After getting into the carriage, Mo Qinghuan couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
She lifted the curtain and poked her head out. "Bai Ke, I want to ask you something."
Bai Ke turned around to look at her. "What's up, Princess?"
She propped her chin up and carefully pondered over the meaning of the eldest prince's words.
"Do you think that generally, an epidemic breaks out after some strange phenomenon occurs?"
Bai Ke crossed his arms in front of his chest and rubbed his chin with one hand. After thinking for a while, he nodded. "It does seem to be the case. But I haven't heard of any strange phenomena recently. Are you suspecting that this disease was brought into the capital from outside, Princess?"
Mo Qinghuan shook her head. "I'm not sure. I'm just suspicious."
"It doesn't matter if you're not sure. When we get back to the mansion later, I'll lead some men to investigate and see if there have been a large number of refugees flooding into the capital recently. If so, it may prove that your conjecture is correct, Princess."
Hearing Bai Ke say this, Mo Qinghuan felt relieved and was about to sit back in the carriage when Bai Ke suddenly said, "Princess, you haven't had breakfast yet this morning. There's a steamed bun shop up ahead. Why don't you get out and have some buns?"
"Hmm? I'm not hungry. Let's go back first." She sat back in the carriage.
However, just as she sat back down.
Suddenly, she felt a chill on her neck. A dagger was pressed against it. "Don't make a sound, or I'll kill you right away."
Hearing it was a male voice, Mo Qinghuan guessed that this person must be highly skilled in martial arts. Otherwise, he couldn't have sneaked into the carriage silently without even Bai Ke noticing.
No, Bai Ke had just asked her to get out and have buns. Could it be that Bai Ke had already noticed something was wrong!
She sat there obediently without making a sound. In fact, she had already secretly taken out the sleeping - gas spray and held it tightly in her hand.
Bai Ke was sitting outside, straining his ears to listen to the commotion inside. His hands were tightly clenched. He knew that the person inside must be highly skilled, but since he didn't know the actual situation inside, he didn't dare to act rashly.
Last time, when the princess was just pinched on the neck by Prime Minister Gu, A Si had received so many lashes. If he let the princess get a scratch or bleed, wouldn't the prince tear him to pieces alive?
Just as he was thinking, there was a thud in the carriage, the sound of someone falling onto the carriage.
Bai Ke's heart sank. He lifted the curtain with a trembling hand, but he was a bit afraid to look inside.
What if... Suddenly, a dagger was pressed against his own neck.
"Don't move, or I'll kill you right away."
"Okay, I won't move."
As Bai Ke said this, he quickly grabbed the opponent's hand in a swift counter - move. The opponent cried out in pain and let go, and the dagger fell into Bai Ke's hand. He leaned into the carriage, and the dagger was once again pressed against Mo Qinghuan's neck.
But as soon as Bai Ke saw it was Mo Qinghuan, he immediately withdrew his hand.
Seeing that Bai Ke seemed angry, Mo Qinghuan quickly smiled. "I just wanted to see your reaction."
Bai Ke got into the carriage. While complaining, he was tidying up the man in black. "Princess, please don't play such tricks next time, okay? People could die! If I hadn't wanted to keep him alive just now, I could have killed him with a single strike, you know?"
Although he said this, deep down, he was still relieved. He was glad that Mo Qinghuan could remain calm when faced with a situation. Otherwise, he really wasn't sure if he could keep her safe.
When the carriage arrived at the mansion gate, Bai Ke carried the man in black and got out of the carriage first. The guards at the gate, seeing Bai Ke escorting a person, immediately stepped forward to help.
Mo Qinghuan returned to the Flaming Sun Hall. As soon as she stepped in, Lu Zixiu said that he should leave.
Mo Qinghuan was even more puzzled. She had seen the two of them chatting happily from afar. Why did he want to leave as soon as he saw her? What did that mean?
There was an obvious look of displeasure on her face. She said coldly, "Your Highness, you can continue your conversation. I won't disturb you two."
She walked around Mu Yanming towards the inner room. Now that the number of confirmed cases was increasing, she had to prepare more medicine just in case.
However, Mu Yanming didn't seem to want to continue chatting with Lu Zixiu. Instead, he grabbed Mo Qinghuan's arm.
Mo Qinghuan stopped in her tracks and looked up into his eyes.
"How was it in the palace today?"
Actually, Mu Yanming already knew. Every time she entered the palace, before she even returned, the spies had already reported the news to him. But for some reason, he just wanted to hear Mo Qinghuan tell him in person.
For example, if she had been wronged or bullied.
He hoped even more that after Mo Qinghuan came back, she would tell him and ask him to avenge her.
Only in that way could he feel that he was needed by her.
Looking at his expectant eyes, Mo Qinghuan found it a bit strange, but she still said, "Nothing happened in the palace. But on our way back, we encountered a man in black."
As soon as she said this, Mu Yanming's expression immediately became tense.
"A man in black?" He spun Mo Qinghuan around. "Are you hurt?"
Mo Qinghuan shook her head. Mu Yanming keenly noticed a very thin red mark on her neck, which should have been caused by something like a dagger.
A storm immediately brewed in his eyes. "Where is the man? And what was Bai Ke doing!"
Just as he was speaking, Bai Ke came over. As soon as he saw Mu Yanming's anger, he immediately lowered his head guiltily.
His voice was almost a murmur. "Your Highness."
Mu Yanming gave him a cold look. "Go and receive your punishment yourself!"
Hearing this, Mo Qinghuan thought it was the same as what had happened to A Si before. She immediately became unhappy. She took a step back and looked at Mu Yanming expressionlessly.
Mu Yanming also noticed the change in Mo Qinghuan's mood. He turned his head to look at her. "It's their responsibility to protect you. Since they failed to do their job well, shouldn't they be punished?"
Mo Qinghuan averted her gaze. "Bai Ke noticed something was wrong a long time ago and reminded me in time. It was my fault that I didn't react. How can you blame Bai Ke? Can't you be more reasonable?"
Saying this, she turned around and entered the room.
Bai Ke lowered his head. "Your Highness, I'll go and receive my punishment now!"
Mu Yanming suddenly glared at him. "Adding fuel to the fire, huh?"
Hearing this, Bai Ke knew that he had escaped this punishment. He looked gratefully at the closed door.
In the past, it was his fault that he had a prejudice against Mo Qinghuan. During this period, he had found that the princess was a good person, really a good person.
At least, such a woman was worthy of the prince, instead of constantly causing trouble for the prince or just crying when something happened.
She had her own principles of conduct, standards for treating others, and her own bottom line. She wouldn't blindly follow the prince's orders.
And as far as he could see, the prince had more smiles on his face than before. At least now, the prince was more like a living, breathing person with emotions.
Instead of being like before, when revenge was the only belief that sustained him.