Caiyu was left speechless by Song Yinghuai's rhetorical question for the first time. Her beautiful eyes darted around, and her furry head rubbed against the man's body.
"What will Your Highness do?"
"Or, just like in Yanjing, I'll go and copy books as self - reflection."
Song Yinghuai's iron - like body turned as gentle as silk under her rubbing. If she continued like this, he wouldn't be able to get any work done.
He took a deep breath, held her wriggling body tightly in his arms, then stuffed her into the quilt all at once and got up himself.
He walked to the bookshelf and picked up a brocade box.
Caiyu poked her head out of the quilt and looked at Song Yinghuai curiously as he brought the brocade box over.
"Your Highness, this is..."
Song Yinghuai smiled warmly. "Didn't you say it's your birthday? This birthday gift should have been given yesterday, but so many things happened yesterday that I didn't have time to celebrate with you. So, here it is... Open it and have a look."
"My birthday gift!" Caiyu took it excitedly and babbled on, "Your Highness knows I lied to you. You clearly know my birthday is in July."
Song Yinghuai just smiled without saying a word.
The real Caiyu's birthday was indeed in July, and that was also what was registered in the slave register.
But Miss Lan San's birthday was in May!
He was celebrating Miss Lan San's birthday.
"But since you said your birthday is in May, I'll just assume it is. It's nice to have an extra birthday celebration." Song Yinghuai pretended to be naive and doted on her. "As for how you want to celebrate in July, you can plan it in advance."
Caiyu's mouth curved up, showing a bright smile.
His Highness the Prince of Yan seemed quite generous and a bit naive at the moment.
She "snapped" open the box.
A seal was lying in the brocade box. It wasn't the one Lu Baiwei had returned, but a new one.
Caiyu was startled. She blinked her eyes, held her breath, and looked at Song Yinghuai in confusion.
"Your Highness, this doesn't seem to be the one Concubine Lu returned to you."
She stroked the pixiu on the seal base, feeling a bit bitter in the end.
Could it be that Song Yinghuai was planning to have the best of both worlds?
How could Song Yinghuai not hear the jealousy in her words?
He pinched her cheek and said with a warm smile, "That private seal has been destroyed. I asked Ji Ming to engrave this one a few days ago, planning to give it to you at a proper time. Since it's your birthday, I'll give it to you now... There's only one like this in the world." Song Yinghuai picked up the seal from the brocade box. His face was so close, looking at her intently.
Shi'er said that to please a beauty, one should give her what she likes.
The beauty was in urgent need of money, so he gave her a huge fortune. That should be giving her what she liked, right?
In the future, if she was in urgent need of silver again, she wouldn't have to always think about cheating and selling herself.
By the way... it would also kill the poor Sheng Jiangli's hopes.
"But, but..." Caiyu stammered, staring straight at Song Yinghuai's handsome face. "But... Your Highness said that with your private seal, one could withdraw one - tenth of the wealth from all your industries, and also..."
"Yes, one can seek help and protection from all my industries in the Great Ye." Song Yinghuai's dark eyes were fixed on Caiyu. "So, Yu'er, to wear the crown, one must bear the weight. Although the private seal can give you great power and protection, you must also use it carefully."
Caiyu stared blankly at Song Yinghuai's lips opening and closing. It felt as if tides were surging in her chest.
Excitement, doubt, joy... all kinds of emotions were surging.
She never expected Song Yinghuai to give her such a grand birthday gift.
With the private seal, she wouldn't have to go through all the trouble to swindle the 200,000 taels of silver note that the Prince of Qi had withheld.
But... Song Yinghuai's words seemed to be reminding her of something.
Caiyu's mind was a bit muddled now.
She was dizzy from the "gold" that had fallen from the sky and didn't care about other doubts.
After Song Yinghuai finished speaking, he looked down at Caiyu's dazed look and suddenly felt a bit confused:
"Don't you like this gift?"
Before his voice faded, the girl stretched out her arm from the quilt, wrapped it around him, and gave him a loud "smack" on the cheek.
"I like it! I like Song Xuanyao!"
Her voice was sweet and full of undisguised joy.
Yes.
She liked the private seal, but she liked Song Xuanyao even more.
She liked his tenderness hidden in his domineering.
She liked his mercy hidden in his coldness.
She liked his clumsiness hidden in his inborn talent.
The kiss mark was still wet. Song Yinghuai looked up like he had been electrocuted. His pupils shrank, and he was in a daze for a long time.
The hand that was holding the seal loosened in a daze.
The seal fell on the bed quilt and bounced into Caiyu's lap.
