Murong Yi spoke with righteous conviction – there was nothing to do on the ship, they needed something to pass the time, and through these people, he could properly spread the eighth and ninth volumes of Kind Heart Chronicles. He wanted all the bastards on this ship and throughout Da Qian to understand that the Crown Princess was already taken, had deep feelings with Rong Wei, and they were a perfect match. Remember – it was Rong Wei, Rong Wei! Not Rong Pu!

Gu Xiaoxiao was on the rear ship, staying with people he knew well. Murong Yi didn’t spare him either, running to the ship’s stern waving books, “Groundho… oh no, Xiao Gu! Esteemed officials of the Ministry of Revenue! I have the latest and most exciting storybooks from the capital for sale – fair prices, no deception, only one tael of silver per book!”

Gu Xiaoxiao: …I don’t exist, I don’t know, I don’t understand, don’t call me, don’t look at me, please!

The veteran Ministry of Revenue clerks pulled out their abacuses, clicking away: “Sir, these two thin volumes use at most sixty sheets of paper for printing, half a sheet of fine paper, rental for printing plates costs a hundred wen at most, labor for ink and binding costs a hundred fifty wen at most. Yet a complete ‘Complete Library in Four Sections,’ ten volumes with twenty chapters, costs only a thousand wen, equivalent to seven qian of silver… Even hand-copied books in the capital currently cost no more than a thousand wen per volume. How can you charge one whole tael for a single volume?”

Murong Yi: “…Because love is priceless!”

Mu Si: …Because he’s shameless!

The eighth and ninth volumes were also placed before Tie Ci. The capital’s boldest pirate book merchant showed no awareness of being a pirate and was completely brazen.

Tie Ci turned to the book spine and examined it carefully.

Heh, those three characters “Alternative Biography” were still so hard to distinguish.

Hadn’t he promised Zhu Yi to clearly mark them in the future?

How could there be such a shameless person in this world!

The Crown Princess cursed “shameless” in her heart while chewing milk dates and reading with great interest.

In the large dormitory, Feng Huan read while throwing the book: “Nonsense! Rubbish! How could the Crown Princess be like this!”

After throwing it he picked it up, after picking it up he threw it again – throwing and picking endlessly.

…

The ships traveled up the Golden River for most of half a month, then through the eight-hundred-li Changting Lake. All along the way, the water scenery went unappreciated.

Because everyone was severely seasick.

The Crown Princess’s guards were somewhat better, but the Blood Cavalry, Scorpion Battalion, and even the Western Rong archers were all people who lived in the north. On the swaying ship they felt dizzy and disoriented. The guards with martial arts foundations fared better, but the capital young masters suffered terribly, vomiting in darkness every day, lying like corpses in the dormitories.

Murong Yi also pretended to be seasick, running to Tie Ci’s cabin door several times to play dead, but was ruthlessly driven away by Tie Ci. What a joke – did he think people had selective amnesia like him and forgot about his sailor career?

Gu Xiaoxiao on the rear ship had good adaptability. After being sick for two days he recovered, and with nothing to do on the ship, he habitually kept accounts.

There wasn’t much to calculate – just daily requirements for firewood, grass, and grain for the ship, the vessel’s cargo capacity, vegetables purchased along the way, daily meal distribution and number of diners… But as he calculated, he found something wrong.

He felt the food consumption was faster than expected.

Although each person’s eating and drinking wasn’t fixed, after several days there should be patterns. When Gu Xiaoxiao mentioned this during a meal, the cook immediately looked uneasy and mysteriously told him the ship was haunted.

Gu Xiaoxiao feared ghosts and his face went pale.

Then he remembered the Crown Princess saying there were no ghosts in the world, that ghostly apparitions came from human hearts, and immediately felt even worse.

The cook told him that leftover food disappeared every day. The remaining rice originally meant for porridge the next day was always gone, forcing him to use new rice.

At first he thought sailors were stealing food, but no sailors admitted it, and with daily meals being filling, there was no need. Later he suspected ship cats, but cats not eating fish but stealing pastries was too bizarre. Then early in the morning when he came to work, he’d occasionally find windows open, and once when he felt the stove fire hadn’t been extinguished and went back to check, he glimpsed a fleeting black shadow.

Such things were taboo to discuss on ships – after all, during long voyages in cramped spaces, people’s moods became depressed and accidents could happen. The cook knew the rules and dared not speak, keeping it bottled up for many days until Gu Xiaoxiao asked about kitchen abnormalities.

