After two days of travel, it suddenly began to rain.
Ye Luan was eating dry rations under a tree in a village when the rain intensified, almost soaking her completely.
Looking at the soft ball in her arms, Ye Luan quickly took the cloak from her bundle, draped it over herself, hid Xueqiu inside her clothes, and led her horse towards the village.
With such heavy rain, she needed to find shelter quickly.
“Ye Luan, come with us.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice called from behind her.
Ye Luan was startled. Turning her head, she saw Li Qiongyu and Lan Murou riding towards her, followed by many soldiers clad in shining armor.
It turned out they had been following her all along.
“ALuan, the rain is too heavy. Let’s go to the manor first,” Lan Murou beckoned to her.
Ye Luan did not want to go with them.
Li Qiongyu kept watching her. Rainwater streamed down his fair cheeks, his expression cold. He immediately guessed her thoughts and spoke directly.
“We will escort you out of Bei Qi, and then we will not bother you anymore.”
Without their efforts to clean up the mess, it wouldn’t have been so easy for her to leave Yan Jing.
Countless pursuers had already died.
“That’s right, ALuan. The rain is too heavy. Let’s find shelter first.”
Ye Luan looked at them and led her horse over.
If Murou had left Bei Qi with Li Qiongyu, then only Xiao Chizhan and Tantai Ye remained in Bei Qi. What were they planning to do?
Tantai Ye would not have let Murou leave with Li Qiongyu first unless they were plotting something significant.
They must be planning something.
“My life is truly exhausting, having to escort you out first on behalf of the two of them.”
Despite Li Qiongyu’s complaint, his peach blossom eyes were filled with smiles.
Ye Luan rode her horse and asked, “You’ve been following me all along?”
“Yes.”
It seemed that Xiao Chizhan had intentionally let her leave the borders that day. He had guessed she was leaving and had conveniently helped her depart Bei Qi.
“Another two days of travel, and we’ll be out of the pass. ALuan, are you returning to Da Liang?”
Ye Luan nodded, “Yes, I want to go back and see my grandmother first.”
Hearing her words, a flicker of something unusual flashed in Li Qiongyu’s eyes.
“Since you’re going back to the capital, let’s go together. We’re heading back too.”
“Whatever.”
Upon arriving at the manor, they settled in. Ye Luan and Lan Murou had already gone to find rooms to change clothes.
Li Qiongyu stood under the eaves, using his internal energy to dry his clothes. He took the message tube handed to him by a guard.
“Xie Beihan sent an urgent order to the border overnight to seal it off. Prince Zhennan managed to quietly intercept it, but the next day, Prince Zhennan was imprisoned on charges of colluding with the enemy and treason.”
“Now, we don’t know if the border has received the order. If we want to leave the territory, it’s best to travel through the night.”
Li Qiongyu scanned the message and ordered, “Go and instruct Wei Shitong to bring troops to rendezvous outside Yan Pass and send someone to negotiate.”
“Yes.”
“Have the Prince and General come out yet?”
The guard replied, “There’s been no news. They are guarded by the Blood Corpses, so they should be fine.”
“Alright, proceed with your tasks.”
The next day, after the rain stopped, they resumed their journey.
They were heading to Yanzhou. From Yan Pass, bypassing Hulishan, lay the border of Da Liang.
Ye Luan had been following them. The journey was arduous, and both she and Lan Murou had lost considerable weight.
Li Qiongyu, with a roguish grin, teased, “If those two see us back like this, they’ll skin me alive.”
“You skin them first, and then no one will skin you.”
“Hahaha—” Li Qiongyu burst into laughter. “I wouldn’t dare. How about you skin Xiao Chizhan first, Ye Luan?”
Ye Luan replied, “Why would I skin him? He wouldn’t skin me.”
“That madman is so consumed by his own kind that he’s inhuman. I can’t be bothered with him. You have no idea, after your fake death, that dog built what he called ‘Cloud Palace’ and ‘Underwater Royal Palace’ for you, spending all my money. I’m so poor I can barely afford to eat. You have to support me.”
Here was a man, the imperial merchant of Da Liang, richer than the national treasury, complaining about poverty to her.
Ye Luan asked suspiciously, “What ‘Cloud Palace’ and ‘Underwater Royal Palace’?”
“You’ll know when you go back. They were designed by that madman himself as your burial grounds.”
Ye Luan: “……”
Li Qiongyu glanced at her sideways, sizing her up, and continued in a flippant tone.
“He thought you were dead, so he built a tomb to die with you, abandoning everything else, living like a walking corpse every day—”
Ye Luan lowered her eyes, cutting him off abruptly, and changed the subject, “Let’s hurry along.”
Seeing this, Li Qiongyu narrowed his peach blossom eyes slightly, looked at her for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and said unrestrainedly,
“Fine, but you have to make sure he supports me. I can’t even afford a wife.”
“ALuan, don’t listen to his nonsense. The Prince used his own private funds,” Lan Murou interjected quietly, unable to stand it any longer.
“Oh, my dear little sheep, how can you say that? He squandered all his money. All the war expenses were paid with my silver.”
Hearing his address, Lan Murou’s gentle eyes flashed with astonishment.
What did he call her?
Little sheep?!!
Li Qiongyu chuckled, “Tantai Ye always calls you that in front of us. Old habit, ha.”
Little sheep!
Lan Murou’s hand, gripping the reins, turned white. It seemed that in his heart, she was just a docile sheep, to be kneaded and handled as he pleased.
She couldn’t help but reflect that she had been too accommodating before, spoiling him.
Li Qiongyu, smiling mischievously, instigated, “Exactly. That dog Tantai Ye is always giving out nicknames. He really deserves a beating. You should discipline him properly when you get back, teach him a lesson.”
Lan Murou pouted. How could she dare? He could torment her to death.
“Ye Luan, why are you keeping that straight face? You make it seem like we’re your enemies.”
Hearing his words, Ye Luan’s lips twitched.
All the way, Li Qiongyu talked endlessly, his wit and humor often making them erupt in laughter. Ye Luan couldn’t bear it any longer and couldn’t help but smile.
The caravan was always lively.
By the time they reached Yanzhou, Li Qiongyu became busy. After dropping them off at the inn, he left.
The next day, the two of them went downstairs and saw him waiting for them.
“Come, come, let me take you to try the specialties of Yanzhou.”
Ye Luan asked, “Are we not leaving today?”
Li Qiongyu, producing a fan from somewhere, swayed it as he walked out, “Not leaving yet. I’ll take you out to play for a day.”
“Has the pass been blocked?”
Ye Luan felt uneasy and, pulling Lan Murou along, hurried after him, asking.
Li Qiongyu closed his fan, turned back, and tapped Ye Luan’s forehead with it, a smug grin on his face. “Can you not be so smart?”
“Don’t worry, as long as you’re with me, I’ll definitely get you out.”
Ye Luan rubbed her forehead, which ached. “Just kill me then.”
“How dare I? That would invite Xiao Chizhan to chop off my head.”
“You mention him half the time, you might as well go and live with him.”
Ye Luan was getting utterly annoyed. Li Qiongyu, for some unknown reason, talked about Xiao Chizhan in front of her every day. Whether drinking water or eating, he would mention him, finding any excuse to bring him up.
Li Qiongyu turned back with a mock expression.
“Don’t you slander me, I like women.”