Chapter 253: Chapter 253: The Mysterious Person

Jie Chen blankly asked, “In the future… didn’t you only like to be free?”

Xiang Ying blinked her delicate eyelashes: “Yes, but I found that with you, I could have everything I wanted.”

“Moreover, I found that we share the same goal, you want to overthrow the Emperor, the scum father, and I want to live a comfortable life.”

Jie Chen raised his eyebrows: “What’s the necessary connection between these two?”

“There is,” Xiang Ying said earnestly, “if you overthrow the Emperor, the scum father, Nanyue cannot be without a ruler. Under normal circumstances, you’ll most likely ascend to the throne with the support of your followers.”

She cupped Jie Chen’s cheeks: “You’ll certainly make a good Emperor, and a good Emperor can make everyone’s life comfortable and at ease. Then I’ll be even more at ease.”

Xiang Ying dared not even think about how blissful life could be.

She would roam around, pilfering the possessions of bad people, and even if she was caught, she could brazenly scare others away because her backer is the Emperor!

While she daydreamed about the good life, Jie Chen suddenly gently kissed her lips.

Xiang Ying snapped back to reality: “Ambush?”

Jie Chen found her adorable and smiled contentedly.

“I am worried you might change your mind. The words you’ve said today must count.”

“Of course, I’ll never regret it.”

Jie Chen embraced Xiang Ying, originally intending to let her sleep while he kept watch over the mining device.

But Xiang Ying wasn’t sleepy and her hands were restless.

Repeatedly, Jie Chen restrained her mischievous fingers.

It’s not that he didn’t want to, but it was simply too cold in the wild mountains.

How could he not feel pity for Xiang Ying?

Jie Chen simply asked about her past to divert Xiang Ying’s attention.

“If you aren’t the elder princess of Xizhou, where did you come from before? The Heavenly Court?”

Hearing the words “Heavenly Court,” Xiang Ying burst out laughing.

She had Jie Chen look at her: “Do you think I look like a fairy?”

Unexpectedly, Jie Chen seriously considered it and then nodded.

Xiang Ying laughed even harder.

She gently hugged Jie Chen: “I come from a place very far away, beyond the bounds of time.”

Jie Chen fell silent for a moment, pondering what such a place would be like.

After a while, he said, “It must have been beautiful.”

“No,” Xiang Ying said softly, recalling some unhappy memories, “It used to be beautiful, with oceans, mountains, sunlight, and dew. Later, due to rampant pollution and destruction, coupled with natural disasters, the sunlight completely disappeared.”

“Following that, homes were destroyed, food became scarce, and even clean water sources dwindled. Many people went hunting for food, but they contracted a disease from the animals, turning into zombie-like creatures that gnaw at their loved ones, becoming a new type of animal.”

“I was three years old when the disaster struck, and I lost my parents. I was taken in by an orphanage. Later, when the Corpse Poison broke out worldwide, I was sent to a United Nations training base. You’ve asked me about my skills before; it was all learned there. I had a very formidable teacher, who was eight years older than me, yet taught me so much.”

Jie Chen paused, remembering and said in a heavy tone: “You said, your teacher died?”

“Yes,” Xiang Ying lowered her head, “During a mission, he was surrounded by monsters infected with Corpse Poison while covering for me. In the end, he detonated the explosives on his body.”

Just listening to Xiang Ying, Jie Chen could hardly imagine what a bizarre world it must have been.

Filled with man-eating monsters and unpredictable human hearts, where for a mere mouthful of meat, one could brutally kill friends and family. Does humanity still exist there?

No wonder since meeting Xiang Ying, he felt she had an intense drive to survive.

She was happy to see the sunlight, and the sight of a running wild boar could excite her more than others.

It turns out the world she came from no longer had so much vitality.

In the end, Jie Chen gently wrapped his arms around Xiang Ying, patting her back.

“From now on, I want to be your only family here.”

Xiang Ying raised her eyes: “You want to be my brother?”

Jie Chen’s handsome and cold face darkened, before Xiang Ying could mock him for always being tricked, she was pulled into his arms and kissed deeply.

In the end, they stirred until it was almost dawn before returning.

Xiang Ying didn’t have the strength to ride a horse herself, so she leaned against Jie Chen as he rode her back to the camp.

Fortunately, the weather was cold and everyone else was asleep, except for a few patrolling soldiers who glanced from a distance at Jie Chen and Xiang Ying before nonchalantly withdrawing their gaze.

By now, who in the entire troop didn’t know that their Vice General Jie Chen, was madly in love with the Princess of Xizhou.

Their secret meetings in the middle of the night seemed entirely normal.

Back in her room, Xiang Ying began to examine the mined jade in the laboratory of her mystical space.

The inspection revealed that the jade was of excellent quality; the piece she had was precisely Emperor Green, pure and clear.

As expected, the space loved it, and when Xiang Ying placed the jade inside, the counter for the seventeenth layer, which tracks the required number of jade pieces, instantly increased by three.

Xiang Ying was puzzled.

She had brought two pieces of raw jade into the space, but only one was of the Emperor Green quality.

Yet the space counted it as three?

After a moment of careful thought, Xiang Ying realized the truth.

Fine jade counts as triple the value, and as for the other piece, it was probably too crude, so it was counted as one, or maybe just as a half.

Xiang Ying was immediately filled with enthusiasm.

If she worked hard at saving up, her seventeenth floor would soon be unlocked.

Jie Chen didn’t disappoint her either.

He had found someone, and the mining was exceptionally fast, every night Xiang Ying would go to Jie Chen’s room and swipe away bags of jade.

The count of jade in the space was rapidly increasing!

Xiang Ying also exchanged some items for a cutting and polishing device from the system.

Suddenly, she had a bold idea and decided to give it a try.

The Exile Team had been traveling for seven or eight days and was finally nearing the Capital.

Their inn was the last one on this exile journey.

They would enter the Capital the day after tomorrow.

During the day, Xiang Ying had already seen several Biaoqi Guards hurriedly entering Jie Chen’s tent from the Capital.

The Sixth Prince was no longer up to mischief; it was probably because they were now under the Emperor’s watchful eye, so he was especially well-behaved.

Until this night.

Just when Xiang Ying was about to sleep, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

She lifted the curtain to look, and saw many Biaoqi Guards, along with the Great General she had seen before.

He entered Jie Chen’s tent, and after a while, Jie Chen came out with him, his expression solemn.

A group of men mounted their horses and rode away into the night.

Xiang Ying was stunned.

Where were they going?

Just then, a pebble hit the ground near Xiang Ying’s feet.

She picked it up to find a slender bamboo tube tied underneath.

Pulling it out, there was a note inside.

“Meet in the bamboo grove at midnight.”

Xiang Ying’s gaze slightly hardened.

Who was summoning her?