Hearing there really were abnormalities, Gu Xiaoxiao frowned and signaled the ship ahead with flags.

After signaling for a long time, Murong Yi came.

Seeing him, Gu Xiaoxiao frowned, thinking his cabin faced directly toward the Crown Princess’s cabin – if anyone should see the flags first, it should be the Crown Princess. Why was it always him handling everything, like a spokesperson?

Sometimes after meals he’d lean on the railing wanting to wave at the Crown Princess from afar, but never got any response.

The Crown Princess didn’t seem like someone so unprofessional and cold.

In the front ship’s cabin, Tie Ci occasionally glanced out the window while reading memorials. This wasn’t a ventilation window but a viewing window with large crystal glass panels embedded – complete, smooth, and transparent, not opening. Through this window she could see the rear ship’s situation.

Outside the window, blue sky and blue water were divided in half by the porthole, with white clouds hanging low. She could vaguely see the rear ship and Gu Xiaoxiao’s cabin facing her window – beautiful but monotonous scenery.

At night there would be stars filling the sky, river maples and fishing fires, with white sails faintly visible in the distance behind.

But all these days, why was there never any movement from Gu Xiaoxiao’s cabin? Didn’t Xiaoxiao ever come out for air?

Tie Ci had always felt social anxiety was fine, but one couldn’t be too closed off. She looked toward the rear window again.

She suddenly turned around.

Today the river wind was particularly strong, making her ship’s sails billow and sound loudly. Why was that corner of sail visible on the rear ship completely motionless?

She stood up and walked to the window.

Looking carefully, her eyebrows shot up.

Moments later, she left the cabin, went around the surrounding corridor to the ship’s back, reached out and peeled off a piece of paper from the window.

It was a scroll painting.

The painting showed blue sky and white clouds in halves, with white sails faintly visible and Gu Xiaoxiao’s cabin door tightly shut.

It was painted on cloth using unusual pigments, very realistic in technique, making it appear genuine when viewed from inside.

Tie Ci laughed in exasperation.

If Murong Yi used all these strange tricks and bizarre thoughts on proper business, Liaodong would probably have founded a nation by now.

On the back of the painting was a line of small characters in the same color as the background, only discernible when looked at closely: “All you can see when you look up is me.”

He was even jealous of Gu Xiaoxiao!

Tie Ci was amazed. She took the painting back to study it. The painting was quite good, using techniques different from Da Qian’s common methods, somewhat Western in style.

Thinking about how uniquely the jealous king expressed his jealousy – going to the trouble of painting, and one painting wasn’t enough, needing one for sunny days, one for rainy days, one for nighttime…

What couldn’t he do with this time?

She sighed and had Chi Xue come find Murong Yi’s paints.

Soon Chi Xue brought them. Tie Ci selected only two colors, flipped the canvas over to reveal the white background, rolled up her sleeves and went to work boldly.

Chi Xue tried to suppress her laughter.

The Crown Princess usually lived with dignity and gravity, only showing her girlish liveliness when dealing with matters involving Young Master Murong.

This was also why she had always supported the Crown Princess being with Murong Yi.

If that vast empire ultimately couldn’t be set aside, she hoped that beyond heavy court duties, the Crown Princess could live as much like herself as possible.

On the rear ship, Murong Yi didn’t yet know his petty jealousy had been discovered by Tie Ci. Hearing what Gu Xiaoxiao said about the rear ship incident, he went down to the ship’s hold. Both ships were his, so he knew best where people could hide.

Soon he pulled a person out from a rice barrel’s interlayer.

His ship’s rice barrels were all fixed to the ship. To prevent moisture from spoiling the rice, the lower half of the barrels was made hollow.

The person was quite disheveled, coming out from the dark bottom of the rice barrel, squinting in confusion.

Murong Yi barely recognized the face through all that grime, saying in surprise, “That what’s-her-name Tan… what was it again?”

Tan Xiuyue finally opened her eyes, saw who was in front of her, showed some joy but also faint fear.

She was infatuated with this man’s grace and beauty, but also knew this was a poisonous hellish demon tree.

Mu Si pulled another person from a nearby rice barrel – this time a servant.

The servant kept his head down, cowering in the corner in terror.

Murong Yi looked at Gu Xiaoxiao, who also looked shocked, not expecting these two to have snuck onto the ship.

Seeing Murong Yi looking over, he said irritably, “Why look at me? Isn’t this your romantic debt?”

Murong Yi raised an eyebrow, “Stop sowing discord. What does this have to do with me?”

