Chapter 23: Li King
JinAn started crying again, and Grandpa Ling’s eyes also welled up.
Just then, the rustling sound from the bamboo beneath her grew louder. JinAn couldn’t afford to talk to them any longer, so she stepped forward and patted JinAn’s head:
“Listen to Grandpa. I will definitely come back alive to find you.”
Leaving all the medicinal materials and silver on her body for Grandpa Ling, she smiled at Grandpa Ling:
“Grandpa, don’t worry, I’m very lucky.”
Grandpa Ling’s old tears flowed: “Good child, you must come back alive.”
JinSui nodded heavily, then peeked out. Seeing no one around, she nimbly grabbed a vine and climbed up.
She ran a long distance along the path the bandits and black-clothed men had taken. Once she was sure no one was near Grandpa Ling, she blew her whistle to signal them to escape.
She didn’t look for the black-clothed men but deliberately left footprints. Gu Changxiao’s shoes were too big, so she stuffed them with a lot of dry grass to be able to run in them.
Sure enough, after a while, she heard someone shouting: “Here! Hurry, chase!”
JinSui deliberately stayed in place. When some bandits saw her, she then ran into the depths of the mountain forest like a nimble little deer.
Hearing many footsteps chasing behind her, she felt relieved. This way, Grandpa Ling and the others could escape safely.
When an arrow grazed her ear, her heart skipped a beat, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep running forward.
She had to lure these constables far away.
She didn’t know how long she had been running in the rugged mountain forest, but the sounds of pursuit behind her never stopped. When she heard the sound of rushing water.
She realized there was no road ahead.
In her panic, she had run to the cliff edge of the waterfall.
Seeing a group of black-clothed men with swords chasing after her, she had no time to hesitate. She made a decisive move, pinched her throat, and imitated Gu Changxiao’s voice, shouting:
“Even if I die in the wilderness, I will never fall into your hands!”
When the dozen or so black-clothed constables saw her retreating figure, she deliberately swung the token at her waist forcefully, making it even clearer for them to see.
Then, with an fearless and resolute demeanor, she leaped off the waterfall.
The black-clothed men rushed to the cliff edge in unison. Looking at the rushing waterfall and the abyss-like bottom of the cliff.
Although the mist from the mountain stream obscured their view of the water, in such a situation, there was no possibility of survival for anyone who jumped.
The leader said in a deep voice: “Go down and search. Bring them back alive if they are found, and their bodies if they are dead!”
As for JinSui, who had leaped down, she had actually been prepared to jump off the cliff long ago. Gu Changxiao was so injured, yet she hadn’t gone into the space to get medicinal materials.
When she parted ways with Grandpa Ling and JinAn, she only left the medicinal materials and silver she had on her, not taking energy bars or other ingredients.
This was all to smoothly enter the laboratory at this moment and obtain something that could save her life.
Coincidentally, her little assistant had gone rafting before and couldn’t stop talking about it upon returning. She had bought an inflatable boat and planned to go play in the mountain stream during her vacation.
She specifically brought it to show her, wanting to invite her along. She had refused, but she never expected that set of equipment would be useful at this time.
The moment she leaped into the water curtain, she lightly clenched her palm, took a deep breath, and hugged the inflatable boat.
Strangely enough, at that moment, JinSui felt no fear at all.
Instead, she found it very thrilling, and a sense of exhilaration coursed through her from the bottom of her heart to her pores.
Since crossing over, it seemed like she had been escaping, running, and struggling to survive every day.
She hoped that after this leap, she could have a peaceful life.
To be honest, she had previously felt that the burdens of this identity were a bit heavy.
Whether it was Grandpa Ling, the brat JinAn, or the desperate plea of Madam Jiang before her death to vindicate Father Ling.
But during her time interacting with Grandpa Ling and JinAn, she had gradually come to like the feeling of having a family.
Those fleeting warm moments made her willingly carry those burdens.
Therefore, she had to survive, and she also wanted to lead Grandpa Ling and JinAn to a good life.
She held onto the inflatable boat tightly, but under the impact of the immense water flow, the inflatable boat was struck by protruding rocks.
