“I have no more water left,” said Jing Rong without even turning his head back to look at her.
‘Hey! You shameless… So you have no more water, why are you taking mine? First my unfinished noodles, and now the gourd I’ve drunk from? Can you have a little dignity?’ Ji Yunshu stared at him in annoyance, only to see him straighten his back in contentment.
Wei Yi saw it all and gave her his bottle. He said with a smile, “Shu’er, use mine.”
“I’m fine, I’m not thirsty.”
“Oh.” Wei Yi retracted his hand. He then picked up some pebbles on the shore of the stream and started to throw them into the water in a playful way.
‘He really is just like a child.’
Jing Rong, who peeked at Ji Yunshu from not very far away, saw the radiant smile on her face, and the affectionate look she threw at Wei Yi, who was still busy throwing rocks. The sourness he felt was as strong as if someone had showered him with a cask of vinegar.
Lang Po noticed his master’s discontentment and approached him carefully. “Your Highness?”
“We’re leaving.”
In a moment of extreme frustration, he hurled the gourd he had taken from Ji Yunshu to Lang Po and jumped onto his horse.
‘Why are we leaving now? Didn’t we just sit down?’ Ji Yunshu heard the shouts from the guards, and pulled Wei Yi away from the river, just as he was about to remove his shoes to step into the water. The two climbed back into the cart.
In the cart behind them, Xiao Luzi rushed into the interior and cried out, “Young Master, they are leaving.”
He was answered with a foot which came out of the cart and kicked him in the back. “Well then, follow them!”
“Yes, Young Master.” Xiao Luzi pulled on the reins, lashed at the horses with the whip, and caught up to Jing Rong’s party.
Jing Rong’s “cask of vinegar”, so to say, had been shattered on multiple occasions on their way to the capital, and he remained dispirited for the entirety of the journey, which concluded as the party arrived at the gates to the capital. Before Jing Rong even passed through them, the news of his arrival had reached Prince Yi’s Mansion. Jing Yi, who sat cross-legged on a carpet, slowly poured tea into his cup and sipped it leisurely. He looked somewhat like Jing Rong, dressed in a blue robe with his hair arranged around a pin; one could say that he was quite handsome. His mien was one of elegance and refinement, but between his brows and amongst his features, one could recognize something fierce and merciless.
Dou Quan, his trusted underling, bowed and said, “Your Highness, Prince Rong has made his way back to the capital. I fear that the case at the Imperial Duke…”
Jing Yi savoured his tea without any hurry or agitation. “Did that girl come with him?”
“Yes.”
Jing Yi smiled. “Jing Rong thinks that if he can elucidate the case of Imperial Duke, he would be able to receive the favour of my father. What a fool.” He pinched the teacup vigorously.
Dou Quan bowed his head down. “My Prince, may I suggest…”
Jing Yi stopped him with a hand gesture. He put the cup down and rose from his seat, strolling with light steps until he reached the walkway outside. The Capital was still cold in March, as the lunar new year had barely begun. A birdcage hung from the wooden pillars, and a canary inside struggled fearfully, beating her wings as she shivered from the cold wind. Jing Yi opened the cage, and the canary quickly flew out of it, vanishing before long.
“Your Highness, this was a gift from the emperor, why did you let it go?” Dou Quan could not understand his actions.
Jing Yi’s lips drew a smile on his face, “A canary in a cage is either hurt or dead.”
A canary in a cage is either hurt or dead.
Ji Yunshu once said those exact same words.