Xiao Luzi smirked on the side and glanced at the horse cart. “Young master, if you ask me, I’d say that the girl has no interest in you at all. Do you see the man riding the horse ahead of the cart? I presume that he is no ordinary folk, maybe he is the person she likes?”

Thud-

The fan swatted, as expected, onto Xiao Luzi’s head. ‘Ow!’

“Why do you have so many useless things to say? Just bring our cart over. We won’t be able to catch up to them if you waste more time.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll go right away, what’s the hurry?” Xiao Luzi covered his head with his hands as he went to pull the cart over to them.

On the road, Jing Rong’s group rode ahead, while Li Shiyan followed closely behind. Jing Rong noticed their presence not long after. He exchanged a glance with Lang Po and asked, “Who are those people?”

Lang Po shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I know that there are only two of them, and they were in the same inn as us last night.”

“Make sure to keep an eye on Miss Ji and Wei Yi, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to them.”

“Understood, your Highness.” Lang Po beckoned over a few guards and ordered them to escort the cart from behind, in case anything were to happen.

They arrived at Yu province, a region not far away from the capital. At the rate they were going, they would arrive at the capital in no more than two days. Ji Yunshu had remained in the cart for almost half a day following their departure from the inn, and she could barely tolerate the soreness in her limbs. Were it not for Wei Yi, who kept talking to her, she would have been bored to death.

“Once, Uncle Fu made two clay figurines for me. One was very fat and the other one very skinny. When it was time for lessons, I asked my teacher who the fat one was, and he said that it was Father. I asked him who the skinny one was, and he said that it was Mother. I told him with a smile that he got it wrong; the fat one was actually him, because my father wasn’t that short, the skinny one was actually his wife, because my mom wasn’t that tall. He hit me on the hand a bunch of times until they were red, and didn’t come back the next day.”

‘Well then, you kind of deserved it for laughing about his shortness and his wife’s tallness.’ Ji Yunshu stayed silent and let him continue.

“Then there was this other time when my mom brought me to a temple. She wanted to know about my love fortune, so she asked an old uncle there to interpret the bamboo stick I had taken.” Wei Yi’s eyes wandered around as he tried to remember, “I remember him saying that I had a life full of passion ahead, and that lovers and husbands would come to me, from close and far away.” Mother became so angry after she heard what he said, she cursed that old man and even turned his table over. She was very scary when she was that angry.

Ji Yunshu could not hold in her laughter any longer. “Wei Yi, do you know who that sentence is used for?”

Wei Yi shook his head.

“It’s used for young girls.”

‘My, my, Wei Yi, how “beautiful” you must have been?’

Wei Yi smiled, as if he understood Ji Yunshu’s explanation, and started telling another tale. The topic of their discussion changed from one extreme to another, and something was said about all of the things in-between.

Ji Yunshu listen to his stories and stretched her neck. She brushed the curtain to the side and looked at the view outside; it was a beautiful day. She turned her head towards the back of the cart and saw a few guards which weren’t there before. Another cart closely followed them. ‘Hey, isn’t he Li Shiyan’s servant? This stalker, is he really going to the capital too?’

“Let’s take a break here.” Jing Rong’s voice came from the front. The group paused right next to a little stream, next to which there was a conveniently open spot of lawn that they could sit on. Ji Yunshu dragged Wei Yi to the stream and took out her gourd. She was about to drink from it when Jing Rong snatched the object away from her hands.

“I have no more water left,” said Jing Rong without even turning his head back to look at her.

‘Hey! You shameless… So you have no more water, why are you taking mine? First my unfinished noodles, and now the gourd I’ve drunk from? Can you have a little dignity?’ Ji Yunshu stared at him in annoyance, only to see him straighten his back in contentment.

Wei Yi saw it all and gave her his bottle. He said with a smile, “Shu’er, use mine.”

“I’m fine, I’m not thirsty.”

“Oh.” Wei Yi retracted his hand. He then picked up some pebbles on the shore of the stream and started to throw them into the water in a playful way.

‘He really is just like a child.’

Jing Rong, who peeked at Ji Yunshu from not very far away, saw the radiant smile on her face, and the affectionate look she threw at Wei Yi, who was still busy throwing rocks. The sourness he felt was as strong as if someone had showered him with a cask of vinegar.

Lang Po noticed his master’s discontentment and approached him carefully. “Your Highness?”

“We’re leaving.”

In a moment of extreme frustration, he hurled the gourd he had taken from Ji Yunshu to Lang Po and jumped onto his horse.

‘Why are we leaving now? Didn’t we just sit down?’ Ji Yunshu heard the shouts from the guards, and pulled Wei Yi away from the river, just as he was about to remove his shoes to step into the water. The two climbed back into the cart.

In the cart behind them, Xiao Luzi rushed into the interior and cried out, “Young Master, they are leaving.”

He was answered with a foot which came out of the cart and kicked him in the back. “Well then, follow them!”

“Yes, Young Master.” Xiao Luzi pulled on the reins, lashed at the horses with the whip, and caught up to Jing Rong’s party.

Jing Rong’s “cask of vinegar”, so to say, had been shattered on multiple occasions on their way to the capital, and he remained dispirited for the entirety of the journey, which concluded as the party arrived at the gates to the capital. Before Jing Rong even passed through them, the news of his arrival had reached Prince Yi’s Mansion. Jing Yi, who sat cross-legged on a carpet, slowly poured tea into his cup and sipped it leisurely. He looked somewhat like Jing Rong, dressed in a blue robe with his hair arranged around a pin; one could say that he was quite handsome. His mien was one of elegance and refinement, but between his brows and amongst his features, one could recognize something fierce and merciless.

Dou Quan, his trusted underling, bowed and said, “Your Highness, Prince Rong has made his way back to the capital. I fear that the case at the Imperial Duke…”

Jing Yi savoured his tea without any hurry or agitation. “Did that girl come with him?”

“Yes.”

Jing Yi smiled. “Jing Rong thinks that if he can elucidate the case of Imperial Duke, he would be able to receive the favour of my father. What a fool.” He pinched the teacup vigorously.

Dou Quan bowed his head down. “My Prince, may I suggest…”

Jing Yi stopped him with a hand gesture. He put the cup down and rose from his seat, strolling with light steps until he reached the walkway outside. The Capital was still cold in March, as the lunar new year had barely begun. A birdcage hung from the wooden pillars, and a canary inside struggled fearfully, beating her wings as she shivered from the cold wind. Jing Yi opened the cage, and the canary quickly flew out of it, vanishing before long.

“Your Highness, this was a gift from the emperor, why did you let it go?” Dou Quan could not understand his actions.

Jing Yi’s lips drew a smile on his face, “A canary in a cage is either hurt or dead.”

A canary in a cage is either hurt or dead.

Ji Yunshu once said those exact same words.