Union

Chapter 144 Xiahou Yi

Yunying and her group rested at the inn for another five days before setting off.

Coincidentally, on the very day they set off, a great commotion was heard at the entrance of the post station.

A line of dozens of riders galloped in from afar. The riders were all dressed in fine clothes and had long swords at their waists. They were imposing and dignified.

Looking at the leader, he was indeed a handsome man with a striking appearance.

His lips were habitually upturned, and there was a fierce look in his eyes. In addition, he wore a golden crown on his head, and his waist was adorned with jingling ornaments. His clothes also exuded nobility and luxury. One glance was enough to tell that he must be a noble young master from a wealthy and powerful family.

And this person's identity was indeed more valuable than Yun Ying had imagined.

At this moment, Yunying had already come downstairs and was walking beside Moxue.

The newcomer strode confidently into the post station, and the two groups bumped into each other.

Mo Xue wanted to tell Yun Ying to go back to her room to avoid the situation, but it was too late. She could only bite the bullet and take two steps forward, then respectfully greet him, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness."

As soon as Xiahou Yi stepped into this remote post station, he saw several people standing in the main hall.

One of them immediately caught his eye.

The person was not tall and had a slender figure. Although she was dressed as a man, anyone with discerning eyes could tell that she was a woman, and a stunningly beautiful one at that.

Xiahou Yi was looking at the woman when someone came up to greet him.

Many people paid their respects to him, the heir apparent of the Xiahou family, but Xiahou Yi paid no attention, only glancing at them before calling out, "Rise."

But when he looked away, Xiahou Yi couldn't help but look back. The person in front of him looked quite familiar; anyone who looked familiar to him was at least a close attendant of a nobleman's brother.

Looking at the person in front of him, wasn't he dressed as a close bodyguard?

Xiahou Yi frowned, "Who is your master?"

Mo Xue bowed her head respectfully and replied, "Your Majesty is the Second Master of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion."

Xiahou Yi raised an eyebrow slightly. "Chen Yanzhou, huh?"

Having confirmed that the person before him was indeed Chen Yanzhou's personal guard, Xiahou Yi became interested. "Where is Chen Yanzhou? Where is he?"

"Second Master has already entered the capital."

"Go to the capital?" Xiahou Yi pondered for a moment. "Yes, this is his third year in a post outside the capital. He should be going to the capital to report on his duties."

Xiahou Yi muttered something to himself, then looked at Mo Xue in front of him and Yun Ying, who was subtly protecting him from behind.

Xiahou Yi became interested. "Now that Chen Yanzhou has entered the capital, what are you doing here? Who is this woman behind you? Let me guess, could she be Chen Yanzhou's concubine? Tsk, he really likes her, even bringing her with him to the capital."

Yunying didn't speak, but silently bowed, then lowered her head and took two steps back.

Seeing her avoidance of him like the plague, Xiahou Yi lost interest. He didn't bother waiting for Mo Xue's reply and simply walked past her, heading straight for the second floor, leaving behind only the words, "Since your master has already set off, you should hurry up and send him away too. Tell Chen Yanzhou for me that I'm waiting to drink with him, and that he shouldn't forget."

"I will certainly convey the Crown Prince's words."

……

Once inside the carriage, it sped northwards.

Because the carriage had been prepared beforehand, with all drafty areas sealed up with whole furs, and a brazier, two warm hand warmers, and thick blankets provided for Yunying's use, she felt an overwhelming warmth as soon as she entered, and was finally quite comfortable.

Yunying noticed several hidden compartments on the small table in the carriage and wondered what was inside. Just then, someone knocked on the carriage window.

"Miss Yunying." Mo Xue's voice rang out from outside.

Because the carriage windows were sealed, Yunying couldn't open them, so she turned slightly to the side and approached the window. "I'm here. You can speak to me."

Mo Xue lowered her voice and said, "That person just now was Xiahou Yi, the heir of the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion."

Xiahou Yi?
In the capital, Xiahou Yi was known for his unbridled and arrogant behavior. However, because his aunt was the current empress and he was the eldest son of the Prince of Zhaoyang, and the undisputed next Prince of Zhaoyang, almost no one in the capital dared to provoke him.

Is that Xiahou Yi?
Yunying looked thoughtful. "I understand."

Yunying knew about Xiahou Yi entirely because of Prince Zhaoyang.

