Chapter 124: This is the Great Lin, Not Qujiang! The visage inside the carriage, barely visible through the swaying curtain, was inadvertently caught by Ji Li and Ji Huan. It was not clear-cut, but enough to prod Ji Huan’s hand to rest on his sword hilt; he had his doubts and wanted to pull that person out of the carriage, rip off the veil and ascertain his guess. However, before he could take another step, Ji Li pulled him back and whispered to him. “Prince Rong is here, we cannot risk it.”
Ji Huan’s bitterness was conspicuous. He threw off Ji Li’s hand away from his as the carriage disappeared and vented out his anger, “If it really was Ji Yunshu inside the carriage, doesn’t that mean that we just let her escape like this? How are we going to avenge Third Brother then?”
Compared to him, Ji Li was a lot more composed. He said with a sunken expression, “Regardless of whether it was her or not, we are on quite bad terms with Prince Rong now, and this will hurt us in the future. We should be looking to make new friends, not create new enemies.”
Ji Li was was the Left Secretary in the army. He was both a cultured man and a talented martial artist, enough to be considered as a military advisor with high potential. Thus, his brain was much more flexible compared to Ji Huan who has more brawn than brain.
Ji Huan dropped the subject unwillingly. He snorted, letting out white fumes from his nose as if he had exploded inside.
The two had yet to go home for Ji Yuanzhi’s funeral. If they had known that the Ji Mansion had been burned to the ground, and that their grandmother had also pa.s.sed away, they would probably have regretted bitterly for not chasing after that carriage and cutting it into two.
……………..
Inside the carriage, Wei Yi had finally calmed down and was holding onto the portrait of his parents. “Shu’er, who was that just now? Did he want to kill us? Why would he want to kill us?”
“It’s fine. They didn’t want to kill us. It’s just a misunderstanding.”
“Really?”
Ji Yunshu nodded. “Yes, really.”
Wei Yi moved closer to Ji Yunshu, but no longer said a word. Ji Yunshu processed the situation that had occurred just now. If Jing Rong didn’t manage to stop Ji Huan, she would have been dead by now. She reached for the curtain and lifted it to look outside. Coincidentally, Jing Rong turned back to look at the carriage. His eyes carried a tint of concern. Ji Yunshu nodded at him, expressing her thanks and telling him that she was fine. After that, she pulled her head back inside the carriage.
As they continued their journey, Jing Rong became even more vigilant. He ordered several bodyguards to protect the rear. Their final formation encircled the carriage for protection against anything unexpected. They proceeded on until the sky turned dark. Fortunately, as night came, the official road was even and didn’t cause them much trouble until they finally reached an inn. Although the inn wasn’t located on the outskirts of any agglomeration of inhabitants, it was still very big in size. What’s more, it was a popular stop with many merchants and peddlers setting up shop around it.
Only after getting off the carriage and touching the ground, did Ji Yunshu truly feel that she was alive and had survived the ordeal earlier.
Jing Rong ordered some people to feed the horses before entering the inn. As they made their appearance in the inn, they captured everyone’s attention. A handsome and stern man equipped with longsword being accompanied by a woman dressed in an elegant and uncommon attire, and furthermore her face was being concealed by a veil. Although this was a faraway region, merchants and swordsmen weren’t lacking in numbers. Thus, it wasn’t much of a surprise to encounter someone carrying a sword. However, it was quite a rare sight for a group of people to attract that much attention. Several men even overtly stared at Ji Yunshu.
A drool-worthy sight! An enthusiastic waiter bowed at them and hurriedly welcomed them inside. “How many of you are staying at the inn?”
Jing Rong kept a stoic face. It made the waiter feel as though he had swallowed ice. Lang Po stepped forward and took out money, which he stuffed inside the waiter’s hand before instructing him. “Please prepare several rooms for us.”
Gripping onto the money, the waiter’s eyes sparkled. He pulled down the towel on his shoulder and moved away from them. “Allow me to lead you upstairs.” He led them to the stairs.
