Chapter 25 Of course, we rode in a carriage

Yun Zui and Chi Nie left the imperial palace, where Chi Yuan was waiting for them outside. The moment Chi Yuan saw Chi Nie, he hurried over with an ingratiating air, eager to claim credit, and said, “Third Brother, wasn’t I efficient enough?”

Now that Chi Nie and Yun Zui had entered the palace, they must already know about Consort Yun Yao’s punishment.

“You weren’t working for me, so why bother telling me?” Chi Nie glanced at Chi Yuan coolly, his demeanor as cold as ever.

Chi Yuan’s lips twitched. Wasn’t it Chi Nie who had entrusted the matter entirely to him in the first place? And now he says it wasn’t for him. All that effort was clearly in vain.

“Your Grace…” Chi Yuan immediately turned a pitiful gaze toward Yun Zui, his voice dripping with exaggerated sweetness.

But Yun Zui’s attitude matched Chi Nie’s: cold and unsmiling.

“You are certainly sincere, even bringing the carriage to fetch me,” Yun Zui said, ignoring Chi Yuan’s attempts at flattery. She brushed past him and headed straight for the carriage.

The carriage was exceedingly luxurious, tasseled fringes hanging at the front, the windows veiled with bamboo screens, lending a refreshing coolness even in the heat of summer.

Without the slightest hint of courtesy, Yun Zui claimed the carriage as her own. Instead of sitting inside, she took the driver’s seat and declared, “I am in a hurry. You two may go about your business; there’s no need to see me off.”

With that, Yun Zui gave a crisp command, and the horses leapt forward. Dust rose gently from the rear of the carriage, but the scene was impressively dashing.

“Third Brother, is this really acceptable?” Chi Yuan’s admiration for Yun Zui was boundless. Was there ever anyone who robbed so brazenly? She was even more sharp-tongued, cunning, and unyielding than his third brother, and, he thought, with an even thicker skin.

“Shouldn’t you feel honored that Her Grace used your carriage?” Chi Nie replied in a languid tone, his phoenix eyes following Yun Zui’s departing figure.

He stood there robed in black, the very image of a perfect and enigmatic beauty—a gentle voice, eyes full of wicked charm, and a faint, elusive smile at the corner of his lips that added to his allure.

In comparison, Chi Yuan seemed far more ordinary—a mere idle and carefree scion.

Once again, Chi Yuan’s lips twitched. Why did he see traces of Yun Zui in Chi Nie?

Was he really going to have to walk back on foot?

“What about you, Third Brother?” Now that Yun Zui had driven off with the carriage, were he and Chi Nie expected to walk?

“Naturally, I will ride back in my own carriage.” As Chi Nie spoke, a jet-black carriage approached, drawn by horses. The driver, clad in a dazzling black robe with a purple sash at his waist, bore the exclusive insignia of the Chi family.

Across the entire continent, only members of the Chi household would dare to wear black. Black clothing was as much a badge of honor as the emperor’s yellow robes—perhaps even more intimidating.

At Chi Nie’s word, the driver immediately dismounted and knelt to form a step for him. Chi Nie ascended the carriage, stepping directly onto the driver’s back.

Chi Yuan swallowed hard. To be permitted to wear black signified a status equal to a seventh-rank official, and yet, a man of such rank served as Chi Nie’s driver, even stooping to offer his back as a stepping stone.

Chi Yuan knew well that only Chi Nie was allowed to ride in that carriage. The last time he tried to climb aboard, he’d been unceremoniously kicked off by an unseen guard lurking in the shadows.