Chapter 1020: Chapter 1020: On Her Mind
Ye Yiheng’s face darkened: "How could you not catch up?"
Has the Eastern Palace Dark Guard fallen to this level?
A cold expression clouded his face, extremely displeased.
An Shiba was extremely anxious, bowed his head and answered truthfully: "Today, I was ordered to secretly protect the two Your Highnesses. As soon as Your Highness signaled to me, I immediately rushed out of the palace gates to give chase. Though I caught up, the carriage I reached was empty. Only then did I realize we had been tricked. At the time, they likely used the strategy of luring the tiger out of the mountain, or perhaps a feint to the east while attacking the west, or some other method."
He clasped his hands and said: "I know I am at fault, I ask Your Highness to punish me!"
Ye Yiheng believed the Eastern Palace Dark Guard should not make such errors, his face cold and extremely displeased.
The matter concerned his Crown Princess Consort, even a minor mistake would be intolerable.
Leng Yu Yan noticed this, immediately releasing Baili Zhengrong’s arm, and with two soft hands, she pinched Ye Yiheng’s fingers.
"Your Highness, do not be angry. An Shiba acted without error; if there is blame, it is only on the opponent’s preparedness this time."
Baili Zhengrong saw his sister speaking like this, and knowing the Eastern Palace Dark Guard well, he chimed in: "Yes, brother-in-law, there is something odd about this. A woman disappearing quickly from the palace gates, perhaps there was an accomplice."
At this moment, they were on the road from the Imperial Palace to the Eastern Palace.
To avoid eavesdroppers, they hurriedly returned to the Eastern Palace to speak.
In the reception hall of the bedroom, the three of them sat down while An Shiba anxiously remained bowing on the side.
Chun Liu served the tea.
"Thanks, Sister Chun Liu." Baili Zhengrong smiled brightly and then speculated, "Sister, brother-in-law, could it be Ji Qingyu’s doing?"
"Xiaoshan suggests Ji Qingyu is colluding with Yu Yinglei?"
"Sister says, is it possible?"
Leng Yu Yan shook her head: "Those two are not likely to be involved together."
At this time, Mo Chen came in to report.
"Crown Prince, I have found that lately Prince Liang has had interactions with forces from Ximo. Not only that, Prince Liang personally visited the mountain where the Ji Family is based, and judging by how they were talking and laughing, it seems they reached some agreement."
Upon hearing this, Ye Yiheng suddenly spoke: "I understand now, Yu Yinglei was certainly taken by Ximo forces."
--
As expected, the carriage carrying Yu Yinglei directly headed to Prince Xian Mansion.
To avoid exposing her whereabouts, carriages of the same design began to flee in different directions the moment Yu Yinglei was picked up.
Yu Yinglei quickly found the antidote and swallowed it, not even having time for a sip of water, she asked the woman wearing the black veil hat across from her: "Who are you?"
"Why save me?"
"What exactly are your intentions?"
The woman laughed aloud, the laugh pleasant yet eerily ethereal in the still night of the mansion.
"You have so many questions, which one should I answer?"
"Could it be you’re one of Ye Shi’s people?" Yu Yinglei speculated.
Having taken the antidote, she felt somewhat better and was confident she wouldn’t be poisoned now, allowing herself to drink a glass of water.
Yet, the hand holding the glass trembled uncontrollably.
Claiming not to be scared would be a lie.
She feared after escaping from the palace, the woman in the black veil hat was here to claim her life.
"Ye Shi?" The woman laughed again, "Who is Ye Shi?"
"Oh, let me guess, Emperor of Tiansheng’s ninth daughter is named Ye Jiu, then Ye Shi must be his tenth daughter."
The woman glanced around the room, chose a Taishi Chair and sat down, crossing her legs, and asked charmingly: "Did I guess correctly?"
Yu Yinglei was relieved the other wasn’t one of Ye Shi’s people, her heart calmed considerably.
She didn’t have many enemies in Tiansheng, except for the Eastern Palace and the deceased Ye Shi. Given this, the person before her wasn’t likely after her life.
She sat down immediately, boldly asking: "Why did you save me?"
The woman suddenly laughed: "I didn’t intend to save you."
Rescuing her was purely accidental.
Her aim was to capture Princess Xian, to win over Ye Zhenxian, thus drawing more of the prince’s forces in Tiansheng.
As for returning to Prince Xian Mansion, the plan was to hold Princess Xian hostage to coerce Ye Zhenxian.
The use of multiple carriages was all due to avoiding exposing her movements.
Unexpectedly, she saved this foolish woman in front of her due to chance.
Nevertheless, this worked well, as now Ye Zhenxian owed her a big favor.
Yu Yinglei’s heart was uneasy: "Who exactly are you?"
The woman extended her hand, admiring the vibrant polish on her nails, speaking slowly: "Who I am doesn’t matter. What’s important is that being with me brings benefits without drawbacks."
Under the black veil, sharp eyes fell upon the increasingly uneasy young woman: "What do you say, Princess Xian?"
Yu Yinglei took a deep breath: "What do you want me to do for you?"
Tonight, she was very fortunate for the mysterious woman. Without her, she truly couldn’t be certain if she could have returned to the mansion on time.
--
Meanwhile, Ji Qingyu and Leng Song quietly returned to a secluded corner of the palace.
In the corner, two eunuchs lay asleep after being knocked out.
Ji Qingyu and Leng Song exchanged a glance, discarded the eunuch’s clothes they wore, and donned their original robes.
To be safe, Leng Song carefully re-dressed the two eunuchs in their attire.
And he removed the rags and ropes from their bodies.
Having done all this, the two of them jumped over the wall.
Riding fast horses, they headed toward the city gates.
Not until they exited the city did Leng Song ask: "Sir, have you seen the Crown Princess Consort?"
Ji Qingyu’s thin lips were pressed into a line, after a moment he replied: "Yes, I have seen her."
She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
Ye Yiheng still remained as cold and proud as ever.
Why did she love such a cold person and not him?
However, tonight she seemed to glance at him twice.
The first glance was that of a stranger casually looking at someone, yet the second time her expression held a trace of pity.
Did she recognize him?
Conversing on horseback was inconvenient, so master and servant sped towards their base.
As they approached the foot of the mountain, the horse slowed down.
"Leng Song, do you think she recognized me?"
Ji Qingyu spoke of Leng Yu Yan’s two glances at him.
Leng Song said: "With this disguise, even the brothers in the mountains couldn’t recognize us. Master’s appearance has greatly changed, the Crown Princess Consort should not have recognized you."
"Then why did she glance at me once, then twice?"
Leng Song guessed: "Maybe the Crown Princess Consort found your eyes familiar, sir."
No matter how one changes their disguise, a pair of eyes can never be altered.
Saying this, he thought inwardly, if the Crown Princess Consort didn’t even glance at the master, the master would likely have a fit tonight.
Yet now he pondered about why she looked twice.
Master, oh master, you truly love the Crown Princess Consort deeply.
Just looking at you one more time was enough for you to continuously speculate, ponder and conjecture.
If this effort were spent on another woman, you’d have a house full of children by now.
Ji Qingyu didn’t know what Leng Song thought, he removed the human skin mask, revealing his original gentle appearance.
