Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 483 Relying on Favor (28)

A chaotic battle was about to break out in the mountains.

On a slope above the mountains, Yan Zhen and Zhao Yuan stood watching the battle.

The view from here is superb, offering a panoramic view of the battle below.

Xie Ying was a civil official, but he was quite skilled in martial arts. After dodging the sneak attack from Zhao Yuan's fellow disciple, he kicked her off her horse.

The five hundred men he brought were locked in fierce combat with the more than seven hundred Tingzhou soldiers who were lying in ambush there, and neither was at a disadvantage.

Yan Zhen watched the battle with a cold eye, while Zhao Yuan stared at her angrily, his mind filled with all sorts of wild thoughts.

—Once Xie Ying is captured, will she go down to catch up with him?

—If we go down to catch up, should I go with you?

—Will she think I'm in her way if I go with her?

—If I don't go with her, what if she rekindles her old flame with Xie Ying?

As he was struggling with this decision, he saw Yan Zhen take a bow from the soldier behind him, nock an arrow, and aim at Xie Ying below.

Zhao Yuan was taken aback.

However, Yan Zhen overestimated her strength. She could barely draw the bow, but her accuracy was visibly poor.

She turned her head to Zhao Yuan beside her for help: "Come and lend a hand."

Zhao Yuan was still in shock at the thought that she was going to capture Xie Ying herself. When she shouted that, he quickly came to his senses, walked behind her, placed his large hand on the back of her hand, drew his bow, and aimed at Xie Ying's shoulder below.

Shooting from this angle could cripple Xie Ying's arm.

But Yan Zhen clearly didn't like the aiming spot, so he moved the arrow to the right and aimed it at Xie Ying's throat.

Even a moment before she released the arrow, Zhao Yuan still couldn't believe she would want to kill Xie Ying with her own hands.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yan Zhen shot the arrow, aiming straight for Xie Ying's throat—if it hit, Xie Ying would surely die.

Only then did he belatedly realize that Yan Zhen's insistence on coming to Yunzhou was not to see any old flame.

Instead, he came with the intention of killing Xie Ying with his own hands.

The arrow flew from the bowstring with a whooshing sound that caught Xie Ying's attention. He quickly looked up, but the first thing he saw was not the arrow that was shot at him, but Yan Zhen, who was standing on the hilltop looking down at him.

She remained in the posture of having shot the arrow, her eyes filled with a coldness and murderous intent he had never seen before.

Xie Ying was taken aback.

His brief moment of distraction cost him the chance to dodge. By the time the arrow struck, he was too late to avoid it and could only turn his body to the side, watching helplessly as the arrow pierced his shoulder.

The arrow, carrying immense force, knocked him off his horse.

Yan Zhen clicked his tongue.

Pity.

After Xie Ying fell off his horse, he did not get up again, but instead used the horse as cover to avoid being ambushed again.

Yan Zhen knew that if she missed this opportunity, she would not be able to kill Xie Ying for the time being.

As darkness fell, a firework rose in the distance—a signal that the small team had successfully rescued Fu Xue.

They must leave as soon as possible.

Otherwise, once the Liang troops realize what's happening and arrive to provide support, a thousand men against three thousand Liang soldiers, especially on Yunzhou territory, would inevitably suffer a loss.

"Let's go back to Tingzhou."

After Yan Zhen finished speaking, Zhao Yuan immediately took her hand, led her down the slope, and left without looking back.

After many days, Yan Zhen met up with the rescue team in the border area between Yunzhou and Tingzhou and saw Fu Xue again.

Fu Xue was suddenly snatched away and was still in a daze.

Upon seeing Yan Zhen, she realized that the person who came to rescue her was acting on the orders of their master.

She rushed to Yan Zhen and burst into tears.

Yan Zhen pulled her into the carriage and looked at Fu Xue, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, in the dim candlelight.

After several days apart, Fu Xue had lost some weight and had a scar on her forehead, but she didn't seem to have suffered much.

Clearly, Xie Ying did not torture her.

"It's alright now," Yan Zhen reassured her. "We'll be safe once we get back to Tingzhou."

Fu Xue sobbed for a long time before recounting what happened after they parted ways on the mountain that night.

She hid at the foot of the cliff, but was discovered by the search party not long after. In desperation, she slammed her head against a rock, causing her to bleed profusely and lose consciousness.

When she woke up again, she had been taken to the Liang army.

Xie Ying asked her what had happened and where the princess was.

Fu Xue pretended to have amnesia, insisting that she couldn't remember anything.

Although Xie Ying had doubts, he didn't press her for answers or make things difficult for her.

"I thought Lord Xie would take me back to the palace." Fu Xue sat in the carriage, nestled on Yan Zhen's lap, sniffed, and said with emotion, "Your Highness, I never expected you to come and save me personally... Fu Xue is so unworthy of such kindness!"

Yan Zhen was too embarrassed to say that his main purpose for coming here was to kill Xie Ying, so he just patted Fu Xue's head and silently comforted her.

They traveled through the night and returned to Tingzhou at dawn.

The city gate slowly closed behind him, and Yan Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

Since we can't kill Xie Ying, we'll only be able to meet him on the battlefield from now on.

After traveling back and forth for a day and two nights, Yan Zhen hadn't slept for twenty-four hours.

Back at the Prince Zhao's residence, she had the steward settle Fu Xue in, and after washing up, she went straight to sleep.

I slept straight through the night.

When she woke up, it was already dark outside.

The room was lit, and Yan Zhen sat up and stretched.

The commotion inside the bed curtains alerted those outside. Soon, footsteps could be heard outside, and shortly afterward, someone lifted the curtains.

It was Zhao Yuan.

"You're awake." Zhao Yuan seemed to be in a good mood, with a smile playing on his lips. He took his coat and draped it over Yan Zhen. "Are you hungry? There's some porridge heating up in the kitchen, you can have it anytime."

"A little," Yan Zhen said. She threw off the covers, got out of bed, and went to wash up.

Seeing this, Zhao Yuan hurried to the outer room, took a copper kettle from the stove, poured hot water into the copper basin, tested the temperature, wrung out a wet towel, and handed it to her.

Yan Zhen glanced at him in surprise—Zhao Yuan was not one to willingly serve others.

Why are you being so attentive today?

After washing his face, Zhao Yuan personally brought Yan Zhen tea to rinse his mouth, and then went out to serve the meal.

When the servants brought the meal, Zhao Yuan picked up a bowl of porridge, seemingly about to feed Yan Zhen himself. Yan Zhen finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Zhao Yuan blew on the spoon to cool the porridge, then brought it to Yan Zhen's lips. "What are you doing?"

Yan Zhen pushed his hand away, her expression wary: "Why are you serving me?"

Zhao Yuan thought for a moment and said, "I'm in a good mood."

"In a good mood?" Yan Zhen was even more puzzled. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Yes." Zhao Yuan brought the porridge to her lips again.

Yan Zhen reached out to take the spoon and bowl of porridge: "I'll eat by myself..."

Zhao Yuan withdrew his hand: "I want to serve you."

"No need." Yan Zhen seemed to imply that he wouldn't eat these things until he made things clear. "Explain yourself. Why are you suddenly being so attentive?"

At this point, Zhao Yuan became even happier: "You want to kill Xie Ying."

Yan Zhen: "...So?"

"So you don't like him at all."

Yan Zhen still couldn't figure out his thought process, and his expression became increasingly puzzled.

“You don’t love him anymore, you only love me now,” Zhao Yuan said smugly. “I am very satisfied with your change of heart.”