Back then, when she was still at the estate of the Marquis of Chang'an, Granny Liu came to select people to be sent to the Prince of Zhaoyang's mansion to serve—at that time, the girls did not know that Granny Liu's visit was not only to select people to go to the Prince of Zhaoyang's mansion, but also to select people to be sent to the Duke of Rong's mansion.

It is said that because of the blazing fire at the Prince Zhaoyang's mansion, it has a great reputation not only in the court but also among the common people. Young girls, who aspire to marry into a wealthy family, have been diligently inquiring about the various aspects of the Prince Zhaoyang's mansion.

At that time, Yunying did not want to die at the hands of Chen Ping and his mother, and she also wanted to leave the manor as soon as possible. While the young ladies and old women were gossiping about the various scandals of the Prince Zhaoyang's mansion, she silently memorized all the information.

Unexpectedly, due to interference from Chen's mother, she was unable to enter the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion and was instead given to the Second Master.

Recalling the past, Yunying couldn't help but sigh.

I never expected that I would meet that arrogant and unrestrained heir of the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion here today, since I was unable to enter the mansion back then.

These thoughts only flashed through Yun Ying's mind. She didn't care too much about Xiahou Yi. After all, no matter how cold and unscrupulous Xiahou Yi was, he probably wouldn't touch a woman who was already married.

Yunying cared more about Jin Kui than Xiahou Yi.

The three people who were sent to Prince Zhaoyang's residence were Jin Kui, Xiang Ling, and Wan Bi.

Yunying wasn't very familiar with Wanbi and Xiangling, but she was close to Jin Kui, who lived in the same courtyard as Yunying and had once stood up for Yunying.

Yunying had a good impression of Jin Kui, but the two went their separate ways and lost contact afterward.

I wonder if the two of them will be able to meet once they return to the capital. I also wonder how Jin Kui is doing now, whether she has survived or managed to secure a place for herself in the treacherous and scheming Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion.

While Yunying was lost in thought, she had already walked quite a distance.

Without Yunying as an obstacle, the caravan did not stop to rest along the way.

It wasn't until evening, when they arrived at the next post station, that Mo Xue called for a stop.

Everyone dismounted, some from their horses, others from their carriages, and handed their horses over to the servants before filing into the post station.

As usual, they booked an entire floor of private rooms. Mo Xue settled Yun Ying in one of them before going down to meet the others.

For safety reasons, Yunying ate and ate in her room. She didn't think it was a bad thing; it was quite cold outside, and she preferred to endure the loneliness rather than be stared at by all sorts of random people outside.

After having a meal and a quick wash, Yunying lay down to rest. But just as she was drifting off to sleep, a loud commotion erupted outside.

There were sounds of horses neighing, men shouting and cursing, laborers begging for mercy in fear, and tables and chairs being kicked over.

Yunying also faintly heard Xiahou Yi's voice.

His voice was very distinctive, sharp and piercing, as if cut by a knife. The ending notes had a slight upward inflection, adding a playful touch, instantly conveying a sense of frivolity and unpredictable temperament.

Is it Xiahou Yi?
Or did she hear wrongly?

Yunying listened carefully again and heard heavy footsteps on the floor, heading straight for the third floor.

The second floor was already crowded with people, including two officials who had come to Beijing to report on their duties; another family had an invitation from an unknown person, and the person who came was an elderly lady and her young grandson.

The second floor is full, and the third floor is also booked by them. If it really is Xiahou Yi coming, he definitely won't stay in the servants' quarters; most likely, he'll ask them to vacate a few rooms.

Sure enough, Yunying soon heard Moxue's voice, "We will give up three rooms with the young master, no more."

Xiahou Yi patted Mo Xue's shoulder loudly, "Okay, let's do it this way."

Then, he pointed to the innermost room, "This room is quiet, I'll stay here tonight."

Mo Xue looked in the direction Xiahou Yi was pointing, then glanced at the room opposite.

The room opposite happened to be where Yunying lived, and his room was right next to Yunying's.

Mo Xue thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement and said, "We will follow the young master's arrangement."

Then, more chattering came from outside, and a moment later, Yunying heard the door to the opposite room being pushed open with a bang.

After that, the room was constantly in commotion. Someone brought food, someone brought hot water, two more servants came to clean up, and someone else came to report something.

The constant coming and going of people completely dispelled Yunying's sleepiness.

Finally, it was past midnight, and the noise from the other side finally subsided. Yunying breathed a sigh of relief and tried to fall asleep again.

This time she managed to fall asleep, but before she was fully asleep, she heard a loud "bang".

