truth
"Now that things are settled here, I want to go to the borderlands." Zhao Youyi looked at the letter and rubbed her temples. In the flickering candlelight, her beautiful eyes were lowered, concealing an unreadable expression.
"For Princess Yulang?" Chu Chanyin put down the letter and looked at her.
“Not only that,” Zhao Youyi sighed. “My brother has been stationed on the border for many years, and there must be many of his… relics there. I want to go and see them. The Great Jin and the Southern Barbarians have a blood feud, and we can’t just stand by and watch the princess marry into that region.”
"Naturally, I originally planned to go to the border region no matter who went to make peace." Chu Chanyin had already planned it out. The demands made by the Southern Barbarians were unreasonable. After years of fighting, both sides were exhausted. He expected that the Southern Barbarians would not send troops because the peace was not achieved. It was just that the emperor was greedy for the annual tribute that the Southern Barbarians mentioned.
For the royal family, what's wrong with sacrificing a woman to make their lives more comfortable and peaceful? But Chu Chanyin didn't think so. If sacrificing a woman's life in exchange for temporary peace, then what is the purpose of soldiers going to the battlefield to defend their country?
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youyi tilted her head slightly and asked him with interest, "If I were the one being married off, would my cousin go too?"
“Of course,” Chu Chanyin raised an eyebrow, “but if you go to marry a southern barbarian, the Zhao family army stationed on the border will abduct you. The sons and daughters of the Zhao family have all sacrificed their lives for the country. How can they watch the only bloodline of the Zhao family be married off?”
Zhao Youyi smiled and lowered her head. "That's true. But I never expected Min Guo to do such a thing. Brother must have been both heartbroken and resentful at the time."
As always, Chu Chanyin reached out and patted her shoulder reassuringly, "We will avenge Brother Nianling."
"I was originally planning to send a team of men on horseback to the border to abduct the bride, but since you want to go to the border, we'll change our route," Chu Chanyin said after considering the distance between here and the border.
Hearing this, Zhao Youyi smiled slightly, unsurprised. "When the marriage procession enters the Southern Barbarian territory, we'll disguise ourselves as bandits and kidnap the bride?"
Chu Chanyin poured her a cup of tea and offered it to her, saying, "My cousin is intelligent."
Zhao Youyi picked up the glass in his hand and gently clinked it with his. "Simple and easy-to-understand reasoning, cousin, you flatter me."
After agreeing on their next destination, the two continued to bury themselves in a pile of love poems, searching for clues.
"This is... evidence that the prefect conspired with the emperor to poison Brother Nianling!" Chu Chanyin pulled out the letter from among the flowery love poems.
Zhao Youyi hurriedly went over to check, and saw that it clearly stated in the heart that the prefect had reached a consensus with Zhao Youli's most trusted deputy general to put the thunder vine into the soup that Zhao Youli often drank. Zhao Youli had old injuries, and even if they flared up, as long as the doctor was not allowed to treat them, it could be concealed by saying that Zhao Youli's old injuries had relapsed and he had died.
When Zhao Youyi saw the phrase "most trusted deputy general," he couldn't hide the murderous intent in his eyes.
After reading the letter, Chu Chanyin bluntly called Min Guo heartless and treacherous, and then said: "Yesterday I received news that Min Guo has been promoted and will replace Brother Nianling in Zhao Family Army. He will probably return to the border in a few days, and we can meet him then."
“It’s probably because my brother’s brilliance is too dazzling. He wants high-ranking positions and generous salaries, so he’s naturally unwilling to be my brother’s deputy for the rest of his life,” Zhao Youyi said coldly. “However… the medicine my brother often drank was something he went through great lengths to obtain back then, but now it has become the sharp blade that killed my brother.”
This sharp blade refers to Min Guo, Zhao Youli's most trusted deputy general, and also to the medicine that Min Guo sent.
If it were someone else, Zhao Youli might have been suspicious, but Min Guo... that was a soldier he had rescued from the battlefield, a deputy general he had personally discovered and trained. How could he possibly be suspicious?
