The man in red robes said, "Old man, don't try to fool me. I've been following your carriage ever since I arrived at the Prince of Qin's residence. I'm not with him, I'm not a bad person, I belong to that young lady..."
Although the person in front of me was indeed dressed in a rather gaudy and outlandish manner, he was a man who was covered in perfume.
But apart from that, it seems that they have never been hostile to me at all from the beginning.
He muttered to himself, "Looking like that, no wonder Miss Yi said she didn't have a husband! I never expected Miss Yi's husband to be like this!"
The old coachman pondered this for a moment, then suddenly interrupted him: "Could it be that you are Miss Yi's irresponsible husband?"
Upon hearing this, the man in the red robe was startled and tried to defend himself: "I..."
Unexpectedly, the old coachman immediately scolded him angrily.
"Your wife is already so heavily pregnant, yet you still bear to hold a grudge against her and let her travel far away alone? What are you really thinking!"
Upon hearing this, the man in the red robe exclaimed in astonishment, "What? She's pregnant again?"
Instantly, the man in red clenched his fists hidden under his sleeves, gritting his teeth as he said, "Xuanyuan Han, you beast... You knew she couldn't... Why did you still let her get pregnant again?"
The old coachman, clearly unaware of this, shook his head and sighed as he watched the man seemingly lost in thought. "Miss Yi is such a kind person. Even if they were complete strangers, she would do her best to help them. You... you really are not worthy of her!"
After saying that, she ignored him completely.
He picked up the other half of the whip that had fallen to the ground, got back into the carriage, and continued to urge the horse on: "Old buddy... let's go... home..."
Just then, the man in the red robe suddenly came to his senses and grabbed the horse's reins tightly.
The old driver was startled, wondering what he intended to do.
Immediately afterward, the man in the red robe looked anxiously into the old coachman's eyes and asked, "I'm sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn't have made her angry. I knew I was wrong, so I came out to look for her myself. I promise I will treat her well from now on and never let her leave again. Please tell me, where did she go?"
The old driver stared intently into his eyes and asked, "Really?"
The man in the red robe nodded emphatically.
At this moment, the old driver turned around and looked at a dense forest behind him, saying, "Look..."
The man in the red robe then looked in the direction the other was looking, but he couldn't see anything.
It wasn't until the old driver spoke up and said to him, "Miss Yi said she was going to the grasslands and just entered that grove of trees."
Upon hearing this, the man in the red robe panicked without thinking. "What? You let her go into that forest alone?!"
The old driver glared at him and scolded, "Isn't it all because of you two? You followed us suspiciously the whole way. We thought we were being targeted by bandits or robbers!"
"I...I..." For a moment, the man in the red robe was clearly at a loss for words.
Actually, during his pursuit, he discovered that Yi Shangyun was being followed by others, and he just wanted to see who they were.
That's why they didn't show up in time; they never expected it would frighten them.
The old coachman still feels extremely heartbroken: "Miss Yi was so kind. She didn't want to be a burden on me, gave me a lot of money, and even gave me a miraculous cure for my wife's illness. Even a bodhisattva's intervention couldn't have been more effective..."
As she spoke, she secretly wiped away her tears again with her sleeve.
However, the man in the red robe was no longer listening to anything. He could only mutter anxiously and fearfully, "Yun'er, you mustn't... you absolutely mustn't go into that forest alone!"
With that, he took off after them.
"Yun'er..."
"Don't be afraid..."
"wait for me……"
"I am coming!"
After the man in the red robe and the old coachman had both left.
Tuoba Ze personally led his men to catch up, only to find his subordinate lying face down in a pool of blood, motionless.
Tuoba Zedun squatted down with a face full of anger and turned his subordinate, who was lying face down, over to take a look.
The subordinate was still on the verge of death, barely clinging to life.
Tuoba Hong quickly leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Where is he?"
The subordinate then emitted a faint, intermittent sound from his throat.
"Tree……"
"Tree……"
"Tree……"
"Forest"
Soon, just as he uttered the last word, he stared wide-eyed and breathed his last.
Tuoba Ze suddenly stood up, his eyes flashing with a cold light, and ordered his men: "Chase!"
So, everyone chased after them into the woods.
The study tour to the capital city has finally come to an end, and Yi Shangyun's funeral has also come to a close.
Back at Xiqin Academy, Consort Chun's words still echoed in Lu Xian's ears from time to time.
"People say that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. Of course, I don't agree with that. A woman with both talent and virtue should be even better. However, I believe that a woman's greatest virtue lies in being content with her lot and having a sincere and innocent heart, rather than chasing or coveting things that are not meant to be hers without any limits. Otherwise, she may end up with nothing but withered flowers and tears, a tragic end."
