In the past, Fan Xian had never truly looked at Si Lili with his "heart". He didn't even care for her beautiful face, because Fan Xian himself had a very "something" face. Ever since they had left the capital, this long journey had, for some reason, gradually, this woman had left a faint mark in Fan Xian's mind.
Perhaps it was because of her pitiful past, or perhaps it was because the methods of the Overwatch Council were too cruel, or perhaps it was because, as the former head of the Seventh Bureau had said when he first entered the Council's prison, Fan Xian's methods may be cruel, but his heart was still soft. At least, it was easy for him to soften.
He reminded himself more and more not to have tender feelings for the fairer sex, but all the more he felt that Si Lili was pitiful. This kind of pitifulness was not faked, but a natural feeling brought about by the fate of her life. It was completely different from that of the Eldest Princess, who was as beautiful as a mortal.
Over the past few days, Fan Xian had taken out the medicine he carried with him and found a few suitable plants in the fields by the lake. Somewhat woodenly, he concocted the antidote. This was his promise to Si Lili. Since Si Lili had told him about Chen Pingping's idea, although he didn't know if it was true, he would cure Si Lili.
As for the white and red sleeves, they were not within Fan Xian's scope of consideration. What he considered was simpler and more direct.
After a few days of treatment, Si Lili did not appear to have changed, but she went to the toilet more often. Fan Xian waited quietly to one side, which made the girl feel a little embarrassed. The diplomatic mission's carriages gradually turned east, circling the lake. In another two days, they would arrive at Wuduhe, where the Northern Qi army would come to take over the defense.
"Actually, the Northern Qi people call this lake the North Sea." Si Lili stood by the lake, running her fingers over the coarse reeds.
Fan Xian looked at her and asked, "When did you go to Northern Qi?"
"When I was very young. My parents took me and my brother and ran for our lives. The Overwatch Council hunted us down, and most of my grandfather's trusted aides were dead. No one dared to take us in. " Si Lili smiled bitterly. "Actually, I don't have much of an impression of my grandfather, although I know he was the prince most likely to inherit the throne."
Fan Xian calculated the time. At that time, it should have been a few years since the assassination of the Qing Prince. He couldn't help but fall silent. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Si Lili's clothes flutter gently in the lake breeze. He smiled slightly, thinking that his mother had killed this girl's grandfather. He couldn't let her know about it.
Si Lili sighed and combed her hair, which had been messed up by the lake breeze. She frowned and said, "Because we were pursued by the Overwatch Council, my father died under the blades of the palace guards. My mother took my brother and I and luckily escaped. In such a big world, there was nowhere to go. After much thought, we fled to a foreign country and finally settled down in Northern Qi."
Fan Xian furrowed his brows slightly. His family had been destroyed, his father had died a tragic death, and he had left home. It was indeed a difficult life.
Si Lili looked at the mist rising from the surface of the lake and sighed. "Unfortunately, peaceful days cannot last. Somehow, the royal family of Northern Qi found out who we were, and so they brought us to Shangjing."
Fan Xian furrowed his brows again and said, "They definitely don't have good intentions."
Si Lili turned her head and looked at him with a smile. "Do you have good intentions? Or do you think the Emperor of Qing and the court of Qing have good intentions towards our family? "
Fan Xian was speechless for a moment. He laughed self-mockingly. "After all, it is an enemy country."
"Before my father died... he said the same thing." Si Lili seemed to have thought of something. She slowly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes gently trembling. "Later, my mother also died of illness, leaving me and my brother alone. Since the royal family of Northern Qi wanted to use our past, they naturally wanted to control us. So we grew up in the royal palace of Northern Qi. "
"It was at that time that you met the Emperor of Northern Qi?" Fan Xian walked to her side and tightened the cloak around her. "Come to think of it, you and the young Emperor were childhood sweethearts."
Si Lili smiled. "His surname was Zhan. At the time, he didn't look like an emperor at all. He was about the same age as me, but he was like my brother, fooling around in the palace every day. "
"Then why did you later willingly become a spy for Northern Qi and hide in the capital of Qing?" This was something Fan Xian was very interested in.
"The Emperor of Northern Qi wanted to marry me." Si Lili turned around and looked at Fan Xian with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "And I have a family feud with the current royal family of Qing. So I wanted to return home. This reason is very sufficient."
Fan Xian shook his head. "This reason is not sufficient."
Si Lili smiled. "The main thing is that the Empress Dowager did not allow me to marry the Emperor, so she allowed me to return home. She had the spies of Northern Qi cooperate with me to build a stronghold on the Liujing River in the capital."
Fan Xian thought of something, and stopped himself from speaking.
