Chapter 13: A Desperate Gamble

The sound of movement came from the doorway. Jiang Qingqing thought it was Liu Xubai barging in.

But to her surprise, it was a man covered in blood.

The first thing Jiang Yu said upon entering was: “Help me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he collapsed to the ground. The door shut behind him due to the momentum of his fall, and his entire body lay sprawled across the inner side of the entrance, blocking the doorway.

Jiang Qingqing, who had just been startled repeatedly, rolled her eyes in exasperation, feeling completely numb.

Another troublesome person.

She wanted to throw him out, but she was afraid of alerting Liu Xubai, who was outside in the courtyard.

However, for this man to have evaded Liu Xubai’s watchful eye and slipped into her room, he must have some skills. Perhaps saving him would mean gaining an ally.

Jiang Qingqing put away the steamed buns on the table to save them for later.

She rummaged through her room and finally picked out an old, unflattering garment, tearing it into strips to bandage the still-bleeding wounds on Jiang Yu’s body.

As for his blood-stained face and soaked clothing, she didn’t bother cleaning them.

She had no intention of tending to his wounds further. Cleaning them would mean undressing him and wiping his body—she had no desire to go that far. Simply binding his wounds to stop the bleeding was already the limit of her goodwill.

When Jiang Yu finally woke up, it was nighttime.

The aroma of food had roused him.

Struggling to open his eyes, he saw Jiang Qingqing sitting alone at the dining table, slowly eating a meat bun, taking small bites. On the table, there was also a dish and a bowl of soup, though they both looked quite plain.

“Ugh…”

Jiang Yu attempted to sit up, but the movement tugged at the wound on his waist, making him groan in pain.

Jiang Qingqing glanced at him upon hearing the sound but didn’t stop eating her bun.

She spoke lazily, “Do you want to eat?”

After losing so much blood, he should replenish his strength.

Jiang Yu lowered his gaze to his bandaged wounds. Faced with Jiang Qingqing’s somewhat concerned question, guilt nearly consumed him.

That day, when he asked if Jiang Qingqing was someone’s mistress, he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.

But Jiang Qingqing hadn’t given him the chance to apologize. She simply turned around and shut the door in his face.

He had stood outside, listening to her muffled sobs, but he didn’t dare knock again, fearing he would say something else wrong.

It wasn’t until today, in the courtyard, that he finally learned the truth about Jiang Qingqing’s identity from her conversation with Liu Xubai.

She was actually the only princess of the Liang dynasty.

Jiang Yu pressed his lips together and spoke in a deep voice, “Thank you…”

Thank you for not holding a grudge.

Jiang Qingqing actually hadn’t recognized him—his face was covered in blood, after all.

She responded casually, “It was just a small effort.”

She gestured for Jiang Yu to come over and eat. There was one last bun left on the plate, while the dish and soup had barely been touched.

Jiang Yu struggled to his feet and dragged his heavy body to sit across from her.

Without caring about his dirty hands, he grabbed the bun and devoured it in one bite.

Jiang Qingqing blinked. “Have you not eaten recently?”

He looked just like she had when she was starving before.

Jiang Yu nodded sheepishly. “I was being hunted. Didn’t have time for a meal.”

Jiang Qingqing gave him a look of disbelief. That was the most refreshingly unusual excuse she had ever heard.

“Is your life really worth that much?” she asked curiously. There was no mockery in her tone, just genuine curiosity.

Jiang Yu answered naturally, “Quite a lot.”

Jiang Qingqing: !!!

Well, damn.

One bun wasn’t enough to satisfy a man’s appetite. Jiang Yu looked at the dish and soup on the table and, somewhat embarrassed, asked, “Are you still eating these? If not, I’m still hungry.”

Jiang Qingqing hesitated. “I already took a few bites… It doesn’t taste very good…”

Jiang Yu didn’t mind. A man from the border battlefield couldn’t afford to be picky. He grabbed the food and quickly devoured it.

After a few bites, he frowned.

