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"Get down! You're so heavy!"

Damn it, he actually complained that she was heavy. If it weren't for him, would she be doing such a life-risking, high-difficulty stunt?

Resentfully climbing off him, several vicious hounds seized the opportunity to try and separate her from their master, pouncing from all directions with low growls. Before she could steady herself, a broad sleeve scooped her into an embrace, pressing her against a warm, incense-filled chest. Heavy, turbid breathing from his chest cavity penetrated her ears, and she looked up to see Young Master Li's sharp, delicate chin dripping with a light sweat.

He was protecting her! Hmph... But that was what he was supposed to do anyway, so she didn't need to feel touched.

The hounds couldn't bite the person they were supposed to, so they could only stand on the periphery and howl. Their master firmly embedded their food against his chest without loosening up in the least, narrowing his eyes to stare them down.

"Hey, what is your name... Zhu... what?" He caught his breath from the remaining exertion, breathing laboriously.

"..." She really shouldn't have been touched. After all that fuss, he didn't even remember her name! "Zhu Bafu! I am the number one street-corner love letter writer, Zhu Bafu!"

"It's you—cough, cough, cough!" He leaned sideways onto her shoulder, pressing his lips close to her cheek to whisper secretly, "In a moment, when I give a hard push and shove you away, run toward the west side. There's a small door there; run straight ahead and don't look back. Once you're out of the Imperial City Gate, they won't chase you anymore."

"And you?"

He lowered his gaze to look at her for a moment. "Just worry about yourself."

"Your old man is so angry he released the dogs to bite people. He's definitely going to give you a sound beating!"

"It won't kill me."

"How could it not kill you? Your dad said he's going to use Family Discipline on you! Besides, if those two lashes hit your Snow Skin and Tender Flesh and leave your skin torn and your flesh mangled, what a pity..." Young Master Piao would probably be heartbroken too. In case Young Master Piao was heartbroken and cut down her silver reward, what would she do?

"No! I won't leave you behind alone! If we leave, we leave together!"

"..." Since when did they have such a deep bond of brotherly affection?

"If I run alone, those wild dogs will definitely bite me to death. Bringing you along is different! Heh heh! Riding on the coattails of another's power, after all!"

"Now!"

A broad sleeve swept aside as a short figure hijacked the tall young noble, drilling out from the western gate of the Prime Minister's Residence, followed by a pack of howling vicious hounds and a crowd of estate guards who wanted to save him but didn't dare, and wanted to stop him but couldn't.

The two of them ran for their lives. The Imperial City Gate was right before their eyes. As long as they squeezed out through the inner gates of the imperial city, those vicious hounds would know they hadn't been ordered to chase them out into the outer city and would naturally trot obediently back to the Prime Minister's Residence.

"Young Master, exactly how long has it been since your dogs had any food?"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough. They've never been fed until full."

"Eh? In your prestigious Prime Minister's Residence, you abuse animals? Why not let them eat properly?"

"If they were fed full, how could they bite you?"

"Uh, well, that's true. Young Master, are you alright? Did I really crash into you that painfully just now? Actually, I'm not that heavy, right?"

"You're too polite, Mortal Weapon of Mass Destruction."

A—a Mortal Weapon of Mass Destruction?! Although he didn't know she was a girl, she still had a girl's feelings! She dragged him along to run for her life, and ungratefully, he still said her weight was a Mortal Weapon of Mass Destruction!

"Young Master! Stop running! The Imperial City Gate has already closed for the You hour, and ahead is the Moat. There's no way you can escape! Please quickly return to the Prime Minister's Residence with your subordinates to await punishment!" The guards behind them were still earnestly trying to persuade them.

"Await your head!" Her mood was currently depressed, so she turned her head and cursed right back. "Your dignified Prime Minister's Residence actually releases dogs to bite people! Once I escape, I have a brush like a knife to write to death all of you who discriminate against Longyang affairs, secretly raise Foreign Demonic Beast, and play with power to bully disadvantaged groups! Just wait and—ah, my goodness!"

With a sudden screech to a halt, the path abruptly came to an end!

Just as the guard had said, ahead was the vast and gloomy Moat. Although the Imperial City Gate stood wide open, the drawbridge had long since been slightly raised, making it completely impossible to jump to the opposite bank.

Behind them were pursuing soldiers and vicious hounds; ahead were the rolling, churning waters of the Moat. Clearly it was a time of peace and prosperity, so how could she have run into such a chaotic situation of war and upheaval?

"This is the end of the line... Young Master, what do we do?"

Li Chenjing clutched his chest to steady himself, looking back for a glance before probing the height between the drawbridge and the opposite bank. At a height like this, even if one were lucky enough to jump to the opposite bank, they would definitely end up breaking a leg or snapping a hand.

"You know how to swim, right?" Last time when she delivered a love letter and fell into the water, she hadn't drowned, so it seemed she was acquainted with the water.

"Eh? Swim? Could it be that you want to—"

"Jump into the Moat."

"Nani?! How can this do?!"

"Or do you want to be dragged back, you feed the Lion, and I face Family Discipline."

"..." Jumping down would indeed spare one from physical suffering, but this Moat was over seventy zhang wide, and its depth was unmeasurable. In any case, no one who fell in ever crossed it by stepping on the bottom. Even though she barely knew how to do the dog paddle, the pressure was still huge! However, Young Master looked as though he had everything under control; trusting him should mean there wouldn't be any mistakes.

"I almost forgot to mention: after we jump down, hold onto me tightly." He turned his head and instructed her earnestly.

As expected, she had said he was unusually calm. "Don't worry, I will definitely hold onto Young Master tightly and never let go!"

Reaching out to pat her shoulder, Li Chenjing closed his eyes and spoke, "Mm. I don't know a single bit of swimming. I'm counting on you."

"..."

"Then, jump!"

"Jump your sister! You don't know how to swim yet you propose jumping into the river—are you committing suicide?! I'd rather be bitten to death by a Foreign Lion than jump into the river with someone who doesn't know how to swim! Don't drag me down, let go, let me go surrender to the authorities, let me go lay down my armor and surrender, let me go feed the Lion! I don't want to be your new sweetheart, and even if you want to save a woman you can't sacrifice an innocent passerby's life! I'm an innocent classmate Zhu, innocent—ahhhhhhhh!"

Ranking List

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Historical Romance

Woman Dressed as a Man