Volume One, Chapter 15: Where Are You Hurt?
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“Look out!”
Yun Jin shoved Xiao Yuanyi aside at once, and Xiaguang was knocked over with them. The three women fell into a tangled heap.
The arrow barely missed Xiao Yuanyi’s head. When the first shot failed, the windows of the tall building across the street flew open. Not only were archers concealed inside, but several men wielding curved blades also leaped down from above.
The civilians cried out and scattered in panic, but it was already too late. Many were cut down beneath the rain of arrows.
Shen Suyun reacted swiftly, kicking over a stall to use as cover. When she saw the three women exposed to danger, that voice in her heart rose once more.
The ones attacking them were Northern Di men. Whatever happened had nothing to do with the Lou family. If Xiao Yuanyi died, she could go before her brutally murdered son and atone to him!
Yet Xiao Yuanyi’s words to her surfaced again in her mind.
That was right. The true culprits were the Northern Di, those wolves with ambitions for conquest. They were the ones who deserved to die. Even if Xiao Yuanyi was guilty, she should not die at the hands of the Northern Di.
She kicked a long bench toward them and shouted, “If you don’t want to die, crawl over here!”
Though Yun Jin and Xiaguang knew martial arts, they had never faced a scene so perilous. Their hands and feet went weak, and for a moment they could scarcely think.
Screams rang out everywhere, mingled with the sounds of blades piercing flesh. Blood ran beneath their feet. Had the Lou family’s guards not held the attackers at bay, they too would have become corpses beneath the knives.
Xiao Yuanyi was frightened as well. Clutching the other two women tightly, she waited for a brief lull in the arrow storm, then summoned all her strength and crawled toward safety.
But the Northern Di had come for her alone. Amid the panicked crowd, a plainly dressed man quietly approached. From his bulky sleeve slipped a dagger, its blade gleaming with a sinister chill.
Everything happened too quickly. By the time Shen Suyun noticed him, the man had already reached Xiao Yuanyi. Her face changed dramatically.
Yun Jin and Xiaguang were no match for him. After only a few exchanges, he kicked them away.
Xiao Yuanyi planted her hands on the ground and tried to flee, but he seized her by the hair and dragged her back. Just as the dagger was about to slash through her throat, an arrow shot toward them with lightning speed. With a sharp clang, it struck the dagger from his hand.
“Lou Hejing!”
Lou Xianyue had thought Xiao Yuanyi was certain to die. When she saw the man galloping toward them on a black horse, she let out a tremendous sigh of relief.
After a dizzying whirl, every sound around her vanished. Xiao Yuanyi could feel only the icy hand clamped around her throat.
Then, in the very next instant, air rushed back into her lungs. She coughed violently and collapsed onto the ground as the shriek of a hoofbeat nearly split her eardrums.
She seemed frozen in place. Raising only her eyes, she saw the black horse rear high on its forelegs, as though it might trample her into pulp the next moment.
The man astride it was tall and imposing, his presence fierce and commanding. His sharply defined face showed not the slightest trace of panic. With a bow in one hand and a sword in the other, he used only the strength of his waist and legs to force the horse’s hooves down. Barely a foot from Xiao Yuanyi, they crushed both of the attacker’s legs.
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Xiao Yuanyi’s pupils contracted. The enormous beast continued circling beside her, yet controlled its position with uncanny precision, never once stepping on even the hem of her clothing.
Whenever anyone in the crowd tried to attack her, Lou Hejing drove them back with his bow. None of them even managed to reach him.
She remembered when Lou Hejing had entered the capital earlier that year. It was the first time she had heard of his reputation.
He had gone to war alongside his father at thirteen. At sixteen, he had been capable of leading troops alone deep into enemy territory. By twenty, he had never suffered defeat, and his fame had soared. He became the most dazzling young general in Southern Xiao, and the emperor himself bestowed upon him the title of God of War.
