Having reached this speculation, the hearts of these two extremely intelligent men settled down a bit, but their states of mind were completely different.
Song Yinghuai felt as if a breath was stuck in his throat, unable to be spat out or swallowed.
The pride he had just shown when he outperformed Sheng Jiangli in front of Caiyu was completely shattered by the current speculation.
His woman was washing clothes for another man!
Good... very good!
Song Yinghuai could even faintly hear the sound of his teeth grinding. The jealousy made his mind so muddled that he couldn't think.
Sheng Jiangli, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.
When he speculated that Caiyu had actually gone to wash his clothes, the smile on his lips couldn't be suppressed.
He pretended to look around. "Ah? Where are my clothes?"
"Where did Sister Caiyu take my clothes?"
"My clothes... tut!"
Before his words fell, a Buddhist bead finally couldn't bear it any longer and shot out.
Fortunately, Sheng Jiangli was well - prepared this time and nimbly dodged.
The Buddhist bead shot towards the forest on the side like an arrow, grazing Sheng Jiangli's face.
Unexpectedly, two familiar figures emerged from there.
The Buddhist bead "snapped" onto the clothes Caiyu was holding.
The clothes fluttered up from her hands, floating towards a nearby tree branch and hanging there, swaying like a flag.
Xu Buyue beside them looked at the two of them in shock.
Why were they fighting again!
Caiyu looked up at the fluttering clothes. There was a hole pierced by the Buddhist bead, and the clothes were completely ruined.
"Your Highness," Caiyu asked softly, "Did this servant do something wrong again?"
This question stunned Song Yinghuai.
There was no cold face.
No ignoring.
No sarcasm.
It was as if those things before had never happened.
The always calm Prince of Yan stared blankly at Caiyu. The previous jealousy and anger vanished, and instead, he felt nervous.
He coughed lightly, stepped forward, and reached out to pull the girl into his arms.
"It's okay... Where did you go just now? Do you know we've been looking for you?"
His tone was less cold and hasty, and more relieved.
Some words were too straightforward for him to say, but the regret in his heart was real.
During this period, he had neglected her and been too strict with her.
She knew nothing, so why should he force her to cooperate with all his actions?
Caiyu was pressed into his arms and listened to the man's heart beating more violently than usual. She was completely at a loss.
After Song Yinghuai and Sheng Jiangli left, Caiyu spent a long time convincing herself.
Not for anything else.
Just because Song Yinghuai had almost angered the emperor because of the Lan family's matter. Whether he knew her true identity or not, she had to remember this kindness.
So whether it was sending Qingqing down the mountain, Sheng Jiangli being whipped, or the little thing of being bullied just now, she couldn't care about any of them.
She thought for a long time before she could let it go. After waiting for a long time and finding that no one came back to look for her, she took Sheng Jiangli's clothes, fetched well - water from the cableway, found a place to wash them, and then started a fire to dry them.
She didn't expect that as soon as she came back, the clothes in her hand were ruined.
The originally furious man also seemed to have changed.
It made her see the Song Yinghuai who was jealous, angry, and worried for her.
The long - lost familiarity made her nose sour, but she was also confused again. What exactly was Song Yinghuai's attitude towards her?
Cold one moment and warm the next, strict one moment and lenient the next.
She felt extremely exhausted.
Caiyu lifted her hands several times but still didn't have the courage to hug the man back. She just let her hands hang by her sides and let the man hug her. Her voice was muffled. "This servant was really bored waiting, so I went to wash a few clothes. But those clothes..."
"Don't run around next time." Song Yinghuai was still concerned about the plague rats. He didn't notice the girl's negative behavior that was different from usual. He just urged, "I'll compensate for the ruined clothes. Come back to the mountain with me first."
Caiyu obediently nodded and didn't say a word. She just silently let Song Yinghuai lift her onto the horse.
After Caiyu returned to the mountain, she heard that Lu Baiwei and her maid had contracted a serious illness. She was extremely shocked.
Just two days ago, these two seemed so energetic, trying to make things difficult for her. She didn't expect them to really contract the plague.
She didn't know how they got infected, but after Song Yinghuai heard the news, he pondered for a long time.
Originally, he suspected that Lu Baiwei was faking illness and deliberately asked for Caiyu to make things difficult for her.
