Azure Sky Scheme

This book could also be called I Picked Up a Man by the Roadside and Have Already Imagined Hundreds of Ways to Die.

Don’t pick up men you find by the roadside!

Especially injured men. Unfortunately, with tears in her eyes, Zhang Yunbi had no choice but to pick up the injured general.

He said he was the emperor’s most beloved younger brother. If Zhang Yunbi saved him and helped him with one more thing, he promised to repay her.

That was what Ji Jiang promised Zhang Yunbi.

But Zhang Yunbi was only afraid she’d lose her life.

She had a father and a mother. Though she had traveled alone all the way to Jiangnan and apprenticed herself to a master to learn medicine, her family was close-knit and happy. Even with only two daughters, she and her sister, the four of them had never gone without.

She couldn’t tell anyone about Ji Jiang.

If Zhang Yunbi had hardened her heart and reported him to the authorities without believing a word he said, that would have been the end of it. But she hadn’t dared to disbelieve him completely.

She hid him away, then told Ji Jiang fiercely:

“Normally, I shouldn’t save you when I don’t know if what you say is true. You can’t even produce a household registration! But if there’s even a one-in-a-million chance you’re telling the truth, and war breaks out in Jiangnan, I can’t afford to gamble on that possibility. Do you understand?”

“But you’re making this so hard for me... I can’t take this risk. I absolutely can’t take this risk. You have to give me your word.”

With tear-filled eyes, Zhang Yunbi thought through the hundreds of ways she might die from now on.

“First, my parents and family must not be dragged into this. No one around me can be involved.”

“Second, while you’re in my courtyard, don’t act like some nobleman, ordering people around and making me wait on you. You have to do as I say.”

“As for the third thing, I’m taking you out of Jiangnan. If I die, you have to support my parents. You can leave them money or send someone to look after them, but above all, you have to do it sincerely. Ideally, you’ll hide the truth from them and let them think I’m still alive. I know you have the means and the men. You just need to get out of your current predicament.”

Ji Jiang promised her all three things. But Zhang Yunbi didn’t believe him. She didn’t trust the conscience of a stranger she’d never met, much less that of someone who had fought their way through a world of political intrigue and deceit.

But there was only so much she could do.

Even if she didn’t believe him, she couldn’t retreat and pretend none of this had happened. She couldn’t stand still.

Theme: If I go and do not return, then I shall not return.