While Song Yan was coming and going with Second Master Wang and Lin Yuanchuan, Song Chuyi was on the boat reading a letter sent by Wangyue. Seeing her read it through yet again, Qing Ying couldn’t help but laugh: “You yourself said that Fourth Young Master has improved, and Eldest Young Master’s letter also said Fourth Young Master handled things quite well this time. Why are you still worried, reading it over and over? Fourth Young Master is quite sharp-witted now.”
As Qing Tao sorted through the trunks searching for a light gauze cloak embroidered with green bamboo for Song Chuyi, she also turned her head to chime in: “Isn’t that exactly the point? When Cuiting sent the letter describing the situation there, Miss already guessed something was wrong—the timing of it colliding with our uncle’s matter was too coincidental, almost as if it were specifically targeting our family. But Miss was worried. Once she figured out someone had set a trap, she wanted to go to Jinling even more, wasn’t it because she was concerned that Fourth Young Master was young and might fall into it? But now Fourth Young Master has brought honor to himself. This time, Eldest Young Master won’t need to drag him around everywhere anymore.”
The two of them, Qing Tao and Qing Ying, went back and forth like a comic dialogue act at a teahouse, until Nanny Xu gave each of them a pat: “Miss hasn’t said a single word, yet you two have already said ten! Hurry up and go outside to see what the situation is, and while you’re at it, go to the kitchen to see if the congee is ready. First take a pot to send to Madam Uncle and the two young cousin ladies.”
As she spoke, Nanny Xu opened some of the windows, and Song Chuyi could just see the round moon outside surrounded by colorful clouds. She lowered her head to read through the letter from beginning to end once more, the joy in her heart nearly overflowing—she truly didn’t know how to raise boys, always worried about spoiling Yan’ge, but fortunately Ah Yan had turned out even better than she had imagined.
This time, without her reminder—and even if she had reminded him, it wouldn’t have been much use since by the time a letter arrived, who knows how many days would have passed with countless earth-shaking changes—Song Yan had relied entirely on his own intuition and abilities to avoid this trouble.
Someone wanted to use Song Yan to lure her to Jinling, or perhaps before she even reached Jinling, she would be killed halfway—Immortal Taibai had warned her to absolutely avoid changing routes midway. At the time she hadn’t quite understood, but thinking about it now, she couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat.
She knew that an enlightened master like Immortal Taibai might truly be able to receive divine warnings, but she also believed more in human agency. Since someone wanted her to change routes midway, she naturally had to fulfill their wishes—otherwise, how could she draw these people out?
Nanny Xu had just lit a lamp and covered it with a shade when someone knocked on the door outside. Opening it revealed Chang’an. She turned back to look at Song Chuyi and reported: “Miss, Chang’an has arrived.”
Chang’an hadn’t been viewing Song Chuyi very favorably lately—to expect him to look kindly upon a young lady whom his young master had offered his sincere heart to, only to be trampled on and sent back in a daze, was truly asking too much of him. He kept his head lowered looking at his own toes. After waiting for Song Chuyi to call him in, he still stared at his feet without looking sideways: “Sixth Miss, our young master says the wind is strong and the waves are fierce outside. You shouldn’t go out tonight.”
He thought his young master was truly a fool. This Sixth Miss Song clearly had her sights set on climbing the social ladder to the Grand Prince, she was obviously an opportunist, yet his young master still worried so much about her safety. When she changed boats saying she wanted to go to Jiujiang, his young master volunteered to serve as her guard. Alas, he sighed deeply in his heart, truly feeling indignant on behalf of his young master.
Strong wind and fierce waves. Song Chuyi glanced at the perfectly fine moon outside the window, had Qing Ying help her put on that cloak, and asked Chang’an: “Where is your young master now?”
Chang’an rolled his eyes in irritation. Fortunately, he was keeping his head down so no one could see, and he answered in a muffled voice: “Busy on the deck!” Wasn’t it because he sensed something wrong and has been working day and night to arrange personnel to guard the boat so tightly that not even water could leak through? What a fool! Thinking of this, Chang’an resentfully lifted his head, only to see that Song Chuyi had already walked out of the cabin.
The wind was very strong on the deck. Below, boatmen kept descending to the lower hold, and the sails had already been raised. Song Chuyi saw Ye Jingchuan turn his head and asked him: “Turning around now?”
Ye Jingchuan managed to respond with a sound of acknowledgment amidst his busyness: “Calculating the time, it’s about right. They also sent someone to deliver a message saying that recently there have indeed been some irregularities on the boat. Among those people from the Crown Prince’s Household Administration, there are probably still some who aren’t clean.”
This was certain. After all, the Crown Prince’s Household Administration were all His Highness the Crown Prince’s people. Since His Highness the Crown Prince valued the Prince of Dongping so highly, if this prince wanted to use these people and lured them with heavy benefits, few would likely remain unmoved.
She nodded and asked him: “From here, if we turn around and go back to Tianshui Town, approximately how long will it take?”
Ye Jingchuan stood at the bow and turned back to look at her: “Three days.”
Three days—the journey here had been smooth sailing with favorable winds, but the return journey wouldn’t necessarily be so smooth. If the ones making the move were as they predicted, Huangjue Temple and the Chen family, then with their full counterattack, they would certainly consider every single detail, including of course her bringing Ye Jingchuan on this feint before returning.
So Ye Jingchuan came to remind her that tonight the wind was strong and the waves fierce, it was best not to go out—three days. If she were Huangjue Temple or the Chen family, she would definitely strike at this most opportune moment to thoroughly eliminate future troubles, and could even cut down in one stroke a powerful helper under the Grand Prince’s command—the legitimate second son of the Ye family. She and Ye Jingchuan’s stakes were heavy enough. The sail was raised once again, but this time the boat turned direction and actually headed back along the waterway they had come from. Song Chuyi and Ye Jingchuan stood on the deck, watching with their own eyes as several small boats that had been following at a distance suddenly also turned around and sped up, chasing toward the large boat.
She had guessed correctly. Indeed, someone wanted to lure them away, divide and conquer, break them down one by one.
The boat advanced very quickly, but it was only a matter of moments before the boat stopped moving. Changxing emerged from the bottom of the hold, poking his head out with a grave and anxious expression: “Young Master, our boat has been snagged!”
Ye Jingchuan had just poked his head out when an arrow came flying through the air. The sound it made tearing through the air was so jarring it made one’s ears hurt. Song Chuyi reached out and pulled, Ye Jingchuan tilted his head to the side, and the arrow grazed past Ye Jingchuan’s ear and embedded itself in the boat.
“Quickly take your young lady back!” Ye Jingchuan glanced at Qing Luo and Han Yan, his tone decisive as he gave the order. Looking at the boats in front and behind, he knitted his brows tightly—those were originally all their own boats. To deceive the enemy, they naturally had to put on a full show. At least they needed these several boats to make it look like they had brought dozens of people on the journey. What was loaded on them were all the Cui and Song families’ belongings, but now, the boats in front and behind clearly contained more than just luggage.