Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

65. Sun Shu Being Rescued

Translator: Flying Lines

Once they returned back to the inn, everyone drank tea and rested for a while. They passed the time by listening to Zhou Zaiyue sharing his stories. As Zhou Zaiyue had been to many places, he had accumulated a wide range of knowledge. He also had done a little research on local practices. More often than not, it was Xiao Shengnian asking Zhou Zaiyue about folk beliefs and ritual practices in various places.

During this period, Zhou Zaiyue did not leave anyone’s sight. When the lunch was served, Zhou Zaiyue, Su Jie, and Xiao Shengnian ate at one table, while Sun Shu, Zhui Xing and Yu Che at the other.

Afterwards, no one had entered Arrival Inn. Xiao Shengnian was used to this kind of quietness, but the shopkeeper and waiters of the inn were a little puzzled. Why were there so few guests at midday today?

After a while, they all knew what was going on.

The few diners who were halfway through their meal, were all lying on the table asleep. No diners were spared from being drugged.

Both the shopkeeper and waiter were taken aback and they stepped forward to see what was going on. Suddenly, two teenagers rushed in from the door, moving swiftly like wild horses. The two teenagers knocked them out before the shopkeeper and waiter had the chance to turn around and see what they looked like.

“Which one is Lord Sun Shu?” Xuan Wu (Five) asked.

“This is him.” Shang Liu (Six) pulled Sun Shu up, supported him with his one arm around his neck then looked Xuan Wu in the eye, saying, “Let’s go.”

“Go! ” Xuan Wu supported Sun Shu’s other side as the two of them rushed out of the inn and disappeared into the crowd.

The whole process took less than a minute and this was how Sun Shu was taken away…

After a short while, Xiao Shengnian woke up from his sleep and realised that he was the first one in the inn to wake up. Xiao Shengnian’s eyes sank and glanced at another table where Sun Shu was nowhere to be found.

“Shifu, I know you did it.” Xiao Shengnian laughed. He turned his gaze towards Zhou Zaiyue who was still lying on the table. His tone was as gentle as ever, without any anger nor other emotions only elegance and casualness.

Zhou Zaiyue raised his head from the table without any hesitation.

“Shifu is really good at medicine. Even I fell for it.” Xiao Shengnian continued.

“Your medical skills have become more and more superb. My drug had only made you unconscious for a while.” Zhou Zaiyue’s eyes blurred and his tone was dull.

“The issue with you ordering your men to abduct Sun Shu is making it difficult for me to explain to my father when I get back to the capital.”

Zhou Zaiyue said, “You didn’t stop it from happening, do you not also accept the outcome?”

“It doesn’t have much impact whether or not I present Sun Shu to the court. It’s just that I feel this situation is a little strange. Sun Shu should be the spy sent by State Liukong. So does it follow that you’re also a native of State Liukong? Or why would you save Sun Shu?” Xiao Shengnian asked.

“If you trust me, I will tell you the truth when the time comes.”

Zhou Zaiyue didn’t confess the truth but kept Xiao Shengnian in suspense.

The State Liukong was also a neighbour of Yanhui. Sun Shu, who was from Yanling, pretended to be a countryman of Liukong in order to not implicate his own country.

Yanhui did not carefully check whether Sun Shu’s identity as a local of Liukong was authentic. It just so happened that the emperor just needed a reason to start a war. In the past few months, the Emperor of Yanhui had been dispatching troops to attack Liukong under a rather simple pretext: Sun Shu the spy of State Liukong had attempted to murder the Emperor, which, though failed, infuriated the Emperor of Yanhui who then was determined to overtake the country in one swoop.

The State Liukong had sent a group of envoys in an attempt to make peace with State Yanhui, but they were arrested and put in a cell as soon as they arrived in the capital.

Therefore, Sun Shu was no longer important. Regarding Zhou Zaiyue’s attempt to save Sun Shu, Xiao Shengnian simply turned a blind eye to it and let the issue rest. Xiao Shengnian had a stronger tie with Zhou Zaiyue than that with his moody father, the Emperor of Yanhui. And he strongly believed that one should treat his master shifu with reverence as his father. Yet Xiao Shengnian had complicated feelings towards Zhou Zaiyue. It was not only due to Zhou Zaiyue being his teacher when he taught him medicine, but also because of Zhou Zaiyue’s various magical skills. Thus, Xiao Shengnian wisely chose not to be his enemy because Zhou Zaiyue was formidable enough to make anyone feel troubled.

“Master shifu, you’ve been so kind to me, and I have absolute faith in you.” Xiao Shengnian said with a modest and polite attitude.

Zhou Zaiyue raised his head and said, “ShengNian, no matter how you treat me, I only hope that you treat Wen Nianxuan with sincerity. Don’t force yourself, and don’t mistreat Nianxuan because of what I did.”

Zhou Zaiyue’s remarks made sense and Xiao Shengnian didn’t think too deeply about it. His intelligence network was not strong, and even the most rigorous intelligence unit wouldn’t be able to find out that Su Jie was the direct descendent of the royal family of Yanling, the noblest Crown Prince upon birth that had been missing for sixteen years.

Xiao Shengnian smiled, “In my eyes, NianXuan is a little bit more charming than teacher.”

“That better be the case.” Zhou Zaiyue’s expression was as usual as he nodded his head. But he still wondered if he should pick a right time to instill some other ideas in Su Jie. For example, as the crown prince of Yanling, he should have three thousand beauties to serve him. Su Jie shouldn’t be constantly staying by Xiao Shengnian’s side.

Although Xiao Shengnian was the Prince Rui of Yanhui, his status was obviously different from that of Su Jie. There were more than a dozen princes in Yanhui and the current emperor was still in good health. There was no need to worry about who would succeed the throne. But the situation in Yanling was different. The royal family of Yanling only had a single male prince – Su Jie. Back then, although there was a princess who was two years older than Su Jie, she had fled from the kingdom and had not returned. The continuation of the royal blood then naturally fell on Su Jie’s shoulder. Yet, if Su Jie continued staying by Xiao Shengnian’s side, how would the Yanling royal family lineage continue?

As soon as the two people finished their words, Zhui Xing and Yu Che also woke up one after another. Once they found out that they had lost Sun Shu, Zhui Xing and Yu Che both dropped to their knees to apologize and asked for punishment. to Xiao Shengnian. Xiao Shengnian, however, only waved his hand, “Get up. Not a big deal.” He sounded so casual and bland like nothing had happened.

Su Jie was the last one to wake up from the coma. His eyes were a little hazy as he looked at the food on the table blankly.

Then, what Su Jie said dumbfounded everyone present, “The food has turned cold.”

Zhou Zaiyue became speechless, ” …”

Xiao Shengnian, “…The shopkeeper hasn’t woken up. Let’s wait awhile and have him serve us new dishes.”