Feng Yue now looked at Yin Gezhi as though he were some kind of monster.
At first, she had thought she could see through his thoughts, cleverly maneuvering under his nose. Looking back now, she realized Yin Gezhi had been calculating everything since the moment he stepped into Wu Kingdom – calculating how General Yi should die, calculating when he would return to Wei Kingdom. Even without her involvement, these events would have happened anyway; it was just a matter of timing.
Though, thinking about it this way, she had at least shortened the time he needed to return home. So perhaps her contribution wasn’t entirely worthless.
Having forcefully consoled herself, Feng Yue closed her eyes, put on a fawning smile, and sidled up to Yin Gezhi. “Would Your Highness be packing? Would you like this servant and Ling Shu to help?”
“Everything’s already packed,” Guan Zhi said from the side. “Though your and Ling Shu’s belongings haven’t been touched yet. This subordinate wasn’t sure what to pack.”
Feng Yue: “…”
This man – surely he hadn’t ordered Guan Zhi to pack as soon as he heard of Yi Guoru’s death? Was she the only one slow to react?
Seeing her mortified expression, Yin Gezhi finally spoke, his voice gentle: “Don’t overthink it. Just follow my lead.”
Hearing these words, Feng Yue felt touched. The Crown Prince was comforting someone so tenderly!
However, his next words fell like ice blocks on her head: “It’s not like you could come up with anything anyway.”
“…” Clutching her chest, Feng Yue coughed a few times, attempting to cough up some blood to express her indignation. But after several attempts, she only managed to spit out saliva. Not a trace of blood appeared, and she only succeeded in making Yin Gezhi step back in disgust, protecting his robes.
Never mind, she thought. So what if she was stupid? At least now she could catch a ride back to Wei Kingdom. After all, certain people on Xiangyu Street were rather special, and crossing checkpoints would be difficult.
“Your Highness, how many people can you take with you?” she asked.
Yin Gezhi opened the document in his hand and glanced at it. “The order states that all accompanying personnel are to be allowed passage.”
As for how many accompanying personnel there could be, that depended entirely on his mood.
Feng Yue understood immediately. She started grinning like a madam, fanning herself with her handkerchief while massaging Yin Gezhi’s waist and shoulders. When mealtime came, she cooked a table full of dishes, fawningly pushing all the meat into his bowl.
Yin Gezhi watched her calmly, his gaze moving from her now-dexterous hands to her rather thin frame.
“I don’t like meat.”
Upon hearing this, Feng Yue, who had been busy picking meat for him, immediately switched their bowls, muttering under her breath, “You could have said so earlier. I like meat.”
Beside them, Guan Zhi froze, about to stop her – after all, she had already used that bowl, and his master was such a clean person…
Calmly accepting the bowl, Yin Gezhi picked up his chopsticks naturally, took some vegetables, and began eating slowly. His movements were so natural as if the bowl had been his all along.
Ling Shu, who had been looking around, suddenly noticed Guan Zhi’s face turning blue and curiously asked, “What’s wrong with Lord Guan Zhi? Why such a strange expression?”
Feeling like he had a stone stuck in his throat, Guan Zhi forced down a swallow and waved his hand with a dry laugh: “Nothing, nothing…”
Yin Gezhi gave him a look, while Feng Yue kept her head down, focused on eating her meat.
After three bowls of rice, Guan Zhi thought that Lady Feng Yue really could eat! But why did his master seem to be in a better mood after the meal? Usually, he would look at the lady with disdain, but today he hadn’t said a word, and even left all the meat for her.
After pondering for a long while, Guan Zhi’s gaze toward Feng Yue carried a hint of awe.
Yin Gezhi set their departure for tomorrow. While Ye Yuqin inwardly cursed at being given no preparation time, he smiled and sent many gifts over.
The well-informed people of Bu Yin City followed suit, sending gold, silver, and fine silks – items both precious and easy to carry, very thoughtful indeed. Particularly An Guohou, who straightforwardly sent over a set of gold-inlaid jade accessories that were clearly worth a fortune.
When selecting this gift, An Shichong had been uncertain, wondering why he should send hair ornaments when his master couldn’t use them.
But when he delivered them, An Shichong understood.
While refusing many people’s gold Buddhas and jade Guanyins, Yin Gezhi kept only what he had sent up, and nodded, saying softly, “The Marquis is thoughtful.”
As he spoke, without looking back, he accurately pressed his hand against the forehead of the person beside him.
Lady Feng Yue appeared very sleepy, head lowered and nodding like a pecking chick. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, her forehead was stopped by Yin Gezhi’s hand, startling her awake.
“Hmm? Young Master An is here?” Opening her bleary eyes, Feng Yue smiled foolishly. “Thank you.”
An Shichong nodded, his gaze falling on these two, understanding but choosing not to speak. However, Xu Huaizu beside him was loose-tongued and immediately said: “Master, how are you so amazing? You knew Lady Feng Yue was about to fall asleep without even looking back!”
Feng Yue was startled, turning to look at him. Yin Gezhi replied expressionlessly: “She was yawning. I heard it.”
