Quand l'amour approche, c'est comme la neige

Chapitre 72

Yongye slowly said, "This is a convoy sent to the State of Chen. Unless it is the Emperor himself, anyone who dares to search it is disrespectful to the Emperor. You are the Left Guard Commander of the Eastern Palace, do you know what kind of situation this will put the Crown Prince in? I'm giving you this whip to wake you up! Commandant Lin, if anyone moves the convoy again, behead them! What responsibility do you have for me!"

"Yes!" The Leopard Cavalry were all elite soldiers, and they drew their swords in unison, exuding an imposing aura.

The Left Guard Commander of the Eastern Palace, who usually relied on his status as an imperial guard to act arrogantly towards the capital's guards, was immediately thrown into an uproar after being whipped in public, and they all drew their weapons.

Upon hearing Yongye's words, Tianrui inwardly cursed a bunch of idiots, realizing he had been too hasty. He stepped outside the pavilion and smiled at Yongye, asking, "What's going on?"

"Greetings, Your Highness! May I ask why Your Highness ordered the search of the envoy's entourage?" Yongye bowed, but his face remained stern.

"Hehe, Yongye is overthinking it. I'm worried about Yongye's safety. They'll misunderstand me. Put away your knife! What kind of talk is that!" Li Tianrui said, his eyes darting around the carriage.

Yongye frowned. Who exactly was Li Tianrui looking for? Did he also want to capture Yuepo? Her gaze shifted to Tianyou behind Li Tianrui, her chin slightly raised, her face full of disdain. Was he implying that she couldn't even handle such a small matter and yet still wanted to pursue him?

Tianyou smiled slightly, stepped forward, and whispered in Tianrui's ear, "Are you really looking for an assassin?"

Tianrui's eyes blazed with anger, and he finally couldn't help but shout, "Li Yongye, the Emperor has already decreed that Qiangwei will be my Crown Princess next year when she comes of age. If you have even the slightest wish, you are disobeying the imperial decree!"

No wonder Li Tianrui disregarded etiquette and ordered a search of the envoy's entourage; Rose probably didn't want to marry and simply ran away. Yongye was shocked and turned around to shout, "Search! See if Princess Rose is hiding in the entourage! Your Highness, I truly did not know that the future Crown Princess had run away from home. I will accompany you to search the entourage personally."

Yongye's expression was genuine, and Li Tianyou was also taken aback. He suddenly remembered that Qiangwei had been in love with Yongye since childhood. If she had known that Yongye was going to Chen Kingdom as an envoy and that she was going to run away from home to elope, she might have followed him. No wonder the Crown Prince was waiting at Shili Pavilion.

He chuckled inwardly, waiting to find Rose and hand her over to Tianrui, saving her the trouble of getting entangled with Yongye and revealing her identity. His eyes, however, were searching for Yuepo's whereabouts. Regardless, Yongye's knowledge of Yuepo but his refusal to openly acknowledge it always made him suspicious. Following Yongye's orders to search, he accompanied Tianrui to examine the carriage.

After checking all ten carriages, nothing was found.

Tianrui's face grew even uglier. He said to Yongye, "Yongye, may you have a safe journey! May you marry Princess Yuxiu soon! When you return, I will lead my guards to greet you at Shili Pavilion."

Yongye found it amusing; the Crown Prince clearly wished she would marry the princess right now, so that Qiangwei would give up on him. She bowed deeply to the two princes: "Thank you, Your Highness. I hope Your Highness will come to my residence for a wedding feast someday! Your Highness, Yongye will take her leave now!"

Li Tianyou reached out to help, but Yongye refused to let him touch her again. Just as Li Tianyou reached out, Yongye quickly turned around and ordered, "Let's go!"

Tianyou awkwardly withdrew his hand, not angry at all, and said gently, "Yongye, have a safe journey. Remember to send a message back."

Tianrui glanced at Tianyou strangely, then noticed that Yongye's features were becoming increasingly captivating. He chuckled inwardly, plotting whether he could use his elder brother's homosexuality to scheme against him again in the future.

The convoy slowly departed from Shili Pavilion. Tianrui stared at the convoy silently with a gloomy expression, while Tianyou smiled and said, "Yongye has never had any feelings for Qiangwei, so please don't blame her, Second Brother."

"I just don't see what's so great about her! She looks like a woman, and she's completely helpless!" Tianrui said disdainfully. He mounted his horse and led the guards back to the city.

The procession gradually disappeared from sight. Li Tianyou stood gazing into the distance. Outside the pavilion, spring was in full bloom, the grass was lush and green like a carpet, and the sun shone warmly. He had never felt so cheerful. He murmured, "Xiao Ye, that day is not far off."

At this moment, longing began to stir in Li Tianyou's heart.

Meeting is difficult, parting is even more difficult.

As evening fell, the caravan entered Dingzhou City and rested at the post station. Yongye had no time for pleasantries with the post station officials, so he instructed Commandant Lin to handle the situation, and drove all the carriages into the courtyard, ordering that no one be summoned and no one be allowed to enter.

