Lan Yan held the rabbit in her hand. Hearing the sound from behind, she turned her head and saw Jun Yelan blocking her path, his arrow already close to his chest.
Her eyes trembled slightly as she cried out, "Jun Yelan, are you alright?" As she spoke, the surrounding men in black lunged forward. She raised the bow and arrow on her arm and shot at these men.
One of the black-clad men fell, and the remaining ones attacked with even greater ferocity.
Jun Yelan dismounted. With his bow and arrows no longer with him, he picked up pebbles from the ground and flung them at the necks of the attackers. He moved sideways, positioning himself directly in front of Lan Yan.
At that moment, he didn't want anything to happen to the person behind him. A trace of ferocity flickered in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on the endless stream of men in black.
Lan Yan was busy shooting arrows and hadn't noticed Jun Yelan's actions. By the time she had used all her arrows, she called out, "Jun Yelan, quickly hide behind me."
It was then that she realized she had been well protected by Jun Yelan, and a warm current flowed through her. She bit her lip, removed the string from her bow, and fashioned it into a simple slingshot.
She also stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jun Yelan, and shot the pebbles in her hand at the surrounding attackers.
Faced with these sudden attackers, the others also panicked and fled in all directions. Lin Zhi had long since hidden behind a tree. Watching Jun Yelan and Lan Yan fight, he truly wished Jun Yelan would die here.
He shouted, "Lin family daughter, go deal with Jun Yelan." However, when he turned his head, there was no Lin family daughter; in front of him was a maddened horse.
He recognized it as Jun Yelan's horse and quickly ran to the side. The next moment, the horse's hooves stomped on his chest. He looked at the horse on top of him and yelled, "Help!"
This horse was clearly meant to deal with Jun Yelan, so why was it attacking him!
However, everyone else had already fled, and no one was paying attention to him. He was trampled again by the horse's hooves, his body convulsed, and he abruptly fainted.
Lan Yan heard the sound and glanced at Lin Zhi. She thought, "He brought this upon himself." She looked at the black-clad men and knew they must be related to those ministers. Their every move was aimed at her life.
She looked at Jun Yelan, realizing he was being implicated because of her. She made a firm decision: "Jun Yelan, their target is me. You run into the woods; they won't follow you."
Jun Yelan looked into Lan Yan's eyes and shook his head. "They won't let you go." He watched the approaching men in black and threw a stone, but before he could dodge, his arm was struck.
"Jun Yelan!" Lan Yan dared not delay any longer. Since Jun Yelan was unwilling to leave alone, she had to go with him. She fumbled in her embrace for a long time, found a small package, and curved her lips.
She looked at Jun Yelan and smiled, "Jun Yelan, I'll call out three times, and then we run."
Jun Yelan was stunned. He then saw Lan Yan scatter the powder from the package, blinding the eyes of the men in black before him. Her hand grasped his, and they ran forward.
Lan Yan led Jun Yelan through the woods, running without knowing where they were going. She glanced back from time to time, seeing that the men in black were not pursuing. Jun Yelan's arm was still bleeding.
"Wait a moment, let's find a place to treat your wound first." They hid behind a tree.
Lan Yan took out the remaining medicinal powder from last time and applied it to Jun Yelan's sword wound. She couldn't find anything to bind the wound, so she touched her head and removed her hair tie, letting her beautiful hair cascade down her back. She tied up the wound.
Jun Yelan leaned against the tree. Lan Yan's hair, carried by the wind, brought a faint fragrance to his nostrils. He inexplicably calmed down, and even the wound no longer hurt.
He thought of the powder from earlier and asked, "Why do you carry this with you?"
Lan Yan smiled and said, "That's the spice I prepared for roasting food. It's a pity; I'll have to prepare another batch when I get back." Seeing that the wound had stopped bleeding, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"We need to hurry back; there's no good medicine here." She was worried about the wound worsening.
Jun Yelan nodded. Lan Yan was always different from others, but her actions were always useful. He stood up, suddenly feeling his head sway. He looked at his arm wound and saw black blood starting to flow.
His eyes darkened. It was poisoned.
"Jun Yelan!" Lan Yan supported Jun Yelan's arm and cried, "We can't delay any longer. I'll take you back immediately." She helped Jun Yelan walk back, but looking at the intricate paths in the woods, she couldn't help but get a headache.
At this moment, she particularly missed Mei Dong. She should have brought Mei Dong along when she left. She gritted her teeth and, relying on her memory from earlier, walked forward.
Suddenly, a faint sound came from the surrounding bushes, "Who?"
A woman emerged from behind the bushes, her face covered by a veil, a dagger in her hand. She looked at Lan Yan with excitement. From the moment the men in black appeared, she had left Lin Zhi and hidden in the woods.
She hadn't expected fate to be so kind to her, allowing her to see the Empress's departure, and she had followed. As long as she killed the Empress, she would be the foremost contributor to Prime Minister Lin's side and forever be a Lin family daughter.
Lan Yan frowned, sensing ill intent. She gently leaned Jun Yelan against the tree again and looked coldly at the woman before her, "What do you want? Treason!"
"Empress, you have only yourself to blame for being so hated. Why couldn't you be like you were before? You insisted on opposing the ministers, which is why you will end up with your corpse left in the wilderness." The Lin family daughter laughed triumphantly.
Lan Yan looked around, her gaze falling on a distant hillside. She prepared to stand up, but Jun Yelan grabbed her hand. Seeing Jun Yelan struggling to hold on, she smiled faintly, "Don't worry, she can't hurt me."
"You stay here and rest. I will definitely come back for you."
Jun Yelan's eyes gradually became unfocused, but he kept his eyes fixed on Lan Yan. After Lan Yan pulled her hand away, he used a stone in his hand to cut his palm, so his gaze would follow Lan Yan.
Lan Yan stood before the Lin family daughter and said coldly, "Kill me, and you still won't become king. But I'm too lazy to argue with you. I can give you this life, but as a monarch, I must choose a good place for myself."
"I really like that hillside over there. Go there with me."
The Lin family daughter saw Lan Yan accept so easily and her smile deepened. She followed Lan Yan to the hillside and laughed heartily, "Empress, you can't escape now."
"I never imagined I would be the final victor! I've spent my entire life begging, begging you, begging Prime Minister Lin, begging Lin Zhi. But now, I will kill the Empress, and I will be stronger than all of you. You never expected this, did you? Even an ant can rise up."
Lan Yan smiled, "Thank you for revealing so much information before your death." To the Lin family daughter's astonishment, she turned around and pushed her down the hillside.
She stood on the hillside, watching the Lin family daughter roll to the bottom, and clapped her hands, "Remember, when you do bad things in the future, don't waste your breath. Of course, you won't have the chance anymore."
Her weakness was Jun Yelan, so she couldn't confront the Lin family daughter head-on. Thus, she devised a plan to deliver a fatal blow when the Lin family daughter became arrogant.
"Prime Minister Lin, when I return, you're finished!"