But Caiyu stepped in first. Before he could lose his temper, she immediately said,
"As soon as this servant guessed that it was General Sheng, I was worried that Your Highness would be plotted against by him. I immediately wanted to rush over to give a warning..."
She glared angrily at Song Yinghuai. "This servant is not good at horse-riding. I didn't expect that in the end, I would become a burden to Your Highness instead. And I never thought that Your Highness was actually the one who set up the ambush. So Your Highness was trying to capture General Sheng!"
Song Yinghuai quietly watched her tender red lips part and close, listening to her soft and gentle voice chattering away in a continuous stream. Suddenly, he found that he no longer had his usual calm judgment.
He even pathetically discovered -
As long as Caiyu was safe.
As long as Caiyu was willing to come back.
As long as Caiyu was still willing to wrack her brains to make up clumsy lies to deal with him...
It seemed that he could tolerate it.
All the questions he had thought about on the way seemed to be able to be held back.
His proud decisiveness in killing and fighting all crumbled in front of this girl.
He had probably really fallen for her.
After Caiyu preemptively rambled on in one breath, unexpectedly, she didn't hear Song Yinghuai's usual cold doubts or angry roars. She couldn't help but look up in surprise.
Song Yinghuai's eyes, as dark as ink, were deep like a pool. At this moment, the corners of his eyes were slightly raised. Perhaps because he had rushed here in a hurry on his horse at a high speed, the wind had left a faint blush at the corners of his eyes, making him extremely good-looking. As long as a bit of tenderness was added to them, they would be extremely alluring.
Caiyu's throat tightened, and she couldn't say another word.
All she could hear was her own heart pounding almost out of her chest.
"Y-Your Highness..." Caiyu stammered as she spoke, with an unsteady breath. She couldn't tell whether she was feeling guilty or flustered.
Song Yinghuai slightly lowered his eyes to hide the restraint in them. He nodded faintly, and finally reached out his hand to encircle her waist as well. He asked,
"Did he hurt you?"
There were no questions, no anger, and no refutation.
Instead, he asked if she was hurt.
Caiyu stood there stunned, feeling a complex mixture of emotions for a moment.
"...No."
It took Caiyu a long time to find her voice. Usually so glib, she didn't know what to say at this moment.
Finally, she only murmured and reluctantly explained, "Your Highness, General Sheng... is actually a gentleman. He didn't touch this servant."
She thought that Song Yinghuai should want to hear this from her, right?
A soft laugh escaped from the man's throat.
Caiyu seemed to detect a hint of bitterness in it.
At this moment, Song Yinghuai deeply felt the power of the bitterness spreading in his heart. It was like an irresistible current that almost submerged him.
As a man, he knew better than Caiyu whether Sheng Jiangli was a gentleman or not.
Perhaps out of love, Sheng Jiangli didn't touch her this time.
But in his current situation, how could he always keep a woman's body and heart?
Surely no woman would be willing to "become a monk" like him for a lifetime, right?
And surely no woman would be willing to live a lifetime without her own children, right?
Caiyu watched the changing expressions in Song Yinghuai's eyes and didn't know what his smile just now meant.
So she carefully closed her mouth and stopped talking.
Song Yinghuai felt his cheeks ache from clenching his teeth. Only then did he swallow the sourness in his heart. He said with a gentle smile,
"It's good that he didn't hurt you. I've wasted another two days looking for you. I must speed up the journey. In the following days, you may have to work hard."
"This servant is not afraid of hard work." Caiyu obediently nestled in his arms. "But if Your Highness really can't make it into the city on time, you might as well go ahead first. This servant and Han Fen and the others will catch up later. This servant will definitely not cause any trouble this time."
Song Yinghuai helped her onto the horse's back, then got on the horse himself and encircled her from behind. "I'll travel with you first. If the time is urgent when we get near Feishui River, I'll go ahead alone."
Fortunately, God was kind. There had been no spring rain in the south of the Yangtze River for several days this year. Song Yinghuai, Ji Qian and the others traveled day and night. They covered eight or nine hundred miles in eight consecutive days.
"Fifty miles ahead, after crossing the Feishui River, we'll reach Lingbi!" Ji Qian let out a sigh of relief. "Your Highness, there are still three days until the deadline for Your Highness to enter the capital set by His Majesty. There are still one hundred and seventy miles to the capital. How about..."
Song Yinghuai understood.
One hundred and seventy miles. With his horse-riding skills, he could make it in three days.
