Prince Zhi's black cloak billowed in the chilly spring wind. Several black horses galloped through the twilight.
When they reached the only inn in Jiayuguan, they saw the horse panting and spitting, its eyes trembling with panic. The rider tightened the reins, forcing the horse to calm down.
"Your Highness, this is the place!" said a man in a black robe.
"Take a few men and go watch the back gate, and leave a few more men here. I will go in myself!" Prince Zhi's cold face looked unusually gloomy in the darkness.
After the group divided up the tasks, Prince Zhi led two men to the inn's entrance and began banging on the door. By this time, the door was already closed, but there were still lights on inside, presumably from the innkeeper on night duty.
Sure enough, after a short while, the waiter came out of his room, rubbing his sleepy eyes, carrying a kerosene lamp to open the door.
"Who is it? Why are you knocking on the door so late?" The waiter, wearing a coat and carrying a kerosene lamp, unlatched the door.
Before he could even open the door, it was violently pushed open from the outside. The waiter quickly took a few steps back, his clothes slipping to the ground. His eyes widened, and he hurriedly asked, "Who are you? What's going on?"
A snow-white longsword was instantly and unnoticed against his neck. The waiter only felt a cool breeze, followed by a faint stinging pain in his neck. The sword stopped a fraction of an inch into his flesh.
"Sir, spare my life!" The waiter endured the slight stinging sensation, his tongue barely able to straighten.
"Have three women, each carrying a child, come to stay at the inn today? If you utter even the slightest lie, this sword of mine will taste your blood." Prince Zhi stared at the innkeeper, the long sword truly in his hand.
Upon hearing this, the waiter immediately racked his brain to recall who had stayed at the inn that day, but it seemed there weren't any! Wait a minute, weren't those three women dressed as men, and one of them was holding a small child?
"Yes, yes. They live on the second floor. Sir, I must take you there!" the waiter said hurriedly and in a panic.
"Come on, take me there!" Only then did Prince Zhi release the sword from the waiter's neck.
The waiter didn't dare to delay and immediately turned around and led Prince Zhi upstairs, not even having time to pick up the clothes that had fallen on the ground.
When they arrived at the door of Baoyue's room, the waiter said in a trembling voice to the Prince Zhi behind him, "Sir, they live here. They should be inside the room; I haven't seen them go out."
"roll!"
Upon being granted a pardon, the waiter Luo immediately hunched over and bowed his head as he retreated from before Prince Zhi.
"Knock on the door!" Prince Zhi stood at the door of Baoyue, and after calming himself down, he spoke.
When the two trusted guards saw that the Prince had instructed them to knock on the door, they began to knock together.
Tenth Master, who lived across the street, hadn't been asleep. Suddenly, he heard a loud knocking on the door. He quickly put on his coat, grabbed a candlestick from his bedside, and went to the door.
He slightly opened the door and peered through the crack at the other side of the room.
"Prince Zhi!"
The Tenth Prince saw the tall figure standing in the middle, and even from behind, he recognized the man as Prince Zhi at a glance.
Meanwhile, Baoyue and the child slept alone on the bed inside, while Zhuoma and Jinyang slept on makeshift beds on the floor. A loud knocking sound woke all three of them, and the child began to cry.
"Damn it! Who's outside?" Baoyue scooped up the child and said to the maid outside.
The two maids knew what was going on, but they didn't expect Prince Zhi to arrive so quickly!
Zhuoma immediately got out of bed, put on her clothes, lit a candlestick with a tinderbox from the table, and then went to the door, pretending not to know who it was, and asked through the door, "Who is it?"
"Open the door quickly, the prince is here." A deliberately hushed voice came from outside.
Baoyue gently soothed the crying baby in her arms. Hearing the commotion outside, she thought she heard a man's voice and asked, "Who is it?"
Upon hearing this voice, Prince Zhi, who was still standing at the door, could no longer contain himself. He pushed aside the guards blocking his way and walked straight in. Zhuoma, seeing Prince Zhi's cold and stern face in his black cloak, quickly took a few steps back. Just as she was about to answer Princess Baoyue's question, Prince Zhi grabbed her shoulder and then walked past her into the inner room.
Bao Yue looked at the cold-faced man standing in front of her and was so surprised that she didn't know what to say.
Prince Zhi looked at the long, flowing black hair that cascaded down like a waterfall, his eyes filled with horror, while the child in his arms was still sobbing intermittently.
"Your Highness!" Baoyue whispered.
"Where is the princess planning to go? And with a child?" Prince Zhi stared at Baoyue, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He regretted getting entangled with this wild and untamed woman, who had now become his Achilles' heel.
“If Your Highness cannot give Baoyue what she wants, why keep her here? Baoyue will never be Your Highness’s mistress, without any status or recognition, and her children will not be listed in your Aisin Gioro family genealogy,” Baoyue said.
“Once I obtain that position, I will grant you and your son a proper status. Now is not the time!” Prince Zhi promised.
"That depends on whether the prince can truly obtain that position. This princess can't wait. I was born and raised on the grasslands, I don't want to be kept like an animal on that estate," Baoyue said indignantly. She was born to belong to the grasslands, known as the "Moonlight of the Grasslands," how could she become a concubine like a caged bird, especially one without any title?
Prince Zhi was speechless for a moment. Their eyes met, and they weighed only the pros and cons. The only innocent one was the child in his arms.
"You'll be all alone on the grasslands, how will you survive?" Prince Zhi asked, staring at the woman who was as beautiful as an angel but as cold as ice.
"That's no need for Prince Zhi to worry about. I, the princess, have no other choice," Baoyue said guiltily.
"Leave the child, and you can leave!" Prince Zhi's heart turned cold at this moment. At this crucial time, he could no longer afford to get entangled with this woman. Once he had the throne, would he have to worry about not having beautiful concubines to serve him?
Bao Yue looked at Prince Zhi, her hatred growing stronger. Behind his back, she secretly felt around in the cup and pulled out a dagger hidden under her pillow. She understood why he had suddenly known her whereabouts; it must have been the two maids outside.
"If Your Highness wants a child, you must agree to one condition, otherwise I will not give the child to Your Highness." With that, she suddenly drew a dagger and pressed it against the child's chest.
Prince Zhi felt a chill in his heart. The child was born to her, and today she was being used as a bargaining chip. She was truly a beauty as venomous as a snake!
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