Since Caiyu met Song Yinghuai, he had always been the noble and peerless Prince of Yan.
At first, he was high - and - mighty. Whether he was being noble and self - restrained or being enraged, she had never seen the slightest sign of apology from him.
It had always been Caiyu, as a maid, who had to admit her mistakes.
Later, even after the ice was broken again after Caiyu was wrongly suspected of eloping with Sheng Jiangli outside Tiexian River, it was still Caiyu who knelt down first to admit her mistakes.
She had never thought that she would hear a seemingly apologetic word from Song Yinghuai's mouth.
After the initial shock, Caiyu looked at him again.
He still carried himself with the same noble bearing, but in his eyes, she saw a misty drizzle, like the twilight blocked under the winter sun.
Caiyu was startled. Only then did she realize how long it had been since Song Yinghuai had a good rest.
In the past one and a half months, Song Yinghuai, as the master, had almost deployed all his troops to protect her, a mere maid.
The journey had been so hasty that she hadn't had the time to think it over.
But now, she suddenly felt a faint sense of anticipation and excitement. Song Yinghuai...
Did he care about her?
Her mother had once said that when a man respected and loved a woman, he would always take her into consideration and was willing to lower his proud head to apologize.
Caiyu could hear her heart pounding wildly. Her breathing became rapid, and her heart was filled with a mixture of sorrow and joy.
If she had captured Song Yinghuai's heart earlier, she would have completed her mission without hesitation.
But now, she knew that she couldn't use Song Yinghuai to achieve anything.
Especially since he had risked disobeying the imperial edict several times on this journey to turn back and save her. Caiyu felt even more reluctant to part with him.
Especially...
She finally remembered some things from her childhood.
She remembered that they had met each other a long, long time ago!
There was even a friendship symbolized by a lotus flower between them!
Looking at the faint blue shadows under his eyes, Caiyu's vision became blurred.
They had met before, but unfortunately, he might have forgotten her.
Even if he remembered, it was just a nodding acquaintance from childhood.
Moreover, his father, the fatuous emperor, had unjustly imprisoned the entire Lan family. The rift between them might be too wide to be filled even by a whole lotus pond!
After Song Yinghuai said that sentence, his pupils were as dark as ink.
It seemed that saying that one sentence had startled the little girl.
He felt even more annoyed and simply fell silent. But Caiyu's two fingers pinching his sleeve never let go.
The two of them tacitly let the sleeve sway back and forth in the silence.
Qingqing, Han Fen and others peeked out from afar.
Han Fen was coaxed by Qingqing to come and spy. As a result, he just saw the sleeve swaying back and forth and felt dizzy.
"Brother Han, what are the Prince and Miss Caiyu doing?" Ning Shi was puzzled. "Is the Prince's sleeve... to be dried?"
Come to think of it, it really did look like a wet sleeve being swayed to dry.
Han Fen glanced at this silly boy who didn't understand romance. "There's a reason why you can't get a wife."
Ning Shi:??
Qingqing: "Brother Ning, you're so stupid. The Prince is courting Miss Caiyu."
Ning Shi was even more confused.
So this was what the storytellers meant by courting! It was just swaying sleeves!
He really couldn't do it at all.
Han Fen got impatient. "Stop looking. What's so interesting about a swaying sleeve! Let's go!"
After a while, Caiyu finally broke the silence in a low voice. "It's time to attend court now. Why did the Prince return to the mansion after leaving court?"
Song Yinghuai recalled what had happened in the Nan Study last night, and his pupils turned cold. "It's inappropriate for me to attend court today. So I went to see the Queen Mother and then took the opportunity to leave the palace. I also came back to see if you had settled down safely."
Actually, as soon as Caiyu and the others entered the mansion, Ji Ming had immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to the palace to report their safety.
But he hadn't seen her in person, so he always felt that something was missing in his heart.
Unfortunately, when he came back, he ran into Sheng Jiangli, which caused a ruckus and diluted their tender feelings.
Although Caiyu thought Song Yinghuai's words "It's inappropriate for me to attend court today" were strange, she didn't know how to ask.
So she could only change the topic and urged him to go and rest.
Song Yinghuai was really exhausted, so he let her wait on him to lie down.
He really slept deeply this time, but Caiyu couldn't fall asleep.
She knew that Song Yinghuai had captured several captives and brought them to the capital. She could probably guess his plan.
So what was the current situation of the Crown Prince?
