Hidden Story
Zhao Youyi knew that as long as she didn't agree, Chu Chanyin wouldn't force her to accept the marriage, which is why she didn't refuse when Chu Chanyin suggested helping her leave the capital in this way.
But she wasn't entirely opposed to it.
Although she had no romantic feelings for him, he was a good person.
She said it aloud, and Chu Chanyin laughed when he heard it.
"This... I don't know what to say to you," Chu Chanyin said, looking at her innocent expression. "You said before that you wanted to join the army, was it because you were thinking of not getting married in the future?"
Zhao Youyi nodded. Marriage was just a constraint for her. "Now that I'm married to my cousin, does he still stand by his promise?"
"Nonsense," Chu Chanyin chuckled and tapped her head. "Although we've already paid our respects to heaven and earth, we can still be brother and sister. All the past matters still apply."
Zhao Youyi flinched slightly, feeling a little awkward. "Why are you always messing with my head, just like when we were kids? It's all your fault I'm not growing taller."
Seeing her bring up past events, Chu Chan recalled his childhood and laughed, "Is this my fault? It's clearly because you didn't rest properly at such a young age. Go back and sleep soundly, and absorb more of the essence of the sun and moon."
Zhao Youyi didn't understand why he was so insistent on urging her to go back to her room to rest. The more he urged her, the less willing she was to comply. "No, those assassins scared me to death. I can't sleep!"
Recalling how Zhao Youyi had calmly and swiftly slit the throats of several assassins, Chu Chanyin couldn't help but twitch his lips. "Cousin, you weren't afraid when you were killing people, but now you are?"
Zhao Youyi didn't reply, but just stared at him with her bright almond-shaped eyes.
Stared at by the same pair of eyes, Chu Chan felt unusually uncomfortable. "Cousin, it's late now, we really can't stay in the same room any longer. I'll take my leave now."
After saying this, Chu Chanyin hurriedly left with the military treatise, reminding her to go back to her room and rest before he left.
Zhao Youyi: ...
She had never met such a rigid person, who always talked about the separation of men and women. She, a young woman, didn't care about that, so how could she possibly force herself on him?
Zhao Youyi glanced back at the corpses scattered on the ground. So many black-clad guards had come; the emperor certainly had a grand gesture.
Zhao Youyi returned to her room to rest, but someone gently knocked on the window. She looked up sharply and saw a woman gently push open the window. "Master."
The person who arrived was Xiao Xuan. She didn't have much talent for naming, so she simply let her guards draw lots to choose names. This woman was the most clever of her guards.
Fearing an ambush on the way out of the capital, she secretly sent some of her guards to scout ahead, while the rest followed behind the group to cover their retreat.
"Didn't you notice the Black-Clad Guards' sneak attack tonight?" Zhao Youyi knew that his guards, if not unparalleled in martial arts, were still highly skilled. The fact that the Black-Clad Guards had managed to break into the inn like this suggested there must be another reason.
Xiao Xuan knelt down and begged for forgiveness, "Master, we were ambushed by two groups of people on the way, so we were unable to come."
Hearing that two groups of people were following behind, Zhao Youyi frowned. How could this be...? Not many people knew that the Zhao family kept secret guards for their children. Those who could send two groups of people specifically to deal with the secret guards must be people who knew the Zhao family inside and out.
"Are there any casualties?" Zhao Youyi glanced at her and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was only blood on her night clothes. "Get up and talk. This matter is probably not simple."
"Only a few people were injured, Master, don't worry." Xiao Xuan stood up upon hearing this and continued to report the situation at the time, "One of those two groups of people wanted to hold us back, while the other wanted to silence us. This is the jade pendant that I took from them."
Zhao Youyi looked at the jade pendant in Xiao Xuan's hand. One of the jade pendants was of excellent quality, crystal clear, while the other was roughly carved.
Picking up the two jade pendants and examining them closely, Zhao Youyi felt even more overwhelmed. The better-quality jade pendant looked somewhat familiar to her, while she had no recollection of the rougher one.
"Go and rest in Xiao Qing's room first." Zhao Youyi picked up the jade pendant and got up, fearing that neither she nor the King of Chu would be able to sleep peacefully tonight.
"Cousin, Brother Cong, open the door!" Zhao Youyi arrived at the door of Chu Chan's secluded room and knocked on it, leaving the guards on night watch dumbfounded.
Is the princess really this fierce? No wonder she's the daughter of a military family. It's just that the prince is so lacking in romance, actually locking the princess out of the room.
The guards were unaware that the engagement was fake. They only felt that their master had traveled thousands of miles and braved the wind and snow to see the princess, which showed that he was deeply in love with her. They also felt that the princess, who had been frail since childhood, had taken up a sword to kill in order to protect the prince, which showed that she was deeply in love with him. In short, the two were a perfect couple.
With her long hair unbound and clothes disheveled, Chu Chanyin opened the door, still pulling her outer robe over her shoulders as she did so. "Cousin, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"
Zhao Youyi looked him up and down, her gaze lingering on his fair and slender neck. Because of his disheveled clothes, she could even see his sexy collarbone, which was particularly eye-catching under the layers of clothing.
Seeing her intense gaze, Chu Chanyin quickly turned his back, saying, "Excuse me, cousin, please allow me to tidy my clothes."
Zhao Youyi, who was always bold and reckless, saw that he was such a polite and shy little old-fashioned man, and she was even more eager to tease him. "Brother Cong, we have already bowed to heaven and earth, what can't I see about you?"
