A raincoat wind and snow to the small garden

Chapter 42: Liangzhou Ghost Soldiers (Thirteen)
Chapter 43

Xiang Xiaoyuan glanced at Wang Rou and said, "Have you ever considered that this case of yours targets a member of a royal family? It's fine if you're not afraid of death, but I don't want to die either... Why should I help you if it means risking my own life?"

Wang Rou knew that it was normal for Xiang Xiaoyuan to have concerns.

Why should she run around for her and go through fire and water for her?
Wang Rou and Xiang Xiaoyuan had only met a few times, but she was asking Xiang Xiaoyuan to help her find a job out of conscience. This was really too much of a presumption.

Wang Rou clenched her fingers tightly, not knowing what to say.

After a long pause, she said, "I...can't find anyone else, so I can only turn to you. No one can help me, no one will clear the name of a lowly lady like me. Xiaoyuan, I'm just desperate."

Wang Rou knew that her mother did not send her back to the Cui family because her mother herself knew that her parents' home was unreliable.

They couldn't protect their daughter and could only send her to a small town far away from the border town.

But Wang Rou was able to assassinate Duke Zheng and avenge part of her parents' death, so she was already very powerful.

Xiang Xiaoyuan just wanted to test Wang Rou's determination, but seeing her kneeling on the ground so lonely, with her hunched back and helpless, she felt pity in her heart.

Xiang Xiaoyuan saw his own helplessness in Wang Rou.

Xiang Xiaoyuan reached out to Wang Rou.

The slender five fingers reached under Wang Rou's eyelashes, and she raised her head in surprise.

Xiang Xiaoyuan smiled at her.

"There's a Buddhist verse in the Lotus Sutra that I really like."

"'One light shines, and all lights become bright.' Ah Rou, do you believe it? I will help you and become that light."

Wang Rou understood what Xiang Xiaoyuan meant. She burst into laughter, put her hand in Xiang Xiaoyuan's palm, and let Xiang Xiaoyuan pull her up.

Xiang Xiaoyuan pinched her face and said, "It's your face that needs to be changed. Just stay in my room for a few days. My Senior Brother Lin has learned the art of disguise, so I'll ask him to make two new faces for you."

Wang Rou asked timidly, "Will this be too much trouble for you?"

"What's the trouble? Aren't we friends?" Xiang Xiaoyuan looked at her helplessly.

Wang Rou nodded happily, her eyes sore.

She kept saying, "Yeah! We are friends!"

In the past few days, Xiang Xiaoyuan hid Wang Rou in the room, ate three meals a day in it, and even served Wang Rou extra food.

Ah Qi saw Xiang Xiaoyuan delivering food stealthily for several days in a row, and he couldn't help it, so he dropped from the sky to Xiang's door.

The boy's peach blossom eyes curved into a smile. He covered his face with a fan in one hand and stretched out the other hand towards the small garden: "Hush money."

Xiang Xiaoyuan slapped his hand away: "Brother Qi, your salary is higher than mine, and you still ask me for money, do you have any shame?"

After saying this, she opened the purse on her waist and shook out two copper coins.

"I spent all my money on the lamb shanks I treated you to last time... If it weren't for the meals provided by the private residence, I would have gone out to beg on the streets!"

Ah Qi gave her a look of disdain: "Why are you so poor? Where's Huaiyu? He has such a high salary, why doesn't he set aside some money to support his junior sister?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan rolled his eyes: "You encourage me to bully Senior Brother Huaiyu every day, are you still human? Besides, why doesn't Senior Brother Qi support me?"

Ah Qi didn't expect her to be so shameless and was stunned for a moment.

After all, Ah Qi was not very experienced in bullying little girls. If he continued, the topic would become a bit presumptuous and he would definitely be beaten by Huai Yu.

He didn't dare to say more, but instead stood on tiptoe to look into the room: "Tell me, who are you hiding? You're so sneaky..."

Xiang Xiaoyuan jumped up and down to block his sight, and covered up in a panic: "No, no one!"

