Chapter 50: Volume 1, Chapter 50: Forcing Her to Act

Rong Luoge had not expected that Su Jing actually knew some martial arts—she broke through the window and gave chase directly.

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Rong Luoge immediately vaulted onto the roof and entered the rear courtyard, climbed over the back-facing house, and flipped over the rear courtyard wall to get out. Her feet landed in the long alley and she broke into a run, but before she had gone far, she sensed someone catching up.

She hadn't expected this Su Jing's martial arts to be quite formidable either. Rong Luoge's heart tightened—fortunately she had scouted the area beforehand. She vaulted over several alleys in succession, and when Su Jing saw she couldn't catch up, she actually resorted to a trick, deliberately alerting the patrolling imperial guards on the street.

Rong Luoge's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. She nearly came face to face with the soldiers in an intimate encounter, and immediately turned around and ducked into another long alley.

In doing so, she also exposed her trail, and the soldiers pursued her relentlessly.

The patrolling soldiers had their own set of methods for encircling and intercepting, and with the patrol numbers increased due to the Qiongchuan merchant caravan matter, the gongs sounded as imperial guards converged on Rong Luoge's position from all directions.

Rong Luoge was chased into a dead-end alley. Cold sweat was about to break out on her forehead—because the pursuit had been so tight later on, she had turned so many corners that she herself didn't even know which alley she had ducked into, and never expected her luck to be this bad: it was actually a dead end.

Just as Rong Luoge listened to the pursuing footsteps drawing ever closer, hesitating over whether to climb over a wall into someone's house to hide, the door beside her suddenly opened and an arm shot out, yanking her inside.

Rong Luoge was pulled in and immediately struck back with an elbow, simultaneously gathering power in her toes, twisting her waist, and lashing out with a spinning back kick, swift as thunder. If it landed, that kick would be enough to do serious damage.

"It's me!"

Hm?

Rong Luoge heard Han Xinglan's voice but couldn't fully pull her momentum in time, stumbling and nearly falling onto him.

Han Xinglan was quick-eyed and quick-handed, catching Rong Luoge in one grasp, and said in a low voice, "This isn't a place to talk. Follow me."

Rong Luoge was pulled by Han Xinglan through the moon gate directly to the rear courtyard, then out the back door, and over the wall into another residence.

Although the two residences were separated by only a small alley, the difference in both location and size was like night and day.

As the two climbed over the wall, they heard heavy knocking from the previous courtyard—clearly the imperial guards searching for her were knocking on the door to search.

On this side, what met their eyes upon climbing in was a garden. In the dim moonlight, she couldn't see very clearly, only sensing the sparse shadows of flowers and the layered bulk of rockeries. Walking out from this garden alone took quite some time, passing all the way through the hanging-flower gate into the front courtyard study before they finally stopped.

After entering, Rong Luoge looked at Han Xinglan and asked, "How did Your Highness end up in that small residence?"

Han Xinglan heard Rong Luoge's words and looked up at her. "If I said it was a coincidence, would you believe me?"

"I wouldn't!" Rong Luoge was no fool. The dignified Crown Prince, His Highness the Crown Prince—running off to a small residence in the dead of night instead of sleeping, what could he possibly be doing?

Han Xinglan gave a light laugh and said, "This is my alternate residence. I occasionally come back to spend a night here. Tonight, just as I was about to rest, I heard the sound of a pursuit from the front street, and the sound originated from the direction of Di Yue Nu's residence. Suspicious, I went over to take a casual look. I didn't expect it to actually be you."

Rong Luoge processed the amount of information in those words: first, the Crown Prince was also keeping watch on Di Yue Nu; second, he was actually still concerned about whether she would go cause trouble for Di Yue Nu.

Hearing these words, she slightly lowered her gaze, and upon looking down, she noticed that Han Xinglan was still holding her wrist.

Rong Luoge subconsciously pulled her hand back, suddenly feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Her profession in her previous life couldn't see the light of day, and she never got close to anyone. Being pursued earlier, she had actually overlooked this point, only realizing now that they were still holding hands.

Han Xinglan watched Rong Luoge's movement and withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened. "Circumstances demanded expediency. Please don't take it to heart, Miss Rong. However, if Miss Rong wishes for me to take responsibility, I wouldn't refuse."

Rong Luoge: …

"Your Highness, please don't joke. Luoge is not someone who doesn't know good from bad," Rong Luoge said with a straight face. The gap between this body and her previous life's body was still too great. She'd need to train when she had the time, or else if she ran into a situation like this again with no one to lend a hand, she could easily get herself into trouble.

If this were her previous life, what would a display like this amount to? She truly wouldn't have batted an eye.

But the original owner's body couldn't compare to the physique she had meticulously trained.

Han Xinglan seemed to have anticipated Rong Luoge saying this. He smiled and said nothing more, only adding, "It's not safe to go out now. Miss Rong, please bear with staying here tonight. Tomorrow morning I'll have someone escort you back."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Rong Luoge expressed her gratitude.

Seeing Rong Luoge looking quite well-behaved at this moment, Han Xinglan found it rare. He had Shi An bring a maid over to escort Rong Luoge to the guest room.

Rong Luoge secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had actually been somewhat afraid that Han Xinglan would bring up his earlier reminder about her not being suited to travel at night—after all, he had kindly warned her, and she had gone and done it anyway.

Han Xinglan watched Rong Luoge secretly letting out a breath of relief, and the amusement in his eyes deepened.

After Rong Luoge washed up and changed into the clothes the maid had brought, the maid even asked if she wanted a late-night snack, attending to her most attentively.

After the upheaval of such a night, where would she have the appetite to eat? After lying down, she was still thinking about how many alternate residences Han Xinglan actually had in the capital—as far as she knew, there were already two.

They say a crafty rabbit has three burrows, but from the look of it, Han Xinglan had more than three. She'd need to be even more careful when dealing with him in the future.

"Your Highness." Shi An stepped lightly into the study, stood before the desk, and bowed as he reported, "Miss Rong has already retired for the night."

Han Xinglan gave a slight nod, casually folded the letter in his hand, held it to the candle flame to ignite it, then tossed it into the fire basin. In an instant, the pristine white letter paper turned to a wisp of white ash.

"Have you found out clearly?"

"Yes. Tonight Miss Rong made a nighttime visit to Di Yue Nu's residence and also delivered a letter to her. The specific contents are still unknown," Shi An replied.

Han Xinglan's brow furrowed slightly. "There's still no movement from Di Yue Nu's side?"

"Not yet. However, the old servant beside her, Su Jing, went to Xi Cheng today, but only made a round and didn't meet anyone," Shi An added.

"Keep a close watch. See which merchant caravan she ends up connecting with." Han Xinglan's voice grew ever colder in the darkness of night. "Qingxuan Nation is now in internal conflict. Pass this news to Di Yue Nu—let her know that her brother is preparing to restore his rule. Given her temperament, she certainly won't sit by and do nothing."

Shi An's heart tightened. His Highness was forcing Di Yue Nu to act. Once Di Yue Nu made a move, Prince Qi might well fall right into the trap…

"This subordinate will see to it tomorrow. I absolutely won't let that Su Jing notice anything amiss," Shi An said.

Han Xinglan waved his hand. Seeing this, Shi An dared not say anything more and bowed as he withdrew.

Observing His Highness's expression, Shi An—who had followed him for many years—still couldn't tell whether it boded well or ill. Thinking again of that Miss Rong, his mood grew even more complicated.

His Highness had never been so attentive to any young lady before. And yet, that Miss Rong was Prince Qi's former Princess Consort.