A few days later, Song Jinyu had collected quite a number of copper coins. Calculating that it was enough to buy dry rations for the journey, she dumped most of the copper coins on Granny Ruan and her grandson.
Seeing her such generosity, Granny Ruan said excitedly, "Miss, you can't..."
"A Lai is still growing. Please take it!" Song Jinyu persuaded her to accept it. Niaoniao and Cheng Song had packed up. Then they left the village.
When they got out of the village entrance, A Lai stumbled over, "Sister Song, here for you..." It was the wild fruits he had picked in the morning. No wonder she hadn't seen him all morning.
A Lai touched his head shyly, "Sister, when I grow up, I'll go find you!"
"Okay..."
Ming Ruyi knocked on A Lai's head with his folding fan discontentedly, "Stinky boy, how old are you..."
Song Jinyu stopped him irritably, "Let's go!"
After Song Jinyu and the others had been on the road for a day, the shadow guards of Zhongli Mingye also found this small mountain village. Having got the news and whereabouts of them, Xing Jian felt relieved. He knew the status of this Miss Song in their prince's heart.
So, they got ready and set off to join Zhongli Mingye.
"I said, how long can your few copper coins last?"
Ming Ruyi looked at Song Jinyu provocatively, "You just left so many to others like this!"
Song Jinyu was sitting in the pavilion, eating sesame cakes. "They're a widow and an orphan. Life is already hard for them."
"We can eat wild fruits and hunt. It's only a few days' journey to the capital. We can just make do."
Hearing this, Ming Ruyi was quite shocked. After a moment of silence, he reached out and threw the money bag in front of her.
"Here..."
Song Jinyu looked at him in surprise. "Stop looking. It's all for you!" Ming Ruyi was being awkward. The reason he hadn't taken it out before was just to see Song Jinyu make a fool of herself. After getting along with her for these days, he increasingly felt that she was really a very kind person.
"Okay then. I'll return it to you when we get to the capital..."
"No need. What's mine is yours!" Seeing Song Jinyu looking at him blankly, Ming Ruyi instantly became proud.
The group finally arrived in the city. They were tired and hungry. Ming Ruyi invited them to a restaurant. When the restaurant owner saw him coming, he quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.
It turned out that this restaurant was Ming Ruyi's property. He intended to show off in front of Song Jinyu, so he took her to a brothel.
A lot of brothel girls swarmed up. They were chattering around Ming Ruyi. Song Jinyu looked at him strangely. She had just changed her clothes, which were bought by Ming Ruyi.
At this moment, she was sitting in the private room, slowly sipping tea. Her beautiful eyes looked out of the window, and her thoughts drifted to the distant capital and Liuzhou City.
Ming Ruyi smelled the fragrance of the brothel girls. He sighed in his heart: "After a few days of rural life, I'm actually extremely tired of this prosperous scene." His eyes fell on the girl in the private room, and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "All of you, leave..."
Madam Rose saw that he was in a low mood. "My lord, do you want Su Niang to accompany you tonight?"
Ming Ruyi waved his hand. He rubbed his temples and got up to walk towards the private room.
He asked, "What are you looking at?"
Seeing his face full of rouge, Song Jinyu couldn't help laughing out loud. Ming Ruyi was actually infatuated. That smile was really like the warm spring in March, making one's heart tremble. But the next moment, he couldn't laugh anymore.
"Sir, so you're a brothel person?" Song Jinyu swore that she was just asking. But seeing the gentle look on that handsome young man's face gradually fade and his face suddenly turn cold.
He lifted Song Jinyu's chin with his folding fan and said, "Do you think my looks match you?"
She impatiently pushed the fan away. "I'm not into this kind of thing..." Did she really take him as a young prostitute in the brothel?
Ming Ruyi was a bit discouraged for a moment. "Shall we set off early tomorrow morning?"
"Yes. We can't delay any longer! We have to go quickly and come back quickly..." Ming Ruyi suddenly felt a bit reluctant to part with her. Early in the morning, Ming Ruyi prepared a spacious and luxurious carriage. The group set off in the direction of the capital.
When they arrived in the capital, Song Jinyu thanked Ming Ruyi. She had to go to the palace to find the princess and couldn't take him with her.
"Your relative lives in the palace?" Ming Ruyi asked in surprise, but there was a faint smile in his eyes.
"What a coincidence! My relative also lives in the palace~" He was smiling so widely that his eyes were almost shut.
Song Jinyu sank her face. "Who on earth are you?"
She didn't believe in such a coincidence. Unless this Ming Ruyi had an extraordinary background. Ming Ruyi stopped talking and waved his folding fan proudly. He'd scare her later!
Seeing him not saying a word, Song Jinyu was sulking. She guessed that this Ming Ruyi was probably some royal relative.
"Greetings to the King of Zhongzhou. Long live the king, long live, long live!"
The guards at the palace gate knelt down in a large group.
Ming Ruyi opened his folding fan and looked at Song Jinyu proudly. She just got off the carriage. Seeing this scene, she saluted him.
So this was the real Ming Ruyi! He actually dared to hide it from her! Thinking of how she had constantly mocked him and even beaten him on the way, she felt really uneasy. When he said his relative was in the palace, it was true.
"The current empress dowager's surname is Ming, and my courtesy name is Ruyi!" As if seeing her confusion, Ming Ruyi explained specially.
Song Jinyu stood some distance away from him and didn't dare to look up at him.
Ming Ruyi was dissatisfied with her attitude. This girl could turn her face at will. "Who is your relative?"
"I received a letter from Princess Heyi to congratulate her on her birthday."
Ming Ruyi reached out and pulled her up, taking her into the palace together. "Little Heyi?"
Judging from his tone, he seemed to be an elder of Princess Heyi.
Song Jinyu didn't know much about the royal family. Now she didn't know which prince this was. While thinking wildly, they arrived at Princess Heyi's Frost Cloud Palace. They were silent all the way, and she was just feeling extremely nervous.
"Jinyu, you're finally here!" Princess Heyi ran over, looking extremely surprised.
But when she saw Ming Ruyi, her face suddenly became a bit strange. She stepped forward to salute. "Greetings to the imperial uncle..."
Imperial uncle?
Song Jinyu was struck like by lightning. No wonder she always felt that Ming Ruyi's eyes were very similar to Zhongli Mingye's. It turned out that he was his imperial uncle.
She even slapped him and thought he was a young prostitute in the brothel. Thinking of this, she really wished she could slap herself a few times.
Ming Ruyi enjoyed Song Jinyu's expression. Her face turned white and then red. It was really cute. Maybe because he was too focused on her face, he forgot that he was still in the Frost Cloud Palace.
"Heyi, is your birthday coming soon?"
Princess Heyi was very confused about why Song Jinyu came with the imperial uncle. "Imperial uncle, it's the day after tomorrow."
"Um, just in time..."
Ming Ruyi told Princess Heyi to take good care of Song Jinyu for him.
For a moment, his words were rather ambiguous, which made Princess Heyi a bit dissatisfied. As soon as Ming Ruyi left, she pulled Song Jinyu into the bedroom.