The Words of the Number One

We live in a deserted village, with weeds growing half a person's height between the sparse houses, and spider webs between the beams. Walking out of the village is a large wasteland, overgrown with weeds and can't see the end at a glance, only a dirt road stretches crookedly into the distance.

To avoid the pursuit of those assassins, of course one cannot take the right path. Ji Yu stood at the head of the village, looked around and then at the sun, then walked towards the wasteland to the west.

To the west, the country of Wu.

I didn't ask him where he was going, but just followed him. He walked with his hands behind his back, not in a hurry, not as if he was running for his life, but as if he was taking a walk. The sun shone from the west and fell on his eyes, and his amber eyes looked like real amber at the moment.

Escaping for one's life also requires an elegant spirit, worthy of being the son of the royal family of Zhou who respects etiquette.

I followed him for two hours, and he suddenly said, "Didn't you want to ask me?"

I was a little dizzy, and I asked him to repeat what he said when I didn't hear him clearly. He said it again and then looked back at me, but was stunned the moment he saw me.

I didn't understand why he was stunned. I just thought about it and said, "You expected this attack, right? You just took advantage of this attack to disappear from everyone's sight. Do you want to do something else?"

He didn't answer, but walked two steps closer to me, lifted the coat I was wearing, and his face suddenly became very bad. I looked down and saw that most of the whips in the morning were on my legs, waist and abdomen, and after walking for two hours, my skirt was completely stained red by the blood oozing from the wound, which looked quite terrifying.

I said to Ji Yu: "There is not much bleeding now, and I have not left any blood on the way in your robe. They will not find us."

Hearing this, Ji Yu looked into my eyes and laughed out loud after a moment of silence. He shook his head while laughing, the smile didn't reach his eyes, as if he thought it was absurd.

"I often feel that I'm probably no better than an executioner in your eyes."

I haven't reacted to this, maybe he didn't expect my reaction, he suddenly picked me up, and I frantically hugged his neck.

"If you go any further, your legs will be useless. My maid may not be good-looking, but she must not be crippled."

He said lightly and walked forward while I hugged him in a daze, the blood loss slowed down my reaction speed, until the pungent scent of cypress wood on his body mixed with my blood gas woke me up, and I remembered to thank Ji Yu.

He chuckled lightly and said, "You're still so calm, don't you feel pain?"

"It hurts." I said slowly.

"Then why don't you say it? Are you really afraid that I will abandon you? You should know that I will come back to save you, which means that you are valuable to me, and I will not abandon you easily."

"I know, I just…"

Ji Yu seldom speaks so bluntly, which is surprising. I gradually relaxed and leaned on his shoulder. Slowly consider your reasons for not speaking.

After thinking about it for a while, I couldn't figure it out.

I used to be able to bear the pain very much, so I had to find another reason. Maybe it was because I had lived too quietly and never made a sound, so I forgot how to make a sound. It's the same when being beaten, and it's also when it hurts.

I always tacitly assume that no one in this world will listen to me, so I won't say anything.

"I'm just…"

I picked a sentence out of those messy thoughts to complete my sentence.

"Just don't know who's going to listen."

Ji Yu sneered: "Do you think that even if you say that you are seriously injured and difficult to walk, I will turn a deaf ear and force you to continue walking?"

He spoke fiercely, I was silent for a while, and looked up at Ji Yu, who had a somewhat unsmiling smile on his face.

"Although it hurts, it's not unbearable." I finally explained.

He paused, then continued to walk forward, and said lightly: "I really want to ask you, is there anything in this world that you can't bear? Is there anyone in this world that you can't lose?"

Almost no, although I love her period, I have long planned to leave her.

But there is only one thing, only one exception. Speaking of which, he may be the least qualified person to question me.

"I once had someone I liked very much, and I liked him very much." I said calmly.

Ji Yu was very surprised, she lowered her head to look at me, and I looked up at him too. He is picturesque, dignified and elegant, just like the man I like when he grows up.

I smiled: "At first I just remembered him and lived according to his instructions, and then realized his preciousness and gentleness as time passed. He used to be my dream."

"Unfortunately, he died later."

Ji Yu was surprised by my description, her beautiful phoenix eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe that these words would come out of my mouth. I calmly leaned on his shoulder and looked at his face from a very close distance. After the surprise receded, the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

"It's really enviable. How lucky this person should be to be liked by you."

I stared fixedly at his deep black eyes, and smiled lightly for a while: "...Really."

What is enviable is not being liked by me, but the many benefits in it. For example, he can safely use me and control me with this liking, just like what he always wanted to do but failed to do.

Ji Yu couldn't see what I was thinking, and only cared about my curiosity about my sweetheart.

"How did the person you like die?"

"Just an ordinary and gentle person, he seems...suicide." I was silent for a while, and replied like this.

Ji Yu chuckled and shook her head, with a look of contempt in her eyes.

"A man can't even protect his own life. How can he protect you? Ah Zhi, such a man is not worthy of your love."

I was quiet for a while, then laughed: "Maybe."