Now, after his father and elder brothers had all died in battle, he had risen from the young general of Dingzhou to the commander who oversaw everything. And he was only twenty-one.
She could not help wondering what she herself had been doing at thirteen.
The remaining Northern Di were either cut down or captured alive. After first turning to Shen Suyun and Lou Xianyue and confirming that they were unharmed, Lou Hejing ordered his deputy general to take the prisoners back for interrogation.
“Oh! She’s hurt!” Lou Xianyue noticed at once that the fabric over Xiao Yuanyi’s lower abdomen was soaked through with blood. Mixed with mud, however, it was impossible to tell exactly where she had been wounded.
Xiao Yuanyi lowered her head. The dull pain in her lower abdomen left her mind blank.
“Seventh Brother, take her for treatment. I’ll handle things here,” Shen Suyun said with a frown.
Lou Hejing merely bent down and scooped the woman from the ground. His arms were strong and powerful, yet supported against him, Xiao Yuanyi felt not the slightest jolt, even as the horse raced at full speed.
Feeling her blood slipping away, Xiao Yuanyi grew paler and paler. When she thought of how she had not yet found a way to escape or exposed Xiao Baopan’s true nature—and might instead die miserably at the hands of the Northern Di—tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Lou Hejing, am I going to die...?”
Her face was creased with fear, and her voice trembled. She looked utterly pitiful.
Lou Hejing glanced at the amount of blood. “You won’t die. You’re not that fragile.”
Xiao Yuanyi took it for nothing more than an attempt to comfort her. If she were not truly dying, why would Shen Suyun have taken the initiative to tell him to save her?
“Can you give my ashes to my parents? I want to go home...”
“And Longyu—she can’t be considered part of the Xiao family. She has never done anything wicked. Could you spare her? I’m willing to exchange my dowry for her.”
“And one more thing...”
“Be quiet!”
Lou Hejing was speechless. How could someone on the verge of death still have the strength to say so much?
But Xiao Yuanyi still wanted to speak. She was afraid there would not be enough time.
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The Lou family had lost two lives. Even though she was not to blame, she still felt deeply guilty. Since she was about to die, she no longer wished to pursue the grievances of the past.
“I’m sorry... I’ve caused trouble for the Lou family again. I’m truly sorry.”
Once she died, she did not know how the emperor would regard the matter.
Lou Hejing stared intently at her face and nearly rode straight past the medical hall.
“Then stay alive and continue making amends.”
He carried her down from the horse. The wind was too loud, and he spoke too softly for her to hear.
The physician at the medical hall knew Lou Hejing and asked no questions. He hurriedly led him inside.
Lou Hejing laid her on a couch and personally began cleaning her wound. Yet after searching for a long while, he could not find any injury at all. The blood was unmistakably flowing from her body, however.
“Where were you hurt? What part of you is in pain?”
“My sto... my stomach.”
His warm, broad palm pressed against her lower abdomen. Xiao Yuanyi felt no pain. Instead, the pressure seemed to ease it somewhat.
Lou Hejing stared at her complexion, utterly baffled. In the end, he simply moved aside and let the physician take her pulse.
The physician’s eyes widened at once. “General, rest assured. This young lady is not injured. It is merely... merely her monthly period. She appears to be suffering from a deficiency of both vital energy and blood.”
Xiao Yuanyi’s face turned scarlet.
Lou Hejing froze for a moment. Then, staring at the blood on his hand, his expression darkened terribly.
“How can you not even know that your period has come?”
“I... I truly didn’t know. This is my first time.”
Xiao Yuanyi was overjoyed that she was not injured and would not die, yet she was also mortified by the misunderstanding and wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.
Lou Xianyue’s words had led everyone to assume the worst. Xiao Yuanyi had no experience, and with her fear of death added to the confusion, she had mistakenly believed that she had truly been wounded.
Lou Hejing remained silent for a long time. Xiao Yuanyi assumed he was angry and dared not say anything more. She could only quiet the sobs she could not restrain after narrowly escaping death.
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