Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

"Chu Huanjun?!"

Tao Yao screamed and turned around to escape.

But the snow behind her had piled up into a huge mountain, leaving her with nowhere to go. The voice behind her gently lingered towards her, "Yaoyao, why are you running away? You can't escape."

Tao Yao felt her nerves, stretched to their limit, about to snap. She no longer cared about anything else and desperately ran into the blizzard behind her. She screamed as she ran, fearing that Chu Huanjun would catch up.

"Chu Huanjun! Please let me go!"

"Chu Huanjun! Even if I die and become a ghost, I will not let you go!"

"Chu Huanjun..."

Taoyao jumped up from the haystack like a furry rabbit, suddenly awakened from a nightmare. She kept gasping for breath and was shocked to find that the clothes on her back were soaked with cold sweat.

Tao Yao quickly looked around and confirmed that she was indeed in Song Zhishou's study. Only then did she feel relieved and slowly retreated into the haystack to calm herself down.

A moment later, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"Miss Shi Er, are you awake?"

It was Song Zhishou's voice.

Tao Yao hurriedly got up, scooped some water from the basin beside her and rubbed her face casually, then hurried to open the door for Song Zhishou.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Song Zhishou's smiling face.

Tao Yao suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and smiled at Song Zhishou: "Hey, Mr. Song, good morning!"

Song Zhishou pointed to the food box in his right hand and said with a smile, "Uh, I brought you some breakfast. I wonder if you can eat it."

As he spoke, he carried the food from the lunch box to the desk: two bowls of corn porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables.

Before Song Zhishou put down his chopsticks, Tao Yao had already rolled up her sleeves, picked up a bowl of porridge and drank three mouthfuls. She was not polite at all.

"I'm sorry, I left in a hurry last night and forgot to ask someone to bring you some food. You must be starving now..." Song Zhishou had never seen a girl eat in such an unrestrained manner, and he felt a little sorry for it. "I'll ask someone to bring you a snack at the next meal."

Tao Yao's eyes instantly brightened up, and her voice was filled with unconcealed surprise: "Extra meal? I'm a suspect, and I'm being treated this way?"

"Uh, that..." Song Zhishou smiled awkwardly. He held back and didn't say anything. If some King of Hell knew that Tao Yao had suffered at his hands, he would have lost ten heads.

Song Zhishou hesitated for a long time, but couldn't help but say, "When I came here this morning, the guard who was on guard last night told me that the lock on my yard door was broken. I think it was robbed."

Tao Yao felt guilty and immediately buried her face deeper into the bowl of porridge and took a big gulp of it.

"Miss Shi Er, did you hear anything last night?"

"No... no, right..." Tao Yao raised her face from the bowl and pretended to be confused. "Master Song, I sleep soundly, so I didn't hear anything."

"Oh...that's good. I was worried that the thief would sneak into the courtyard and do something unkind to Miss Shi...I was too worried. It seems that the night guards at the yamen are still a little lax. They need to be strengthened."

Song Zhishou pretended to be clueless despite knowing the truth. The patrol officer had told him last night that the candles in the study were still on until midnight. How could she not know anything? But since she hadn't sneaked away, he didn't bother to ask any more questions.

As long as he is there, he can give an explanation to the prince.

After breakfast, Song Zhishou began to attend to official business. He ordered Taoyao to go to the yard and turn over all the corn kernels on the cornfield. Today was another sunny day, a perfect day for drying the corn.

Taoyao took a spiked rake and scrambled across the gully from east to west, then from north to south, panting and sweating profusely. She stood on the gully, her hands supporting her eyes like a small awning, gazing out at the study window.

Song Zhishou was sitting in front of the desk with a frown on his face. He was holding a brush in his hand and writing something quickly.

Tao Yao was thinking about Lu Che, and his green eyes filled with resentment and sadness, and she couldn't help but feel a little scared.

She was afraid that Lu Che would really be arrested by the government - killing someone means paying with one's life is a matter of course, but Lu Che killed someone because of her. This matter was caused by her, and she would feel guilty.

Tao Yao shook her head—she shouldn't think like that. Lu Che's decision to kill someone was his own, and had nothing to do with her. Even if Lu Che was eventually caught by Song Zhishou, imprisoned, and died young, it would be his own due.

She is obviously the most innocent one, so why should she feel sad for others?

But even though she kept reminding herself of this, Tao Yao still felt uncomfortable.

She didn't understand what Lu Che was carrying, and what kind of bond they had that made his eyes filled with such sadness when he looked at her.

The omelet he asked Yingsun to bring was delicious. She wanted to tell him and say thank you, but she didn't know if she would have the chance again.

Tao Yao wiped the sweat from his forehead and found a shady corner to sit down and rest.

The golden sunlight filled the entire courtyard. The turned corn kernels were evenly spread on the cornfield, enjoying the warm caress of the sun, making them golden, translucent and sparkling.

The sky was as blue as the sea, a boundless ocean. Tao Yao squinted her eyes and stared at the blue sky, imagining herself as a white cloud, floating freely in the sky.

If she hadn't time-traveled, what would her life be like now? Perhaps her salary this month still wasn't satisfactory, perhaps she was still worried about dinner—or perhaps her life had taken a turn for the better, she'd made a comeback, and she'd become that powerful career elite again?

Tao Yao smiled. Yes, that's how life is. No one can predict what will happen at the next fork in the road. After all, no matter what era she lives in, she is just an ordinary person with an ordinary status. She can't be as cautious as Chu Huanjun, making everything revolve around him and keeping everything running smoothly.

The torrent of fate pushed her forward, and she only had the courage to look back. She had no other capital but to move forward.

As she thought about it, she fell asleep again without knowing when. This sleep in the sunshine was very peaceful and dreamless.

When she woke up again, Tao Yao found a small wooden box next to her with a note on it, which she thought was left by Song Zhishou.

On the note was a line of tiny calligraphy: "Lunch extra, thank you for your hard work in drying the corn."

Tao Yao opened the lid of the wooden box and her eyes lit up. It turned out to be braised chicken.

Tao Yao happily picked up the food box and ran back to the study.

There was no one in the room, and no one knew where Song Zhishou had gone. However, Tao Yao didn't have time to care about that, so she grabbed a braised chicken leg and started to eat it.

After eating, Tao Yao felt bored and stretched out in the yard. Her life as a prisoner was quite leisurely. Apart from drying corn, she ate and slept. Even Lord Song, the highest-ranking official, was polite to her.

To be honest, being a suspect is much easier than being the second lady in Hui Shi Mansion.