He must have drunk it all without hesitation, thinking that he could go home in a couple of days, where his sister was waiting for him.
Unexpectedly, he died at the hands of his most trusted deputy general and loyal emperor, and was even falsely accused of treason after his death!
Neither of them was at peace. Zhao Youyi wanted to cry, but resentment arrived before sadness.
Chu Chanyin gently stroked her hair like an elder brother, saying, "These people who harm loyal and virtuous people will pay the price."
After calming down, the two continued searching for evidence.
"Cousin, look." Zhao Youyi pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. Chu Chanyin did not take it, but walked behind her and bent down to examine it.
By candlelight, the two could clearly see the correspondence between the prefect and the emperor reporting the poisoning of Zhao Youli. When they saw the sentence that one of the witnesses had escaped and was being pursued with all efforts, the two exchanged a glance.
“No wonder the searches are so strict when entering and leaving the city.” Zhao Youyi raised an eyebrow. “If this person is trying to escape, they will inevitably be injured. We’ll search the outskirts of the city and the area near the pharmacy tomorrow.”
Chu Chanyin nodded, glanced at the night outside, and said, "It will be dawn in a few hours. Cousin, go and rest."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youyi yawned appropriately, "Alright, cousin, you should rest early too."
She stood up and stretched, then her gaze fell on the teacup on the table. Something was wrong.
"Your Highness, did you drug me?" Zhao Youyi felt her drowsiness come on rather abruptly, and asked while looking him over.
Chu Chanyin: ?
He was speechless and unable to defend himself!
"Cousin? How could I... drug you!" He was a little embarrassed when he said that word, and followed her gaze to the tea set. "Cousin, this is just ordinary tea."
"Really?" Zhao Youyi picked up her own cup of tea and held it to his lips, her tone seductive. "Then drink it."
Looking at the cup of tea, with traces of her lipstick still on the edge, Chu Chanyin turned his head away, his ears turning red. His skin was naturally fair, making the redness particularly noticeable.
"Your Highness, the King of Chu?" Zhao Youyi brought the tea to his lips again.
With nowhere to hide, Chu Chan drank the tea bit by bit from her hand.
He took a few steps back, his face turning even redder.
Zhao Youyi looked at the empty teacup and raised an eyebrow: "Your Highness, please don't be offended. I just remembered that you brought me warm tea in the middle of the night. Given your previous experience, I had to be more cautious. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Chu Chanyin coughed a few times and explained, "This is passionflower tea, which has a sleep-aiding effect. I noticed that you have been worrying too much and your spirits are low recently, so I sent someone to prepare this tea. I originally intended for you to drink it before bed, but then the secret guard suddenly brought a message from the prefect's office, and I forgot about it in the rush."
"Fortunately, the servants below are quick-witted and kept the tea warm. I was planning to have your maid send it over if you hadn't rested by the time I returned, but I didn't expect my cousin to misunderstand." After Chu Chanyin finished speaking, he stared at her intently, a hint of unconcealed loneliness in his expression.
Zhao Youyi was at a loss for how to react.
He had noticed her sleepless nights all these days.
"Cousin, I..." It took her a while to find her voice, "I'm sorry, I mistakenly thought you were going to leave me alone to go out and look for clues under the cover of night."
Chu Chanyin shook his head slightly, forcing a smile: "It's my fault. I didn't explain things to my cousin beforehand."
Zhao Youyi put down her teacup, bowed to him, and hurriedly left.
The night was deep, and the lamplight illuminated his lonely figure. He picked up the porcelain cup with a faint lip rouge on it with his delicate hand, and his fingers unconsciously touched his lips.
In the end, only a sigh so faint it could barely be heard remained.
The next day, Xiao Qing lifted the gauze curtain and saw Zhao Youyi groggily open her eyes. She said with a smile, "Miss is awake? It's all my fault for disturbing your sweet dreams. You had a rare good night's sleep last night."
"It's nothing, I've had enough sleep," Zhao Youyi sat up and stretched her neck. "What time is it now?"
