Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

The moon's shadow climbs up the branches.

Behind the low wall of the stable, three heads slowly "grew" out.

From highest to lowest, they are Yan Xingxiao, Chai Xiaomi, and Zhu Yu.

Six eyes were fixed intently on the solitary, aloof figure not far away. Song Yueyao stood alone in the moonlight, wiping the crescent blade in her hand again and again.

Yan Xingxiao: "Sigh, this is such a cruel twist of fate... Won't Miss Song be too upset?"

Zhu Yu frowned: "It seems so to me. Look, she keeps wiping the dagger in her hand. She's probably going to use it to slit her own throat."

Yan Xingxiao nodded: "I think so too. In a moment, listen to my command. When I say 'three, two, go,' you two, one on the left arm and the other on the right arm, and I will go and take the knife."

Chai Xiaomi looked left and right, speechless.

How come these two people are even better at imagining things than she is?

She and Wu Li simply returned to the inn later than everyone else, and somehow missed such an important part of the story.

I heard that it was Jiang Zhiyu's master, Ji Fangshi, who came to take him back to Lingyu Prefecture, and even had a long talk with Song Yueyao alone.

No one knows what they discussed in detail.

In short, the only thing Chai Xiaomi remembered was that when Song Yueyao was in Lingyu Prefecture, she was merely a hostage from a neighboring country with no control over her own destiny. Her feelings for Jiang Zhiyu were never accepted by Lingyu Prefecture.

Her own homeland, Liangya Prefecture, treated her as nothing more than a dispensable pawn.

Therefore, Jiang Zhiyu escaped on his own.

He abandoned imperial power, left his homeland, and wandered the world with her.

The cool moonlight bathed Song Yueyao's profile. She wiped the knife slowly and gently, the blade gleaming with a lonely, cold light under the moonlight.

Ji Fangshi's words kept echoing in my mind—

"Song girl, you know better than anyone else that the lord and the queen are very loving and have only one son. As the young master, Yu'er carries the weight of the Lingyu Prefecture on his shoulders and has the destiny of an emperor flowing in his blood."

"Lingyu Prefecture and Liangya Prefecture have always been at odds. The only time they sent troops to reinforce you, it was in exchange for you being a hostage. You are currently struggling to protect yourself, so what can you offer them? Stability, honor, or, one day, the opportunity to make them turn against the entire Lingyu Prefecture to protect you?"

"I'm sorry, Song girl, these words were conveyed by my lord and the queen on my behalf."

Song Yueyao lowered her eyes and suddenly chuckled very softly.

Yes.

What can she give him?

Having escaped this marriage, she was left with nothing but a life of wandering and hardship.

Now that I'm going back, all I want is to use the Rainbow Stone to buy back my mother's freedom.

"Sister Yao!"

Suddenly, a crisp voice rang out from behind.

The girl's voice was soft and sweet, but not cloying. It was clear and clean, like melting snow in early spring. Every word she spoke seemed to be wrapped in a gentle light, making people feel bright and cheerful.

Upon hearing that it was Xiaomi, the faint sorrow in Song Yueyao's heart quietly dissipated.

"Eat cake."

Chai Xiaomi carefully broke the still-steaming rice cake in her hand in half, handed the larger half to Song Yueyao, and kept the smaller half for herself.

This was the last piece of rice cake in her bag, and she hadn't been able to bear eating it.

After all, once they leave Chishan, this specialty is not available in other places. However, Wu Li said that this cake can only be stored for about ten days at most, and if she doesn't eat it soon, he will throw it away.

She had no choice but to snatch it from his hand and have the innkeeper's waiter steam it for her.

Right now, the rice cake is steaming with white smoke, wafting a sweet aroma. Take a bite, and you'll find it fluffy and soft, with the sweetness seeping into your teeth.

Song Yueyao took the half-piece of cake and saw how slowly and carefully Xiao Mi ate it, so she guessed that this was her last piece of treasure.

Xiaomi is always like this; she can't bear to finish what she likes all at once, and always saves it for last to savor little by little.

But unfortunately, Wu Li always manages to snatch the last bite.

Not only did they steal it, but they also pretended to be disgusted and commented that it was "disgusting".

