Granny Yu tried her best to suppress the look of joy and said to Caiyu with a forced smile,
"Look at my memory! I actually forgot the matter you told me, Caiyu girl. I really deserve a scolding!"
Granny Yu was in a hurry to make up for it. "Well, I'll go shopping for you today and send it to you tomorrow. Could you please be more understanding?"
Caiyu was also very polite, but her tone was sarcastic. "Granny, you're being too serious. I'm just a maid, an insignificant person. Naturally, you should prioritize the matters of the master..."
Granny Yu looked embarrassed and didn't dare to say a word.
Caiyu said, "What difference does it make whether it's today or tomorrow? It's the third day of the lunar month tomorrow. The shop the prince gave me to manage will start operating. I won't have the time to come and check on your mustard greens!"
Granny Yu forced a smile on her wrinkled face, looking angry but not daring to show it. It was obvious that she was annoyed that Caiyu was now giving orders as if she had risen to a high position.
"If you put it like that, Miss Caiyu, this old servant is really flustered. These days are the Chinese New Year, and I really forgot because I was too busy... Well, Miss Caiyu, just tell me a place, and I'll send it to you tomorrow. I'll make sure it's well - placed. You don't need to worry about it. How about that?"
Caiyu replied indifferently, "Fine. Just put it in the room I told you about before."
Granny Yu hid the joy in her eyes.
This was their secret signal.
The room they had talked about meant the thing was still in the study.
Although she didn't understand why she couldn't find it before, she believed that Caiyu wouldn't dare to deceive her because her younger brother was being threatened.
After apologizing again, Granny Yu left with a livid face.
Xiangye was a bit worried. "Sister Caiyu, Granny Yu is an old servant in the mansion. Will she take revenge on you for the way you just talked to her?"
Caiyu watched Granny Yu's receding back, with a cold glint in her eyes. "I'm not afraid of her."
It was time for her to die.
After Caiyu turned around and entered the small kitchen, two figures slowly emerged from behind a big tree outside the yard.
One figure was as tall and straight as a pine tree. Wasn't that Song Yinghuai who was supposed to go to Tongzhou?
The other figure was Han Fen.
Han Fen tightened the saber on his waist. Looking at Granny Yu's back, he asked,
"Your Highness, this subordinate didn't seem to notice anything wrong between them. Will Miss Caiyu not go to the study..."
Han Fen was extremely frustrated.
He had seen the sudden and bone - chilling coldness of the prince yesterday, which made his teeth chatter. It was just like the feeling he had after the battle of Nawuerhai seven years ago when he faced a mountain of thirty thousand corpses.
He suddenly thought that the prince with a bit of warmth in the previous days was better.
Song Yinghuai's dark eyes showed no sign of emotion. He gave a soft snort. "Let's wait and see what happens tonight."
He had to admit that the girl was really a natural spy.
Even he couldn't find definite evidence for a while.
Caiyu had always been outspoken and wasn't afraid of offending others. It seemed normal for her to clash with Granny Yu.
However, he still believed in his own speculation.
Someone would surely sneak into the study tonight!
It was just a matter of whether the person was Granny Yu or...
Song Yinghuai suddenly clenched his fists, and a faint look of pain flashed across his pupils.
He hoped she wouldn't step into the study herself.
As night fell, the garden outside the study of the Prince of Yan's Mansion was completely silent. The lanterns hanging on the plum trees swayed like moon shadows.
It was freezing cold, and everyone in the Lianyin Pavilion had already fallen asleep.
A figure slipped in through the side door that had been unlocked in advance. The figure quickly crossed the garden and headed straight for the study.
The study was locked, but the person skillfully picked the copper lock.
After a while, a dim light moved on the oil - paper window outside the study. It should be someone searching the study with a fire starter.
A crow perched on the glazed tile, cawed once, and then flapped its wings and flew away. A black feather fluttered down and landed on the hiding place of Caiyu under the dark rockery.
Caiyu stood still in the darkness, staring at the study and all the movements around it. Nervously, cold sweat broke out on her back.
She had thought about it over and over again during the day, and a sense of inexplicable crisis had overwhelmed her.
