It was already difficult to tell directions in the forest. Coupled with her hasty escape at night, she didn't remember the way at all.
Thinking that she would have to outwit her step - mother from now on, the lazy girl felt another pang in her heart.
Seeing that she had temporarily shaken off Jiang Qing, Yun Xi collapsed behind a hidden boulder. She poured out two pills from the porcelain bottle at her waist and popped them into her mouth.
After the searing pain in her chest subsided a bit, she opened her eyes and looked around.
At this moment, the dark clouds had receded, and the bright moon hung high in the sky. From time to time, there came a few hoarse and shrill caws of crows in the forest, which sent shivers down one's spine.
"Snap!"
The sound of a broken branch made Yun Xi instantly alert. She pressed her back tightly against the uneven rock.
With vigilant eyes, she looked in the direction of the sound.
A sudden cold wind swept up the dry leaves on the ground. In the darkness, a long black robe fluttered, and a tall figure stood not far away.
By the moonlight, she saw a face of extreme beauty and charm.
The man pursed his thin lips slightly. It was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry, but there was an air of natural authority about him. His black pupils were deep, exuding a chilling coldness...
Suddenly, Yun Xi's eyes froze, and she felt a chill running through her body.
"How could it be him?"
The man who had killed her in her previous life!
As the saying goes, enemies' eyes blaze with hatred when they meet. Logically, Yun Xi should have rushed up and bitten him, then kicked him a few times. But at this moment, she was trembling like a quail.
The fear in her heart, like a rapidly growing vine, suddenly wrapped around her neck, making her breathing tremble.
Qi Rong, once the down - and - out seventh prince on the street, was now the notorious King Xian.
But she knew that in the future, this man would hold great power and become the pillar of the country, worshipped as a god by the people of the Liu Kingdom.
The emperor was deeply wary of him but couldn't do anything to him. He had no choice but to let him act wilfully and arrogantly!
His bad reputation was so widespread that it could stop a crying child at night. He was a thousand times more ruthless than her step - mother!
The most troublesome thing was that this man had been betrothed to her since they were in their mothers' wombs.
After the former emperor's death and his fall from power, she had "mercilessly abandoned" him...
"The heavens are against me," Yun Xi closed her eyes and sighed.
She was already in such a difficult situation. Why did she have to run into this evil god?
Although in her previous life, his killing her was actually a "kind act", sparing her the pain of bleeding from seven orifices.
But she still clearly remembered the feeling of his cold fingers tightening around her neck bit by bit.
The suffocation, the fear, along with his coldness, were all engraved in her bones.
If there was anyone she least wanted to meet in this life, her step - mother was number one, and Qi Rong was undoubtedly number two!
She didn't hate him, but she was deathly afraid of him.
Like a fish out of water, Yun Xi gasped for breath with difficulty to steady herself.
Besides Qi Rong, there was another person. A shadow loomed, and judging from his clothes, he should be a Jinyiwei.
Jinyiwei? Yun Xi frowned.
Why was the Jinyiwei beside the emperor with the King Xian? Moreover, the situation was so suspicious.
The emperor was already a suspicious man. Once this was discovered...
Yun Xi suddenly felt that something was wrong. She took a light step and wanted to leave this troublesome place. But then she saw the Jinyiwei kneel on his knees with a "thud" and suddenly raise his voice:
"My lord! You promised not to kill me!"
"Your subordinate has been doing his best to monitor the emperor for you these years. Although I took the initiative to assassinate him, I never expected that I would ruin your great plan, my lord!"
Qi Rong slightly hooked his thin lips, a contemptuous arc forming. He laid his sword beside the other man's neck.
"Do you think I don't know whether it was your own initiative or if you were instructed by someone else?"
His eyes were cold and intimidating. The sinister and violent aura about him was completely unlike that of a young man in his twenties.
"I did say I wouldn't kill you, but I didn't say others couldn't."
Suddenly, his black pupils turned and looked straight at Yun Xi, who was tiptoeing away.
Their eyes met, and Yun Xi froze in place. Her breathing became even lighter.
She suddenly had the illusion that she was a lamb in the jaws of a tiger, and she was the poor lamb waiting to be slaughtered...
"I... I didn't see anything!"
Yun Xi's palms were sweating. She instinctively covered her eyes.
She wondered if this promise would be accepted by the other party.
Qi Rong gave a half - smile. After glancing at her dishevelled dress, ice flashed in his eyes.
"You want to leave? That's fine."
Yun Xi felt a sense of relief. Just as she was about to kowtow and express her gratitude, she heard him say:
"Dig out your two eyeballs, and I'll let you go right away."
He spoke in a tone that seemed to imply there was room for negotiation.