He mobilized the strong young male villagers to help him set up many traps at the village entrance. He also persuaded everyone to stay at home and not go out through Ye Mingzhu, who was loved by the villagers.
As time ticked by, some villagers, their patience wearing thin, pushed open their doors to go outside, only to see dust rising in the distance without any wind, resembling a sandstorm.
The man immediately retreated back into the house, closed the door, and peered through the crack in the door, intending to see what was going on.
Amidst the rising dust, a herd of horses galloped, their hooves thundering, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble.
At that time, Wushuang was leisurely drinking tea.
She picked up the red clay teapot to pour tea when she saw the bamboo-shaped teacup on the tea tray jump up and fall down, followed by the deafening sound of horses' hooves.
Wushuang turned her head to look outside. It was too far away to see the faces of the people on horseback, but she could see the character "Ying" embroidered in gold thread on the flag flying high in the procession, which was shining brightly in the sunlight.
"It's Chu Yao!" She threw down the teapot, jumped up, and rushed out excitedly.
Moshan Village is really small; it's only about 20 feet from Ye Mingzhu's house to the village entrance.
Wushuang dodged the trap, and the group of horses was already close by. Ignoring the risk of being kicked by the horses, she charged straight into the formation.
"Chu Yao! Chu Yao!" Wushuang raised his hand and shouted loudly.
The guards who were leading the way all detoured to make way for Wushuang.
"There...there's a trap over there, be careful!" Wushuang hurriedly turned her head to warn them. Falling into a trap set by their own people would really damage the prestige of Chu Yaoling's Guards, and she would never allow that to happen.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Wushuang felt someone lift her by the collar, and then her feet left the ground. Before she could react, she was placed on the horse's back.
"Chu Yao!" Wushuang grabbed the man's collar. "Are you here to pick me up? I thought you didn't want me anymore... Waaah..."
She didn't want to cry at all; she was clearly very happy, but tears just kept streaming down her face.
It was too embarrassing to cry so hard as soon as they met. Wushuang sniffled and buried her face in Chu Yao's chest, trying to deceive herself by thinking that no one would know she was crying.
Chu Yao said nothing, but pressed Wu Shuang's little head even closer to his chest, gently stroking her back with his large hand to comfort her.
In the evening, Wushuang reluctantly bid farewell to the people of Moshan Village and then followed Chu Yao to the Mocheng Wharf.
The treasure ship stands like a mountain on the shore; you can't see its top unless you crane your neck until it aches.
Wushuang, having grown up in the Fujian naval camp, was not unsophisticated, but she couldn't help but exclaim, "Chu Yao, this ship is bigger than a warship, and even more beautiful than the ship I rode on during that southern tour. Is it newly built?"
"Yes, it was just completed and launched this summer. My imperial uncle said that the Lingguang Guard usually needs to travel all over the country to investigate cases, so he bestowed it upon me to make things easier," Chu Yao said with no small amount of pride.
"That's our family's boat!" Wushuang was extremely excited. Without waiting for Chu Yao to lead her, she lifted her skirt, took small steps, stepped over the wooden ladder, and ran to the deck.
Chu Yao was overjoyed, his lips almost curling up behind his ears, and he strode to catch up with his fiancée.
There are three decks above the deck. The first deck is the cabin for officials of the rank of Thousand Households or above. The second deck is the council hall and Chu Yao's study. The third deck is built in the same layout as the main courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, with seven main rooms, three side rooms on each side, and even corner rooms and ear rooms.
Chu Yao usually lived and rested in the three rooms on the east side of the main house, while Wu Shuang was arranged to live in the three rooms on the west side.
"Isn't this arrangement a bit inappropriate?" Wushuang whispered in Chu Yao's ear. After all, they were just engaged, so even though they were separated by a door, they were essentially living in the same room.
“This is our boat. We can stay here however we want. Who dares to say anything?” Chu Yao said.
Wu Shuang had only spoken in a moment of excitement and had long forgotten what she had said. Her face flushed red as she pushed Chu Yao away, saying, "You...you shouldn't talk nonsense. Your home is your home, and my home is my home."
It's only natural for a young girl to be shy, but as night fell, Chu Yao lay in bed, half asleep, when he heard light footsteps coming from the next room and approaching his bedroom door.
Chu Yao reached out and lifted the bed curtains a crack, using the moonlight from the window to observe the situation.
The door creaked open, and then...
Clang—Thump!
Ouch!
Wushuang's delicate, pitiful cry of pain rang out.
Chu Yao leaped up and rushed to the doorway, where he saw Wu Shuang lying on the ground with one small foot, clad in a soft-soled embroidered shoe, hooked on the threshold. She had clearly tripped while walking in the dark, unable to see the obstacle.
"What's wrong?" Chu Yao didn't rush to help the person up, but asked with a smile, "Could it be a sleepwalking episode?"
A few breaths later, Wushuang raised her small face. The moonlight was dim, so her expression was not visible. Only her bewildered tone was heard: "Huh? Where is this? How did I get here? My sleepwalking must have started again..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chu Yao picked up a rectangular object from the ground and poked it in front of her: "Sleepwalking... and you're still hugging a pillow?"
When her lie was exposed, Wushuang felt so ashamed that she got up angrily, snatched back her precious pillow, and quickly turned around and walked away.
Back in her bedroom, as she turned to close the door, she discovered that Chu Yao had followed her.
Wushuang pushed him out impatiently: "You don't have sleepwalking, why are you sneaking into someone else's room? Get out, get out, get out!"
Unexpectedly, Chu Yao was agile and managed to dodge her small hand, squeezing in.
Wushuang pouted: "Anyway, it's your ship, you can be wherever you want, hmph!"
After saying that, she hugged her pillow, walked around the screen, climbed onto the long, carved rosewood canopy bed, and angrily slammed down the bed curtains, separating the inside and outside of the bed into two worlds.
Chu Yao walked unhurriedly to the bedside without saying a word, and automatically lifted the curtain to sit down on the edge of the bed.
Wushuang, wrapped in the brocade quilt, stretched out a foot and kicked Chu Yao's thigh: "Get off, get off, you're not allowed to sit on my bed."
"Okay, I won't sit." Chu Yao replied calmly, took off his boots, and lay down directly.
"Hey..." Wushuang suddenly sat up. "What are you doing?"
"You said I wasn't allowed to sit, so I'm not sitting." Chu Yao suppressed a laugh, forcing a serious expression.