What yawning?! Feng Yue was furious. Keeping her awake late at night and still expecting her to smile – she hadn’t abandoned him here alone, which already showed great consideration for his feelings. How ungrateful!
…Even if that was true, what could she do about it?
Deeply lamenting her fate, Feng Yue wiped her face and said pitifully: “This servant is too tired.”
“Then we disciples won’t disturb you further,” An Shichong cupped his hands. “Tomorrow we still need to go to the training grounds, so we fear we cannot see Master off.”
“No matter,” Yin Gezhi looked at them deeply. “If you can study well what your Master has left behind, that would be enough to repay me.”
Each of them held a new manual in their hands, containing martial arts essentials and daily practices written by Yin Gezhi himself. An Shichong and Xu Huaizu both nodded, kneeling before Yin Gezhi and kowtowing three times: “Master, have a safe journey.”
“Have a safe journey.”
“The last line in the manual, contemplate it well, it will save you much confusion,” Yin Gezhi said as he showed these two out, smiling slightly as he was about to close the door. “Wait until you’ve finished reading to look at it. You wouldn’t understand if you looked now.”
The two were stunned, dazzled by their master’s smile. By the time they came to their senses, the great door before them had already closed.
An Shichong was rule-abiding – if the Master said to look after reading, he would look after reading. But beside him, Xu Huaizu was used to being unrestrained, immediately flipping to the last page. Squinting in the moonlight to read the characters.
“A general fights for the country, the country is righteousness, all else can be cast aside.”
“What does that mean?” Xu Huaizu scratched his head. “Isn’t this statement obvious?”
An Shichong was also somewhat confused. A general fighting for the country – indeed, that was the principle, but why leave it on the last page and specially instruct them to contemplate it carefully?
Closing the door and returning to the main courtyard, Yin Gezhi turned his head to see an unruly girl leaning against the courtyard wall, drooling in deep sleep.
Ling Shu stood beside her, wanting to wake her but not knowing how to go about it.
“Let me,” walking over, Yin Gezhi elegantly lifted his sleeves.
Ling Shu immediately shook her head in panic: “No need to trouble Your Highness. Guan Zhi says you like cleanliness. The mistress will soil your clothes…”
Before she finished speaking, there was a swish of skirts, and her mistress had already been taken into his arms. The dust from the wall had all transferred to Yin Gezhi’s dark robe, but this prince seemed not to mind at all, showing none of the rage Guan Zhi had mentioned.
Eh? Something’s not right! Little Ling Shu couldn’t understand. Earlier when His Highness wore white robes, Guan Zhi accidentally spilled some tea on him, and his expression had been terrible. That was the behavior of someone who loved cleanliness. Now with her mistress all dirty like this, why wasn’t he showing any displeasure?
His Highness’s thoughts were truly hard to guess!
Clutching her little head in pain, Ling Shu decided to stop thinking about it. Seeing her mistress was taken care of, she immediately returned to her room to sleep.
About to return home, Feng Yue thought she would lie awake, feeling nervous and excited. However, reality proved that Yin Gezhi’s cool jade mat was truly comfortable. She slept until half an hour before departure the next day, jumping up in cold sweat: “My luggage!”
Throwing a bundle at her face, Yin Gezhi said expressionlessly: “Already packed.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?” Grumbling while hugging the bundle, Feng Yue quickly got out of bed. She pulled Ling Shu in to help her arrange her hair and change clothes, then pulled her toward the door: “Is everything ready?”
Guan Zhi was hitching up the carriage outside, and the hired coachman was squatting by the door chatting. Yin Gezhi replied coldly: “No need for you to worry.”
“Then… could you wait at the city outskirts?” Feng Yue smiled nervously. “There might be some others joining us on the journey.”
Some others? Yin Gezhi nodded, thinking it would just be her people, probably not many.
But when they reached the city outskirts and saw the people opposite, Yin Gezhi was shocked.
Two full carriages! And not just normal capacity – each carriage was packed with at least eight people!
The people in the carriages opposite were also shocked, looking at their side, not daring to come down to greet them.
Feng Yue smiled and waved: “Aunt Qiu, Uncle Yin, everyone come to pay your respects. We’ll be relying on His Highness’s care along the way.”
Yin Gezhi frowned, thinking how could he, a prince, so casually accept commoners’ respects?
However, when he saw those people’s faces, Yin Gezhi’s face turned ashen.
“Greetings to Your Highness.”
A group of heads bowed down. Though they all wore common people’s clothes, every face was familiar!
“General Yin, Vice General Luo, Madam Qiu.” Gritting his teeth, Yin Gezhi named them one by one, then laughed harshly: “Three years ago when many generals disappeared, I thought they had been harmed by traitors. I never expected you all had simply chosen another path.”
Yin Yanzhong sighed: “We have failed Your Highness.”
Failed him, yet they didn’t feel what they did was wrong. General Guan had been wrongfully executed, someone at court wielding too much power. Unable to save a generation’s famous general, they had also become disillusioned with the Wei royal family. As soon as they received Feng Yue’s message, they abandoned their official positions without hesitation and followed her to the Wu Kingdom.