Zhao Jingyu and Cheng Zhiye went to look for the little prince of Nanzhao excitedly. But when they arrived, they only saw the King of Nanzhao and the eldest and second princes drinking tea and chatting. The little prince was not in the tent.
Prince Nanzhao had long heard of these two famous dandies in the capital, and for the sake of Marquis Dingyuan and Minister Cheng, he politely invited them in and let his two sons talk with them.
The eldest prince Song Zhan is the eldest son of King Nanzhao, three years older than Song Jingxing. He is mature, steady, deep and introverted. He is highly valued by King Nanzhao and is taken with him wherever he goes.
Perhaps it was because he was a few years older, or perhaps it was because he looked down on Zhao Jingyu and Cheng Zhiye's status as illegitimate children, Song Zhan acted politely yet distant towards the two of them, as if he was keeping people at a distance.
On the contrary, Song Ze, the second prince of Qingfeng and Yue, who had a gentle temperament, got along very well with the two of them because of their similar age and status.
Song Ze was neither the legitimate son nor the eldest son, and had no ambition for the throne, so he lived a very transparent and comfortable life, and had a very harmonious relationship with both his elder brother and his third brother.
While chatting, Cheng Zhiye asked about the whereabouts of the little prince. Song Ze told him that his third brother was a restless person and was impatient to stay in the tent. He insisted on going out for some fresh air. His father then agreed to let him walk around nearby and he should be back soon.
At this time, a guard came in from outside and whispered something to King Nanzhao, who suddenly changed his expression.
Zhao Jingyu and Cheng Zhiye looked at each other, then stood up and said goodbye.
Judging from King Nanzhao's reaction, this is probably not good news. If they continue to hesitate and refuse to leave, it would seem they are too tactless.
After they were far away from the Nanzhao King's tent, Cheng Zhiye said, "I wonder what troubles they encountered."
Zhao Jingyu said casually: "Maybe the little prince was running around late at night and was caught by the patrolling guards."
"No way?" Cheng Zhiye said, "He is a prince after all. Even if he is caught, he can just explain it to the guards. Is the King of Nanzhao so scared?"
"I don't know about that. Maybe he did something bad." Zhao Jingyu smiled meaningfully.
Cheng Zhiye also laughed: "Do you think everyone else is like you?"
The two of them walked back chatting and laughing, Wei Jun and Huangfu followed closely behind. When they arrived at the door of Zhao Jingyu's tent, Cheng Zhiye said goodbye to him and returned to his own residence.
As soon as Cheng Zhiye left, the guard who was responsible for following Xie Nanjia came back and reported to Zhao Jingyu in a panic, saying that Xiao Luzi had been captured by the guards.
Zhao Jingyu was stunned for a long time before he remembered that Xiao Luzi was Xiu'er. He asked in surprise, "What did she do? Why was she arrested?"
The guard described the scene in detail, saying, "She tripped, and the little prince of Nanzhao appeared out of nowhere and hugged her. Then they were discovered by the patrolling guards, who said they were having an affair. I didn't dare to reveal my identity, so I could only hide in the dark and watch them being taken into General Wu'an's tent."
"Hold her?" The guard said a lot of things, but Zhao Jingyu only paid attention to this sentence. He became furious and rushed to Xie Zhanting's tent.
…
The lights in the big tent were on brightly. General Wu'an Xie Zhanting sat in the main seat with a gloomy expression, while Xie Nanfeng stood beside him, holding a sword.
Xie Nanjia knelt on the ground, she never expected that she would meet her father and brother in this way.
What she didn't expect was that she would actually meet the young man in white whom she had rescued on the way back to Beijing. That young man was the one standing next to her at this moment, Song Huai, the little prince of Nanzhao, who was granted the privilege of not kneeling because of his noble status.
When Xie Nanjia decided to rescue him that day, she only recognized him from his jade pendant as a person from the Nanzhao Palace. She did not know his detailed identity, and she never thought that he would be the youngest son of the Nanzhao King.
She had heard that the King of Nanzhao had a son in his middle age. Although he was born out of wedlock, he was regarded as a treasure and kept him by his side all day long, not letting him leave for even a step. When she met Song Huai, Song Huai was being chased by someone, covered in wounds and nearly dying, so she never connected him with the little prince of Nanzhao.
And ever since Song Huai recognized Xie Nanjia as his savior, he was deeply shocked. However, because the fact that he was being hunted was a secret, he dared not speak to Xie Nanjia again after he said "it's you".
Originally, he was worried that Xie Nanjia would tell his secret, but he didn't expect that after Xie Nanjia said "it's you", she didn't say another word. After entering the military tent, facing the questioning of General Wu'an, she showed calmness beyond her age. She only said that she was a servant of the second son of Zhao and got lost in the camp. She kept silent about everything else.