Ji Yunshu had climbed a few stairs when someone rushed downstairs. His steps seemed as if they produced wind, advancing like a storm and violently b.u.mping against her shoulder. She staggered from the impact and fell backward. Fortunately, Jing Rong timely encircled her waist, resting his hand on her back, and stopped her fall.
The man who b.u.mped against her appeared to be around thirty. He had his head lowered and seemed in a panic. He hurriedly apologized, “Sorry, sorry…” He rushed downstairs after apologizing.
“Are you alright?” Jing Rong asked, his mouth near her ear.
She shook her head.
“Are you still unsettled because of your brothers? Don’t worry. With me here, I won’t let anyone from the Ji family lay a single finger on you.”
“Thank you very much, your Highness.” She lifted the hem of her skirt and continued to climb the stairs.
The waiter pushed the door open for her. “Miss, this is your room. It’s quite s.p.a.cious.”
“Thank you.” Just as she entered, Wei Yi also followed after her, but before he could enter, Jing Rong had grabbed onto his collar.
“Your room is over here.” He unceremoniously dragged Wei Yi away into another room.
Ji Yunshu wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, she refrained herself from doing so. If Wei Yi decided to stick with her and wanted to sleep with her, she wouldn’t know how to escape from this predicament. Therefore, Jing Rong dragging Wei Yi away made her feel immensely grateful to him.
Wei Yi was extremely unhappy when he was being dragged to another room. He glared at Jing Rong. “Why don’t you let me stay with Shu’er?”
“Man and women should have a sense of propriety, don’t you know that?”
“Of course I know, mother said that too.”
Jing Rong frowned. “And you still want to go in?”
Wei Yi properly voiced his reasoning. “But Shu’er is my wife! Mother said that I can sleep with my wife.”
“……” Right at this moment, Jing Rong really doubted that Wei Yi was not doing it on purpose. Jing Rong grumpily ordered Lang Po, “Tonight, you will sleep in the same room as him. Watch him properly and don’t let him run off.”
“Yes, your Highness!”
Hearing that he would sleep with Lang Po, Wei Yi pouted and stuck up his nose while shaking his head in a hurry. “I don’t want to sleep with him! I want to sleep with Shu’er.”
“As if!” Jing Rong spat out the reply before leaving.
Wei Yi wanted to chase after him, but Lang Po got in his way. As a rough and strong man, cheris.h.i.+ng words like gold, he crossed his arms and simply camped himself in front of the door.
“We slept together yesterday, so why is today any different?” Lang Po retorted at Wei Yi.
‘That’s right. Last night, you used my shoulder as a pillow, so why is it a problem for you today?’ Lang Po didn’t understand the reason. It wasn’t like he smelled bad. So, why Wei Yi is refusing to sleep with him? ‘How annoying!’
Wei Yi roared at Lang Po, “It’s not the same!” Wei Yi threw a small tantrum by sitting on the chair and lightly hammering the table with his clenched fists as if he was using it as a punching bag.
Lang Po had received an order, thus he followed it to the letter: observing Wei Yi without blinking an eye and not allowing him to go find Ji Yunshu.
Meanwhile, from the moment Jing Rong’s party entered the inn, a pair of inquisitive and playful eyes closely followed them. Li s.h.i.+yan, who sat in a private room on the second floor, had a clear view of the entrance and the entire second floor of the inn. He rested one leg on a stool and one of his hands was grabbing peanuts, tossing them into his mouth. With a playful expression, he muttered. “Interesting!”
His attendant approached him and asked, “Young Prince, are you interested in that young lady?”
“What? You mean I can’t?!”
“That woman had a veil on. We don’t know if she’s beautiful or ugly underneath. Besides, look at the people at her side. All of them have swords. It’s better not to cause trouble. If the Marquis knows you caused trouble, he would not spare you.”
Li s.h.i.+yan slowly got up and pat his attendant’s head. “Xiao Luzi, how many times do you want me to tell you, that when we are outside, we cannot mention the marquis at all. This is the Great Lin, not Qujiang!”