, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch, and hurriedly bowed his head and saluted, pulling the wound on his shoulder, which was very painful.

"That's it, get up." Glancing at her blood-stained clothes, Gou Jian slowly spoke, "It's really weird that I look like this from you now. ”

Xiangbao stood up and saw that he was dressed in coarse linen, although he was dressed like this, he still smiled leisurely, not half uncomfortable. This person's scheming is so heavy and the city is so deep, it's really terrifying. When she looked back at Mrs. Jun again, her face had returned to normal, and she really deserved to be Mrs. Gou Jian.

"If you have anything to say, tell your lord, I'll go outside and keep guard." After Fan Li finished speaking in a low voice, he walked out of the door.

Gou Jian looked at Xiangbao with interest.

"Your Majesty." Xiangbao lowered her head, thinking about how to speak.

"Huh? Could it be that Xiangbao is interceding for her husband? Gou Jian said with a smile.

Xiangbao was startled, and then lowered his head again, not in a hurry to clear himself: "Does the gentleman know Wu Zixu?" ”

"It's a talent." Gou Jian nodded, "It's a pity that it can't be used by me." ”

"Yes, Wu Zixu is a person who would rather die than surrender, at the beginning he strongly opposed his husband's acceptance of the king's surrender, if it wasn't for the husband's decision, maybe the king would have no chance to return to the country......"

"So?" Gou Jian looked at her.

"If the husband dies, Wu Zixu will definitely set up a new master, and at that time, he will definitely take the Yue Guo sacrifice knife first."

Gou Jian still looked at her for a while, and then smiled: "In Xiangbao's opinion, what should the widow do?" ”

"This time, the husband was poisoned, and the palace was in chaos, so the king can take this opportunity to show his loyalty to the state of Wu and lay the foundation for his return to Vietnam."

"Xiangbao ......" Gou Jian suddenly spoke, his eyes burning, "You have always been good at hiding yourself, and even entering Wu was forced, today, why are you so sharp?" ”

Xiangbao's breath stagnated slightly, and his husband looked lifeless in front of him.

"People always change." After a while, she spoke slowly.

"Really?" Gou Jian's voice was faint.

Xiangbao bit her lip and exited the room.

Looking at her back as she left, Gou Jian narrowed his eyes slightly: "Madam, there are some things, you are too self-conscious." ”

"Your Majesty......" Mrs. Jun looked stunned, and stopped talking.

"Last night's battle, we lost eighteen dead soldiers, but ...... It's a good thing she's okay, otherwise Madame would have made a big mistake. ”

"Big mistake?" Mrs. Jun seemed to smile, "Could it be that the gentleman is merciful?" ”

"If she dies because of you, Fan Li will no longer be fully loyal to the widow, and ......" Gou Jian glanced at Madam Jun lightly, "Her mission in the country of Wu is not over yet." ”

"But isn't the husband already ......?"

"What she thought of, Madame didn't think of?" Gou Jian smiled lightly, "The widow is just surprised that her mind can be so meticulous." ”

"Your Majesty, that's your purpose, isn't it?" Mrs. Jun suddenly understood.

Gou Jian did not deny it.

"She can confuse her husband, but she can tie Fan Li, but the gentleman ......" After a pause, Mrs. Jun suddenly spoke faintly, "What is she to you?" ”

Gou Jian closed his eyes and was silent. Madame Jun tightened the hem of her coarse cloth skirt and bit her lip.

As soon as Xiangbao stepped out of the door, he bumped into Fan Li's incomprehensible gaze.

"Thank you." Opening his mouth, Xiangbao found that he had nothing to say but to thank him.

"Your injuries need to be medicated."

"Hmm." Xiangbao nodded.

Fan Li looked at her and frowned slightly. Xiangbao lowered his head and untied the robe on his body, gently placed it on his hand, and turned back to the palace.

Fan Li stood alone in place, watching her thin back disappear from her sight little by little, the robe in her hand still carrying her body temperature and stained with her blood.

At the gate of the palace, Xiangbao was stopped by the guards again.

"Who are you?"

