Qin Lan was taken aback. She turned to look at Qin Huaiqiu and said, "Is the young master asking me to flee in the face of danger?"
Qin Huaiqiu awkwardly cleared his throat but didn't say a word.
Qin Lan suddenly propped herself up on the table and stood up. Looking at him, she shouted sternly, "What do you want to do?"
"Nothing..." Seeing that he couldn't hide it anymore, Qin Huaiqiu said, "I'm just worried about father. I just want you to go back and report the situation."
"Bullshit!" Qin Lan cursed and said, "Can't you send other secret guards to report? Right now, your situation is more critical than the general's. And you want me to leave?!"
Qin Huaiqiu averted his face guiltily.
Qin Lan looked at him for a while, took a deep breath and said, "Don't think I don't know. You want to take all the blame on yourself, right?"
Scratching his head, Qin Huaiqiu said, "Well, I don't necessarily have to do this... But if we want to save the Qin family, this is indeed a way."
"You're dreaming!" Qin Lan shouted, "Take all the blame on yourself and then die to prove your innocence? I know you too well. Don't even think about it!"
Qin Lan was really angry. Qin Huaiqiu had been close to Qin Lan since childhood, but he was also most afraid of her getting angry. Seeing Qin Lan glaring at him, he swallowed hard and tried to persuade her, "Sister Lan... Don't be angry. I didn't mean that."
"Then what do you mean?" Qin Lan's beautiful eyes were full of anger. She scolded, "Anyway, I won't leave. I'll be wherever you are. The general's task for me is to protect you well. Don't even think about getting rid of me."
Qin Huaiqiu cowered. He responded with a couple of "yes" and served tea for Qin Lan and massaged her shoulders. He called her "Sister Lan" several times before calming Qin Lan down.
After the two discussed, they decided that Qin Lan would accompany Qin Huaiqiu to the dinner at Jingshan. Just in case, both Qin Lan and Qin Huaiqiu concealed a dagger on their bodies. When it got dark, they set off. They followed the route that Qin Lan had scouted before and sneaked out through the side gate of the West Wu Gate, where the defense was the weakest. Then they circled around the imperial city from the outside to the east and arrived at the entrance of Jingshan.
Jingshan was originally a place where the eunuchs, maids in the palace and foreign guests stayed. The defense and patrols were much less than in the palace, so it was very easy to sneak in. Just as they climbed over the wall of Jingshan, they saw Jimin waiting there.
Qin Huaiqiu's face darkened. He stepped forward and said coldly, "Why don't you lead the way?"
Jimin glanced at him, didn't say a word and just turned around and walked away.
Qin Huaiqiu led Qin Lan and followed Jimin. They walked around several rockeries and ponds along a small path and came to a small courtyard.
The courtyard was brightly lit, and there were faint noises coming from inside.
Qin Huaiqiu frowned and snorted coldly, "Your master doesn't come to greet me? Does he expect me to go in by myself?"
Jimin glanced at him and said, "There are other people in the room. He doesn't have time to greet you."
"Really?" Qin Huaiqiu sneered, showing no real amusement. He said, "Judging from the noise, there's a quarrel going on inside. Have you guys caused any trouble?"
Jimin remained expressionless, still looking cold: "You'll know once you go in."
"Humph!" Qin Huaiqiu was too lazy to argue with him. He directly pushed the door open with a "bang" and walked in.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, he saw Xu Xian standing at the door of the room, looking anxious.
Qin Huaiqiu was stunned on the spot.
Xu Xian had been extremely anxious when he heard Sikong Ting and Yaze Bu arguing fiercely inside the room. Unexpectedly, when he looked up, he saw the Lady De in plain clothes. He was shocked and quickly rubbed his eyes. Seeing that it wasn't an illusion, he quickly trotted up to Qin Huaiqiu, looked him up and down and asked suspiciously, "Lady De? Why are you here?"
"I... This concubine..." Qin Huaiqiu couldn't think of a good excuse for a moment. He never expected that Yaze Bu would even invite Sikong Ting here!
Damn it! Was Yaze Bu going to make a showdown tonight?!
Just as they were at a stalemate, Jimin walked up and said to Xu Xian, "Lady De was invited here by our master. Is there any problem?"
"How can there be no problem?" Xu Xian exclaimed, "Lady De, how did you get out of the harem?"