Before she could react, a chilling voice echoed throughout the post station, "Assassins!"

The moment the word "assassin" was uttered, Yun Ying's chaotic thoughts instantly cleared. As if someone had flipped a switch, she immediately sat up in bed.

There wasn't even time to put on shoes, and no time to get dressed properly.

When Yunying realized that the sound was coming from the room opposite her, she didn't care about anything else and just instinctively pulled open the wardrobe door and stuffed herself inside.

Just as Yunying's heart was pounding and she was anxiously waiting, the sounds of fighting grew closer and closer to her.

With a loud "bang," Shul's door was kicked open.

The two groups of people who were fighting ran into her room and started fighting fiercely. They split the table in half, kicked the screen so hard that wood chips flew everywhere, and kicked the water basin and fire basin so hard that they clanged loudly.

Chaos reigned everywhere. Amidst the sounds of fighting and shouting, the bed curtains inside the room were ignited by the charcoal in the brazier, and flames instantly burst into the room.

Yunying smelled a burning odor in the air. She held her breath and peered through the gap in the wardrobe.

A fire broke out, and the black-clad assassins clashed with Xiahou Yi's guards in close combat, fighting to the death.

Just then, Mo Xue rushed in from outside and, together with the guards from Xiahou Yi's family, killed the man in black.

Upon seeing that the man was dead, Xiahou Yi's guards nodded to Mo Xue and then rushed out.

Mo Xue glanced around the room and went straight to pull open the wardrobe door.

Yunying also pushed open the door and came out at this moment. Mo Xue was relieved to see that she was unharmed.

But seeing the fire growing bigger and bigger right in front of her, Mo Xue couldn't care less about anything else. She quickly found the bundle that Yun Ying had left under the window, handed her two pieces of clothing, and once Yun Ying looked presentable, Mo Xue led her directly to Xiahou Yi's room across the street.

The wardrobe was empty. Mo Xue opened the wardrobe door and gestured for Yun Ying to go in.

Yunying hesitated, and Moxue thought she was being wary of this being Xiahouyi's room, so she advised, "In times of emergency, don't worry about such trivial matters. Xiahouyi's room is the safest place right now, and the fire won't spread here anytime soon. Please stay here for a while."

Yunying waved her hand; that wasn't what she meant.

It wasn't that she was concerned about the separation of men and women; she was mainly afraid of Xiahou Yi. He was unpredictable and his temperament was extremely difficult to fathom. This was his room, and they had occupied it without his permission; she feared Xiahou Yi would pursue the matter later.

But now was not the time to talk about these things, so Yunying bent down and went straight into the wardrobe.

The fighting outside finally ended, and many people rushed over to help put out the fire. After the fire burned down the two rooms, they managed to extinguish it.

Everything was in chaos, but for Yunying, it was safe.

Mo Xue led Yun Ying out, but the two had just reached the door when they encountered Xiahou Yi, who was carrying a sword.

Xiahou Yi's face was covered in blood spots, his cold, deep eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the two men, blood still dripping from the sword in his hand.

Yunying turned her face away in fear, but Moxue remained calm. "Greetings, Your Highness. The situation was critical just now, so I had Miss Yunying hide in your room to avoid the thieves."

Xiahou Yi took a while to withdraw his sharp gaze. He looked at Mo Xue and nodded slightly. "To be honest, I'm the one who dragged you into this. But it's just a matter of seeking refuge, so it doesn't bother me at all. Miss Yun Ying, are you alright?"

Yunying noticed the gaze falling on her and quickly lowered her head, letting her naturally falling long hair cover her overly beautiful face.

Mo Xue subtly shifted her position, covering her even more completely. "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. All the bandits on this floor have been killed by the men you brought. Miss Yunying is unharmed."

Xiahou Yi: "That's excellent."

Mo Xue said in a deep voice, "I won't disturb the young master any longer. I'll take Miss Yunying to settle down somewhere else first."

This time, Xiahou Yi didn't respond. He just pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes, and pondered carefully what it was that made Yun Ying give him that overly familiar feeling just now.

Yunying breathed a sigh of relief as she entered Moxue's room, feeling as if she had escaped death.

She plopped down on the stool, breathing softly, trying to calm her agitated emotions.

Seeing this, Mo Xue knew she was terrified. He said dryly, "Miss, please rest for a while. We can set off when it's light."

Yunying pursed her excessively dry lips and after a long while, she finally uttered a single word, "Okay."