Xu Ziyi's news was like a thunderbolt out of the blue, almost ruining Song Yinghuai's original plans for crossing the river and attacking the city. It left him standing there stunned for a moment.
The enemy generals were his future father - in - law and elder brother - in - law.
And the three of them on their side were future sons - in - law.
How could this battle be fought?
For a moment, the two men looked gloomy and silent, just staring at each other.
Xu Ziyi opened his mouth. "There's another piece of news. I don't know if you want to hear it."
Song Yinghuai's eyebrows twitched. He could more or less guess that this news was about Sheng Jiangli.
He really wanted to say he didn't want to hear it, but in the end, he gave in. "Go ahead."
"Sheng Jiangli left the capital and headed west."
Song Yinghuai rubbed his aching forehead and quickly guessed the other's intention.
"The Qin region is unguarded. Sheng Jiangli should be going there to rally the Hu cavalry to attack Lao Zhu's Licheng and occupy the western front."
Xu Ziyi glanced at him and wondered, "Why do you look so worried? Isn't it better that he's not in the capital? Miss San won't elope then."
Song Yinghuai felt like crying but had no tears.
He was just afraid that once Caiyu heard this news, she would leave Pengcheng and turn to the Qin region to elope!
At that time, should he fight the war or chase his wife?
Just then, a young maid rushed into the council hall in a hurry. She shouted inside, "Your Highness, Miss Caiyu is awake. She's packing her luggage and wants to leave!"
Song Yinghuai felt his vision go dark. He immediately left everyone behind and strode away.
In the Tingtao Studio, three young maids were kneeling on the ground. No matter how Caiyu questioned them, they insisted on not saying where her personal luggage was.
Caiyu took a deep breath and said coldly, "Do you think I can't leave just because you don't tell me? There's a war going on everywhere. Even without a travel permit, I can find a way to get out."
The young maids lowered their heads and said nothing, trembling with fear.
Caiyu said helplessly, "You may leave. I want to be alone for a while."
The maids glanced at each other, answered, and then retreated.
Caiyu immediately tore at the curtains and started packing the valuable things in the room and her change of clothes.
Song Yinghuai rushed over non - stop. Just as he saw Caiyu packing her luggage, his face turned pale and he felt cold all over.
He took a quick step forward and firmly pressed on the luggage. "Yu'er, where are you going?"
"Your Highness." Caiyu tried to pry his fingers off the luggage. She gave him a cold look. "Now that you're safe and sound, I naturally have to leave here and go to the capital to find Brother A Li."
"To find Sheng... Sheng Jiangli..." Song Yinghuai's eyes turned red. "To get married?"
Caiyu glanced at him again. "Your Highness has always known this."
Since their reunion, she had always told him that she was going to marry Brother A Li and had never changed her statement.
Moreover, after learning about his plan to kill two birds with one stone by putting himself in danger, she regretted even more that she had been soft - hearted and followed the prison cart for thousands of miles.
"Know." Song Yinghuai took a deep breath. His eyes were moist. He reminded her, "But you're already mine... Uh."
Before he could finish his sentence, he met Caiyu's furious eyes.
How dare he say that!
He deliberately knocked over the tray and tricked her into the cleaning room when she was worried about him and took advantage of her!
There was still no conclusion about the twin snakes, yet he dared to mention this!
Although there was no longer any innocence between her and Song Yinghuai, since she was determined to marry Brother A Li, having a relationship with another man in the middle...
Just thinking about it made Caiyu extremely sad and angry.
Seeing the cold look in the little girl's eyes, as if she wanted to kill him, Song Yinghuai trembled in his heart. He immediately changed his statement tactfully:
"I, I... I'm already yours. You should at least be responsible for me, right?"
Caiyu's eyes widened in surprise. "I've only heard that a man should be responsible for a woman who has lost her innocence. I've never heard of a man asking a woman to be responsible!"
"Then I'll be responsible." Song Yinghuai immediately replied. "You marry me, and I'll marry you. I'm more than willing..."