Song Huai couldn't help but look at her with admiration, but at the same time he wondered why she dressed up as a servant. However, since the little girl kept the secret for him, he was very loyal and did not expose her.
Another person who recognized Xie Nanjia but did not expose her was Xie Nanfeng.
As soon as Xie Nanjia entered the room, Xie Nanfeng recognized her. Combined with the gossip circulating outside, he quickly realized that this girl was probably the "male favorite" of Zhao Jingyu that everyone was talking about.
Wasn't she serving the Fourth Young Miss? Why did she follow Zhao Jingyu to the West Mountain Paddock? Could it be that Zhao Jingyu saw that she was pretty and forcibly took her away from the Fourth Young Miss
If this is true, then Zhao Jingyu is really despicable!
Speaking of Cao Cao, here comes Cao Cao. Footsteps were heard outside the tent. The guards had no time to stop him, and Zhao Jingyu rushed into the tent like a gust of wind. His bright red clothes looked like flames under the candlelight.
When Xie Nanjia heard the noise, she turned around and met Zhao Jingyu's fiery eyes.
Xie Nanfeng drew his sword and rushed to Zhao Jingyu, waving his sword to stop him, and scolded him: "How dare you enter the military tent without permission!"
Zhao Jingyu did not move. Wei Jun appeared silently behind him like a ghost and blocked the sharp blade for him.
Xie Nanjia secretly worried for her brother. She could see that if this was not the general's tent, Wei Jun would have taken action long ago and her brother might not be his opponent.
"What? Do you want to kill me?" Zhao Jingyu sneered.
"You trespassed into the military tent, so I might as well kill you!" Xie Nanfeng raised his eyebrows.
“Try and kill one!” Zhao Jingyu stretched out his hand to push Wei Jun away, stepped forward, and pressed his chest against the tip of his knife.
Xie Nanfeng gritted his teeth and was about to move the tip of the knife forward.
Xie Nanjia subconsciously wanted to jump up to stop him. She knew her brother too well. When he got angry, he would dare to stab anyone, not to mention Zhao Jingyu.
"Xie Nanfeng! Back off!" Xie Zhanting spoke out in time to stop him.
Xie Nanfeng is now also a member of the army. When he goes out, he has to obey military orders. Although Xie Zhanting is his father, he is also his commander-in-chief. He dare not disobey the order. He suppressed his anger, retracted the knife, and retreated to Xie Zhanting's side.
Zhao Jingyu snorted coldly and clasped his fists towards Xie Zhanting: "General Wuan, please forgive me. I am here to look for my servant. I wonder what crime he has committed that he has to be brought here by your soldiers for trial?"
When Song Huai heard this, his eyes fell on him with burning intent.
Zhao Jingyu felt the other person's unfriendly gaze, raised his eyebrows, and said with a straight face: "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a handsome man before?"
Everyone in the tent burst into laughter.
Xie Nanjia was speechless, thinking to herself why this person was like a male peacock, spreading his feathers regardless of the occasion and without even looking around. Was this the time for a beauty contest
She thought Zhao Jingyu was already narcissistic enough, but Song Huai beside her said leisurely: "I am the most handsome man in Nanzhao. No matter how beautiful you are, can you be as beautiful as me?"
Everyone: “…”
The originally very solemn atmosphere suddenly became relaxed, and even Xie Zhanting showed a smile.
"Second Young Master Zhao," Xie Zhanting said, "Before you came, I had already found out the reason. Your servant got lost in the camp and happened to meet the little prince. There was nothing wrong between the two of them. It was the patrolling soldiers who misunderstood them."
"Misunderstanding?" Zhao Jingyu snorted coldly and reached out to pull Xie Nanjia up from the ground. "If it is a misunderstanding, can I take her away?"
"Of course." Xie Zhanting nodded.
Zhao Jingyu snorted again and dragged Xie Nanjia away.
However, Xie Nanjia didn't want to leave. She had finally seen her father, and apart from being interrogated by her father, she hadn't said a single extra word. She wanted to stay a little longer, even if her legs were numb from kneeling.
Zhao Jingyu sensed her intention to stay and her face turned as cold as ice: "Why, is there someone here that you miss?"
"..." Xie Nanjia had no choice but to bid farewell to his father, nodded to Song Huai, and followed him out.
When Zhao Jingyu saw that she was still flirting with the "ugly" man, he became even more angry and carried her away like a chicken.
As soon as he went out, he ran into the Nanzhao King and his sons who came in a hurry. Zhao Jingyu was angry and passed by the three people without even saying hello.
