The rope around her neck was untied, and Feng Yinwan reached up to remove the hood. Before her stood a pair of stern yet resolute eyes.
Her heart seemed to plummet, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the fabric.
"My father and brother..."
Her voice, unused for some time, was still slightly weak and hoarse. Ye Tinglan looked down, his fingertip gently tracing the red marks on her wrist, and replied, "I already know."
If he could come to save her, how could he not know? It was likely that her father and brother were still held by the Emperor, unable to escape.
The atmosphere in the carriage was silent and heavy for a moment. Feng Yinwan pursed her lips, then remembered to withdraw her hand from his palm.
She got up, intending to go outside, but her knees, numb from the journey's jolting, buckled. As she rose, she stumbled forward, nearly hitting the carriage wall.
Feng Yinwan gritted her teeth and held on, trying to move again, but a pair of hands reached around her waist, holding her up without her consent.
"You..."
Her body suddenly left the ground. She instinctively looked up, only to be met with a faint scent of blood.
Ye Tinglan remained silent, bending to lift her from the carriage. His steps did not falter as he moved forward.
Feng Yinwan came to her senses, struggling slightly. "You can put me down now."
Still stubborn and unwilling to show weakness, though with less of the sharp coldness than before. The grip around her paused for a moment, then tightened even further.
Feng Yinwan frowned in confusion, but a trembling voice from above her fell first.
"You wish to find your father and brother. This King will take you."
Not a soul was seen on the long street, only the guards who had escorted her, now lying sprawled on the ground. Feng Yinwan looked up as he instructed and saw they were on the road leading out of the city.
Ye Tinglan's eyes darkened for a moment, and he explained, "My father is on the city wall. Your father and brother have also been taken there."
Feng Yinwan's heart skipped a beat. A thought suddenly struck her.
The Emperor went to such lengths, likely because of... Ye Tinglan!
The news from the army was that he should have been dead. But the annihilation of the Yue army's forces had made the Emperor suspicious. He feared this valiant son returning alive, and even more, feared him returning alive but unwilling to come back. Thus, he devised a plan to use her and her father and brother as bait.
It was obvious to anyone that he had long intended to pass the throne to Ye Tingyun. Now that the struggle for succession was over, Ye Tinglan's existence would only be an obstacle.
No wonder he was so slow to retreat when Ye Tinglan was captured. He must have been considering this from the start!
Feng Yinwan was horrified, but then thought of his feigned death and looked up abruptly.
Was Ye Tinglan orchestrating this precisely for this purpose?
But if he had seen through it from the beginning, why would he have...
The answer that rose to her lips made her tremble for no reason. Feng Yinwan felt a chill spread through her, as if her blood were about to freeze.
He knew the consequences of returning to the capital, yet he had still come back, and now he was going to confront the Emperor with her on the city wall.
In the past, she might have resented or hated him, or been indifferent to his life and death. But now that she knew the hidden reasons, how could she stand by and watch him walk into a trap and be captured?
This was not how he should end.
She tilted her head back, meeting his dark, deep eyes, but found no trace of their former sharpness.
Her throat tightened slightly, and she said solemnly, "You shouldn't have come back."
If he had insisted on not returning, what could the Emperor do, no matter how hard he tried?
But he had willingly walked into the trap.
The arm around her paused for a moment. Feng Yinwan looked up and saw his gaze fall upon her. He said softly, "You are here, and I cannot not come."
Ye Tinglan's gaze deepened. He suddenly pulled her into his embrace, his movements strong yet still careful.
"I have implicated you, but hearing you say that makes me very happy."