Chapter 173

Chapter 173: Sugar-coated Scheming

Afraid the credit would be taken, You Bing Yue said at once that she would head back to the capital immediately. Du Zi Heng and the others felt they should rest for one more night. They had ridden all day and been badly frightened in the village. If the place had been safe to sleep in, they would have collapsed on the spot already. Also, Ou Yang Shuo and Li Chang Huai were hurt and needed care. Their horses were tired too.

Du Zi Heng explained all this in detail. But You Bing Yue only left one line and turned away, telling Ou Yang Shuo and Li Chang Huai to rest in the nearby town while the three of them would take Cao Yao Zu and return first.

“To prevent trouble later, it is necessary for Bing Yue to go ahead,” Ou Yang Shuo suddenly said. He also thought Yu Zhi Yi was rushing back to take the credit. He would not allow that. This wild outsider was too arrogant.

Since the injured man himself said so, Du Zi Heng could not argue more. The three set off at speed, taking Cao Yao Zu toward the Capital City.

You Bing Yue had great confidence in her riding and shooting. In her past life, one mission target had a special hobby and liked women who rode well, so she trained hard. She believed her horsemanship was better than ninety percent of people in this era. As for Yu Zhi Yi, even if she had her strange skills, she had not spent much time practicing riding. You Bing Yue was sure she would catch up soon.

Then dawn came. Her tall horse crashed to the ground, and she cursed under her breath. Liu Fei Yang’s horse was also failing, since it was the only one carrying two people, and it now breathed weakly. Only Du Zi Heng’s horse still had good spirit.

Catching his breath, Liu Fei Yang circled Du Zi Heng’s horse and clicked his tongue as he said: “We all set out together, so how is You Lin’s horse still so fresh?”

Du Zi Heng said he did not know. In truth, it was not only the horse. Even he himself did not feel that tired, while the other three had ridden all night without a break. Their faces were pale and their eyes showed real fatigue.

Liu Fei Yang muttered with wonder: “No wonder, living with a fairy makes you different from us mortals.”

Du Zi Heng smiled a little, even a bit shy. But he quickly remembered You Bing Yue, and his face changed as he shot her a quick look.

You Bing Yue kept a cold face and said nothing. No one knew what she was thinking. Suddenly she asked: “Young Master Du, can you lend me your horse?”

Liu Fei Yang stared: “?”

Du Zi Heng also froze: “But…”

You Bing Yue’s expression shifted, growing a little lonely as she said: “Forget it. We are only ordinary friends now. It is not proper to ask. I had no other meaning. I am only in a hurry to turn in the job.”

Then, as if she had said the wrong thing, she bit her lip and gave Du Zi Heng an awkward look: “Young Master Du, you go on ahead. There is a town up ahead, only two quarters of an hour away. Do not worry about me. I am strong and fast on foot. I will get there soon and buy a new horse.”

Du Zi Heng struggled for a while, then clenched his jaw and said: “It is too dangerous for a woman to walk here in the wild. Take my horse. I will go with the Heir Apparent, and we will meet in the town.”

You Bing Yue felt pleased inside, though her face showed a hint of embarrassment: “That might not be right…” Even as she said that, her hands did not hesitate. She took the reins and added: “All of us are tired, so I will not refuse. I will go ahead. You two come quickly.”

She lifted Cao Yao Zu onto the saddle, snapped the whip, and rode off.

Watching the horse’s back grow smaller, Liu Fei Yang raised his brows with a strange expression and said: “Miss You is surely a character.”

When he first met You Bing Yue days ago, she seemed different from other women: bold and carefree. With the added filter of having had her beloved stolen, people would easily pity her and dislike Yu Zhi Yi. But after the last two days, Liu Fei Yang felt “carefree” might not fit her at all. Many of her actions were no different from a bandit’s. And many of her words were sweet on the surface but sly underneath.

As the Heir Apparent of the King of Yunnan, he had seen all kinds of women. He had personally witnessed endless back-courtyard tricks. So when he heard her sugar-coated, sly words last night, the filter he had for her shattered.

Seeing Du Zi Heng actually hand over his horse, Liu Fei Yang gave him a half-smile and said: “Young Master Du is truly tender toward beauties, I am impressed.” Then he turned the topic and added: “But my horse also ran all night and is about to collapse. I will not invite Young Master Du to ride with me. I would hate for this horse to die on the road.”

With that, he snapped his whip and rode away.

Du Zi Heng said nothing.

Yu Zhi Yi did not know what happened after she left. She pushed her horse hard, let it graze twice along the way, and reached the Capital City before the gates closed the next day.

Li Rou was surprised to see her return so soon and asked: “Miss, how are you back this fast? Have you eaten? You are covered in dust. I will have them heat water now.”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “Not yet. Thank you for the trouble.”

She was a bit tired. Never in her life had she worked at such high intensity. She often cultivated late at night, but cultivation raised her Cultivation Base. It did not make her tired. It left her clear-headed and full of energy.

After eating and washing quickly, Yu Zhi Yi lay down and fell asleep at once, not caring at all about the so-called husband who was still hundreds of li away. [I made up my mind even before I returned.]

She did not know that You Bing Yue also reached the outskirts of the Capital City that same day. Sadly, the gate had already been locked. She could not enter.

She thought of knocking and making them open, but as soon as she neared, a head popped up on the wall and warned that no idle persons could approach after the gate closed. Anyone who did would be treated as a spy. Two longbows also appeared, aimed at her.

You Bing Yue nearly died of anger, but she had no way around it. If she had known, she would not have ridden through the night. She had driven two fast horses to death, struggled hard to reach the city, and now could only stare at the gate from outside.

Helpless, she stayed by the gate and waited for morning.

That night, she leaned against a big tree dozens of meters from the gate and tried to rest with her eyes closed. The weather was getting colder. She could not sleep in the open, or she might wake up sick. With her willpower, she should not have fallen asleep. But somehow, she did.

When she woke the next day, there were dark circles under her eyes. She had had a nightmare. In the dream, a five-year-old child screamed in her ear: “You are not my mother!” An ugly man grabbed her by the throat and blamed her for killing his wife. An old couple stood by without moving, their eyes filled with chilling hatred.