All the scenery was receding. The scorching summer wind blew on their faces, dispelling layer upon layer of light sweat. Lu Yinxi whipped her horse and looked back at the man behind from time to time.
Finally, the pony crossed the pre - agreed line. The young girl tightened the reins and stood proudly on the horse, watching Shang Luoshu galloping towards her in the distance.
"You lost!"
"Yes, I lost."
The man didn't quibble. He smiled as he rode his horse to Lu Yinxi's side.
"My Xi'er is really amazing. After only learning for a few hours, she can have such outstanding riding skills! I really can't catch up with you even if I whip my horse!"
"Don't think I don't know you let me win on purpose!"
She gave him an angry look. The young girl turned her horse around and was about to leave when, unexpectedly, her wrist was caught by someone.
"Shang Luoshu, what are you doing?!"
Her eyes widened even more. Lu Yinxi struggled slightly to get him to let go, but the man just wouldn't do as she wished.
"I saw that Miss Four has such superb riding skills and I'd like to humbly ask for some advice."
"Huh?"
The young girl, thinking she had misheard, was stunned for a moment, and her struggling also stopped.
That's exactly what Shang Luoshu wanted!
He let go of her wrist and in an instant, his arm was around her waist. By the time Lu Yinxi came to her senses, she found herself sitting sideways in front of the man, enclosed in a small world of his embrace.
???
"Shang Luoshu!"
Her ten fingers tightly grasped the man's sleeves. At this moment, the young girl didn't know whether to be angry or shy.
"What's wrong? Does Miss Four not want to teach me how to ride a horse?"
"Teach you my foot!"
The feeling of shame and annoyance welled up. Lu Yinxi wished she could take a bite out of him. "If I had fallen just now, it would have been a completely different story!"
"Xi'er, don't worry," the man's handsome face suddenly leaned in and stopped beside her neck. "As long as I'm here, I won't let you fall."
A rush of heat came over her. Lu Yinxi was sure that her face was completely red at this moment!
Having successfully made the girl in front of him blush and shy, Shang Luoshu tightened his arms and clamped his legs against the horse's belly. The horse understood his intention and immediately galloped on the vast grassland.
The ride on the horseback was very bumpy. Even though Lu Yinxi tried her best to huddle her body, she still inevitably fell into the man's arms.
Suddenly, the horse stopped without warning.
Due to inertia, the young girl bumped into his chest again. The strong beating of his heart pounded in her ears, and even her own heart started to beat irregularly.
Supporting herself, Lu Yinxi withdrew from the man's arms. Pouting, she was about to question him if he did it on purpose when she looked up and saw Shang Luoshu's extremely serious expression.
Something flashed through her mind, and the blush and fluttering in the young girl's heart instantly faded away. "Shang Luoshu, did you notice something?"
"Don't be afraid. I'm here!"
Shang Luoshu pressed her back into his arms. His sharp eyes scanned the surroundings. The horse under him seemed to sense the oppressive atmosphere as well. It nervously pawed the ground and neighed continuously.
In order to race with the young girl to their heart's content, Shang Luoshu and she had already left the racecourse. At this moment, they were quite far from it, and it would be difficult to go back for help.
"I have the power of words. I'm not afraid!"
This time, Lu Yinxi didn't struggle. She obediently lay in his arms. Her deliberately lowered voice could only be heard by him.
"Don't worry. I won't let you have the chance to use it."
Before his voice faded, the man had already turned the horse around and galloped back in the direction they came from.
Almost at the same time, a sharp arrow came whistling towards them with a powerful force.
"Xi'er, get down!"
Before she could react, the young girl was pressed onto the horse's back. Then she heard the sound of branches being cut off by a sword.
However, this was just the start.
One after another, arrows came flying towards them like shooting stars. Even though Shang Luoshu twirled his long sword skillfully, some arrows still flew past Lu Yinxi's hair.
At this moment, she suddenly noticed that the man behind her stiffened slightly. Warm liquid was carried by the wind onto her face. It was blood.
Worried, Lu Yinxi forcefully sat up straight. When she looked up, she saw an arrow stuck in the man's right shoulder. Behind him, there were still countless arrows, but all of them were blocked by him and his sword.
As he kept moving, blood flowed more frequently from the wound, but Shang Luoshu seemed not to notice and still twirled his sword blade airtight.
Her heart was suddenly hit hard, and her mind went blank almost instantly. All her actions became instinctive.
"All arrows, stop!"
"Xi'er!"
As if someone had pressed the pause button, with Lu Yinxi's words, all the arrows stopped in mid - air and then fell straight down.
When Fang Qinhu arrived, this was the scene he saw.
His master was sitting on the horse with a gloomy face. In his arms was Miss Four, who had fainted. Behind them were the falling arrows.
"I'm late. Please punish me, Your Highness!"
"Leave none alive!"
This was the last thing Fang Qinhu heard before Shang Luoshu disappeared.
Although he had only been with this master for a few days, he could still tell that His Highness the Prince of Jing was angry.
Prince Jing's Mansion
Maids and servants were coming in and out, carrying basins of blood - stained water. Shang Luoshu was sitting half - naked on the couch at the moment. His back was covered in blood, which made the mansion doctor keep sighing.
But he didn't seem to feel it. His deep black eyes were firmly fixed on the bed not far away. The red corners of his eyes made people afraid that he would go crazy at any moment.
Now, Lu Yinxi was lying on that bed. Even through the gauze curtain, he could see that she was frowning in pain, and her lower lip was almost bitten through.
Seeing this, Shang Luoshu wished he could take her pain for her, but unfortunately, this pain could only be borne by her and only her.
"Your Highness, I'm going to pull out the arrow!"
Seeing his master's increasingly rapid breathing, the mansion doctor who was responsible for pulling out the arrow timidly reminded him, afraid that he would do something unexpected.
"You don't need to tell me. Just do it."
The man tried his best to calm his mind and make himself calm.
This time, he had underestimated the enemy. In the future, he would never let such a thing happen again!
Seeing this, the mansion doctor took the opportunity to immediately pull out the arrow, then sprinkled some powder on the wound and bandaged it.
For Shang Luoshu, such an arrow wound was nothing. In the past on the battlefield, he had suffered even more serious injuries.
Just then, Chen Guang and Fang Qinhu entered the room.
Knowing that their master was in a bad mood, they didn't dare to delay and immediately knelt down to report the situation.
"Your Highness, we found a hundred archers in the forest. Ninety have been killed, and nine have been captured alive."
"And the other one?"
Sensing the look from above, Chen Guang shivered and immediately admitted his guilt. "I'm incompetent!"
Silence spread in the room, and even the young girl's moans of pain had disappeared.
After a long time, Chen Guang finally heard his master's voice. "Go and find him. Dig the whole place up if you have to!"
"Yes." The two hurriedly retreated.
Outside the mansion, the carriage of the Prime Minister Lu's Mansion slowly stopped in front of the gate of Prince Jing's Mansion. The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a woman stepped out. It was Lu Yinxi's biological mother, Lady Lu.