“Lord Lin, let’s talk about this after we survive.”
Qu Jinshu helped lift the unconscious Zhao Jingxing and spoke to Lin Zhong in a low, firm voice.
In her previous life, the thirty or so assassins had not been alerted. She, He Xiujun, and Lin Zhong had worked together to eliminate them one by one, eventually securing a hard won victory.
But this time, He Xiujun was no longer fighting alongside them. Worse, he had deliberately made a commotion, alerting all the assassins to their whereabouts. Their situation was far more dangerous now.
Lin Zhong’s voice trembled. “Are we really going to die here? It wouldn’t matter if an old man like me died here, but Prince Jing can’t! He’s still so young. He hasn’t even married or had children!”
As he spoke, even a grown man like him couldn’t help but burst into tears.
“Enough. Stop crying. If you keep making noise, the assassins will pinpoint our location. Then we’ll truly be doomed.”
“We can’t waste any more time. Before they discover you, hurry and escape to find reinforcements,” Qu Jinshu said coldly.
“But…”
“No buts. Go! This is our only chance.”
Perhaps Qu Jinshu’s terrifying gaze had startled him, because Lin Zhong flinched.
When he finally recovered, he choked out, “All right. I’ll definitely bring back reinforcements. Lord Qu, I’m counting on you to protect Prince Jing.”
With that, he quickly retreated in the opposite direction.
Soon, the area gradually fell silent, but the oppressive sense of danger grew heavier by the moment.
Cold sweat began to bead on Qu Jinshu’s forehead.
She had finally been given a second chance at life. She absolutely couldn’t die here.
Feeling her way through the darkness, she helped Zhao Jingxing over to a tree and leaned him against its trunk. She touched his forehead. As expected, he was burning with fever.
“Your Highness, surely fate hasn’t destined us to die here. Please hold on. I will get you back safely.”
After saying this, she picked up a spear from the ground and used her light footed skills to leap to another location.
The movement immediately alerted the assassins hiding in the darkness. In an instant, they surrounded her from all sides.
Qu Jinshu stood in the middle of an open clearing. Moonlight filtered through the sparse clouds, casting shadows across the ground and illuminating her figure.
She held a long spear in her hand, its tip gleaming coldly beneath the moonlight.
The assassins attacked without delay. Flashes of swords and blades intertwined in the night sky.
Her movements were nimble and agile, and the spear danced in her hands like a dragon.
In her previous life, after being injured during that autumn hunt, she had never been able to wield a spear again.
It had been many years since she last used one, yet the familiar feeling returned as though she had only put it down yesterday.
Every time she swung the spear, it was stained with fresh blood. The assassins were gradually forced backward.
However, there were too many of them, and their attacks grew increasingly fierce.
Caught off guard, she was struck by a short blade that sliced across her right shoulder. Blood trickled down her arm, staining half her sleeve red.
But she didn’t retreat. Instead, she fought even more ferociously.
Her reckless, seemingly suicidal fighting style made many of the assassins hesitate.
However, remembering their master’s orders, that they must take Prince Jing’s head and show no mercy to anyone who stood in their way, they launched another wave of attacks.
Qu Jinshu switched the spear to her left hand and continued fighting relentlessly, as though she could no longer feel pain.
More and more bodies collapsed around her.
At last, only a handful of assassins remained. She knew she couldn’t afford to keep fighting.
Before more assassins could be drawn to the area, she activated the smoke bomb she always carried with her.
In an instant, thick smoke engulfed the surroundings, leaving the surviving assassins unable to see where they were going.
Taking advantage of the confusion, she hurried back to where she had left Zhao Jingxing.
Fortunately, he was still there. She removed her belt and used it to secure him to her back.
She then casually tore off a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her wound to stop the bleeding. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to carry Zhao Jingxing toward a secluded part of the forest.
In her previous life, she had been a witness who had seen the assassins firsthand. As a result, she had accompanied the Imperial Guards in their subsequent investigation.
At the time, they had returned to this area and searched the surroundings.
Although they ultimately failed to discover who had ordered the assassination of Prince Jing, she had stumbled upon an extremely well hidden hillside.
A river flowed at the bottom of the slope. Escaping through there might give her a slim chance of survival.
When she pushed aside the bushes, she found the very slope she remembered.
However, it was extremely steep. Carrying someone on her back meant she had to proceed with the utmost caution.
Sweat poured down her face, and the human skin mask she was wearing felt unbearably stuffy.
In truth, she and Qu Zhao didn’t look much alike. To convincingly impersonate him, she had no choice but to wear a human skin mask and shoes with unusually thick soles.
For all these years, she hadn’t even been able to appear in public under her own name and face as Qu Jinshu.
Now that she had been given a second life, if she wanted to change her fate, she would have to save Prince Jing herself.
Prince Jing, Zhao Jingxing, was the son of Consort Li.
Consort Li had once enjoyed unparalleled favor from the Emperor. No one could compare to her.
But for some unknown reason, overnight, the Emperor suddenly ordered her to drink poisoned wine, and her entire maternal family was executed.
At the time, Zhao Jingxing had been only eight years old. Someone had pushed him down the step steps, leaving him mentally impaired.
But no matter how unfortunate his circumstances were, he was still a member of the imperial family, and the Empress Dowager had always protected him.
Saving him would surely bring her some benefits.
Otherwise, Qu Zhao wouldn’t have been promoted in her previous life, and He Xiujun wouldn’t have received that golden token of immunity from execution.
That golden token had later saved the lives of the entire He family!
If He Xiujun didn’t want it, then she would take it!
Feeling the body on her back growing hotter and hotter, Qu Jinshu took a deep breath.
“Your Highness, you must hold on. Only by staying alive will you be able to witness your enemies paying for their crimes with your own eyes.”
At that moment, she was saying these words less to encourage the unconscious, foolish prince and more to give herself the strength to keep going.
She was determined to change the path of her previous life!
“There’s blood here! Follow the them!”