"Are you really going back?" Song Qinzhou looked at his youngest daughter lovingly. Although he was extremely reluctant to part with her, he wanted to respect her choice at this moment.
"Daughter will come back to accompany you during the New Year." Seeing her father speak, Song Jinyu felt that there was hope for her to return to Tianmen Mountain. She stepped forward flatteringly to massage her father's shoulders.
Seeing how sensible she was, Song Qinzhou softened his tone. "It's a long and arduous journey. I'll send someone to escort you back."
"Dad, there's thick poisonous fog on Tianmen Mountain. Ordinary people may easily get poisoned..."
Jinyu stopped her hand and turned around to grind ink for her father.
"You've always been a worry-free child for me since you were young." Seeing his daughter so determined, Song Qinzhou didn't force the issue anymore. Thinking of what his son said last night and seeing his daughter so sensible, intelligent and decisive, he supposed that Miao Yunshen must have taken good care of his daughter.
"Daughter will go and pack up first!" Jinyu tried hard to suppress her excitement and put on a reluctant look.
But the joy dancing in her clear deer-like eyes betrayed her.
Song Qinzhou looked at her amusingly, as if he saw Qiu Shuixin many years ago.
"After all, the child has grown up!"
Finally, she was going back!
After coming out of her father's study, Song Jinyu couldn't stop smiling. She first went to Mrs. Xiang's room to say goodbye. From Mrs. Xiang, she learned that it was her elder brother who had persuaded their father, which was why her father had agreed to let her return to Tianmen Mountain.
Sure enough, only her elder brother understood her. However, her elder brother had been summoned back to the Huben Camp by Prince Yu early in the morning.
Mrs. Xiang prepared a carriage for her and filled it with a lot of food and daily necessities. They were just waiting to set off for Tianmen Mountain early the next morning. Niaoniao was busy packing up the valuables. When Jinyu was extremely bored, she picked up a small clay pot. Suddenly thinking of the prince, a smile involuntarily curled up on her lips.
The more she looked at it, the more interesting it seemed. She secretly took three and put them into her treasure pouch.
Early the next morning, after saying goodbye to everyone, Jinyu set off. But—
Just after leaving the city gate and not going far, she saw the carriage of Prince Yu Zhongli Mingye waiting for her.
"You're leaving without even coming to say goodbye to this king." The gloomy prince got off the carriage and walked towards Jinyu with his hands behind his back.
Jinyu lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at him in surprise:
"Um..."
She had really forgotten. Rolling her eyes, she made up her mind not to admit that she had forgotten.
"What a coincidence, Your Highness!" She decided to play dumb to the end.
"I was just about to go to your mansion. And here I meet you!"
Jinyu laughed awkwardly a few times. But Prince Yu didn't appreciate it at all. He just looked at her silly smile seriously.
"It is quite a coincidence." Zhongli Mingye narrowed his eyes. People who were familiar with him knew that this was a precursor to his anger. He walked closer to Jinyu step by step, staring at her with a compelling look in his eyes, which made Jinyu feel a little creepy.
Zhongli Mingye suddenly got into Jinyu's carriage and gave a sideways glance, indicating for Niaoniao to leave. Niaoniao, with a strong will to survive, looked at Jinyu.
Jinyu didn't expect that the prince wasn't as euphemistic as described in the storybooks.
Thinking about it, she blurted out, "Your Highness, are you reenacting the story of Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun?"
"Are you crazy from reading those storybooks!"
Zhongli Mingye was full of anger at this moment and had nowhere to vent it.
Jinyu shut up awkwardly.
She happened to be holding a copy of "The Western Chamber" in her hand and secretly put it into her sleeve.
"Give it to me!" Zhongli Mingye saw her little move.
He stretched out his hand in front of Jinyu, his eyes full of mockery.
Reluctantly, she handed it over. She was unhappy in her heart: Did this man also have the habit of reading storybooks?
After flipping through a few pages, it was exactly the story of a young lady eloping with a scholar.
Zhongli Mingye disdainfully threw it out of the carriage and said, "Read less of these storybooks."
"Hey! You—" Jinyu was indignant. She hadn't even finished reading it!
