Chapter 204 Don’t believe it
Jiang Li stared at his hands in a daze.

The jade pendant was intact, and the moonlight shone through the window, illuminating his hand and making it appear white and glossy. It was as if the raccoon cat was coming to life, and he was as beautiful and charming as if he had walked out of the dark world, holding the bewitching token in his hand and handing it to her.

"This..." Jiang Li looked at him in disbelief.

"You dropped this during the day." Ji Heng leaned back and said nonchalantly, "I forgot to return it to you." Seeing that Jiang Li was reluctant to reach out to take it, he put the jade pendant on the table himself.

Jiang Li slowly held the jade pendant in her palm, feeling happy to have found it again, but also a little confused. But her doubts were soon drowned out by the smell of blood coming from Ji Heng's body. He was wearing red clothes, and nothing could be seen under the moonlight, so she didn't know whether it was someone else's blood or his own.

He didn't answer Jiang Li's question just now, so Jiang Li didn't know where he went or what he did. The only thing she could ask was: "Are you injured?"

Ji Heng smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Li took out the scissors from her sleeve and placed them on the table. She was like a child who had done something wrong. She was a little nervous, but more of a hope to make amends. She said, "... Later I saw blood on the scissors. I clearly stabbed that person before... I stabbed you, right... you..."

Ji Heng looked at her with a smile and said, "You still don't believe me, Ahri."

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment, and in just a moment, she understood what Ji Heng meant.

Ji Heng was right beside her at the time. She knew in her heart that Ji Heng would take action, but she still took out the scissors at that moment. She did not expose all her weaknesses to Ji Heng, leaving herself a way out. She still did not completely trust Ji Heng, even though she had some feelings for him.

Ji Heng saw all of this.

She said, "I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault," Ji Heng interrupted her, raising his eyebrows and saying, "After all, you died once."

Jiang Li was silent. Ji Heng thought that after being hurt by Shen Yurong, she was unwilling to trust others easily, and this was to help her out, but Jiang Li knew that in addition to Shen Yurong, she also distrusted Ji Heng herself. It might be that Ji Heng's image in front of her at the beginning was unfathomable, and she was very careful in weighing the pros and cons. Even in the later interactions, she gradually understood that Ji Heng was not that kind of person. When she was in danger, even if Ji Heng was in front of her, she would instinctively protect herself.

If Ji Heng was a very sensitive person, he would be disappointed by this matter. If Ji Heng was not a sensitive person... he was not a fool and would naturally understand.

Jiang Li felt a little depressed, but she still cheered up, forced a smile, and said: "So, are you injured? If..."

"No." Ji Heng stood up: "I'm fine, you should go to bed early." He was about to walk out of the house.

"Where do you sleep like this?" Jiang Li asked.

"Don't worry about me." He just said this and walked out.

Jiang Li wanted to follow him out, but she couldn't move. After a long time, the moonlight disappeared into the clouds, and the room was completely dark. There was a slight movement outside, as if someone was talking, probably Zhao Ke and Wen Ji. She sat on the bed, covered with thin bedding, and her heart was blank.

This might be a good thing for her. If Ji Heng thought that she was such a selfish and untrustworthy person, the connection between them would be slowly cut off.

In the end, people's wishes came true.

……

Outside the house, Zhao Ke lit a tinderbox, and Wen Ji found some clean water and was cleaning the wound of Ji Heng who was sitting on a stone bench.

His sleeves were lifted, revealing the scars on his arms. The scars seemed to be cut by some sharp object, and the wounds were not long, but they were quite deep. Wen Ji slowly cleaned them for him. Zhao Ke found a palm-sized medicine bottle from his bag. Wen Ji took it and sprinkled some medicine powder on Ji Heng's wounds.

Ji Heng didn't move at all, and had no expression, as if she didn't feel any pain at all. Zhao Ke asked, "Sir, were you injured in a fight outside?"

He didn't know that Ji Heng's wound was not caused by a fight, but by Jiang Li's accidental injury. The wound looked a little strange. The shape of the wound didn't look like a sword or a hidden weapon. It looked random, as if someone without martial arts skills had done it randomly. But the blow was heavy, but if a man had used all his strength, he wouldn't have stopped at this point. Could it be that the one who fought with his master was a woman? Zhao Ke was thinking wildly in his heart, there wouldn't be any women in King Cheng's army. But if it wasn't King Cheng's army, what other enemies were there nearby?
Wen Ji helped Ji Heng bandage the wound. He was very skilled at it. Although he was a tall man, he was very meticulous in his work. Ji Heng took off his outer robe. Even though the red color didn't show the blood stains, there were some marks on it. If you look closely, you can still see them.