Now it seemed that maybe he had thought too much. Lu Baiwei really was infected with the illness. Probably because Caiyu had taken good care of her, the illness hadn't worsened in those days.
Considering that Lu Baiwei was the concubine of the crown prince and the crown prince had already set off for Qixia Mountain, to avoid any trouble if Lu Baiwei had an accident, Song Yinghuai still sent Caiyu to the Buddhist monastery.
After all this, she still had to go back to serve that annoying woman, Lu Baiwei.
Caiyu carried the medicinal soup, covered her nose and mouth, and entered the Buddhist monastery again.
The originally desolate Buddhist monastery was now filled with the smell of medicinal soup and stench. There was a faint smell of decay and death in the air.
Lu Baiwei and Maid Mei didn't cough as much, but they could hardly move in bed.
The continuous high fever made their bodies as red as cooked shrimps. If it weren't for their slightly rising chests, Caiyu would have thought this mistress - maid pair had already died.
She put down the medicinal soup, put on the oil - cloth isolation clothes and gloves, helped Lu Baiwei up from the bed first, let her lean against the head of the bed, and then picked up the medicinal soup and slowly fed her with a spoon.
No matter what the relationship was between Lu Baiwei and Song Yinghuai, and no matter how annoying Lu Baiwei was.
This woman couldn't have an accident for the time being.
According to Song Chengyuan's travel speed, he would arrive on the mountain in two days.
If Lu Baiwei had an accident at this time, Song Chengyuan would definitely take the opportunity to cause trouble and ask the emperor to hold those in charge of the plague prevention accountable.
Lu Baiwei, who hadn't touched liquid for a long time, gulped down the medicinal soup as soon as it entered her mouth, eagerly craving it.
After swallowing a few mouthfuls of the medicinal soup, she finally slowly opened her eyes, looking blank and a bit disbelieving. "... You?"
After Caiyu laid her flat, she said indifferently, "It seems that Lady Lu is very surprised?"
Lu Baiwei's lips moved slightly, but she didn't have the strength to answer.
She was really surprised. In the past two days, everyone had left them to fend for themselves. She didn't expect that in the end, it was Caiyu who came back to take care of them.
Caiyu lowered her eyes and said coldly, "Lady Lu doesn't need to be surprised. This servant is just following the prince's order to serve."
She wasn't some kind - hearted little rabbit. She couldn't be kind to her enemies.
So it was Xuanyao!
As soon as she heard it was Song Yinghuai's order, Lu Baiwei's spirit improved a bit.
She had to hold on, hold on...
Song Yinghuai, Sheng Jiangli, Xu Buyue and others accelerated the process and quietly started to quickly investigate the situation of the plague rats along the water source. They planned to quell the plague before the crown prince arrived, so that the crown prince would have no credit to claim.
And just at this time, the new water source was found by the troops sent into the mountains.
With these two measures in place, the number of new infections on Qixia Mountain suddenly dropped sharply. Han Fen and others stayed at the base camp and arranged the isolation measures in an orderly manner, controlling the trend of human - to - human transmission.
The haze that had hung over people's heads for ten days finally began to disperse.
Just then, the crown prince, Song Chengyuan, ascended the mountain.
Song Chengyuan was originally full of confidence, expecting that the mountain would be in a state of desolation. He thought that the anti - plague medicinal soup he brought would be like the light of Buddha shining on the earth, bringing hope of life to everyone.
However, he was disappointed.
He was shocked to find that Qixia Mountain and the villages along the way seemed to be in good order. The spread of the plague had quickly slowed down, and most of the infected people were stabilizing.
When Song Yinghuai led everyone to greet Song Chengyuan and several important court supervisors at the mountain gate, the crown prince gritted his teeth and said,
"Your Royal Highness is truly the pillar of our Great Ye. In just ten days, you've quelled the plague and stabilized the situation. It's truly a blessing for our Great Ye!"
Song Yinghuai said with a gentle smile, "Your humble subject owes it to the blessings of the emperor and the protection of the heavens. I dare not take the credit."
"Humph!" Song Chengyuan angrily flicked his sleeves and strode towards the temple.
The protection of the heavens?
Tomorrow he would let Song Yinghuai know that man will triumph over nature!