Adhere to the gentleman's principles

Zhao Junning was in a panic, as if the world was spinning. Her mind was still immersed in the fear just now, unable to come back to her senses. At this moment, Li Ziyan quickly dismounted like a gust of wind and rushed towards Zhao Junning. His eyes were shining with joy, and the fear he had on the way here disappeared the moment he saw Zhao Junning.

On the way, Li Ziyan's heart was running wildly. He kept telling himself: "Jun Ning will not die, I believe in her. I just fell in love with her, she just walked into my heart, she must not be in trouble! I firmly believe that she will not die, this must be a trick she set up. Jun Ning, wait for me!" This belief supported him and made him fearless of the long and difficult journey.

When he finally saw the girl in front of him with messy hair and blood and tears on her face, the panic in his heart finally settled down. He slowly approached and hugged Zhao Junning tightly, as if he wanted to merge her into his body. This warm embrace made Zhao Junning gradually come back to her senses. She buried herself deep in Li Ziyan's arms, tears pouring out like a flood: "Ziyan, you are here, I am so scared..." Her voice was full of endless fear and dependence.

Li Ziyan used all his strength to hug her tightly, as if he wanted to rub her into his body. He could clearly feel her trembling and crying, and every tear pierced his heart like a knife.

Zhao Junning also hugged Li Ziyan tightly, as if she had found a safe haven. Her crying was mixed with endless grievances and fear. Li Ziyan comforted her softly, "I'm sorry, I'm late. Don't be afraid, I'm here." His tone was full of tenderness and apology.

After the two of them released their embrace, Li Ziyan gently put a fur cape on Zhao Junning. He carefully carried her on his back and walked towards the horse. Every step seemed so steady, as if conveying a sense of reassurance to her. After putting Zhao Junning on the horse, Li Ziyan held the reins and rode away from this dangerous place.

Lin Hai silently picked up the three arrows, put out the fire, and followed their footsteps. His eyes revealed his admiration for Li Ziyan and his concern for Zhao Junning.

When they got outside the village, Li Ziyan carefully dismounted from his horse and gently carried Zhao Junning down. His eyes were always on her, full of tenderness. Then, he walked towards the carriage that had been prepared in advance.

After entering the carriage, Li Ziyan took out his cloak and gently draped it over Zhao Junning. He carefully combed her messy hair, and then carefully wiped the blood off her face. His movements were so gentle, as if she was a precious piece of porcelain. Finally, he said, "Wait for me here. There are guards outside the carriage. I'll go take care of the things in the village, and then we'll go home." Zhao Junning nodded slightly, her eyes full of trust and dependence on him.

Li Ziyan slowly got off the carriage with a solemn expression. He whispered to Feizhou and Mo Yu behind him, "Feizhou, Mo Yu, guard the carriage." The two answered in unison, "Yes." Then, Li Ziyan walked into the village with firm steps.

Seeing Li Ziyan coming, Xu Wenhe hurried forward, with a hint of helplessness in his tone: "The princess clamored to go down the mountain, so I asked Chen Hu to escort her back." Li Ziyan nodded slightly to show that he understood. A trace of worry flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and said softly: "Forget it, her staying here will only make me upset."

Then, Li Ziyan changed the subject and asked about the situation of the people in the village. Xu Wenhe's face became heavy, and he slowly said: "Many people chose to commit suicide. Only Yan Zhantian was left." Hearing this, Li Ziyan's heart was filled with an indescribable grief. He tightly grasped the knife in Xu Wenhe's hand, as if he wanted to gather all his anger and sadness on this knife.

He walked towards the bound Yan Zhantian step by step, each step was firm and resolute. Yan Zhantian looked at Li Ziyan, his eyes showed no fear, but resoluteness: "Kill me or chop me up, it's all up to you. Anyway, my brothers are dead, I have nothing to miss, I will just go to accompany them. In the next life, we can still be brothers. We can't live together, but we can die together, and we can have a companion on the road to the underworld."