She always felt that Song Yinghuai's reaction yesterday was strange. There might be a trap.
A glint of killing intent flashed in her eyes.
Whether it was a trap or not, she had to give it a try, didn't she?
Since Granny Yu wanted to use her younger brother as a threat, she would use Granny Yu as a test!
But... would Song Yinghuai really come?
After a long time, the door of the study was quietly opened, and Granny Yu's figure appeared, with a relaxed look on her face.
Caiyu's heart tightened.
Song Yinghuai hadn't shown up yet.
Was her speculation wrong? Had Song Yinghuai already gone to Tongzhou?
Should she let Granny Yu take the booklet to claim credit, or should she call others to capture Granny Yu?
A thousand thoughts flashed through Caiyu's mind in an instant. There were ten thousand plans swirling in her head.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to call out, the area around the study suddenly lit up!
Torches illuminated the area around the study as bright as day. Han Fen and Zhu Xiao led a group of secret guards and surrounded Granny Yu.
Then, Song Yinghuai's tall and straight figure slowly stepped out of the shadows.
He was wearing a black tight - fitting suit different from his usual clothes, which outlined his broad shoulders and narrow waist. The light of the torches couldn't penetrate the coldness on his handsome face.
His eyes were like frost and snow on the mountaintop, like the cold mist at night, becoming even colder.
Caiyu covered her mouth, forcefully holding back the exclamation that was about to burst out. Then, cold sweat broke out on her back.
Although she had speculated that tonight might be a trap, when she saw Song Yinghuai in person, her heart still couldn't help but pound wildly, almost jumping out of her throat.
After being surrounded, Granny Yu showed a fierce look on her wrinkled face, but she wasn't panicked at all.
She suddenly drew out the soft sword hidden in her waist and stabbed at the leading secret guard. They fought together.
"Is this old woman so good at fighting?" Zhu Xiao was shocked. "There's such a well - hidden spy in the Prince of Yan's Mansion!"
"If we hadn't trapped her this time, we might have suffered a great loss!"
Song Yinghuai stood with his hands behind his back on the periphery, seemingly watching the fight, but his eyes glanced at the dark place where Caiyu was hiding from time to time.
She was really... related to Granny Yu!
Otherwise, she wouldn't be hiding behind tonight.
Fortunately, she didn't go into the study herself to steal the booklet. She was really a sly little fox!
In the crowd, Granny Yu let out two shrill cries. Han Fen had cut her leg, and she knelt directly on the cobblestone path.
The blood wound its way into the soil.
The glaring red color was extremely eye - catching in the firelight, stabbing Caiyu's pupils and making her feel a sense of pleasure.
Wasn't this just like that night on the Little New Year's Eve?
Someone had hidden in the dark, watching her fight with a group of thieves, watching the blood float in the wind, but doing nothing.
The Buddha said that there were three kinds of karmic retribution: immediate retribution, retribution in the next life, and quick retribution.
How quickly the retribution had come!
If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't make a sound, Caiyu really wanted to laugh out loud on the spot.
Seeing that Granny Yu was about to be captured, Han Fen stopped his attack and reached out to grab her. Unexpectedly, a sinister look flashed in Granny Yu's eyes. She took out a packet of poisonous powder from her bosom and was about to sprinkle it on Han Fen!
This sudden change caught everyone off guard. They didn't have time to react!
"Han boy!" Even Zhu Xiao couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise!
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Song Yinghuai leaped into the air. He grabbed the back of Han Fen's collar with one hand and kicked Granny Yu like lightning with the other foot!
He kicked Granny Yu flying to the ground!
Han Fen was quickly taken out of the range of the poisonous powder by him.
Granny Yu still wanted to use the poison, but she didn't have a chance. She fell heavily to the ground, her internal organs in a mess, and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Zhu Xiao immediately led the secret guards to surround her. Swords and sabers were placed on her neck, and she couldn't move at all.
After Song Yinghuai let go of Han Fen, he slowly approached again.
With his hands behind his back, his figure was tall and imposing. The wind blew the corners of his black clothes, making him look like a god of death from hell.
"Take her away and torture her severely. We must make her reveal her accomplices and the mastermind behind her!"