We reached a river at sunset. Ji Yu put me down, took water to clean the wound and then bandaged it. Her movements were skillful and natural, and her hands were gentle. Such a pampered young master like him is actually so proficient.

After he finished bandaging my wound, he raised his head and said to me, "I'm here to catch a fish."

I looked at Ji Yu with wide eyes, he seemed to be amused by my surprise, he smiled and turned away.

Catching fish is really not something Ji Yu would do, and if he delays like this, those assassins will soon catch up. I looked at Ji Yu who was standing by the river with his sleeves rolled up and observed, wrapped his clothes around his body, and said to him, let him go.

Ji Yu leaned over to observe for a while, motionless as if time stood still, when I was in a daze, he suddenly pulled out a dagger from his waist and stabbed it down, and with a splash of water, he forked up a big fish that seemed to weigh three catties with a smile on his face.

I looked at him for a long time, and then clapped my hands: "Young master is very skilled."

Ji Yu took the fish and walked over, and said modestly: "I haven't practiced for a long time, I'm not familiar with it."

He said that he was unfamiliar, but he killed the fish very well, picked up branches, piled them up, lit them with stones, and started grilling the fish with a dagger. A series of movements are flowing and well-organized, and he seems to be proficient in this way.

As night fell, I looked at his sometimes bright and dark face under the firelight, and smelled the aroma of oil emanating from the grilled fish. Things like catching fish and roasting fish are very inconsistent with Ji Yu who is elegant and polite.

"Have you ever done this before?" I asked.

Ji Yu just grilled the fish until it was golden on both sides, split it in half and gave it to me.

"When I was young, I was playful. I caught all edible animals. Fish and rabbits are the most delicious."

When he said it, he looked calm, looked at me in a blink of an eye, and said with a smile: "You look so surprised, you look much better than usual."

That unpredictable Ji Yu with a calm smile came back again. I looked away and started to eat the fish. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of him picking up the other half of the fish with a dagger and started eating too. This dagger is quite exquisite, with two sides of the blade, the handle is inlaid with cloud-patterned white jade on both sides and carved, and the blade body is engraved. The vine-like characters of the Zhou Dynasty wrote "Dream of Death".

Today's princes and celebrities all wear swords, and most of the names given to swords are Fengya or Mingzhi, such as "Xueming", "Compassion for Sheng" and the like. Young Master Ji Yu's reputation is louder than any other princes in the vassal states, but he has not seen him wearing a sword.

Carrying a dagger with him is not a gentleman, not to mention the name of the dagger "Dream Death" is quite frivolous.

I thought so but didn't say much, I just looked away and finished eating the fish, and leaned closer to the fire to warm it up. Ji Yu was not idle, and walked around, writing and drawing everywhere with a dagger, not knowing what marks he was making. The fire was very warm. I was tired and gradually became sleepy. When I fell to the ground in a daze, a pair of hands caught me. I opened my eyes and saw that Ji Yu approached me holding my shoulders, and he said, "You have a fever."

I turned my head: "I... didn't feel it."

"...What else can you feel?" He seemed helpless.

"The ground is very humid here, you can rest on my back."

The fire was burning warmly beside us, making crackling noises from time to time. My back pressed against Ji Yu's back, and my head rested on his neck. The faint scent of cypress wood surrounded me. I couldn't tell whether the warmth came from him or from the fire.

This kind of scene is unbelievably warm.

I know he can be extremely gentle when he wants to, but is it necessary for me.

"You're really skinny, your bones are so thin, Xia Wan is short of your meals on weekdays?" He said leisurely.

I replied: "Xia Wan always says I'm thin and I want to eat more, but that's how I am, no matter how much I eat, I won't gain weight."

He laughed softly and said, "You, let Chang Le know this, and I will definitely be angry with you."

"Sister Changle wants to dance, so there is nothing I can do if I can't eat and drink freely."

I wrapped my clothes around my body and leaned against his back to close my eyes. His voice is really nice when there are no barbs in his words, and I am happy to ask more questions at such times.

"Ji Yu, who are those people who assassinated you?"

Ji Yu was silent for a while, and I heard him say lightly, "Guess."

"It's from Zhou, from Wang Ji, right?"

I felt his body stiffen, so I must have guessed right. The leader seemed to be very familiar with Ji Yu. The people who came here were all of northern appearance, with a modified Luoyi accent, and they didn't want to kill Ji Yu, but wanted to capture Ji Yu alive.

Now that the princes are in charge of their own affairs, the Zhou Dynasty, which once ruled the princes, can only manage Wang Ji. Although the Emperor Zhou has taken back many fiefdoms over the years and his reputation has gradually grown, how can a hundred years of weakness be restored in a short time.

It was neither Zhao State nor Wu State who planned the assassination, but his hometown Zhou, which is chilling.

Ji Yu didn't look too sad, he smiled lowly, and replied in a relaxed tone: "Yes, they should catch up soon. You need medical treatment. If you have to leave, we will have to walk for two or three days to get there. Township, your injury can't wait. So I'll ask them to borrow a horse."