Jing Rong strongly enunciated her name as he gritted his teeth. “Ji-Yun-Shu!”
Ji Yunshi never knew her name could sound so unpleasant. Under the veil, her mouth constantly twisted as she tried to explain herself, “I… was just talking without thinking.”
“Talking without thinking? Indeed…”
“I only…”
“Enough!” Jing Rong snapped. He got up and went to sit with his guards at another fire. His back faced Ji Yunshu, thus showing how angry he was.
At this moment, Ji Yunshu loosened her hand and stopped covering Wei Yi’s mouth.
Wei Yi took in a big mouthful of air as if he was choking. “Shu’er, you… why… why didn’t you let me talk?”
“Every time you talk, you always bring trouble to me!”
“Why? Did I… did I say something wrong?”
“……” At this instant, she felt a surging headache.
If that guy was going to sulk until they reached the capital, she might as well be suffering hardships throughout the entire journey!
Who would have known that Lang Po, who was sitting across them, would lower his head and chuckle at this time too? This did not escape Ji Yunshu’s attention. “Why are you laughing?”
Lang Po looked at his master’s back under the dancing light of the fire. Then, he turned to Ji Yunshu and replied, “Miss Ji, if someone else had said the same things as you did, I fear that said person would have been thrown out at this moment. It seemed like my prince treats you very well.”
‘Oi, oi, oi! What are you trying to get on?’
Ji Yunshu lowered her eyebrows. Her beautiful eyes locked on Jing Rong. ‘Forget it. Let him cool his head overnight.”
During the night, Wei Yi fell asleep while holding onto the two paintings. He lied his head on Lang Po’s shoulder. Jing Rong leaned against the wall a distance away from everyone, although his back was still facing everyone. As for Ji Yunshu, sleep didn’t come to her. Her eyes were wide open as she watched the fire burning in all its glory, slowly weakening until it was extinguished to a mere spark.
The next morning.
Outside the temple, the two groups of carriage set off. Before they parted ways, Ke Cha expressed his gratitude numerous times and hoped that he would be able to meet her one day in Huyi. Then, they went on their journey in opposite directions. Ji Yunshu and Wei Yi sat together in the carriage while Jing Rong continued to ride on his horse.
After six hours or so on the road, they finally left the mountain trails and got onto the main road. There were no mountain trails that weren’t bumpy. At last, Ji Yunshu sat more comfortably in the horse carriage. Then, she saw Wei Yi, who was being fascinated by what he saw outside. “What are you looking at?”
Wei Yi replied without turning around. “It’s so beautiful outside.”
‘Beautiful?’ Ji Yunshu moved closer and looked outside. Although they just left the mountain trail, their surroundings still consisted of mountains and trees. She didn’t feel it was particularly beautiful. It must be because Wei Yi had never left Jinjiang city, so everything he saw was a novelty to him.
“Heigh!” The carriage suddenly came to a halt following the neighing of the horses, as if they ran into something. After Ji Yunshu steadied herself, she lifted the curtain and exposed her pretty eyes, looking at the commotion up front. In front of them, there were a group of people riding on horseback. When she clearly saw the faces of the two riders, Ji Yunshu hurriedly let down the curtain and shrank back.
“Shu’er, what’s going on?” inquired Wei Yi.
She shook her head.
Curious as he was, Wei Yi was about to go out but she pulled him back. “Don’t go!” He was scared by her nervous tone. He didn’t speak and obediently sat down instead.
1. 南 meant south usually, but it could also be the surname “Nan”. Since I have too little information about the meaning of it, I’ll keep the Chinese character for now.