The two of them dared not neglect him and hurriedly went out to welcome him.
Sui Heng took the lead, his sword-like eyebrows flying high, his black hair tied high, and fine snow falling on his black shoulder armor. However, the white, hot breath sprayed from his nose, indicating that he had rushed all the way.
It’s more than a thousand miles from the capital of Sui to Muyun Pass.
Riding in winter is even harder than other times.
But due to his long time in the military, Sui Heng’s eyes were bright and full of energy, without any signs of fatigue. His forehead and temples were even dripping with hot sweat, exuding the unique vitality of a young man in the dark.
“Thank the two generals for welcoming.”
Sui Heng held the whip and said with a smile.
Even though Fan Zhou felt that the other party was too abrupt and disregarded etiquette, he couldn’t say anything at this time. Together with Yun Huai, he invited Sui Heng to enter the gate and had someone quickly go and arrange a few proper guest rooms.
“Where is your Highness?”
Sui Heng opened his mouth with his hands behind his back.
Fan Zhou did not answer directly but said, “Our Highness’s Geng Tie has been handed over to the officials of your country this morning to bring back to the Sui capital. Don’t know why Your Highness came here late at night to inquire about the name twice. Is something wrong?”
Sui Heng casually said, “There was some mishap. On the way back to the capital of Sui, the ceremonial official accidentally fell off his horse, broke his leg, rolled off the roadside, and lost the Geng Tie. Gu didn’t feel comfortable leaving it to someone else, so Gu decided to make the trip myself.”
Fan Zhou didn’t quite buy that.
First of all, the Geng Tie is important. Even if the officials from the Sui capital really rolled off the horses, they wouldn’t have lost such a large Geng Tie. Moreover, the Sui capital sent several ceremonial officials along with them. According to the travel distance, even if they really lost it, those ceremonial officials could just replace someone and return to take another copy.
Secondly, the ceremonial officials just took the Geng Tie from Muyun Pass this morning and set off to return to the Sui capital. Even if this Crown Prince Sui Heng had the ability to see from a thousand miles away, it would still take him at least four or five days after learning the news to arrive here. How could he be like somersault clouds and appear at Muyun Pass at night?
As if sensing Fan Zhou’s suspicion, Sui Heng remained calm, and his heart skipped a beat, saying, “Of course, Gu has anticipated their clumsiness and fear that something might go wrong. On the second day of sending them off, Gu followed them to check the situation.”
Fan Zhou felt like he was talking nonsense, but he had no evidence.
Fan Zhou felt that the only thing he could do now was to place Sui Heng in the guest room and prohibit him from meeting his Highness.
There are still a few months to go before the wedding, and according to the rules, it is not appropriate for the two parties to meet during this period. No matter how brutal and domineering the Crown Prince of Sui was, he could not break this rule.
After all, Muyun Pass is the northern gateway to the Jiang Empire and the most powerful pass in Jiangnan. Now that Emperor Jiang and the Crown Prince are both inside the pass, it is not a problem to quickly tidy up a few decent guest rooms.
Sui Heng only brought a team of personal guards this time, totaling less than twenty people.
Yun Huai arranged for the personal guards, while Fan Zhou personally led Sui Heng to the guest room.
Fan Zhou said, “The conditions in the pass are difficult, so sorry to have Your Highness put up with it for one night.”
Sui Heng saw his defensive intention and said with a good temper, “No problem. Master Fan, go and rest, don’t worry about Gu.”
During the conversation, the guard brought over bath water and some snacks.
Fan Zhou bid farewell, but he did not leave immediately. After instructing the guards, he quietly stood outside the room, listening to the commotion inside. Before long, there was a sound of water coming from the room. Fan Zhou paused for a moment, seeing that there were no other unusual movements, then left with peace of mind.
Where does Sui Heng have the heart to take a bath? His heart was filled with anger at being played with by that hateful little lover like a monkey. He hastily washed, changed into a clean robe, wrung out the water on his hair, and prepared to make his way to Jiang Yun’s bedchamber.
As soon as he opened the window, he met two pairs of eyes.
Two guards of the Jiang Empire stood outside the window, bowing respectfully to him. “Master Fan told us to strictly guard this place for Your Highness’s safety.”
“If Your Highness needs anything, just order us directly.”
Sui Heng had a heart attack and didn’t expect Fan Zhou to be so difficult to deal with. But his advantage lies in his thick skin. When he was caught, he didn’t feel anything. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and greeted the two guards with a smile.
“Nothing.”
“It’s just that the bath water prepared by your Master Fan is really too hot, Gu open the window to get some air.”
The guards cooperated without saying anything and were still standing like stone carving.
After symbolically blowing for a while, Sui Heng closed the window and began to seriously survey the layout of the room. With Fan Zhou’s demeanor, he probably arranged for people to watch other doors and windows as well. It was not practical to want to flip through the window and go out. Sui Heng looked up, his gaze shifted upwards, and he landed on a skylight at the top. Sui Heng raised his sword-like eyebrows, leapt over the beam, and tried to grab the edge of the skylight. It was indeed loose and not sealed. The corner of his mouth rose, and he opened the skylight from the inside and leaned out. Just as his hand braced against the edge of the skylight, two long halberds swiftly crossed his chest, one on the left and the other on the right.