It really… wasn’t very good.

The dish had way too much salt. As for the soup, it seemed like nothing had been added to it—just boiled eggs in plain water with a few scallions. Pure and unseasoned.

Jiang Qingqing watched him wolf down the food.

Her mouth twitched.

This man must have been starving for a long time if he could eat such terrible food with such enthusiasm.

“…Do you want something else? I have other dishes,” she asked reluctantly.

Those were divine gifts of food, and even she was reluctant to eat them. At most, she could spare a single dish.

Jiang Yu shook his head as he ate, speaking with his mouth full.

“This is already good enough.”

Jiang Qingqing: …

Well, that saved her the trouble of cleaning up leftovers.

In no time, Jiang Yu had cleared every dish on the table. Only then did he finally take notice of the unusual nature of this house.

He was just about to speak.

But Jiang Qingqing stopped him.

She saw the shock in his eyes and said, “What you think about this place is up to you. But if you spread word about it, don’t blame me for not giving you the antidote in the future. I just fed you a poison pill moments ago.”

Jiang Qingqing’s poor acting did nothing to fool Jiang Yu.

But he had no intention of exposing her. Everyone had their secrets.

“Alright, I won’t say a word. Today, you saved my life, and I have no way to repay you. I certainly won’t do anything to harm you.”

Jiang Yu did not reveal that he already knew she was the princess.

He still held something back.

After all, the Jiang family had only him left in the outside world. Whether he could seek justice depended entirely on himself.

Jiang Qingqing let out a soft “hmm.”

Her life was already a mess, and her fate was in someone else’s hands. One more piece of leverage against her didn’t matter.

She got up, intending to return to her large bed.

But then she remembered that the living room and bedroom were connected. She stopped in her tracks, tugging at her hair in frustration.

“Now that you’ve eaten your fill, you should leave.”

She wasn’t kind enough to offer someone a place to stay overnight.

Hearing that she was kicking him out, Jiang Yu quickly pleaded, “I only ask for a place to stay. You don’t have to take care of me. I can find any empty room. And if food is an issue, I can go without.”

Jiang Qingqing didn’t immediately agree to his request. Her peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly as she scanned him up and down.

Then she asked slowly, “And why should I keep you?”

She didn’t even trust Liu Xubai, whom she had known since childhood—why should she trust a stranger?

Sharing a roof with a man? He must be out of his mind.

“I…”

Jiang Yu wanted to convince her, but for a moment, he couldn’t find a reason.

“Hurry up and leave.”

Jiang Qingqing had no patience to argue. Her cold and indifferent tone left Jiang Yu no choice but to reveal his identity.

“Your Highness, have you ever heard of the Jiang family army?”

Either way, if he left, he would die.

So he might as well take a gamble.

A gamble that the princess of the Liang dynasty was a wise ruler.

Jiang Yu removed the jade token from his waist and held it high above his head. Enduring the pain in his wounds, he knelt on both knees.

“I am Jiang Yu, Young Marshal of the Jiang family army. I have been hunted by the Prime Minister’s faction and the Empress Dowager’s people all the way from Yingzhou to the capital, seeking justice for the Jiang family army. But before I could enter the palace to see His Majesty, I was gravely injured and ended up here.”

“This time, the Jiang family was framed by the Prime Minister’s faction. Every Jiang family man, young and old, has been imprisoned—only I remain. The Jiang family has guarded the borders of the Liang dynasty for a hundred years. We have never harbored treasonous intent. I ask Your Highness to consider our century of military service and grant me a place to rest.”

Jiang Yu kept his head bowed. His hands, clutching the tiger-shaped command token, had turned pale from the force of his grip.

He awaited Jiang Qingqing’s final judgment.

He did not expect her to clear the Jiang family’s name.

All he asked for was a place to stay for a few days.

The resentment and unwillingness of being framed by traitors, the desperation of having no way out—these emotions caused the young general, hardened by the battlefield, to have reddened eyes.