Yes, the age for marriage. Yin Gezhi nodded: “Then we must carefully find a suitable family.”
Hearing his words, Yi Zhuozhu’s face fell, her lips trembling as tears quickly welled up in her eyes: “Brother Yin, you…”
“Hmm?” Yin Gezhi was bewildered: “What? Did I say something wrong?”
He hadn’t even considered marrying her himself! Yi Zhuozhu felt extremely aggrieved, standing there choking back sobs, pressing her handkerchief to her face as tears streamed down.
Looking at her, Yin Gezhi’s first thought wasn’t about why she was crying again, but rather—why was she covering her face to cry again, not shedding a single tear of distress? Though it looked pretty, it wasn’t moving. If one were to cry, they should cry like Feng Yue, shamelessly with tears and snot covering their face. Looking as heartbroken as possible—that would be more likely to move him.
Shaking his head, Yin Gezhi remained silent for a while before reaching out to offer her his handkerchief, saying softly: “Don’t cry. Marriage is a common matter; finding a suitable match is what’s important.”
The suitable match I want is you! Yi Zhuozhu cried even harder as she listened. She couldn’t understand why Brother Yin was always so dense, never catching her hints no matter how many times she dropped them. She couldn’t tell if he truly didn’t understand or was just pretending not to—it was too hurtful!
She wanted to leave in anger, but thinking of how differently he usually treated her, Yi Zhuozhu felt he must truly not have understood. Too proud to speak more directly, yet unwilling to give up, she sighed deeply and asked through gritted teeth: “Does Brother Yin like Zhu’er?”
“I do.”
Frowning as she looked at him, Yi Zhuozhu’s tears fell continuously: “Do you even know what it means to like someone?”
What does it mean to like someone? Yin Gezhi paused slightly, looking at her in confusion.
Yi Zhuozhu cried: “Never mind everything else, if someone you liked was going to marry another person, you absolutely wouldn’t stand by and simply wish them well in finding a suitable match!”
Is that what liking means? Yin Gezhi sneered—it was merely a man’s simple possessiveness. He wouldn’t stand by and watch Feng Yue marry someone else either, did that mean he liked her?
Just thinking about that little vixen possibly wearing wedding clothes and being carried into someone else’s home one day, Yin Gezhi narrowed his eyes, a sudden flash of killing intent appearing in them.
“Brother Yin?” Yi Zhuozhu asked dissatisfied: “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” Lowering his gaze, Yin Gezhi said: “Don’t overthink things.”
With that, he turned to leave.
Yi Zhuozhu’s expression suddenly turned strange as she watched his back, asking softly: “Is it really because of Miss Feng Yue?”
His steps faltered as Yin Gezhi turned back puzzled: “What about her?”
“Ever since she arrived, Brother Yin has completely changed toward Zhu’er.” Yi Zhuozhu frowned: “Zhu’er doesn’t like her. She doesn’t seem like a good person.”
Indeed, she’s not a good person, Yin Gezhi nodded seriously: “I don’t like her either.”
“Then why do you keep her by your side?” Yi Zhuozhu asked defiantly.
“She’s useful.”
“What use could a mere woman have?” Yi Zhuozhu laughed bitterly in anger, wiping her tears as she spoke with burning eyes: “How can she compare to me? If you marry me, Brother Yin, you could return to Wei. Our marriage would serve as a diplomatic alliance between the two countries. That’s much more reliable than being a hostage.”
Return to Wei? Yin Gezhi frowned, glancing at her.
Yi Zhuozhu felt she had hit upon something he cared about and suddenly gained confidence: “Father said if we marry, you could return to Wei. From then on, Wu and Wei would have no more wars and could jointly resist enemies.”
Yi Guoru did dote on this daughter. For her marriage prospects, he was willing to offer such generous terms. If he were an ordinary hostage, he should be happily agreeing now, ready to return home with this beauty.
However, when he returned to Wei would be his own decision—he didn’t need others’ concern.
“There’s been trouble at the mansion lately, hasn’t there?” Changing the subject, Yin Gezhi said directly: “The guards seem stricter.”
Yi Zhuozhu was stunned, completely unable to understand why he had stopped discussing marriage. Did he not want to return to Wei?
After a moment of confusion, she pressed her lips together and still answered: “The mansion has guests. Father said for safety, he increased the guard.”
“What kind of guests?”
“Zhu’er doesn’t know. Father didn’t say, only that no one should approach the west courtyard.”
The west courtyard. Yin Gezhi nodded, continuing to follow the servant to his assigned quarters, leaving Yi Zhuozhu standing alone, her eyes full of bewilderment.
According to Feng Yue’s map and the mansion’s guard positions, Yin Gezhi quickly planned his timing and route. Stealing someone from the west courtyard wouldn’t be difficult, but leaving the mansion this time would likely alert Yi Guoru—the risk was considerable.
He was used to working alone and had never considered having someone prepare an escape route, even in difficult situations. So as he sat in his room waiting for nightfall, Yin Gezhi took off the white clothes Feng Yue had sewn and properly put on his night-walking outfit, pushed open the window, and melted into the darkness.
The mansion guards changed shifts every half hour, with handover points at various intersections. So Yin Gezhi very nimbly timed his movements, making his way to the west courtyard without a sound.