Chu Chanyin, who was adjusting his clothes, paused and turned his head to glare at her. Zhao Youyi became even more excited by his charming glare and quickly moved closer. "Brother Cong, why are you glaring at me? Can't I look? I am the wife you married with all the proper rites and a grand wedding procession. You even carried me into the mansion yourself."
Chu Chanyin quickened his pace, straightened his clothes, and said with a forced smile, "Alright, please take a look, my wife."
Seeing that he was wrapped up tightly, Zhao Youyi glared at him and said, "Brother Cong, what are you doing? Take your clothes off right now!"
Chu Chanyin was so frightened that he quickly took a few steps back. Before he could say the words "How shameless you are!", she winked at him suggestively.
"Uh, alright then, my wife, you can do it." Chu Chanyin said stiffly, his tone as if he were ready to die, which made Zhao Youyi pinch him in anger.
The guards on night watch outside heard the commotion inside and wisely moved away. Zhao Youyi heard the footsteps fading away and waved to Chu Chanyin.
Chu Chan glanced at her helplessly and lowered his voice, "Cousin, what's wrong?"
"Of course I'll take off your clothes, cousin." Seeing his serious expression, Zhao Youyi wanted to tease him a bit more.
Knowing that she had deliberately put on an act to send people away, Chu Chanyin remained unmoved, merely raising an eyebrow as if to say, "Come on, do as you please."
Tsk, what a serious, old-fashioned person.
Zhao Youyi straightened his expression and took out the jade pendant. "This was just delivered by my secret guards. They encountered two groups of people who attacked them. One group killed them to silence them, and the other group tried to buy them time."
Upon hearing this, Chu Chanyin's gaze fell on the jade pendant on her body. "One of these pendants is extremely similar to the one worn by the Black-Clad Guards. They are probably from the same group."
"Whose side is the other one? The Empress Dowager? A member of the royal family? Or the one who conspired with the Emperor to poison my brother?" Zhao Youyi stared at the jade pendant, deep in thought, the images of these people flashing through his mind.
"Although the Empress Dowager wants to get rid of us as soon as possible, she is a smart woman. If we were to die not far from the capital, it would likely cause turmoil in the court. The Empress Dowager certainly does not want to see that happen. She is probably unaware that the Emperor sent the Black-Clad Guards." Chu Chanyin knew some of the royal family's early secrets. The Empress Dowager was shrewd and powerful, and a rash assassination was not in line with her style.
Seeing that his analysis was so logical, Zhao Youyi thought for a moment and also ruled out the Empress Dowager's suspicion. Just as Chu Chanyin said, the Empress Dowager was a smart woman. She only wanted to enjoy the comfortable life of supreme imperial power and enjoy it for as long as possible. If there were to be another upheaval in the court, she would probably not be able to hold her position as Empress Dowager. Those vassal kings could take this opportunity to storm into the capital.
“Other princes are also possible; I reckon they’re quite envious of my cousin’s military power.” Zhao Youyi turned to look at him. “Actually, the most likely candidate is someone in the military.”
"Why?" Chu Chanyin raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing her say that.
Thinking of this, a look of sorrow appeared in Zhao Youyi's eyes. "The only people who could know that the Zhao family's children had secret guards are the Zhao family army. I'm afraid my brother was also killed by this person."
Seeing her downcast mood, Chu Chanyin couldn't help but pat her shoulder, "No matter who this person is, we will not let him go."
Feeling the force of his hand, Zhao Youyi belatedly realized that Chu Chanyin had a habit of patting her shoulder ever since they met, but she didn't know why.
That's what she thought, and that's why she asked the question.
Upon hearing this, Chu Chanyin's hands froze, and he stammered, "Because I wanted to comfort you, it would be impolite to pull you into my arms, so I had to imitate how military generals comfort their subordinates and pat you on the shoulder."
Zhao Youyi: ...
"Am I your subordinate?" Zhao Youyi was speechless, looking at him with a displeased expression.
"No, no, no," Chu Chanyin quickly denied, "You are my cousin."
Zhao Youyi was still unhappy. Chu Chanyin wanted to pat her shoulder again, but seeing her staring at his hand, he had no choice but to put it down. "Cousin..."
Zhao Youyi wanted to say that they were not cousins at all, their relationship was so complicated, and she didn't know who had started calling them that.
Chu Chanyin read the deeper meaning in her eyes, and could only sigh as he put his arm around her shoulder and pull her into his embrace, saying, "This really isn't right..."
But... their relationship was already unreasonable long ago.
"Alright, it's really late." Chu Chanyin let go of her hand and took a step back. "If you don't sleep now, the dark circles under your eyes will be bigger than the finest lacquer ink."
Zhao Youyi glanced at the moonlight outside the window. "No, it's not that late."
"But I'm really sleepy." Chu Chan suppressed a laugh and rubbed his temples. "Cousin, please let me off the hook. How about we have a sword fight tomorrow? Your cousin will keep you entertained. Or how about we have a sword match sometime tomorrow?"
Zhao Youyi was quite interested in the first part, but when he heard that he wanted to have a swordsmanship contest with him, Zhao Youyi looked suspicious: "Cousin, although your swordsmanship is also quite good, and can be considered outstanding, compared with me... it seems like there is no suspense, right?"
She's not bragging, but back when she joined the army, few people could match her swordsmanship and marksmanship.
“Indeed, my cousin is far superior to me in swordsmanship. I am more skilled with knives and halberds. I use a sword for convenience and because sword dancing is much more graceful than knife wielding.” Chu Chanyin looked at her with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youyi felt as if he had found a kindred spirit. "My cousin thinks the same way I do. Back then, I learned swordsmanship because I liked it and because I thought sword dancing was so graceful and ethereal."
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