The leader of the secret guards kneeling on the ground trembled in fear, not daring to even breathe loudly. He felt wronged inside.
The Prince of Yan, Song Yinghuai, was once the God of War of the Great Ye. Even though he had not been in the limelight for many years and many people had never witnessed his prowess, one could still imagine that his martial arts skills must be extremely high.
For them to follow such a brave, resourceful and extremely vigilant person was by no means an easy task!
Seeing that the man just knelt there without saying a word, Dong Yurong flew into a rage. She grabbed a purple clay teapot and threw it at the head of the secret guard leader, losing all her noble - lady demeanor.
The teapot shattered on the leader's head. Blood trickled down his forehead, but the leader didn't dare to dodge and just took the blow.
"Father! What shall we do now?" Dong Yurong stamped her foot hard and kept shaking Dong Fangzhuo's arm. "If we can't find him, what if he can't hold back and just randomly picks a maid on the road to... Wouldn't all my efforts be in vain?"
Dong Fangzhuo frowned. "Who dares? Which maid in my Dong family would dare to respond?"
He shouted at the leader, "You quickly order all the servants in the villa. If they spot the Prince of Yan, they should report immediately. I'll reward them handsomely. If anyone dares to climb into the Prince's bed and ruin my plan, I'll exterminate her whole family!"
The leader covered his forehead and left after receiving the order, leaving only the Dong father - daughter pair looking at each other.
Dong Yurong sat back on the couch huffily, muttering to herself.
The maid Ping'er hadn't come back to report either. She didn't know if things had succeeded.
At this time, secret guards from various places came in one after another to report that they had found nothing. Even Ping'er seemed to have vanished into thin air.
The Plum Grove Villa was too big. Since they had secretly planned to deal with the Prince of Yan today and it would be a bad reputation if it got out, they didn't dare to conduct a large - scale search. They had to do a slow, carpet - style search, and for the moment, there was no progress at all.
Since the secret guards guarding all the important passages and secret tunnels in the villa hadn't spotted anyone, it could only mean that Song Yinghuai and Caiyu were still in the villa.
Another secret guard came, this time bringing the corpses of Ping'er and a man.
The man was a gardener who took care of the plum trees in the villa.
Seeing the two corpses, Dong Yurong gasped:
"This bitch! Her skills are too..."
"Search! Search for me right away!"
Meanwhile.
In the most secluded warming pavilion in the Plum Grove Villa.
The candles had all been extinguished. Only the moonlight shining on the snow on the ground provided a glimmer of light, adding a touch of brightness to the dim warming pavilion.
Caiyu was struggling to get up from the couch.
Judging from her clear eyes, the effects of the drug had obviously worn off, but her body was extremely weak and sore, especially her waist, legs, and some indescribable parts.
Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall from her bare shoulder. There were criss - cross red marks on her body, all love bites. Her cheeks were still rosy, and there were tear stains on them.
Those were the tears forced out by Song Yinghuai's excessive actions.
Actually, after the first time, she had already felt the effects of the drug weakening, but Song Yinghuai, apparently pent - up for a long time, had used kisses to re - ignite the remaining heat in her body.
He had even wickedly induced her to help him at the last moment...
The trembling wrists like an old woman finally made her recall that fragmented memory of the day when she had drunk too much and lost her memory after waking up.
It turned out that that day, just like today, her hands had been used by Song Yinghuai... used for...
The suppressed, broken and seductive voice of Song Yinghuai still echoed in her ears, "Save each other! Let's save each other!"
So, this was what he meant by "saving each other"!
Caiyu stared fixedly at her wrists, with an impulse to cut them off.
Although she had been drugged and had thrown herself at him shamelessly, she still felt extremely ashamed and indignant after doing such a thing.
Most importantly, for the first time in her life, she realized that a man could be so shameless when he wanted to be!
He had done almost everything, but still hadn't truly consummated the relationship with her!
