The Emperor, with more men than women, made me his mistress.

Soon, a group of seven or eight people riding fast horses stopped in front of the tea stall.

Yue Li assumed that Leng Xuanling was also there to rest, but when she looked up, the first thing she saw was Leng Xuanling riding a horse at the very front.

At this moment, Leng Xuanling, sitting on his horse with one hand holding the reins, was also looking in Yue Li's direction, and the two locked eyes.

Yue Li raised an eyebrow. She hadn't expected that Leng Xuanling would chase after them so soon after they left. It seemed that someone had been watching their movements.

"Hmph! You came pretty fast." At this moment, Sheng Yifan, who was sitting next to him, snorted.

Since Leng Xuanling has no intention of leaving the capital, their trip this time was definitely not going to be kept from him. They just didn't expect him to react so quickly.

At this moment, Leng Xuanling dismounted and walked up to them. He was immediately struck by Yue Li's attire, his eyes flashing with amazement. Yue Li was wearing a bright red, narrow-sleeved long dress for convenience, with layers of blooming peonies embroidered on the hem, which accentuated her curvaceous figure.

Her jet-black hair was tied back with a single headband, giving Yue Li a look that was both beautiful and dashing.

However, he quickly concealed the admiration and amazement in his eyes, and said to Yue Li and Sheng Yifan with a smile that was both serious and joking, "Why didn't the Princess and Young Master Sheng send someone to inform me when they went out? Didn't I say last time that I also wanted to come with you to see the beautiful landscape of Qian Yuan Kingdom?"

Yue Li nodded to Leng Xuanling as a greeting.

Sheng Yifan stood up and bowed slightly to Leng Xuanling, his long, narrow eyes beneath his deep-set brows looking at him calmly as he said, "We didn't send anyone to inform Crown Prince Leng, but you came along anyway."

As Yue Li listened to Sheng Yifan's words, a smile unconsciously appeared on her lips. She had long known that Sheng Yifan was good at making people speechless, but before, he only used it on Shao Qi, often leaving Shao Qi speechless. She didn't expect him to suddenly change his target this time.

Hearing Sheng Yifan say this, Leng Xuanling didn't feel embarrassed. She found a seat near Yue Li and sat down, her jade-like smile still on her face. "Let's not use such formal titles as Crown Prince and Princess on this trip. It's also inconvenient when we're out and about. If Princess doesn't mind, how about we call each other by our names when we're out?"

Clearly, Leng Xuanling had automatically placed himself in the group traveling with Yue Li and the others, and had even begun to plan for the entire group.

Sheng Yifan: ...

Is this really a case of having no shame at all?

Yue Li was also taken aback by Leng Xuanling's words.

She never expected that Leng Xuanling would be so willing to set aside his status for her.

She thought that if she were in Leng Xuanling's position, she would never have been able to do this.

It's impossible to give up all your pride and past principles just because of someone you like.

Sheng Yifan naturally disliked this person who suddenly stepped between the two of them. If it weren't for Leng Xuanling, he knew that he and Yue Li would have been very happy on the way.

However, even so, he did not make a decision for Yue Li. When Lin Ming brought over the boiled water, he picked up a packet of spiritual tea that he had taken out in advance, patiently brewed the tea, and handed a cup to Leng Xuanling.

Seeing his young master's attitude, Lin Ming became more amiable towards the people Leng Xuanling brought. He even gave them the extra food they had prepared because they hadn't had time to prepare for their journey.

Si Ming accepted the gift without ceremony, and even patted Lin Ming on the shoulder as if they were good buddies, saying that he would treat them to meat and wine when they arrived at the next prefecture.

The teahouse, which had been somewhat tense just moments before, suddenly became much more lively.

Yue Li did not object to Leng Xuanling's suggestion, after all, it was indeed inconvenient.

And so, Leng Xuanling and his group joined Yue Li's team, making the already small group much larger.

They stopped briefly at a tea stall, ate something to fill their stomachs, and then continued on their way on horseback.

Along the way, they saw many new sights and things. They would stay in each city for a few days, and Sheng Yifan would take people to check out each shop. Sometimes Yue Li would accompany him, and sometimes she would take Leng Xuanling out for a stroll.

It can be said that along the way, Leng Xuanling had many opportunities to interact with Yue Li alone. Unconsciously, Yue Li also became more affectionate and less resistant when looking at Leng Xuanling.

Moreover, along the way, Yue Li and Sheng Yifan collected a lot of spirit stones and spirit essence liquid from shops in various cities.

The perceptive Leng Xuanling naturally noticed the unusual nature of their actions. At first, he thought Yue Li liked these gemstones and jade, so he wanted to take out his silver notes to buy more for her, but Yue Li refused. Later, he realized that Yue Li's selection of gemstones and the jade ornaments, pendants, jewelry, and hairpins displayed on the counter was purposeful.

After passing through several cities, the purchased items were nowhere to be found; they had vanished without a trace.

Despite his doubts, Leng Xuanling thought more that perhaps Sheng Yifan simply found it inconvenient to keep those items in the Sheng family's shop and had no idea that there were such magical things as storage bags and spatial storage.

They traveled along the way, even staying for a few days in places with beautiful scenery in the wild, which slowed their pace even further. They had only completed half the journey by the end of July, starting from the beginning of April.

At noon that day, they had to pass through a mountain road with mountains and shrubs on both sides and only one carriage could pass through in the middle. When Yue Li saw the environment, she subconsciously began to sense the concentration of spiritual energy here.

Sure enough, even on this path, one could feel a stronger spiritual energy in the air than in other places.

Only Yue Li was so relaxed; the others had already begun to be on guard.

A few days ago in the city, they heard a lot of news about caravans that had run into trouble when they passed through here. These two mountains are called Twin Peaks. It is said that there is a bandit den hidden in the mountains, which specializes in robbing passing caravans. Men who are not good-looking are killed directly, while those who are better-looking are taken to the mountains.

It's easy to imagine what they were going to do with them on the mountain.

The group consisted of 16 people, all of whom were tall and strong men except for Yue Li. Sheng Yifan was naturally not afraid of them. The six people he brought, including Lin Ming, had not learned spiritual power from him, but they had studied internal energy with Qingyun at the martial arts academy for quite some time. Their lightness skills were already superb, and they had also learned excellent swordsmanship.

However, after extending his divine sense, he saw bandits with bows and arrows hidden in the bushes halfway up the mountain. He was afraid that the bandits would launch sneak attacks. If they were to come after them, it would be easy to deal with them. But if those sneak attacks were to hit Leng Xuanling and his group, they would have to protect them.