"Sir..." Wen Ji asked hesitantly, "Why do you want to go back?"

Wen Renyao and Lu Ji could not feel it, but Zhao Ke and Ji Heng could feel that Ji Heng suddenly left the carriage and turned back in the daytime, and the direction he returned was exactly the direction they came from.

Zhao Ke was shocked. He was also curious, but he didn't dare to ask. Wen Ji was the brave one who dared to ask. Ji Heng didn't answer Wen Ji's words. He just looked at the wound on his hand, which was bandaged by Wen Ji. He said, "Do your own thing."

He stopped smiling. Wen Ji and Zhao Ke were both shocked, knowing that Ji Heng was unhappy, so they said nothing and went back to the bedding area at the door to keep watch.

Ji Heng sat on the stone bench with a deep look in his eyes.

He did something he shouldn't have done.

……

The next day, when Jiang Li got up, Wen Renyao was talking to Ji Heng outside.

When Lu Ji and Wen Renyao woke up, they were surprised to find Ji Heng there. After confirming that Ji Heng was safe and sound, they pestered Ji Heng and asked what she had done yesterday. Ji Heng, of course, did not answer. After several rounds of fussing, Wen Renyao calmed down.

Jiang Li greeted Lu Ji, Wen Renyao, and Ji Heng. They all kept silent, as if nothing had happened last night. Everyone was busy getting on the carriage, and Jiang Li was even more silent than before. If Wen Renyao hadn't been constantly trying to find something to say to her, Jiang Li wouldn't have said a word the whole way. Wen Renyao saw this silence, and even Lu Ji asked Jiang Li what happened out of concern.

Jiang Li had no choice but to evade her father's question by saying that she was thinking about how to deal with her father's question after returning to Yanjing.

"What's so difficult about this?" Wen Renyao said, "Just put all the blame on us. You were abducted to Huangzhou by King Cheng's men, and were rescued by Ah Heng. You asked to return to Yanjing, but Ah Heng was too busy and had no time to find someone to escort you back to Beijing, so you had no choice but to wait until now. Even if Jiang Yuanfu wanted to say something, it has nothing to do with you. Let him go to the Duke's Mansion to find Ah Heng and let Ah Heng talk to him." Jiang Li: "..."

Wen Renyao really knows the principle of diverting trouble away.

"I wonder how Yanjing is doing now." Lu Ji sighed.

"What is Yanjing City like?" Lin Yao asked, "Brother, is there a lot of people in Yanjing City?"

"Of course." Wen Renyao said, "Yanjing City is much bigger than Huangzhou, and the emperor lives in Yanjing City. The girls there are also very pretty. For example, your sister Jiang is a girl from Yanjing City. Do you think the girls in Yanjing City are pretty?"

Lin Yao was still young, and probably couldn't tell whether it looked good or not when Wen Renyao said that. He was just excited and a little nervous. He said, "So we're going to stay in Yanjing City from now on?"

"Uh..." Wen Renyao choked. He heard that he often traveled around, just like Ye Mingyu. He had no way to respond to Lin Yao's words, so he could only say: "Let's stay there for the time being. I'll take you out more often in the future. In fact, Yanjing City is not that good..."

He sometimes said yes and sometimes said no, which made Lin Yao confused. Jiang Li watched Wen Renyao talking nonsense, and suddenly thought of something, so she asked: "If we are on our current route, King Cheng's troops are faster than ours. When we arrive in Yanjing City, will we encounter King Cheng's men outside the city? Or when we just enter the city, we will meet King Cheng's people. At that time, there will be chaos, and I am afraid that the city gate will not be opened. How can we enter the city?"

Ji Heng did not answer, but Lu Ji spoke up. Lu Ji patiently explained, "Miss Jiang Er, the path we are taking is closer than the other one. Besides, we are in a hurry, so we will arrive in Yanjing City earlier than King Cheng's troops. As for the city gate, you don't have to worry about it."