"Why did this young lady elope with the scholar, Your Highness?" She suddenly had an idea and wanted to tease Zhongli Mingye.
"Nonsense. A proper young lady running away with someone in elopement." Zhongli Mingye said proudly.
"Then Your Highness, are you going to elope with Jinyu now?" Song Jinyu deliberately enunciated each word slowly.
"We're a man and a woman alone in a carriage," Jinyu looked at Zhongli Mingye's proud look and felt a little unhappy.
"Is Your Highness giving up the vast and beautiful rivers and mountains just to accompany a beauty in seclusion in the mountains?" With these words, she successfully caught Zhongli Mingye's attention.
He gritted his teeth secretly. This girl!
"So what if I am?" Zhongli Mingye leaned down seductively, his face less than a foot away from Jinyu's.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the carriage became extremely ambiguous.
Jinyu quickly pushed away that handsome face with one hand. After all, she was a bit shy.
"It's a pity that I'm not that beauty."
Jinyu looked at Zhongli Mingye proudly, just about to say something else. Suddenly, Zhongli Mingye pulled her into his arms and pressed her head against his chest.
At the same time, an arrow penetrated the wall of the carriage. It just missed hitting Jinyu.
"There's an ambush!"
Cheng Song immediately stopped the carriage. Together with Qingfeng and Niaoniao, they kept knocking down the arrows.
The two people in the carriage were now looking tense. Seeing that the arrows kept coming, Zhongli Mingye protected Jinyu with one hand and used his internal energy to jump out of the carriage with Jinyu in his arms.
Jinyu's eyes widened in shock at his actions. However, the next moment, she was still in Zhongli Mingye's arms and rolled down the slope.
After the arrow shower gradually decreased, dozens of black-clothed men jumped out and fought with Qingfeng and the others.
Zhongli Mingye told Jinyu to hide in the bushes, then drew out his soft sword from his waist and joined the fight. The place where Jinyu was hiding was not safe. However, this danger far exceeded her expectations.
She watched helplessly as Niaoniao was stabbed by a sudden attack and Cheng Song was gradually losing the battle under the joint siege of several masters.
She couldn't help but feel anxious. She only hated that she only knew a little bit of martial arts. She took out a poisonous fog bomb and was just about to throw it out.
Suddenly, she remembered that Prince Yu Zhongli Mingye hadn't taken the anti-poison pill. She was afraid that he would be poisoned.
As the situation became more and more urgent, Jinyu opened her treasure pouch and found the bone whistle that Yan Fei had given her. She quickly blew it.
She just hoped that he could come to their rescue nearby. Otherwise, it seemed that this time they were in great danger.
But Prince Yu couldn't die. If he died because of her, her entire Song family would have to be buried with him!
Jinyu only hated that she shouldn't have refused her father's escort. Now she was in such a dilemma.
Hearing the harsh sound of the bone whistle, several of the black-clothed men surrounded Jinyu's hiding place and were about to attack her severely.
Zhongli Mingye's swordsmanship was exquisite. He entangled the most powerful master among the enemies. Watching Jinyu in danger, he got distracted and was injured on his arm by that master.
He didn't care about the pain and rushed over.
Jinyu could tell that these assassins were after her. She looked around. In order to avoid the black-clothed men, she rolled down the slope desperately and reached the edge of the cliff. The black-clothed men still chased after her relentlessly.
The situation was stalemated. Suddenly, Ouyang Jinsè appeared. The next scene made Zhongli Mingye's eyes pop out in rage: On the edge of the cliff, Jinyu was on the verge of falling in order to avoid a stabbing sword. At this moment, Zhongli Mingye arrived. Without caring about stopping the black-clothed men, he only heard a "whoosh!" Jinyu couldn't support her body anymore and rolled off the cliff.
Zhongli Mingye just managed to grab Jinyu's hand, but unfortunately his arm had bled too much and he gradually lost his strength.
"You should let go quickly!" Just as Jinyu finished speaking, Zhongli Mingye couldn't hold on anymore, and the two of them fell off together!
"No! Little Goldfish!"
A mouthful of blood rushed to Ouyang Jinsè's throat. She swallowed it forcefully, and only a thin line of blood flowed down from the corner of her mouth.