A piece of Japanese incense

Zhi Yihe's eyes turned redder and redder. She hurriedly untied the rope and threw it into the puddle, muttering "I'm sorry". The rain formed a fine web on her eyelashes, but could not wash away the guilt in her heart.

Hefeng placed his palm on the back of her head, and with a gentle force, he held her in his arms. His forehead rested against the back of her neck, and he said in a calm tone: "You lied to me too!"

Zhi Yihe tried his best to calm down, took out a handkerchief from his purse, gently covered Hefeng's wrist, wiped the raindrops from his face, and carefully reminded him: "Don't touch water when you go back. Warm it with fire. Although it will burn, it will remove the black mark on your wrist and it will be fine."

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

Zhi Yihe looked up at him and replied in a weak voice, "Someone will come to rescue you soon."

He Feng stared into her eyes and said in a clear and firm voice: "You are going to leave me, aren't you?"

"I hope you can take care of my grandmother, she is very old..."

"Ah He! I really don't know where they are being held! Believe me!"

Zhi Yihe was stunned for a moment, then nodded very seriously.

The sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly, gradually approaching, becoming louder and louder, rumbling like thunder echoing in the sky.

Hefeng helped Zhi Yihe onto the horse, his eyes revealing reluctance to let him go: "You are not good at riding, so after riding for a while, get off the horse and hide."

Zhi Yihe turned around, never looked back, and left resolutely.

She gripped the reins tightly and clamped her legs around the horse's belly awkwardly, fearing that she would fall if she was not careful.

The horse seemed to sense her nervousness and started to trot, then suddenly accelerated and broke into a gallop. Zhi Yihe's body began to sway violently uncontrollably.

Suddenly, the horse jumped over a small ditch, and her center of gravity was completely lost. Her body was thrown from the side of the horse's back like an arrow from a bow. She only felt the wind whistling past her ears. The next moment, the world was spinning, and she had fallen heavily on the soft yet hard grass, rolling several times before stopping.

Dirt, grass and rain all covered my face. But the horse didn't stop, it galloped away, leaving behind a series of rapid hoof sounds, and gradually went away.

The pain surged, and every inch of skin and every bone in his body protested. The knees were the first to be hit, and the sharp pain felt like countless needles piercing at the same time. Zhi Yihe adjusted for a long time before he slowly stood up by holding onto a tree.

She took off her headdress and jewelry, took off her outer robe, wrapped them up, tied them around her chest, and held them tightly in her arms.

She didn't know how long she had been walking, but the pursuers didn't catch up. She was just tired, hungry, and still getting wet in the rain. The helplessness in her heart was being pulled by countless invisible lines.

"My blessing is yet to come!" Zhi Yihe shouted, she pulled herself together, and strode forward with her head held high. Then, she fell into a deep sleep in a place with dense grass, leaning against a big tree.

Zhi Yihe was awakened by a chaotic sound, "Da Da Da", "Squeaky Squeaky", occasionally accompanied by the slight "creaking" of wood, and the sound of "whoosh" coming from the waving of a whip, "Gee! Gee!"

She buried her body deeper, not daring to move at all, and held her breath as she listened to the carriage passing by her.

"Mom, we have been traveling for several days. When can we reach my aunt's house?"

"Sleep a little longer. When you wake up, we'll be there."

"So we can never go home again?"

"Well, we have no home..." The sound of soft crying came out intermittently.

"What are you talking about? Stop crying, Xiangxiang. When we get to Sanchuan, we can settle down there and start a new life. Come on, Xige'er, comfort your mother."

When Zhi Yihe heard the word "Sanchuan", he immediately became excited and crawled to catch up with the carriage.

Fortunately, they had a lot of luggage and were moving slowly. Zhi Yihe followed them while calling out and finally succeeded in stopping the carriage.

The woman in the car leaned her head out and looked around, and asked suspiciously: "Hey girl, why are you alone in this desolate mountain?"

Zhi Yihe scratched his head a little awkwardly and said embarrassedly, "I was separated from my family. I only know that my only brother is in Sanchuan, so I went there alone. I just heard that your family will also go to Sanchuan. Thanks to your kindness, sister, please give me a ride."

