"Doctor Song treasures her dicinal herbs; she would never abandon them! And several pots of her five-split yellow gentian were smashed. If she really did run away on her own, as they claim, then as long as her life wasn’t in imdiate danger, she would have found a way to properly handle those plants, even if she couldn’t take them with her!"
Gu Ha said it all in one breath, clearly indignant on Song Lianhe’s behalf.
Zhou Junlin gave him a cool glance. "Didn’t you despise her?"
"I do dislike her, but I can’t deny she’s a competent physician. What’s more, she saved the Princess Consort. How can we let her be unjustly accused like this?"
Gu Ha shot a look at the n behind him, then said indignantly, "Even if Doctor Song did cut Master Chen’s tendons, it must have been because he did sothing awful!"
Zhou Junlin suddenly chuckled. "Gu Ha, I had no idea you and Doctor Song had gotten on so well."
Gu Ha flushed and stamred, "She... she just always likes to play tricks on ."
Zhou Junlin glanced at him again before looking away and walking toward the carriage. "Do you really think I can’t see through their clumsy excuses?"
Gu Ha froze.
Zhou Junlin narrowed his dark eyes. "This journey is destined to be anything but peaceful," he said softly.
Gu Ha suddenly understood.
As a prince, he had to weigh his options differently: save one person, or protect the entire group.
Still...
Gu Ha glanced at the pile of shattered flowerpots in the corner and sighed to himself.
Zhou Junlin lifted the curtain and entered the carriage, where Kong Qing was applying ointnt to Song Xilan’s injuries.
"You may go."
"Yes."
After Kong Qing left the carriage, Zhou Junlin took the ointnt himself. "I heard the servants say the carriage had co to a safe stop by the ti they found you."
Song Xilan’s heart lurched, but her expression was one of lingering fear. "Yes. Thankfully, the horse was only lightly startled. Otherwise... the Prince might never have seen Lan’er again..."
Zhou Junlin frowned. "Don’t say such things."
His touch grew a little lighter. Her injuries were all superficial, and thankfully not nurous. The bruises would fade in three to five days.
He put the dicine box away and looked up at her. "That falcon... this isn’t the first ti we’ve seen it. Do you rember, Lan’er?"
As soone who could foresee the plot, Song Xilan naturally knew it was the falcon raised by Zhou Cangyan.
’But if I say so now, Zhou Junlin will undoubtedly go and confront him. If I get dragged into it, it won’t be worth the trouble.’
So, she nodded lightly, feigning confusion. "I did see one before, at the E Mansion, but I don’t know if it was the sa one." Then she looked at him curiously. "Does the Prince suspect soone released that beast on purpose?"
Zhou Junlin lowered his gaze and smiled. "I will handle this matter. You should rest, Lan’er."
"Prince!" Song Xilan quickly called out to him. "Have they found Doctor Song?"
Zhou Junlin looked up, watching her quietly for a long mont before replying, "She ran away on her own. Why bother looking for her?"
"Prince, there must be a misunderstanding. Doctor Song has been with us this entire ti. How could she be colluding with bandits? Besides, given how much you trust her, she’s had plenty of opportunities to harm us if she wanted to. Why go to all this trouble?"
Song Xilan lowered her gaze, her voice full of self-reproach. "It’s my fault for being too late. If only I had gotten back sooner, Doctor Song wouldn’t be gone."
Zhou Junlin studied her anxious expression, then said abruptly, "My Princess Consort need not worry. Leave this matter to ."
This ti, his words lacked their earlier dismissiveness and carried a note of genuine sincerity.
After Zhou Junlin alighted from the carriage, he saw Kong Qing waiting and ordered, "Take good care of the Princess Consort."
"Yes."
Kong Qing boarded the carriage and quickly asked, "Princess Consort, the Prince isn’t actually going to bring that Song Lianhe back, is he?"
Song Xilan replied at a leisurely pace, "He didn’t make an issue of it just now, which ans he won’t be bringing her back."
Especially with that bizarre group of bandits that just appeared. He certainly wouldn’t waste ti and energy on so unrelated woman.
"Send so dicine over to Master Chen."
Kong Qing couldn’t help but praise, "The Princess Consort is so kind-hearted."
***
"It hurts..."
Song Lianhe lay prone on a soft cushion, breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain.
A large, shocking bruise covered her back.
Da Xi finished applying the ointnt and instructed her not to move.
"Those n were ruthless! To beat a delicate young woman like this!"
Xuan i and Yin Huan were outside, driving the carriage.
Yin Huan glanced back. "You know how to use poisons, don’t you? Why let yourself get pushed around like that?"
Song Lianhe’s resigned voice ca from inside the carriage. "The poisons I carry are for life-or-death situations. My target would either die or be left half-dead. As hateful as those n were, they didn’t deserve to die... Besides, running into bandits on the main road? It sounded like we were deliberately targeted. If I had used my poisons then, those n might not have made it out alive."
Then, as if angry with herself, she added defiantly, shouting, "I wasn’t scared! I just couldn’t be bothered with them!!"
In the carriage up ahead, Zhou Cangyan’s light eyes opened slightly.
Yin Huan’s teasing voice ca again from behind. "I wonder who it was, sitting on the ground hugging a flowerpot and crying so pathetically~"
Song Lianhe retorted stubbornly, "That wasn’t !"
In the lead carriage, the Shadow Guard lifted the window curtain and glanced back. "Heh, it’s quite lively back there."
Behind them, Yin Huan and Song Lianhe were still bickering.
He lowered the curtain with a grin. "With Doctor Song on this trip, things definitely won’t be boring."
Zhou Cangyan shifted his posture, propping an elbow on a small brocade table, his eyes once again half-closed.
"Who were those bandits?"
The Shadow Guard replied at once, "Xuan Qi went after them. He hasn’t returned yet."
He looked at his master and asked in a low voice, "My Lord, are we really taking her all the way back to Ling’an like this?"
Without opening his eyes, Zhou Cangyan simply arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And what brilliant insight does Mr. Ying have?"
"Whoa, don’t call that, you’re flattering to death!"
Zhou Cangyan opened his eyes. The Shadow Guard imdiately dropped his playful tone and said seriously, "Since Prince Ling intends to use her to damage your reputation, My Lord, why don’t we just beat him at his own ga?"
Zhou Cangyan seed interested now. Propping his cheek on one hand, he regarded him with an unreadable smile. "And how do we do that?"
"Doctor Song is the wife you married in Sui Ning, My Lord. Even if His Majesty hasn’t officially decreed it, she is still your lawful wife! The wife of the noble Prince Qing was humiliated like this—shouldn’t we demand an explanation from Prince Ling? Moreover, this very sa Doctor Song saved Princess Consort Ling’s life! This is repaying kindness with malice! If we really make an issue of it, that’s a far more serious cri than the accusation of you abandoning your ’wife from your humble days’!"
Zhou Cangyan was impassive, his fingers habitually turning the Bone Ring on his index finger.
The Shadow Guard asked gingerly, "Er, My Lord... are you worried about Princess Consort Ling?"
Zhou Cangyan didn’t speak.
Just then, Da Xi’s furious voice erupted from the carriage behind them. "Those damn bastards! They actually tried to strip your clothes and ruin your virtue?!"
The man, who had been the picture of calm just a mont before, now had an icy gaze. A slow, cold smile touched his lips. "Do as you suggested."
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