“It’s Prince Gaoyi! Quick! Quickly open the city gates! It’s Prince Gaoyi!” The gate-guarding soldiers turned their heads and said, “Hurry and summon the general! Tell him Prince Gaoyi has returned at full gallop! Quick!”

At this moment within the city, the shadow guards sent by Weisu had just arrived. He discovered that Bai Qingyan had departed before dawn this morning, and was about to give chase when he heard Bai Jinzhi’s loud cries from outside about His Majesty being ambushed. He immediately gripped his reins tightly.

His master had Weisu take away all the shadow guards to protect Third Miss, and also took away all the Dong family death warriors, which meant… There was no one protecting his master now!

The two city gates that remained closed due to the plague restrictions slowly opened wide. The Great Zhou’s gate-defending general also hurriedly rushed out.

Lu Yuanpeng, who held Bai Jinzhi with both arms protectively in his embrace, finally saw through his blurred vision that the city gates had opened wide and soldiers were charging out from within the city. The breath he had been holding finally loosened, and his consciousness, already at the end of its strength like a spent arrow, was invaded by darkness. He glanced at the extremely anxious Bai Jinzhi in his arms, and inevitably thought of Bai Qingyan…

This time, he had failed in his duty as both minister and soldier, indulging his personal feelings and abandoning his emperor, the elder sister of the Bai family!

The mad gallop back from the battlefield had taken nearly two hours. The enemy had come prepared with heavy troops surrounding them. Elder sister of the Bai family… had divided her forces to carve out a bloody path for them, and by now was likely in grave danger.

Throughout his life, Lu Yuanpeng had always acted according to his heart and never knew what guilt felt like.

But recently, he had been constantly feeling guilty!

“Prince Gaoyi!” The gate-defending general had already rushed out, his eyes wide with alarm at the sight of everyone’s bedraggled state.

“Whoa…” Bai Jinzhi reined in her horse and called out loudly, “His Majesty has been ambushed! Please have the gate-defending general mobilize all the city’s forces to accompany this prince to rescue His Majesty! Quickly!”

The gate-defending general responded and immediately turned back to shout, “Sound the drums! Muster the troops!”

Hearing these words from the gate-defending general, Lu Yuanpeng’s swaying body could no longer hold on. His vision went black, and he limply fell from horseback.

Bai Jinzhi felt the support behind her disappear. Her steed, now uncontrolled, stamped its hooves and took two steps forward. She hurriedly pulled the reins and turned back…

She saw that the horse’s hindquarters were covered entirely in blood. When the horse’s tail swished, drops of blood scattered all over the ground.

Lu Yuanpeng, who had collapsed on the ground, was deathly pale and groaning. On his back… were several arrows that had pierced deep into his armor.

“General!”

“General Lu!”

Several Bai family soldiers leaped down from their horses and hurriedly supported Lu Yuanpeng, afraid that if he turned over, it would drive the arrows deeper into his flesh.

“Lu Yuanpeng!” Bai Jinzhi was scared out of her wits. She cried out and dismounted to embrace Lu Yuanpeng. Only then did she discover that his entire back was covered in blood. Already emotionally taut and with a choked voice, Bai Jinzhi’s tears immediately began flowing. She understood that Lu Yuanpeng had blocked these arrows for her. Throughout this journey, the usually talkative Lu Yuanpeng hadn’t said a word – he had been enduring the pain.

Amidst the deafening sound of drums and horns, Bai Jinzhi raised her head and shouted toward the city, “Quickly summon a physician! Quickly summon a physician!”

The gate-guarding soldiers rushed out upon hearing this. Not knowing what kind of ambush His Majesty had encountered that could wound General Lu of the Bai family army so severely, they immediately sent someone to fetch a physician with all haste.

Lu Yuanpeng was extremely drowsy. He couldn’t even open his eyes, but when Bai Jinzhi’s salty, scalding tears fell on his face, he struggled to open them. He was tired… so very tired.