She had already entered the capital, but the Crown Prince hadn't sent anyone to contact her.
According to the Crown Prince's character, even if he regarded her as a disposable pawn, he couldn't just let her fend for herself like this.
Caiyu fell into deep thought, wondering how to contact the Crown Prince and how to deal with the matter of her family.
But what she didn't know was that the Crown Prince wasn't not contacting her. Instead, he had been placed under house arrest last night after being successively accused by Song Yinghuai and Xiao Rencheng.
The sky in Shangjing was clear and refreshing today, but there were turbulent undercurrents in the imperial city.
Emperor Guangwu was so angry that he almost jumped up on the Golden Throne today.
He thought that the matter of the Crown Prince secretly colluding with water bandits had been suppressed last night. Who would have thought that at the morning court today, the ministers one after another reported this matter to him.
"Your Majesty, last night the Ministry of War received an urgent document from the county magistrate of Xinchang, reporting that thousands of water bandits were attacking Lingbi City, eighty miles away from the imperial city. They were afraid that Lingbi would fall and endanger Xinchang and Shangjing." Huang Siliang, the Minister of War, reported. "I sent people out of the city overnight to investigate. Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was in charge in the Eastern Palace. His Highness planned strategies and commanded the defenders of Lingbi City to hold the city gates firmly. Only then were the water bandits prevented from breaking through Lingbi and endangering Xinchang and Shangjing."
Huang Siliang was on the Crown Prince's side. After the Crown Prince was placed under house arrest last night, he immediately found a way to summon him.
So this morning, Huang Siliang was the first to come out and sing praises for Song Chengyuan, hoping to turn the tide and let the Crown Prince be released from house arrest this morning and make another great contribution.
Who would have thought that as soon as Huang Siliang finished speaking, Xiang Fengzhu, the newly - appointed Minister of Works, launched an attack. "Lord Huang, what you said is different from what I've heard. What I've heard is that His Highness the Prince of Yan borrowed troops from Xinchang and turned back to save Lingbi City from the fire and water."
The previous Minister of Works was also on the Crown Prince's side. He was removed from office because of the Kaiping Copper Mine case, and Xiang Fengzhu took over his position.
He knew very well how he got this position, so he naturally stood on the same side as Song Yinghuai.
Huang Siliang's face changed. "I don't know where Lord Xiang got this rumor. My spies reported that His Highness the Crown Prince commanded a great victory!"
Xiang Fengzhu sneered. "When Lingbi was being attacked, His Highness the Crown Prince was still in Shangjing chatting and laughing with Lord Huang and other ministers. He stayed in the Hundred Flowers Tower all night. How could he plan strategies? Use the bellyband of a courtesan from the Hundred Flowers Tower as a flag to command?"
"You! How dare you slander His Highness the Crown Prince!" Huang Siliang was shocked and cried out to Emperor Guangwu. "Your Majesty! Lord Xiang actually slandered the Crown Prince of the dynasty for staying in the Hundred Flowers Tower overnight!"
Emperor Guangwu's eyes were full of authority even without anger. He slapped his hand heavily on the dragon throne. "Xiang Fengzhu! Explain it clearly to me! If you dare to slander the current Crown Prince, I will never forgive you lightly!"
Xiang Fengzhu was not panicked at all. "Your Majesty, I have solid evidence. Miss Wanyan, the top courtesan of the Hundred Flowers Tower that day, and a group of other women can testify. His Highness the Crown Prince not only stayed in the Hundred Flowers Tower that day, but he also reserved Miss Wanyan for a whole year..."
He took out a folding fan and a jade pendant from his bosom. "Your Majesty, these are the evidence handed in by Miss Wanyan. It is said that they belong to His Highness the Crown Prince. There is a poem and a signature written by His Highness the Crown Prince on the folding fan. The jade pendant is also said to be His Highness the Crown Prince's personal item."
Huang Siliang was dumbfounded.
How could he know that the Hundred Flowers Tower was Song Yinghuai's property in the capital and that Miss Wanyan, the top courtesan, was Song Yinghuai's person?
Eunuch Cen glanced nervously at Emperor Guangwu, whose face was changing constantly, and then braved his fear to go down and take the evidence to present it to the emperor.
Emperor Guangwu only took one look, and his vision went black.
He naturally recognized Song Chengyuan's handwriting. The words on the fan were indeed his!
As for the jade pendant, needless to say, he had seen Song Chengyuan wear it several times!