“Daozhang Zixu, I’ll get someone to send you to the Commandery Prince’s compound. You can bring the rest of them the day the rituals are to be performed.” Su Xi-er said as she walked out of the hall. She then instructed the guards, “Prepare a horse carriage and send Daozhang Zixu to the Commandery Prince’s compound.”
The guard bowed and acknowledged her instructions. “This subordinate obeys the order.”
Daozhang Zixu bowed to Su Xi-er once again before following the guard out.
Su Xi-er stayed in the main hall until the early evening when it was time for her to take her medicine. By the time she was finished, night had already fallen, but Pei Qianhao had yet to return.
She started heading towards the entrance, only shaking her head when a guard asked if she would have dinner. After waiting for a bit, she couldn’t help but begin to worry. Did A-Jing encounter anything troublesome?
Concerned about her health, the guard at the door reminded her, “Princess Consort, this subordinate will wait here. I will inform you immediately when I see Prince Hao’s carriage. In any case, there’s no need to worry; it is well within Prince Hao’s abilities to take care of those monks and priests.”
The wind was chilly, but Su Xi-er pretended not to hear the guard’s words, continuing to stand at the entrance without any intention of returning inside.
Suddenly, footsteps could be heard, but there hadn’t been any sign of a carriage. As a result, the guard became cautious as a youth with a wine gourd tied to his waist appeared. Su Xi-er immediately recognised Yu Xiao, but the same could not be said for the guard.
Raising his halberd at the man, he immediately started questioning him. “Why are you loitering outside the Prince Hao Residence? What are you trying to do?”
Su Xi-er quickly waved her hand for the guard to stand down before walking forward and asking, “Yu Xiao, how were you able to leave the camp?”
Doing a double take at Yu Xiao upon hearing his name, the guards slowly lowered their weapons.
Yu Xiao looked at Su Xi-er seriously and said, “Princess Consort, shall we speak inside the residence?” He then lifted a hand in a polite gesture.
Su Xi-er could tell that military training had somewhat affected Yu Xiao’s personality, so she gently nodded and returned to the residence with him following closely behind.
Once they were both in the main hall, Yu Xiao knelt before Su Xi-er after the rest of the servants and guards left. “Princess Consort, Prince Yun isn’t dead yet, right?”
Seeing his determined gaze, Su Xi-er did not keep the truth from him. “He isn’t dead.”
Yu Xiao’s eyes seemed to reignite with a renewed resolve upon hearing this. “Princess Consort, this is exactly why I snuck out of camp. He will undoubtedly come looking for you, so I’d like to be your personal guard and kill him when he appears! I’ve been practicing my technique for the Heart-Penetrating Arrow, and if I continue honing my skills, I will surely be able to…”
He was cut off before he could finish. “This isn’t child’s play. I can agree to your request, but you cannot be reckless. Yun Ruofeng already escaped a brush against death once, so we have to make sure that nothing goes wrong this time around. Have you already heard about the rumours flying around the city?”
Yu Xiao nodded and said, “It has already spread to the four nations.”
“Rise. It’s cold outside. Have some tea to warm yourself up,” Su Xi-er said as she poured him a cup of tea.
Yu Xiao took the cup of tea in his hands and said, “It’s obvious Yun Ruofeng spread those rumors to target you. It’s unforgivable, and adding on the fact that my brother was killed under a thousand arrows by his order, I want to end his life personally!”