The Nanzhao King and his son had already changed into their home clothes at home. When they learned that their youngest son had been arrested, the three of them changed their clothes again before rushing over. Therefore, they were a little slower than Zhao Jingyu.
King Nanzhao didn't expect to meet Zhao Jingyu here again. He was about to talk to him, but he walked away as if he didn't see him.
King Nanzhao was confused, and as he was anxious to see his youngest son, he ignored the call and asked the soldier guarding the door to pass the message on his behalf.
When Xie Zhanting heard that he was coming, he went out of the tent to greet him personally.
Zhao Jingyu dragged Xie Nanjia all the way back to the tent, ordered the guards with a sullen face to step back, and then pushed Xie Nanjia viciously to the floor.
"What are you doing?" Xie Nanjia was horrified and struggled to get up, but Zhao Jingyu grabbed her neck with one hand and pushed her back.
"If you dare to move again, I will strangle you to death, believe it or not?"
Xie Nanjia was frightened by him. She stared blankly at his eyes which were red with anger and felt that his anger was too inexplicable.
"Second Master." She tentatively softened her tone, "How did this servant offend you?"
"Shut up!" The veins on Zhao Jingyu's forehead were exposed. "You keep calling yourself a slave, but you don't do anything that a slave should do. If I don't care about you anymore, you will be able to go to heaven!"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
"Come on, you're quite talkative, right? Why don't you say anything?" Zhao Jingyu said.
"..." Xie Nanjia said helplessly, "You were the one who told me to shut up..."
"I told you to shut up, but you still keep talking?" Zhao Jingyu tightened his five fingers, "I might as well strangle you to death, and you'll be quiet."
Xie Nanjia felt suffocated.
"Tell me, how did you get to know that ugly guy?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
Xie Nanjia shook her head with difficulty: "I don't know him, I just met him by chance..."
"What nonsense!" Zhao Jingyu said angrily, "Do you think I'm blind? Can't you see that you two have known each other for a long time? How come you didn't meet me when you met by chance?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Zhao Jingyu said it so confidently that she couldn't tell whether he really saw through her or was just trying to trick her. Her mind raced as she thought of a strategy to respond.
"Are you planning on tricking me?" Zhao Jingyu tightened his grip even more, his eyes turning from furious to cold.
Xie Nanjia realized that he was really angry this time.
She had never seen Zhao Jingyu like this before. Back then, at the farm, Zhao Jingyu had lost his temper in front of her and crushed a white jade cup with his bare hands, but he was not really angry that time, so he pinched the cup instead of her neck.
And now, those five cold fingers were stuck on her neck, ready to strangle her throat at any time. If she didn't want to die, she had no choice but to surrender.
"I'm saying, I'm saying, let me go first." She said breathlessly.
"Speak!" Zhao Jingyu loosened his fingers slightly, but did not intend to let her go completely.
Xie Nanjia greedily took a few gulps of fresh air and confessed, "I have indeed seen him before, but at that time I didn't know he was the Prince of Nanzhao."
"Where did you see it?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"During the lunch break." Xie Nanjia said shyly, "I ran into him when I was in the woods."
"What?" Zhao Jingyu suddenly raised his voice, "He saw it?"
"No, no." Xie Nanjia said hurriedly, "He was about to leave, and I just arrived. I saw that he was wearing a python-patterned robe, and I guessed that he must be a member of the royal family, so I saluted him, and he just nodded slightly, and then left."
"Is that so?" Zhao Jingyu narrowed his eyes, half believing and half doubting.
"That's it." Xie Nanjia nodded repeatedly.
She thought about it again and again, and still felt that she could not tell Zhao Jingyu the truth. Firstly, it concerned Song Huai's privacy, and secondly, it would arouse more suspicion from Zhao Jingyu.
She said that she met Song Huai when it was convenient, and Zhao Jingyu should not ask Song Huai to verify this matter. As long as she finds a chance to explain it to Song Huai in the future, the matter can be concealed.
Zhao Jingyu felt her slender neck moving in his palm, and his anger subsided a little. He still asked with a cold face: "What about tonight?"
"It was also a coincidence tonight. I was really lost and didn't know where he was," Xie Nanjia explained.
"Then why did he hug you?" Zhao Jingyu asked again.
"..." Xie Nanjia was stunned and suddenly realized that something was wrong. When she was discovered by the soldiers, Song Huai had already let her go. How did Zhao Jingyu know that Song Huai had hugged her
Unless he sends someone to follow her again.
Zhao Jingyu immediately realized that he had let the cat out of the bag, so he let go of Xie Nanjia's neck and left.
Xie Nanjia pulled him back and said, "Wait a minute, explain everything clearly before you leave."
(End of this chapter)