Li Ziyan chuckled, and his laughter was full of contempt and ridicule for Yan Zhantian: "We can't be together. If we don't die at the same time, how can we be together? You have killed too many people and done too many bad things, causing the people of Lucheng to panic and have no peace all day long." His voice was cold and firm, as if he was sentencing Yan Zhantian to his crimes.

Yan Zhantian had no regrets. He widened his eyes, glared at Li Ziyan, and shouted, "Li Ziyan, don't think you are a good person! The reason you want to kill us is nothing more than to make your wife angry. You are a selfish guy! Compared with us, you are the real incompetent! Do you naively think that the country will be stable after killing us bandits? You are totally wrong! You officials are the dirtiest group of people!"

Li Ziyan felt a pang of pain in his heart when he heard this, but he still said firmly: "Although you have done many evil things, you are loyal and righteous, and your brothers all respect you. If there is an afterlife, I hope you can be a good person, at least don't do evil things that harm the people again."

Yan Zhantian closed his eyes tightly, as if waiting for the judgment of fate. Li Ziyan took a deep breath and waved the knife in his hand. With a flash of the knife, blood gushed out from Yan Zhantian's neck, and then his body fell heavily to the ground.

Xu Wenhe slowly approached Li Ziyan and patted his shoulder gently. Li Ziyan's eyes were heavy, and he murmured to himself: "It turns out that just as my father said, killing is not a happy thing. But the official career is so long, and I am afraid that many people will lose their lives along the way. Today I killed someone, and although my hands are stained with the blood of the wicked, can this blood really be washed clean?"

Xu Wenhe comforted him, "It will definitely be clean."

Li Ziyan's voice was full of pain and confusion, as if his soul was also baptized at this moment. He looked at the knife in his hand, the blood on it was particularly dazzling in the moonlight, as if reminding him of what he had just done.

Li Ziyan was silent for a long time, and finally spoke slowly: "Yes, Yan Zhantian is right, I am not a good person. I was just angry because Jun Ning was wronged, and I wanted to kill them for revenge. Just because of this incident, I was blinded and lost my mind. Am I really doing this right?"

His voice was filled with pain and self-blame, as if his heart was being torn apart by an invisible force. The darkness of officialdom made him feel powerless and desperate, and his former ideals became so fragile in the face of reality.

"Officials are really not clean, and this road is not easy to walk." He muttered to himself, his eyes revealing confusion about the future. He knew very well that the officialdom was complicated and dangerous, and every step might be accompanied by traps and conspiracies.

But can he really go on? Can he still stick to his original intention of serving the people and the country on this thorny road? This question keeps echoing in his mind, but there is no clear answer.

His heart seemed to be trapped in a swamp. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank. His original intention of serving the people and the country seemed to be out of reach at this moment, and he himself was gradually lost in this darkness.

"You can!" Suddenly, a firm voice came from Zhao Junning. She seemed to have been listening there for a long time, and her eyes revealed her trust and support for Li Ziyan. Li Ziyan turned around and his eyes met Zhao Junning's.

Zhao Junning walked towards Li Ziyan step by step, her steps were firm and powerful. When she came to Li Ziyan, she whispered: "You can, I said I will accompany you. You did nothing wrong today, you killed the person who should be killed. Hatred may blind a person's eyes, but I know you won't. Even if one day you are really blinded by hatred, I am still here." There was firmness and tenderness in her voice, which made Li Ziyan feel a warm power.

Then, Zhao Junning grabbed Li Ziyan's bloody hand and carefully wiped it with a handkerchief. She looked at Li Ziyan's hand intently, as if she was wiping a precious treasure. With each wipe, her eyes became more concerned. "Look, the blood is gone." She said softly, with a hint of relief in her tone. Then, she moved the handkerchief to Li Ziyan's face and gently wiped the blood stains on his face. Her movements were gentle and delicate, as if she was touching a fragile piece of porcelain.