She had lost so much, but still lacked that last and most important step. How could she bear it!
She could even imagine that in the future, if she tried to seduce him again, Song Yinghuai wouldn't hesitate to use her hands like this again.
Shame, anger and frustration finally broke Caiyu's rationality.
Her face buried in the soft pillow, tears silently slid down, gradually turning into soft sobs. Her whole body trembled slightly.
Hearing the noise here, Song Yinghuai, who had dressed himself on the other side, turned his head. Seeing her like this, he couldn't help but pause.
After hesitating for a moment, he said in a low voice:
"Just now..." Did it hurt?
He just couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead, he changed the topic, "I once asked the Emperor to allow me to practice Buddhism. Now the Emperor hasn't given me permission to return to the secular world. So I can't give you any status. But..."
He hesitated for a moment and then said, "If you tell me how you entered the mansion, when I'm free from my restrictions in the future, I can take you as a concubine - in - waiting."
This was the first time Song Yinghuai had clearly asked a question. It was up to Caiyu to see if she would appreciate his offer.
By saying this, he actually meant that he was going to accept Caiyu. No matter which force was behind her, he decided to protect her.
Caiyu wasn't stupid. She just felt humiliated!
Who wanted to be his concubine - in - waiting!
What she wanted was the innocence of the Lan family!
What she wanted was the freedom to gallop freely at Yanmen Pass!
Caiyu's face was expressionless. There were tear stains on her cheeks buried in the pillow. She said mechanically and coldly:
"I'm the daughter of a bodyguard from the Zhenwei Escort Bureau in Yangzhou. Before the accident, my father bribed the yamen runners and I changed identities with a maid in the family to escape."
"I don't have any skills to support myself. I was at a loss in Yanjing and had no choice but to sell myself into the Prince of Yan's mansion as a maid."
This identity was fabricated by her master.
The result of Song Yinghuai's investigation was also the same.
Obviously, Caiyu didn't intend to tell the truth.
A cold frost condensed in Song Yinghuai's eyes, sealing the tiny crack that had just been thawed.
Suddenly, the cry of an owl came from afar outside the house.
Song Yinghuai stopped dwelling on Caiyu's matter. He strode out of the warming pavilion and took out a signal flare from his bosom and lit it.
The blue fireworks exploded in the dark sky, extremely eye - catching.
Caiyu didn't care about her shame and anger anymore. She quickly pulled her clothes together and ran out. Looking up at the bright blue light in the sky, she was stunned:
"My lord, doing this will attract the Dong family's people."
Song Yinghuai snorted and just stood outside the warming pavilion with his hands behind his back, quietly waiting.
Caiyu had no choice but to stand inside the doorway and wait with him.
Before long, figures like shooting stars came rushing towards them from afar.
Caiyu nervously grabbed the door frame. However, when she saw the leader, she was stunned.
It wasn't the Dong family's secret guards who came, but Han Fen and the secret guards from the Prince of Yan's mansion.
Han Fen glanced at Caiyu, whose cheeks were flushed, and immediately averted his eyes. He reported to Song Yinghuai:
"My lord, the brothers have already cleared out all the secret guards that the Dong family had ambushed in the Plum Grove Villa. General Zhu and General Tan have also taken control of the guards and troops outside the villa."
The provincial administrator was a second - rank official in the Great Ye, in charge of a province's finance and civil affairs. There were over a thousand escort troops accompanying him.
Although it was insignificant compared to Song Yinghuai's one hundred thousand Yan troops, after all, they were all serving the court. It was not advisable to have a fierce direct conflict, so as not to give others a chance to criticize.
"Very good." Song Yinghuai's mood improved again. "It's time for me to meet Dong Fangzhuo."
Caiyu was completely confused listening to this, but there was one thing she understood clearly.
Song Yinghuai's purpose for coming to this banquet was not simple.
It seemed that... he was going to deal with Dong Fangzhuo!