When Caiyu came out in a dress, Song Yinghuai was momentarily stunned, his eyes full of admiration.
He had seen her charming look in a red dress and her plain look in a simple maid's outfit.
No matter which look, it suited her extremely well.
It was just that today's dress made Song Yinghuai discover once again that she had a more unique charm waiting to be explored.
This lake - blue curved skirt lined with moon - embroidered brocade was softer and warmer than other fabrics. The layered hem was like waves covering her ankles.
Her long hair was casually pinned up with a wooden hairpin. Her fingers were as delicate as orchid petals. Her beautiful side profile, deep eyebrows and eyes showed a kind of unrivaled arrogance when she frowned slightly, not at all like a girl from an ordinary family.
Wearing an extra five - colored cloak made of pheasant feathers on the outside, her face looked even more radiant.
This dress was randomly picked by Han Fen, that blockhead, from the clothing store of his own industry on the day Caiyu was poisoned and in a coma. Unexpectedly, it fit her so well.
It was truly the case that a beautiful person would look good in any clothes.
However... Song Yinghuai's eyes flickered slightly.
Was she really a girl from a small escort agency?
Under the gaudy or plain clothes, he might not have been so surprised. But today, this dress, which was supposed to suit the temperament of a noblewoman, fit Caiyu so perfectly that his doubts resurfaced in his mind.
Was this girl's background really what he had investigated before?
Seeing Song Yinghuai staring at her all the time, Caiyu couldn't help but look down at herself in doubt.
She had a clear understanding of her figure and looks, but lacking a bronze mirror for comparison and not having worn such noble clothes for many years had made her lose her vigilance.
She just thought that Song Yinghuai might think she didn't look good in this dress.
"Your Highness, does this dress not suit me?" Caiyu asked, for the first time a bit unconfidently.
It really didn't suit her!
She was extremely beautiful in it, but it was too eye - catching and likely to arouse suspicion.
Song Yinghuai's calm eyes reflected a glint of light from the snow, making it hard to read his emotions.
Just as Caiyu became more and more suspicious, he reached out and took off her pheasant cloak, then took off his own black - fox cloak and wrapped her tightly in it.
"The pheasant cloak really doesn't suit you. It's too ostentatious."
Song Yinghuai's words carried a double meaning. Then he walked towards his tall horse.
Han Fen had been waiting outside the door.
The Abbot Guangzhi didn't come to see them off, but sent a young novice monk with a dagger.
"The abbot asked me to convey that this dagger is the prize he promised Your Highness for the mid - day chess game."
After thanking the novice monk, Song Yinghuai took the dagger. Instead of putting it in his own bosom, he handed it to Caiyu.
Standing beside him, Caiyu slightly opened her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. "Your Highness?"
Song Yinghuai said, "You once begged me to give you a sword. I thought it was inappropriate for a maid to wear a sword on her waist. But this Yajiu dagger is suitable for you to hide on your body in case of emergency."
Caiyu held her breath, her heart pounding. An expression of disbelief appeared on her face.
Yajiu...
This was the work of a legendary sword - maker from the previous dynasty!
There was a legendary sword - maker named Zhang Yajiu in the previous dynasty. His sword - making skills were extremely high, and he had forged countless precious swords for the royal family of the previous dynasty.
A great poet of the previous dynasty once praised him in a poem: "A thousand years after Ou Yezi's death, the spirit secretly taught Zhang Yajiu. Yajiu forged his sword in the Wu Mountains. Heaven gave him the right time and the gods lent him their power."
Zhang Yajiu spent his whole life forging a divine sword named "Yajiu Sword" for the royal family of the previous dynasty.
This sword was extremely sharp. Mysterious runes were engraved on the sword body, and precious gems were inlaid on the hilt. It could easily cut through a mountain.
Apart from that divine sword, other weapons forged by Zhang Yajiu in his life were also highly sought after by the world.
Was this dagger really forged by Zhang Yajiu?
Caiyu looked at the dagger in her hand in disbelief.
The outer body of the dagger was simple and unadorned, with nine ancient and complicated runes engraved on it. It seemed ordinary at first glance, but when the dagger was drawn out, the blade had a light - blue color, and there were silver glints at the tip of the dagger, looking like ice - blue crystal.
