My Years in the Jianghu with the Prince: A Time of Unethical Conduct

Chapter 171 Taking advantage of the situation

Seeing Xie Yan striding towards him, Chu Ling's smile finally faded slightly.

His expression changed, he frowned, and stared intently at the marks on Xie Yan's body. "You're injured?"

Chu Ling finally managed to climb out with some difficulty, and without stopping for a moment, he went up to Xie Yan, grabbed her shoulder, and began to check her over.

Seeing his reaction, Xie Yan sighed softly and loosened her clenched fist.

"I'm fine, you should take care of yourself first."

Although Xie Yan's clothes were tattered and stained with blood after a night of running, he was completely unharmed and showed no signs of injury.

He looked so much better than Chu Ling at this moment—

Blood stained half of his body; not only was there a deep, bone-revealing wound on his shoulder, but even his hastily bandaged abdomen faintly revealed a glaring crimson hue.

The two of them stood together, and it seemed that Chu Ling was indeed the one who needed more attention.

However, this man seemed completely unconcerned, and while Xie Yan was applying medicine and bandaging him, he didn't forget to touch Xie Yan inappropriately.

Xie Yan's temple twitched, and she finally couldn't help but reach out and press on Chu Ling's shoulder. "If you dare to move again, I'll leave you here alone."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ling finally calmed down, his face turning pale instantly. He even let out a pitiful "Ah!" and said, "It hurts so much."

Xie Yan: "..."

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "So what do you want?"

Chu Ling watched his movements until Xie Yan had re-bandaged himself.

He reached out and grabbed Xie Yan's clothes, then leaned down and pressed his uninjured side against Xie Yan's back.

"Give me a kiss, and maybe the pain will go away."

Xie Yan: "..."

"just kidding."

Chu Ling leaned on Xie Yan's shoulder and sighed heavily, "Let me lean on you for a while, I'm a little tired."

Xie Yan paused slightly, saying nothing and doing nothing, simply letting Chu Ling lean on her shoulder.

The two have now left the battlefield and are hiding in a dense forest not far away.

"...How long until reinforcements arrive?"

Perhaps because he had his face buried in Xie Yan's shoulder, Chu Ling's voice was very low, so low that it seemed as if it might dissipate in the wind at any moment.

Xie Yan pursed his lips, pinched Chu Ling's pulse point, and while channeling his internal energy into him, he said, "I've already sent the good boy to lead the way for them. They should arrive in about half an hour."

Chu Ling gave a low "hmm" and then said, "The soldiers who died here were all with me during the breakout, drawing away enemy forces. When reinforcements arrive, have them properly collect these remains."

Xie Yan nodded.

Only after noticing that Chu Ling's breathing had stabilized did he speak again: "What about that corpse wearing your light armor?"

Whether it was the internal energy Xie Yan provided or not, Chu Ling's breathing was much smoother than before.

He explained in a low, slightly hoarse voice, “That was a barbarian soldier. In the chaos, I gave him the same wound as me, and then I put on light armor and the token that represents my identity.”

Xie Yan frowned. "What about the other one? If the enemy takes it, won't it give us away?"

Chu Ling chuckled lightly, "It would have been trampled into a pile of mud long ago."

"After all, I was already seriously injured, and they probably didn't expect me to play dead. They probably thought that in the chaos of battle, some soldier just took care of me."

"After they saw that I was dead, they took my token and withdrew their troops."

"I see."

Xie Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Chu Ling only said a few words, he could roughly imagine how fierce and dangerous the battle must have been.

"Let's not talk about them. I never expected you to fake your death. I thought you were going to die a heroic death."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ling buried his head in his shoulder and chuckled deeply, “I’m not afraid of death, but this is war.”

"On the battlefield, the survival of a general is far more valuable than a heroic sacrifice."

"Moreover, since they have resorted to such despicable means to deal with me, we must not let them have their way."

Perhaps due to the pain, Chu Ling's voice grew softer and softer, and he coughed lightly from time to time.

"So you want to..."

Xie Yan's mind raced, and she vaguely guessed Chu Ling's intentions from his words.

"Just follow the plan?"

A slight smile appeared on Chu Ling's lips. "Yes."

"If I don't die, how dare those rats from the gutter crawl into the open?"

Xie Yan was about to say something more when she suddenly heard the neighing of horses and the sound of armor rubbing against each other from afar.

"Reinforcements are coming."

Chu Ling shifted her body against his shoulder and murmured, "Don't let them see me..."

Xie Yan lowered her eyes, looking at the head resting on her shoulder.

Chu Ling closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly from the pain, and even his temples were covered in a thin layer of sweat, clearly indicating that he was already exhausted.

"understood."

The next second, Xie Yan released her hand from the one that was channeling internal energy into him, and took out a spare mask from her bosom, which she then put on Chu Ling.

Two days later——

"Waaaaah, Your Highness, you died such a terrible death!"

"Waaaaah, Your Highness, don't worry! We will definitely carry on your legacy and defeat the barbarians!"

"May you rest in peace, Your Highness!"

Xie Yan held a bowl of medicine and looked at He Shan and the others who were crying in the camp in front of the coffin of "Chu Ling". Her eyes twitched involuntarily.

...Your acting is really over-the-top.

Xie Yan could hardly bear to look at this group of people. After remaining silent for a while, she turned around, picked up the medicine bowl, and walked towards her tent.

When Xie Yan entered the tent, Chu Ling was lying leisurely on his couch, flipping through his undercover diary.

After he removed his disguise and approached, Chu Ling raised his head, smiled slightly, and said, "Tell me, wouldn't you say this counts as keeping a mistress in a golden house?"

Xie Yan: ...How come I don't see anything "delicate" about you at all?

Looking at the medicine bowl handed to him, Chu Ling turned his head and showed Xie Yan his slightly pale, handsome face.

He clutched his shoulder, his lips trembling slightly, his voice tinged with a hint of grievance, "Ouch, that hurts."

Upon seeing Chu Ling's posture, Xie Yan's eyelids twitched. Then, resignedly, she took the medicine bowl and sat down by the bed, beginning to feed Chu Ling the medicine spoonful by spoonful.

It was only when she was halfway through feeding the medicine that Xie Yan suddenly realized that the medicine seemed to have just been boiled.

Not only was it still steaming hot, but she also didn't blow on it to cool Chu Ling while feeding him the medicine.

But this guy drank it down without even changing his expression.

Xie Yan stared in amazement at Chu Ling's mouth, never expecting him to be so thick-skinned, not only shameless but also with such thick lips.