Huo Qizhou's remark about her being in a sorry state really hit a nerve. She stopped eating the fruit in her hand and casually tossed it away. The bitten fruit rolled into the pile of rotten ones.
Looking at him coldly, she said, "So what if I'm in a sorry state? Isn't the national advisor always dissatisfied with me and eager to see me make a fool of myself!"
Huo Qizhou was a bit bewildered by her barb. "I'm just stating the obvious. Why should Your Majesty the Empress Dowager be angry?" As if to prove his point, he picked up the dirty hem of her skirt with two fingers and threw it in front of her.
Shi Muyuan clutched the hem tightly. "It's none of your business!"
"Humph, none of my business? Fine, great. Who would want to meddle in your affairs anyway."
Huo Qizhou got angry too. He had thought her temper had improved and treated her a bit better, but she just took advantage of his kindness. She was still the same.
She was truly like a dog that couldn't change its eating habits.
He stood up and turned to leave. The woman sat on the ground, her back straight and motionless. She really had backbone.
He initially intended to leave her alone, but after walking a few steps, he turned back. Ignoring Shi Muyuan's injuries, he simply picked her up.
"What are you doing! I'm the Empress Dowager. How dare you lay hands on me? If you hurt me, the Shi family won't let you off!"
Hearing the name of the Shi family, Huo Qizhou tightened his grip.
Huo Qizhou ignored her cries and carried her all the way back to the dilapidated temple. He threw her beside the newly lit fire, on which a fresh wild game was roasting.
Shi Muyuan stared at the roasted rabbit in front of her. The aroma wafted into her nose, and she suddenly froze.
Goodness, after all her tantrums and rolling around, she still ended up being laughed at.
"You, you caught the wild game?"
"Do you think I'd dare to beat Your Majesty the Empress Dowager?" Huo Qizhou sneered contemptuously.
Shi Muyuan was too embarrassed to get closer. She just watched as Huo Qizhou skillfully carved up the roasted rabbit. She was so tempted that she almost drooled.
"Um, National Advisor, are you full?" Shi Muyuan inched closer quietly.
Huo Qizhou glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and walked out of the temple with the wild fruit in his hand.
Shi Muyuan stole a look at him. Enduring the pain, she moved over and picked up the rabbit meat to eat. In this desolate place without any spices, the rabbit didn't have much flavor, but for Shi Muyuan at this moment, it was a heavenly delicacy.
This Huo Qizhou seemed useless at first glance, just having a good-looking face. But unexpectedly, he could do everything: catch wild game, pick fruits, roast wild game, and even fight!
Shi Muyuan remembered how he had made a sharp move under the city wall that day, how he had carried her across the rooftops, and how he had saved her life. She really had judged him wrongly today.
After eating, Shi Muyuan looked at her dirty clothes and resisted the urge to wipe her hands on them.
Suddenly, she heard a noise outside. Before she could move to the door, a sharp blade flew in and landed at her feet. It was Huo Qizhou's personal dagger.
"Take it for self - defense. The assassins are here."
Huo Qizhou's voice came in. Shi Muyuan quickly picked up the dagger and followed him out.
A dozen black - clothed men surrounded them.
Seeing that she had actually come out, Huo Qizhou flashed in front of her. "What are you doing out here! Don't you know to find a place to hide?"
"I'm afraid of being captured if I'm alone. It's better to stay with you." Shi Muyuan tightened her grip on the dagger.
The dozen black - clothed men rushed forward together, determined to capture the two of them.
"National Advisor, if we can survive this, can we make peace?"
Huo Qizhou curled his lips, a glint of amusement flashing in his eyes, as if he didn't even take the assassins in front of him seriously.
"No."
Shi Muyuan didn't know for a moment whether he meant they couldn't survive or they couldn't make peace, but Huo Qizhou had already started fighting with the assassins.
...
Shi An in the city was extremely anxious when he learned that Huo Qizhou had carried Shi Muyuan and jumped off the city wall, disappearing. He kept cursing Huo Qizhou for taking his sister on such a dangerous adventure!
The Shi family immediately sent people to search for them, and naturally, the palace also dispatched troops.
"With the Empress Dowager gone from the palace and the National Advisor missing, the young emperor must be extremely worried. If you, my lord, take action at this moment and gain the trust of the new emperor, wouldn't it be wonderful?"
In a private room of a teahouse in the city, two middle - aged men were discussing.
"My dear brother has a good idea, but do you think there's any room for us to get involved? As soon as the Shi family got the news, they sent people to the palace. To appease them, the emperor sent another team to search. The second son of the Shi family just returned yesterday and entered the palace today, saying that he was following the order of the Empress Dowager to teach the emperor. The Empress Dowager disappeared this morning, and this afternoon he used the order as an excuse to enter the palace. Who knows if it's true or false."
"I'd say the Shi family is really bold. They can do such blatant things."
"Then, my lord, aren't you going to save the emperor?"
"Save? Watch your tongue. How can you talk such nonsense."
"Yes, my lord is right."
Grand Tutor Qi stroked his goatee. The incident at Ji Yunting last time had already made the emperor unhappy. No matter how young the emperor was, he was of royal blood. How could he dare to get close at this time.
...
At the Shi mansion, Shi An knew that with only the young emperor in the palace, he couldn't hold down the officials. So he sent his newly returned second younger brother into the palace. The elder members of the Shi family gathered in the ancestral hall again, chattering and expressing their opinions.
"Send more people to search for Muyuan. She's the Empress Dowager. We can't do without her to pave the way for our Shi family."
These old guys were full of such thoughts. Shi An thought that while his sister was suffering, they were still calculating her usefulness. If she was useless, they probably wouldn't even bother to search for her.
He was most annoyed by these heartless Shi family members.
Before his father left for the war, he had taught him the meaning of loyalty and righteousness. But unexpectedly, although the whole Shi family was loyal and righteous in general, people were greedy. The elder members of the Shi family always wanted the family to thrive forever, and gradually, things had changed.
By now, they just thought that as long as they held great power, the Shi family wouldn't fall. Fortunately, the Shi family was just greedy and didn't really have any traitorous intentions. Usually, Shi An just treated their words as jokes and let it go.
But today, with his sister's life in danger, these old guys were still just talking. Shi An was so angry that he smashed a red - wood carved cloud - patterned table inlaid with marble. He retorted a few words to the elders and then rushed out of the city to search for his sister. The old men also felt embarrassed and dispersed.
On a small path outside the city, there were two horses lying across and a stiff corpse. After examining it, Shi An knew that Huo Qizhou must have searched it. There were no valuable tokens on the corpse, but the totem behind the corpse's ear provided a clue.
"General Shi, I found a hand warmer under one of the horses. It should belong to the Empress Dowager. The assassin committed suicide by taking poison. There are several sword wounds on his body, and it seems that his arm was pierced by a dagger."
Shi An took the hand warmer and saw that it had been flattened by the horse. The bloodstains on it were unknown whether they were from a human or a horse. He just didn't expect that the National Advisor had such good martial arts skills.