He felt there was something hidden in her words, especially what Lu Tianjiao said, which was clearly a warning to her.
After thinking it over, he decided, "It seems I must have a serious talk with Jiao'er this time."
Upon careful consideration of the entire matter, it was all because King Xuanyuan Han of Qin was not someone they could covet.
So he secretly thought to himself: "This child seems to be a case of 'girls grow up and leave home,' keeping her only to breed resentment. Perhaps it's time to arrange a marriage for her."
So he silently arrived at Lu Tianjiao's door.
The courtyard was filled with blooming flowers and their fragrance.
After waiting at the door for a long time, I finally saw Lu Tianjiao holding a delicate pink peony in his hand, tearing off the petals as he slowly walked in, looking preoccupied.
So Lu Xian called out to her, "Jiao'er, where have you been? I need to talk to you about something."
Unexpectedly, Lu Tianjiao seemed to have no desire to communicate with him at all. Upon seeing him, she quickened her pace and said, "Father, I'm tired today. Let's talk about it later!"
As she spoke, she continued forward, lifting her skirt as if to go up to the attic.
Unexpectedly, he was stopped by a shout from Lu Xian, who said, "You come here!"
Seeing that Lu Xian's attitude had become stiff, and even his voice had become noticeably forceful.
Helpless, she could only stop and turn around to sit down slowly in front of Lu Xian.
Seemingly still somewhat unwilling, she poured herself a cup of tea, drank it all in one gulp, and then asked, "Father, please say whatever you wish to say. Your daughter will listen!"
Lu Xian didn't know when it started, but every conversation he had with his daughter had turned out this way.
But he could only patiently say once again, "Unbeknownst to me, my beloved daughter has grown into a young lady. If your mother were still here, she would be loved by everyone, and you would not be like this now. If your mother were here, she would be living a very happy life! Over the years, I have indeed neglected you, which is why you have become the way you are today."
Little did they know that Lu Tianjiao was no longer a little girl, and these words would only make her more impatient.
Sure enough, he quickly lost all patience with Lu Xian and said, "I wonder what Father wants to say?"
Lu Xian kept trying to mentally prepare himself, but he never knew how to weigh the weight of his words in front of this daughter.
He could only repeatedly yield: "What I want to say is that my beloved son is not young anymore. I know you are deeply in love with His Highness Prince Qin, but he is not your destined one... Therefore, I would like to find you a suitable marriage. I wonder which one you would like..."
Upon hearing this, Lu Tianjiao looked at him in astonishment.
She looked into Lu Xian's eyes, and after a while, asked questioningly, "What is Father trying to do? Is he forcing me into marriage?"
Lu Xian knew all too well that his daughter had always been ambitious but ultimately unlucky.
She also felt sorry for her obsession and earnestly advised, "Jiao'er, don't you understand yet? There is no future for you and His Highness. Whether it was Princess Yongle in the past or the late Princess Qin, His Highness has never had such feelings for you. Daughter, why don't you... let go! Let yourself go, okay?"
But Lu Tianjiao seemed to firmly believe that she would succeed!
"Let go?"
"Now that things have come to this, how can I let go? How can I possibly let go?"
"If I give up, won't I be ridiculed by everyone? Am I not even as good as that useless, ugly girl from the Yi family in the west of the city who was dumped by my brother?"
"I'm not reconciled, how can I be reconciled?"
"From the moment I was born, I have always firmly believed that I was born for Brother Han!"
"In this life, my daughter will definitely have no other choice but him..."
Seeing Lu Tianjiao's resounding words, how could Lu Xian not feel heartache: "Why are you doing this? All of this is simply impossible."
But Lu Tianjiao, seemingly extremely confident, said, "Father, you don't need to worry about this. I have my own plans..."
Just then, a servant from the academy rushed in to report: "Master, Miss, someone from the palace has arrived!"
Upon hearing the sound, Lu Xian jumped up in surprise and said, "What? People from the palace have come?"
Lu Tianjiao also paused for a moment.
Lu Xian recalled, "Before we returned, we had clearly already gone to the palace to meet the Emperor. Why are the palace officials coming to the academy again so soon after we got back? What is their purpose this time?"
At this moment, the servant interrupted his thoughts and urged, "Master, Miss, you'd better go and take a look. Look at this commotion! Young Master is still waiting there."
The father and daughter arrived at the front yard together.
A large group of people from the palace were seen carrying several large mahogany chests, exuding an air of nobility as they entered...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com