Chapter Thirty-Five It's All Up To You

  After the bet was set, Baili Zhao looked at Yuandai with a hint of a smile: "Now that you've gotten your way, it's not too much to ask, why did you have such confidence that Yue Yao couldn't do anything to Yuan Zhen?"

  Leisurely picking up a cherry and putting it in her mouth, she slowly ate it and spat out the pit. Only then did Yuan Dai speak: "Although I have only met General Yue a few times, I feel that he has a rather scornful attitude towards women. Does Your Highness think my words make sense?"

  Baili Zhao was taken aback, then fell silent. After a while, he let out a faint sigh and nodded: "It seems that this time, I'm mostly at a disadvantage!" As soon as these words came out, they were an admission that Yuandai's words were not false. Besides this, there was another meaning, which was that although he personally admitted to being at a disadvantage this time, he didn't think that Yue Yao really had no chance of winning.

  It is said that one strong power can defeat ten weak ones. Most of the time, in the face of absolute strength, some small tricks are ultimately useless.

  Yuandai heard this and smiled, but didn't continue speaking either.

  After a moment, however, it was Baili Xiao who spoke up first: "You... really don't have anything you want to ask?"

  A faint smile, and Yan Dai asked in return: "I don't know what the king wants me to ask?" But this was said with no sincerity at all, it was very obvious that she was just echoing Baili Zhao's question, and could even be said to be a very obvious perfunctory response.

  She shook her head slightly, and Baili Xue was helpless as she looked at Yuandai. She finally gave up on continuing to ask questions. In fact, the cause and effect of this matter had basically been clarified by now, and what he asked was just to prove his conjecture from Yuandai's mouth. "You're not guilty at all!" After a while, he uttered these few words lightly.

  Yan Dai's expression remained unchanged, calmly replying: "I have never done anything to harm others. Why would I be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door at midnight?"

  Baili Zhui heard this and couldn't help but laugh: "You don't do things that hurt your conscience? How do you explain the matter of Lu Weiying?"

  She gazed straight at Baili Zhou, her voice cold and detached: "He's the one who brought it upon himself. I've always detested men who think they're so suave." Lu Weiying was nothing but a passerby to her from start to finish. She had no intention of having any dealings with him, nor did she deign to do so. In fact, in the Ling Yuanshu incident, Lu Weiying hadn't actually done anything wrong either.

  It wasn't until Lu Weiying showed that pig-like expression to Xiao Chengxian that she truly felt disgusted.

  He noticed her abnormality, looked at her with a thoughtful gaze, and said: "The side you're showing now is really making me feel a bit apprehensive!" As he spoke, he naturally raised his hand to gently stroke the center of his eyebrows.

  With a calm smile, Farong said: "Your Highness doesn't have to worry! Between you and me, it's just a transaction. You give me what I want, and I will do my best to help Your Highness recover fully!"

  Her eyes gazed deeply into the distance as she calmly asked, "One day, when the transaction is complete, what do you plan to do?"

  Suddenly hearing these words, she couldn't help but sink into deep thought, and after a long time, she smiled: "Then it depends on the king?"

  "Look at me?" Baili Xiao slowly repeated these two words, but suddenly burst out laughing: "Good one, look at me! Never mind, just for your sake of saying these two words, I shouldn't have wronged you!"

  She smiled slightly and slowly got up. Zhaoyi bowed slightly and said in a warm voice, "I should go back now!"

  Baili Zhao nodded slightly and didn't stop her. Yu Dai also didn't say much, turned around and walked back the way she came. When she arrived, it was pitch black all along the way, and she couldn't even see the road. But on the way back, it was different. On this road, lanterns were hung on both sides of the trees, illuminating the forest with a bright light.

  When Yuandai returned to the clearing inside the dense forest, the banquet was still going on, but everyone seemed to have lost interest in continuing. As soon as her figure appeared on the clearing, Xiao Chengyan suddenly jumped up and rushed over: "Ninth sister!" she called out, with a look of concern on her face. Yuandai smiled reassuringly at her and shook her head slightly, indicating that everything was fine.

  They were exchanging glances here, and Ling Yuancheng was even more straightforward, directly bowing to Baili Yiyi: "Baili, since the three of them are here today, I think we'll stop here for now. Another day, I'll invite you with Cheng Ye, how about that?"

  A hundred miles away, heard the sound, and also nodded naturally.

  Yuan Dai listened to this and couldn't help but glance around the scene. Only then did she realize that Mrs. Ning had already left. Noticing Yuan Dai's intention, Xiao Chengyan smiled softly and said in a low voice, "Soon after you left, Mrs. Ning also left!"

  With a smile, Yuandai didn't say a word. Lingyu Xuan had also arrived at this moment and looked at Yuandai with concern, asking in a soft voice: "Ninth sister, that... Prince Rui..." Although Baili Zhao's words about the champion red were ambiguous enough to confuse those who didn't know the inside story, everyone who had drunk wine in the champion building was on guard, including Lingyu Xuan.

  Smiling, Far Dai shook her head and said, "Let's go back and talk slowly!" The three women had only spoken a few words when Ling Yuanqing and others had already bid farewell to Bai Lichao. Walking quickly over here, Ling Yuanqing said, "Let's go!"

