The low voice was authoritative with a hint of coldness. The crowd, which had been in chaos moments ago, suddenly fell silent upon seeing the newcomer's face.
Qin Shu, her eyes bloodshot: "So it's you, you planned this to harm me, didn't you?"
Yue Guanyi's face was as cold as snow-capped mountains, even his eyes exuding a chilling coldness: "The Top Scholar's wife has committed murder, this is a serious matter. Take her to Zhao Prison, let Her Majesty decide."
When Qin Shu heard "Zhao Prison," she howled: "I didn't kill anyone! Yue Guanyi, you dare to imprison me in Zhao Prison, my mother will definitely not let you off!"
Yue Guanyi raised his cold eyes, his sinister gaze seemingly merging with the fierce beast embroidered on his official robe.
Qin Shu instantly felt as if she had fallen into an ice pit, her whole body's blood running cold.
"Take the criminal away!" Chang'an, the deputy, shouted.
Qin Shu, unwilling to give up, broke free from the guards restraining her and rushed in front of Yue Guanyi, her eyes bulging and her nails digging deep into her flesh: "You worthless man, your current position is only because you curried favor with my mother. You dare arrest me, my mother will definitely make you lose everything!"
"How dare you!" Chang'an kicked her to the ground.
Her nails, which had dug into Yue Guanyi's palm, left a bloody gash.
Everyone worked together to shackle Qin Shu and took her through the crowd of onlookers back to Zhao Prison.
"Let's go!" Yue Guanyi stared at his injured hand, his long sleeve swishing as he leapt onto the carriage. The torn flesh oozed blood, and the place where Qin Shu had touched him made him feel extremely nauseous.
"Your Highness..." Chang'an suddenly said.
"What else is there?" Yue Guanyi scolded in a low voice, his cold eyes deep and chilling.
"Official Qiu is here." Chang'an's eyes indicated a direction.
"Qiu——"
Among all the civil and military officials, there was only one surnamed Qiu...
Yue Guanyi's knees trembled, and he almost fell off the carriage.
Seeing Qiu Shuzhi holding a man in her arms, squeezed together with the noisy crowd, he couldn't help but clutch his robe tightly: "Quickly invite Official Qiu in, don't let those lowly commoners jostle Official Qiu."
He leapt down from the carriage, his steps nervously unsteady, wiping the dirty blood on his hand against his official robe again and again, afraid that these filthy bloodstains would dirty Qiu Shuzhi's eyes.
Seeing Yue Guanyi's nervous state, Chang'an understood that this 'Third-ranked Scholar's wife' was definitely someone special in His Highness's heart.
He quickly followed beside Yue Guanyi, at this time Ma Qin had not yet noticed Yue Guanyi's increasingly gloomy gaze.
Chang'an angrily shouted: "You ignorant woman, how dare you block even the Imperial Lecturer Qiu!"
Ma Qin turned around, startled by Yue Guanyi's vicious gaze, instinctively kneeling on the ground and kowtowing: "This lowly official was ignorant, I beg Your Highness for forgiveness!"
Yue Guanyi didn't even give Ma Qin half a glance, his gaze locked tightly on Qiu Shuzhi. He silently walked in front of her, about to bow: "This subject was ignorant, disturbing you, please forgive me."
Qiu Shuzhi was startled and quickly supported his wrist. At the moment of skin contact, Qiu Shuzhi felt as if she was holding a block of ice.
His hand was very cold, his bones light, as if they would be crushed at a touch, making her handle him with extreme care.
"Your Highness is too formal, you are of noble birth, how can you bow to a lowly official like me."
Not to mention Yue Guanyi's noble status, there was also the separation between men and women. Qiu Shuzhi lightly supported him for a moment before quickly withdrawing her hand, not knowing that Yue Guanyi's tense wrist trembled as if scalded by boiling water after she let go.
Qiu Shuzhi's indifferent tone made his already weak complexion pale another degree. Just now when he had arrested Qin Shu, that venomous and fierce look in his eyes must have all been seen by Qiu Shuzhi.
What Imperial Prince, Commander of the Imperial Guards, in front of Qiu Shuzhi, Yue Guanyi was just an ordinary man, with the only aspiration to please her.
But a man who was out and about all day, and was as vicious as an evil ghost, any woman would avoid him.
Qiu Shuzhi must see him this way too.
Just thinking that Qiu Shuzhi despised him from the bottom of her heart, he felt as if his heart was being carved up by knives and swords, bleeding profusely, almost draining him of the strength to stand.
Qiu Shuzhi watched as Yue Guanyi's pale face became even more weak, his lowered long lashes trembling slightly, seeming somewhat afraid of her, yet also seeming to be strongly enduring something.
Her sharp eyes noticed that Yue Guanyi's hand, tightly gripping his sleeve, was seeping blood, dripping onto the ground drop by drop.
He must be enduring this, right?
Qiu Shuzhi took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to him: "Your Highness has been injured by Qin Shu, you should bandage the wound first."
The pure white, unstained handkerchief embroidered with a cold orchid bloomed in his eyes. He was suddenly stunned, his cold and aloof face showing such a bewildered expression for the first time.
His hand tightened again and again, his heart pounding like war drums in his chest, almost making him breathless: "This is for me?"
Qiu Shuzhi smiled lightly: "Of course."
Yue Guanyi's mind whirled, as if a thousand fireworks had exploded, the tips of his ears turning so red they seemed about to drip blood. If not for the cover of night, who could have imagined that the feared Imperial Prince would have such a shy side as a young man.
He hesitantly reached out his hand. That white silk in her jade-like white hand, the lights of a thousand homes shining on her wrist, like a piece of warm jade emitting a cool light, like an immortal, just being looked at by him was a kind of desecration.
Seeing him hesitate, Qiu Shuzhi simply placed the handkerchief directly in his hand, their fingertips separated by barely half a finger's width.
The soft silk fell lightly into his palm. Yue Guanyi's eyes constricted sharply, his hand holding the handkerchief now as stiff as if frozen by ice, his blood cold, not daring to move at all.
Fortunately!
Fortunately, he hadn't extended his injured hand, his dirty blood hadn't defiled Qiu Shuzhi's handkerchief.
"Your Highness toils for the country, please take care of your health. This official will take her leave now." With that, Qiu Shuzhi left this place of trouble with Qiu Qiushuang.
Yue Guanyi looked at the white silk lying quietly in his palm, the faint orchid carrying her light fragrance, slowly entering his nostrils bit by bit.
Yue Guanyi's breathing grew heavy, this fragrance intoxicating him so much his heart almost stopped.
He preciously folded the handkerchief and placed it in his bosom, closest to his heart, letting each of his heartbeats feel Qiu Shuzhi's warmth. Just thinking about it made him exhilarated.
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