She stomped her feet angrily and cursed, while the boy smiled triumphantly. Seeing that she was almost done getting angry, he magically produced a new dish to barely win her forgiveness.

Thinking of this, Song Yueyao couldn't help but slightly curve the corners of her mouth.

What a pair of clowns, a bickering couple.

She broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth, then handed the rest back to Xiaomi: "I don't really like sweets, one bite is enough."

Chai Xiaomi shook her head disapprovingly, her voice soft but earnest: "Sweets are good things. When you're in a bad mood, eating something sweet will make you feel better."

"I'm in a good mood." Song Yueyao swallowed the cake in her mouth, but her tongue only tasted a faint astringency and did not taste any sweetness.

She subtly concealed the hint of disappointment in her eyes, looked up at the slender crescent moon on the horizon, and gave a slight smile, her tone deliberately light:

"Jiang Zhiyu, you know, he's a chatterbox, a busybody, and has no sense of propriety. He's also incredibly narcissistic, always fiddling with that tattered fan like some kind of refined gentleman. He spends ages agonizing over color combinations when it comes to clothes, more particular than I am, a woman. Having this show-off around all the time is such a nuisance; it's better he's gone, I'm happy to have some peace and quiet!"

Chai Xiaomi choked upon hearing this, paused slightly in the hand holding the cake, and looked down at her own outfit.

She had just taken a shower and changed into a clean dress.

She wore a pink brocade dress with lotus-root silk sash, the gradient colors of the fabric resembling the glow of sunset on snow. A soft, pine-colored silk robe loosely covered her outer layer, and her half-dry hair was simply tied into a loose bun with a light-colored hairband.

The hair ornament was still tucked into her hair bun.

It looks casual, but it was actually put a lot of thought into its construction.

She's the kind of person who'd dress up a bit even just to take out the trash, because who knows if an acquaintance might suddenly appear out of nowhere.

She immediately identified with the word "show-off".

Seeing her expression, Song Yueyao was slightly taken aback, then realized something and quickly coughed awkwardly, smiling as she tried to cover it up: "I wasn't talking about you, Xiaomi."

"You are like a little butterfly. Butterflies should linger among flowers, adding bright colors to themselves. That's their nature, and they are very beautiful."

"And Jiang Zhiyu, at best, is just a big-headed fly that likes to dart around!"

Chai Xiaomi secretly glanced at the second floor of the inn.

Fortunately, Jiang Zhiyu was having his internal energy regulated by Master Ji in his room at the moment. Otherwise, if he had heard this barrage of disparaging remarks and learned that his beloved woman had compared him to a big-headed fly, it would have been difficult for him not to break down.

On second thought, she realized that Song Yueyao's words didn't seem quite right.

What do big-headed flies usually hover around...?

She coughed lightly to cover her mouth. "My sister, how did you get yourself involved in this?"

It's like hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of your own; this sharp tongue is ultimately a bit lacking compared to Li Li's.

Song Yueyao didn't seem to find anything wrong with it and continued gently, "Xiao Mi, don't worry. Since we promised you and Wu Li that we would go to Youquan Town together, we will definitely accompany you on this journey. After you finish visiting your relatives in Youquan Town and are about to leave, he will go back to Lingyu Prefecture with his master."

"Mmm." Chai Xiaomi looked at her feigned relaxed expression and understood that Song Yueyao was inherently strong-willed and never wanted anyone to see any weakness in her.

"Sister Yao, don't be sad about things that haven't happened yet. Who can say for sure whether we'll be separated or stay together in the future? The present is the most important thing. Cherish what you have now and cherish the people in front of you."

As she spoke, she held up the remaining half of the rice cake, her eyes bright:

"Come on, let's not toast yesterday or tomorrow, but only the present! Cheers... oh wait, I mean, dry cakes!"

A glimmer of light seemed to flicker in Song Yueyao's eyes. "Well said, 'Just enjoy the moment! Cheers!'"

The two of them shoveled the rest of the rice cakes into their mouths.

As a result, the mouthful was too big and choked, so they could only puff out their cheeks and look at each other, bursting into laughter.