Meeting those crystal - clear eyes that resembled precious gems, Jiang Mian stood there stunned, unable to come back to her senses for a moment.
Was she dreaming?!
How could Xiao Jingcheng have opened his eyes?!
Mo Zhizhang couldn't see Xiao Jingcheng's face, but as a martial artist, he could sense a change in Xiao Jingcheng's aura. He frowned slightly, and a bad premonition suddenly welled up in his heart.
The next moment, Xiao Jingcheng's long - awaited, somewhat weak voice rang out in the room.
"Jiang... Mian?"
Jiang Mian suddenly came to her senses and subconsciously gasped. The porcelain bowl in her hand was clearly no longer hot, but at this moment, she almost couldn't hold it. The rice soup in the bowl spilled out and dripped onto her palm.
"Daoist! Daoist Yuanzheng!"
She widened her eyes and exclaimed in a hurry.
Daoist Yuanzheng had been waiting nearby. Hearing Jiang Mian's exclamation, he calmly stepped forward two steps and said, "What's wrong, Miss Jiang?"
Jiang Mian pointed at Xiao Jingcheng, who had opened his eyes, in disbelief and said urgently, "He... He's awake!"
Xiao Jingcheng was extremely depressed at this moment.
Why was the situation so different from what he had imagined?
Her concern and care for him along the way had been so obvious. When she saw him wake up, shouldn't she be overjoyed?
Why did she look so terrified, as if she had seen a ghost?!
Daoist Yuanzheng met Xiao Jingcheng's gaze. He suppressed a smile, stroked his beard, and feigned surprise, "Oh, why has His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly regained consciousness?"
Their reactions confirmed his speculation. Countless thoughts flashed through Mo Zhizhang's mind. He gave a soft laugh and said, "What's with your reactions? Brother Gou Dan waking up early is a good thing."
Xiao Jingcheng felt that he was leaning on Mo Zhizhang. Instantly, goosebumps rose on his body. He subconsciously wanted to get up and break free from the person behind him, but then he found that his limbs were heavy, his whole body was extremely exhausted, and even moving a finger was extremely difficult.
[Your Highness will be no different from a seriously ill person after waking up, so you must be extremely careful.]
Remembering what Daoist Yuanzheng had told him, Xiao Jingcheng choked and coughed. He temporarily gave up struggling and simply leaned his whole body's weight on Mo Zhizhang. He coughed twice and said weakly,
"Someone, please explain to me what's going on here?"
The man in front of her could blink his eyes and speak. He was finally no longer in that half - dead state, as if he might die at any moment.
Jiang Mian came to her senses. She looked at the man in front of her with a complex expression and said, "Do you... still remember what happened before?"
How could Xiao Jingcheng not know?
He even knew that when she saw him unconscious, she had cried like a tearful mess. He also knew that in order to save him, she had made up her mind to escort him back to the capital.
He had seen everything she had done for him, but it was all when he was possessing the yellow dog. He could never let others know this secret, so he could only feign ignorance and say,
"I only remember that I whole - heartedly transferred the common people, trying to save more people..."
"But unexpectedly, a wave came, and the boat was overturned by the flood. Then..." he said softly, "Then, I knew nothing. When I woke up again, I was here."
Hearing him say this, Jiang Mian actually let out a sigh of relief.
Some people might lose their memories after a head injury. He had once forgotten his own identity and thought he was a dog. Now that he could still remember what had happened before, it meant that the situation was much better than she had expected.
"By the way, how are the common people in Dongli Town?" Xiao Jingcheng looked around deliberately and asked.
She didn't expect that the first thing he asked about after waking up was the safety of the common people.
Jiang Mian's eyes welled up with tears, and her tone softened unconsciously, "Don't worry. The common people in Dongli Town are all fine. No one was injured or killed in this natural disaster, and they are all very grateful to you."
"By the way, this is Daoist Yuanzheng." Jiang Mian remembered something and introduced him, "I mentioned him to you before. Do you still remember?"
Xiao Jingcheng met Daoist Yuanzheng's gaze.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Xiao Jingcheng choked and coughed. Daoist Yuanzheng, as if he had never met him before, bowed and saluted, "I'm Yuanzheng from the Taoist sect. Greetings!"
After calming his breath, Xiao Jingcheng said, "So you're Daoist Yuanzheng. I've heard Jiang Mian mention you. If it weren't for you back then, I would have been a pile of bones long ago. I've always wanted to thank you in person, but unfortunately, you had already left Dongli Town when I woke up. Now that I finally get to see your true appearance, you are indeed as elegant and other - worldly as I imagined. One look and I can tell that you're a master from the outside world."
Taking this moment of returning to his body, Xiao Jingcheng sincerely and generously praised Daoist Yuanzheng.
Even though Mo Zhizhang thought he was being overly enthusiastic, so enthusiastic that it was a bit abnormal, he couldn't find any fault with it.
"It's really great that you're awake," Jiang Mian said. "There's something you must know. This is no longer Dongli Town but Guangdu County. Our destination this time is the capital."
She picked out the key points and told him in detail that the Jinning Canal was suspected to have been blown up by Xiao Yixuan and the current situation, which naturally included the fact that Xiao Tianye had proclaimed himself emperor in the south of the Yangtze River and established Xiao Yixuan as the crown prince.
"Daoist Yuanzheng said that to wake you up, you need to return to the capital. But now the capital is under Emperor Guiyuan's control. You've been in a coma, so I made the decision for you. If you don't want to go, we can stop here and stay in Cangzhou."
Xiao Jingcheng wanted to return to his body earlier so that he could tell Jiang Mian in person that he supported her decision.
"I want to return to the capital," Xiao Jingcheng said firmly. "My mother... My mother is still there. She's waiting for me."
Jiang Mian clenched her fingers tightly and nodded, "Okay, then we'll return to the capital together."
Xiao Jingcheng looked deeply at her, and a strong emotion welled up in his heart.
He had a lot to say to her. He wanted to hold her hand and protect her behind him, but as soon as he opened his mouth and the word "Jiang" was just out, a wave of tiredness hit him.
After a moment of dizziness, Xiao Jingcheng completely lost consciousness again, and his body slumped softly.
Jiang Mian immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Xiao Jingcheng? Xiao Jingcheng?!"
She hurriedly put down the porcelain bowl in her hand and stepped forward to shake the man's shoulder, but no matter how she called, the man seemed to be asleep.
A sense of panic welled up in her heart for no reason. She immediately grabbed the man's wrist to feel his pulse, but the man's pulse was the same as before.
She looked at Mo Zhizhang and Daoist Yuanzheng for help, and her voice even had a hint of sobs, "Uncle, Daoist, come and take a look. What's wrong with him?"