The group set out from Chang'an that day, traveling day and night to Dunhuang. The kidnappers also sent someone to follow them, giving them hints every day. At first, Yu Jianwu wanted to find out the whereabouts of this person, but Yu Linzhi stopped him.
On the fifth day after setting out from Chang'an, the group arrived outside Dunhuang, more than ten miles away from the city gate.
"We're finally here. Thank you for your hard work." Yu Linzhi walked to Mu Lingsu's carriage with a kettle, lifted the curtain, jumped easily, and entered the carriage. Mu Lingsu was still sleepy, but when she saw him come in, her sleepiness disappeared.
She took the kettle from Yu Linzhi, unscrewed it and took a sip: "I don't know when those kidnappers will show up. Princess Yongjia is a little girl. Did you suffer?"
Yu Linzhi watched her drink water and said with a smile, "Princess Yongjia is also the Queen's daughter. Although she is not her biological daughter, she was raised in Fengzao Palace and brought up by her since childhood. Why are you still worried about her?" He sat on the soft stool in the carriage, cracked the nuts with his bare hands, and peeled the flesh for Mu Lingsu to eat.
"Although Shen Hanyan has always been targeting me, she is also cute and silly. She is just too young and can't stand her eleventh brother getting too close to me, so she doesn't look at me well." Mu Lingsu has always felt that Shen Hanyan is not very smart, but because of her princess status, she can't argue with her. Now that she was captured, Mu Lingsu can be calm with her.
"Yes, she is just silly." Yu Linzhi also thought Shen Hanyan was very silly. He peeled a nut for himself and said while eating, "Now that we have arrived in Dunhuang in advance, there is no need to rush. If they think the time is right, they will naturally send someone to contact us."
He lifted the curtain of the carriage window and glanced out the window at the yellow sand filling the sky: "We are in a passive position anyway, so wait in peace."
Mu Lingsu put down the kettle and placed his hands on the small table in the carriage, feeling the faint vibration: "I'm afraid I can't wait much longer. If I'm not mistaken, the other party has already arrived."
Before he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves came from far away, and Mu Lingsu and Yu Linzhi immediately became alert. The two stood side by side, carefully identifying the direction of the sound. While Yu Linzhi was still paying attention to the left, Mu Lingsu had already taken the lead in using highly corrosive powder to hit the person who was close to the right window of the carriage.
She had put on gloves on her hands without knowing when, and said with her back to Yu Linzhi: "It's not very advantageous for us to stay in the carriage now, it's best to rush out immediately."
"Isn't that easy?" Yu Linzhi used the hidden weapon in his hand to flick open the curtain of the carriage. There were several kidnappers outside who wanted to get on the carriage. He knocked them all down with a combo, took Mu Lingsu by the hand and quickly left the carriage. After getting off the carriage, the two realized how many kidnappers there were. Although there were also many people from the Wulin League and the imperial artillery team, they still did not gain an overwhelming advantage in a short period of time.
Yu Linzhi observed the situation and analyzed, "Dunhuang has always had more refugees and bandits than ordinary people , and it is common for caravans from various countries to be robbed. Now that it is in chaos, the officers and soldiers will definitely not care, thinking that it is just a caravan robbing each other."
He caught a glimpse of a small group of people attacking them. He held Mu Lingsu tightly with one hand and prepared for battle with the other hand: "I'm afraid they think the hostages they have are not enough, so they want to take another one back so that they have more bargaining power."
After saying this, Yu Linzhi raised his hand slightly, and three or four people fell down before they could get close to him. Yu Linzhi protected the person in his arms with one hand and retreated all the way. He wanted to fight back, but he was afraid that these kidnappers would hurt Mu Lingsu, so he could only fight and retreat in a slightly passive manner. Gradually, the two of them were getting farther and farther away from the large group of people.
On the other hand , some people had surrounded the carriage prepared by the Tang Sect for Tang Rudai from the beginning, and took Tang Rudai away easily and smoothly. However, the scene was in chaos, and the people of the Tang Sect were busy with their own affairs, and no one noticed that their third young lady had disappeared.
As Yu Mu and his partner were forced further and further away by the kidnappers, the number of people blocking them gradually decreased. When they retreated to a cave, there were no more people. Yu Linzhi easily dealt with the remaining kidnappers. It was already very late and it was pitch black all around.
"We can only stay here today." Mu Lingsu picked up a few arms of dry firewood at the entrance of the cave and spread them on the ground, then lit them with the fire starter she carried with her, and the cave was lit again. She sat by the fire, looking at the faint moonlight at the entrance of the cave, "Let's make plans when it gets light."
Yu Linzhi checked the cave entrance for a while, then walked to the fire and sat next to Mu Lingsu. He said, "Since we are here, we should make the best of it. You should get some sleep first. I will keep an eye on them to prevent them from making a surprise attack."
The kidnappers probably didn't lead them here by accident, they must have a trick up their sleeve. Therefore, Yu Linzhi didn't dare to relax and planned to stay up all night waiting here. But Mu Lingsu couldn't stay up all night with him. He stood up, took off his outer robe, and put it on Mu Lingsu: "There is no mattress, sorry to bother you for a while."
Mu Lingsu was also worried that the gang would suddenly come back, so she had no mood to sleep. She waved her hand and rejected Yu Linzhi's proposal: "Why sleep? I'm afraid that if I close my eyes, my head will fall off."
