The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

Gu Nianzhi in his arms was like a soft little heater, allowing Sima Yao, who already had symptoms of a cold, to recover after a night's sleep in the warmth.

Gu Nianzhi also slept very well.

It was like being held tightly by someone. The all-round sense of security made her feel more secure than ever before.

But when she woke up in the morning, the posture of the two of them made her want to explode on the spot.

After being alone for so many years, she actually slept in the arms of a man in a book for a whole night... and her identity at this moment was a man.

Gu Nianzhi's slight movement woke up Sima Yao, who was always alert.

Compared to the blushing Gu Nianzhi, he was quite calm.

"Did you dream last night that a master taught you martial arts? With elbow strikes and knee lifts?"

"Didn't I tell you in advance that I don't sleep well..."

"But who knew you could be so dishonest? Do you know how much force you have when you turn over in your sleep? It's enough to kill ten wolves..."

Gu Nianzhi knew her own behavior when she was sleeping, and she also knew that Sima Yao was not exaggerating. She argued in a very low voice: "I won't say anything if I disturb your sleep. You just woke me up..."

"Wake you up? Mr. Gu, can you teach me how to sleep as deeply as you do? I guess the only thing that can wake you up is the sun. I don't have that ability anyway."

There was a knock on the door.

Sima Yao opened the door and Shu Huaiyuan said anxiously at the door: "Something happened at the posthouse."

It turned out that the prince got up very early, wrote a letter by hand, and asked Shu Huaiyuan to deliver it to the inn where he stayed yesterday. In the letter, he politely declined the escort sent by the King of Qiangyi, and said some polite words. He agreed to come to pick up the bride after returning to Dasheng with enough betrothal gifts.

But what was unexpected was that the post station caught fire last night and several official inns were burned to ashes.

"Is it for the prince?"

"It's still uncertain, but the heaviest casualties were definitely in the villa where the prince lived."

"Where are your two horses?"

"The stable caught fire, too. He may have burned to death, or he may have run away after the reins burned through."

"Our most urgent task now is to prepare two more horses." Sima Yao did not seem to be very surprised by the fire in the post station.

Sima Yao followed Shu Huaiyuan downstairs. Gu Nianzhi pretended to wash her face, and after the two left, she quickly took out the indigo hidden at her waist and added a few strokes to her eyebrows.

Gu Nianzhi hurried downstairs, and steamed buns and mutton were already placed in front of the three people.

Sima Yao pushed a small round jar in front of Gu Nianzhi.

"Take it and use it."

"what is this?"

"I asked the shopkeeper's wife for some facial rouge. It's too early and the rouge shop hasn't opened yet. Although there isn't much left, it's enough for you to use on your journey."

Gu Nianzhi's facial cream fell into the bag in Dingxi Mansion. The sun exposure and dryness in the past few days have indeed made her skin uncomfortably tight.

"How did you know I needed this?"

"The climate in Dasheng is mild, yet you still need to apply it every day. Qiangyi is dry and windy, and I think you can't stand it." Sima Yao raised his eyes and glanced at Gu Nianzhi's face. Her eyebrows were a little different from yesterday. It seemed that her eyebrows had become much thicker overnight.

Before he could think about it, the shopkeeper came forward and said, "Sir, I have already arranged the two horses you requested. They are in the backyard, tied together with Brother Batu's Ferghana horse. You can set off at any time after you finish breakfast."

"Good work."

Sima Yao took out a few pieces of silver and handed them to the shopkeeper. The road ahead was long and there were many places to spend money. Now he didn't have much silver left, so he had to spend it frugally.

"Eat quickly and then set off." said the prince.

A few people came to the next table and started talking about the fire last night.

"That's a high-end post house with strict security. How come no one knew about the fire?"

"It was said to be the middle of the night, and the guards were all fast asleep."

"No matter how deep the sleep is, there will always be one or two people who can wake up, right? As long as one person wakes up and shouts, won't everyone be able to put out the fire?"

"I heard..." One person lowered his voice, and the other three quickly leaned over.

The man muttered a few words, followed by the other three people exclaiming in amazement, and then they started talking in low voices again...

Gu Nianzhi pricked up his ears, but still couldn't hear clearly what was said.

It's really unpleasant to have this kind of key information blocked.

Judging from the expressions of the Crown Prince and Sima Yao, they also gained nothing.

"Huaiyuan, what are they talking about?" Sima Yao asked.

"That man said that his good brother was one of the first coroners to enter the fire scene this morning. According to his brother, when the fire broke out, a building in the villa was completely burned and collapsed. The residents inside were probably burned to death and buried in the ruins. However, the strange thing is that the maids and guards of this villa all died near the villa exit. The bodies were piled up one after another, which was very scary. According to the judgment of this coroner, this situation must have occurred because someone deliberately sealed the entrance and exit before the fire."

"The villa he is talking about is the one you and I were supposed to live in yesterday, right?" The prince has already guessed it.

Being surrounded by enemies on all sides and having a hard time, this is exactly the situation the prince is in right now, right?

"General Shu is the farthest away from these people, but how can he hear it so clearly?" Gu Nianzhi was puzzled.

"I have been practicing martial arts since I was young, and blindfolding and listening to sounds is the basic skill."

"Huaiyuan is being modest. With his ears, he can hear even the slightest sound clearly," Sima Yao added.

"So that's it."

Shu Huaiyuan only appeared briefly in the original book, like an inconspicuous human background in the background board. The book gave him very little attention, so that Gu Nianzhi only knew his background and basic information, but had no idea about him as a person. Now that I think about it, Shu Huaiyuan's strength is simply unfathomable, and it's a pity that he was just mentioned in passing in the original book.

After they finished their breakfast, they asked the shopkeeper to buy some dry food and beef and mutton for the journey, and then they led their horses and prepared to set off.

The fire incident made the prince a little scared, but Gu Nianzhi felt that this was actually a good thing for the prince's escape.

"Everyone thought the prince was dead, so naturally no one would come to hunt us down. It would take several days to clean up the collapsed villa. By the time the news got out that the prince's body was not in the ruins, we would have already arrived near the capital. By then, it would not be so easy for them to take action."

"So we have to hurry up." Shu Huaiyuan took out a map. "I have studied the route carefully. We must conceal our identities along the way. It will take at least two and a half days to go back to the capital from the river valley. But we cannot go to the post station to replenish supplies and change horses. We also need to adjust and recuperate, which will take at least three and a half to four days."

"To conceal our tracks, we will pretend to be tea merchants, so Huaiyuan and my elder brother will carry some tea on their horses, and you will still ride with me."

"But the tea merchant is still holding a weapon, isn't that a bit strange?" Gu Nianzhi pointed at the spear in Sima Yao's hand.

"Tea merchants travel all over the country and often have a lot of money on them. For safety reasons, it is normal for tea merchants to hire one or two escorts to accompany them. So, in our team, you and Big Brother are the 'tea merchants', and General Shu and I are the escorts."

"With my physique, I can only act like a tea merchant. Even if I say I'm a bodyguard, I don't think anyone would believe me." Gu Nianzhi just said this casually without any emotion, but Sima Yao mistakenly thought that Gu Nianzhi minded it. He bowed and said sincerely, "There are not only big and strong men in the world. Although Mr. Gu is small in stature, he has a broad mind and is resourceful. This is something we cannot achieve. I hope you don't feel sad about your size."

"Thank you." Gu Nianzhi almost rolled his eyes to the sky.

"Mr. Gu, there is no need to be so polite. These are all Sima Yao's sincere words."

"Okay, good, very good. Let's get on the road."