"This concubine..."
"I brought her out." Jimin interrupted him and said coldly to Xu Xian, "Don't block the way."
Xu Xian ignored him. After glaring at him, he quickly said to Qin Huaiqiu, "Lady, the emperor is discussing military affairs with that man from Loulan now. It's not appropriate for you to go in now. Go back to the palace quickly. After the emperor finishes the discussion, I'll tell the emperor."
It seemed that Xu Xian thought he had come to find Sikong Ting.
Well, it saved him the trouble of explaining.
"How long has the emperor been in there?" Qin Huaiqiu asked.
"He's been in there for more than an hour..." Xu Xian sighed.
Jimin got impatient. He took a step forward, blocked Qin Huaiqiu with his body and looked down at Xu Xian and said, "Are you going to get out of the way or not?"
Xu Xian was startled by Jimin's tall and imposing appearance. But in order to prevent Lady De from going in, he still stood there stubbornly and said, "You barbarian from Loulan! There are laws in the country and rules in the family! You're now in the Great Sheng, not in your barbaric land! Watch your behavior!"
"Humph, watch my behavior?" Without saying a word, Jimin slapped Xu Xian to the ground. Xu Xian let out a scream and fell on the ground.
Qin Huaiqiu was startled. Xu Xian was the emperor's chief eunuch. This man from Loulan was too arrogant to dare to beat Xu Xian. Did he not want to live anymore?
He quickly stepped forward to help Xu Xian up. But when Jimin saw this, he reached out his hand to push again, but was blocked by Qin Huaiqiu's outstretched arm.
Jimin didn't expect Qin Huaiqiu to use force so openly. He snorted coldly and said, "Oh? If you fight with me like this, aren't you afraid of being discovered by the Han emperor?"
Qin Huaiqiu was also unwavering. He said, "You don't need to worry about it."
After saying that, he pushed Jimin away at once, and Xu Xian took the opportunity to run to the side.
Jimin didn't expect Qin Huaiqiu, who looked small in stature, to have such strength. He became interested and said, "The people of the Qin family are really interesting."
"Yes, they're really interesting, because they can beat you Loulan people to the ground!"
After saying that, the two rushed forward at the same time. Having seen Qin Huaiqiu's fight with Yaze Bu, Jimin knew from the beginning that Qin Huaiqiu was very agile. The moment he saw Qin Huaiqiu rushing towards him, he suddenly jumped up and kicked at Qin Huaiqiu's face.
Qin Huaiqiu barely dodged. Then he grabbed Jimin's ankle and pulled it back hard, and hit his thigh with an elbow.
Jimin felt the pain, but he reacted quickly. He immediately kicked Qin Huaiqiu hard on the shoulder with his other foot. Qin Huaiqiu let out a muffled groan from the kick, loosened his grip on Jimin and took several steps back.
"That's all you've got." Jimin sneered with a cold face.
"I'll tear your mouth apart!" Qin Huaiqiu got angry. He cursed and then suddenly flew forward. The two exchanged several moves with their fists and feet in an instant. Then he used his fingers as claws and grabbed Jimin's wrist. Then he twisted it in the opposite direction. At the same time, he made a fist with his other hand and rushed straight towards Jimin's face.
Jimin was startled and barely managed to dodge the punch. But his hand was twisted painfully by Qin Huaiqiu. He quickly slapped Qin Huaiqiu's hand away, thus avoiding the fate of having his wrist dislocated by Qin Huaiqiu.
Jimin's eyes darkened. He didn't dare to attack Qin Huaiqiu easily now.
But Qin Huaiqiu's anger was completely ignited. It was not only because of Jimin's provocation before, but more because of Qin Huailian.
Just thinking that Lian'er might be bullied by these Loulan people made Qin Huaiqiu extremely angry. He suddenly rushed forward, avoided Jimin's self - defensive attacks and punched Jimin's face ten times like a madman.
He punched very fast, making Jimin see stars. It took him a long time to react and block his face.
Jimin's face was broken. There was blood on Qin Huaiqiu's fist, and his eyes were blood - red. Then, he let out a loud shout, gathered his strength and punched Jimin's face so hard that it turned to the side. Jimin was caught off guard and immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Just then, the door behind him opened.
The air was silent for a moment, and then came Sikong Ting's surprised and puzzled voice -
"Lady De?"