39 Poorly Fated Someone

er temper. Wasn’t the old lady being too presumptuous here She even seemed to have planned out everything ahead of time, with one sister-in-law for Prince Li and one for Prince Ding! It wasn’t surpris...The Imperial Capital Ode 39: A Pitiful Someone

Chapter 39 - A Pitiful Someone

"Ah... Ah Yao, what did I just see"

A long while later, a stuttering voice echoed through the dim forest. Three figures emerged from the woods, and Feng Zhirao's image of an elegant gentleman was shattered once again as he stared in shock at the unconscious unfortunate soul on the ground.

Mos Yao looked calmly at everything before him and said indifferently, "It’s exactly what you just saw."

"This nobleman didn’t sleep all night to accompany you outside, afraid that Third Miss Ye might get into trouble! Now it looks like those who got into trouble are others" If he hadn't still been somewhat aware of his appearance, Feng Zhirao would have wanted to scream like a woman. What did he see When he received news that someone was after the life of Miss Ye, he hurriedly came over from under a beautiful lady’s quilt in the middle of the night only to find that Miss Ye had knocked out Mo Jingli with an attack so swift that even Feng Zhirao couldn’t make out how she did it. Mo Jingli might be a little dim-witted, but at least he was one of the young talents in the imperial capital! Walking over to Mos Yao’s side, he imitated Miss Ye and circled around him before leaning on his chin boredly asking, "What should we do now"

"Throw him into that pond over there." Mos Yao said without any expression.

"It's a cold pond. He’ll die," Feng Zhirao warned half-heartedly.

"Take off his clothes too," Mos Yao said coolly.

"Probably won't work, your future empress has excellent skills in tying knots." Feng Zhirao squatted down to study the rope around Mo Jingli’s body. "Ah Yao, don’t provoke Third Miss Ye in the future. Women are terrifying." After thinking about it for a long time, Feng Zhirao couldn’t come up with any way of escaping if he was tied up like this and no one helped him. "However, this technique is worth learning."

"Ah Jin."

"Yes, Your Highness." The young man pushing the wheelchair behind Mo Xiuyao responded and stepped forward to pick up the person on the ground, heading deeper into the woods. Soon after, there was a splash. Clearly, someone had been thrown into the water. Feng Zhirao couldn't help but stomp his feet, "Ao Yao, you're setting a bad example for children. What if Mo Jingli dies" The death of a prince in the capital city, especially one who is an emperor's brother, isn't a trivial matter. Mo Xiuyao calmly looked at his hand resting on the wheelchair handle and said nonchalantly, "Ah Jin always knows how to measure things."

Measure things Does Ah Jin even have that kind of awareness Feng Zhirao stomped his foot and went over to take a look. He was speechless upon seeing it.

Mo Jingli had been tossed into the water, with only his upper body still resting on the shore above water. Most importantly, the rope binding him was clearly much longer than before; one end of this extended rope was now tied to a tree at the edge of the pond. This ensured that Mo Jingli wouldn't be dragged into the middle of the pond by any unexpected accidents. Indeed, Ah Jin had done it with great consideration.

"Ah Jin, I'll take your prince back. You stay here and keep an eye on him. When it gets light enough, wake up those who brought him here. Don't let him drown."

Ah Jin frowned slightly but nodded after some hesitation. Feng Zhirao glanced at Mo Jingli with a hint of sympathy before shaking his fan contentedly as he headed towards where Mo Xiuyao was sitting.

"Ao Yao, I'm starting to get curious about your future princess."

Returning to the woods, Mo Xiuyao still sat in the shade. The dim night made his expression look rather unpleasant; it wasn't clear what he was thinking.

Moi Xiuyao looked up and said calmly, "We should head back now."

Feng Zhirao looked curiously at Mo Xiuyao, "You're letting him off so easily" Despite Mo Xiuyao's years of self-cultivation which made it seem like he had a good temper, Feng Zhirao knew very well from firsthand experience that Mo Xiuyao was never one to be kind. A hint of coldness flashed in Mo Xiuyao's usually gentle eyes as he said, "Tomorrow is Jingli's wedding; if the groom encounters any mishap it would surely dampen everyone’s spirits." Feng Zhirao wanted to sigh, “I thought you didn't want Mo Jingli to have anything to do with the Ye family. Don’t forget, if he marries Ye Ying, then you and he will be...” brothers-in-law What a displeasing relationship to contemplate! Mo Xiuyao snorted lightly; his hand turned the wheelchair in another direction toward the woods' edge. Feng Zhirao raised an eyebrow and shrugged before following suit. Unbeknownst to them, tomorrow's wedding would likely bring about some entertaining developments worth getting a good vantage point for.