As the blood on his face was wiped away, Li Ziyan's face gradually became clear. Zhao Junning's eyes were always on his face, full of tenderness and love. She looked at Li Ziyan, as if telling him that no matter what he went through, she would always be by his side, accompanying him through every difficult moment.

Li Ziyan wanted to pull his hand back. He didn't want Zhao Junning's clean hands to be stained. Zhao Junning held Li Ziyan's hand: "If there are more thorns on this road, we will clean them together. If there is more blood on the road, we will wipe it off. There will always be a clean and prosperous time." Li Ziyan's eyes were full of mixed feelings, and he asked seriously: "Junning, are you afraid to follow me on this dangerous road?" Zhao Junning shook his head: "No."

The carriage was moving, and Zhao Junning was very tired and fell asleep on Li Ziyan's shoulder. The carriage stopped outside Li's house, and Li Ziyan gently picked up Zhao Junning and walked out of the carriage towards the house. Lin Muchen, Yuan Xinghui, Fuling Gancao, who were waiting for Zhao Junning to come back, were relieved when they saw Zhao Junning in Li Ziyan's arms. After returning to the house, Li Ziyan put Zhao Junning on the bed.

Li Ziyan held Zhao Junning's hand, fearing that he would leave him again.

In the Yuelai Inn, "Princess, the Ninth Princess just came back. Do you want to go and see her?" Lu Zhi asked. Xiao Yumiao nodded and said, "Go and tell her that she will be back in the palace tomorrow. Let her have a good rest. Don't ask her anything else. The fact that she came back first means that Zhao Junning is still alive." Lu Zhi replied, "Yes."

At this time, Xiao Yufu in the room finally calmed down. Lu Zhi knocked on the door, and the maid went to open the door, "Princess, it's Lu Zhi."

Xiao Yufu said, "Let her in." Luzhi walked into the room, bowed, and said, "Ninth Princess, my princess asked me to tell her that she will be back in the palace tomorrow. Please take a good rest."

Xiao Yufu thought for a moment and said, "Okay." Then she asked, "Luzhi, did the princess come to see me today?" Luzhi replied, "No, the princess has been resting in the house. She caught a cold yesterday, so she wanted to go back to the palace tomorrow to let the imperial physician take a look."

Xiao Yufu was relieved when she learned that Xiao Yumiao didn't seem to notice that she was not in the room: "Then go back and say hello to the emperor on my behalf." Luzhi lowered her head and responded with a smile on her face: "Yes, I will obey your order."

Back in Xiao Yumiao's room, Luzhi passed on every word to Xiao Yumiao. Xiao Yumiao curled her lips and chuckled, "My ninth sister is just too stupid. All of us sisters have our own plans, but she is the only one who is stupid and has no wisdom. She is obviously bad. Compared with her brother, the crown prince, and the third brother Zhengshu, it really makes people wonder if they were born of the same mother."

Then she fiddled with the flowers in her hand: "Yu Fu is too simple, but she can be a chess piece for me. She is far inferior to Zhao Jun Ning. Don't you think about it carefully? Zhao Jun Ning is well-known in Wei and has always been narrow-minded. Now with the addition of Li Zi Yan, who is also narrow-minded and intelligent, the couple seems to be a perfect match."

In the East Palace in Pingliang City, "Back then, Marquis Guangping and General Zhao were the same. Everyone thought that they only knew how to fight and were incapable of other strategies. But these two were founding heroes, even the ancestors of the two families in the previous dynasty were also founding heroes. The combination of these two old generals intimidated Yihan Beimeng, namely Handan Chi, and did not invade the territory of Wei for 19 years." Qin Zhuoyuan's tone was full of admiration. Xiao Zhengchu nodded and said, "So, Master, what do you want?"

Qin Zhuoyuan shook his head: "We can't pull it over, we can only wait and see." Xiao Zhengchu nodded: "Well, it's been so long, and my father is still in good health. If nothing unexpected happens, I will be the next emperor. Everything will be up to you, Master."