It quickly developed a tear. By the time she fell into the water, the inflatable boat was like a deflated balloon.
Before losing consciousness, JinSui’s last thought was that if she could go back, she would definitely buy her assistant the best quality inflatable boat.
When JinSui regained consciousness, she felt the warm sunlight shining on her body. She seemed to be laid out on a stone wall with her limbs spread wide, as if she were being made into a pancake.
She habitually closed her eyes to sense her surroundings. The roar of the waterfall was loud, meaning she was still at the bottom of the cliff.
She faintly heard heavy breathing sounds, but no one was speaking.
What was going on? Was she rescued by Grandpa Ling? Or captured by bandits? Or saved by a passing woodcutter or hunter?
She tried to move her hands and feet; they were not bound, ruling out bandits.
She opened her eyes a slit and slowly turned her head to look. The scene she saw made her suddenly startled.
She was indeed lying on the stone wall. It seemed her clothes were being dried. The wound on her ankle was bandaged, and medicine had been applied to her forehead where the arrow had grazed her.
To her surprise, over a dozen soldiers wearing tattered armor, covered in dust, were kneeling on one knee before her.
As she opened her eyes, the more than ten people said in unison:
“Greetings, Lord Li! Your subordinates were late in rescuing you. Please forgive us, Your Highness!”
At this moment, JinSui felt like a movie queen, able to sit calmly and without changing her expression.
At the same time, her brain was working at high speed, and questions flashed through her mind.
Who was Lord Li?
Right, she had heard people at the dock say that the Crown Prince had been deposed, demoted to Lord Li, and exiled to the borderlands.
Why did these soldiers think she was Lord Li?
She was Ling JinSui, a woman. There was no mistake about that.
What made them mistake her for someone else?
She suddenly thought of that heavy bronze token with its intricate patterns. The constables chasing Gu Changxiao had recognized this token.
So these soldiers must have also mistaken her for Lord Li based on this token!
At the same time, she couldn’t help but think that Gu Changxiao was the deposed Crown Prince.
Indeed, any handsome man lying by the roadside, waiting to be picked up, had an extraordinary identity.
The most important question was, should she confess to these people?
Logically, she should confess.
Disguising herself as a man was one thing, but impersonating the deposed Crown Prince, she, a commoner, well, no, she was a fugitive.
A female fugitive impersonating the deposed Crown Prince, that was too bold.
But she quickly realized that the black-clothed men thought Lord Li had fallen to his death. If she confessed to these soldiers,
the soldiers would definitely go into the mountains to rescue Gu Changxiao. In that case, the black-clothed men and bandits would surely find out, and her ‘death’ would be in vain!
At the same time, she thought of something else. Father Ling’s case involved the deposed Crown Prince. She had discussed it with Grandpa Ling before, mentioning going to Yandi to find the deposed Crown Prince.
To gather clues about Father Ling’s case from his side. She never expected to have the opportunity to impersonate the deposed Crown Prince. Was there any identity more convenient for her to investigate the case?
Just as she was hesitating, she heard the stern-faced young leader say urgently:
“Please forgive my subordinates for their transgression later, Your Highness. We implore Your Highness to accompany us to rescue three hundred brothers!”
The other soldiers also hurriedly added:
“Save us, Your Highness, save the Black Feather Camp! Jiang Nansheng has detained three hundred brothers. Their lives are hanging by a thread, and they urgently await Your Highness’s rescue!”
Upon hearing the surname ‘Jiang’, JinSui instantly became furious and blurted out: “What’s going on?”
Her question, in the eyes of these soldiers, solidified her identity as Lord Li.
Because the intelligence they received was that Lord Li, carrying a token and waist token, was mistakenly captured by bandits and chained in the mountain stronghold.
And the man before them matched the age, and although he had a somewhat effeminate appearance, he was extremely handsome, matching the rumored peerlessly handsome Crown Prince.
The scars on his feet from the iron chains were identical to the intelligence.
Coupled with their urgent desire to find Lord Li to rescue their brothers detained by Jiang Nansheng, JinSui’s response made them no longer doubt her authenticity.
Well, to JinSui, these rough men were too simple-minded. They didn’t even test her and recognized her based solely on a token.
