Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 318 No Rush, I Will Come to See the Imperial Sister-in-Law

Chapter 318: Chapter 318 No Rush, I Will Come to See the Imperial Sister-in-Law

The Fourth Prince’s hands and the words he spoke made Murong Jiu feel nauseous.

A chilling sensation flowed from her heart to all her limbs, making her almost vomit.

The thought of the Fourth Prince observing her secretly from where she couldn’t see, spying on her, felt like she was being targeted by a venomous snake, a sensation even more excruciatingly repulsive than that of the Second Prince or the Third Prince.

Yet, she suppressed these emotions deep within her heart, showing not the slightest trace on the surface.

Regardless, she had to survive. If she died, she couldn’t imagine what Jun Yuyan would do, and then there were Zhijin and Zhiyu, they were so young they couldn’t be left without parents.

Moreover, she had no clear idea of what Jun Yuyan’s current situation was.

She quietly looked at the Fourth Prince, "Fourth Prince, what exactly do you want to do?"

The Fourth Prince showed her a strange smile.

Murong Jiu frowned, just then a woman’s voice came from outside, "Your Highness, everything is ready; you should return now."

The Fourth Prince’s gaze remained on Murong Jiu’s face; upon hearing this, he slowly stood up, dusted off his clothes, and said to her, "What I want to do, you will know very soon. Don’t worry, I’ll come to see you."

With that, he walked out.

"Mo Yu, keep a close eye on her."

Murong Jiu heard the sound of horse hooves. The Fourth Prince seemed to ride off in the rain, but where to? To his father and brothers’ place, to cover his tracks?

He had people searching for his elder brother’s whereabouts, so it was quite normal for him to be separated from his family for a while.

This also meant that the place where his brother fell into the water was not far from here.

The soft footsteps grew nearer, and Murong Jiu looked up to see the woman who had just spoken, seemingly called Mo Yu. She was holding the Fourth Prince’s firestarter, with ordinary features and a cold gaze, the only unusual thing being her height, which seemed no shorter than the Fourth Prince.

She was wearing a night suit, wet from the heavy rain, looking as if she had been fished out of water.

The flickering firelight made the woman’s face appear intermittently clear and shadowed.

Her hands clutching the firestarter were full of thick calluses.

She was a martial artist.

And a highly skilled one at that.

"Miss Mo Yu..."

No sooner had Murong Jiu started speaking than the other woman let out a cold laugh and suddenly extinguished the firestarter, plunging the cave into darkness.

"No need to try to close the gap with me. I am not like His Highness, who is compassionate; I particularly despise weak women like you who couldn’t even hurt a chicken."

Her voice did not hide the disgust and loathing for Murong Jiu.

Murong Jiu was not discouraged by this rebuff. She could see that this Mo Yu must be devoted to the Fourth Prince, otherwise why would she show such hostility towards her?

Heartless and loveless, that’s how one grabs no vulnerabilities.

She silently wept, urgently asking her, "How is the Prince doing, please, Miss Mo Yu, can you tell me how my husband is doing?"

Mo Yu stared at her, scoffed coldly, "Prince Ling is fortunate."

Having said that, before Murong Jiu could speak again, Mo Yu struck her on the back of the neck with a knife hand strike, the force knocking her out immediately.

Murong Jiu woke up twice along the way, each time on horseback, bound face down, possibly awakened by the jolting. Before she could even vomit the tumultuous content of her stomach, she was knocked out again.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she was awakened by the heat of a fire. The fierce flames in the dilapidated temple grew more intense as the wind blew; the rain outside had stopped, but the wind continued. She faced the fire, from a distance that left her face glowed red, her clothes half dry, her back still damp. Whenever the wind blew, it was bone-chillingly cold.

There was no one by the fire, but Murong Jiu was still bound hand and foot, and she felt extremely uncomfortable in her stomach. It was still dark, but even in her dazed state, she knew that it must have been the night of the next day, having been hurried along on horseback by Mo Yu for a full day and night.

Where was she being taken?

Faint footsteps sounded outside.

Murong Jiu immediately sneezed several times, looking groggy and shivering, her eyes closed as she muttered, "So cold... so hot..."

Mo Yu threw down the prey she had caught, the thick scent of blood spreading swiftly.

She yanked Murong Jiu up, "You’re awake, then awake, what’s with the pretending? Princess Consort Ling, a divine doctor, how could you act like a charlatan!"

Murong Jiu remained limp, like she was in a deep, nonsensical sleep; Mo Yu snorted coldly and threw her onto the ground.

As Murong Jiu’s head hit the ground, she did not awaken but seemed to faint instead.

Mo Yu’s expression grew dark, almost wishing she could twist Murong Jiu’s neck.

However, as she reached out her hand, she noticed something wrong. Murong Jiu was running a high fever, especially her forehead, which was alarmingly hot.

Mo Yu’s expression became even uglier.

Moreover, there was blood seeping from the back of Murong Jiu’s head.

Without making any sound and still seemingly unconscious, Mo Yu, remembering the instructions from The Fourth Prince, had a sinister look but eventually turned Murong Jiu over, warmed her clothes by the fire, and loosely bandaged the bleeding area on her head with cloth.

She resecured Murong Jiu’s bonds strongly and then left, presumably to fetch a physician.

Murong Jiu wasn’t truly unconscious. When all became silent around, she opened her eyes and quickly surveyed her surroundings. The broken temple offered no clue as to their location; the Buddhist statues were clay and had long been in ruins, dust covered the floor.

Unable to shake off the ropes, she didn’t bother to struggle; as, even if she escaped, Mo Yu with her martial skills could easily find her.

It would be better to let the physician prescribe some medicine to help her recover first.

She was indeed running a high fever. If the timing was right, since she fell into the moat, a day and a night had passed; her clothes and hair had been wet constantly, and the jolting on horseback was too much for even a robust body to endure.

The Fourth Prince must have instructed Mo Yu to take her far from the Capital City. That they were resting in this derelict temple indicated they were still some distance from their destination; otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked stopping.

This meant that once her illness was cured, she might find a suitable opportunity to escape.

At least not now.

Shortly after, the sound of hooves approached, and Mo Yu returned to the broken temple with an elderly physician, carrying herbs and medicine pots.

The elderly physician was pale, leaning on the tree outside the temple, vomiting profusely, taking a long while before he had the strength to check Murong Jiu’s pulse.

"Eh, the pulse of this girl, why is it so strange?"

Murong Jiu had "awoken" and hearing the word "girl," she realized for the first time that her hair was disheveled, styled as an unmarried young woman, to deceive onlookers.

"Never mind her pulse, just prepare the fever-reducing medicine first!"

Mo Yu said coldly, one hand resting on her waist.

There rested a long sword able to slice through iron as if it were mud, capable of cleaving a person in two.

Murong Jiu said nothing, knowing the elderly physician knew too much and might be killed for it, so she lay back down, feigning weakness as she closed her eyes.

Yet in her mind, she was startled by the elderly physician’s attire, evidently from Yongzhou, as was his accent!

Which meant she had guessed wrong. Mo Yu had been taking her on the run for at least three days and nights, constantly hurrying forward, as urgent as an eight-hundred-mile rapid relay, to have reached the vicinity of Yongzhou!

How could this be!