Although Caiyu was following in a carriage, she had been on the move continuously. She hadn't eaten well or slept well these days, and her little face had lost weight.
He couldn't ask Caiyu to ride on the same horse with him and gallop all the way. The horse couldn't bear such a burden either.
Song Yinghuai let out a breath, turned his horse around and came to the carriage to knock on the window.
Caiyu poked her head out. Her face looked a bit haggard.
Song Yinghuai glanced at her and said, "Up ahead is Lingbi City. The Embroidered Uniform Guards who went ahead have scouted the route. The journey will be smooth..."
Caiyu understood immediately. "Your Highness can just hurry on your way. It's only a little over a hundred miles. This servant will definitely protect herself carefully with Guard Han and the others. We will definitely enter the capital later."
"Okay." Song Yinghuai nodded. Then he paused for a moment and said, "If you really encounter any trouble, stay in Lingbi and don't go any further. After I enter the palace to see His Majesty, I will surely find a way to send someone to pick you up."
Caiyu nodded. "All right."
Before leaving, Song Yinghuai still couldn't help but remind her again, "Caiyu... don't be smart again. If you come up with any more crazy ideas this time, I may really not be able to save you in time when I'm in the palace!"
Caiyu: "This servant remembers."
Why did she feel that she was more dangerous and uncontrollable than the enemy in Song Yinghuai's heart?
After giving his instructions, Song Yinghuai turned his horse around. Who would have thought that his horsewhip was gently grabbed from behind.
Song Yinghuai looked back on his horse. Caiyu raised her arm, and a string of yellow Buddhist beads made of Vajra Bodhi hung under her fair palm, swaying in the sunlight.
Song Yinghuai was stunned.
Caiyu tilted up the corners of her mouth and her eyes curved into crescent moons. She raised her head like a cat seeking favor, proud and cute:
"Your Highness, this servant has restrung these Buddhist beads. Does Your Highness still want to wear them?"
Song Yinghuai's gaze was deep. His Adam's apple rolled up and down, and his voice was hoarse:
"...Yes."
He sat on his horse and reached out his hand to Caiyu.
Caiyu put the Buddhist beads on his wrist for him and said proudly, "Your Highness, if you don't take good care of them again and accidentally break them somewhere in the future, and if some of the beads can't be found, this servant won't restring them..."
Song Yinghuai retracted his wrist and rubbed it a few times. Hearing this girl's blatant threat, he actually replied in a good mood:
"I won't break them again."
Song Yinghuai didn't linger any longer. He whipped his horse hard. The horse let out a long neigh and galloped away at full speed, disappearing at the end of the line of sight in the blink of an eye.
Ji Qian and the others immediately chased after him.
Only Caiyu's carriage and Han Fen and the other fifteen personal guards were left.
Seeing Song Yinghuai put on the Buddhist beads restrung by Caiyu again, Han Fen finally let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that this matter was over.
Qingqing poked her head out of the carriage window with Caiyu. Seeing Song Yinghuai's almost disappearing figure, she let out a long breath.
"I was scared to death." She patted her chest. "Sister Caiyu, I didn't dare to say a single extra word these days. I always felt that His Highness was going to behead me."
Han Fen gave her a sideways look and said impatiently, "Your feeling was right. If it weren't for Miss Caiyu, your head would have fallen off long ago."
It was this Cao Qingqing!
She almost cost him his life and prevented him from going back to Yanjing to marry Xiangye!
Qingqing lowered her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Brother Han. This servant had no choice."
Caiyu knew that it was all because of her that Qingqing had been hated by Han Fen and the other fifteen personal guards all the way.
She felt quite guilty about it, so she really begged Song Yinghuai to take Cao Qingqing in.
"It's all this servant's fault." Caiyu said apologetically to Han Fen. "Brother Han, if you're angry, just be angry with me!"
Han Fen didn't dare to be angry with Caiyu now. He quickly shook his head and said,
"No way. It's all in the past. Miss Caiyu, just follow our arrangements in the next few days."
In the Crown Prince's Mansion in the capital, the roof was decorated with gilded carved dragons and glazed phoenixes, looking extremely imposing.
The Crown Prince, Song Chengyuan, tore the letter sent by Sheng Jiangli via carrier pigeon into pieces. He grabbed the neck of Concubine Lü, who was standing beside him charmingly, with an ashen face and a sinister look in his eyes:
"Failure! Useless thing!"