Caiyu stared blankly at Sheng Jiangli.
Suddenly, she threw herself into the man's arms and burst into tears. "Brother Aili! Do you know about Mother and Father..."
Sheng Jiangli hugged her tightly and patted her on the back. He said in a deep voice, "I happened to be out of the imperial city when you were unconscious and saw you, and also saw Uncle. I've already ordered someone to settle them down."
He paused for a moment. His eyes were cold and complicated. Finally, he said rationally, "Shu'er, there's something fishy about this. Don't blindly believe Uncle just because of his words."
Sheng Jiangli's words gradually woke Caiyu up from her grief.
The news of the Lan family's accident had thrown her into a panic, and she almost forgot to think calmly.
Caiyu straightened up, her eyes shining with hope. "You mean... Uncle was lying?"
If it was a lie, were Mother and Father still alive?
Sheng Jiangli's handsome face was cold and hard. "I've already sent Subude to Hainan to find out what happened that day about Foster Father and Foster Mother. But no matter what, Shu'er."
He really didn't want to defend Song Yinghuai. But seeing Shu'er faint from anger because of Song Yinghuai's matter, he couldn't bear it. So he had to analyze objectively:
"From what I know of the Prince of Yan, even if he was forced to obey the imperial order to exterminate the Lan family, he would act in a perfunctory manner. You know better than me what kind of person he is, don't you?"
Moreover, he loved Shu'er so much that his love had become almost deformed. How could he do such a thing that would push them both into an irredeemable situation?
Caiyu finally calmed down completely. She agreed with Sheng Jiangli's analysis. "Maybe you're right..."
But the next second, her expression was desperate. "But during the time when the Lan family had an accident, Han Fen disappeared. The time he came back was not long after Uncle appeared. I suspect he went to Hainan. Brother Aili, there can't be so many coincidences in this world."
Sheng Jiangli was stunned for a moment. His face was solemn. "This makes it complicated. It at least proves that the Prince of Yan was involved in the Lan family's accident."
As for whether he was ordered to assassinate or act in a perfunctory manner...
Caiyu's face was pale. "Brother Aili, my identity is already known to the world. If the Prince had acted in a perfunctory manner and saved Mother and Father, he definitely wouldn't have hidden it from me at this time. Instead, he would have let me meet Mother and Father. Unless..."
Sheng Jiangli also thought of the same possibility.
Unless the people of the Lan family were dead.
Sheng Jiangli thought for a long time. Finally, he said rationally, "Anyway, Shu'er, you mustn't blindly believe one person's words. At this time, neither Uncle's words nor the Prince of Yan's words can be fully trusted."
"Moreover, the Prince of Yan will set off for Shanxi and Shaanxi tomorrow to join the Yan Army and attack the Tartar Army from both inside and outside. This is your best chance to leave. No matter what the truth of the Lan family is, Shu'er, the plan can't change."
"Everything will wait until you get away. As for the members of the Lan family, we'll search high and low. We'll see them alive if they're alive, and see their corpses if they're dead. Don't worry... I'll definitely find them!"
On the ninth day of the tenth month in the thirty - third year of Yuanzheng in Daye.
Song Yinghuai quickly assembled 100,000 imperial troops in the capital and was about to set off for Yanmen Pass.
Princess Nan'an, Xu Buyue, led 50,000 troops to Tongguan. The two armies would attack from both sides and then join forces.
After a seven - year hiatus, war finally broke out again between the Tartars and Daye.
The 200,000 Yan Army in the Yan area had been gearing up for a long time. As soon as Wendusu's army turned south towards Yanmen Pass, Zhu Xiao led 30,000 vanguard troops to quietly follow them, ready to cooperate with the imperial troops inside the pass to raid the Tartar Army's rear at any time.
The main force of the Yan Army, 120,000 troops led by Tan Xiong and Zhang Ce, set off later to support Zhu Xiao.
Ma Mo and Fang Kuan led 50,000 elite soldiers to Nawuerhai.
That was the place of historical turning points between Daye and the Tartars, the place of their shame and their honor.
They would wash away all of it with the Tartars' blood!
Three days later, the imperial troops in the capital appeared in a mighty way in the suburbs of Zhengyang County, four hundred li away from the capital.