Ah Qi suddenly had an epiphany and looked at her as if he had seen a ghost: "Could it be a wild man?" He thought of Huai Yu's petty way of protecting his junior sister and couldn't help laughing: "You are so good, Junior Sister Xiang! You dare to keep a gigolo under Huai Yu's nose? You are so brave, I admire you."

After saying that, he winked at Xiaoyuan and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. The person who can make Huaiyu lose face is my friend."

He patted Xiang Xiaoyuan's shoulder, then thought of the few copper coins in her purse. He took out a tael of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into the girl's hand: "Hey, take it. No thanks. This is the money for you to support your man."

Xiang Xiaoyuan was confused. Before she could explain, Ah Qi ran away in a cool and casual manner, as if the job was done and he was leaving.

But what Xiang Xiaoyuan didn't know was that Ah Qi was not so kind. After he learned this exciting news, he immediately rushed to the military station without stopping.

As one of the twelve secret guards of the Xuanqi Division, Ah Qi was naturally more informed than Xiang Xiaoyuan. He knew that the Crown Prince had repelled a group of rebels sent by Takumi Khan to invade the Western Regions today, and was about to return to the city with his troops.

Ah Qi insisted on seeing Huai Yu. Before the other person could take off his bloody armor, Ah Qi had already rushed into Huai Yu's tent.

Xie Yunxue is not proficient in martial arts, so he will not go to the battlefield in person. At most, he will say a few words to encourage the morale of the troops and give instructions on the battle situation and military formations.

But Huaiyu is a martial arts expert. If he goes into battle, he will change his appearance and clothes and lead the Wei army to fight against those barbaric enemies.

Having just finished a battle last night, he returned to the camp carrying the head of a Hun general. Not only was his body covered in blood, but even the long sword in his hand was stained with the enemy's flesh and blood.

Even Ah Qi couldn't help but shrink back when he saw such a murderous Shura.

Huai Yu flicked his wrist to remove the dirt from the knife, and looked at him with a pair of frosty phoenix eyes: "What's the matter?"

When Ah Qi saw the hostility emanating from Huai Yu, he couldn't help but shed a tear of sympathy for the audacious Xiang Xiao Yuan.

As a senior brother, he shouldn't do this to his junior sister, but the opportunity to make Huaiyu suffer a loss is rare. Ah Qi is a person who loves to watch jokes, so he really can't bear to miss it.

So, he cleared his throat and said, "Do you know that your house was raided after you were away for only ten days?"

Huaiyu frowned slightly, not understanding the meaning of Ah Qi's words.

"That's right. Junior Sister Xiang has been acting strangely lately. Not only does she bring two meals into her room every day, but she also doesn't allow me to investigate what's going on in her room..."

Huaiyu: "Why did you go to check her boudoir?"

Ah Qi was so angry that he almost laughed: "Is that the point? The point is that she's secretly hiding a man behind your back! Tsk tsk, Huaiyu, your beloved junior sister is gone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden sound, silver light flashed, and the sword chanted loudly.

A long knife filled with blood was placed on Ah Qi's neck, almost an inch away from his flesh.

Ah Qi was shocked and quickly raised his fan to block.

He looked up and met a pair of ghostly eyes.

Ah Qi stuttered: "You...why are you taking it out on me? It's not like I'm having an affair with your junior sister."

But Huaiyu didn't admit it. He just said coldly, "Don't make fun of me and Xiang Xiaoyuan. Whatever she does has nothing to do with me."

Ah Qi nodded: "I, I understand..."

Huai Yu let go of the knife and took off his armor.

Ah Qi wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, but in the blink of an eye, Huai Yu had changed his clothes and turned to walk out of the tent.

He lifted the curtain to chase after her, but outside the tent there was only the vast wind and snow, where was the shadow of Huaiyu?

This kid... actually used Qinggong to escape?!

Ah Qi fanned himself and said disdainfully, "You said you didn't care... but you slipped away faster than a dog!"

(End of this chapter)