Suddenly, he remembered how Xu Ziyi and Xiao Rencheng had pestered his two older sisters. He immediately changed his words again. "... No, I'll go with you. I'll go with you. Wherever you go, I'll help you pack your luggage."
With red eyes, he asked, "Yu'er, can you take me with you?"
He wasn't going to fight this war anymore.
Anyway, he didn't dare to provoke the people on the other side of the river.
Caiyu was completely confused.
She stared at Song Yinghuai in horror, as if she didn't recognize him.
Caiyu opened her mouth. At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door. Xu Buyue had chased after Song Yinghuai.
She didn't get closer but just stood there in the distance, staring blankly at the man in the room.
That handsome man, who had always been as noble as a god, was now clutching the woman's luggage tightly with both hands, bowing his head and pleading in a humble voice.
A dull pain broke out from her heart and quickly spread throughout her body.
She had always known that the person Song Yinghuai loved was Caiyu.
But she had always turned a blind eye to the difference between a man's love and non - love.
But now she was forced to see it.
At this moment, she clearly realized that Song Yinghuai would never show this kind of look in front of her.
The moment Caiyu saw Xu Buyue, she felt even more that it was right for her to leave.
Yes.
What going with her?
He was the Prince of Yan. Soon, he would break through the south of the Yangtze River, occupy the imperial city of Daye, and become the new emperor.
His harem would surely have more than just her. She didn't even want to be a favored concubine in his harem!
Thinking of this, Caiyu's face turned even colder. She refused calmly, "Your Highness is joking. How dare I take you with me? When Your Highness becomes the emperor in the future, with a large harem and countless concubines, how could you still remember my existence?"
Song Yinghuai opened his mouth. "What large harem?"
Seeing his confused look, Caiyu couldn't help getting angry. "Didn't Your Highness plan to take me as a concubine servant back then?"
Reminded by her, Song Yinghuai suddenly remembered that a long time ago, he had "bestowed" such a status of concubine servant on Caiyu, who was just a maid at that time. He immediately wished he could slap himself for saying such words.
"Back then... back then I was just talking nonsense. Back then..."
He couldn't explain what happened back then.
Because back then, he didn't know that Caiyu was Lan Jinshu, and he didn't know that he would fall in love so deeply. So his state of mind back then was really indefensible.
He said in a low voice, "We had just met back then, and you were still hiding your identity from me. So..."
Caiyu gave him a sideways look and sighed. "Yes, it's my fault. Back then, I was the one who tried so hard to get close to Your Highness."
Actually, she also knew that his thoughts back then were normal, but so what?
She didn't mean to blame him. What he thought had nothing to do with her.
"Your Highness doesn't need to explain. I don't want to know what you were thinking back then." Caiyu said coldly. "I just want to tell Your Highness that your thoughts don't match what I want. We're not suitable to be together. I won't marry you, and I won't let you go with me."
After saying that, Caiyu tried to grab the luggage back.
Song Yinghuai held on to the luggage tightly and said anxiously, "Back then was back then. I've changed. I'll only marry you in this lifetime! Yu'er! I swear that you'll be the only woman in my life!"
"There won't be any other women, whether concubines, concubine servants or imperial concubines. I won't have any! Yu'er, believe me!"
His voice was loud and clearly reached Xu Buyue's ears, making the woman's eyes gradually turn red.
Xu Ziyi didn't know when he had followed up. Seeing his younger sister standing there blankly, he felt both heartache and helplessness.
"Yue'er, give up."
He said in a low voice, "I once thought about having multiple wives and concubines. I couldn't understand what Miss San meant by 'one man, one woman for a lifetime'. But later, when Xiang'er came back, I realized that this kind of relationship was actually hard to come by."
Xiang'er's first half of her life no longer belonged to him. Time had passed, and he was powerless to turn back the clock.
The so - called "one man, one woman for a lifetime" could only be his expectation for the second half of his life.
So he couldn't get it, and he suddenly had a deep understanding of this phrase.
He also didn't want his younger sister to live a life of crying alone until dawn.
Caiyu was shocked again by Song Yinghuai's words.
She felt that after not seeing each other for two years, this man had not only learned to be a rascal but also become shameless?