Gu Xiaoxiao snorted coldly. Tan Xiuyue sobbed, “I… I heard grandfather was ill and was anxious to return to Xizhou. Fearing the Crown Princess would blame me, I hid on the rear ship…”

Gu Xiaoxiao looked at her, then at the servant, suspicion flashing in his eyes.

How had a sheltered young lady and a servant managed to catch up with the Crown Princess’s forced march and secretly stow away on his ship?

The Crown Princess’s ship must be heavily guarded – they couldn’t get on if they wanted to. His ship was relatively less secure, so these two had snuck aboard. But to evade so many people at the dock and hide in advance required considerable skill.

As the Crown Princess’s close friend, Gu Xiaoxiao naturally knew what kind of people the Tan family were. His gaze fell on the servant.

While he was still thinking, he heard Murong Yi say calmly, “Throw them overboard.”

The summoned sailors obeyed without hesitation, grabbing both people.

Tan Xiuyue was dumbfounded. She had expected possible reprimands but hadn’t anticipated this development.

Actually, being brought aboard by this fake servant and hiding daily while eating leftovers was very uncomfortable. Several times she wanted to simply reveal her identity – after all, she was the Crown Princess’s cousin, and everyone on this ship was just her cousin’s subjects. Even if they discovered her, so what?

It was this fake servant who kept stopping her, insisting she must endure and wait for opportunity.

As for what opportunity, naturally it was the chance to win Master Mu’s affection.

She had originally given up hope when this fake servant, led by her aunt, found her and told her Yannan had secret methods that could help her win her beloved’s heart and make him devoted unto death.

Tan Xiuyue’s hometown wasn’t far from Yannan. She had heard of some tribes in Yannan’s steep mountains and deep valleys who possessed mysterious secret arts, but these were tribal secrets she couldn’t access with her status.

But her aunt said this person had extraordinary background and capabilities beyond her comparison – she should just trust him.

Tan Xiuyue didn’t want to give up on Murong Yi.

She was an unremarkable young lady from a small family. Her parents didn’t pay attention to her, and her grandparents were unreliable. She was habitually ignored, and being ignored for so long actually aroused tremendous competitiveness and unwillingness. Coming to the capital this time, she had originally held great hopes for the future, hoping to find a noble husband in the capital. But her hopes were quickly dashed, and being sent back home, thinking of those mediocre young men in Guishan County, she saw her own equally mediocre future.

If she had never been to the capital and never seen the glorious world, mediocrity would have been acceptable.

But having seen the capital, entered the imperial palace, witnessed heavenly scenery, and personally seen outstanding talents surrounding her cousin the Crown Princess as she looked down upon the world, her small heart expanded infinitely, unconsciously stuffing itself with many beautiful dreams she shouldn’t have had.

Every dream featured a noble, handsome, and good man who would give everything for her.

Originally Murong Yi’s behavior was enough to discourage her, but A’lin, this fake servant, secretly told her a secret.

This secret made her breathe rapidly and her eyes shine bright, willing to crawl in rice barrels and eat leftovers every day just to gamble once.

If she won the gamble, she would become a princess of Liaodong in the future, possibly even empress of the realm!

But at this moment, before becoming princess, the king was about to throw her into the river!

Tan Xiuyue almost thought it was a joke, but those exceptionally tall and strong sailors had already grabbed her without hesitation!

“Don’t touch me! I’m the Crown Princess’s cousin! I’m nobility!”

The sailors ignored her completely.

Murong Yi looked down at her and smiled, “What nonsense are you talking? How could the Crown Princess have such a filthy cousin!”

Tan Xiuyue was stimulated and screamed, reaching out with both hands toward Murong Yi.

Her posture looked like she wanted to embrace Murong Yi’s waist, her specially grown crystal-clear nails already touching Murong Yi’s belt.

Murong Yi lightly flicked with his finger. There was a faint sound of bone cracking, and Tan Xiuyue screamed miserably, her face turning blue-white as she went limp.

The servant rushed forward to support her, crying out “Miss.”

The sailors dragged Tan Xiuyue and the servant toward the ship’s edge. Tan Xiuyue hooked her feet on the cables, shouting, “Cousin! Your Highness!”

Murong Yi, fearing she’d disturb Tie Ci, signaled his men to gag her and instinctively looked toward Tie Ci’s ship ahead.

At a glance he saw that transparent porthole – all bloody red!

In the blood color, a pale hand hung limply against the porthole!