"It's already Chen Shi (7-9 AM). These past few days, Miss has been waking up at Mao Shi (5-7 AM), which has worried me terribly." Xiao Qing called out to the door, and two maids carrying washing utensils entered with their heads bowed.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youyi recalled the passionflower tea from the previous night, and the scene of her forcing the King of Chu to drink the tea she had left over...
That's terrible!
Although Chu Chanyin had always been quite gentle with her, he was, after all, a general who fought on the battlefield and a vassal king. She must have been bewitched by that passionflower tea last night! Otherwise, why would she do such a thing?
"Where is the Prince?" Zhao Youyi asked Xiao Qing after washing up.
Xiao Qing couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh: "Miss, you said before that you and His Highness were just using each other and cooperating, but now the first person you asked after waking up was the Prince."
Xiao Qing was the most charming and lively among her female bodyguards. Zhao Youyi chose her to serve him personally because he valued her; otherwise, it would be boring to have a quiet person by his side. Unexpectedly, he shot himself in the foot and is now being teased by Xiao Qing.
“That’s because…” Zhao Youyi hesitated, “So where is Your Highness now?”
Seeing that she avoided answering, Xiao Qing didn't ask any more questions, assuming that she was just shy. "Reporting to Miss, the Prince has ordered some dishes to be prepared in the room, saying that he will go over to eat when Miss wakes up."
Hearing this, the maid behind her quickened her pace and styled her hair into a double-bun hairstyle, then asked in a low voice, "What hairpin would you like to wear today, Miss?"
Zhao Youyi wasn't in the mood to dress up, so she casually pointed to a simple silver hairpin and said, "This one will do."
Chu Chanyin, on the other side, went to bed late last night and woke up after his usual time. After washing up, he saw the servant tidying up the tea set from last night and subconsciously called out to him.
The servant stopped what he was doing. "What's wrong, Your Highness?"
Chu Chanyin hesitated for a moment, then his gaze fell on the porcelain cup. "I really like this tea set. Keep it safe."
The servant looked at the ordinary tea set in his hand and wondered when the prince had come to like such a simple style, but he still carefully put the tea set away.
After the servant left, Chu Chanyin couldn't help but feel strange. Why was he so concerned about the tea set?
Before he could think it through, there was a knock on the door.
He said, "Please come in," and the woman leaned against the door frame, bathed in the morning light. What was most striking was her light blue brocade dress, embroidered with several white plum blossoms, extremely elegant. She wore no makeup, but her features were more beautiful than the morning glow. She wore few pieces of jewelry, just a few simple silver hairpins on her double-bun hairstyle.
"Greetings, cousin." Zhao Youyi's gaze fell on him, and seeing his unreadable expression, she approached and asked, "Cousin, did you sleep well last night?"
"It's alright." Chu Chanyin's face still turned a little red when he mentioned last night.
Zhao Youyi couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh, "I rarely get a good night's sleep last night, and I have to thank my cousin for that."
Chu Chanyin stood up and invited her to sit down, then gestured to the guards outside the door that it was time to have the food served. "Cousin, I think we should have more trust between us. What do you think?"
When he suddenly brought up this topic, Zhao Youyi was taken aback at first, but then realized that it was probably because of what happened last night.
The trust between them was indeed pitifully small. After all, she had no leverage, and Chu Chanyin offered her no benefit, so she couldn't possibly trust him completely.
Seeing her silence, Chu Chanyin continued, "Putting aside our past friendship, Brother Nianling entrusted you to me and gave me certain benefits. You don't need to be so... cautious."
“But cousin, I have nothing to give you,” Zhao Youyi said after a long silence.
Chu Chanyin gently shook his head, "My cousin is intelligent and skilled in martial arts, why should she belittle herself? Besides, I don't have anything to give you."
Zhao Youyi looked up and examined the man seriously for the first time. She had gotten what she wanted from him, but what did he want from her?
Seeing that she remained silent, Chu Chan revealed a gentle smile, "Cousin, relationships between people don't necessarily have to involve interests; they can also be based on genuine feelings."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youyi's eyes widened in shock. Was this... a declaration of love?!
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