Behind the halberds were two guards with dark faces.
“Your Highness… needs anything?”
The two quickly collected their weapons and looked at Sui Heng with strange and puzzled eyes.
Sui Heng’s face finally darkened.
Sui Heng’s various “unethical actions” quickly spread to Fan Zhou’s ears, and Fan Zhou snorted coldly, saying, “I knew he had ulterior motives. This sudden visit to the pass on the name of ‘name inquire’ was to meet His Highness privately and destroy His Highness’s reputation. You must guard all doors and windows, never give him any opportunity to take advantage of them.”
For the sake of safety, Fan Zhou directly moved his small wine table and red clay stove outside Sui Heng’s room and sat outside drinking wine, personally guarding.
The guards naturally dare not be careless, and they are all full of energy, vigilant, and paying attention to the movements around them.
Due to Fan Zhou sitting at the doorstep, the guards responsible for guarding the window were more vigilant. In the middle of the night, the two guards responsible for guarding the north window suddenly heard a faint sound in the wind, and the alarm bells rang in their minds. They quickly followed the sound, but in just one breath, a green shadow feather floated past without a trace.
The two of them only looked at it with suspicion. One person went to check the window and saw that it was intact, and there were no other people around. Then he withdrew his gaze and said to his companions, “It’s probably a wild cat.”
His companion nodded, but the two of them dared not be careless and continued to concentrate on paying attention to the movements around them.
Jiang Yun entered the room, and as soon as he landed, he was hugged from behind.
Those strong and powerful arms easily lifted him by the waist and carried him into the bed. After arriving, he was not immediately put down.
Jiang Yun turned his head and asked, “What does Your Highness want to do?”
“What do you think?”
Sui Heng snorted coldly, with a gloomy expression on his face. Without saying a word, he began to take Jiang Yun’s outer robe off.
He was skilled and fast in his movements, and soon his jade belt, outer robe, and first undergarment were gone, there was only a tight fitting silk robe left.
Jiang Yun thought that this guy missed him, so he came to the pass to see him in the middle of the night. Who would have thought that he would see a ‘looking for trouble’ face as soon as they met? He said strangely, “How can I know if Your Highness doesn’t say?”
“You still say you didn’t know.”
“You may know too much.”
Sui Heng took something from his pocket and threw it in front of Jiang Yun.
Jiang Yun picked it up and saw a note with two lines of eight characters written on it. He instantly understood something, couldn’t believe it, and asked, “Is that why you came here?”
Sui Heng remained silent, and he still carried him on his shoulders. Jiang Yun frowned and wondered what he was going crazy about. Before he could speak, he was slapped from behind.
Jiang Yun’s ears reddened and he gritted his teeth, saying, “Sui Jichu!”
“Now you’re embarrassed. Why don’t you have the slightest hesitation when you lied to Gu like that before and played Gu like a monkey? Gu won’t spare you today.”
Sui Heng’s face turned cold, and through the silk robe, he gave another slap.
The sound echoing in the narrow space made Jiang Yun’s ears red as if they were dripping blood.
Jiang Yun gave him a hard bite on the shoulder.
Sui Heng had rough skin and thick flesh and was not afraid of the pain at all. He put the person down and raised his eyebrows, saying, “It’s just a small punishment today. In the future, if you dare to lie and deceive Gu again, see—”
Sui Heng’s voice suddenly stopped. After a while, he took a deep breath, lowered his head, and looked at the person in his arms who was staring at him like an explosive kitten. He gritted his teeth and said, “Jiang Rongyu, you want to murder your husband again? That place… can you bite that place like that? Do you want to hurt Gu to death?”
Jiang Yun said, “You were the one who was unreasonable first.”
“How is Gu being unreasonable?”
“What do you think?”
The two of them stared at each other, and Sui Heng became even more depressed. “Gu is unreasonable? Do you realize how much Gu was humiliated because of your teasing?”
Jiang Yun looked at him and said, “I had no choice but to resort to a temporary solution. Who would have expected you to take it so seriously? It’s just a fake eight characters, how could it embarrass you? Did you… take our fake eight characters and go to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to combine them again?”
“Gu…”
Sui Heng’s words were already on the tip of his mouth, but he then turned his head to the corner and said with a straight face, “Nonsense, how could Gu be that foolish?”
Jiang Yun looked at him in confusion.
“Then, how are you humiliated?”
“Gu believes in your nonsense and put that fake eight characters note in the bag like a treasure. Gu kept it close for a year and a half, like a fool. Gu took it out in the quiet night and read it over and over again, and Gu could even recite that fake eight characters backwards. Gu even took it to find the fortune tellers for them to calculate your whereabouts. Isn’t this really stupid and embarrassing?”
Jiang Yun was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes curled and he looked up at the handsome face above him in the dark night. He smiled and said, “Really?”
Sui Heng finished angrily before he realized what he had said. His face stiffened, and he said flatly, “It’s false.”
“Gu wouldn’t be that stupid.”
Jiang Yun surveying.
Sui Heng asked, “What are you looking at?”
Jiang Yun remained silent and chuckled.
“You still dare to laugh.”
Sui Heng directly carried the person into the bathroom.
“Tonight, Gu definitely will not let you go.”