Because of the change of guards, Xiangbao looked down at his embarrassed appearance, thinking about how to explain it to be more presentable.

"Mrs. Shih Tzu." Suddenly, someone said respectfully.

Xiangbao looked up, and it was Shi Lian. Only then did she remember that her husband had said that Shi Lian's surrender, after last night's incident, Xiangbao knew that he obviously did not really surrender, lurking in the Wu Palace, and he also had his own mission. It's just that...... He returned to Wu Palace so soon?

"General Shi." Seeing that it was Shi Lian, the guards guarding the door bowed their heads and saluted.

"Well, I'm here to pick up Mrs. Shih Tzu." Shi Lian was still expressionless.

"This ...... We never saw Mrs. Shih Tzu go out. The guard guarding the door frowned and looked at Xiangbao suspiciously.

It's no wonder that the blood stains on Xiangbao's body do look like they are...... Well, very suspicious.

"Last night, Madame left the palace to pray for the king's blessing, and you didn't even notice it, and this gate guard seems to be stricter." Shi Lian still had a cold face, his eyes wide open, and he completely put the blame on the poor guards.

Who prays for a blessing and comes back with a wound......

It's just that seeing Shi Lian like this, those guards looked a little panicked, and they didn't dare to make any more trouble, so they let them go.

Xiangbao secretly wondered, although Shi Lian was a general, he was just a subordinate in the end, how could he make these guards so frightened? Looking at the pale faces of those guards, it was clear that they were frightened. Xiangbao couldn't help frowning, couldn't it be that something happened in this palace that she didn't know?

"Madam, the king is sober up and wants to see Madame." Shi Lian bowed his head solemnly and said, "Please come with the minister." ”

Xiangbao nodded stunned and walked into the palace gate. Shi Lian stepped forward and draped the cloak that had been on her arm over her shoulders. Xiangbao subconsciously looked at Shi Lian's arm, and the wide-sleeved robe blocked her view. He knew that her appearance would be blocked from the palace, so he came to pick her up.

I don't know how he hurt last night's sword......

"General Shi's injured ......" hesitated slightly, and Xiangbao finally spoke.

"It's just to pay you back." He glanced at her faintly, turned his head and walked towards the palace.

Xiangbao hurriedly followed, and after a while, just when Xiangbao thought he would ignore her, he suddenly said in a low voice, "The wound is fine. ”

Xiangbao nodded stunnedly, not seeing a suspicious dark red on Shi Lian's face. As soon as he walked a few steps, he bumped into Wu Zixu head-on, he walked past Xiangbao and looked at her coldly.

Xiangbao shuddered, and felt the wound start to hurt again, and his gaze made her uncomfortable.

"Although this poisoning has nothing to do with you, you must be cautious in your words and deeds, and don't get caught by me, otherwise...... Hum. Halfway through his words, he flicked his sleeves and walked past Xiangbao without looking back......

Looking at his back as he threw his sleeves away, Xiangbao suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly looked back at Shi Lian, "The poisoner was caught?" ”

"Hmm." Shi Lian looked at Xiangbao, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he actually wanted to say something.

"Who is it? What about the antidote, have you found it? Xiangbao asked again, although she had already said everything she should say to Gou Jian, she was not sure what Gou Jian would do......

She's just gambling, a gamble without a foundation. But if the poisoner is really caught, Nafucha's life can be saved. Thinking like this, Xiangbao actually felt a sigh of relief in his heart.

"Linglong." Shi Lian turned away from looking at her again, just spit out two words in a low voice.

Exquisite? Xiangbao frowned, and even felt a little surprised, how could it be her? Suddenly remembered that day Shi Lian's assassination failed, and Linglong wanted to deal with her little means, such a woman who can only use some small schemes, really has the ability to poison her husband?

There was a wind blowing in his face, I don't know if it was an illusion, Xiangbao actually smelled a trace of fishy smell in the cold air, the smell of blood.

It's an illusion. Xiangbao quickened his pace and followed Shi Lian back to the Drunken Moon Pavilion. When I passed by the Lanyue Pavilion, I saw that the door of the Lanyue Pavilion was tightly closed, and there was a dead silence.

