Chapter 160 So Hard, Sleeping Against Pei Yuan

Shen Chu's heart skipped a beat. "I didn't."

Pei Yuan pressed on, "If you didn't, why are you avoiding me?"

Shen Chu opened her mouth, but couldn't find a word to refute it. She could only squeeze out three words from her throat, "I didn't dodge."

Pei Yuan gave a cold snort.

"Since you didn't dodge, then please be more professional, Lord Shen, and don't delay the task assigned by His Majesty."

Shen Chu rubbed her fingers together, a surge of anger rising in her heart.

Let's go, it's just about traveling together.

Who's afraid of who!

She turned and bid farewell to Luo Heng, then went straight to the hired carriage.

Pei Yuan mounted his horse.

A horse and a cart turned onto the official road.

Shen Chu lifted the carriage curtain and looked at Pei Yuan with a hint of provocation.

"I am not good at riding horses, so I can only ride in a carriage. If Your Highness finds it too slow, you can leave on horseback at any time."

Pei Yuan gave her a deep look, then suddenly jumped off his horse and climbed into the carriage.

"If you want me to ride in the carriage with you, just say so. I don't need to ride a horse."

Shen Chu was dumbfounded.

That's not what she meant at all.

Pei Yuan was clearly deliberately misinterpreting her words.

Shen Chu turned her head away, feeling somewhat annoyed.

The carriage fell silent, the only sound being their breathing.

To avoid attracting attention, she hired an ordinary blue-curtained carriage with thick floor mats to reduce bumps, but the space was not spacious.

At this moment, she and Pei Yuan were sitting together, almost shoulder to shoulder.

She shifted uncomfortably to the side, breaking the silence first, "Why isn't Your Highness saying anything?"

Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we talk about your Brother Luo?"

"What's wrong with Brother Luo?"

"Do you really know him? You're acting like he's your brother?"

"Brother Luo is a righteous, gentle, humble, thoughtful, and caring person. He is a true gentleman."

Pei Yuan's lips curled into a cold smile. "Gentle and modest? You think someone who squandered his uncles' businesses and seized their family property at the age of thirteen is gentle and modest?"

You think he's a gentleman? This prince had no idea your judgment of character was so shallow.

Shen Chu felt a bit stifled, recalling his confrontation with Luo Heng the previous night.

"Why does Your Highness have such a strong opinion about Brother Luo? Has he offended you?"

"No."

Shen Chu said earnestly, "Since there is no such thing, Your Highness, please do not speak ill of Brother Luo behind his back. We have already become sworn brothers."

My relationship with him is my private matter and has nothing to do with Your Highness.

Pei Yuan laughed in anger, "Your private affairs? You casually revealed our destination to him, so it's no longer just your private affairs."

Shen Chu, we are going to Changsha to inspect the salt administration. Do you know how important the salt administration is to the imperial court?

Since we are going to conduct this undercover investigation, we must not let anyone know our whereabouts.

Otherwise, once the news reaches Changsha Prefecture, you know what awaits us there.

Shen Chu pursed her lips.

If the officials of Changsha Prefecture had known their whereabouts beforehand, they would have seen a facade of peace and tranquility.

They couldn't find anything.

She was indeed less wary of Luo Heng because of the similarities between him and her brother Zhan.

Pei Yuan's words struck her like a thunderclap, waking her up.

She said in a muffled voice, "I did act impulsively in this matter, and I beg Your Highness to punish me."

Pei Yuan was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting him to admit his mistake so readily.

He looked over with some surprise, and seeing the annoyance in Shen Chu's eyes, he coughed lightly.

"Actually... things may not be that bad. I just want to tell you to be vigilant in everything you do, and that you can never be too careful."

Don't worry, I know the fastest route to Changsha Prefecture. We'll skip the official road and take this side road instead.

No one will discover our whereabouts, and we can arrive in Changsha two days ahead of schedule.

"Really?" Shen Chu's earlier annoyance vanished, her eyes sparkling like stars in the sky.

Pei Yuan's lips curled up slightly. "Of course, when has this prince ever lied to you?"

"But you, you've deceived and fooled me time and time again. I haven't settled that score with you yet!"

Feeling a little guilty, Shen Chu quickly handed over the bamboo tube.

"Your Highness, you must be thirsty after talking so much. Have some water to moisten your throat."

Pei Yuan glanced at it sideways and didn't take it. "You think you can wipe the previous debt clean with just a few sips of water?"

"What does Your Highness wish to do?"

Pei Yuan snorted, "Give me a thoroughly cooked rabbit, or cook a meal yourself."

"Didn't you say you were going to shut me up? I'm really looking forward to it. Let's see what you're going to use to shut me up!"

Shen Chu chuckled dryly, "Don't take what I said in anger to heart."

While she was in Medicine King Valley, she never cooked a meal except for roasting rabbits and chickens.

None of her senior classmates dared to let her near the kitchen.

Her cooking skills are so bad they'll cause the pot to splatter.

"Talking in anger?" Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow. "The way you were so confident just now, I thought you were quite good at it."

"Hehe, Your Highness is joking. My cooking skills are so bad that even a dog would dislike them. How about I roast a rabbit for Your Highness instead?"

Pei Yuan was satisfied. He took the bamboo tube, drank two sips of water, and then tossed the tube to Chen Chu.

"Alright, go to sleep."

Shen Chu was already sleepy; Luo Heng had an upset stomach last night, and she barely slept a wink.

Relaxing at this moment, I leaned against the carriage wall and soon began to doze off.

With limited space inside the carriage and Pei Yuan present, she could only sleep sitting up.

As the carriage swayed rhythmically, her head gradually tilted to the side.

She then leaned on Pei Yuan's shoulder.

Feeling that she had found something to lean on, she rubbed her head against it a few times and then fell into a deep sleep.

Feeling the sudden weight on his shoulder, Pei Yuan froze and abruptly opened his eyes.

Compared to her cunning and cleverness when she was awake, which made people grit their teeth in anger, Chen Chu's long eyelashes drooped when she was asleep, her fair forehead languidly rubbing against his shoulder a few times in a coquettish manner.

His body tensed up even more immediately.

Seemingly finding the pillow too hard, Chen Chu frowned slightly and muttered softly, "So hard."

Pei Yuan subconsciously relaxed.

Shen Chu gently nuzzled him a couple more times, then reached out and hugged his arm, her brow relaxing.

It looked just like a little fox sleeping next to its owner.

Pei Yuan's lips curled up as he stared at Shen Chu's sleeping face for a long time, losing all sleepiness.

He keeps saying he has no ulterior motives towards me?

Even when you're asleep, don't you subconsciously want to get closer to me?

Actions speak louder than words.

Heh~

It wasn't until he felt a tingling sensation in his arm that Pei Yuan realized he had been in the same position for two hours without moving.

He actually stared at Shen Chu's sleeping face for two hours!

And they also found it novel and interesting.

Pei Yuan was startled once again by the thought in his mind and jumped up.

Bang.

His head slammed straight into the roof of the carriage.

Shen Chu was jolted awake by his movement and asked groggily, "What's wrong?"

His eyes held a hazy, languid look, which made Pei Yuan's heart skip a beat.

Suddenly, I wonder if it was right or wrong to force Chen Chu to go with me.

He coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment, "It's nothing, my legs are numb, I'll go out and ride a horse for a while."

After saying that, he quickly lifted the curtain and jumped out of the carriage without even asking the driver to stop.

Shen Chu: ?

what happened?