Caiyu was leading Miaoyi and Yunling halfway when suddenly...
The two girls exchanged a glance. Yunling immediately understood and said to Miaoyi, "Sister Miaoyi, I can't walk anymore."
Miaoyi frowned and scolded, "Why are you so delicate? It was just a boat ride with the prince. Now you're complaining. The prince also said he'd take us shopping on the street another day. Will you need to be carried in a sedan chair then?"
Yunling pouted, "I'm not tired just because of the boat ride! The prince had fun with us all night last night. I danced for half the night. Of course I'm tired!"
Miaoyi gave her an annoyed look, "The prince likes our dancing and is willing to watch. He only drinks with you because he likes you. Yet you're complaining. There are so many women who would beg for just one more look or a moment's company from the prince. Don't complain anymore. Do you hear me?"
"Okay, I know." Yunling playfully stuck out her tongue.
Miaoyi saw that the two of them were singing in chorus, but Caiyu, who was walking in front, didn't even slow down. She felt bored and unwilling.
She didn't believe that Caiyu wouldn't mind or be jealous!
Miaoyi quickened her steps and caught up. She said to Caiyu's back, "Miss Caiyu, don't mind. Sister Yunling is young and doesn't know better. She speaks without thinking. Although the prince stayed with us last night, he's a Buddhist practitioner, so nothing happened..."
Finally, Caiyu stopped and turned around to look directly at Miaoyi.
"Where did you see that I minded?"
Her eyes were slightly squinted, and the ripples of the lake were faintly reflected deep in her eyes. The corner of her mouth curled up proudly. Her cold and sharp aura made people tremble, making her features look even more striking.
Miaoyi involuntarily took a step back and stared at her in shock.
This woman seemed like a different person, completely different from the delicate and timid look she had in front of Song Yinghuai just now.
Facing her cold gaze, Miaoyi's voice trembled involuntarily when she spoke, "I... I just worried that you'd mind, so I wanted to explain..."
"I don't mind." Caiyu coldly interrupted her, "As you said, the prince didn't do anything. He just watched you dance for half the night."
Miaoyi: ...
Isn't watching the dance enough?
Caiyu said, "You danced for half the night, your legs cramped. Then you went boating today, and your feet are limping. You haven't even touched a corner of the prince's clothes. I wonder why you two are discussing this in front of me?"
"Are you summarizing your failed attempts?"
"Or do you need me to teach you how to get into the prince's bed?"
Yunling: ...
Yunling's face turned red then white with anger. Finally, she couldn't hold it back and snapped, "Anyway, it's a fact that the prince stayed with us last night. You can be jealous! The prince also sided with us just now. He took us boating instead of you..."
"I heard that the prince once took you shopping on the street. Wait and see, he'll take us there soon. From now on, the prince will be ours!"
Caiyu was amused by Yunling's words.
She didn't know where Yunling got her confidence and ability to lie. She just made things up out of thin air.
She originally didn't want to expose their lies, but since they wanted to ride on her head and show off, she couldn't bear it.
Caiyu scanned the two girls up and down and coolly exposed them, "Not only did you get your clothes wet while boating, but your shoes are also terribly dirty..."
Miaoyi and Yunling were so anxious that they grabbed their skirts to cover their muddy embroidered shoes.
Caiyu: "Don't cover them. I can see them all."
"I really don't know that the water in Yan Nan Lake can get your feet muddy. Or did the prince take you on a painted boat with mud and grass roots on the deck? That's why you had such a messy boat ride?"
The two girls: ...
"Let's talk about the prince watching you dance and drinking with you last night."
In Caiyu's cold eyes like a winter night, there was a glint of cold light. Her fair face showed no sign of a smile. Her gaze was sharp, and her eyebrows were like distant mountains:
"Before you entered the mansion, you should have inquired clearly. Or rather, you should have a thorough understanding of the Buddhist precepts."