Yi Zhuozhu truly seemed heaven-sent to help him, always thoroughly betraying Yi Guoru’s plans. Yang Fengpeng’s child was indeed in the west courtyard—the heart-wrenching crying could be heard as soon as he approached.
So without needing to search, Yin Gezhi directly infiltrated the room with the crying, knocked out the attending nurse, picked up the child, and left.
However, there was one problem he hadn’t considered—the Yang family’s young master had been crying constantly, his voice piercing. Carrying him out like this was equivalent to beating drums and gongs to alert all the guards: Come quickly, I’m stealing a child!
Face ashen, Yin Gezhi looked at the crying baby in his arms, instantly developing a headache.
The young master Yang was already scared, and seeing Yin Gezhi’s face only frightened him more. He cried so hard his tonsils were visible, little tears streaming down.
What to do? With such a small child, he couldn’t control the force well enough to knock him out—he might accidentally kill him. Yin Gezhi frowned, stern-faced as he pinched the child’s mouth: “Stop crying!”
Young master Yang’s eyes widened, and after two muffled sounds, he wailed even louder.
The mighty First Prince Yin, who had never blanched in the face of thousands of troops, had today been defeated by a milk-drinking baby. His arms were stiff as he held the child, he tried rocking him, but the baby didn’t appreciate the gesture at all.
There was no helping it—if the crying continued, others would come to investigate. Taking a deep breath, Yin Gezhi covered the child’s mouth and rushed outside.
As they took flight, young master Yang was stunned into silence, looking down at the courtyards in amazement.
Yin Gezhi let out a huge sigh of relief, quickly carrying him across the rooftops, then executing two mid-air rolls to land steadily at the base of the mansion wall.
Finally, almost out, Yin Gezhi felt relieved and was about to overcome this last obstacle when suddenly, the young master in his arms let out an earth-shattering cry: “Waaah—”
In an instant, lights came on throughout the General’s mansion. First Prince Yin gritted his teeth and without a word, immediately leaped toward the city wall.
“Catch him!” The mansion guards reacted extremely quickly, some jumping over walls, others opening gates, all pursuing him directly.
Yin Gezhi gritted his teeth, unable to help snarling: “If you keep crying, I won’t take you to see your parents!”
Young Master Yang paused, and Yin Gezhi thought it had worked, quickly hiding in a nearby alley.
But in the next moment, this troublesome child “Waaah-ed” even more fiercely than before.
Well, naturally, a child isn’t like Feng Yue—threats won’t work. But the great Prince Yin didn’t know how to comfort children, so he could only continue running with a black face, tucking the child under his arm.
The silent City of No Shade was lit up by the child’s crying—wherever the crying went, lights blazed in response. For the first time, Yin Gezhi felt somewhat powerless, with nowhere to hide and unable to shake off the people surrounding them from all directions.
Just as he was considering whether to risk knocking the child unconscious, he saw a curtain lift on a carriage parked by the road.
“Your Highness, quickly get in.” Feng Yue’s face was especially beautiful in the night as she smiled and reached out her hand.
Yin Gezhi was startled, hurriedly handing over the troublemaker to her before climbing into the carriage.
Gan Jiang drove the carriage, speeding toward the east city gate.
“There, there, little one. Don’t cry.” Gently patting his back, Feng Yue coaxed softly: “We’re going to take you to see your mother and father soon, and there’ll be sweet tanghulu. Sister isn’t a bad person.”
She lowered her eyes, her movements gentle, causing Yin Gezhi sitting opposite to stare in amazement.
Young master Yang stopped crying, though still hiccupping slightly. He looked at her rather pitifully, his little hands clutching her clothes tightly, warily glancing back at Yin Gezhi.
Feng Yue laughed, stroking his head as she said softly: “This big brother isn’t bad either, he just looks fierce. He saved you, didn’t he?”
Nodding blankly, the young master stopped crying and unceremoniously settled himself in Feng Yue’s arms, refusing to let go.
Yin Gezhi narrowed his eyes: “Why?”
Why was he so unruly in his arms but well-behaved and quiet in a woman’s embrace?
“Your Highness is too fierce,” Feng Yue blinked: “Children can’t handle being frightened.”
Looking up at her, Yin Gezhi realized: “How did you get here?”
“I knew you couldn’t handle children well, so I had Ling Shu prepare an escape route from the city early on, and waited here for you.” Feng Yue smiled: “This task isn’t easy. General Yi is suspicious and decisive—you must get off at the next intersection and return to the mansion. I’ll be responsible for getting the young master out of the city. That’s the only way to ensure success.”
Frowning slightly, Yin Gezhi was somewhat displeased: “You thought from the start that I couldn’t complete this task alone?”
“There’s no shame in not being able to do something alone.” Feng Yue shrugged: “Didn’t Nüwa create so many people in this world so we could help each other survive?”
But Great Prince Yin was very unsatisfied, feeling it made him appear incapable.
“Come now, you should go quickly.” Feng Yue smiled: “You still need to properly deceive General Yi.”
As she spoke, she grabbed his collar, pulled him close, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
Young Master Yang was still in her arms, looking up in confusion at the elegant jawlines of the two adults above him.