It was truly a divine weapon!
Song Yinghuai actually gave such a dagger casually to a trivial maid like her?
Caiyu's head was in a daze. She couldn't figure out what he was up to.
However, after she took the dagger, when her eyes fell on the tassel hanging from the dagger's scabbard, she suddenly stood still as if under a spell, her head buzzing.
The jade pendant hanging from the tassel was exactly the one that was torn off when she had drugged him and escaped during their first meeting!
This jade pendant was extremely small, a piece of fine Hetian jade the size of a little finger joint, carved into a simple ingot shape.
The carving was quite ordinary, but it was carved by her father, Marquis Yongchang Lan Yuanyi, on the day of Caiyu's full - moon celebration.
She knew the jade pendant was lost, but she never dared to ask about it.
She never expected that Song Yinghuai had recognized her since that day!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have returned the jade pendant to her!
In an instant, her whole body tensed up like a stone. Her heart sank like it was filled with cold lead, and it was as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on her from head to toe. Her whole body went numb.
Only then did she realize that she had been walking on the edge of a knife these days.
Song Yinghuai had known all her plans from the very beginning.
Except for trying to find out the mastermind behind her, everything she had done was transparent in his eyes.
Caiyu tightened her grip on the dagger in her hand. Cold sweat broke out on her back, and her mind raced.
Song Yinghuai had hundreds of reasons and hundreds of opportunities to kill her, but he didn't.
He had even returned the jade pendant to her. Was he trying to test if she would pledge her loyalty to him?
Or was he confirming if she was the girl he met that first time?
Song Yinghuai's face was as calm as water, and the emotions in his eyes were complex and hard to read.
He had made a step back, just waiting for Caiyu to speak.
As long as she was willing to reveal the mastermind behind her, he would protect her for the rest of her life.
He was willing to make an effort to keep this bond alive for eternity!
But he was disappointed.
With a delighted expression, Caiyu happily put away the dagger, as if she didn't recognize the jade ingot on the dagger's tassel at all.
"I never expected that Your Highness would remember my wish. Your kindness to this humble maid is deeply engraved in my heart. I swear that from now on, I will serve Your Highness whole - heartedly, give my all, and be completely loyal until my last breath..."
Song Yinghuai's cold gaze fell on her, as if he was about to freeze her whole body.
Caiyu's voice got softer and softer, until it was almost inaudible.
Song Yinghuai let out a soft laugh, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
He flipped onto his horse, then reached out and pulled her onto the horse's back as well, tightly encircling her and the black - fox cloak on her body.
"Giddyup!"
The horse under them reared up, let out a high - pitched neigh, then kicked up its hooves and galloped down the mountain at full speed. A flurry of snow was stirred up behind them, accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves. The three of them on two horses roared down the mountain.
On the first day of the new year in the thirty - second year of the Yuanzheng era of the Great Ye, the Prince of Yan's Mansion didn't have a New Year's Eve dinner for the first time.
Concubine Yao looked at the dishes that had been reheated again and again on the table, then angrily threw her chopsticks on the ground.
"You useless bunch! You can't even find out where your prince is? What are you all for in the Prince of Yan's Mansion?"
The whole Prince of Yan's Mansion was in an extremely oppressive atmosphere. The servants knelt on the ground in a row, not daring to make a sound.
Only Zhu Xiao still had a smiling face. "My Lady, please calm down. Even if the prince can't make it back for the New Year's Eve dinner, he will surely come back in time to send Miss Biao back to Jiaodong for the talent selection!"
Jiang Jinyue was stung by Zhu Xiao's words. Her eyes were red like a rabbit's. "Auntie, it's all Yue'er's fault... I've made Cousin search for someone for so many days and he couldn't come back to accompany Auntie on New Year's Eve..."
Concubine Yao forced down her anger and let out a sigh. "What does it have to do with you? It's just a missing maid in the mansion, yet he's been searching for so long that he even missed the New Year... Looking at both the previous dynasty and the present, such a ridiculous thing has never been seen!"
Just then, there was a noisy shout from the main gate.
"Coming back! The prince is coming back!"