Watching her gradually fall asleep, Xie Tingzhou slowly raised his head.
"Xifeng."
"Here we are." Xi Feng immediately got off the horse and got into the carriage, hesitating for a moment before opening the curtain.
Xie Tingzhou's red eyes caught the eye, and his hair stood on end.
"Your Highness..." The words stuck on his lips. He had never seen Xie Tingzhou be so out of sorts.
Xie Tingzhou looked past him into the void: "Arrange a secret guard to escape from the palace."
Xifeng immediately understood that the palace was currently looking for an assassin. If no one could be found, suspicion would probably be cast on those who left the palace, and then they would be able to trace Shigure.
"Yes, I'll make arrangements right away."
Xie Tingzhou lowered his eyes to look at the person in his arms again. After a while, he said softly: "Go down."
Xie Tingzhou stayed up all night last night. He kept himself energetic during the day. Once his tense nerves relaxed, he felt sleepy all over.
After returning home, he leaned on the couch, holding Shen Yu in his arms, and fell asleep in a daze.
I don't know how many times the sound was heard, and the shadows of the dancing trees were reflected on the windows.
Shen Yu opened her eyes in a daze.
There was a chair beside the couch, and Xie Tingzhou was sitting in it, staring down at her face.
"woke up?"
Shen Yu opened her eyes half awake and half confused, and nodded slowly, not wanting to say a word.
She slept extremely well, as if she hadn't had such a solid sleep in a long time. She turned over and lay lazily on the couch, not wanting to move much.
"What time is it?"
Xie Tingzhou leaned forward and pulled up the slipping quilt for her, "I just got over my ugly days."
He picked her up at the end of the day and slept with her for two hours before waking up, but she slept together until midnight.
In another hour, it will be dawn.
Shen Yu raised her eyes. When she closed her eyes in the carriage, she didn't fall asleep immediately. She knew the fingers touching her face and the soft touch on her forehead.
She stared at Xie Tingzhou intently, feeling that it was like a dream, and it was clearer and more charming than in the dream.
Xie Tingzhou suddenly asked: "What are you looking at me for?"
Shen Yu immediately closed her eyes and said, "I won't watch it anymore."
Xie Tingzhou leaned closer and hooked her chin, "Shen Yu, look at me."
Shen Yu heard his shallow breathing, and her whole body seemed to be enveloped in a faint scent of pine. She couldn't tell whether it came from his bed or from him.
She didn't dare to open her eyes, "I'll let you look at it for a while, but you won't let me look at it for a while. What do you want..."
Shen Yu was stunned.
A piece of softness suddenly appeared on his forehead.
This time it was much clearer than the last time.
When Shen Yu opened her eyes, she could only see his lower jaw, and the tip of her nose was less than three inches away from his Adam's apple.
His Adam's apple was rolling, and they were so close that they could hear each other's heartbeats.
The scent of pine wood became stronger, and seemed to be even more powerful than Jiang Lianzhi's incense. It made people indulge in it, and even the fingers holding the quilt had no strength.
Xie Tingzhou slowly backed away and closed his eyes heavily, "Now, can you look at me?"
Shen Yu had not yet recovered from the kiss and looked at his face blankly.
"Are you stupid?" Xie Tingzhou grabbed her hand, opened her hand and held it in his palm.
"Silly girl." He whispered: "If someone is so scornful of you, you should slap him on the spot or slit his neck with a knife. You can't let people bully you like this."
The palm of her hand was slightly itchy, Shen Yu let his thumb stroke the row of crescent marks pressed by the nails, "I, I will not be bullied."
"Then why don't you hit me? Huh?" Xie Tingzhou asked again.
He knew that she was tough but stubborn, and he guided her to give him an answer.
Shen Yu's heart was confused, she bit her lower lip and remained silent.
On the way to Beijing, he could tease Xie Tingzhou speechlessly just by opening his mouth. But when the critical moment came, he couldn't say a word.
Xie Tingzhou sighed, fearing that pushing her too hard would make her shrink back.
He stood up and walked to the table and drank half of the cold tea. He tapped his fingers on the table a few times as if he was thinking about something. He then took another cup and poured a cup of hot tea for her.
Shen Yu sat up from the bed hugging the quilt, took a sip of tea, and asked, "Have you been up all night again?"
"Sleep."
"How did you sleep?"
Xie Tingzhou half-smiled, which made Shen Yu feel panicky.
"Sleeping on the couch."
Shen Yu's heart beat wildly, and then she thought again, the two of them had slept countless times on the way to Beijing, so sleeping together would be of no use, so she calmed down.
"I heard something last night."
Xie Tingzhou looked at her, "What did you find out?"
The incense made her sleep for most of the day. She combed it carefully and said, "When I was in Dali Temple, the Jin Yiwei happened to come to pick someone up. There must be something wrong with Emperor Tongxu bringing Ge Liangji to the palace in the middle of the night, so I followed the prison car in." The palace."
"It's too risky." Xie Tingzhou said solemnly.
"I'll pay attention next time." Shen Yu said with a guilty conscience.
Xie Tingzhou raised his eyes, "You can check the clues slowly, but you can't risk yourself."
Shen Yu opened her mouth to speak, but closed her mouth again, with a look of shame and anger on her face.
After a while, she punched the edge of the bed and said, "Can you please speak properly!"
Xie Tingzhou was stunned for a moment, "Why didn't I talk properly?"
"You just..." Shen Yu paused, "Let's just talk about things. Why do you talk so much and have nothing?"
Xie Tingzhou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "Okay, I'll explain it properly."
Shen Yu felt something was wrong again. She would say what she wanted to say, but why did she have to use such a doting tone?
"Any more questions?" Xie Tingzhou asked when he saw her expression was different.
Shen Yu looked away, "No, let's talk carefully now."
Xie Tingzhou nodded, the smile on his lips not diminishing, he thought she looked so cute.
"Drink some tea first."
Shen Yu drank all the tea in the cup and was about to put it on the small table next to her when Xie Tingzhou took it.
Xie Tingzhou said, "Go ahead."
Shen Yu thought for a while and recounted the news she learned from Ge Liangji in the Dali Temple prison, as well as the conversation between Emperor Tongxu and Ge Liangji.
Xie Tingzhou pondered for a while, "The life-saving amulet Ge Liangji left for his children must be something the other party is afraid of. It may be evidence that it can take the other party's life."
Shen Yu nodded, "I thought so too. Later in the palace, Ge Liangji said that he was one of the moths, which meant that he was indeed involved in the matter, but there were other masterminds. Emperor Tongxu obviously also knew who those people were, But he didn’t want to move or didn’t dare to move.”
Xie Tingzhou tapped the empty cup with his index finger. Shen Yu saw that he was thinking and didn't want to disturb his thoughts, so she waited quietly.
After a long time, the tapping fingers stopped, and Xie Tingzhou put the cup on the low table aside.
"What does Emperor Tongxu care about most?"
Shen Yu was startled and said uncertainly: "It should be... Da Zhou's kingdom."
"That's right." Xie Tingzhou said: "The battle at Yanliangguan has damaged the foundation of Zhou Dynasty, but in the eyes of Emperor Tongxu, what is more terrifying than removing these cancers?"
