Chapter 399 - Drawn into an Embrace (1/2)

“Third Young Master, how are you here?” Commander Zheng almost didn't recognize the wan and sallow figure in front of him and exclaimed in surprise.

After Zhu Junyang identified the person in front of him, he grabbed onto the commander’s shoulder and hurriedly said, “Zheng Yun, my lady mother...and Yu Xiaocao, are they okay? Have they been injured?”

Commander Zheng grimaced from the tight grip of the prince and stated, “They’re all okay, all okay! This subordinate will take you to see the princess consort now.”

Zhu Junyang loosened his hold on the other man’s shoulder and the tight feeling in his heart finally relaxed. Commander Zheng led the way in front. After receiving Xiaocao’s instructions, the mountain villa’s guards were all patrolling within the misty and foggy forest.

Commander Zheng took a brief glance at the royal prince and calculated the time. Yesterday, at around noon, the Wokou pirates had arrived. The capital was around four hundred kilometers away, and, at top speed, it must have been late at night when the news finally arrived. Third Young Master must have ran straight to Dongshan Village as soon as he got the news ah!

It only took him slightly more than a day of travel to get to Dongshan Village. The prince absolutely must have ridden his horses at top speed in order to finish the four hundred kilometer journey so quickly. Just how many horses were dead of exhaustion from his trip? What about Third Young Master’s Black Cloud? It couldn’t have been left on the side of the road right? Although Third Young Master usually looked very cold and reserved, he had always been very filial to his lady mother. No wonder the princess consort treated him more lovingly than the heir to the estate and Second Young Master. Her efforts had not been wasted on him!

However, how could the commander of the bodyguards know that the royal prince, who had been praised to be very extremely filial, was more worried about Yu Xiaocao at this moment? Although Zhu Junyang was also concerned about his lady mother, there were still over twenty or so skilled bodyguards to protect her. In addition, the mountain residence also had a dozen or so servants to take care of her. It was likely that she was perfectly safe through all of this.

As for the light of his heart, Yu Xiaocao, other than her parents, the rest of her family was either the elderly or the young. If they encountered the Wokou pirates, they had no way to resist ah! Throughout his whole breakneck journey, images of a tiny scared face and bloodied dress kept flashing through his mind...the demon that had been hibernating for a long time in his heart finally started stirring up again. He did his best to squish down the violent tendencies inside him as he was afraid that if he lost control of himself, then he would lose precious time to get to the village and Xiaocao would…

Perhaps he didn’t even notice it himself, but that clever and adorable little lass now had a firm foothold in his heart. Her importance had even eclipsed the mother whom he respected and adored.

They circled around the Dongshan villagers. Before long, Commander Zheng very quickly brought Royal Prince Yang to the cave that had been designated to them alone. As soon as he stepped into the cave, Zhu Junyang immediately spotted a slight figure in front of a simple stove in the corner. The person’s back was turned towards him. In that second, all of the irritability had left his body. Seeing that familiar figure reassured his heart and it was as if some hole inside him had been crammed full.

“Third Young Master?” Commander Zheng turned his head and saw that the prince had stopped moving forward. The youth was staring fixedly at a corner, so the bodyguard couldn’t help but call at him. It was as if he had just woken up from a dream. Zhu Junyang went forward with large steps towards the figure that had been the object of his worries for so long.

When the people outside the cave, who were all busy doing their tasks, saw Zhu Junyang, they all cried out in delighted surprise, “Third Young Master!” and “Your Royal Highness!”.

The young royal prince? Wasn’t he in the capital? A few days ago, she had gotten a letter from him that said that he probably still had half a month more before he finally finished his tasks. How could he suddenly appear at these caves? Yu Xiaocao was very confused as she turned around. Before she could clearly see what was going on, she had been pulled into a warm and gentle embrace.

Yu Xiaocao stiffened for a moment. In both of her lives, she had never been this intimately held by a man before. The amount of heat on her face was almost enough to fry an egg. This hug was filled with the scent of a man, which had the slight aroma of sweat mixed in with the smell of ambergris. It didn’t repel her at all. However...her face seemed to be plastered against his rock-hard abdomen, if it went down a bit...Yu Xiaocao felt horrified at the thought and forcefully pushed against the prince.

Madam Liu, who had been helping on the side, dropped the iron pot in her hands with a loud clang. She pointed at Zhu Junyang with a hand that shook with anger and worry. In front of all of these people, her youngest daughter had been embraced by Royal Prince Yang. Men and women needed to keep their distance from one another. What would happen to her youngest daughter’s reputation now? If Royal Prince Yang was being sincere towards her Xiaocao, that was one thing! However, if the royal prince was only chasing after something novel...what would her poor Cao’er do in the future?

“As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters. I’ve been so worried!” Zhu Junyang felt his face flush when he saw his future mother-in-law staring at him blatantly. It definitely wasn’t proper of him to hug a girl in front of her mother. However, he had been unable to control himself when his feelings overwhelmed him.

Yu Xiaocao noticed that her mother had acted as if Sun Wukong had paralyzed her with an art with her eyes bugged open. She glared fiercely at the troublemaker and then grumpily said, “This older sister is doing just fine!”

“Calling yourself ‘older sister’ now eh? You’re younger than me by seven to eight years! Instead, you really should be addressing me as Older Brother Junyang!” Zhu Junyang saw that her face had a healthy glow and her clothes were neat and tidy, so he was finally able to relax. He couldn’t control his mouth and let out a sarcastic remark.

“In your dreams!!” Addressing him as ‘Older Brother Junyang’ would be too sickeningly corny. Yu Xiaocao roasted him in her mind, ‘This older sister has lived two lives already and, with my combined age, I am old enough to be your aunt. You’re out of luck if you want to take advantage of me!’

A hint of a smile curled onto the edge of Zhu Junyang’s lips. He was about to say something when he frowned and sniffed at the air, “What’s this smell? Smells like some type of meat is burning…”