Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn

Chapter 161

As he spoke, he gave Bu Bei a malicious look, then turned to Gan Lin: "Do you know why I was able to get here so easily? It's because I had the help of a noble person from Hanyue City!" He emphasized the word "noble person" heavily, as if he had something in mind.

"As for the truth of what happened in Autumn Sun Valley, I'm afraid no one in this world knows it better than the Holy Maiden. I will remember it." As soon as he finished speaking, King Min, clutching his injured arm, quickly disappeared into the quiet, sultry afternoon.

Gan Lin had Bu Bei escort me back to the courtyard, while he himself circled the house to inspect the surroundings. After Gan Lin left, I made a "woof woof" sound at Bu Bei and raised my neck. Bu Bei was taken aback at first, then suddenly understood, and raised his hand to release my pressure points. I had been concentrating on dodging the Min King's hidden arrows, and then he had acupunctured my pressure points. Now that I was relaxed, I felt completely drained and my steps were unsteady.

Once inside, Bu Xi emerged from a side door. Upon seeing me and Bu Bei, he seemed relieved, his expression noticeably lighter.

"Take her back to her room to rest first. I'll check on the others and then come over." After saying this, Bu Xi quickly left.

Bu Bei glanced at me, his eyes somewhat unfocused: "You, can you walk back?"

I gritted my teeth, nodded, and started walking towards my courtyard. Before I had taken more than a few steps, a strong arm lifted me up from under its arms, supporting most of my weight.

"Always so stubborn!" Hearing the muttered complaints without any sadness or dissatisfaction, tears that seemed to be both joyful and bittersweet quickly filled her eyes, making her already chaotic thoughts even more disordered.

He helped me lie down on the couch in the room, but Bu Bei retreated to stand by the window, looking left and right, but just wouldn't look at me, making him very uncomfortable.

Seeing his expression, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. He glared at me fiercely, and I finally managed to suppress my laughter: "Young Prince, aren't you going to explain anything to me?" All the scenes of our reunion that I had imagined outside were ruined by this laugh, losing all their beauty.

But as soon as the question left my mouth, those nameless tears burst forth, just like the emotions I had suppressed for so long. I hadn't thought much of it before and hadn't recognized him, but after his contest with King Min, every move he made was something I, who had been by his side for over ten years, knew by heart, even though I hadn't learned anything myself.

Shen Haoyu's eyes, which were about to flash with anger, softened when he saw my tears, and he finally said softly, "Shouldn't you be the one who needs to explain to others?"

Regardless of whether it was clean or not, she raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face, looked up at Shen Haoyu who had an unfamiliar face, and laughed, "If I hadn't found out beforehand, would the young prince be here now? Why would I need to explain?"

Hearing my words, Shen Haoyu, whose expression had softened, became agitated again: "If I hadn't seen you were about to die, would I have come here to suffer?"

Recalling the time she saw him clumsily preparing medicine in the kitchen, her heart ached, and she said softly, "Alright, let's talk things out slowly."

Shen Haoyu gave a soft hum and leaned against the wall without saying a word. Compared to his tender and affectionate demeanor at one point, I'm more used to his current state. After all, he's been like this for so many years—a proud and awkward peacock.

A moment later, Bu Xi came in, glanced at Shen Haoyu by the window, and walked straight to me without saying a word. He sat down in front of the bed, took my wrist, listened with furrowed brows for a while, and then slowly released it: "It seems that the treatment was quite appropriate, and there is no major problem after this." He looked quite pleased with himself.

Having regained some strength, he sat up from the couch and asked, "You said you were going to check on the others, what happened to them?"

He frowned and said, "After dinner, the kitchen cooked a pot of mung bean soup to cool everyone down, but someone put a sleeping potion in the soup, and everyone who drank it was knocked out."

No wonder King Min said he was either dead or asleep. Ruosheng even offered me a bowl to drink, but since it wasn't frozen, I pushed it back. "And what about you guys?" I gestured towards Shen Haoyu with my eyes and asked Buxi.

"I was drugged by my master since I was a child, so what can that little bit of sleeping potion do to me? But when I saw that everyone had collapsed, I felt something was wrong, so I gave him the antidote and told him to come out and take a look. I stayed inside to wake up the others." As Bu Xi spoke, he also pointed at Shen Haoyu with his eyes. Shen Haoyu raised his chin and twisted his neck to the extreme.

"You two should talk things out as soon as possible." After saying that, Bu Xi stood up and strode out.

There was another period of silence inside, while the cicadas outside chirped even more shrilly.

"You, don't tell anyone." After a long while, Shen Haoyu finally said.

"Okay." I nodded in agreement.

"Neither Gan Lin nor Zinuo is allowed."

"Okay." He agreed readily, though it would probably cause trouble if they found out.

"You—" Shen Haoyu glared at me angrily, but the words caught in his throat. A figure flashed at the door, and Gan Lin appeared in front of me.

"Is anything wrong?" Gan Lin asked anxiously, frowning.