After arranging things for Yongye, he walked around the courtyard again before slowly approaching the carriage where Yihong was sitting. He lifted the curtain and asked with a smile, "Scared?"

Yuepo was hiding in the hidden compartment of the carriage where Yihong was sitting. During the search, Yongye noticed Yihong's eyelashes trembled slightly when she greeted the Crown Prince and the First Prince. She assumed Yihong was just nervous and wasn't worried. The hidden compartment of the carriage was ingeniously made; unless the carriage was dismantled, it would be impossible to find her.

Seeing that no one was around, Yi Hong pointed to the mezzanine. Yong Ye frowned, reached out and lifted it up, and was stunned.

The mezzanine space was narrow, spacious enough for one person, but for two... Rose squeezed next to Moon Spirit, placing a dagger around his neck. Seeing the mezzanine open, she gasped, "Brother Eternal Night! I was suffocating!"

Good heavens! Yongye looked at Yuepo nervously. He was smiling helplessly at her, his mouth twisting as if to tell Qiangwei to put away her dagger.

"Rose, come out quickly, there's no one here now," Yongye whispered.

"No, Brother Yongye, this scoundrel has kidnapped you and escaped from Prince You's mansion. Luckily, I know martial arts and only discovered him when I heard him coughing. Quickly, find the guards to tie him up!" Rose was afraid that Yuepo might do something strange.

Yongye was both amused and exasperated. She softened her voice and said, "He's injured. I locked him up inside. He doesn't have the strength to hurt anyone. Come out now!"

Rose then came out, turned around and kicked Moon Soul hard again. Seeing him coughing while clutching his stomach, she said fiercely, "You dare to kidnap my Brother Eternal Night, I'll definitely treat you well!"

"Yihong, take the princess back to her room. I've instructed the Leopard Cavalry to guard the courtyard; no one will see us. I'll come back later." Yongye gestured for Yihong to take Qiangwei away.

But Rose refused to leave: "Yihong, go find a rope. I'm worried about Yongye staying with him!"

Yuepo struggled to sit up, cursing inwardly that the princess was truly ruthless. As soon as she got into the carriage, she forced Yihong to hide her away, and now she was adding insult to injury by dealing with him. How did Yongye get into such a big mess?

"Rose, he's injured, he doesn't know martial arts, and he's not poisoned. I have some questions for him. It's alright, you go back to your room first. Be good!" Yongye's face darkened.

She roughly understood what had happened. Qiangwei had indeed run away from home to elope. She knew Yihong and got into this carriage. Qiangwei knew martial arts, but Yihong did not. Threatened by Qiangwei, she dared not utter a sound. When the Crown Prince inspected the convoy, Qiangwei discovered the hidden compartment, so he had no choice but to hide her inside as well.

Rose left reluctantly, but when she heard that Yongye hadn't said a word about sending her back, she cheered.

Yongye watched her walk away, then turned back and saw Yuepo leaning against the cushion looking tired. She asked softly, "Are you alright?" She knew that Li Tianyou had thrown Yuepo into the water and coughed up blood, which must have injured his lungs. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to cough out and let Qiangwei notice.

"It's nothing, just some external injuries, I swallowed a little water," Yuepo smiled. Yesterday, when he was feeling unwell in the water, a man in black swam over and rescued him. When did Yongye meet such a master? Was he from the Duan Prince's mansion? He didn't ask, but glanced at Yongye and said:

“It’s too much trouble to take her with me.”

“I know. Just drug her and send her back. But…” Yongye was helpless. She was an assassin, not a murderer. Rose discovered Moon Soul, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to kill her to silence her.

"How about I take her with me?" Yuepo thought for a moment and said, "This method is feasible. Just say that you have been poisoned by my Gu, and if you want the antidote, you have to lock me up here. That girl is willing to stay here all day for you, so she will definitely come with me. Right now, the whole of An Kingdom is looking for her. We can't let her reveal that I am here with you, and we can't kill her either, right?"

Yongye gazed at Yuepo, her pale, handsome face etched with weariness. He knew he had to leave; he still needed to take care of Qiangwei for her. Yongye lowered his eyes: "The poison has been neutralized?"

"Um."

The two remained silent, sitting there in quiet solitude. A melancholy atmosphere hung in the air.

"Oh, by the way, the person who saved me yesterday asked me to give you a message. He said that the young master has turned eighteen, he has repaid his debt of gratitude, and it's time for him to fulfill his duty. He told you not to go looking for him." Moon Soul broke the silence, softly relaying Shadow's words.

Yongye felt a pang of sadness. Shadow's act of repaying a debt of gratitude—was it to repay the kindness he showed her parents? But to whom was he truly loyal? Regardless of whether it was repaying a debt of gratitude or not, she owed Uncle Shadow a debt, and she feared she would never see him again. Yongye concealed her emotions and asked calmly, "Did he say anything else?"

Yuepo shook her head. Seeing Yongye's blank expression, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She reached out and flicked her forehead: "You're just saying one thing and meaning another. You don't have to keep it to yourself if you're upset. Can't you tell me what's wrong?"