"so……"

Just as Xiao Yunying was about to speak, Ying Yi hurriedly made a shushing gesture and then knelt down beside her table.

She immediately realized that someone had arrived, and picked up her brush again, pretending to be thinking as she drew a blueprint.

She waited a while before Feng Yi came in. Xiao Yunying looked up at him when she heard him and asked, "Is Your Highness here again to urge me to speed up the process?"

"What are you saying? Can't I come to see you?"

Xiao Yunying didn't want to joke with him. She drew a simple sketch of a pistol with a few strokes and put down the brush: "Your Highness, please give me a set of carving knives and find some wood that isn't too hard. I want to try to make the model first."

When Feng Yi heard that she was going to start making a physical object, his smile became more genuine: "That's no problem. Just tell me if you need anything else."

He walked to Xiao Yunying's side, and Ying Yi quickly knelt down and moved aside.

"You're still going to make him kneel here?"

Xiao Yunying pretended not to care and said, "He's just kneeling here idly anyway, so he can grind ink for me. But he doesn't seem to like doing servant work and has been reluctant to do it."

"Why don't you let Bai Shao serve you?"

Xiao Yunying tidied up the drawings on the table: "Since Your Highness asked, I will be frank. Bai Shao is Your Highness's personal maid, and I dare not order her around. Besides, she should be under Your Highness's orders to keep an eye on me. Every time she stands next to me, I feel the pressure increase and my mind stops working."

Feng Yi glanced at the drawing she had just finished on the top shelf: "I'm not pressuring you, so don't feel too much pressure."

Xiao Yunying snorted inwardly. It was only because she was perceptive and sped up the process from time to time that she knew what was going on. If she had just kept dragging her feet and doing nothing, you would have changed your attitude long ago.

Thinking this to himself, he couldn't say it out loud: "The prince isn't urging me, but I'm anxious myself. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can go home."

She was indeed getting anxious. The baby in her belly was growing day by day, and she couldn't wait too long. If her pregnancy became more obvious, she would have many concerns and inconveniences when moving around. She had to find a way to leave this place as soon as possible.

She stood up and stretched her back: "I want to go to the beach to relax, so may I not keep you company, Your Highness?"

"Then this king..."

"I want to watch the sunset over the sea by myself, but it will take a long time. I don't want to take up Your Highness's precious time."

The blatant rejection did not anger Feng Yi; he maintained his amiable expression: "Then I won't disturb your enjoyment, young lady."

After he left, Xiao Yunying told Ying Yi to leave as well.

She went to the beach alone and walked slowly, thinking about how to leave this place.

After all these days, I wonder if Luo Sheng has realized that he has been kidnapped.

Now that Wan Jun knows, he must have sent him a message.

I don't know how my family is doing.

And what about Qingzhi and Lingqi? How serious are their injuries?

Several children were supposed to take the preliminary examination for the imperial examination, but I don't know if they've taken it yet.

Another question is, if this person sent Luo Sheng away, could everything that happened at the other side be fake?

If what happened at the border is true, between Luo Sheng and himself, which side would he choose?

Xiao Yunying slapped her forehead as she thought about it: "Is pregnancy making me stupid? Why are you worrying about this?"

If Luo Sheng can't come, she can find a way to escape on her own; it's not like she lacks the ability.

She comforted herself and felt much better, then turned around and went back to the courtyard to have dinner.

The next morning, Xiao Yunying had Bai Shao call Ying Zhao to kneel down together.

After Bai Shao left, Xiao Yunying teased him, "How's it going, kid? Is your butt all better yet?"

Ying Zhao must have been lectured by her brother these past few days and has come to understand many things. She lowered her head and said in a low voice, "Thank you for sparing my life, young lady."

Xiao Yunying squatted down in front of him: "Let me guess, before you went on this mission, did your master never kill anyone in front of you and always treat you kindly? That's why he made you and your brother drift apart and made you closer to him."

“My brother…I’m almost never seen. My master raised me.”

Xiao Yunying looked like she knew it: "There must be a reason for this. Yingyi, take this opportunity to tell your brother about your family. Stand up and talk."

She herself sat in a chair, eating snacks and listening to Ying Yi tell stories.

Ying Yi's name is not a code name; his surname is Ying.

In short, the powerful and treacherous minister hid the gold and silver treasures he had plundered in several places. When the minister was in charge of the household, the Ying family was trusted by their master and knew about some of these locations.

The Ying family ancestors, along with their wives and children, escaped the calamity. After the storm passed, they secretly found one of the places where treasure was hidden, on this island.

Ying's family was not greedy. After taking some gold and silver, they used the money to start a business. As the business grew, they became wealthy in the area. They never went back to the island, nor did they think about looking for treasure hidden elsewhere.

They thought the matter was over, but they never expected that Feng Yi would find out about it decades later.

The Ying family was arrested and severely tortured. Eight-year-old Ying Yi couldn't bear to see his family suffer like this. He remembered the stories his grandfather had told him and, on a whim, told them about the island.

What he didn't expect was that after Feng Yizhen found the treasure on the island, she actually killed all his elders and servants, leaving only the three siblings alive.

Ying Zhao asked incredulously, "I have an older sister?"

Ying Yi's eyes were full of guilt: "My elder sister was six years older than me. She was very gentle and beautiful, but she was also killed by Feng Yi."

Feng Yi is a very shrewd person. Everything that happened to the Ying family was done by his people, but he never showed his face.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!