He smiled and shook his head: "I didn't like it, but I just saw it. It's fine."

Gan Lin breathed a sigh of relief and said to Shen Haoyu, "Thank you."

Shen Haoyu turned his head away again, ignoring him.

"How are the people outside?"

"Those guards? They're all dead. But it wasn't done by Prince Min alone; I'm somewhat familiar with his methods." Gan Lin frowned in thought.

Thinking of what King Min said before he left, I couldn't help but ask, "King Min said that a noble person from Hanyue City would help you. Is it that noble person?" The one who drugged me, assassinated the guards, knew Gan Lin's whereabouts, and assisted King Min in taking me hostage.

A cold glint flashed in Gan Lin's eyes: "Besides Zinuo, you are their second biggest thorn."

Besides those two princes, I really can't think of anyone else who would want to get rid of me. Although Zi Ling also has a lot of grievances against me, how could a powerless and impoverished foreign princess like her be involved with Prince Min? Besides, neither Prince Jin Que nor Zi Nuo are currently in Han Yue City; those two princes certainly have the ability to help Prince Min. However…

"Since King Min has their help, why would he need to provide us with information?" I was very puzzled.

Shen Haoyu, who had been silent all along, interjected, "What's so strange about that? The Prince of Min failed to take you away, and his goal was not achieved. If he leaked their information to you, Prince Luoyang will definitely not let it go. At that time, the Golden Sparrow Kingdom will be in turmoil again. He will not only fail to benefit himself, but also harm others." Although he has a bad temper, he is, after all, someone who grew up in conspiracies and intrigues, and he sees things more clearly than we do.

Gan Lin looked at Shen Haoyu, then nodded slightly to me: "Prince Min rarely suffers losses, but he has suffered several losses at your hands. This time, he wants to get back at least a little." After saying that, he sighed softly, "If he hadn't been suppressed by his incompetent elder brother, Xuan Ying Kingdom wouldn't be in this state today."

Knowing that Gan Lin grew up in Xuan Ying Kingdom, he had some affection for the kingdom. Upon hearing this, he simply lowered his head and remained silent.

After some thought, he asked Gan Lin, "How should we resolve today's matter?"

"The target is those two, but we have no evidence. And if we confront them directly, we'll be playing right into Prince Min's hands... If we ignore it, we'll likely face unrest in the future, and it will be impossible to guard against them." Gan Lin frowned, caught in a dilemma.

Seeing this swordsman, who might have once been lonely but free-spirited, now frowning over the intricate affairs of another country's court because of me, I felt I owed him far too much. A thought flashed through my mind, and I smiled, smoothing the furrow in Gan Lin's brow: "We can't let ourselves be taken advantage of. If we can't do it openly, we must find ways to trip them up secretly. We don't need to do anything to them, just make sure they don't have time to scheme against us."

He chuckled mischievously. "You know, if you watch too much TV, you'll always pick up a few tricks. Wouldn't it be a waste not to try them out?" He continued, "I didn't intend to offend anyone, but people have repeatedly tried to offend me."

Seeing my smile, Shen Haoyu habitually frowned and glared at me, while Gan Lin chuckled softly: "Wait for Huai En's brilliant plan."

Shen Haoyu snorted coldly: "You haven't even cleaned up your own house yet, and you're already thinking about how to deal with others. You don't even know how you died."

The person who could poison the soup was naturally someone from the household. Although they were all handpicked by Zinuo, Zinuo's influence in the Golden Sparrow Kingdom was too shallow, and it was hard to guarantee that some of these people weren't connected to those two. His face darkened; he knew he wasn't good at playing power games, and simply untangling those interpersonal relationships was beyond his capabilities. Nevertheless, he didn't forget to say to Shen Haoyu, "Thank you for the reminder."

A thorough search of the manor will surely reveal who poisoned me; it was all just for show. Now that the Prince of Min has failed to take me away as they wished, and the Golden Sparrow King and Zi Nuo are far away in the northern frontier, who knows what they might do to me? Gan Lin will no longer go out, staying home every day. If there's any assassination attempt, Gan Lin can handle a hundred men alone. However, no matter how audacious they are, they shouldn't cause such a commotion in Han Yue City, after all, there's the Prime Minister and the Imperial Preceptor in the court, and I am, after all, still the Imperial Preceptor's nominal disciple. To prevent spies within the manor, the Imperial Preceptor strictly checks our food every day, trying to avoid giving others any opportunity.

Shen Haoyu told me that the Immortal Master was Mr. Qi's senior brother, and thus his senior uncle, while the true Immortal was still in the mountains. Although I had already discovered his identity, he still brewed and delivered medicine to my room every day as usual, saying he was afraid of arousing suspicion, but this made me extremely uncomfortable, and I fidgeted. Finally, his shout, "I've fed you before, who are you doing this for?" made me feel at ease, and I stopped thinking about what he was doing in Youjing, and stopped asking him why he came here, just to indulge in this moment of satisfaction. More than half of the year had passed, and I didn't know how much longer I had.