My Taoist buddy has practiced surrogacy

Chapter 1416 Movement
His legs were already crippled, leaving him vulnerable to the biting wind. Suddenly, he heard a commotion; a group of bandits had stormed into the temple.

Zhou Xing was startled and struggled to escape. Just then, a figure appeared at the temple entrance—it was Ling Xue. She had come to the temple to escape the snow, but unexpectedly encountered bandits. Seeing Zhou Xing, Ling Xue felt a surge of pity. Without thinking, she grabbed a wooden stick and swung it at the bandits.

The bandits were startled by the sudden attack and turned to deal with Ling Xue. Although Ling Xue was illiterate, she was very strong. She wielded a wooden stick and fought with the bandits. Zhou Xing was not to be outdone; he smashed the bandit leader's head with a teapot.

However, the bandits outnumbered them, and Ling Xue and Zhou Xing gradually became exhausted. Just then, Ling Xue spotted a shovel behind the woodpile. A quick thought struck her; she held the shovel to a bandit's neck and shouted, "If anyone dares to move again, I'll kill him!" The bandits were too frightened to move and had no choice but to submit.

After escaping danger, Zhou Xing noticed a special symbol on the red string tied around Ling Xue's wrist. A thought struck him, and he asked, "Where did this red string come from?" Ling Xue scratched her head and said, "My mother left it to me; she said it can ward off evil spirits." Zhou Xing examined the red string closely and discovered that the symbols resembled a lost military code.

After that, Ling Xue took care of Zhou Xing at his residence. She found a gold seal under his pillow, engraved with auspicious cloud patterns. Zhou Xing lied and said it was "scrap copper he found." Ling Xue didn't think much of it, only that the gold seal was somewhat unusual.

One day, a group of rent collectors came to the village. They were arrogant and domineering, bossing the villagers around. Ling Xue couldn't stand their behavior and stepped forward, using a carrying pole to knock down three burly men. Zhou Xing sneered from inside the house, saying, "Crude skills. I'll teach you the flaw technique tomorrow." Ling Xue was delighted to hear this; she knew Zhou Xing was a capable man.

The county magistrate, accompanied by his clerk, suddenly arrived at the dilapidated house. In a panic, Zhou Xing shoved Ling Xue into the cellar. While talking with the magistrate, he deliberately knocked over a teacup, spilling tea onto the blue bricks and leaving a watermark of the character "宸" (Chen). The magistrate was startled but made no sound of it.

Ling Xue groped around in the cellar and discovered a secret passage. She followed the passage down and found a secret room. Inside, a tattered map hung, marking military towns beyond the Great Wall. The beams and pillars were covered with sword marks, filling Ling Xue with curiosity.

Just then, the sounds of fighting came from outside. It turned out that the pursuers had arrived. Zhou Xing lit the hay, and the fire blazed up with the help of the wind. Ling Xue carried Zhou Xing and leaped out of the window. Zhou Xing coughed up blood, smiled, and tightened the red rope around her wrist, saying, "Now you're really an accomplice."

On their escape, Ling Xue and Zhou Xing arrived at a mountain cave. Zhou Xing looked at Ling Xue and slowly said, "Actually, I was originally a prince, but I was framed and ended up like this." Ling Xue was shocked to hear this.

Zhou Xing continued, "My disability in both legs was actually an act. I've been waiting for the rightful opportunity to reclaim the throne." Ling Xue looked at him, her eyes filled with admiration.

However, their whereabouts were discovered by the enemy, who surrounded them in a cave. Zhou Xing and Ling Xue were fearless; they fought side by side, engaging in a desperate battle with the enemy.

During the battle, Ling Xue discovered that the enemy leader was none other than the treacherous minister who had framed Zhou Xing years ago. Enraged, she brandished her weapon and charged at the treacherous minister. Zhou Xing assisted her, and together they defeated him.

At the emperor's birthday banquet, a poisoning incident occurred. Zhou Xing carefully observed and discovered that the flow of the poisoned wine overlapped with the distribution map of powerful officials in the court. He smashed the wine cup in front of everyone, activated his old guard, and brought the situation under control.

Meanwhile, Ling Xue was imprisoned in the imperial dungeon. She bit her fingertip and wrote a letter in blood on the wall. The letter revealed the truth about the prince's framing years ago, and that the treacherous minister was the one who had informed on him.

Upon learning of this, Zhou Xing stormed into the altar, sword in hand. He used his sword to part the curtain, revealing a secret letter hidden within. Enraged by this, the treacherous minister set fire to the palace.

The new emperor ascends the throne and thoroughly investigates old cases. Zhou Xing refuses the throne, only requesting a red ribbon bestowed by the emperor. After Ling Xue regains her identity, she insists on wearing her wedding dress and walking the wedding sedan chair again.

The two ruled the world together, and faded wedding clothes and red ropes hung in their tent. In the wind and sand of the northern frontier, Zhou Xing tightened Ling Xue's fox fur coat and said, "This time, I should be the one to braid the red ropes."

