Chapter 12: Kindness
When the group reached the end of the path, the masked men in the woods were stunned when they saw the hundred-man guards.

A masked man said, "We received news from above that there are only eight of them. How can this be eight people? Big brother, what's going on?"

"Idiots!" the masked man in the lead cursed, "The higher-ups have been deceived."

"Then shall we continue the attack?" asked the masked man.

The masked man in the lead asked, "Are you going to die?"

"I heard that the higher-ups are very powerful, so why didn't they send in the government troops to ambush us, but instead asked us to do it?"

"That's Prince Shou!" The masked man in the lead knocked on the head of the person asking the question: "How dare the government troops ambush Prince Shou? They will kill all nine generations of his clan!"

"Then what do we do?"

"Retreat first and report to the higher-ups truthfully. If this matter cannot be done, think of another way."

In the carriage.

Zhang Mujin didn't even dare to raise her head, her whole body was shaking slightly with fear.

Just now she had heard Li Heng and Xin Yunjing say that there was an ambush in the woods. She was not stupid, and she had guessed that the ambush in the woods was related to the message she had passed on to her father.

However, her father clearly told her that all she needed to do was to find out Li Heng's whereabouts.

How could she have imagined that they would dare to set an ambush!

Li Heng was thinking about something when he saw Zhang Mujin's appearance and said with a smile, "Miss Zhang, you were born in Chang'an and grew up in Chang'an. You have never left Chang'an, right?"

"Your Highness, yes." Zhang Mujin nodded.

Li Ying said, "Chang'an is great, a time of peace and prosperity. If possible, I don't want to take you out of Chang'an, but it's a pity that many things are just so helpless. I hope you won't blame me."

Li Ying actually asked me not to blame him?
Zhang Mujin couldn't believe her ears at all. She looked up at Li Ying and saw that Li Ying had a smile on his face and had no intention of blaming her. Only then did she realize that she had heard correctly and said quickly, "Your Highness, how dare I?"

Li Ying smiled and said, "I dare not, but I have thought about it?"

"No." Zhang Mujin denied it hastily. After struggling for a moment, she knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I sent a letter to my father these days and revealed your whereabouts. Please punish me. No matter how you punish me, I will never complain, but please don't blame my father."

Li Ying looked at Zhang Mujin and said, "You are filial. The car is bumpy, so you stand up and talk."

"I dare not." Zhang Mujin replied.

Li Heng changed his tone and said sternly, "I asked you to stand up and talk."

"Yes." Zhang Mujin didn't dare to be stubborn anymore and stood up and sat down.

Li Heng said, "Since you said it yourself, I won't blame you. I will pretend that I don't know about this. You should send the message to your father the same way as you did before, otherwise you won't be able to explain. It takes ten years to be able to ride the same boat, and a hundred lifetimes to be able to sleep on the same pillow. It will take a long time for us to be together, but we are destined to be together. This is all I can do for you."

Li Ying said this entirely out of consideration for Zhang Mujin.

But this was not his real purpose.

His purpose was to make Li Ying take action against him, because only if someone took action against him would Concubine Wu Huifei worry. Once Concubine Wu Huifei was worried, she would ask Li Longji to give her the power to protect himself outside.

This was a step towards his gaining power outside.

Zhang Mujin was simple-minded and thought that Li Heng really cared about her. She was touched and embarrassed, so she said, "But I'm afraid this will bring danger to Your Highness." Hearing this, Li Heng opened the curtain of the carriage and looked at the woods receding beside the road. He said, "Listen, there are birds singing in the woods, which means we have passed the ambush. What danger can I be in?"

What Li Heng implied was that he already knew that the ambush in the woods was related to the news passed by Zhang Mujin.

Zhang Mujin understood what Li Ying said, and bowed to him sincerely, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Yang Yuhuan listened the whole time without interrupting. After the two finished talking, Yang Yuhuan grabbed Li Heng's hand and said, "My dear, you are so kind. You let the villain go, and not only did you not blame sister Mu Jin, you also thought about her. Such a kind person will surely be protected by God."

Until now, Yang Yuhuan has only been thinking about Li Heng's health.

Li Heng could feel Yang Yuhuan's concern and pleading. This concern had nothing to do with who he was or what he had done.

But in fact, they had just gotten married.

Li Ying was very curious about why Yang Yuhuan had such feelings for him. He held Yang Yuhuan's green fingers with his backhand and asked, "Why do you care so much about me, my lady?"

Yang Yuhuan didn't know what Li Heng was thinking, so she didn't understand how she could be considered for her sake with just one sentence, but she still replied: "Your Highness is my husband, and he is talented and kind, not like what people say. Not only that, but he is brave and resourceful. The more I understand him, the more I feel that it is my blessing to marry him."

Li Heng listened to Yang Yuhuan's words and observed her expressions. He began to understand.

Yang Yuhuan came from a family of officials. She had lived a life of luxury since childhood and had no worries. When it was time for her to get married, she married him.

Although he was not the crown prince, he was a prince, and his mother was the favored Consort Wu Huifei. His status and position were among the most important figures in the entire Tang Dynasty.

And the character he is showing now is not bad either.

Under such circumstances, Yang Yuhuan had almost nothing to worry about. She could look forward to her life with peace of mind and yearn for the fairy tale of talented men and beautiful women, which shaped her simple personality traits.

This is also the character trait that Li Ying likes.

If he had not known that Li Longji would cheat on him in history, Li Heng would also want to live a simple life with Yang Yuhuan as a talented man and a beautiful woman. When he had nothing to do, he would listen to music and recite poems with other talented men such as Li Bai, Du Fu and Wang Wei. Then he would keep an eye on An Lushan and prevent the conflicts of the An-Shi Rebellion from erupting in his lifetime.

However, he can't.

Without power, he can't keep anything.

He had to enter the arena of power struggle, walk on the edge of danger, and live in conspiracy. He was not sure what butterfly effect this approach would bring, what kind of transformation it would put on the people around him, and whether there would be a day when Yang Yuhuan would no longer be Yang Yuhuan.

Thinking of this, Li Ying sighed.

Seeing Li Heng sigh, Yang Yuhuan thought she had said something wrong, so she said hurriedly, "My dear, everything I said is true."

Li Ying knew that Yang Yuhuan had misunderstood his meaning, and said with a smile, "I know."

Just as Li Heng was about to say something else, there was a sudden noise in front of him, and then he heard Xin Yunjing's loud roar: "Who are you? How dare you stop the prince's carriage!"

Then the carriage stopped.

Li Ying lifted the car curtain and took a look.

There were a dozen soldiers in front who were surrounding a man in coarse linen clothes. The man had already run to Xin Yunjing's horse, but was stopped by Xin Yunjing's spear.

(End of this chapter)