Chapter 21: Saved But Not Thankful

The scene before them was a mess. A large swathe of trees on the southern side of Luoyun Mountain had been knocked down by the mud and rocks.

“Miss, it’s too dangerous. We can’t go any closer!” Zhang Ze pulled on the reins, unwilling to go any further.

Bai Jinxi thought for a moment and lifted the carriage curtain, saying, “You and Banxia wait here for me. I’ll go and check the situation. They say white horses are spiritual. Someone must be trapped.”

“No! We’ll go together!” Banxia grabbed Bai Jinxi, refusing to let go.

Back in the mountains behind Luoyun Temple, Banxia had watched helplessly as her young mistress was almost cut by the scissors. At that moment, she had only one thought: if only she had been by her young mistress’s side… She secretly decided that she would never let her young mistress take risks alone again!

Seeing Banxia’s determination, Bai Jinxi thought that saving people was the most important thing, so she agreed.

“Alright then, we’ll go together.”

The white steed had walked to something that looked… well, like a person. It pawed the ground with its hooves and snorted at it.

Seeing this scene, Bai Jinxi frowned.

So, the thing that looked like a person was Prince Yi?

The legendary Prince Yi, handsome beyond compare, who had captivated countless young ladies in the capital?

At the outermost edge of the mudslide, a young man sat on the ground, covered in mud. His leg seemed to be trapped under a fallen tree…

“Hey! Are you alright?” Bai Jinxi suppressed a smile and shouted at him.

“Little girl, come over here and help me lift the tree!” Seeing someone come over, the young man didn’t hesitate. He waved his hand at her directly.

“Mud monkey! Who are you calling little girl? My young lady risked her life to save you, and this is how you act?” Banxia was furious. How could this person be so rude!

“Miss, maybe we shouldn’t save him!” She pulled Bai Jinxi, wanting to return to the carriage.

“Hey, hey! Don’t leave, little girl! I… I’m just too excited to see someone come. I apologize!” The young man quickly cowered.

It had been raining continuously for the past few days. He had been riding all the way here, and he clearly felt that there were fewer people traveling on the official road. If the little girl left, it would be a long time before he encountered anyone else.

Originally, Bai Jinxi was still hesitant about whether this person was Prince Yi. After all, she had never seen him. She had only heard some rumors.

But when she heard him say “Ben Wu” first, then clearly paused before continuing with “Ben Gongzi,” she was basically certain that she had found the right person.

What was “Ben Wu”? It was clearly “Ben wang” (Your Majesty) said halfway through!

Since the other party didn’t want to reveal his identity, she naturally had to cooperate and pretend not to know who he was.

“Sir, is your leg completely immobile?” Bai Jinxi walked a little closer and asked with concern.

“It can move a little. I feel like it’s not completely crushed, but I can’t get it out.” The young man pulled his leg hard, as if it moved slightly.

“Banxia, Zhang Ze, let’s try to lift this tree a little!” Bai Jinxi thought for a moment, waved to the two of them, and decided to try lifting the tree.

“Miss, we can do it. You don’t have to do anything. Be careful not to get hurt!” Banxia quickly dissuaded her. The young mistress was already small and weak for her age, and she had delicate skin. Don’t let her get scratched by the branches.

“It’s okay. Saving people is important. Let’s do it together!” Bai Jinxi insisted.

She came here today to do Prince Yi a favor. Just standing there and giving orders wouldn’t make her a benefactor.

“One, two, three!” The three of them pushed together. They felt the trunk move slightly. The young man quickly tried to pull his leg out. He was almost there…

“The branch moved, keep going!” He quickly encouraged them.

Bai Jinxi felt like she was using all her strength. She gritted her teeth, her face flushed red…

It still didn’t work!

Bai Jinxi motioned for everyone to let go. She fell into thought.

In her previous life, the one who saved Prince Yi was just a woman who collected herbs. There was no reason why the combined strength of three people would be less than hers. So, there must be something she had overlooked?

She squatted down again and carefully observed the branches pressing on the young man. A few branches were intertwined, perfectly trapping his leg. That’s why, even though they lifted the tree, they couldn’t get his leg out…

“Do you have a dagger?” Bai Jinxi looked up and asked the young man with a serious expression.

“What are you going to do?!” The young man looked wary. This little girl wouldn’t be thinking of cutting off his leg, would she?

Bai Jinxi saw the wariness in the young man’s eyes and was speechless.

“Your leg is trapped by the branches. Lifting the tree won’t solve the problem. Just cut off one of the branches.” After thinking for a moment, she decided not to argue with this “playboy” and patiently explained.

Hearing that she wasn’t going to cut off his leg, the young man clearly breathed a sigh of relief. He whistled and called his white horse over. “My dagger is on Zhuifeng. Take it yourself.”

Bai Jinxi carefully approached Zhuifeng, standing on tiptoe to reach the scabbard hanging on the horse’s back. But she was too short. She could reach it but couldn’t take it down.

“Pfft…” A sound of suppressed laughter came from behind. Bai Jinxi’s face instantly flushed red.

“Zhang Ze! Come and get it!” She turned and glared at the young man, angrily calling for Zhang Ze to help. She stepped aside.

“Miss, just tell me where to cut. I’ll do it!”

“No need. The gap is too small. You won’t be able to control it.” Bai Jinxi flatly refused. She took the dagger from Zhang Ze, her expression fierce, and walked towards the young man…

“Hey—wait!” The young man panicked again. This posture… really not cutting his leg?

Bai Jinxi rolled her eyes and completely ignored him.

She squatted down beside him, holding his leg with her left hand and the dagger in her right, probing into the gap between the branches…

“Hey!” The young man opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. Bai Jinxi looked up at him impatiently, but found that he seemed a little nervous, his face slightly flushed, and his ears were red as blood.

Seeing that the young man wasn’t going to say anything, Bai Jinxi continued to search for the branch with her hand.

Two “da da” sounds came from the branches being cut.

Seeing Bai Jinxi look at him inquiringly, the young man shrugged helplessly, “It still won’t move.”

Bai Jinxi frowned. This was too slow. Her hand was already sore. She withdrew her hand and leaned in to take a closer look. There was also a vine wrapped around the young man’s leg.

Simple, just cut the vine. Bai Jinxi aimed and slashed with force…

“Ah! It hurts so much!” The young man screamed and suddenly jumped up from the ground.

“Little girl, you’re trying to kill me!” He had a cut an inch long on his thigh, near his knee.

Bai Jinxi felt a little guilty, but it wasn’t intentional. The vine was too deep inside. She had to use a lot of force to lie down and cut it. As a result, she used too much force… and cut his leg.

She pretended to be calm, “Your leg is out now, isn’t it? I was saving you!”

The young man finally realized that he had been freed.

“You, you, you…” He covered his wound with his hand and stared at Bai Jinxi, speechless for a while.

Should he scold her? She had indeed saved him.

Should he thank her? His leg really hurt. He really didn’t want to thank her.

Taking a deep breath, the young man finally calmed down.

He brushed off the dirt on his body and bowed solemnly to Bai Jinxi, “Little girl, thank you today. Otherwise, I don’t know how long I would have had to sit on the ground.”

Bai Jinxi waved her hand, indicating that it was a small matter. Then she instructed Zhang Ze to drive the carriage over…