Song Chuyi naturally didn’t know about fairness or unfairness. When facing unknown matters, she always harbored an indescribable fear, just like the current marriage proposal from Prince Zhennan’s manor. If she accepted it, she feared living a future like stagnant water without vitality. If she didn’t accept it, she was afraid she would never find anything more suitable and would truly have to cut her hair and go up the mountain to become a nun. In truth, her way of handling affairs had always been somewhat passive. Usually, someone had to give her a whip before she knew to take a step. Unless pushed to a certain point, she wouldn’t easily make a decision.
Such indecisiveness was truly not a good thing. She sighed quietly, not knowing why, but facing Zhou Weizhao, she felt that even the most difficult words came out smoothly and easily. “But my grandmother and maternal grandmother both think Prince Zhennan’s manor is an excellent place…”
They also didn’t want her to get involved with the imperial family. Speaking of it, being Ye Jingchuan’s wife might be very tiring because he didn’t understand what she wanted or what she wanted to do. But if she got involved with the Eastern Palace, it would only be more exhausting.
“Whether it’s truly a good place or not, you’ll only know by asking yourself.” Seeing her frown, Zhou Weizhao knew she still hadn’t taken his words to heart. But this kind of thing couldn’t be explained clearly in a short time anyway. Moreover, if he pressed too hard, someone with Song Chuyi’s personality might even get stuck in a dead end. He softened his tone. “You can’t just stop walking because you stumbled once. Take a break, but you still have to keep walking.”
Song Chuyi felt she had listened but also seemed not to have listened. Without raising her head, she looked at the blue tassels hanging on her skirt. “Does Your Highness think I can still recover?”
“Why not?” Zhou Weizhao showed a mouthful of white teeth, bringing some vitality to his pale face. “In your dream, wasn’t I already dead? I’m alive and well, so why can’t you recover?”
Song Chuyi stared at him blankly for a long while, then suddenly broke into a bright smile. “Alright then, I’ll rely on Your Highness’s auspicious words.” After saying this, she turned to ask Zhou Weizhao about his purpose in calling her. “Your Highness called me here this time—it wasn’t just to give me a few pointers, was it?”
If he really said it was specifically to give her pointers, she would probably avoid him like a startled rabbit again. Zhou Weizhao’s beautiful eyes lifted slightly. He wrinkled his brow briefly before revealing a gentle smile. “Of course not. I’m here to ask for your help.”
Song Chuyi breathed a sigh of relief. Asking for her help, having a purpose in requesting her presence, made her feel much more at ease. The inexplicable tightness in her heart also relaxed. She quickly returned to her former appearance and asked him, “Does Your Highness think that besides that aide who colluded with Master Ma, there are still other planted agents around you? Master Ma and this aide were merely chess pieces, and there’s someone pulling the strings behind the scenes, right?”
As long as they didn’t talk about her own matters, she came alive again. Zhou Weizhao knew the principle of “once bitten by a snake, one fears the rope for ten years,” but to be as afraid as Song Chuyi was truly rare. He didn’t know what kind of suffering and torment she had endured in her dream to leave her with such lingering fear.
This thought was only briefly considered before Zhou Weizhao cast it aside. The little hedgehog before him was covered in spikes and had almost never dared to expose her belly. She couldn’t withstand even the slightest stimulus. He nodded along with her words. “Since they came specifically for me, it’s impossible they would give up halfway. If this attempt fails, there will be a next time, and the time after that… Imperial Physician Yan and Master Hu both said that although my poison has been neutralized, my vital energy has been greatly damaged. I need to go to Master Taibai to request medicine and recuperate for a while. It’s time for me to set out and return to Jinzhong.”
Song Chuyi looked at him thoughtfully. He couldn’t stay in Yangquan. Now that the war chaos had just been settled here, if the Grand Prince remained, the people behind the scenes might very likely use those rebel remnants to create trouble. They had finally managed to capture Yangquan and capture bandit chiefs like Ma Yuantong without harming the common people—if they stirred up waves again, that would be bad. But once he reached Jinzhong, those people would have even less opportunity. Most of the officials in Jinzhong had already been replaced by Zhou Weizhao, the Imperial Commissioner, and were now firmly under Zhou Weizhao’s control. As long as he returned to Jinzhong, those people could only watch helplessly from afar.
So the best opportunity would be on the road from Yangquan back to Jinzhong. Zhou Weizhao must have thought of this too. She looked at the map spread out on the table, stepped forward to examine it carefully, and saw that every route back to Yangquan was marked. Her suspicions were further confirmed. Holding the map, she asked Zhou Weizhao, “Does Your Highness want to lure them out?”
Rather than passively taking beatings, it was better to take the initiative. This had always been Zhou Weizhao’s nature. Song Chuyi lowered her eyelids and carefully examined the map again. She was somewhat surprised to discover that all three routes back to Yangquan had been marked by Zhou Weizhao.
For a moment, she didn’t understand what Zhou Weizhao meant. After thinking about it, she simply raised her head to look at Zhou Weizhao and asked directly, “Your Highness said you wanted me to help, but I see Your Highness seems to have already made all the preparations. Among these three routes, the official road is undoubtedly the easiest to travel, but it’s also the easiest to be ambushed. The other two…” Song Chuyi pointed to the small path beside the official road. “This one—I remember when we came, I heard my second uncle mention that during the spring thaw, heavy snow sealed the mountain. There was once an earthquake here, and two people died.”
Speaking to this point, she saw Zhou Weizhao’s lips already holding a hint of a smile, and with sudden inspiration, she tapped on that mark. “If Your Highness takes this route, they would surely be most delighted.”
Her meticulous thinking was truly admirable. Zhou Weizhao nodded. “If I take this route, the price they pay will be minimal. They might not even need to show themselves.”
Song Chuyi recalled that these past few days, only Commander Zhou seemed to be handling Yangquan’s affairs alone. Ye Jingkuan was nowhere to be seen, and although Lai Chenglong was still recuperating at the yamen, Hongfa and the others were also rarely seen. She knew that Ye Jingkuan and Hongfa were probably off carefully investigating these three routes back to Yangquan.
In fact, attacking on any of these routes wasn’t the best choice, because Zhou Weizhao and the Imperial Guard, having just experienced an assassination attempt, would surely have heavy defenses. But if the people behind the scenes wanted Zhou Weizhao dead, they could only take the risk, because this was already the best opportunity—if they missed it, there would be no other. They wanted to use the planted agent beside Zhou Weizhao to learn which route Zhou Weizhao would actually take, then set an ambush there first. But Zhou Weizhao’s side similarly wanted to use this planted agent to feed them false information. Their ambush would have no way to touch Zhou Weizhao and would instead fall into the trap that Zhou Weizhao and Ye Jingkuan had already set up.