CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 120 A SWEET AND NAIVE VOICE

"..."

Yu Wenye’s face gradually darkened and he said faintly, "It’s nothing, you misheard."

After speaking, he turned and instructed everyone, "Return to the city!"

The group tidied themselves up briefly, and then Yu Wenye and Shang Ruyi sat in the carriage, with the rest of the group lining up to protect the carriage as they headed towards the nearby Luoyang City.

Having spent most of the past two days on horseback, it was finally a chance to sit and rest for a while, but Shang Ruyi felt even more rigid sitting in the carriage than when she was riding a horse.

Because this carriage is not large, with two people sitting inside, they were almost shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow.

However, last night she was asleep and unaware when Yu Wenye carried her to bed, but now that she was awake, she really didn’t want to have any skin contact with him.

But sitting like this, quietly and stiffly, the atmosphere inside the small carriage inevitably felt a bit awkward.

After thinking for a while, Shang Ruyi finally spoke first and asked the question that had been lingering in her mind all night long—

"You, you’ve always known it would turn out like this, haven’t you?"

"..."

The person beside her remained motionless, but Shang Ruyi felt as if his eyelashes fluttered a bit.

She turned to look at Yu Wenye, who wore a calm expression, and asked again, "This result, you predicted it from the beginning, didn’t you?"

Yu Wenye then lowered his head to look at her, "It wasn’t predicted."

"Then it is—"

"I could only let this matter end with this result."

Shang Ruyi furrowed her brow briefly and said, "Then why did you bring so many people along with me on this journey?"

After asking this, she chuckled to herself.

What else could it be? At that time, I had already laid out the conditions of the deal in front of him, what else could he do?

She then said, "Forget it, pretend I didn’t ask."

Seeing her smile, Yu Wenye also furrowed his brow and said coldly, "Do you consider yourself clever?"

His words clearly had a hint of provocation, but Shang Ruyi couldn’t refute them. Ever since learning yesterday about her uncle’s exile, her actions couldn’t be considered smart.

She said with a wry smile, "You don’t need to be sarcastic, I know I’m not clever. But I’m human, and who doesn’t fall under the influence of emotions? Can you really remain indifferent if your most precious family fell into trouble?"

"..."

Yu Wenye looked at her for a while, his gaze still one that regarded her as a simpleton.

After a moment, he turned his head away and said faintly, "If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have brought an entire team to accompany you on such a long journey in the middle of the night."

Shang Ruyi said earnestly, "Anyway, I still need to thank you."

"Oh?"

"At least I got to see my uncle and aunt—to see my elder brother."

Mentioning Shen Wuzheng, Shang Ruyi’s smile grew even broader. The happiest part of this trip was seeing her elder brother, though their meeting was brief, but knowing he was safe, and had been looking after Mr. and Mrs. Shen along the way, allowed her to feel at ease.

Seeing the smile almost overflowing from her eyes and brows, Yu Wenye’s brow furrowed once more.

At this moment, the carriage stopped.

Yu Wenye was about to say something but reconsidered due to the sudden halt, and they heard voices outside—the soldiers guarding the city gate had stopped them.

"Halt!"

Mu Xian, sitting at the front of the carriage, immediately asked, "What’s going on?"

Yu Wenye used two fingers to lift a corner of the curtain and looked outside, only to see a troop of soldiers standing in front, with a captain standing before the carriage, "The city is under lockdown. To enter or exit the city gates, papers are required; without them, you cannot enter!"

"Lockdown?"

Upon hearing the word, everyone was startled.

No wonder they stood by the roadside for so long earlier and saw hardly anyone passing—they had not known Luoyang City was under lockdown.

Yu Wenye immediately raised the curtain and looked at the soldier, "Why is the city under lockdown?"

The soldiers guarding the city all recognized him, and upon seeing the second son of Duke Sheng, they became alert and quickly said, "Young Master Yu Wen—why are you outside the city?"

Yu Wenye replied faintly, "I don’t need to explain my whereabouts to you."

The soldiers exchanged looks, their expressions also darkening.

The leading soldier said, "Hehe, this might require an explanation from you, Young Master Yu Wen. You’ve been ordered back to Luoyang recently but left the city without reason. Could there be some confidential matter involved?"

Upon hearing these words, Shang Ruyi’s brow furrowed.

The emperor had summoned the families of the generals sent to Liaoxi back to the Eastern Capital to control them, and would certainly monitor their movements. Seeing their group go out of the city and return without obvious reason would certainly cause some friction.

Sure enough, Yu Wenye’s face darkened.

He thought for a moment and said, "I took my people out hunting."

The soldier asked, "Hunting? Where is the game?"

Yu Wenye signaled to Mu Xian, who immediately jumped off the carriage, walked to the back of the carriage, and lifted the curtain. There was a small partition in the back of the carriage, on which a deer, seven or eight wild rabbits, and two pheasants were piled.

Although they had pursued Mr. and Mrs. Shen yesterday, Yu Wenye had specifically instructed the two attendants staying outside the city to hunt some game overnight—not necessarily useful, but just in case.

Unexpectedly, it was helpful at this moment.

The soldier took a look and then glanced around at everyone, saying, "So many people, yet you only caught this?"

Mu Xian replied coldly, "Why don’t you try and show us something more impressive?"

The soldier was stumped by his words, unable to say anything but continued, "Please comply; though you were out hunting, the higher-ups have ordered no entry or exit without papers. Please understand, Young Master Yu Wen."

Upon hearing this, anger appeared on everyone’s face.

They were merely out hunting, where would they have papers? This meant they were stuck, unable to go in or out.

Mu Xian immediately became angry, grabbing the soldier by the collar and pulling him close, "Are you looking for trouble?"

When he moved, the surrounding soldiers became agitated, immediately drawing their blades and rushing forward, while Yu Wenye’s men refused to be intimidated and prepared to fight.

As the two sides were about to clash, suddenly, a voice that was neither high nor low, carrying a sweet and playful tone, drifted in—

"Stop, all of you."

Upon hearing this voice, the others hadn’t reacted yet, but Shang Ruyi, seated in the carriage, became tense, and her hands resting on her knees clenched the edge of her clothing involuntarily.

This voice—