Like a bolt from the blue, Murong Yi couldn’t care about anything else and shot forward like lightning.

The sailors still carried out Murong Yi’s orders to the letter. Tan Xiuyue struggled and cried with disheveled hair. Gu Xiaoxiao, seeing her unseemly behavior and thinking of the Ministry of Revenue officials and several Ministry of Rites attendants on the ship who might see this and damage the Crown Princess’s reputation, said, “Everyone listen to me. This person is after all the Crown Princess’s relative with no great offense. We cannot use private punishment arbitrarily. How to handle her should await the Crown Princess’s decision.”

Mu Si walked over and nodded to the sailors, who then released Tan Xiuyue.

Tan Xiuyue collapsed on deck crying.

Mu Si pursed his lips.

In the past, when the master said throw, he really meant throw.

Now there was room for maneuvering, but that was just the master learning to consider the Crown Princess.

This type who was obviously a troublemaker should be thrown overboard to let her soak her muddled brain, then given a boat to row back herself – that would be more than generous.

Tan Xiuyue cried on deck with no one daring to pay attention. The fake servant Qi Lin knelt beside her and looked at her with lowered head.

Tan Xiuyue’s crying paused as she nodded very lightly.

…

Murong Yi rushed back to the front ship.

Not even having time to go around to the front cabin door, he struck the expensive glass from afar with his palm.

The next instant he landed on the ship, and the entire considerable vessel even shook.

But immediately he discovered something was wrong.

Things flew off the shattered glass – red and white – and one shard landed on his face.

Murong Yi grabbed the shard, getting his hand covered in red and white paint.

His face showed an indescribable expression.

Behind the broken glass appeared a face warm as jade, its owner slowly greeting him: “Hi, how was it? Did I paint well?”

Murong Yi looked at the “painting” covered in red paint with just a few random white strokes that looked like fingers from a distance, and said very sincerely: “Masterful craftsmanship.”

When one’s own misdeeds were exposed, reflection must be timely with a good attitude.

Tie Ci snorted with laughter, pointing at the broken window. Murong Yi immediately said, “I’ll definitely fix it tonight.”

Since the perpetrator’s attitude was proper and she had already punished him, Tie Ci skipped over the matter and asked what had happened on the rear ship.

Murong Yi explained everything, then sighed: “I had planned to handle it directly and inform you afterward, so you could distance yourself. But now…”

Tie Ci raised an eyebrow, not expecting this self-willed fellow to now consider things so thoroughly for her sake.

Handling it directly himself would eliminate future trouble and spare her from criticism.

But she hadn’t expected her little joke to make him return mid-journey. Now if she pretended not to know, it wouldn’t be quite appropriate.

A cousin secretly following her ship in the name of filial piety really couldn’t be used as grounds for punishing Tan Xiuyue. If she was too heartless, those stubborn old ministers would certainly jump up and down, since others didn’t know the Tan family was a nest of troublemakers.

Tie Ci didn’t care about censor impeachment, but the royalist faction mostly consisted of such old ministers. Grand Tutor He was working hard to help her gather the neutral faction – she couldn’t invite criticism at such a crucial juncture.

“Let her stay on the rear ship. Have Xiaoxiao keep a close eye on her and her companion. After disembarking at Wuling, immediately escort her back.”

Murong Yi nodded. As long as the front and rear ships didn’t stop and connect, Tan Xiuyue would never have a chance to approach Tie Ci.

Murong Yi returned to the rear ship and made arrangements with Gu Xiaoxiao. Gu Xiaoxiao arranged a cabin for Tan Xiuyue right next to the guards’ quarters. This was indeed improper, but who could help it in the ship’s cramped conditions? He couldn’t give up his own cabin, could he?

As for her servant, he was required to stay in the bottom hold and not come out without permission.

Murong Yi was very satisfied with his arrangements. The people around Tie Ci, regardless of their personalities, truly had no pedantic fools.

But he felt that being a bit foolish and stupid would also be quite good – then Tie Ci wouldn’t be moved, and they’d be easier to crush. He wouldn’t have to be stimulated every few days.

After all, when his woman was eating and would suddenly point at something saying “This chicken and bamboo shoot is good, send a portion to Xiaoxiao” or “That crispy cake is Xiaoxiao’s favorite, save it for him,” he was also very displeased.

What was even more displeasing was that he couldn’t retaliate. After all, the Crown Princess had said that close friends were like limbs, while husbands were like clothes.

The clothing Murong Yi very consciously returned to his ship. How bitter his fate was – he still had to fix the glass.