  Yuandai Sanren heard the sound, hastily turned around and saluted Baili Yu, then followed Ling Yuanqing and others to leave this flat ground. Along the way, the wind lanterns had already been hung high, illuminating the return path with clarity.

  Until they entered the Shui Lin, Ling Yuan Qing asked in a low voice: "What's going on?" He didn't specify who he was asking, but everyone present knew that the person he was asking at this moment was none other than Yuan Dai.

  His expression didn't change in the slightest, and he calmly said, "When we came down from the mountain that day, Yue Yao was right behind us!"

  As soon as this was said, Ling Yuancheng and Xiao Chengye's faces both looked a bit ugly. No matter what, being stared at from behind is never a comfortable thing for anyone, regardless of whether the person giving the orders is noble or not, and regardless of who the person staring is.

  Lu Weijie didn't know the whole story, but after hearing this, he vaguely guessed some of it. However, since he didn't know the details, he also couldn't speak carelessly, so he just quietly followed the crowd, not saying a word along the way. With a determined effort to restrain himself, Xiao Chengyan finally couldn't help but say in a cold voice: "Is the wise prince not afraid of being ridiculed by others for acting like this?"

  As soon as this was said, Ling Yuancheng nodded his head in approval, and there was also a somewhat indifferent expression on his face.

  A faint smile, and Yu Yan suddenly spoke up: "Actually, he didn't do anything wrong!"

  This remark was beyond everyone's expectation. They stared at her in shock. Ling Yuqing didn't smile and asked, "Ninth Sister, what do you mean by this?"

  Yan Dai smiled again, and then said unexpectedly: "I say, he didn't do anything wrong!" As she spoke, she suddenly pointed to Lu Weijie who had been silent all along, calmly explaining: "Since Brother Lu can travel with us, it's actually not wrong for him to secretly follow and protect us!"

  As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned, and then there was a long silence.

  After a long while, Ling Yuancheng let out a sigh and waved his hand, saying: "Forget it, forget it. Let's just pretend I never said anything today!"

  Lu Weijie was actually still unaware of the matter, and suddenly heard Yuande's words, after being shocked, he was still pondering, and remained silent. On the other hand, Xiao Chengye's face had already turned extremely ugly.

  Xiao Chengxian did not expect Yan Dai to be so straightforward in taking a stand, and when she saw her own brother's unpleasant expression, she hastily intervened by saying: "It's late at night, it's cold on the mountain, let's just say less of these unnecessary words!"

  As he spoke, he had already pulled away from Daiyu and quickened his pace towards the Xiangling's private residence.

  Ling Yuqing and others were dissatisfied with Baili Zhao's way of doing things, but because of Baili Zhao's identity, they couldn't pursue it. At this moment, after hearing Xiao Chengyan's words, they also let the matter drop and each kept silent.

  When they returned to the other courtyard, the three women bid farewell and went back to the inner courtyard. As he watched the three people leave, Lu Weijie turned to Ling Yuancheng and asked with a frown: "Yuancheng, you should give me an explanation for this matter!"

  Ling Yuan Qing sighed: "This matter, I'm not intentionally hiding it from you. It's just that the royal family is involved, and until the dust settles, who knows what will happen in the future? How can I randomly boast to people?" As a minister, being able to form a marriage alliance with a prince of the imperial family was undoubtedly a great honor. Precisely because of this, before things were settled, it was even more inappropriate to loudly proclaim it, lest the engagement fall through and become a laughingstock.

  Although this remark did not explicitly state the facts, it was enough for Lu Weijie to roughly understand the reason behind the events. He nodded slightly and said, "So that's how it is!" With that, he didn't ask any more questions and bid farewell to Ling Yuancheng and Qing by cupping his hands together in a gesture of respect before leaving.

  Looking back at Xiao Chengye's still pale face, Ling Yuancheng sighed and said: "Things have come to this, what more can be said! Chengye, you should also go back and rest early!" In the Wind Bamboo Pavilion, Yuan Dai had already told him everything she could say. As for him, he had done everything he needed to do, even revealing some of Xiao Chengye's thoughts to Yuan Dai. However, he understood that bringing up this matter at that time was already too late, let alone in the current situation.

  Compared to the princes of the imperial family, Baili Zhao is undoubtedly special. He has no hope of inheriting the throne, but on the other hand, he also has more autonomy. Once he makes a decision, even the current emperor, Baili Zhao's father, may not interfere much.

  Xiao Chengye smiled wryly and didn't say another word. He bowed slightly and turned to leave with big strides.

  After everyone left, Ling Yuanchen stood alone in a daze, unable to express the taste in his heart. He had always been on good terms with Yuan Dai, and naturally hoped that Yuan Dai would have a good ending. In his opinion, Xiao Chengyan was undoubtedly one of the best candidates.

  Now, Yuandai is going to marry into the Ruiqin Wangfu. He had to admit that Ruiqin Wang Baili Zhao was better than Xiao Chengyan in every way, even though he was now disabled with crippled legs. However, Ling Yuqing did not want Yuandai to choose Baili Zhao.

  He actually understood that his thoughts were not just for Xiao Chengye, but he had his own private heart, and this private heart was for his mother, Mrs. Lu.