Xia Mian said as she wiped the water off her hands, raising her eyebrows. "I've had enough fun today. I'll come back to you when I feel like playing again."
After saying that, Xia Mian turned around and was about to leave. Shi Minglong watched her back and almost went crazy. "Don't go! Don't go!"
Su Mingyu stepped forward to block Shi Minglong's view. Squinting her dark eyes, she half - squatted down, took out a medicine bottle from her bosom and threw it to him. "This medicine can relieve your pain."
Shi Minglong caught the medicine and applied it on his body. The cool touch did make him feel a bit better. "What are you doing?"
She was the one who captured him, and now she was the one giving him the medicine. What on earth did this woman want?
Su Mingyu snapped her fingers, and a guard beside her quickly brought a wooden stool for her.
Sitting on the stool, Su Mingyu crossed her legs and stared intently at Shi Minglong. "I want to know the deal you were about to make just now."
"What... deal?" Shi Minglong's face changed. "I don't know."
"We can help you contact Gu Ruobai." Su Mingyu knew he was feigning ignorance, so she got straight to the point. "But you need to show me some sincerity so that I can help you contact Gu Ruobai."
Shi Minglong was a very smart man. He immediately understood what Su Mingyu meant from her words.
While applying the medicine, he leaned his head close to Su Mingyu. "What do you want?"
"Silver." Su Mingyu said bluntly. "If the information you provide is true, I can extort a large amount of silver from the Prince Ruixian's Mansion. You want freedom, I want silver. How about it?"
It was impossible for Shi Minglong not to be tempted. But he clearly heard the man say just now that this woman helped Xia Mian capture him out of pity for Xia Mian. Now she suddenly said she would let him go. Her fickleness didn't seem trustworthy at all.
Su Mingyu roughly knew what he was thinking. So she simply pulled Xia Mian over and said in front of Shi Minglong, "I'm going to make a deal with Shi Minglong. After that, I'll let him go. If you meet each other in the Jianghu in the future, it will be up to your own abilities. How about that?"
Xia Mian agreed without hesitation. "My mistress has helped me a lot. I naturally won't make things difficult for you."
Seeing this, Su Mingyu raised her eyebrows at Shi Minglong. "So, where's your sincerity?"
"Find someone to deliver a message to Gu Ruobai. Say, 'The border has been firmly defended for years. Why was it suddenly besieged by people?' " Shi Minglong said with a grimace. "Note, I said 'people', not 'enemies'."
Su Mingyu keenly sensed something from his words, so she nodded. "I understand. If there's any news from Gu Ruobai, I'll come back to you."
After saying that, Su Mingyu got up and left the courtyard. Her clean - cut manner made Shi Minglong squint his eyes involuntarily. A glint of greed flashed in his dark eyes.
After leaving the courtyard, Su Mingyu was about to explain to Xia Mian when Xia Mian spoke up. "Mistress, you don't need to say so much. I understand your thoughts. In fact, you don't have to be so extreme. I'm not as scared of him as before when I see him now. I can even confront him. It's all because you've been helping me. So you don't have to worry about me."
Hearing Xia Mian say this, Su Mingyu nodded in relief, then looked at Gu Ruobai suspiciously. "What did Shi Minglong mean just now? Telling you to pay attention to 'people'?"
Gu Ruobai had been silent since Shi Minglong said that sentence. Su Mingyu asked him several times, but he seemed to be in a daze.
Seeing this, Su Mingyu felt a bit helpless. She called two people over. "You two take this young lady back first."
Watching Xia Mian get on the carriage back to the city, Su Mingyu then pulled Gu Ruobai to a relatively quiet place beside. She waved her hand in front of his eyes and asked, "What's going on?"
Gu Ruobai lowered his eyes and thought for a long time before saying, "Shi Minglong may mean that there's a spy beside me. Those who raided us before were not the enemy troops, but a group of people from the rear who wanted to harm me."
Hearing what Gu Ruobai said, Su Mingyu was shocked. She had been with Gu Ruobai for so long and knew better than anyone how much he valued his comrades - in - arms.
Now asking him to suspect those who had fought side by side with him was surely hard for Gu Ruobai.
Su Mingyu reached out and hugged Gu Ruobai. She said in a low, pitying voice, "Do you want me to help you investigate this matter?"
After all, Gu Ruobai's identity was rather special, and it was not good for him to get directly involved.
Gu Ruobai hugged Su Mingyu back and shook his head. "You're not familiar with the people around me. If you go to investigate rashly, you may tip off the enemy."
Su Mingyu nodded. "So what are you going to do now?"
Gu Ruobai said almost without thinking, "Since Shi Minglong wants to see me, then arrange a meeting for him."
"Okay." Su Mingyu immediately understood what he meant. "It's getting late. Let's go back and rest."
Saying that, Su Mingyu took Gu Ruobai's hand and intertwined their fingers tightly. "Let's go!"
Looking into Su Mingyu's beautiful eyes, Gu Ruobai tightened their clasped hands. "Okay, let's go home."
As soon as they arrived at the Prince Ruixian's Mansion, Su Mingyu saw Zhizhu secretly wiping her tears.
Su Mingyu asked someone to push Gu Ruobai back to his room, then came to Zhizhu's side and softly asked, "What's wrong?"
Hearing Su Mingyu's voice, Zhizhu turned around and threw herself into Su Mingyu's arms. "Miss! Miss!"
"What's wrong?" Su Mingyu patted her head. "Did Qingfeng bully you?"
Zhizhu sobbed and leaned against Su Mingyu's bosom. Her eyes were red. "Qingfeng... he returned the sachet to me."
"Why?" Su Mingyu was stunned. That fool Qingfeng actually returned the sachet to Zhizhu. Did he mean to break up with Zhizhu completely?
Sure enough, the next second, Zhizhu cried and said, "He said his task was to take good care of Lord Ye, so he couldn't be with me."
Su Mingyu took a deep breath. "What did you say?"
"What else could I say?" Zhizhu pouted. "I'm not as brave as you, miss. I could only take back the sachet."
Su Mingyu lovingly rubbed Zhizhu's head. "I have a way. It's a bit mean, but it might be useful for someone as single - minded as Qingfeng."
"What... what way?" Zhizhu's eyes were red like a rabbit's.
Su Mingyu whispered something in her ear. Zhizhu's face immediately turned red. "Is... is it really useful?"
"You can give it a try. I think for someone with Qingfeng's personality, this might be the only way." Su Mingyu winked at Zhizhu. "I'll help you prepare for this."