My Beloved Enemy

3. The Art of Deduction

The following morning when Du soldiers came down, they only found Chun Hua, having a bowl of congee.

As all night long Du YuShi had a pair of eyes, watching Yu Qiao Bai's room, they didn't panic, thinking he ran away.

"Where is he?" Du YuShi asked as he sat at a different table than Chun Hua.

"He is not feeling well," she replied without any detail.

It was hard to believe, but Du YuShi felt a tiny regret pricking his heart. After drenching from head to toe, the prince sat away from the fire and ate cold dishes in his wet clothes. Although the dish part wasn't his fault, he was the reason why he didn't sit near the fire.

Still, he couldn't accept it out loud. Turning towards Hua Suo who was the closest to the stairs, he said "go check on him, see if he is trying to run away."

Chun Hua jumped onto her feet, slamming her hands on the table, she yelled "he is not that type of a person! He is really unwell!"

Du YuShi looked at her coldly before gesturing to Hua Suo to continue with the task. Hua Suo nodded and rushed up with Chun Hua on his tail.

Shortly after, they came down again and Hua Suo reported "he is really sleeping."

"Satisfied?" Chun Hua asked coldly before returning to her own table.

"Maybe he is just tired after a merry night," Ren Jing whispered, pointing his head at the direction of Chun Hua.

"Stop it!" Dong Feng shouted suddenly, making the others shocked.

"What's wrong A'Feng?" Ren Jing lightly punched Dong Feng's shoulder, but the latter didn't respond, rather sat onto the bench, waiting for the food silently.

Luckily, the food arrived soon and the tension dispersed.

After they finished, Chun Hua went up and woke Yu Qiao Bai. When Du YuShi saw the prince, he was convinced that he was really unwell; his playful aura was lost and his moves were slow. The general wanted to ask if he was okay, but when he opened his mouth, different words spilled.

"We are leaving, next time wake up earlier if you want to have breakfast."

To his surprise, Yu Qiao Bai just nodded and left the inn with slow steps. Behind him, Chun Hua threw daggers at Du YuShi with her eyes and followed his suit when the inn owner brought her packaged congee.

"General, I know you have reasons to hate him, but wasn't it a bit cruel?" Dong Feng asked softly. Indeed, he was the most humane one among them.

"I... just hate him!" Du YuShi puffed and left as well.

When they were on the road again, Yu Qiao Bai sat inside the carriage with Chun Hua. After the downpour of the previous day, the weather was fresh and the air was filled with earth scent, also Yu Qiao Bai was silent which was a bonus. Therefore, Du YuShi was high in the mood.

Well, at least until afternoon... until Yu Qiao Bai returned back to his irritating self.

He took his place next to Ren Jing who was leading the carriage and started his random questions.

"Did you like the food?"

"How do you like the scenery?"

"Is Du beautiful?"

"How did you decide to be soldiers?"

"Is the prince of Du handsome?"

As expected, all those questions hung in the air, unanswered. Still, Yu Qiao Bai seemed unbothered, he kept asking while fanning himself with a teasing smile painted on his lips.

"Ge, why do you do that?" Chun Hua whispered into his ear in the end as she couldn't bear to watch it anymore.

"Do what?" Yu Qiao Bai looked at her innocently, "we are just talking."

All the eyes turned towards him wide open. Was he delusional?

"Ge, do you feel sick?" Chun Hua placed the back of her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. Interestingly, he was cold as usual.

"Silly girl," he pushed her hand with the fan, "they are giving me answers, they just don't use the words," he said with a smirk.

"Ge, I don't understand," Chun Hua shook her head sheepishly and all the soldiers agreed with her inwardly.

Sighing, Yu Qiao Bai decided to explain. Pointing his fan at Hua Suo, he said "when I asked about how they decided to be soldiers, Hua Suo itched the eye patch with a grimace, so it means his family forced him to be a soldier and he still resents them."

Hua Suo gaped at the prince while Chun Hua gave him a thumbs up, "what else?"

This time the fan pointed at Fu Jian, "when I asked about Yu cuisine, he turned his head to the other side, pretending he was dusting off his robe. It means he liked it very much, but doesn't want to admit it because we are the enemy."

Fu Jian choked on air and Chun Hua clapped her hands excitedly, "what else?"

The next victims were Dong Feng and Ren Jing. Fanning himself, Yu Qiao Bai said "when I asked about the scenery, Dong Feng smiled slightly, his eyes lingering on everything around which means he liked Yu. On the contrary, Ren Jing rolled his eyes, implying he thinks Du is much more beautiful than Yu. However..." the prince paused for a second, "after he rolled his eyes, his hand went to his stomach which implies that he liked Yu cuisine more than Du cuisine."

Ren Jin grimaced with annoyance while Chun Hua was having the fun of her life, "one more!" she pleaded with puppy eyes and the prince nodded.

"As I can't see Wu Bo because he sits on the carriage behind, let me tell you something about him that I learnt yesterday," Yu Qiao Bai stood up to see Wu Bo's face, "when I asked you about the raven, you smiled proudly, but when I said it being a pet, your eyes widened and you patted its head as if apologizing. Therefore, now I know it is your best friend."

The raven and Wu Bo exchanged a glance before gaping at Yu Qiao Bai.

"Ge, only one left, please!" Chun Hua tugged the prince's robe.

"He doesn't have anything about me," Du YuShi challenged him. Indeed, he was very impressed by Yu Qiao Bai's observation skills, but he was smarter than him and he was sure that he always kept a neutral face.

"Well," Yu Qiao Bai smiled while rolling the fan around his index finger, "I might surprise you, General."

"Go on."

"When I asked whether the prince of Du was handsome or not, all of you tried to suppress a chuckle except General. His expression was more... allusive. Therefore, we can deduce from it that the prince is actually quite ugly."

Du YuShi smirked as he won against Yu Qiao Bai, but he shouldn't have been so hasty as the prince of Yu still had some words to say.

"However," Yu Qiao Bai continued with a content smile, "it can't be true..."

"Why?" Chun Hua asked immediately.

"Think a bit silly girl, who would send a general this handsome to grab the enemy princess if he himself is uglier?"

Du YuShi gritted his teeth while Chun Hua was clapping, "you are amazing, Ge!"

Yu Qiao Bai just smiled, his focus was on the annoyed general. He knew he won the round and enjoyed it fully.