Deng Xiao squatted down and pressed on her ankle, which was swollen like a bun. "Does it hurt?"
Yi Qing gasped. "You'll know if you try it."
Deng Xiao cursed. "You're so stupid. How have you managed to live for so many years?"
Yi Qing retorted without hesitation. "I lived just fine before I met you."
"Even at this moment, you still have a sharp tongue. You must be okay then."
If looks could kill, Deng Xiao would have been torn to pieces by Yi Qing by now.
If it weren't for him, would she have come to this desolate mountain? Would she have been chased by hornets like a fool and now become lame?
Deng Xiao squatted down in front of her. Yi Qing was stunned.
"Get on!" Deng Xiao said impatiently. "Do you want my mother to wait for us for ages?"
Yi Qing looked at his somewhat slender shoulders and murmured, "Call your subordinate over."
She was afraid that his small frame couldn't bear her "heavy weight".
"Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up!"
After hesitating for a moment, Yi Qing had no choice but to climb onto his back.
Deng Xiao lifted her up. His steps were steady, much steadier than Yi Qing had expected.
"Let me go back to the General's Mansion after we return to the city," Yi Qing discussed with him. "I'll definitely take care of the things I've promised to handle."
"You don't hate me? You don't want to take revenge on me?" Deng Xiao felt the warm breath on his skin beside his ear. It was a very intimate and special feeling, an unprecedented experience for him.
Yi Qing didn't say a word for a long time.
Deng Xiao felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He snorted and said, "If you hate me, just keep hating. If you want to take revenge, go ahead. But don't get caught by me. I won't show any mercy."
Only then did Yi Qing say, "Whether I take revenge or not depends entirely on you."
"What do you mean?"
Yi Qing sighed. She reached out and picked up the white fluff of the dandelion on his head and blew it away from her fingertips.
"It means that if the Emperor forgives you, I'll forgive you too."
"Why! What's your relationship with the Emperor?"
"Shh - You never ask about the Emperor's affairs, do you, Commander Deng? Don't forget your identity."
Brother, be more professional, or I'll doubt your future.
Deng Xiao snorted again and lifted her up a bit. He cursed, "You're as heavy as a pig."
Yi Qing said, "A good - looking woman weighs less than a hundred catties. If not flat - chested, then short. Am I flat - chested or short?"
Deng Xiao: "… Stop changing the subject. I'm asking you a question!"
Only then did Yi Qing say, "I have no relationship with the Emperor, but I'm a worldly person. If the Emperor forgives you, you'll still be a powerful and influential official in the future. Why shouldn't I make friends with you? As the saying goes, more friends, more ways out. If the Emperor doesn't forgive you, I'll think, this bastard kidnapped me, almost got me stung to death by hornets, and sprained my ankle. How can I not get even?"
This answer was completely unexpected, so honest that it was irrefutable.
Deng Xiao burst into laughter, a sincere laugh that echoed in his whole chest.
Yi Qing: "… Carry me steadily. If you drop me and make me a fool, no one can save your mother."
"You're quite honest," Deng Xiao snorted.
Yi Qing said casually, "I just like to tell the truth. Isn't everyone who interacts with you the same? So you must try your best to curry favor with the Emperor and regain your former glory. Then my son can benefit from it."
"I'll take a look at your son later."
Deng Xiao didn't seem to worry at all about how to explain himself to the Emperor. He spoke with full confidence.
"No," Yi Qing refused.
Deng Xiao was angry. "Why again? You want to benefit from me but don't want me to see your son?"
"Your reputation is so bad. If my son associates with you, he'll be isolated at the academy. If you want to see him, just take a peek secretly. Anyway, you can investigate anyone you want. I'll allow you to take a peek at him."
Deng Xiao was so angry that he laughed. "Who's trying to benefit from whom? Do you want me to peek at him?"
"Didn't I help you?" Yi Qing said righteously. "Can't you repay my son?"
Deng Xiao was at a loss for words for a moment. After a long time, he said coldly, "Do you expect a person like me to repay kindness?"
"If you weren't a person who repays kindness, how could you be so filial?"
Deng Xiao fell silent.
He had carried a bad reputation for so many years. No one dared to speak ill of him in front of him because most of those who did had been killed by him. He had heard a lot of flattering words, but none of them touched him as much as what Yi Qing said.
Because this woman, Yi Qing, was so real. She disdained to lie and disguise.
She could openly despise his reputation and also frankly say that he was a person who repaid kindness and was filial.
He believed what she said.
A warm current seemed to flow out of his heart, soothing his internal organs and every pore in his body. It was more comfortable than eating ginseng fruit.
"If you do your best to save my mother, no one will dare to touch you and your son."
Hearing this promise, Yi Qing was overjoyed. "Deal!"
All this suffering was not in vain. At least it was worth something. It gave her and Baozi one more way out.
The more powerful people like Deng Xiao she could rely on, the better.
After that, they chatted intermittently. Most of the time, Deng Xiao asked Yi Qing questions like how she met Xiao Jinghan at first, what her previous life was like, and how Baozi was. Yi Qing told the truth when she could and made up lies when she couldn't.
But her lies were basically traceable, and they would always earn Deng Xiao's comment of "no truth".
Deng Xiao wouldn't dig deeper into these questions. Instead, he would move on to the next one.
So, in fact, if Deng Xiao wanted to, he could make the people talking to him feel very comfortable. Maybe this was the ability he had developed from serving the Emperor for many years.
Thinking of how Xiao Tian was straightforward and had a back - and - forth conversation with the Emperor, Yi Qing suddenly felt that they were real brothers. The relationship between the Emperor and Deng Xiao was ultimately that of master and servant.
It was not easy to survive.
She knew that Deng Xiao didn't need such feelings, so she kept them in her heart and didn't say them out.
When they got back to the small courtyard, Deng Xiao suddenly stopped and said coldly, "Come out. Since you've come, why are you hiding?"
It had been so long. The people looking for him should have come by now.
Yi Qing was surprised and looked around, but was scolded by Deng Xiao. "Don't move around. If you fall, I'll break you into pieces!"
Then Yi Qing stopped moving and froze there.
— She saw Xiao Tian!
Suddenly, many Golden Guards emerged from nowhere around the small courtyard. At the head of them was Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian looked very disheveled. His robe was covered in dust and was torn to pieces by the trees in the mountains. He had a stubble on his face, dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was in a mess. He was far from his previous neat appearance.
His gaze was calm yet complicated. He looked straight at Yi Qing, as if hiding thousands of words.
Yi Qing suddenly felt that she couldn't defend herself.
She was on Deng Xiao's back, chatting and laughing with him... Xiao Tian had searched for her so hard, and this was the scene he saw. Wasn't it heart - wrenching?
It wasn't just heart - wrenching. It was as if her internal organs had been stabbed to pieces.