The snow came early this year. It was only October, but there was already a snowfall in the sky.
Although the snow was thin, the thin ice on the mountain road was very obstructive to the march. Since they didn't expect this snowfall, the horses' hooves weren't wrapped with leather in advance, so several horses fell.
Song Yinghuai finally ordered his men to choose a mountain depression to rest and wrap the horses' hooves.
Caiyu poked her head out of the carriage. Looking at the extremely quiet cliffs on both sides, she could hear the wild beating of her heart.
This was Zhengyang Lotus Peak, the place where Sheng Jiangli had made an appointment with her to escape when he left the capital and pretended to return outside the pass.
Song Yinghuai dismounted and walked to Caiyu's window. Seeing her panicked look, he felt sorry for her for having to endure the hardships of the journey with him. He asked softly,
"Yuer, do you really have to go to Yanmen Pass with me? Actually, I can send someone to take you back to Yanjing first. You can just wait for me obediently in the Prince's Mansion..."
Before he could finish his words, he met Caiyu's slightly cold eyes. Immediately, alarm bells rang in his heart.
What she disliked most was being kept in the mansion like a vase by him, but he always habitually wanted to take care of her.
He quickly changed the topic. "The army may rest here for more than half a day. Do you want to get out and get some fresh air and eat something?"
"I have no appetite." Caiyu said coldly, as if she was angry about his suggestion of sending her back to Yanjing just now.
Seeing her small face suddenly turn cold, Song Yinghuai's heart skipped a beat. He said with a smile, "I said the wrong thing. Don't be angry. I know you want to go back to Shanxi to see your hometown. It's my fault that I didn't consider your feelings..."
"Good Yuer, get out and take a walk, okay? I'll accompany you."
"If the army moves, it won't stop for at least half a day. If you get hungry on the way, you'll feel uncomfortable."
Song Yinghuai said all kinds of good things, just wanting to beg her not to starve herself.
Caiyu was only thinking about leaving and didn't notice that he was slowly trying to change for her.
She looked at the cold birds fluttering across the sky. It seemed like a call. Finally, she relaxed her tense little face and said faintly,
"I really have no appetite. Why don't you, my Prince, go to Zhengyang County and buy some food for me? I heard that the Sanru Duck and Jiao Mo here taste good."
Song Yinghuai was stunned for a moment and said awkwardly, "Yuer, the mountain road is icy. It's about fifty or sixty li back and forth from the suburbs to the county. It's not easy to walk."
In the past few days, Caiyu had been finding ways to torture him. Every time they passed by a city, she would order him to go into the city to buy things himself. He was used to it.
She was still angry, and he didn't dare to object. Anyway, he could just follow her wishes. It would just be a bit tiring. As long as he could coax her to change her mind, he could do anything for her.
It was just that the situation was a bit special today...
Caiyu's small face immediately turned cold again. "I know that you, my Prince, are excellent at riding. It's just the icy mountain road. Such a small thing can't trouble you at all. If you don't want to go, then I won't eat!"
"No..." Song Yinghuai looked helplessly at her suddenly cold face and compromised without hesitation. "I didn't say I wouldn't go. I'll go right away. Don't be angry. I'll go and buy it now."
He couldn't handle this little girl when she got angry. It was really hard for him.
After saying that, he immediately mounted his horse.
Han Fen and the others beside him looked at this scene angrily.
She was torturing the Prince again!
It was a critical time, but this girl always found ways to get angry with the Prince. Yet the Prince always had to submit to her!
Why was Caiyu so different from before?
Caiyu watched the man turn his horse's head around. He turned around, blocking all the light in front of her.
The mountain wind howled. She clearly saw that tall figure, so straight in the fine snowflakes and under the towering mountains.
Her eyes suddenly became moist.
She suddenly remembered the scene when she had reached out her hand from the carriage and grabbed him outside Lingbi.
The passionate love in the past, the determined heart now.
"My Prince." She blurted out.
The man immediately turned his horse's head back and looked at her.
Caiyu's gaze slowly slid down from his handsome face and stopped on the Buddhist rosary bracelet on his wrist.
She was filled with nostalgia.
"The mountain road is rugged. My Prince, be careful on your way."