Who can make sense of such matters?
Gu Youyou fell silent, and after a while, she continued, "If your father had become the Emperor back then, do you believe that the current Emperor and his Princes would also utter such words? That their father was the rightful heir to the throne, that he was the Crown Prince, known to all under heaven, yet that Third Prince falsified the will claiming he himself was the true Son of Heaven!"
With this retort from Gu Youyou, Jin Ziyuan was once again left speechless.
These matters had passed so many years ago, now bringing them up, indeed, it was very difficult to clarify.
Especially, was it worth his while to argue with a woman like Gu Youyou?
It was already very late. Jin Ziyuan said, "Go to sleep, we must hit the road early tomorrow morning."
An unpleasant conversation, I hope, had heightened his vigilance.
At noon, Searcy, who had been traveling all night, caught up to the inn where Gu Youyou and her party had stayed.
By that time, Gu Youyou and Jin Ziyuan had left long ago, having been gone for most of the day.
Searcy grabbed a servant and inquired, "Did any strange people from out of town stay here last night?"
Strange people from out of town?
The servant scratched his head and said, "We get strange outsiders every day, I’m used to it."
At his words, Searcy’s expression darkened a few shades, but the corner of her mouth carried a cold, chilling smile.
Gui Yunxi, following behind her, shivered slightly. With that look in her eyes, he feared that if the servant wasn’t forthcoming, he’d be in trouble.
"Oh, right!" The servant suddenly remembered something and added, "There were two people last night who arrived on horseback. They came quite late, when we were about to close. Their clothes seemed rather shabby, but they were quite generous with their money, giving me a piece of silver worth ten taels."
He admitted somewhat sheepishly, "For a ten-tael silver piece, they stayed in a humble lower-grade room."
Searcy raised an eyebrow; that was indeed strange.
"Where are they now?"
The servant replied, "They left at the crack of dawn, seemed like they were in a huge rush to get back on the road."
Searcy narrowed her eyes slightly.
A rush to travel was exactly right.
She tossed some small change to the servant and said, "Prepare some food that’s easy to carry, quickly."
Was this young brother Mo Yue chasing after the two individuals from last night?
The servant, not daring to delay, took the silver and quickly went to prepare food. In no time, he brought out some jerked meat along with some steamed buns and pancakes.
Additionally, he thoughtfully provided a bag of water.
"Guest, this bread can be quite dry, it’s better to have some water with it."
Searcy gave him a look that acknowledged his good sense and took the items before climbing onto the carriage.
Gui Yunxi silently regretted, why hadn’t he been as sensible as that innkeeper? If he had known earlier, he might have been more attentive, and maybe this venomous creature would have spared him and lashed out at someone else instead.
Gui Yunxi slowed the carriage down, wanting to negotiate with her about taking a rest after traveling all night.
As for the two people they were chasing, they were on horseback, far faster than their carriage. Even if he flogged the horses to death, catching up would be impossible.
Searcy ate some dry rations and drank some water, then noticed the coachman dawdling and spacing out. Not able to contain her annoyance, she sneered, "Don’t want your hard-earned fee, do you?"
Gui Yunxi shuddered all over and hastily replied, "No, it’s not that, I’m just a bit weary from driving all night."
Hunger pangs struck him just then; in truth, his stomach was empty enough for his back to stick to his chest.
Searcy’s expression darkened as she said, "Stop the carriage once we leave the city."
Gui Yunxi was a bit confused. Weren’t they supposed to find an inn in the city to rest? How could they rest after leaving the city?