"Nayin..."
Hu Nayin's heart skipped a bit. This voice?! She blinked, and with heart beat faster, she turned her head behind.
Climbing down his horse, Zhu Su was now standing in front of her. They were only separated a few meters right now. He stood alone, without any fully-armed army accompanied him. He looked at Hu Nayin with wide eyes.
"Nayin... My Heaven..." He whispered, as if he did not believe in his eyes. "I can find you faster than I thought... my Heaven, is this only a dream?..."
Zhu Su took another step forward. The strong meadow night wind blew his hair while he approached Hu Nayin, who could only stare at him with dilated eyes.
Was it what she expected? Was it for this reason, then she decided to run away in the middle of the night? She suffered from traumatism, all just because of this man? So, as her wish was fulfilled right now, the man she was longing for came over to her by his own, then she should be happy, shouldn't she?
Instead, her feet were rooted, as if she had turned to a statue. And her legs began to be wobbly in fear.
Maybe the reason why Zhu Su approached her at this time, was because he wanted to execute her? Because Zhu Su was furious as he felt betrayed by her who left him, hence despite everything he must look for Hu Nayin, until he could find her and vented his rage towards her?
"Do you like gambling, Wang Fei?"
Hu Nayin swallowed hard. She had reached this point, she had no other choice to go back.
This was her own choice. Heaven only accelerated the timing to get it. She must face it bravely!
"Y... Your Highness?..." Her heart leaped into her throat. "Wh... why are you... here?..."
"I want to meet with you, Nayin. So, I come here!..."
Hu Nayin's legs could no longer lift her body; she fell to her knees on the ground.
"But I have committed a grave sin against you!" Hu Nayin screamed pitifully. "I... I... I really never thought that you could hear my conversation with Yun the other day... And because I was afraid of you, I ran away! I have hurt you! I am guilty!"
Zhu Su's steps came to a halt. He looked at Hu Nayin, blinking. "So, you really betray me?..."
"I leave you, so that I'm guilty!..."
"Not about that. I mean, do you really help Yun to bring me down?"
"Absolutely not, Your Highness! Actually, I was trying to persuade Yun not to attack you anymore, and if possible, to join the Team of Wellbeing! Heaven knows who makes it be slipped to that extent!"
"Well, then it means, you don't betray me, right?"
"But I have left you!... I'm guilty!"
Driven by her immense guilt, Hu Nayin was about to touch her forehead to the floor, but before she did it, she found herself to be pulled up.
Zhu Su had been embracing her into a hug.
"It's okay. Nayin. I know it. And, I don't blame you." He smiled. "I just want to hear this confession from you. After you tell it, everything becomes crystal clear."
"Your... Highness..." Tears rolled down Hu Nayin's cheeks. This was really something she never expected. That Zhu Su could forgive her so easily, even was still be gentle with her… Really, this was all really beyond her expectations.
From everything Xu Gechang and his friends said to her, that the whole Ming family was a bunch of ruthless people, that they had the heart to torture and even kill people arbitrarily and as they liked, that they had no humanity in their hearts... all of those, were debatable here and now.
Zhu Su was indeed the son of Hongwu Emperor who was notorious for being cruel and murderous, but father and son might be different. A father, did not necessarily pass on his traits to the child. By the same token, if a father has good traits, his son may not necessarily good. Everything must not be generalized. If Zhu Su were Hongwu Emperor, he might have killed Hu Nayin right away. However, Hu Nayin's instincts did not say so. Her instincts instead told her the contrary part, as the result she agreed to take this bet Deng Linping challenged her.
And this bet, she won it in the end.
"Thank you very much, Your Highness..." Hu Nayin wrapped her arms around Zhu Su's body, hugging him tightly. "I... I promise... I will never disappoint you again... forever... "
Zhu Su stroked Hu Nayin's hair. "Yes, my dear Nayin. Well then." He pushed Hu Nayin away from his embrace, now looking at her closely. "The night breeze is not suitable for a pregnant woman. Come on, let's go home."
"We don't allow it!"
Zhu Su and Hu Nayin gasped. Xu Gechang, Wei Han, Ma Ya, and Bao Mei were standing in front of them, brandishing their swords straight at them.
"Ma'am Hu! How can you follow him so easily?! You must think that he may be deceiving you?! He pretends to forgive you, but when you arrive in Kaifeng then he changes his mind and executes you?!" Ma Ya shouted.
"Ah..." Hu Nayin was speechless.
"Zhou Wang! I can't believe that you will forgive Ma'am Hu that easily! You the Ming family are all well-known as cruel people who can kill people as easily as killing flies, how can you easily forgive Ma'am Hu!" Xu Gechang put on a fighting stance. "We have to protect Ma'am Hu! If you want to take Ma'am Hu away, over our dead bodies first!"
"Eh... who are you?..." Of course Zhu Su got perplexed by these four weird young people who suddenly became so violent towards him.
"Huh!" Wei Han snorted. "No need for you to know our identity. You just need to know that we are the victims of your family's atrocities!"
"They are the members of Bai Lian Jiao," Finding that Zhu Su got irritated by this new obstacle, Hu Nayin revealed their identities. "They have experienced the torment of life during your father's reign."
"Aahhh... damn, it appears again..." Zhu Su sighed in annoyance. Once again, he had to face those who had a grudge against his father but vent their anger to him because he was the emperor's son. "Alright... Bai Lian Jiao... so you think that I'm just tricking Nayin but in Kaifeng I'll execute her instead?!" He turned his gaze at Hu Nayin. "Okay, Nayin, do you also have the same thought?"
"Ma'am Hu won't feel that way because you are deceiving her! So Ma'am Hu's answer is invalid!" roared Ma Ya.
"If I want to kill her, why must I come here alone? I will certainly send the army and won't bother myself like this!"
"How can anyone understand your way of thinking?! Just like all of us can't understand your father that can kill people for no reason! Your thoughts - as well as the other Ming Family's - can never be understood!"
"It is your way of thinking that is incomprehensible!" Feeling the air getting colder but he instead wasted time to argue about a useless topic, Zhu Su shouted out loud. "Move away, all of you! I don't have time to argue with you!"
"We don't want to argue. What we want is... your death!"