The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

Gu Nianzhi walked towards the cave entrance and bent down to pick up the spear.

"Huaiyuan, come quickly, they are here indeed." The prince and Shu Huaiyuan followed the blood trail and found the entrance to the cave.

"Prince?" Gu Nian was stunned. "Didn't you go in another direction? Why are you back?"

The prince climbed into the cave, and Shu Huaiyuan followed.

"We found that the group of masked men did not catch up with you, and we were worried that they might harm you, so we turned around and came to find you." Shu Huaiyuan explained: "We suspected that your identity was exposed in Qingshui Town."

Gu Nianzhi thought for a moment, "Could it be because of the Ferghana horse?"

"Yes, the Ferghana horses are rare and famous, which attracts many people to visit, but the problem is not with the Ferghana horses."

"That is……"

"The horses that the Crown Prince and I rode are called Yujing horses. They are used exclusively for transfers at the government post stations and are also used by the royal guards. Anyone who knows the business will know that they belong to the government. The combination of two Yujing horses and a Ferghana horse will naturally be discovered by the Second Prince's spies."

"They think that the prince is of noble status and must be riding a more expensive horse, so all the people are chasing us?"

"Yes, we were worried that you two would be outnumbered, so we came here overnight following the horseshoe prints. By the way, the Third Prince is..."

Gu Nianzhi turned around and saw the prince sitting next to Sima Yao with a serious expression and tears in his eyes.

"Third brother... could it be that he..."

"Your Highness, there is no need to be sad." Gu Nianzhi hurried over and said, "The Third Prince must have just fainted from hunger."

"But what about the blood?" The prince held up the sleeve of the third prince, which had been completely dyed crimson with blood and was also cut into two pieces by a sword.

“It should be the blood of those masked men.”

Shu Huaiyuan walked forward and half-supported Sima Yao in his arms. Then he opened the water bag and asked Gu Nianzhi to pry open Sima Yao's mouth. He poured a little water into Sima Yao's mouth. Seeing Sima Yao's lips moved slightly, Shu Huaiyuan did it again.

Sima Yao woke up slowly and looked at the prince and Shu Huaiyuan in front of him, he was a little surprised.

"Where am I... again?"

"We have been in the cave the whole time. What's wrong with you, Third Prince?" Gu Nianzhi was afraid that Sima Yao would talk nonsense, so he took the initiative.

"We were clearly in a basement just now. You said that I needed blood to teleport and avoid the pursuit of the masked man, so I cut my wrist to get blood, and then I was hit on the back of the neck and passed out..." Sima Yao recalled the scene of the time travel. There were indeed many unanswered questions in his mind.

“Third Prince, what are you talking about?” Gu Nianzhi quickly pretended to be confused. “We have been hiding inside since we were chased here by the masked men last night. Are you hungry and confused because you haven’t eaten or drunk anything for a day? If I really had the ability to teleport, I would have teleported everyone back to the capital long ago. Why would we have to risk our lives and travel such a long distance?”

"How could I be hungry? You gave me some sweet water to drink, and made me eat something black, called chocolaty or something chocolatey. And, we also ate a soft yellow pastry, which you called sponge cake..."

Gu Nianzhi shook her head and continued to act innocent.

"Third Prince, why do you still say you're not hungry? You're so hungry that you're eating in your dreams..." Turning around, Gu Nianzhi said to the Crown Prince, "Crown Prince, listen to me. The Third Prince is talking about these things like chocolat and sponge cake. I've never even heard of them."

Gu Nianzhi's words were so decisive that Sima Yao began to doubt himself, but he couldn't help but explain, "When you gave me those things, you also said that I was seriously injured and I must eat more to replenish my body..."

Gu Nianzhi pretended to sigh helplessly.

"Third Prince, I can't argue with you about other things, but you are not injured at all, so how could I possibly tell you to take some tonic? If you don't believe me, just lift up your clothes and you'll know."

Sima Yao lifted up his clothes. Under the shocking bloody clothes, there was really no wound to be found.

He looked again at the wrist where he had cut himself to draw blood in his memory, and there was no wound there either.

Is all this really just a dream?

Even the desperate fight with the masked man in black was just a dream???

Then, what I heard Gu Nianzhi say in my daze, that if there is an afterlife, I hope we can still be friends, was also an illusion?

"Third brother, you must be too nervous, which is why you have such a nightmare after you relax." Sima Yao's words really sounded like nonsense, and even the prince firmly believed that what Gu Nianzhi said was the truth. "When we return to the capital, let the imperial physician take a good look at you. If you take good care of yourself for a period of time, you won't be like this anymore."

Shu Huaiyuan picked up the spear from the ground and saw the phoenix-inlaid kingfisher hairpin. He picked it up and asked suspiciously, "Why is there a woman's hairpin in this cave?"

"My mother gave it to me." Sima Yao forced himself to stand up. He felt much weaker. Although he didn't have a single scar on his body, he felt weak as if he had lost a lot of blood.

“Since it was something of Concubine De, why didn’t you keep it safe instead of letting it fall to the ground?” The prince took the phoenix-inlaid kingfisher hairpin and handed it to Sima Yao.

When Sima Yao put the hairpin around his waist, he suddenly recalled the scene when he entrusted the hairpin to Gu Nian.

"If...if you can survive, keep this...find a chance...to return it to my mother. Let her...keep this hairpin as a memory..."

These are indeed the words spoken by myself.

And at that time, I was indeed seriously injured.

Now that the hairpin has fallen to the ground, it is enough to prove that this hairpin has been taken out from her waist.

"Didn't I once entrust this hairpin to you and ask you to give it to my mother so that she could keep it as a keepsake?" Sima Yao looked at Gu Nianzhi and asked seriously.

"Third Prince, I really didn't." Gu Nianzhi looked aggrieved: "This must be another scene in your dream, right?"

Gu Nianzhi knew clearly that Sima Yao had memories of everything that happened since the two of them were hunted and fled, but he had lost too much blood and was dizzy, and the two time travels had left him somewhat confused about time and space. He could never admit anything that happened during this period, otherwise it would be difficult to justify himself.

Once Sima Yao discovered the flaw and the lie was exposed, his secret would no longer be kept.

"Maybe, I really have some kind of dream disorder..."

Sima Yao also began to doubt his memory.

According to his memory, he was first chased by a man in black, stabbed in the abdomen with a sword, bleeding profusely, and had several minor injuries on his body.

Afterwards, he found this cave and entrusted the hairpin to Gu Nianzhi, who was less seriously injured.

Then I went to a basement for some unknown reason and ate a bunch of strange things.

Later, Gu Nianzhi even let him bleed, saying that he wanted to teleport and cast a spell...

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the cave.

The things I experienced in my memory were indeed somewhat unbelievable. More importantly, if my memories were what I really experienced, how could so many and such big wounds heal overnight?

Maybe it was really like what my eldest brother said, that I was too nervous and fabricated some unfounded experiences, and I had been too tired during this period, so I eventually confused my memory and reality?