Even in their old age, they still shared a military bed. Under their pillows lay half a jade pendant and a tiger tally, and outside the window, the falling snow resembled the long street where their wedding sedan chair had once passed. They smiled at each other, as if they had returned to that time filled with hardship and sweetness. They knew the road ahead was long, but as long as they stayed together, they could weather any storm.

On a night of raging blizzard, howling winds swept across the land, and the biting snow lashed everything in its path. Zhou Xing huddled beside a broken tombstone in a mass grave, his clothes tattered and worn, offering little protection against the biting cold. His body trembled, his teeth chattered, and the constant hunger in his stomach gnawed at every nerve.

At this moment, Zhou Xing, as a fallen crown prince, had reached the end of his rope. His family's glory had vanished in the power struggles, and those who had once fawned over him had all disappeared without a trace. In this icy wasteland, he felt his life slipping away bit by bit, as if he would be swallowed up by the endless cold and darkness at any moment.

Meanwhile, in the warm pavilion of the Ling residence, the atmosphere was equally tense and suffocating. Ling Xue lay on the bed, her face ashen, her violent coughs shattering the silence of the night. She already suffered from a heart ailment, and recently her condition had worsened, leaving the imperial physicians helpless and shaking their heads in despair.

Ling's father paced anxiously inside the house, his forehead covered in beads of sweat. He had painstakingly built a vast fortune throughout his life, but now his only daughter's life hung in the balance. In this era, a marriage to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck was seen as a way to do so, so he gritted his teeth and decided to take the risk.

"Butler, immediately find a man whose birth chart matches yours and buy him to bring good luck to Miss!" Ling's father's voice carried a hint of determination.

The steward accepted the order and left, returning shortly with news: a young man on the verge of death had been found in a mass grave, whose birth chart matched that of the young lady.

Without saying a word, Ling's father immediately ordered Zhou Xing to be brought back to the mansion.

Zhou Xing was carried into the Ling residence wrapped in a straw mat by rough servants. Along the way, his consciousness was hazy, and he only felt that the surrounding environment had changed from the cold wilderness to a warm yet unfamiliar place. When he was placed on the bluestone floor of the wedding hall, the faint candlelight flickered in front of him, as if it were a call from another world.

Inside the wedding hall, red silk fluttered in the breeze. What should have been a joyous scene was instead tinged with an eeriness by this unusual ritual for bringing good fortune. Ling Xue, through her veil, noticed the bruises on Zhou Xing's wrists, and her heart tightened. She didn't know what hardships this young man had endured, but the bruises silently spoke of his ordeal.

The matchmaker chanted loudly, "First bow to Heaven and Earth!" Zhou Xing, forcibly pressed down by the servants, struggled to his feet. His knees slammed heavily to the ground, blood staining his bruised and purple wounds, but also staining the dark patterns beneath Ling Xue's skirt. At that moment, their fates became intertwined.

After the wedding to ward off bad luck, Zhou Xing was assigned to live in the woodshed. It was small and simple, filled with a damp, musty smell. Ling Xue, upon learning this, felt pity and went to the woodshed under the moonlight.

She gently pushed open the door to the woodshed and saw Zhou Xing huddled in a pile of hay, his body trembling uncontrollably. Ling Xue felt a pang of sorrow and quickly handed Zhou Xing the medicine she was holding.

Zhou Xing looked at the medicine in front of him, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes. Born into royalty, he had maintained a high level of vigilance towards all things since childhood. "What's in this medicine?" he asked coldly.

Ling Xue was stung by his words and felt a pang of displeasure, but remembering his past experiences, she couldn't bring herself to lash out. "It's just some angelica and chuanxiong, how could it possibly poison your worthless life?" she retorted irritably. Zhou Xing looked at her without speaking, but the wariness in his eyes hadn't completely dissipated. He took the medicine and drank it all in one gulp.

Seeing him drink the medicine, Ling Xue felt a little relieved. She turned to leave, but accidentally stepped on a dry branch on the ground, lost her balance, and almost fell. Zhou Xing subconsciously reached out to support her, and their fingertips touched inadvertently, sending a jolt of electricity through their bodies.

Just then, a cat's meow suddenly came from outside the window. It turned out that the butler had sent someone to keep watch outside the window, and upon hearing the noise, the person deliberately imitated a cat's meow to warn him. Zhou Xing was startled and quickly pulled away, but accidentally knocked over the medicine bowl next to him. The medicine splashed onto Ling Xue's skirt, leaving a dark stain.

Ling Xue's face instantly turned bright red. She hurriedly straightened her skirt and left the woodshed.

At midnight, Ling Xue's illness flared up again. The intense pain made her writhe in bed, her clothes soaked with cold sweat. Zhou Xing heard her groans from the woodshed, his heart tightened, and disregarding his own injuries, he climbed onto the roof.

He noticed that Ling Xue's window was unlocked. After hesitating for a moment, he gently pushed the window open. Moonlight shone on his face, and Ling Xue saw him standing by the window like an immortal, and she couldn't help but hold her breath.

