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Xiao Jinyan regained consciousness from the dull pain and saw her face filled with panic; he softened his tone and said, "I’m fine."

Shen Chuwei was still very worried, "Your complexion doesn’t seem too good."

Outside, a fierce wind raged, startling the horse into a wild gallop, causing the horse carriage to jostle violently.

Xiao Jinyan held Shen Chuwei and with great difficulty, managed to sit up, but due to the carriage’s jolting, they once again collided with the edge of the short table, hitting the same spot at the same angle.

He grunted, unable to bear the pain.

The suppressed grunt was masked by the sudden downpour.

Qin Xiao saw the horse turn its head and dash away; beyond horrified, he immediately gave chase.

But the wind was too strong, and the horse ran too fast; even using his light-footed skills, Qin Xiao couldn’t catch up.

Seeing someone desperately grabbing the reins in the distance, Qin Xiao, even though he couldn’t see clearly, guessed it must be Wu Tan.

The rain poured down like a flood, washing over his eyes so he could hardly keep them open; Qin Xiao was frantic, who could have anticipated encountering such a severe storm at this time?

The horse, as if mad, refused to slow down no matter how Wu Tan pulled, being dragged along for a long time.

In the flashes of lightning and roars of thunder, the horse that had gone mad suddenly crashed to the ground, finally stopping the runaway carriage.

The fallen horse spat out blood, quickly washed clean by the heavy rain.

Upon noticing the carriage had come to a stop, Xiao Jinyan then carried Shen Chuwei out from the carriage and simultaneously took out an oil-paper umbrella.

Outside, the rain obscured everything; they could only see the horse lying on the ground, alive or dead unknown, and a mud-covered figure struggling on the ground.

As Xiao Jinyan carried Shen Chuwei down from the carriage, he saw Wu Tan struggling to rise from the ground, and recognized him solely by his bald head.

Shen Chuwei took the umbrella from Xiao Jinyan’s hands, opened it up, and held it above their heads.

The wind was somewhat weaker than before, and the oil-paper umbrella barely managed to stay open.

The two remaining umbrellas were handed to Qin Xiao and Wu Tan, who had just run over, completely soaked.

Xiao Jinyan instructed, "Go check nearby to see if there’s a place to take shelter from the rain."

Shen Chuwei reminded, "There’s still a lot of things in the carriage."

The rain was too heavy; they had to shout to be heard.

Qin Xiao replied, "After finding shelter, your subordinate will come back for them."

Only then did Shen Chuwei feel relieved, allowing Xiao Jinyan to carry her in search of shelter.

Moving forward in the heavy rain, their pace was extremely slow.

Holding the oil-paper umbrella against the strong wind was an arduous task for Shen Chuwei; even so, they still got wet.

After the rain, the temperature dropped quickly, chilling them to the bone.

After searching for a while, they found an abandoned temple.

Xiao Jinyan carried Shen Chuwei into the temple, looking at the dirty and disorderly place, full of dust, with no place to sit.

The only advantage was that it provided shelter from the wind and rain.

Shen Chuwei closed the oil-paper umbrella, tugging at Xiao Jinyan’s sleeve, "Your Highness, put me down."

Xiao Jinyan didn’t find a place to settle, he looked down at the person in his arms, her cheeks covered in rainwater, her waist-length hair soaked by the rain; if they didn’t change clothes soon, she might catch cold.

"The ground is too filthy."

Shen Chuwei looked down and saw that not only were Xiao Jinyan’s shoes soaked through, but they were also covered with mud, while she herself was only somewhat wet but still relatively clean.

Considering Xiao Jinyan was the dignified Crown Prince, such a sorry state was probably a first for him.

If the Crown Prince didn’t mind, naturally, she wouldn’t either.

She returned her gaze to Xiao Jinyan, "Then let’s clean together; once it’s clean, we’ll have a place to sit."

Xiao Jinyan hesitated for a while before finally putting Shen Chuwei down; the ground was too dusty, and just touching it dirtied everything.

When Wu Tan entered, he put aside his oil-paper umbrella and approached the Buddha statue, joining his hands and praying.

Shen Chuwei admired Wu Tan’s behavior, never forgetting he was a monk even at such times.

After finding shelter, Qin Xiao returned to the carriage to fetch their belongings.

Shen Chuwei saw that the temple, neglected for many years, was very dusty, and all it needed was a good cleaning.

She rolled up her sleeves, picked up a broom that hadn’t been used in a long time, and began to sweep away the dust.

Wu Tan turned to see Shen Chuwei cleaning and walked over, speaking gently, "Hand the broom to this humble monk, let me do the cleaning."

Shen Chuwei lifted her head to look at Wu Tan, pondered briefly, and then nodded in agreement, "Okay."

Wu Tan took the broom and started sweeping the dust.

Shen Chuwei grabbed the hem of her dress and tore off a large piece, wet it with water, and began wiping the area clean following Wu Tan.

