Chapter 104: The Girl on the Tip of the Heart

Chapter 104: Chapter 104: The Girl on the Tip of the Heart

She and Xie Jinbai had once been husband and wife.

Now, though she was in a different body, they had long since recognized each other and planned to rekindle their old love.

Shen Tingyu wasn’t particularly moved by the mention of a secret nightly rendezvous. However, when he heard her say that Xie Jinbai had broken their appointment and failed to show up all night, his gaze lifted.

Cui Lingyao said, "He always keeps his word and rarely breaks a promise."

So something must have happened to prevent him from coming.

Shen Tingyu thought for a moment, then got up and left the carriage.

He returned nearly an hour later.

The moment he got back in the carriage, he said, "There’s no sign of Xie Jinbai within a ten-li radius."

In other words, not only was Xie Jinbai not following them today, but he hadn’t gone on ahead of them either.

Cui Lingyao’s breath caught, and a tension she hadn’t even noticed herself crept onto her face.

Shen Tingyu said, "Perhaps something came up in the Capital City, and he went back."

That was the most likely explanation.

After all, given Xie Jinbai’s status and his still-unhealed injuries, he really shouldn’t have been so reckless as to leave the Capital so easily.

The position of Crown Prince had yet to be decided, and the struggle for succession in the court hadn’t ended. The political heart of Great Yue was a treacherous and unpredictable place. If his whereabouts were exposed, and it became known he was not in the Capital City, his three Imperial Brothers would likely join forces to kill him first and ask questions later.

But Cui Lingyao didn’t believe that was the reason.

It wasn’t that she had an inflated sense of self-importance; she just couldn’t imagine what kind of major event would make Xie Jinbai return to the Capital without even having time to let her know.

Even if the old Emperor had died, given Xie Jinbai’s way of doing things, she shouldn’t have been kept in the dark.

’So, what on earth happened to him?’

Cui Lingyao’s brow furrowed tightly.

Shen Tingyu poured her some tea and offered a few words of comfort in a gentle voice. "Don’t worry. How about I send someone back to the Capital to ask about the situation?"

"I’m not worried at all," Cui Lingyao denied hastily. Realizing her reaction, she paused, then added defensively, "A man like him could hold up the sky if it fell. He doesn’t need me worrying about him."

She said it with absolute finality.

Shen Tingyu watched her in silence for a long moment before shaking his head with a soft chuckle.

"So stubborn," he said. "You two have years of history, after all. It’s only natural for you to worry about him. Why deny it so quickly?"

Cui Lingyao: "..."

She pressed her lips together and said no more.

’Even if I am worried,’ she thought, ’it’s only because Xie Jinbai is my mission objective.’

’It’s about me getting home. I can’t just be indifferent.’

For the rest of the day, there was still no sign of Xie Jinbai.

That evening, while writing a letter to Chen Minrou, Cui Lingyao added a line asking if anything unusual had happened in the Capital recently.

And so, they traveled for several more days.

Their route was clear and well-defined, and letters from the Duke Zhao Mansion in the Capital City arrived smoothly every day.

In her letters, Chen Minrou wrote at length about many things, all of them related to Cui Lingyao.

For example, Chen Minrou wrote that her mother-in-law, the old madam of the Duke Zhao Mansion, had learned of Shen Tingyu’s engagement and begun looking for a match for her own daughter. This time, she had her eye on the second legitimate son from the second branch of the Changping Marquis Mansion.

In other words, Cui Lingyao’s cousin.

The two were a good match in terms of social standing. In a short time, they had already completed the formal meeting and were even arranging outings together.

If they took a liking to each other, the official engagement process would begin soon.

Meanwhile, something else had happened in the Cui Family.

Cui Lingyao’s own sister-in-law, the wife of her eldest brother, had quarreled with her husband and returned to her maternal home.