Zhou Xing noticed a few painkillers scattered on Ling Xue's pillow, and a thought struck him. He remembered suffering from a similar ailment in the palace when he was young, and how the imperial physician had relieved his pain using a special massage technique. So, he went to Ling Xue's bedside and gently massaged her acupoints.

Ling Xue was initially somewhat resistant, but when Zhou Xing's fingers touched her acupoints, a soothing sensation spread throughout her body, and she gradually relaxed. In the quiet night, the sound of each other's heartbeats could be clearly heard.

In springtime, the plum garden was a riot of color, its fragrance filling the air. Ling Xue, dressed in a light blue dress, strolled through the garden. Zhou Xing followed silently behind her, his eyes scanning their surroundings warily.

Suddenly, a wild rabbit darted out from the flower bushes, startling Ling Xue so much that she screamed and involuntarily fell to the side. Zhou Xing reacted quickly, rushing forward and catching her around the waist.

Ling Xue fell into Zhou Xing's arms, his palm pressed against her back, clearly feeling the rapid pounding of her heart. At that moment, time seemed to freeze; their eyes met, and a subtle tension filled the air.

Not long after, the old lady's birthday banquet was held. Zhou Xing was assigned to stand below the steps, watching everyone laugh and chat, his heart filled with loneliness. Ling Xue looked at his figure, feeling sorry for him, and used the excuse of a headache to ask Zhou Xing to come inside and massage her.

Zhou Xing entered the room, sat behind Ling Xue, and gently massaged her head. At this moment, Ling's father entered the room, saw this scene, frowned, and casually picked up a teacup and threw it at Zhou Xing.

Zhou Xing dodged the teacup, which shattered on the ground, sending shards flying. Seeing this, Ling Xue's heart tightened, and she quickly stood up to shield Zhou Xing. Her eyes revealed a resolute determination and a protective instinct, causing her father to pause slightly in surprise.

On a stormy night, thunder roared and lightning ripped through the sky. Ling Xue's old ailment flared up again, and she struggled in pain on her bed. Zhou Xing stayed by her bedside, watching her suffer, his heart filled with anxiety.

Ignoring Ling Xue's resistance, he forcibly pried open her teeth and poured the medicine into her mouth. Ling Xue choked a few times, but the medicine flowed down her throat, and the pain gradually subsided.

The window paper was soaked through by the torrential rain, and raindrops fell to the ground. The scent of medicine lingered between their lips, and their breaths mingled. At that moment, their feelings for each other changed without them even realizing it.

On Mid-Autumn Festival night, the Ling residence was brightly decorated, creating a lively and peaceful atmosphere. However, a conspiracy was quietly unfolding in the shadows.

Ling Hao, the half-brother, was jealous of everything Ling Xue had. He colluded with the steward and, taking advantage of the chaos, imprisoned Zhou Xing in the dungeon. The dungeon was dark and damp, filled with a putrid stench. Zhou Xing struggled desperately, but could not break free of his shackles.

Upon learning of Zhou Xing's imprisonment, Ling Xue was frantic with worry. Ignoring her own physical condition, she grabbed a pair of scissors and rushed into the dungeon. In the dim light, she saw Zhou Xing chained up.

"I've come to save you!" Ling Xue's voice carried a hint of determination and resolve. She forcefully tore open her wedding dress and threw the strips of cloth to Zhou Xing.

Zhou Xing looked at Ling Xue, a flicker of emotion crossing his eyes. He took the strip of cloth and wrapped it around his bleeding wrist. Just then, Ling Hao approached them, torch in hand.

"Do you think you can escape?" Ling Hao sneered.

Zhou Xing suddenly remembered the Sanskrit incantations he had learned in the palace. He chanted them aloud, and the mysterious incantations seemed to possess an invisible power. The iron chains gradually cracked as he chanted.

Just as they were preparing to escape the dungeon, the pursuers rained down arrows. Without hesitation, Zhou Xing threw himself on Ling Xue, shielding her from the arrows with his own body. An arrow grazed his ear, and blood streamed down his cheek.

"Fool, why bother?" Ling Xue looked at Zhou Xing, her eyes filled with heartache.

"I don't want anything to happen to you," Zhou Xing said softly, holding her tightly.

Inside the shrine, the atmosphere was solemn and dignified. Ling Xue knelt on a prayer mat, wiping the blood from Zhou Xing's face as he lay unconscious. She softly hummed a lullaby her nanny had taught her when she was young, the gentle melody echoing within the shrine.

A miracle occurred: the cinnabar mark between Zhou Xing's eyebrows suddenly lit up, emitting a faint glow. Ling Xue looked at him in surprise, her heart filled with doubt and joy.

The Imperial Medical Bureau secretly investigated Zhou Xing's identity and discovered the dragon-patterned jade pendant he wore close to his body. This news was like a bolt from the blue, shocking the entire Ling family.

Late at night, the Imperial Guards surrounded the Ling residence. Upon hearing the news, Ling Xue was filled with worry and fear. She knew that if Zhou Xing's identity were exposed, he would face immense danger.

She held Zhou Xing's hand tightly, her eyes filled with determination. "I'm marrying you not because of who you are, but simply because you are you."