Xiao Jinyan, seeing Shen Chuwei’s actions, frowned slightly but realized that starting a fire to keep warm was more important now; otherwise, catching a cold would be problematic.

Xiao Jinyan found some wood, all from within the temple. He drew the soft sword at his waist and split the wood in front of him one by one.

After splitting a pile of wood, he squatted down, took out a fire striker, and started to make fire. Maybe because of the humidity, he couldn’t get a fire started.

Shen Chuwei saw this, secretly took out a lighter from the Space, glanced around, found some discarded paper, and walked over. She squatted beside Xiao Jinyan and handed the lighter to him.

"Use this to light the waste paper; it makes starting a fire easier."

Xiao Jinyan looked at the object in her hand, a black block he had never seen before, and confusion flickered in his eyes, "What is this?"

"It can be used to start a fire." Shen Chuwei taught Xiao Jinyan how to use the lighter, hand by hand.

Shock flashed through Xiao Jinyan’s eyes; was it really so easy to produce a flame?

He followed Shen Chuwei’s method, lit the waste paper, and easily got it burning, much more convenient than the fire striker.

After igniting the waste paper, he placed it under the wood. In no time, he had the wood burning, and the surrounding area grew warm.

Full of curiosity, Xiao Jinyan asked her, "What is this thing? Where did it come from?"

Shen Chuwei whispered mysteriously in his ear, "This is called a lighter. Where it comes from, I’ll tell you later."

Xiao Jinyan wanted to ask more, but then he saw Shen Chuwei standing up and walking away to continue dusting off the dirt.

He looked down at the object in his hand. Shen Chuwei always managed to produce such whimsical things, but this lighter was indeed more convenient than the fire striker.

Qin Xiao brought the items from the horse carriage and helped with the cleaning.

It took quite a while to get everything clean.

There were small rooms on both sides of the temple suitable for resting. After cleaning, they could be used for accommodation. It would have been better with some bedding.

Shen Chuwei opened the bundle. Luckily, she had used waterproof bags, or else there would not be any clean clothes to wear.

She took out a set of clean clothes, joyfully approached Xiao Jinyan, and said, "Your Highness, please change your clothes."

Xiao Jinyan saw the clothes and looked at the bundle on the floor, which contained quite a few garments. Noticing that her clothes were also soaked, he said,

"You change too, to avoid catching a cold."

"Okay." Shen Chuwei took the clothes and went with Xiao Jinyan to change.

There was a curtain hanging on the door of the small room. After entering, Shen Chuwei began to take off her wet clothes, which were uncomfortable and clinging to her body, and it was very cold.

Xiao Jinyan, watching Shen Chuwei undress, suddenly found his mouth dry and turned his head away, starting to undress with his back to her.

Shen Chuwei, feeling greatly cold, undressed quickly. She grabbed a clean towel to wipe her body, then swiftly put on the dry clothes. Although still a bit cold, she felt much better than before.

After she put on her clothes, she looked up at Xiao Jinyan and saw that he was also changing with his back to her.

His physique was well proportioned; his back broad but not exaggerated, and his legs long and straight.

It was only upon closer inspection she noticed numerous scars on his back, likely from combat.

Her gaze settled on a particularly red area that was indented. She reached out to touch it and found that it was broken open.

As soon as she touched it, she heard a muffled grunt.

Xiao Jinyan frowned; it was genuinely painful there.

Shen Chuwei suddenly remembered the rough ride in the horse carriage; she had been tightly held in Xiao Jinyan’s arms, unharmed and unbruised.

In contrast, it would have been easy for Xiao Jinyan to get bumped around and injured.

Yet looking at him was enough to make her heart ache.

"Your Highness, is this injury from the horse carriage earlier?"

"It’s a minor wound." Xiao Jinyan picked up dry clothes intending to put them on when Shen Chuwei offered her help, "Your Highness, let me assist you."

Xiao Jinyan didn’t refuse, "Okay."

With Shen Chuwei’s help, he got dressed. While putting on his outer robe, she said, "Let me apply some ointment for Your Highness first."

Xiao Jinyan knew of Shen Chuwei’s medical skills, and indeed, it was very painful there; some ointment would surely help.

"Okay."

Shen Chuwei took out the ointment, dabbed some on her palm, and gently applied it to the injured area.

It was painful, but Xiao Jinyan bore it without a sound.

After applying the ointment, Shen Chuwei continued to help Xiao Jinyan get dressed.

Xiao Jinyan glanced at the bed in the room, which was small; just right for one man. Adding another person would make it cramped. The bed was empty without any mattress, and it would likely be very cold to sleep on at night.

...

...ps: My writing hasn’t been great these past few days, so bear with me, everyone. I’ll adjust as quickly as I can.

Just a reminder, in the previous Chapter, the abstinence team captain and the sexy star mentioned are from "The pampered wife in Qin Ye’s arms is a big shot," referring to the abstinent Su Changyu vs. the enchanting Chu Jianyou (Chu Jianyou).

No charge for the above hundred or so words of rambling.