"The prince is a Buddhist practitioner. Besides the major taboos like killing and sexual immorality, there are also many purity precepts in Buddhism, such as not drinking alcohol, not watching dances and songs, and not listening to immoral music..."
Miaoyi and Yunling's faces gradually became embarrassed.
But Caiyu was relentless and continued to expose their lies mercilessly, "Since the prince started practicing Buddhism, there has never been any singing or dancing in the Yan Prince's Mansion. Alcohol and meat are prohibited in the mansion..."
Caiyu secretly thought that her hidden chrysanthemum wine and pickled meat were exceptions.
Caiyu: "Even Lord Huang, who sent you here, has to eat vegetarian food when he comes here. Who do you think you are to make the prince break his precepts?"
"You..." Miaoyi weakly uttered a word, but was immediately interrupted by Caiyu.
"Did you deliberately spread the rumor that the prince stayed with you last night?" Caiyu finally smiled, her voice lazy and cold, "Do you really think everyone is a fool to damage the prince's reputation?"
"If I mention this rumor to the prince, do you think he'll give each of you twenty slaps? Your beautiful faces..."
Caiyu grinned sinisterly, "Do you still want them?"
"Yes!" Yunling was so scared that she covered her cheeks, her voice trembling with sobs.
Miaoyi's legs also went weak, and her beautiful face was pale with fear, "Sister Caiyu... You're magnanimous. Please don't mention this to the prince, okay?"
Caiyu raised her eyebrows, "I won't mention it if you tell me the truth. What did the prince do with you last night?"
Miaoyi and Yunling exchanged a glance and showed helpless expressions:
"Last night, the prince asked Guard Han to pour us a cup of tea. After we drank it, we fell asleep. When we woke up, it was almost dawn. We saw the prince reading Buddhist scriptures. Then he was invited away by someone from the old princess..."
Caiyu's heart skipped a beat.
Although she guessed that Song Yinghuai had returned to Lianyin Pavilion last night based on the hickeys on her body, it was just a guess.
But hearing it from the mouths of these two girls, her heart was filled with indescribable complexity.
She didn't know whether she should be happy or sad.
Miaoyi saw that her expression was unclear and felt anxious, "Miss Caiyu, we've already confessed. We just wanted to provoke you and take your place... We were wrong. Please don't tell the prince our little thoughts, okay?"
Yunling also cried pitifully, "Miss Caiyu, the prince is a peerless figure. We were selected by Lord Huang and sent here. We're all poor girls. Once we entered this mansion, the prince became our whole world. We can only make a name for ourselves by relying on the prince..."
"Miss Caiyu, considering that we're all women with a floating and miserable fate, please be merciful."
The two girls showed a good attitude of admitting their mistakes.
But Caiyu wasn't a person who easily believed others.
She had received training in Yangzhou for three years. Whether it was women or men she had met, who wasn't a good actor in the game of false courtesy?
No matter how sincere and pitiful these two girls seemed, she couldn't completely trust them.
Caiyu looked at their tearful faces with a deep and cold heart.
Suddenly, she gently smiled, "Alright, alright. I know you've had a hard time. Since we've cleared the air, from now on, we're sisters..."
"Look, your eyes are all red from crying." Caiyu took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from Yunling's eyes, "The prince would feel so heart - broken if he saw this."
"I promise I won't mention this to the prince. But... if you want to get close to the prince, you have to obey my arrangement."
Yunling and Miaoyi blinked their eyes and looked at Caiyu in confusion.
Was it really that easy to deceive her?
And she even offered to help them get close to the prince?
This woman was really naive.
"We'll listen to Sister Caiyu!" The two girls exchanged a glance and replied in unison.
Caiyu put away the handkerchief and remembered what the crown prince had mentioned in the letter about the truth of the prince breaking his precepts.
The love gu...
A glint of light flashed across the bottom of her eyes and disappeared in an instant.