Chapter 307 - Plotting Chivalry (1/2)

Bao Zhun could not sleep and so was pacing about his guest room in the manor situated the middle of nowhere - he assumed it must be one of Prince Houyi's secret residences, most likely one of his maternal grandfather's secret residences that Prince Houyi was ”borrowing”.

At this point, Bao Zhun was finally coming to the true realization that his affection was unwanted. He had heard from the guards talking about how Prince Houyi has been ”doting” on Chun Hua, they even addressed her as ”her highness”.

After all, to the men, it looked as if Prince Houyi had gone through all this trouble of hunting down the ”fugitives” just to find her so he could protect her. Because instead of taking her back to his father as he was supposed to, he was holed up here with her here in the middle of nowhere, spending night and day at her side.

They honestly did not expect that it was possible for their Prince to ever be so lovestruck that he would set aside his ambition for a woman, yet here they were watching him do so.

Bao Zhun had known from the beginning that Chun Hua had affection for prince Houyi but he had always believed that Prince Houyi did not reciprocate her feelings. After all, what man would send a woman he had affection for on an assassination mission? What's worse, he did not even bother to send a single guard to assist her?

Apparently, Prince Houyi was that type of man.

They had come to see him that afternoon, well Chun Hua had come to see him, Prince Houyi was just there to play a condescending escort. Apparently, he did not think she needed an escort to an enemy nation on a fool's assassination mission, but he thought she needed protection when going to see Prince Houyi's ”guest” in Prince Houyi's manor that was already surrounded by Prince Houyi's men.

What an opportunistic bastard, playing the hero when only when it was convenient...Bao Zhun really did not like Prince Houyi at all and honestly could not understand what Chun Hua saw in him.

Prince Houyi remained outside the open doors while Chun Hua came inside to talk to Bao Zhun. Bao Zhun immediately asked after Chun Hai and Chun Hua informed that he had left earlier to see to some things but would be back soon.

She then thanked him for all his help and apologized for getting him in trouble to which Bao Zhun kindly waved off saying it was no trouble at all.

Chun Hua smiled and then informed him that Prince Houyi has arranged for his father to come to pick him up and that his father would be arriving the next day so he would be able to go home. She also said that Prince Houyi will intercede on his behalf so his father will not scold him too much.

Bao Zhun frowned and looked from Prince Houyi to Chun Hua and then asked her if she was happy, she hesitated, slightly knit her brows but then smiled and nodded.

Then Prince Houyi called for her, apparently tired of waiting. So Chun Hua thanked him again and said she will not be able to see him off tomorrow so she bid him farewell, thanked him again, and then she left with her irritating escort and his men in tow.

Since that time, Bao Zhun had been replaying that conversation in his head. She had gotten what she wanted but he did not think she looked happy at all. She honestly seemed happier when she was going about planning out the Long Emperor's assassination.

Another suspicious thing was Chun Hai's absence. Bao Zhun had gotten to know him quite well over the last few months. While the Chun siblings and Prince Houyi were childhood friends, he knew that Chun Hai was very unhappy with Prince Houyi at the moment.

Chun Hai had even been very apprehensive about going to see Prince Houyi back at the port, if they were not surrounded he doubted Chun Hai would have gone. So Bao Zhun naturally found it very suspicious that Chun Hai would have left his sister in Prince Houyi's care again so soon.

Whatever the situation was, Bao Zhun was not comfortable leaving Chun Hua here alone. if Chun Hai was here then he would not be so bothered but as things stood, he could not leave feeling at ease. So Bao Zhun was pacing about his room, thinking about how he could persuade his father to let him stay here.

{...Maybe I should pretend to be sick - No, that's stupid, he would probably just tie me to a horse and go...}

Bao Zhun let out a breath in irritation and then decided to go take a walk to clear his mind. He opened the door and stormed out, sending back a glare at the two guards who promptly fell into step behind him.

This place was really suffocating and infuriating.

Bao Zhun walked around randomly for a long while before stopping in some random corner in the residence that had the least eyes watching him. He stood there staring up at the moon for a long while deep in thought.

He could tell the guards behind him were unhappy with his midnight walk, thanks to the irritated grunts and noisy shifts they were making. But Bao Zhun did not care at all. After all, he was not the one who asked them to stalk him and he was too busy thinking about how to go about handling his father to bother about insignificant minions.

Back when he left with Chun Hua, he knew his father would not have approved of him going to Long country for anything given the war situation. So he ran off and later sent a message back when he had reached the border when it was too late for anyone to stop him. Of course, his letter did not mention any particular details, it just said that he would be gone for a while sightseeing in Long country.