"When I fished it out, I saw it looked green."
Duoduo found an excuse.
Xiao Yi gave Duoduo a deep look; he could sense her guilty conscience.
"Then what about this one?" Xiao Yi casually picked up a piece from the table.
"Um, it looks somewhat purple." Duoduo was very apprehensive.
The golden text had hinted that among the remaining pieces, one was purple, one was orange, and one was blue.
Looking at the unremarkable stone in front of her, Duoduo spoke without much confidence.
"And this one?" Xiao Yi's gaze became intriguing.
"Blue!" Duoduo planned to give this piece to Lüdou.
"Are you just reciting all the colors of the rainbow that Li Jin told you about?"
"What should we call these? Rainbow stones?" Xiao Yi teased.
Duoduo happily clapped her hands. "Father, that name sounds so nice! Let's call them rainbow stones!"
Seeing Duoduo eagerly play along, Xiao Yi felt a bit speechless.
Li Jin, who was usually talkative, remained silent, which somewhat surprised Xiao Yi.
"Teacher Li, what do you think?"
Li Jin snapped back to reality. "In my opinion, this name is quite wonderful!"
Xiao Yi stared at Li Jin for a moment. "What little scheme are you plotting?"
Li Jin's face stiffened. "I'm not plotting anything. Your Highness is mistaken!"
Li Jin's response immediately piqued Xiao Yi's interest.
He stared at Li Jin and noticed that Li Jin dared not meet his eyes. Xiao Yi knew that Li Jin was definitely not telling the truth.
Xiao Yi began to recall: what exactly was said just now that made Li Jin fall silent?
Right! It was when Duoduo said that stone was green!
Xiao Yi reached out to take the stone Li Jin had selected, and Li Jin reflexively tried to stop him.
When Li Jin's hand touched Xiao Yi's, he hastily moved it away with an awkward smile.
Xiao Yi observed Li Jin's expression, then picked up the stone in front of him and examined it carefully.
This stone was round in shape.
From the outside, its color could not be determined.
Xiao Yi fell into deep thought. Li Jin's subconscious reaction just now revealed that he valued this stone highly.
There was something mysterious about Li Jin that even Xiao Yi could not see through.
If even he felt this stone was very important...
Looking at the stones on the table, a crazy idea formed in Xiao Yi's mind.
"Yunxiao, stop the carriage!"
Xiao Yi calmly knocked on the carriage wall.
The carriage came to a halt, and Xiao Yi rolled his wheelchair out.
Yunxiao quickly dismounted from his horse and came over to help.
Xiao Yi waved his hand, signaling Yunxiao to come closer.
As Yunxiao leaned in, Xiao Yi whispered a few instructions into his ear.
"All of them?" Yunxiao looked surprised, thinking he had misheard.
"Yes, leave two men behind and give them five thousand taels. Have them figure out a way to get it done."
"Transport all the stones back to Xianyang."
"Yes, sir." Yunxiao hesitated for a moment before going to make the arrangements.
Seeing the carriage in front stop again, the people in the trailing carriage were quite surprised.
"What's wrong now? Could there be a problem with the carriage?" Xu Jinxin poked her head out curiously.
"Lianxin, go ask what happened," Su Xian said, feeling a bit worried after hearing Xu Jinxin's words.
"Yes, my lady," Lianxin replied from outside the carriage.
A short while later, Lianxin returned.
"To answer the Princess Consort, His Highness had some matters for Yunxiao to handle. We will be leaving shortly."
Sure enough, the carriage in front soon began to move again.
Xiao Yi sat by the window, watching the scenery outside.
Li Jin held a stone and asked Duoduo how to identify its color.
Afraid of exposing her secret if she spoke too much, Duoduo played dumb.
"Teacher, I just thought it looked green when it was in the water."
"Since the rainbow has seven colors, and so do the clouds, why can't stones have seven colors?"
Duoduo's words made Xiao Yi, who was looking out the window, stare deeply at her.
Duoduo stuck out her tongue and wrapped the stones in a handkerchief.
She took out a nine-ring puzzle. "Sister, let's play with this."
Yingniang's interest was immediately piqued. "Alright! Let's see who can solve it first!"
"Okay, the loser has to bark like a puppy!" Duoduo smiled brightly as she handed the puzzle to Yingniang.
"Then you are definitely going to be the puppy, Duoduo! I can solve this really fast!"
As Yingniang spoke, she quickly began to work on the puzzle.
Li Jin grabbed a water pouch from the side and poured some water onto the stone.
Upon contact with water, the stone began to look very translucent.
Li Jin held the stone up to his eyes and observed it carefully.
It seemed to have turned a little green, but Li Jin was not entirely sure.
It would be great if he had a strong flashlight right now; a quick shine would reveal the truth.
Li Jin wished he had X-ray vision to see right through the stone.
Xiao Yi, who had been looking out the window, took in all of Li Jin's actions.
The corners of his lips curled up, and then he lowered his head to look at a map.
Xiao Yi made a mark on the map at the village where they had stopped.
The carriages continued their journey. They ate dry rations for dinner and only rested for a brief moment before pressing on.
Because of the rain, the roads were slippery, and the carriages did not travel very fast.
After the sky turned completely dark, they lit the torches.
"Your Highness, should we find a safe place to stop and rest for the night before continuing?"
Li Jin asked upon seeing Xiao Yi frown at the dark sky outside.
He had looked at the map earlier.
There was still a long way to go before they reached their next resting point.
In addition to a section of the official road, there was also a stretch of mountain road.
Traveling through the mountains at night was very dangerous.
Xiao Yi did not say a word; he just lowered his head and looked at the map.
Li Jin also leaned over to look.
The mountain they had to pass through was called Tiger Roar Peak.
As the name suggested, there might be tigers on this mountain.
Their group had a lot of luggage, as well as women and children. If they encountered a tiger, it would be disastrous.
"It is just a name." Xiao Yi closed the map.
Li Jin did not know how to persuade him. When Xiao Yi made up his mind about something, not even nine bulls could pull him back.
To put it bluntly, he was stubborn and simply would not listen to advice.
As the official road came to an end, the carriages began to ascend the mountain, and even Yunxiao became vigilant.
"Shitou, keep your ears perked up!" Li Jin knocked on the carriage wall to remind Shitou outside.
"Yes, sir!" Shitou responded from outside.
Li Jin noticed that Xiao Yi was no longer looking at the map, but had instead closed his eyes to rest.
Li Jin somewhat suspected that Xiao Yi was regretting his decision.
The mountain road was narrow, just wide enough for one carriage to pass, making their progress even slower.
Coupled with the uphill slope, the distance between the front and rear carriages was kept very wide to prevent any accidents.
In the dark night, apart from the sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels, there was only the crackling of the burning torches and the occasional coughing of the guards.
Duoduo and Yingniang had long since fallen asleep leaning on the table.
Li Jin felt very uneasy in his heart, keeping a close watch out the window.
