A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 191

Mo Yangao stumbled up the stairs, and Su Zui took off his own outer robe and told her to put it on: "It's a bit dirty, but it's better than being sick."

Fortunately, Mo Yan didn't mind, and since she was indeed shivering from the cold, she took off her own outer robe and put on his.

The three of them walked around the area for a short while, collecting some dry branches and leaves. Since they had come out to offer sacrifices, they had even brought a small brazier, which came in handy now. They gathered the dry branches and leaves into the brazier, took out a flint, and lit it. Su Zui had Mo Yan hold the brazier at the cave entrance, while he fanned the smoke into the cave.

Sure enough, a few baby turtles popped out of the shell shortly afterward. Mo Yan laughed, "So it was a whole nest! Now we've got some to catch."

Zhao Yu frowned as she examined the small turtles closely. Their shells were ordinary, not the five-colored divine turtles, which made her somewhat disappointed.

The turtles continued to run out, growing larger and larger, their shells even becoming shiny.

"It really is a five-colored divine tortoise!" Mo Yan held the brazier, looked around, and clicked her tongue in amazement.

Su Zui grabbed the outer robe that Mo Yan had taken off earlier, held it in her hand, and prepared to wrap a turtle: "Princess, which one do you want?"

Zhao Yu, unable to go into the water, stood a little further away and could only say, "You figure it out!"

"Choose the big one, choose the big one!" Mo Yan couldn't move her hands, so she just pouted, "That one, that one is big!"

"Which one?" Su Zui thought they all looked about the same.

As the two were talking, a turtle, much larger than the previous turtles, slowly crawled out of the cave. Its shell was about the size of four palms, and it shimmered beautifully in the sunlight.

Upon seeing it, Mo Yan exclaimed, "That's it! That's it! Princess, look! It really is a five-colored divine tortoise!"

Zhao Yu saw it too and said happily, "Okay, let's catch this one then."

"What if an even bigger one comes out later?" Su Zui asked with a smile.

“We can’t move the bigger ones, so this is the one!” Zhao Yu shouted back with a laugh.

"OK!"

Volume 3, Chapter 32

Su Zui shook Mo Yan's outer robe, then scooped up the giant tortoise from the bottom and wrapped it inside the robe.

"Loosen up a bit, don't hold it so tight, let its head out, be careful it doesn't feel suffocated," Mo Yan said anxiously, holding the brazier but unable to get involved.

Su Zui waded ashore, loosened his robe slightly, and tried to find the turtle's head. Unexpectedly, the large turtle had undergone a strange change and had already retracted its head into its shell, leaving only a smooth, colorful shell.

Upon seeing this, the three couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Mo Yan put down the brazier, curiously touched the tortoise shell, and asked in confusion, "I don't know how this tortoise shell grew, it's really strange?"

This was such a strange thing that the other two had never seen it before, so they both squatted down to examine it closely.

The three of them took turns rubbing the tortoise shell for a while. Su Zui recalled that when he touched the rock wall earlier, the sunlight shone on the rock wall and made it shimmer faintly. He suddenly laughed and said, "I understand. This tortoise must have lived among the rocks for many years. Its back has been covered with rock dust. Over time, the rock dust has fused with the tortoise shell, so it naturally looks colorful under the sun."

Mo Yan looked at the tortoise shell, then at the hole from before, and felt that what he said made sense: "No wonder the little tortoise didn't have any on it. It must be because it wasn't ready yet."

Zhao Yu touched it worriedly and said, "If that's the case, will the color fade if we take it back?"

"No, don't worry," Su Zui said. "It swims in the water all the time and its color has never faded, so it shouldn't."

Zhao Yu thought about it and agreed, so she felt relieved: "Then let's take it back."

Mo Yan couldn't help but laugh when she looked at the tortoise. She said, "Princess, we've gone to so much trouble. Do you really think Yelü Hongji will be moved if you give this tortoise to him? I just find it funny."

Upon hearing her question, Zhao Yu's smile immediately faded, and she said, "I don't know if he will be moved. I just did my best."

Upon hearing this, Su Zui glanced at her for a moment, then stood up and said calmly, "What truly touches people's hearts is not how valuable the item is, but what the person has done for them, or what they have sacrificed for them."

Before Zhao Yu could speak, Mo Yan nodded in agreement, saying, "He makes sense..." She turned to Su Zui and smiled, "I've noticed that what you say is always quite reasonable."

Su Zui smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Mo Yan then said to Zhao Yu, "Princess, since your goal is to move Yelü Hongji, and we've already got the tortoise, why don't we put on another show for him?"

"You mean acting in a play that involves a lot of hardship?" Zhao Yu naturally understood what she meant.

"right."

Mo Yan smiled and said, "We worked so hard before, but Yelü Hongji didn't even get to see it. It's such a pity. Now that he's back, it's the perfect opportunity."

Without much thought, Zhao Yu nodded in agreement: "But we still need to plan carefully how to make him see it in a way that looks real."

Mo Yan turned to look at Su Zui: "Do you have any good ideas?"

Su Zui bent down and wrapped the turtle up, not even glancing at them, and said, "I don't understand your women's vying for favor."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. Before she could speak, Mo Yan angrily retorted, "What are you saying? If the princess were to do this for the sake of the Song Dynasty, would she need to marry that Yelü Hongji?!"

"Xiao Qi!" Zhao Yu stopped her, saying calmly, "I don't need to explain what I've done to others... We've been out for too long, let's go back."

After Su Zui uttered those words, he was filled with deep regret, secretly hating himself for saying such sarcastic things to mock her when he knew she was acting against her will. Yet, for some reason, watching her busy herself for Yelü Hongji, he just couldn't help himself…

"I'll hide this tortoise in my tent for now, and take it out later." Mo Yan was still annoyed, and took the tortoise from Su Zui and placed it on her saddle.

Zhao Yu smiled slightly: "Alright, take good care of yourself."

Su Zui said nothing more, helped Zhao Yu onto his horse, and then returned to camp in silence.

That night, Mo Yan tossed and turned on the bed, unable to sleep. The turtle that was kept in a cage under the bed was also restless, crawling around and scratching the carpet.

It wasn't until after midnight, when all was quiet outside, that a figure slipped silently in.

"Big brother..."