Jiang Li felt relieved after hearing this.

After that, just as Lu Ji said, the journey was smooth. After walking out of the most difficult mountain road, even on the small trails, the journey became faster. No more uninvited guests were encountered.

By the morning of the seventh day, Yanjing City was already within reach.

When she was in Huangzhou City, she didn't feel that way. But when she was about to return to Yanjing City, Jiang Li couldn't help but feel lighthearted. It seemed that Yanjing had not been affected by King Cheng's troops. At least she didn't see any strange people. However, there were fewer people coming and going in and out of the city gate. It might be that the people were still a little scared. The young soldiers at the city gate were much more cautious than before. They would carefully check every person who passed by.

Wen Renyao looked outside and said, "It seems that King Cheng hasn't come here yet."

"That will be soon." Lu Ji said, and jumped off the carriage, holding the pass in his hand, and went outside to talk to the two young generals guarding the city. The young generals did not carefully check the inside and outside of the carriage as before, but respectfully made way. Jiang Li guessed that Lu Ji did not hide Ji Heng's identity, so it was so smooth.

The carriage drove into the city gate.

Outside was the familiar hustle and bustle. Wen Renyao opened the carriage curtain a little, letting Lin Yao peek through it, and said, "Look, this is Yanjing City."

After all, he was just a child, and was immediately dazzled by the prosperity of Yanjing City. Lin Yao murmured, "Brother, the streets in Yanjing City are so wide, even wider than our two roads!"

"That's right," Wen Renyao was not from Yanjing, but he also showed a proud look, "otherwise how can we teach Yanjing City?"

Jiang Li couldn't help laughing as she listened to their conversation. But she met Ji Heng's eyes. He still had a smile on his lips, as if he was just looking at Jiang Li calmly. Jiang Li tilted her head and turned sideways, avoiding his gaze, and followed Lin Yao to look outside.

The streets were filled with people selling sugar figurines, dough figurines, jugglers, and storytellers. Compared to the devastated and scorched Huangzhou, Yanjing was like a paradise. The wars, corpses, fires, and fears were far away, and they were two completely different worlds.

Jiang Li couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

She was still thinking whether she should say goodbye to Ji Heng and the others here and go back to the mansion directly. But this might only arouse Jiang Yuanbo's suspicion, which seemed like an attempt to cover up something. But if they really went to the Jiang family with her, it would be a bit strange.

She went back to the Jiang family first. Ye Mingyu would definitely get the news and come soon. After what happened before, Jiang Yuanbai would not let her leave the house easily.

Just as he was thinking, he saw Lin Yao clinging to the carriage window and reaching out. He probably felt curious about the acrobatics outside, so he stood up, swaying, with half of his body outside the window. Jiang Li was startled and said, "Xiao Yao, get down, it's really dangerous for you to do this!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage suddenly shook. No one knew what was going on in front of him, as if the horses were frightened. The whole carriage shook violently, and then it stopped suddenly. Lin Yao's body shook and he fell out of the carriage.

Jiang Li exclaimed.

He is still a child. If he falls down like this, he might die!
Jiang Li didn't care about anything else and immediately ran down the carriage. Outside the carriage, there were already quite a few people watching the excitement. Jiang Li's heart tightened when she didn't hear the child's voice. She almost couldn't bear to watch. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji just calmed the frightened horses down.

At this moment, a soft female voice suddenly came, and she asked: "Whose child is this?"

Jiang Li looked up.

In front of her stood a young woman, who was extremely beautiful, almost too beautiful. However, in her beauty, she also had a dashing heroic spirit. She was wearing a red riding dress, pretty and warm, and her dress did not look like someone from Yanjing. She held a whip in one hand and grabbed Lin Yao with the other. Lin Yao looked at Jiang Li in shock, and suddenly burst into tears.

He reached out to Jiang Li: "Sister!"

"Is this your brother?" the woman said as she loosened her grip. Lin Yao stumbled towards Jiang Li and threw himself into Jiang Li's arms. He sobbed and trembled, looking very frightened.

Jiang Li said: "Thank you for the rescue, young lady."

The woman raised her eyebrows and was about to speak, but her eyes suddenly passed behind Jiang Li and she paused.

Jiang Li seemed to realize something and turned around.

Behind him, Ji Heng came out.

(End of this chapter)