A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 111

"Princess!"

The camel-drawn cart was quite tall. Mo Yan climbed onto it using both hands and feet, lifted the curtain, and saw Zhao Yu lying slumped inside, looking depressed and listless.

Seeing her bring in milk porridge again, Zhao Yu immediately said with disgust, "Take it out quickly, the smell makes me want to vomit."

“Princess, you can’t not eat.” Mo Yan was actually quite sorry for her, and kindly advised, “Why don’t you go down and get some fresh air? This camel carriage is comfortable, but it’s still a bit stuffy.”

I don't want to go out.

"You haven't really looked closely at the two white camels in front of the carriage, have you? We don't see camels like that in our Great Song Dynasty."

"I don't like camels."

"Don't you want to see what Yelü Hongji is doing?"

Zhao Yu sighed: "What's so interesting about it? In the future... I might grow tired of him every day."

Mo Yan, who was never good at giving advice, was now completely at a loss for words to say to her.

“But if you don’t eat, Brother Zhan will worry,” she had no choice but to say.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Zhao Yu rolled her eyes at her before saying weakly, "You're only trying to persuade me because of Zhan Zhao, aren't you?"

Mo Yan scratched her ear awkwardly and said truthfully, "Not entirely. Actually, I care about you too. You... you should eat something."

Although the girl in front of him wasn't exactly likable, at least she wasn't being perfunctory and was trying her best to help him. Zhao Yu slowly straightened up, lifted the carriage curtain slightly, and glanced outside: he saw Yelü Hongji and Yelü Pusa Nu standing together not far away, seemingly talking about something. As if sensing something, Yelü Pusa Nu turned her head to look in their direction, her gaze revealing undisguised coldness and disgust…

She intended to lower the carriage curtain, but her status as a princess did not allow her to back down in the slightest. Zhao Yu tried her best to remain calm and met his gaze. After a moment, the latter gave a cold smile and turned back.

"I want to get off the bus."

Zhao Yu lowered the carriage curtain and said to Mo Yan in a deep voice. No matter what, she was a princess of the Great Song Dynasty; she couldn't let these barbarians look down on her.

Although she didn't know why she suddenly changed her mind, Mo Yan was very happy to see her get off the carriage: "What about the porridge?"

"Eat, but eat outside the car." She was determined to eat and drink well, to show those who looked down on her what she was made of.

Mo Yan chuckled and said, "Okay."

The maids spread a thick felt blanket on the grass outside, helped Zhao Yu down from the carriage, and served her steaming hot milk porridge. Zhao Yu ate two bowls of milk porridge and three mutton marrow cakes with ease, as if nothing had happened. The milk porridge had a strange taste, and the mutton marrow cakes still had a muttony smell, yet she seemed to enjoy them so much. Mo Yan, standing to the side, secretly clicked her tongue in admiration.

Seeing this, Zhan Zhao thought it was Mo Yan's doing, and thought to himself that it was easier to persuade her when she was with a young woman. He smiled and smiled at Mo Yan.

"Princess, are you enjoying the food?" Yelü Hongji asked specially as he came over.

Zhao Yu stood up and smiled slightly, "Thank you, Your Highness. I ate very well."

"Then I'm relieved."

Yelü Hongji was very gentle. He turned to the guard beside him and instructed, "Bring the jar of honeyed mountain fruit from my carriage to the princess." He said to Zhao Yu, "We still have a long way to go. The camel carriage will be very bumpy. If the princess feels dizzy, she can try some. It might make her feel better."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Before long, the guards brought over the candied mountain fruit. Mo Yan reached out and took it. When she looked up, she saw Yelü Hongji helping Xiao Guanyin into the carriage. She couldn't help but shake her head and sigh in her heart, "This man is really thorough in every way."

Author's Note: After much thought, I decided that a kiss on the forehead suits Zhan Zhao better, so I made a slight change, hehe~~

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Chapter Forty-Four

They traveled for another day and night, finally arriving in Zhongjing the following morning.

The Empress Dowager's passing caused great commotion in the Liao palace. Since Zhao Yu and Yelü Hongji had not yet performed the formal rites, they were temporarily housed in the Datong Hall outside Deyang Gate.

Fortunately, Datong Inn was originally a guesthouse used to receive foreign envoys, and Song envoys resided there year-round. The inn was full of Song people, and everything inside, from the side rooms and courtyard to the tables and chairs, was no different from that in the Central Plains, except that the food was far inferior. Mo Yan held the title of personal guard, but had no real duties; she only peeked out when Zhao Yu called her. She leisurely settled into her quarters and then went to find Zhan Zhao, only to learn that he had been summoned to the palace by Yelü Hongji and had not yet returned.

Zhao Yu, weary from her journey, had already rested under the care of her maids. The guards, following Zhan Zhao's earlier instructions, took turns standing guard in an orderly fashion. Bored, Mo Yan wandered around the Datong Inn for a while before finally returning to her room to rest. When she awoke from her nap, she was surprised to find that it was already dusk.

She got up, washed and dressed, and hurriedly went out of the house. Just as she turned past the artificial hill screen, she ran into Zhan Zhao.

"You're awake?" Zhan Zhao asked, smiling at her.

"Brother, when did you return from the palace?"

"I returned just after Chenshi (7-9 AM)."

Zhan Zhao hadn't slept for two days and two nights. After returning from the palace, almost everyone except the guards on duty was asleep, so he also went back to his room to rest. However, he was a light sleeper and woke up on his own after only two hours.

“The princess…” Mo Yan tiptoed over his shoulder and peered into the house where Zhao Yu lived behind him. Her older brother must have just come out of the princess’s room.

Zhan Zhao pulled her down and dragged her outside, saying, "The princess is having her meal."

Mo Yan followed him all the way into Zhan Zhao's room. After sitting down at the table, she asked curiously, "Brother, you've come back from the Liao Kingdom's palace. How is the Liao Kingdom's palace different from our Song Dynasty's palace? Was it fun?"

Zhan Zhao looked at her amusedly: "What fun things could there be in the palace?"

"Is that emperor fierce? His name is Yelü Zongzhen, have you seen him?"

He nodded, his brows furrowing slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Tilting her head to look at him for a moment, Mo Yan leaned over and smiled as she reached out to smooth his brow: "It looks like that emperor must be very fierce, making you unhappy, brother. Shall I go and beat him up for you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhan Zhao couldn't help but chuckle, gently taking her hand down and saying, "You're talking nonsense again."

"What happened?"

"No, that's not it. I'm just worried..." He paused for a moment before saying, "The grand ceremony was originally scheduled for a month later, but now that the Empress Dowager of Liao has passed away, I'm afraid the date for the ceremony will have to be postponed."