11
Li Yue Haili felt utterly drained.
She had never imagined there would come a day when she couldn’t shake off Feng Yongyuan.
Having to travel together was one thing; she figured she could just keep quiet and avoid being seen too often.
However, the young prince found ways to join her and her mother in the carriage every single day.
Her father, being a soldier, preferred riding on horseback alongside the guards.
Li Taixuan had done so since the start of the journey.
Her elder brother, having been trained as a warrior, also rode a horse, leaving just her and her mother in the spacious carriage.
The carriage itself was one that Feng Yongyuan had insisted they use for the journey.
He said the route from the border to the capital was long and rough, and since she was still young, sitting in a bumpy carriage for twelve hours a day could make her ill.
The prince’s carriage, however, had been modified by royal craftsmen to be more comfortable.
Even the wheels were padded with cotton, making the ride much smoother than the usual bare wooden wheels.
Her father, being straightforward, didn’t think much of these details.
Meanwhile, Li Yue Haili repeatedly exchanged glances with her mother, trying to convey her discomfort.
However, Shen Xuefei, wanting her daughter to travel in comfort, accepted the young prince’s kindness, leaving Li Yue Haili feeling dejected and helpless.
Since it was Feng Yongyuan’s carriage, he naturally had the right to sit in it.
The interior was so spacious that Li Yue Haili couldn’t find an excuse to object.
Besides, the Li family wasn’t overly strict about the separation of men and women, and Li Yue Haili was only seven years old.
In the eyes of others, there was nothing improper about her sitting in the same carriage with a young boy, especially with her mother present to supervise.
Not only did Feng Yongyuan join them casually, but he also engaged in conversations with her mother without showing the slightest discomfort.
Whatever topics Shen Xuefei found interesting, the young prince could discuss effortlessly.
He spoke fluently about life in the capital, which noble families were close, which households were estranged, and the various marriages that linked the great families.
No matter how trivial or significant, Feng Yongyuan seemed to know it all.
Li Yue Haili watched silently as her mother conversed with the prince.
She realized that Shen Xuefei was allowing Feng Yongyuan’s presence mainly to gather information about the capital.
Although they still received news from the capital of Da Feng, it was only the major events that reached them.
They lacked the finer details, which were often crucial to navigating court life.
The relationships between families and the inner workings of the royal court were essential knowledge.
If they returned to the capital without understanding the political landscape, her father would undoubtedly struggle.
Depending on their relatives in the capital was even less reliable.
Li Yue Haili could understand her mother’s actions, but Feng Yongyuan’s actions remained a mystery to her.
Why would he do this?
She still couldn’t comprehend his intentions.
She stole glances at him from the corner of her eye, observing his handsome face that exuded the authority of a noble son, clean and refined like a scholar, yet carrying a certain boldness, like a headstrong warrior with little regard for rules.
Despite his young age, there was a distinct sharpness in his eyes, as if he had already seen much of the world.
Having experienced so much in her past lives, Li Yue Haili was naturally cautious.
Quietly, she mulled over the situation as she observed him, unaware that what started as brief glances had turned into a steady gaze.
Noticing her stare, Feng Yongyuan shifted his attention from Furen Li and smiled gently at her.
“Ying Ying, we’ll reach the horse rest stop soon.
Would you like some sesame sweets to tide you over?”
Startled, Li Yue Haili quickly lowered her gaze, realizing she had been caught staring.
She saw his not-so-large hand offering her a piece of sesame sweet, wrapped in a thin triangular wax paper.
She accepted it absentmindedly.
As she bit into the sweet, the filling was pleasantly sweet, and the scent of the white sesame was fragrant, but she felt a strange bitterness.
Her eyes grew hot, and a single tear rolled down her smooth cheek, landing on her pale yellow skirt, leaving a small dark stain.
Shen Xuefei, sitting beside her, didn’t notice the tear, but Feng Yongyuan, who was carefully observing her from across, saw it all.
The young man was shocked but didn’t dare ask for fear of arousing Furen Li’s suspicions.
He stared at the small, delicate face of the girl, watching as her large, tear-filled eyes briefly dimmed with sorrow before quickly returning to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Ying Ying…
his Ying Ying, you’re crying…
Why?!
“Is the sweet…
good?” he asked, hiding his tightly clenched hand in his sleeve and tucking away the box of sweets naturally.
But if one looked closely, they could see his hand trembling slightly.
“Yes, thank you for your kindness, Your Highness,” she replied, her words still distant and formal.
Feng Yongyuan’s heart ached.
In the previous life, his Ying Ying had been gentle and sweet, but also lively and mischievous like any young girl.
She was pure and kind, as beautiful as a peach blossom.
She used to tell him everything—her sorrows and joys.
When she was hurt, she cried; when she was sad, she complained.
She smiled and laughed easily, trusting others so fully that it constantly worried him.
But in this life, she never expressed any emotions, neither through words nor expressions.
She was like a still lake, calm and without waves.
Though she always had a slight smile on her lips, it lacked any true warmth.
She seemed more like a puppet, her face set in a single expression.
Every word she spoke was polite and distant, always carrying a cold detachment.
It was only when she was with her family that she showed any signs of closeness, but even then, he felt like she was holding something back, as if deliberately building a wall between herself and everyone else.
A girl of seven shouldn’t be like this, should she?
And now, she had even shed a tear.
Feng Yongyuan’s mind raced.
Could it be that Ying Ying was not just a seven-year-old child?
Could she, like him, also remember their past life?
But if that were true, why was she so distant?
Why did she seem so afraid of him?
Even in their first encounter in the previous life, she had been more friendly than this.
In all his memories, there was nothing that could have caused her to act this way.
Could she remember more than he did?
What was it that he didn’t know?
Li Yue Haili had no idea that a single tear had led Feng Yongyuan to overthink and come so close to the truth.
The girl was lost in her thoughts, reminiscing about a distant past.
Sesame sweets had once been her favorite treat, but later on, they became something she despised most…