"I'm here for everything, why should you be afraid?" Yu Linzhi patted his chest and said, "Don't think too much, it's good to take a nap for a while."
"Forget it, forget it. You guys rode horses and I rode in the car these days, and I've been sleeping a lot. I don't care about this one night." Mu Lingsu picked up a piece of dry wood and threw it into the fire. Sparks flew out and burned the back of her hand. She shrank in pain, and her expression was obviously a bit painful.
Seeing Mu Lingsu like this, Yu Linzhi quickly took the hand that was burned and carefully examined it: "You are already in your twenties, how can you be more childish than a little kid? You say you are afraid of death, but you are still in the mood to play with fire." After observing again and again and finding that there was nothing serious, Yu Linzhi breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, nothing is wrong."
Mu Lingsu looked at the hand he was holding tightly, and she felt a little shy. She lowered her head and whispered to him, "Just don't play."
When she lowered her head, her eyes fell on the sachet she had bought for him that year. Her heart, which had pretended to be strong for so long, softened instantly, and her blood seemed to turn into a warm current, spreading throughout her body.
Mu Lingsu never thought that there would be a day when she would reveal her weak side in front of Yu Linzhi. Perhaps it was because she was used to disguising herself as strong and independent under the burden of life.
Yu Linzhi did not let go immediately, but held her hand tightly in his palm and placed it on his knees. Although the two of them were silent, the atmosphere was very good. Yu Linzhi looked at the still dark sky outside and wanted to chat with Mu Lingsu about some irrelevant topics to pass the time, but he didn't know what to say.
He wanted to ask her if she had agreed to marry him, and if she didn't sympathize with him or pity him, but he couldn't say it. It was not because of anything else, but because he didn't want Mu Lingsu to think that he was inferior.
He hoped that he would always be a strong and invulnerable person in front of Mu Lingsu. He didn't need her sympathy or pity, but only her love and company. But if she really just pitied him, he could stay by her side humbly. Compared with the daily companionship of the person he loved, his self-esteem was really insignificant.
He never thought that one day he would be so humble for love.
"Xiao Mu." After thinking it over, Yu Linzhi decided to find an answer for himself. He stared at Mu Lingsu and asked, "Do you... do you like me? If I were a completely healthy person without so many illnesses, would you be willing to marry me?"
Yu Linzhi's implication was to ask if Mu Lingsu was pitying him. He had some inferiority complex in his heart, and was unable to overcome the psychological barrier brought about by this innate deficiency. Although he repeatedly warned himself not to ask again, he could not resist the desire in his heart and wanted to seek clarification in front of the person he loved.
Even though he knew that no matter what the answer was, he would not give up, he still wanted to hear Mu Lingsu's answer with his own ears.
Mu Lingsu was a little surprised by his question. In her eyes, Yu Linzhi had always been a very strong person. Even though he was dragging his weak body to survive in the world, he never stopped pursuing his ambitions.
Little did people know that in his heart, he cared so much about his own weakness.
She shook her head and denied, "When have I ever pitied you?" She thought she had always been heartless and unfeeling, unlike ordinary women who were full of sympathy. If she really sympathized with Yu Linzhi, she would have agreed to marry him when he proposed to her.
Indeed, Yu Linzhi was physically weak and had a miserable life. If she had any sympathy for him, she would have agreed to his request without hesitation out of sympathy.
But in her eyes, Yu Linzhi was no different from other people. If she married him, it would definitely be because she loved him.
The ups and downs of the past eight years have bound them closer and closer, and their souls have drawn closer and closer. Everything has been foreshadowed, waiting for someone to take the initiative to catalyze it.
Now that Yu Linzhi has taken the initiative, everything will fall into place naturally.
"That day, when you saved me outside Lin'an City, perhaps the seeds of our relationship were sown. Who can tell the whole story ?" Mu Lingsu stared at the jumping shadows in the fire. "Logically, I should hate you, and even take the opportunity to poison you and kill you when you had an attack. But I never had such an idea. I once blamed myself for forgetting my father's death, but I really never hated you."
Even the hatred of her entire family being exterminated could not make her hate Yu Linzhi. Perhaps from the very beginning, she really had reserved a place in her heart for Yu Linzhi, who saved her life.
In the beginning, she often blamed herself and thought that she had let her father down, but in the end, she never really hated Yu Linzhi. Instead, her relationship with him became closer and closer until today.
Maybe when she meets her father in the underworld a hundred years later, he still won't forgive her, but she won't regret it. She doesn't want to cling to him like an ordinary woman, and doesn't bother to care about whether he can accompany her for life. As long as he is sincere at this moment, that's enough.
She is willing to be a rebellious person and will not force others to be like her.
After Yu Linzhi heard what she said, he felt as if his heart was being shattered by a sharp blade. He looked at Mu Lingsu and couldn't help but reach out and hold her in his arms: "Let's be good in the future. I will give you everything you don't have. How about that?"
"Okay." Mu Lingsu raised her head slightly in his arms, saw his face clearly in the light of the fire, mustered up the courage to press her lips against his, and kissed him actively.
Because of shyness, Mu Lingsu kept her eyes closed.
But she prayed secretly in her heart that time would stay at this moment forever.