Chapter 1313 - 1149: Is It Her?
Chapter 1313: Chapter 1149: Is It Her?
Seeing this festive scene, Gu Chengyu couldn’t help but smile. Although he couldn’t celebrate the New Year with his dearest family, having his senior brother by his side was not too bad.
Yin Kun looked at the side of the street with interest, the joyful atmosphere infecting him as well.
"I didn’t expect that this year’s New Year would be spent with fellow disciples, and in a foreign land as well, how novel!" Yin Kun smiled, putting down the curtain he was holding.
Gu Chengyu also smiled, "What? Does senior brother not want to keep watch until the New Year with his junior brother?"
He glanced at Yin Kun teasingly. When he turned his head back around, he saw a fleeting figure outside, a figure that seemed quite familiar.
"Why is it her? How could she be here?" Gu Chengyu was a bit puzzled. The figure flashed by so quickly that he hadn’t had time to clearly see it before it was gone.
"Who? Did you meet someone you know?" Yin Kun asked curiously.
"Oh! Maybe I was seeing things, no one familiar." Gu Chengyu kept a thought in mind, also afraid he was seeing illusions, after all, that person shouldn’t be here by any means.
Saying so, Gu Chengyu thought he should let Ming Yan investigate later, perhaps it really was that person.
"Sir! There’s an inn up ahead where we can rest. The others aren’t open today!" Ming Yan quickly climbed into the carriage; he had gone down earlier to inquire, and it turned out this was the only open one in the entire county.
Since it was already New Year’s Eve, traveling merchants without special circumstances wouldn’t spend it away from home, and the innkeepers and their assistants also needed to celebrate.
"No choice, right? We’ll settle there!"
Once Gu Chengyu was settled, he immediately sent Ming Yan out to gather news.
"Last time it was said that Liao Wu was stabbed to death by the Emperor, so the Duke of Qin Mansion was implicated, and Qin Min and Qin Yingyuan escaped from the Capital with troops and have yet to be captured. Go find out their whereabouts; I think I caught a glimpse of Qin Yingyuan in the county earlier, the back looked very much like her."
"You mean Princess Rong Jia?" Ming Yan paused, they weren’t far from the Capital, if Qin Min and Qin Yingyuan escaped the Capital, shouldn’t they find somewhere further away to settle? Why come to this small county not far from the Capital?
"Yes! Go investigate, but remember, don’t tell Lord Yin yet. At least not until it’s confirmed, lest we invite trouble without reason!"
Gu Chengyu felt that Yin Kun might have other plans, after all, during their earlier discussions, Yin Kun seemed to have quite an appreciation for Prince Jing.
Qin Yingyuan, dressed in a coarse floral jacket, cautiously observed her surroundings as she hid and moved through the town.
She and her brother were taking troops towards the border and were prepared to defect to Prince Jing, only regretting that their preparations were insufficient. Even though they had previously hidden a lot of Silver Coin and military supplies, feeding an army of tens of thousands was no easy task.
Moreover, most of the soldiers had families, and though they hadn’t traveled far from the Capital, many deserted along the way.
Thus, she was sent by her brother to find an escort agency to send a letter to the border, seeking assistance from Prince Jing. She believed Prince Jing would not turn a blind eye, as their defecting troops would indeed be a great support.
She tugged at her coarse clothing, feeling uncomfortable. When had she ever worn such material? Raised in luxury, she never imagined she would fall to such a state.
Blowing warm air into her cupped hands, Qin Yingyuan wished nothing more than to return quickly.
As Qin Yingyuan’s figure turned a corner, a shadow quietly followed after her.
Not two hours later, Ming Yan returned.
"You’re back so soon? Did you find out whether it was her?" Gu Chengyu, seeing Ming Yan return quickly, asked with curiosity.
"It was indeed her! They made camp in the deep mountains outside the city, she came to the county to hire an escort!" Ming Yan nodded, confirming it was indeed Princess Rong Jia.
"Camped in the mountains? Didn’t the Emperor’s forces find their trail?" Gu Chengyu was incredulous.
"There has already been one battle, they are retreating while fighting. There were deserters along the way, now they probably have only 30 to 40 thousand soldiers left." These were not secrets because such a large army would inevitably leave traces as they passed through.
"She went to hire an escort, for what cargo?"
"I bribed one of the dart masters; it’s a letter. When I wanted a copy, they refused, saying it had special markings that if not replicated, would ruin the escort agency’s reputation and cost them Silver Coin. I tried several people, but they all said the same thing, so the contents remain unknown."
"They’re heading north, likely to the border. With so few troops, they can’t accomplish much. Probably planning to defect to one of the two, but not sure which one."
Gu Chengyu guessed that the letter was definitely destined for the border. Qin Min and Qin Yingyuan were now like stray dogs, without defecting to one of the two, they’d truly be at a dead end.
Actually, Gu Chengyu couldn’t understand Qin Baolin’s actions, wasn’t life as a noble in the Capital good enough? Not to mention he was Prince Consort, why take such risks? Truly, it dragged down the whole Qin family! Is the throne really so alluring?
...
"Emperor, Young Min just woke up, and knowing you came to see him, he is extremely happy! Would you like to stay for lunch? Young Min’s recovery would surely be faster."
Consort Liang looked at the Emperor with charming eyes, the Emperor hadn’t stayed overnight at Yunhua Palace for a long time. If not for Young Min’s persistent illness during these days, she feared the Emperor would have forgotten her entirely!
The Emperor sneered in response; he was well aware of Consort Liang’s schemes.
"The Imperial Physician said Young Min’s condition had improved recently, not so severe, so why is his fever so high today?" The Emperor slammed the table, his face clouded, startling Consort Liang.
"Replying to the Emperor, perhaps the servants were negligent last night, causing him to catch a cold again. I will definitely punish those servants appropriately, how dare they neglect the Second Prince?"
"Negligent, indeed, but I believe as his mother, you deserve more blame! You will not leave his side until he is fully recovered! If his condition worsens, you will be held accountable by me!"
After speaking, the Emperor stormed out of the inner palace, well aware Consort Liang was trying to curry favor using Young Min now that Ye’s eyes were blind!
A five-year-old child with a fever, forced to attend study sessions? Such tactics, pretending to be sick for over a month, utterly despicable.
Using a child as a pretext, Consort Liang was simply too unpresentable.
After the Emperor left, Consort Liang’s face was ashen, "Eldest Prince is blind, does the Emperor still hope in the Eldest Prince? Why can’t he consider our Young Min?"
In her anger, she swept everything off her dressing table. She was filled with hate! If only the Eldest Prince had been drowned back then! But that little brat had such a tenacious life.