A gust of wind blew in from the window, making the pages on the desk beside it flutter and rustle.
The wind moved, the pages moved.
And Song Yinghuai's heart moved.
—
There was an underlying uneasiness in the air of Shangjing City that night.
The courtyard door of Liu Wangfei, the magistrate of Shangjing, was knocked open by Zhou Wenxin, the commander of the Five - City Garrison.
"Minister Wen of the Ministry of War and his wife were attacked outside the city! Madam Wen was kidnapped by the mountain bandits but managed to escape by jumping out of the carriage. As for Minister Wen..."
Zhou Wenxin paused, remembering seeing Wen Zilong not far from the city gate.
He was lying naked in the weeds.
He didn't know how to describe it.
The dignified second - rank court official had lost all his face.
"What about Minister Wen?" Liu Wangfei was sweating.
Was he lying dead in the wilderness?
Zhou Wenxin finally chose a euphemistic way to say it. "No, the bandits didn't dare to kill a court official. Minister Wen was just unconscious in the grass, disheveled."
That was a relief...
Liu Wangfei let out a sigh of relief and then slapped the table. "Where did these arrogant bandits come from! How dare they attack a court official! They're tired of living!"
He looked at Zhou Wenxin. "Does Your Excellency Zhou have any clues?"
Seeing Zhou Wenxin shake his head, it meant there was no clue at all.
"Then, where is Minister Wen now?"
"After Minister Wen was rescued and woke up, he kept complaining about the weak security in the capital and then rushed to the Crown Prince's Mansion in a hurry."
After saying that, the two looked at each other and suddenly fell silent.
Wen Zilong was the Crown Prince's man.
The Five - City Garrison was in charge of patrolling and arresting thieves, dredging streets and ditches, as well as handling prisoners and fire prevention in the capital.
The magistrate of Shangjing was responsible for the security, people's livelihood, and foreign affairs in the capital.
Both yamen were under the Crown Prince's jurisdiction and had a lot of dealings with Wen Zilong.
The two of them looked down on Wen Zilong, a petty man from a humble background who was also sycophantic.
But Wen Zilong had recently been promoted to the second rank, and his official position was higher than theirs.
They were just feeling indignant about it!
Now he was going to the Crown Prince to complain about the security problem in the capital.
Wasn't he stabbing them in the back!
After a while, Zhou Wenxin slowly said, "Your Excellency Liu, I think the robbers tonight were just ordinary mountain bandits. It has no direct connection with the city's security."
Liu Wangfei stroked his beard and nodded. "Your Excellency Zhou is right. Previously, there was a riot in Lingbi. Although His Highness the Prince of Yan led troops to wipe out the water bandits, we can't guarantee that all the thieves were eliminated. Maybe one or two escaped and hid in the mountains outside Shangjing..."
"Let's send troops to search the suburbs. Once we catch the thieves, we can give Minister Wen an explanation."
"Your Excellency Liu is brilliant."
So, the incident of the attack on the court official was concluded by the two officials in charge of the capital's security that night.
After that, they sent troops to symbolically search the suburbs, then took a death - row prisoner from the prison and made him pose as the robber. He was taken to the vegetable market to be beheaded as a public warning.
For such a shocking incident of attacking a high - ranking official, the two didn't even write a memorial to report it to Emperor Guangwu.
As for Xiao Rencheng, who knew about it, he naturally pretended not to know. And Wen Zilong, who had lost all his face, of course didn't dare to reveal his disgraceful deed.
This incident passed smoothly.
Of course, this was something that happened later.
Let's talk about Wen Zilong. After he woke up that day, the more he thought about it, the more something seemed wrong, and the more frightened he became. So he rushed to the Crown Prince's Mansion in a hurry.
He was too ashamed to mention that he had been attacked outside the city. He only told Song Chengyuan that Lan Jinqin suspected him.
Song Chengyuan looked at Wen Zilong with a gloomy face. "I've always said that the mistress you've kept is a disaster. But you just couldn't bear to give up the child in her belly!"
"Now, great. She can't keep her mouth shut, and Lan Jinqin has found your flaw..." Song Chengyuan was sitting on the upper seat, watching Wen Zilong pacing around. Annoyed, he threw a teacup at him. "You're making me dizzy!"
The teacup knocked off the hat on Wen Zilong's head, revealing his bald head that Caiyu had shaved.
Song Chengyuan looked at him impatiently. "I think, Your Excellency Wen, you should cut off your arm to survive—"
He made a "killing" gesture by putting his palm horizontally in front of his neck.