When talk turned to Wei Yi, everyone suddenly perked up.

“Although Young Master Wei isn’t like us normal folk, he has his own endearing qualities. Having him along on the journey made things quite entertaining for us.”

“Exactly! Now that Master Ji hasn’t brought Young Master Wei along, this journey is bound to be terribly dull.”

Several guards began discussing the matter intermittently.

Lang Bo heard every word.

He turned and glared at them. “Do you lot think your tongues are redundant?”

They immediately fell silent.

Everyone knew Lang Bo was a rough man—usually appearing fierce and stern, having adopted some of the prince’s temperament—but in private, he was actually quite easygoing and treated his subordinates with informality. However, this sudden outburst made everyone somewhat apprehensive, so they obediently resumed their positions guarding the carriage.

At that moment, Muruo lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the guards.

“If you truly miss Wei Yi that much, why not simply send someone back to Jinjiang to fetch him?”

“Young Master Muruo, please don’t tease us. What Master Ji says is what our prince says. Since they’ve already decided to leave Young Master Wei at the Wei residence, if we were to bring him back, the prince would surely have our heads.”

“Your prince isn’t some murderous demon—what’s there to fear?”

Muruo continued fanning the flames!

Everyone wasn’t stupid though, and they knew the young man was trying to tempt them into stepping on a landmine.

So—

Someone said, “Young Master Muruo, please stop trying to harm us. I think you’re the one who misses Young Master Wei. I heard that when you were in the capital, he stayed at your Yuhua Pavilion the whole time, and you were the one who brought him to the Imperial Residence this time. If anyone should miss him, it should be you.”

Banter!

Muruo pointed his finger at the guards. “You gossipy lot—one of these days, I’ll stick a few needles in you all and turn you into mutes.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Muruo pulled his head back inside and noticed Tang Si reading a book!

That’s right, reading a book.

However, what she was reading wasn’t those classical texts, but rather medical texts. These past few days, she had constantly been pestering Muruo to teach her medicine. Muruo wasn’t the patient type, and in the end, unable to bear it any longer, he casually tossed her a few ordinary medical texts, telling her to read them carefully and thoroughly, word for word. So throughout this journey, Tang Si wasn’t as noisy as before. Instead, she had changed her nature and quietly settled down to read.

In this state, she actually had the appearance of a gentle, refined woman!

Muruo inadvertently glanced at her, and in that very instant, he found Tang Si somewhat resembled Kong Yu—the same soft profile, the same prominent nose bridge, even the quiet way she lowered her eyes while reading was similar!

Some cold place in his heart actually warmed slightly in that moment.

Perhaps sensing something, Tang Si raised her head and turned to meet Muruo’s strange gaze directed at her.

Without thinking, she set down the book in her hands and kicked toward Muruo’s knee.

She barked, “What are you staring at? Never seen a woman before?”

In that moment, Muruo felt as though he’d been struck hard by lightning.

Ten thousand草泥马 stampeded through his mind!

Clearly one was water and one was fire—how could he think this woman resembled Kong Yu?

Either his eyes had gone blind or he had gone mad.

He clutched his knee in pain, his entire face contorted. “Are you even a woman? What’s wrong with looking at you? Are people not allowed to look now? There are only two living people in this carriage—if I don’t look at you, who should I look at?”

“I…”

Tang Si was at a loss for words. She tilted her head and thought about it—it did seem to make sense, but something still felt off.

She swallowed a few times. Forget it.

She simply picked up the medical text again and resumed reading carefully!

In the mountains, the sky that had been clear began to rain again.

June weather—rainy and oppressive.

Eventually, the carriage convoy had to stop beside a bamboo grove, where fortunately there was a rain shelter pavilion.

Everyone entered the pavilion. Seeing that the heavy rain wouldn’t stop anytime soon, they casually ate some dry rations to fill their stomachs.

Throughout this journey, Ji Yunshu’s mood had eased considerably. She stood at the edge of the pavilion, gazing at the misty rain, when she spotted Zhao Huai and his group in the distance. They were sheltering from the rain in the bamboo grove, having simply erected a makeshift rain shelter. Fortunately, the bamboo was dense, so they weren’t getting wet.

“Brother Lang,” she called out.

Lang Bo replied, “Does Master Ji need something?”

“Take some food and dry rations to them.” She pointed toward the group in the bamboo grove.

“Very well.”

He went to comply.

From Shanhuai County to here, Zhao Huai’s group had been following closely behind, yet maintaining an excellent distance. When they quickened their pace, that group quickened theirs; when they slowed down, they slowed down too.

Ji Yunshu was thinking that ever since Zhao Huai saw that jade pendant, he had been following her. Could it be that he knew that jade pendant was the tiger tally? Was that why he said those words to her in the pavilion?

But if he had some great connection to that tiger tally, it didn’t make sense—after all, twenty years ago, he hadn’t even reached ten years old.

What connection could a child not yet ten years old have with this jade pendant?

She couldn’t figure it out.

The rain grew heavier, splashing a few drops on her forehead. She raised her sleeve to wipe them away, then simply turned back to sit in the pavilion.

Seeing that she no longer looked as troubled as before, Jingrong felt more at ease and asked with concern, “Be careful not to catch cold.”

“Mm.”

She nodded.

Jingrong glanced at Muruo across from them, noticing he had been rubbing his knee ever since getting out of the carriage.

“What happened to your knee?”

At this mention, Muruo became irritated. With needle-sharp eyes, he glared fiercely at the carriage by the bamboo grove and huffed, “What else could it be? Of course it was bitten by a wretched woman.”

Jingrong said cheerfully, “You didn’t actually do something to Miss Tang…”

“What nonsense are you talking about? What could I do to her? I should be thanking the heavens if she doesn’t bully me. Let me make this clear—I’m not riding with her anymore. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist poisoning her to death.”

“There’s no way around it. Miss Tang is your life-saving benefactor. You ought to look after her. If she wants to follow you, you can’t escape. If she wants to learn medicine from you, you must teach her. After all, you owe her your life, and you must repay it!”

Jingrong said it lightly!

But it earned him an eye-roll from Muruo.

Ji Yunshu listened and couldn’t help but smile.

At that moment outside, five people were running through the heavy rain toward the pavilion. They all wore matching Confucian robes—inner garments beneath, blue on the inside, with an outer layer of thin gauze draped over them, their hair uniformly bound in high topknots secured with blue silk ribbons that cascaded down to their waists.

But due to the heavy rain, they had all become drenched rats!

Four of them held books over their heads to block the rain, while only one held his books in his arms, wrapped in his clothing to prevent them from getting wet.

They must be students from some nearby academy!