As Zhi Yihe spoke, he took out a coral, turquoise and gold bracelet from the bag in front of his chest with his fingertips and handed it to the woman respectfully.

"Ouch! No! No! Put your things away quickly and get in quickly!" The woman pushed and pulled, organizing the items in the car to make room for her.

"Thank you for your help, sister! Thank you, sister!" Zhi Yihe got on the carriage and stuffed the bracelet into the woman's hand.

The woman raised her little finger to observe the style of the bracelet, and hurriedly returned it to Zhi Yihe: "Oh my! This is not worth it! It's too expensive! Too expensive!"

Zhi Yihe no longer refused, and continued to express gratitude: "When we get to Sanchuan and find my brother, I will make him thank me a hundred times more!"

"No, no! It's just a small favor! Why do you need such a big gift? Judging from the style of the bracelet and the girl's clothes, she must be from the capital, right?"

"um, yes."

The woman dug out a handkerchief from a wooden box and gave it to her. She said hesitantly, "Young lady, you are from a wealthy family, right? How come you are... in such a situation?"

Zhi Yihe wiped his wet hair and forced a smile: "The world is unpredictable, I have no choice."

The woman seemed to have found resonance: "Could it be that the young lady has also received the news that the world will not be peaceful?"

Zhi Yihe paused, not knowing why the woman said that, so he could only respond ambiguously: "Yes, we ordinary people have a hard life."

The woman echoed with deep sympathy: "That's right! How long has Dongli been at peace? There are always endless wars, endless emperors, and in the end, the ones who suffer..."

"Xiangxiang! What nonsense are you talking about!" The man who was driving outside the car stopped her sternly.

"War?" Zhi Yihe blurted out: "What do you mean? Who told you that? Why are we fighting?"

The woman glanced out the curtain, but seemed unable to control her curiosity and asked, "Why? You don't know?"

Zhi Yihe shook her head, worried that another war might be triggered because of her father. She felt a little uneasy. She held the woman's hands and asked earnestly, "Sister, have you heard any news? So the whole family moved to Sanchuan?"

The child named Xiger said, "Sister, you are from the capital, don't you know? The Yan family army is about to attack the imperial city! The older brothers in our village have been drafted into the army. My father and the county magistrate were old classmates, so we learned the news in advance, otherwise my father would have been captured and forced to serve in the war."

The woman hugged Xiger, looked at Zhiyihe with a little shyness, and smiled embarrassedly.

Yan Jiajun? Not Daddy...

Zhi Yihe was relieved after hearing the news, but her mood was still complicated. She murmured to herself: "The Yan family army also suffered heavy losses that day, and they should have rested and recuperated. Why did they launch an attack so quickly?"

"That's because they want to kill Prince Yuancheng's Crown Princess!" Xiger spoke frankly, but the woman covered his mouth in time.

Zhi Yihe asked with a hint of surprise: "Is it... Yan Xunhua?"

Xi Ge'er nodded, broke free from the woman's hand, and said firmly: "If you ask me, that vicious woman has killed so many innocent lives, shouldn't she be killed?"

"You all...know everything?"

Xi Ge'er patted his chest proudly and replied, "Of course, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince successfully solved the case of the 'baby-eating monster', and the news has been made known to the world. He is our hero!"

Zhi Yihe smiled crookedly: "He has become a hero!"

Xi Geer continued to share: "My mother often lied to me about the ghost mother, saying that if I didn't eat, the ghost mother would take me away, and if I didn't obey, the ghost mother would also eat me. Hum, they were all lies."

Zhi Yi and Liao Ran chuckled: "That must be because you are naughty, otherwise how could such a gentle sister make up a story to deceive you?"

The woman's eyes curved into crescents as she rubbed Xiger's head, her eyes full of smiles that seemed about to overflow.

Unconsciously, Zhi Yihe was talking and laughing when she felt sleepy. However, her consciousness was very clear. She could still hear the slight sounds coming from afar. She could tell that it was the occasional passing of a car in the middle of the night, or the whispers of people in the distance...