"Yuanqiu."
Late autumn? Tang Youyou thought it was such a poetic name, and it matched his otherworldly appearance well.
"Mr. Wan, I'm going out today. You don't need to follow me."
Although Tang Youyou would like to take him with her, considering his age, she didn't want him to endure the hardship.
Rong Xun nodded in agreement.
Rong Jiangyu came over in a black cloak and invited her to go with him.
Tang Youyou looked at the carriage in front of her. There was only one. She was extremely reluctant to be in the same space with him.
If she could ride a horse, she would have chosen that.
"Can't you arrange one more?"
Tang Youyou was speechless. Clearly, he could have arranged a separate carriage for her. This guy must be doing it on purpose.
"There's only one carriage in the camp. If Miss Tang doesn't want to take the carriage, she can ride a horse."
This guy was definitely doing it on purpose. The sandstorm outside today was so strong that it was almost impossible to keep one's eyes open. Standing in the wind, she felt like she could be blown away at any moment.
She gave Rong Jiangyu a sideways glance and then got into the carriage. He was sure that she couldn't ride a horse.
On this journey, Rong Jiangyu didn't bring many people. He only brought two bodyguards and two soldiers, which made the journey convenient and fast.
But no one noticed that the black line covered on the arm of one of the bodyguards appeared and disappeared with the galloping horses.
Yeyue and Zhuifeng hid in the dark and followed them, closely trailing behind the six of them.
The road to Qianzhou was not very smooth. There were many mountain roads here, and there were often many gravels on the ground.
When the carriage passed over them, the body of the carriage shook violently. Tang Youyou didn't hold on firmly and almost fell to the ground.
"Be careful."
Rong Jiangyu quickly reached out and caught her. At this moment, his softened eyes seemed to be filled with deep affection.
"Thank you."
She immediately sat upright and averted her gaze from his eyes. Her heart was in a complete mess.
As the villain in the original story, Rong Jiangyu was a somewhat sick and cruel person. But if one were to single out all the sufferings he had endured, it would seem that he was bound to be this way.
If it was the three years of imprisonment by Rong Xun that had shaped him into who he was today, then who had shaped Rong Xun?
The original story didn't fully depict Rong Xun's childhood experiences. As time passed, she had almost forgotten about them.
But when she was reading the book back then, she remembered feeling sad for a long time about the tragic childhood of the male protagonist.
The mountain road ahead was rough and uneven. The carriage couldn't pass, so they had to get off and walk over the mountain.
Tang Youyou looked at the winding mountain road and thought that maybe she shouldn't have agreed. She didn't know if she could endure such a long journey.
After walking for a while, she felt a bit tired. She bent down to rest for a while, then straightened up and continued walking. She didn't notice that the bodyguard following her had been paying close attention to her condition.
"Take a rest."
Seeing that her face had turned a bit red, Rong Jiangyu found a convenient place to rest and took off his coat to spread on the ground.
"What are you standing there for? Sit down."
Tang Youyou wondered what had gotten into him today. He had suddenly become so considerate, which made her a bit worried.
"What's wrong with you today? Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Rong Jiangyu looked at her with a smile. "What are you talking about? Can't you believe that I'm being nice to you? If you definitely agree to my previous proposal, I'll be even nicer to you in the future. These are nothing compared to that."
One of the soldiers standing beside them showed no change in his expression, but the hidden look in his eyes was emitting a chilling light.
It was hard for Tang Youyou to easily believe his plans. Rong Jiangyu was most adept at sweet talk and deceiving people's feelings.
The words coming out of his mouth were the least trustworthy.
"I don't believe you."
Tang Youyou muttered under her breath and then took a couple of sips of the water the soldier had handed her.
She suddenly noticed that this soldier had been very considerate to her along the way. Not only did he support her when she felt tired, but he also steadied her in time when she almost fell. He even thoughtfully handed her water.
She wondered what on earth Rong Jiangyu had done to deserve such a competent soldier. It was a pity for this soldier to follow him.
Rong Xun noticed that Tang Youyou had been staring at him. He wondered if there was something wrong with his face. Was his mask not on properly?
Thinking about it, he reached out to touch his face. This action made Tang Youyou squint her eyes with laughter.
"Rong Jiangyu, give me this soldier. He's really interesting."
Tang Youyou had only been staring at him for a few moments. This guy must have thought there was something on his face, which was why he reached out to touch it.
Hearing this, Rong Jiangyu looked up at the young soldier and said, "I can give him to you, but you have to exchange something for him."
"What?"
"A condition."
Tang Youyou just wanted to roll her eyes. Why was this guy always like this?
"I don't want him then. Let's go. Hurry up and get going."
Tang Youyou patted her buttocks and stood up, looking at Rong Jiangyu with a look of disgust.
She wouldn't ask this guy for anything in the future. As long as she put forward her request, this guy would definitely ask for a condition in return.
After crossing the mountain, they could see people gradually appearing at the foot of the mountain. After walking for a while, they would reach the border of Qianzhou City.
Rong Jiangyu's army didn't enter the city. Instead, they gathered at the foot of the mountain. They set up their base at the entrance of Qianzhou. Although there were not many people coming and going here, it was the most crucial pass in Qianzhou.
Tang Youyou could immediately tell which were from the Xia Kingdom and which were his. She took a quick look at the Xia Kingdom's army approaching from afar, but she didn't see General Lan Er among the leaders.
General Lan Er was a founding general of the Xia Kingdom. Without his leadership, these people wouldn't take the initiative to join forces with outsiders.
This made Tang Youyou feel very strange. Without a leader, how did these people get here?
She turned to look at Rong Jiangyu suspiciously and found that he was looking at the dark mass of soldiers below with a smug look on his face.
His expression seemed to be filled with a sense of certainty. She helplessly shook her head. If they were to enter the Daming Kingdom now, it would be the common people who would suffer.
The common people had just started to live a good life, and now they would have to face the hardships brought about by war again.
After they went down the mountain, Rong Jiangyu rode his horse down first. He seemed to say something to the person beside him. Then that person came to Tang Youyou and said, "His Majesty asks me to show you around."
Tang Youyou didn't refuse. She didn't have the right to refuse anyway.
Walking along the gathering point, she surveyed the surroundings and saw some Hu people whispering to each other.
"Where's our general?"
Tang Youyou also wanted to know. How could a living person just disappear out of the blue?
"Rong Jiangyu." She called out. "Where's General Lan Er who was with you before?"
Rong Jiangyu gave her a sidelong glance. "What's the matter?"