Chapter 43

Shen Yu sat up, holding the blanket around her, and whispered, “I heard that the brothels on the Hua Fang boats in Yian are particularly famous, with all kinds of beauties and styles. Your Highness has been through a lot, so it’s only natural to relax a bit when you arrive in Yian.”

Xie Tingzhou narrowed his eyes. “You’re quite the analyst.”

“Your Highness is too kind,” Shen Yu said with a smile. “I just have a slight understanding of Your Highness.”

Xie Tingzhou chuckled. “Tonight, you’ve been calling me ‘Your Highness’ quite frequently. What mischief have you been up to?”

“Of course not,” Shen Yu said seriously. “But it’s inappropriate to speculate about Your Highness’s private affairs. It’s better to be proper with words.”

Xie Tingzhou chuckled and lay down with his clothes on, closing his eyes.

Shen Yu lay down as well. After a while, she couldn’t help but ask, “Your Highness, are the brothels in Yian really as rumored, with all kinds of beauties?”

Xie Tingzhou asked back, “What do you think?”

Shen Yu thought for a moment. The sound of the gong outside struck at the fifth watch.

She suddenly had a thought. “They must not be that good, otherwise Your Highness wouldn’t have returned so early. How long has it been since you left? If there were beauties aplenty, you would naturally stay until dawn—”

The blanket covered her entire face, and Shen Yu slowly pulled it down, feeling hesitant to speak further, fearing that the prince beside her, whose temperament was unpredictable and whose body was weak, would suddenly change his mood.

The wound on Shen Yu’s arm had already scabbed over, but Xie Tingzhou’s back wound was more severe and needed more time to heal.

They applied medicine as usual in the morning.

The guards from the escort bureau came to wake them up, and after breakfast, they were ready to set off.

As they reached the door, they were about to knock when they heard a soft exclamation from inside.

“Hiss—be gentler.”

“Does it hurt? Like this?”

“A bit tight, can you loosen it a bit?”

Shen Yu relaxed the bandage a little, rolling her eyes where Xie Tingzhou couldn’t see.

This young prince, who had been roughing it out in the wild all this time, was becoming more and more delicate?

When he was injured, covered in blood and flesh, he remained unfazed, but now that the wounds had scabbed over, he was still moaning in pain.

Shen Yu thought for a moment and suddenly said, “Who told you to indulge too much last night—”

“Shut up.” Xie Tingzhou’s voice was cold.

The guards outside the room were stunned, thinking it was better not to disturb the two.

After Shen Yu finished bandaging Xie Tingzhou’s wound, she went downstairs. The guards from the escort bureau were having their meal downstairs.

After the two of them sat down, they felt that something was off. Several guards kept stealing glances at them. Whenever Shen Yu looked over, they quickly looked away.

After finishing their meal, they got on the carriage. Shen Yu lowered the curtains and whispered, “Something doesn’t feel right. We need to be cautious today. I suspect they have discovered that I’m wealthy and want to rob us.”

Xie Tingzhou glanced at Shi Yu speechlessly.

He also felt it was strange. How did they find out when he went out last night?

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

Just judging from the expressions of those guards, they didn’t seem to have any malicious intent. They seemed more curious.

What were they curious about?

The convoy continued towards Shengjing, and after another day on the road, they stopped at an inn.

Tonight’s resting place was a small town, and the inn was nowhere near as good as Yian. Even the kettle in the guest rooms was empty.

Xie Tingzhou looked at the already sleeping Shi Yu, wondering where he found so much time to sleep during the day.

Clearly, he was his bodyguard, but now it seemed like he was the one keeping watch over him.

Xie Tingzhou picked up the kettle and went downstairs. Just as he was about to leave, “asleep” Shen Yu opened her eyes.

She hadn’t been able to figure out where he had gone last night, so she couldn’t miss it tonight.

Shen Yu quietly got up and followed him. She was very careful when opening and closing the door. After looking around, she followed the direction Xie Tingzhou had left.

Just as she turned the corner, she almost bumped into someone coming towards her.

Xie Tingzhou glanced at him. “You’re pretending to be asleep quite convincingly.”

Shen Yu was caught red-handed and hastily said, “I’m not doing it to watch out for you.”

Xie Tingzhou didn’t let him off. “Then who are you doing it for?”

“Of course, it’s for the guards from the escort bureau.”

“Huh, boldly spoken.”

Before he could finish his words, his lips were suddenly covered.

Xie Tingzhou was stunned. No one had ever had the audacity to cover his mouth like this before.

Shi Yu covered his mouth and listened intently. The footsteps of several people were approaching.

Xie Tingzhou forgot to react for a moment, stumbling, and Shi Yu pushed him into the firewood room behind him while still covering his mouth.

The group stopped in the adjacent kitchen.

“Hiss, it’s freezing. This inn is so shabby, we even have to boil our own hot water.”

“Don’t waste time, start boiling. Miss is still waiting.”

It was the voices of those guards.

One person said, “I told you those two didn’t look like brothers at all, and it turns out they aren’t.”

Shen Yu let go of Xie Tingzhou’s hand and looked at him. Both of them read the same thought in each other’s eyes.

Had their identities been exposed?

Then someone continued, “I never expected it. Those two are actually in that kind of relationship.”

Shen Yu mouthed, “What kind of relationship?”

Xie Tingzhou glanced at him, indicating for him to continue listening.

“It’s that tall one. How can a man turn out like that? I think it’s normal for a man to lose control.”

Shen Yu still didn’t fully understand what they were talking about.

“It’s not necessarily the case. That young Mr. Shi is also very handsome. With such a big difference in physique between them, maybe young master Shi is the one on the bottom.”

Shen Yu suddenly understood what they were talking about. Before she could speak, Xie Tingzhou covered her mouth.

Revenge!

It was definitely retaliation for her covering his mouth just now.

Shen Yu reached out to try to pry his hand away, but she didn’t expect Xie Tingzhou, who was supposedly weak and unable to fend for himself, to have such strong hands, and his fingers didn’t budge.

She didn’t dare to use too much force, afraid of breaking his fingers, so she could only let him cover her mouth and glare at him.

A hint of a smile appeared in Xie Tingzhou’s eyes, and he whispered in her ear, “What should we do? It seems like we’ve been misunderstood.”

Shen Yu gestured for him to let go of her mouth. Only then did Xie Tingzhou release his hand.

She was much shorter than Xie Tingzhou and couldn’t speak loudly, so she had to tiptoe and whisper in his ear, “It means they’re not thinking about my money.”

Her light breath brushed past his ear, bringing a strange sensation.

Xie Tingzhou’s brows furrowed slightly, and he moved his head away, wanting to say something but pursing his lips.

The conversation next door continued.

“In fact, it should have been noticed long ago. Miss is always fawning over young Mr. Shi, but he doesn’t even spare her a glance. His eyes are only on that man.”

Shen Yu looked at Xie Tingzhou, and coincidentally, Xie Tingzhou lowered his head, and their eyes met.

A mischievous smile suddenly appeared in Xie Tingzhou’s eyes, and he teased her, “I’m also curious, can you control yourself?”

Shen Yu instantly understood. He wanted to pretend to be disgusted by her? She wasn’t afraid; after all, she wasn’t a man.

Shen Yu grabbed his hand and said sincerely, “To be honest, I’ve been enduring quite a bit these days. If it weren’t for my strong self-control, I’m afraid I would have already forced myself on you.”

Xie Tingzhou’s brows twitched. He was really disgusted by her.

Indeed, shamelessness was invincible in the world.

Compared to Shi Yu, he lost in terms of shamelessness.