Shi Lian's footsteps suddenly stopped, and Xiangbao looked up in confusion, but it turned out that unconsciously, he had already walked to the door of the Drunken Moon Pavilion.

"Madam......" Ziruo stood in the door with a white face and looked at her, opened her mouth, but did not make any sound.

Seeing her like this, Xiangbao's doubts in her heart were even worse. Suddenly something dripped on her cheeks, was it melting snow? Raised his hand to wipe it gently, but what penetrated into his nose was a creepy fishy smell, Xiangbao looked down at his hand, and it was ...... It was a blinding dark red!

Blood!

Slightly dizzy, Xiangbao subconsciously took a step back, looked up at the direction where the blood fell, there was a bang in her head, her steps froze, and a stream of sour water rushed up from her throat......

Last night's snow has passed, today's weather is surprisingly good, where the sun shines, on the plaque of the Drunken Moon Pavilion, there is a head still dripping blood!

Her long, messy hair half-covered her youthful face, and there was a tuft of snow on top of her head, which was melting little by little, sliding down her messy strands. The old scar was hidden under the unkempt hair, and the round eyes were tearing, and there was still the fear and resentment of dying. The dark red blood slowly condensed at the severed neck, and then dripped along with the melting snow......

That face...... It's exquisite! Her pale face reflected dry tears in the sunlight......

With a jerk in his heart, Xiangbao bent down slightly and retched irrepressibly.

"Madame, ma'am!" Ziruo couldn't be afraid, rushed out, stretched out his hand to help her up, "Wu Xiangguo, he ......"

The stomach was empty, and the mouth was full of bitterness, and Xiangbao couldn't spit out anything. Half leaning on Ziruo, Xiangbao stood up straight and patted her hand a little weakly: "I know." ”

"Madam, how could you be hurt?" Raising her hand, Ziruo saw a large area of blood on her clothes.

Xiangbao shook his head and didn't say much: "Great King...... How's it going? ”

"Or ...... It's still like that......" lowered his head and wiped his tears, Ziruo said.

Xiangbao subconsciously looked at Shi Lian, who was still standing there looking at her without any expression.

Without looking at the nightmarish head on the plaque above his head, Xiangbao slowly walked into the Drunken Moon Pavilion with Ziruo's support. From the innocent and romantic girl who does not understand the world in Tucheng, to the complaining and resentful concubine in the Wu Palace...... She should have been able to stay in the country of Yue, stay where she is, and be the purest woman......

It's a pity that everything is empty.

As soon as he stepped into the Drunken Moon Pavilion, Xiangbao smelled a pungent smell. Frowning, suppressing the feeling of wanting to vomit, Xiangbao raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose.

"Linglong wants to poison the king...... was discovered by Wu Xiangguo. Ziruo saw her cover her nose and frowned, and said busily, "As a result, the venom was spilled, which is why it smells so bad, but I have already ordered someone to clean it." ”

"So Wu Xiangguo killed Linglong with a sword and cut off her head and hung it on the door of the Drunken Moon Pavilion?" Xiangbao said.

The pungent smell is so pungent that the husband will swallow it, unless he is stupid......

"Hmm." Ziruo responded lightly, but her face turned pale, as if she had returned to the nightmare just now.

Xiangbao watched coldly as the palace maids and maids were busy cleaning up, the dark red blood stains on the ground were still there, and the smell of blood and poison in the room were mixed together, exuding a disgusting smell.

It's no wonder that the guards at the gate of the palace were so frightened just now, but it turned out that someone had started a big killing......

Back then, Wu Zixu could be avenged by King Chuping for the destruction of the door, and put himself under the command of King Wu, and finally led Wu soldiers to attack the city, whipping the dead King of Chuping with three hundred.

Cut off the delicate head and hang it above the Drunken Moon Pavilion, in order to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys. Unfortunately, in the eyes of his old man, Xiangbao seemed to be the monkey, or a monkey who would cause trouble......

If the so-called poisoner they found was Linglong, then the antidote would be no longer to count on them.