Si Lili guessed what he was thinking. Her eyes flickered, revealing a hint of charm. She explained softly, "Si Ling and my companions are all aces of Northern Qi, and some are experts at using knockout drugs. Naturally, those who enter the curtains cannot touch my body. There are others who can take their place."
Fan Xian raised his eyebrows, and a look of indifference appeared on his handsome face. He smiled. "Why bother explaining this to me?"
"Don't you want to hear it?" Si Lili was a woman, after all, and had a crystal clear heart. She had long since seen through Fan Xian's little thoughts, so she did not get angry. On the contrary, she asked him gently.
Fan Xian smiled and quietly said, "At least that night, you did not knock me out."
"If I'd known earlier that you were Fei Jie's student, I would have stayed far, far away from you. That way, I wouldn't have to be drugged by your drugs." Si Lili glared at him, her eyes flirtatious and rippling.
Fan Xian felt a little uncomfortable being stared at. He chuckled and looked back into the girl's eyes. "Then when you woke up that day and realized you had been knocked out, would you have been afraid? Would you have thought about how carelessly you had lost your womanhood, and felt that it was not worth it? "
The wind by the lake did not have much of the warmth of early spring. On the contrary, it was somewhat chilly, and it blew the reeds, which had not the slightest hint of green. The wind blew on Si Lili's face, and she felt that the heat on her face had subsided. She did not know that there were still two patches of red on her face, revealing her shyness.
After a while, Si Lili gently bit her lower lip. "After I woke up that day, of course, I felt a hidden bitterness, but I thought..." She bravely raised her head and looked at Fan Xian's extremely handsome face. She smiled. "I thought that it was my first night with a pretty boy like you, and it was worth it."
Fan Xian had not expected Si Lili to speak so boldly and so bitterly. For a moment, he did not know how to respond. After a while, he mumbled, "This... this."
"This... what?" Si Lili seemed to smile, and her eyes softened as she looked at Fan Xian.
"I have always felt that since you are a descendant of the royal family of the Kingdom of Qing, it is indeed somewhat dangerous for you to hang around on the pleasure boats every day. What if the other party was not me, but a pervert who used knockout drugs?" Fan Xian coughed. For some reason, he was now somewhat concerned about Si Lili's difficult and dangerous situation.
Si Lili's expression was somewhat sluggish. "I have never thought of myself as a descendant of the royal family," she said quietly. "I am just a pitiful woman who bears a blood feud, but has no idea how to exact revenge. Please do not misunderstand, Master Fan."
— — —
That night, the diplomatic mission's entourage set up camp on high ground by the lake. The carriages were arranged in a semicircle around the perimeter, and the lights of the tents in the middle had long since been extinguished. Si Lili's residence was next to Fan Xian's. Perhaps the conversation during the day had worn too much out of the minds of this strange young couple, but they did not climb over the wall. There were no rags, and no erotic stories in the dark of the night.
Everything was very quiet. In the distance, the Black Knights could be faintly seen on the slope, and around the camp, there were Tiger Guards and secret agents of the Overwatch Council patrolling.
The white moonlight shone on every corner of the earth. There were no clouds, no wind, and no stars that night. The silvery moonlight was like the gently brushing hands of a fairy, caressing the people in the camp, urging them to quickly sleep in order to prepare for the arduous journey tomorrow. Fan Xian would not allow Xiao En to get out of the carriage, so he still sat in the well-sealed carriage. The moonlight shone on the black carriage, reflecting a strange light.
Deep in the night, the entire camp seemed to have fallen into a dark and sweet dream. A black shadow floated to the side of Xiao En's carriage like a gust of wind. He took out a key, dipped it in an oiled cloth, and then inserted it into the keyhole of the carriage door. The key entered the hole without making a sound. It was a sign of the care taken.
The carriage door was pushed open, and Xiao En slowly raised his head to stare at the nightwalker at the door. The iron shackles that should have bound his hands and feet had long since been undone, and were placed smoothly on the floor of the carriage.
Xiao En stepped out of the carriage. His long white hair fell over his shoulders, competing with the moonlight in the sky for its silver splendor. He looked around coldly and frowned slightly. He knew that something was very wrong. But there was no time to think about it. The old man glanced at Fan Xian's camp, and like a black shadow, he disappeared into the night by the lake.
…
…
Fan Xian should have been asleep long ago, but now his eyes were open. He sat on a chair in the tent, and his fingers gently played with a teacup. The teacup contained an extremely light amount of knockout drug. The seeds of hibiscus tea were mixed with the tea's flavor, making it extremely difficult to taste.
Sensing the slight change in the atmosphere outside, he began to count.
"One, two, three, four..."
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