“Don’t cry…” Lu Yuanpeng had never seen Bai Jinzhi cry before. He tried with difficulty to raise his hand to wipe away her tears, but his entire body was weak and powerless. His arm felt as if it were filled with lead and wouldn’t lift.

He remembered that when the Bai family had first fallen into trouble, someone had bribed the families of officials to cause trouble outside the Bai residence. Even the Prince Regent had been moved to tears by those heartless, ungrateful profit-seekers, asking… the Bai family protects the realm, but who protects the Bai family? Yet Bai Jinzhi, with tears in her eyes, had glared at those people but refused to let her tears fall.

“Are you an idiot? Why didn’t you say you were injured?” Bai Jinzhi’s heart was filled with panic and fear. “Why did you endure the jolting all this way?”

Lu Yuanpeng felt too unwell to speak. His Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes could no longer open, yet he still forced himself to say, “Bai Jinzhi, don’t cry… I will protect you.”

“Lu Yuanpeng, don’t sleep! Stay awake, don’t sleep!” Bai Jinzhi patted Lu Yuanpeng’s face, her voice carrying wails, “Don’t sleep!”

Bai Jinzhi had also experienced life and death situations many times, but seeing the blood on the horse’s back and tail, seeing Lu Yuanpeng’s completely bloodless face and lips, she was frightened to the point where her heart contracted into a tight ball.

Bai Jinzhi’s voice was right beside his ear. As Lu Yuanpeng’s consciousness gradually blurred, he thought of his close friend Sima Ping…

If Sima Ping had been there, he probably wouldn’t have been shot full of arrows like a porcupine!

Indeed, every time he went into battle, he would charge about wildly and recklessly. It was always Sima Ping who protected him at his side, preserving his life.

But this time, in order to go out alone with Bai Jinzhi, he had said such hurtful words to Sima Ping, making a fuss about severing their friendship.

He knew in his heart that Sima Ping was worried about him and Bai Jinzhi…

Yet he had said, “Sima Ping, we two are good brothers. You’ve saved me countless times, so I don’t want to turn against you… You know I’m fond of the Bai family’s Fourth Miss. I don’t hide any of my thoughts from you, but you… Treat me like a fool! If my elder brother hadn’t told me that you probably also have feelings for Bai Jinzhi, how long did you plan to keep it from me?”

He had watched as the carelessly playful smile on Sima Ping’s face gradually disappeared. His heart ached, and he dared not look at Sima Ping. Clenching his fists, he continued, “In any case… I can yield anything you want, even my life if you asked for it! But not Bai Jinzhi! If you want to compete with me for her, then let’s sever our friendship!”

Sima Ping had put away the smile on his face and only said to him in a low voice, “Lu Yuanpeng, if I were determined to compete with you for Bai Jinzhi, do you think you could win her from me?”

“Since that’s the case, then don’t follow us this time. Without you constantly squeezed between the two of us, Bai Jinzhi and I will surely be together!”

Later, Sima Ping had indeed not stayed by his side…

Did he regret it?

Lu Yuanpeng did regret it. Every time he thought of Sima Ping’s features when his smile disappeared, of the disappointed look in Sima Ping’s eyes when he looked at him, he felt regret.

He knew that throughout their lives, Sima Ping had always yielded to him whatever he wanted. He also understood that Sima Ping had perhaps never thought of competing with him for Bai Jinzhi.

But ever since learning that Sima Ping also had feelings for Bai Jinzhi, he had been afraid. He remembered how, on every battlefield, it was Sima Ping who protected both him and Bai Jinzhi. He feared… that Bai Jinzhi also had feelings for Sima Ping.

If he truly died here today, what he would regret most wouldn’t be the words of love he never spoke to Bai Jinzhi. After all, as long as he never voiced his feelings and didn’t disturb her heart, she would only regard him as an ordinary comrade-in-arms and wouldn’t be grief-stricken.