“What are we going to do with that guy who tied up Miss Ye Three”

"Catch him and send one hand and one leg to Mo Jingli as a wedding gift."

Although the city gates had been closed, Ye Li still managed to return to the Shangshu Mansion before dawn with some effort. As soon as she climbed into her room, Qing霜 and Qing玉 came up to greet her. The anxiety on their faces turned into relief. Qing玉 calmly brought tea for Ye Li, seemingly unaffected by the normally elegant lady scaling windows like a skilled acrobat. Qing霜 patted her chest and sighed in relief, "Miss, you're finally back. I was worried sick." Ye Li smiled lightly, "What's there to worry about if someone is following me Right, Qing鸞"

A figure softly landed outside the window; it was Qing鸞 who had followed Qing玉 from the Xu family residence. Qing鸞 smiled as she said, "Miss, you're amazing! I followed all the way but no one noticed. Who would have thought Miss wouldn’t be fooled either." Ye Li laughed, "Actually, I didn't notice you either. But throughout the journey, it seemed like there was a faint, familiar scent that caught my attention. The person who captured me...the smell from their own body wasn’t light at all, so I didn’t sense your scent."

Qing鸞 dejectedly hung her head, silently vowing never to use any incense again in the future. In fact, she had used very little incense that wouldn’t have been noticed by ordinary people. But who could blame Ye Li for having a more sensitive sense of smell than most

"Did anything interesting happen in the forest after I left" Ye Li asked as she sat down to drink the freshly brewed tea.

Qing鸞 mimicked Ye Li's actions and entered through the window, saying with a smile, "That person...was tossed into a pond deep within the forest."

"Prince Ding"

"Miss is indeed wise," Qing鸞 replied cheerfully. Recalling how someone had been tied up with ropes to a tree and thrown into the water, she felt that all her worries tonight were worthwhile. She believed First Master would also be pleased by this news. "I also saw another person accompanying Prince Ding; they seemed quite close."

Ye Li raised an eyebrow at Qing鸞 who didn't keep her in suspense but said, "It's the famous Feng Sanzi of the capital." Ye Li hadn’t expected Feng Zhirao to be connected with Mo Xiuyao, which explained the obvious curiosity Feng Zhirao had displayed towards her during the Flower Festival.

"So Prince Ding also came to save you Did Miss see Prince Ding" Qing霜 blinked curiously and asked.

Ye Li shook her head. She knew there were other people in the forest at that time, and could vaguely guess who they might be. However, she had no intention of meeting them so didn’t care about it. Since Mo Xiuyao hadn’t stopped Qing鸞, he must have understood her meaning too. Dealing with intelligent people really doesn't require much talk; this is great.

She casually tossed a jade pendant to Qingluan and said, "Give this to my cousin and ask him if he can find out who the owner of this jade is."

Holding it in her hand, Qingluan gossiped happily. "Then I'd better hurry up; Prince Ding has already promised a hand and a leg as gifts for Prince Li’s birthday celebration. If he hadn't run fast enough, he would have been unlucky tonight."

"His lightness kung fu is pretty good. If there's still time, try to catch him. He might be able to help us with something." Of course, if it was too late, nothing could be done about it. She didn’t believe that someone who broke into a nobleman’s residence in the middle of the night and kidnapped an innocent woman would be a good person. However, he seemed to know she was awake but still took her to hand her over to Mo Jingli without any warning. This man must have been quite interesting, or perhaps it was simply that Mo Jingli had offended him by accident.

Qingshuai stood on the side, looking at this person and then that one as she asked with a strange expression, "Can tomorrow’s wedding still go ahead as planned"

Qingluan waved her hand dismissively. "There shouldn't be any problem. I heard Feng Zhirao instructed Prince Ding's guards to let Prince Li's men rescue him before dawn." Qingshuai nodded and said, "Since that’s the case, Miss should rest early while there's still time. If you look bad tomorrow, people will talk."

Qingshuang also nodded in agreement; she didn’t want others to take advantage of another opportunity to tarnish her mistress's reputation.

"..."

Had no one thought about how tiring a wedding could be What if the groom fainted during tomorrow’s wedding... Ye Li irresponsibly thought, allowing the maidservants to change her clothes and put her to bed to sleep.

——

I didn't spoil anything, did I Tomorrow… the most unfortunate wedding in history~, scattered clothes lay everywhere, while under the broad bed curtains, two entwined figures were intimately embracing each other..."Ah Li…" When Ye Li opened her eyes, she was greeted by Mo Xiuyao’s...