C23 Concomitant

"It doesn't matter. If I don't even have the courage to face the past, what right do I have to talk about revenge?" Mu Qianxue's tone was very light, so it was impossible to tell what she was thinking in her heart.

After drinking the clear stream water, Mu Qianxue suddenly said, "I'm going to the pond to take a look."

"This servant will accompany you." Before Xia Yue's voice fell, Mu Qianxue had already shook her head and said, "I want to walk around by myself. Help them tidy up the room."

Walking in the direction Xia Yue pointed in, they indeed heard the sound of water gurgling not long after. After walking a few more steps, they saw a mountain stream that was more than three meters wide, flowing down.

After a few dozen steps up the stream, a pond hidden in the midst of tall grass appeared in his line of sight. The jade-green lotus leaves came one after another, filling the small pond to the brim; the budding lotus flower pavilion stood on top of the lotus leaves, its pink tip peeking out like the rouge on a young girl's face.

The dragonfly flapped its transparent wings and fluttered about, stopping occasionally on the flower bud. Mu Qianxue extended her pale and nearly transparent finger, and very quickly, a dragonfly stopped in its tracks. A numbing feeling came from her fingertip.

After she shook her arm and caused the dragonfly to fly back up, Mu Qianxue lightly said, "Come out."

Other than the faint sound of thunder in the sky, there were no other sounds in the surroundings. Mu Qianxue turned around, lifted her eyebrows and said, "You're still not coming out?"

This time, a sizzling sound could be heard from the dense grass before a figure passed through the grass and appeared in front of Mu Qianxue.

Dongfang Gu walked out of the bushes and asked in puzzlement, "How did you know I was behind?"

He had followed this path very carefully. Not to mention that Mu Qianxue was a person who didn't understand martial arts, even if she was fifteen, she still might not have discovered this.

Mu Qianxue said with a smile that was not a smile, "When I was out alone, which time didn't you secretly follow me from behind?" She had discovered this by accident. After returning from a trip out, Xia Yue had casually mentioned that Dongfang Qing had also left just now. He had returned half a cup of tea earlier than her and had gone somewhere else.

Every time she came back, Xia Yue would give the same answer. As long as she wasn't here, Dongfang Qing would definitely not be here, and every single time was a step ahead of her; once was still considered a coincidence, and if it happened twice or thrice, then there was only one explanation ? Dongfang Yan was always following her from the shadows.

Dongfang Zhi didn't expect her to know about this. He felt embarrassed for a while, and then he uneasily said, "I was afraid that you would run into a pursuer, so I took the liberty of following you. Princess, please don't misunderstand."

"I know." Mu Qianxue interrupted him and immediately kneeled down. "Thank you for taking care of me all this time."

"The princess is Brother Mu's only kin, I should take care of the princess. As for the word 'thank you', I will help the princess take revenge in the future, so it won't be too late for that."

A silver snake streaked across the sky, followed by the sound of muffled thunder. Black clouds gathered in the sky, bringing with it a tempest.

"The sky isn't right, let's go back."

"We'll be at the Eastern Region in two days. Once we enter the Qi Kingdom's territory, we'll be back in the northern Zhou Empire. Have you thought about what I told you?"

"You mean Jiang Yue?"

"That's right, I was coughing so much yesterday that I couldn't fall asleep. Seeing that Jiang Yue was staring at them, I'm afraid he has already started to suspect that something was amiss. If he could take a look at you, then you would have made a decision already." Mu Qianxue deliberately emphasized the last two words.

"I know." Although Dongfang Zhi's expression was somewhat heavy, he didn't hesitate. Although he still didn't understand the intention behind Emperor Dongfang's words, he was very clear on one thing. That was, the secrets of the Shen Ji Camp definitely could not be leaked out.

When they were passing by the stream, Dongfang Gu stopped and stared at the flowing stream. Without waiting for Mu Qianxue to understand his intentions, she suddenly pulled out his sword and stabbed it hard into the stream, and when she picked it up, a black fish the size of a palm was firmly nailed to the tip of the sword. No matter how it struggled, it was unable to jump back into the water;

"I didn't expect you to have the ability to catch fish." Huan Xin folded a lotus leaf and placed the fish into it.

"A few years ago, when East Ling was in danger, I was ordered by my father to lead the troops into battle. This war, one against one, for several months, coincided with the lack of grain in the country, and we were unable to supply food for the time being. Fortunately, there was a river between us and the East Ling World, and before the arrival of the food sent by my royal brother, we had to rely on the fish in the river to feed ourselves. Saying this, he smiled, "These days I've been eating either wild fruits or rabbit meat, deer meat and the like. I presume you've gotten tired of it. Today is the perfect time to change tastes and have some fish soup."

Mu Qianxue sneered. "Doesn't this mean that I have to thank you again?"

"I said, it won't be too late to thank you in the future." As he spoke, muffled thunder once again sounded out in the dark sky. Dongfang Gu took the lotus leaf with one hand and the other hand he used to support Mu Qianxue's head as he helped her block more and more raindrops.

Nineteen and the others were anxiously looking around under the eaves. When they saw Dongfang Wenyi coming back, Nineteen immediately helped him wipe the rain off his clothes. "Prince, where did you go? I'm very worried, but what if I run into the West Chu troops?"

"I heard from Xia Yue that there was a pond full of lotus flowers, so I went over to take a look with the princess. It was also because I didn't say it clearly before that you were worried." Dongfang Yi wiped the rain off his face and handed the lotus leaves that he had been clutching in his hands to Nineteen. "I caught a few fish. Go wash them and cook them into soup."

"Yes." Nineteen obediently took the fish. "There's a fire in the house. Go inside and roast it, Your Highness. Don't let the moisture seep into your body." She had not glanced at Mu Qianxue even once, when she took Yu Di and left.

Xia Yue made a face at Nineteen's retreating back. When Mu Qianxue saw her actions, she laughed and tapped her forehead, "Girl, did you argue with Nineteen again?"

Xia Yue wrinkled her small nose and said, "This servant doesn't have any. It was because she was too excessive, and couldn't find the Prince, so she pushed the matter to the Princess, saying that the Princess kidnapped the Prince, and that if anything happened to the Prince, he definitely wouldn't let us off. This servant couldn't hold back her anger any longer, so she argued with him for a while."

Dongfang Qing was on the side, so he naturally heard Xia Yue's words. "I've made Lady Xia Yue feel wronged. This king will properly admonish nineteen. There won't be a next time."