"I never cared about those."
"The Prince doesn't care, but I do." Gu Ying didn't know what his ending was like in his previous life, but in the last days she spent in the dilapidated temple, she never heard any news about him, which means the Prince's ending was probably not that good...
In this life she only hoped that he could go hand in hand with her all the way, with white heads and full halls of grandchildren.
Now he was in a high position, the water that could carry the boat could also capsize it, no one understood this truth more clearly than she did.
Shen Ruxu made full use of public opinion in this way, maximizing her own value and making people not dare to move her easily.
"So it turns out Gu Ying cares so much about me." Zhao Changdu's voice was filled with joy, and he stretched out his long arms to hug the little girl and kissed her. "It gladdens my heart."
Gu Ying drank water and was held by him for a while. Her nose was filled with the clean scent of the man.
She leaned against him for a while, feeling the heat from the other person's body, and her face turned red.
She took a deep breath without removing his wandering hands, "How were Prince Shu and Zhou Yan when Changdu saw them today?"
Zhao Changdu lowered his eyes to look at the blushing red lips of the little girl moistened by warm water, and his heart burned. "I have already selected a location, construction will start soon."
"After these disaster victims are resettled, we can return to Yueyang City, right?"
"Mm." Zhao Changdu picked her up back onto the bed, the corners of his eyes raised slightly. "So eager to go back?"
"I miss my sister A Zhen. She doesn't know the good news that I'm pregnant yet. I want to tell her and let her be happy too."
Zhao Changdu raised his eyebrows slightly, noncommittal.
After being away for a day without seeing his little girl, he had missed her dearly.
Although they could not make love, as long as she could be by his side, even if they did nothing, it would still gladden his heart.
The little girl was soft and fragrant. Zhao Changdu restrained himself and got into bed to hold her in his arms to ease his lovesickness. "There is news from Yueyang that Prince Shu and Zhou Yan have arrived in Yueyang City, and Jiang Yin has come along too."
Gu Ying almost jumped up from his arms. "What?"
Jiang Yin came along too!
Why was this annoying person following her everywhere like a sticky plaster?
Zhao Changdu pressed the little girl back into his arms with displeasure in his eyes. "What's the matter? Just hearing his name makes you so excited?"
Gu Ying pouted her red lips. "It’s not excitement, it’s disgust, it’s hatred."
She hated Jiang Yin too much!
Unfortunately she failed to kill him in Bianjing. If he fell into her hands again this time, she would definitely tear him into ten thousand pieces!
Zhao Changdu had long ago investigated Gu Ying thoroughly, so he naturally knew about her past with Jiang Yin too. It was just a short-lived romantic affair that was not reciprocated. Why did she hate him so much?
There must be some other hidden details.
As he looked deeply at Gu Ying, the more he loved her, the more he wanted to know what had happened between her and Jiang Yin.
He wanted to ask her about Jiang Yin, but he also knew that she would not tell him.
It would be somewhat false to say that he was not disappointed. There was even a hint of hidden resentment in his heart. He loved her so much, how could he not hope that she would open her heart to him as well?
But his little girl...was like a little cat that had been bullied for many years and wandered for many years.
It took great effort before she was willing to put away all her defenses and take shelter in his embrace.
How could he bear to push her back out again?
Gu Ying felt uneasy seeing his deep and gloomy eyes. She blinked and said, "I'm tired. Changdu, I'm going to sleep first."
After speaking, she got out of his arms and snuggled into the quilt, leaving only the back of her head for him.
Zhao Changdu didn't move. He leaned against the pillow staring at her for a while before letting out an almost inaudible sigh.
...
The next morning when Gu Ying opened her eyes, she found that Yin Lan was missing.
She just sat on the bed feeling restless for a while before getting out of bed with a gloomy face.
The Prince had gone out with Ning Chang'an early in the morning to inspect the surrounding towns and villages, and was not in the camp at the moment.
The camp was filled with dense white fog. The sky had just begun to brighten. Gu Ying put on her cloak with a restless mind and immediately called Huai An over with knitted brows. "Huai An, have you seen Yin Lan?"
Huai An was stunned. "No, My Lady. What's the matter? Where is Yin Lan?"
Gu Ying's face turned pale. "That’s strange. Yesterday she went to the creek to wash clothes and came back. After serving me medicine last night, I didn't see her again. She has always been diligent and reliable, a punctual person. If it were any other day, she should be here waking me up for breakfast by now."
Hearing this, Huai An panicked at once. "I will send people to search the entire camp immediately!"
Gu Ying’s eyes were also filled with panic. "Hurry, Huai An!"
Huai An didn’t care about anything else at this moment. He immediately gathered all the officers and soldiers staying in the camp to look for Yin Lan's whereabouts in every single tent.
The vast camp, which was still sleeping, was soon awakened by angry shouts.
Everyone was driven out from the tents and gathered on the open ground in front of the main tent.
After searching without success, Huai An stood at the very front with blazing anger, fists tightly clenched. His gloomy dark eyes seemed to give off sparks.
"Where is she?!"
"Did you guys see the woman by My Lady’s side or not?"
"All of you, speak!"
"If you don't say where Yin Lan is, be careful I cut out your tongues!"
In the vast camp with hundreds of disaster victims, everyone was as silent as the grave, not daring to speak a word.
The atmosphere in the field froze to an extremely frightening state.
The last time there was such a scene was when the Prince had raged violently that night when Gu Ying had almost had a miscarriage.
Everyone knew that these two young ladies with the Gu surname must not be provoked recklessly, so who would dare say another word now, for fear of incurring the wrath of their superiors.
Huai An’s anger burned. Unable to find any trace of Yin Lan, what he feared most was the panic. His lips trembled as he turned to look at Gu Ying standing by his side. His voice was bitter. "My Lady...I still haven't found Yin Lan. The camp is not big, by the mountains and waters. I have already asked people to search every single tent in the camp. This shows that Yin Lan is no longer in the camp. If she really didn't return for one night and was taken by the thieves, I'm afraid that by now she would have..."
He didn’t dare go on. Just thinking of the terrible things she might suffer made him feel cold all over, with congestion in his chest.