Princess Anning was a woman of the imperial family. Her father, Prince An, was the old Emperor’s first cousin, so her pedigree was among the highest of the noblewomen in the Capital City.

Years ago, she had fallen for the Princely Heir of the Changping Marquis Mansion at first sight. They were wed smoothly, a match once praised by all the people of the Capital City.

Who would have thought that such a "match made in heaven" would turn out to be imperfect?

After many years of marriage, they had not once had a sign of pregnancy.

Not only had they been childless for years, but Princess Anning also refused to arrange concubines for her husband. Cui Mingrui’s rear courtyard was kept completely clear, without a hint of another woman’s presence.

This time, they had quarreled for some unknown reason. Cui Mingrui had already visited her family home twice but had failed to bring her back.

It seemed as if their marriage was on the verge of collapse.

Cui Lingyao’s eyelids twitched as she read this.

She was suddenly reminded of the day she was reborn. Drugged with the seductive powder, she had begged her brother to stand guard for her outside her room.

Her sister-in-law was dignified and sharp, an excellent household manager, but she could not tolerate the slightest transgression.

’Perhaps this really is the reason my brother and sister-in-law are fighting.’

’But that place was remote, and no one else was there.’

Shen Tingyu’s two friends were both proper and honorable gentlemen; they would never gossip about it.

Her brother would be even less likely to say anything.

’Then... how did the news get out?’

A cold, stern face suddenly appeared in Cui Lingyao’s mind.

’If it was him... it’s entirely possible.’

’He suspected my identity. He must have devised countless schemes to make me expose myself.’

’Testing me by using my family would be perfectly in character for him.’

’That man...’

Cui Lingyao was annoyed, but she hadn’t seen him for days.

More than anger, she felt a growing unease.

As they drew closer to Pingzhou, the last vestiges of summer faded. After the Start of Autumn, an autumn rain began to fall.

The rain was heavy during the day. Mrs. Shen’s coffin needed to be protected, so the convoy was forced to take shelter by the roadside.

After a delay of four to six hours, they failed to reach the next town that night as planned.

The convoy stopped on a flat piece of ground.

Shen Tingyu got out of his carriage, looked up at the sky, and said to the young woman beside him, "We’ll have to rest here tonight. I’m sorry to put you through this."

"It’s no hardship," Cui Lingyao said, feeling only a sense of novelty at camping in the wild for the first time after traveling for so long. "You can’t predict the weather. It’s no one’s fault."

Shen Tingyu looked at her and smiled. "There might be wild animals. Are you afraid?"

Then, afraid he might have actually scared her, he quickly explained, "Don’t worry, we’re on a main road that sees a lot of traffic every day. The beasts won’t come near."

It wasn’t completely dark yet, just a dusky gray.

The accompanying guards began deftly setting up tents.

The servants lit bonfires and started preparing dinner.

Shen Tingyu glanced at her light dress and was about to remind her to change into something warmer.

But Zhiqiu had already rummaged through the luggage chests in the back and pulled out a change of clothes.

Cui Lingyao changed in the carriage and washed up briefly. By the time she came out, the sky had already darkened.

Two or three bonfires were burning.

One for the servants, one for the guards, and one for the masters.

Cui Lingyao went to Shen Tingyu’s side.

Dinner was a simple bowl of thin noodles.

After so many days on the road, this meal seemed particularly frugal.

There wasn’t even a table to put their bowls on.

Cui Lingyao didn’t mind. She placed a handkerchief under her bowl, held it in one hand, and ate with her chopsticks in the other.

The noodles were hand-pulled, each strand chewy and smooth, tasting purely of the grain they were made from.

Used to refined cuisine, she found this simple, authentic flavor to be surprisingly good.

She ate with focus.

She was so absorbed she didn’t even hear the sound of carriage wheels slowly stopping on the main road not far away.

Xie Jinbai stepped out of his carriage, and among the crowd of people, his eyes immediately found the girl who was the tip of his heart.