Even if she didn't say it, Cheng Xiran still understood.
Wasn't it obvious that the princess disliked her presence and thought she was in the way?
She glanced at Helian Duo, then stood up. "Since you have important matters to discuss, you can talk slowly. I'll leave first. I don't want to interrupt you."
She had expected to be stopped by Helian Duo.
"Xiran is my fiancée. There's nothing I can't let her know..." Helian Duo said firmly, then continued, "If the princess has something that must be said privately, then there's no need to say it. I don't want to hear it either."
Hua Bairu pouted, gave Cheng Xiran a couple of annoyed looks, then stepped aside and said, "Although this envoy has been in the Yulin Kingdom for more than a decade, I recently found that he has been secretly contacting someone in the capital. Otherwise, why do you think I made an excuse to come out alone? And the fact that I'm being chased now should be related to this."
"The court only has two forces, the prince and the empress dowager. If it's not the prince, it must be the empress dowager," Cheng Xiran analyzed.
Hearing this, Hua Bairu turned her head away and didn't look at her.
It wasn't until Helian Duo spoke.
"Do you have any concrete evidence?"
Hua Bairu seemed to avoid his gaze. After a while, she obediently shook her head. "I just saw him often go out alone to send messages by carrier pigeon. If he was sending messages back to the Yulin Kingdom, he didn't need to hide it from me. But I saw him do this in the middle of the night several times."
Helian Duo's face remained as calm as ever. There was not even the slightest ripple in his eyes because of what Hua Bairu had said. "For now, we can only wait until the envoy arrives in the capital before making a decision. Acting rashly now won't help."
Hua Bairu seemed a bit dissatisfied with Helian Duo's answer. A hint of displeasure appeared on her face.
Cheng Xiran originally thought that Hua Bairu should be completely disappointed by now, but it seemed that this dead ash was about to reignite.
"I think the mansion I'm living in now is not safe enough. Why don't I move into your prince's mansion? I think no one will be able to find me there!"
Helian Duo refused clearly. "I've sent an entire army to guard the mansion around the clock to protect you. You'll be safe for the time being."
Seeing Zuo Yan come upstairs, Helian Duo ordered him, "Take the princess back to avoid being discovered by those people."
Zuo Yan was a bit helpless, but he still stepped forward to invite Hua Bairu to leave.
Hua Bairu still refused to give up. She stared fixedly at Helian Duo, as if trying to see through him. But when she noticed that Helian Duo's gaze was always on Cheng Xiran, she reluctantly got up and followed Zuo Yan downstairs.
Cheng Xiran flipped through a miscellaneous record in boredom and murmured, "I can tell that the princess of the Yulin Kingdom has some true feelings for you."
"What does that matter to me? If I don't like someone, I don't like them. Even if I give her a little hope, she will surely think she has a chance. This is indirectly harming her..." Helian Duo gently pulled Cheng Xiran into his arms, rested his chin on her head, and continued, "The Yulin Kingdom and our country have been on good terms for more than a decade. Their king and the former emperor were old friends. So I must protect the princess of the Yulin Kingdom well."
Cheng Xiran boldly guessed, "Have you ever thought that Hua Bairu is being chased because someone wants to take the opportunity to provoke the relationship between the two countries?"
"It should be impossible. In fact, based on my observations in the past two days, I even think that this whole drama of being chased and her suspicion of her own envoy were all self - directed and self - acted by her. Because the people in the Huayan Pavilion that night were not very skilled in martial arts, and during the fight, I felt that they didn't really want to hurt Hua Bairu."
Was she using her suspicion of her own envoy to come to the capital in advance and then using the drama of being chased to attract Helian Duo's attention, to be protected by him, and then develop feelings over time?
Would anyone be so bored?
It was quite possible!
Taking advantage of the remaining time in the afternoon, they began to visit one official after another. It took them more than an hour and they visited more than a dozen officials, but Cheng Xiran didn't even see a single familiar face. Instead, she got tired.
The two of them returned to the prince's mansion for dinner. Cheng Xiran cooked two delicious dishes herself.
Helian Duo also had a few sips of wine.
"I didn't expect your cooking skills to improve so much," Helian Duo said.
There was no more suspicion in his tone. He himself didn't know when he had stopped doubting Cheng Xiran's true identity. Since he had already recognized her, he would never doubt her again.
Cheng Xiran proudly refilled his wine and said, "Of course. I'm a beautiful and capable woman who can both hold her own in public and manage the household. This is a piece of cake for me."
Helian Duo looked at her lovingly. Just looking at her like this quietly made him feel content.
"Yes, you're my beautiful woman. But after we get married someday, you can just do whatever you like. Leave the household affairs to the servants. Do whatever makes you happy."
This guy had already thought about things after marriage?
A smile immediately appeared on Cheng Xiran's lips, but she didn't reply. As a girl, she had to learn to be reserved.
The two were just being affectionate when Zuo Yan interrupted them inappropriately.
Just from Zuo Yan's facial expression, he seemed to know that he was ruining the mood, so he didn't dare to look at them.
"What's wrong? Is there something important?"
Helian Duo asked proactively when he saw this.
Zuo Yan stammered, "My lord, it's about the princess of the Yulin Kingdom."
"What happened to her?" Helian Duo asked in an unchanged tone.
"She..." Zuo Yan dragged out the word. After a long while, he slowly said, "My lord, after she left the newspaper office, she refused to go back. I had no choice but to accompany her. After dinner, she said she wanted to go back, but she took the opportunity of trying on clothes in a clothing store to shake me off."
Zuo Yan looked extremely embarrassed. "Our people are already looking for her, but it will probably take some time. We can only narrow down the search area slowly. But she has a noble status. If something really happens to her, what should we do?"
"Keep looking. Remember to send people to closely monitor the movements of the empress dowager. If she is really behind this, we can't just sit back and do nothing."
Zuo Yan took the order and retreated. Helian Duo also didn't have much interest in drinking anymore. He began to think about what to do next.
Cheng Xiran didn't say much. After all, she didn't have a good impression of Hua Bairu, so she didn't really care whether Hua Bairu lived or died.