Zhao Mian did not know anything about Wei Zhenfeng's plan before, but he noticed that the guards of Yuan army seemed too lax, so he was cautious and ordered Shen Buci to secretly watch Huo Kangsheng. Therefore, as soon as Huo Kangsheng "escaped", he got the news.
Shen Buci asked him whether he wanted to bring Huo Kangsheng back. He felt that Wei Zhenfeng would not make such a low-level mistake. He judged that Wei Zhenfeng wanted to play hard to get, so Shen Buci did not need to take any action and could just follow Huo Kangsheng all the way.
It was not until he saw Wei Zhenfeng capture and release Huo Kangsheng three times that he understood Wei Zhenfeng's true intention.
Despair is not terrible, what is terrible is despair after hope.
Not to mention that this despair has to be multiplied by three.
Every time Huo Kangsheng rekindled his hope, Wei Zhenfeng would unexpectedly give him a fatal blow, time and time again, completely breaking down his inner defenses, making this rough and strong man as fragile as a helpless child. Finally, he found the right opportunity to take advantage of the situation, transformed himself into the white moonlight in Huo Kangsheng's heart, and asked the answers they wanted through Gu Ruzhang's mouth.
Beneath the high tower, there is a dark body.
At noon, smoke of war rose, and the struggle among the princes had not yet ended.
Obviously, there are clues to the exact location of the Xixia treasure hidden in this.
After returning to the camp, He Kaiji called everyone together and announced the clue. Everyone was ready to start a heated discussion around these two sentences, but Zhao Mian solved the battle alone.
"The answer is already very clear," Zhao Mian said, "Let's pack up and get ready to go."
Everyone:
Zhao Mian looked at everyone's confused and shocked faces, and felt quite satisfied.
That's right, this is exactly the effect he wanted. In this way, even in Beiyuan's territory, he can convince others with his talent and avoid being completely suppressed by Wei Zhenfeng.
Wei Zhenfeng looked at Zhao Mian. The Crown Prince looked normal, and his emotions were hard to tell, but for some reason, he always felt that he could see the words "Come and ask me for advice, you fools" on his face.
Considering that Zhao Mian didn't mind his cruel methods, he could reluctantly be a fool for once.
"What? How can the answer be so obvious?" Wei Zhenfeng said in shock, "I don't see it at all."
Zhao Mian glanced at him coldly: "Stop pretending."
Wei Zhenfeng: “.”
"Hey, young prince, Lord Xiao, please stop keeping us in suspense," Hua Ju expressed everyone's thoughts, "What do these two sentences mean?"
Zhao Mian said: "The time, place, and direction are all clearly stated in these two sentences. The time is naturally noon, the place is 'under the high tower', and the 'dark body' should refer to the shadow of the 'high tower'.
Ji Chong asked in confusion: "A tall tower? Where can there be a tall tower in the desert?"
"Of course there isn't." Wei Zhenfeng looked outside the tent, "'When the warlords are fighting, the war smoke will rise at noon.' There are many watchtowers in the military camp. When the enemy attacks, the war smoke will rise."
He Kaiji was horrified: "Your Highness, are you saying that the Xixia treasure is in our military camp? Right under our feet?"
Zhou Huairang suddenly realized: "I understand, this is the most classic example of darkness under the lamp!"
Wei Zhenfeng said succinctly: "I don't think you understand."
Zhou Huairang's head began to itch again: "Ah?"
Relating to the clues found earlier, Zhao Mian said: "This 'high tower' should refer to the high tower of the Yi clan in the past."
In other words, they still have to find the relics left by the Yi tribe first.
Wei Zhenfeng asked He Kaiji: "As far as I know, in the past two years, the general has sent people deep into the desert many times under the order of the emperor to search for the remains of the Yi people. What have they found?"
He Kaiji thought for a moment and said, "Our army did not find the legendary Yi clan palace, but we did find some abandoned ruins deep in the desert. Unfortunately, when the search team came back, they encountered a sandstorm, and only one of the twenty people in the team returned to the barracks alive."
Zhao Mian made a prompt decision: "Let's go there first and see if the survivor is still in the barracks? Let him lead the way for us."
He Kaiji hesitated and said, "Yes, but he was able to come back alive mostly by luck, as he didn't know all the roads. Later, I also asked him to lead other search teams to try to return to the ruins, but in the end, they either got lost along the way or didn't bring enough dry food, and all ended in failure."
Wei Zhenfeng said: "In any case, let's give it a try."
This trip was going deep into the desert, and the direction was unclear. It was very likely that they would step into uncharted territory, which was fraught with danger. An Yuanhou and Shen Buci both advised Zhao Mian to stay in the Yuan army camp and not to risk his precious life.
Zhao Mian said calmly: "Do you think Wei Zhenfeng will go?"
Marquis Anyuan said without thinking: "With the character of the young prince, he will run to wherever there is danger. If he refuses to go, I will eat up the tent."
Zhao Mian said, "I and Wei Zhenfeng are tied together by the 'red string'. If he gets into trouble on the way and is delayed and can't return to me by the 15th of this month, I will die. Instead of trying to persuade me not to go, why don't you go and persuade him?"
Therefore, Anyuan Hou and others were sent to bother Wei Zhenfeng.
After listening to their statements, Wei Zhenfeng said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very important, not only to you, but also to me... more important."
Marquis Anyuan stroked his beard with relief: "It's good that the young prince can understand. Your Highness is the crown prince of a country, and we cannot put him in danger no matter what."
Wei Zhenfeng added: "But it is also very important for this king to handle Beiyuan's affairs."
Wei Zhenfeng told An Yuanhou honestly: "It's comfortable, but I want to go to the ruins of the Yi tribe to play."
An Yuanhou: “…”
"Don't worry, old marquis. I will protect your highness." Wei Zhenfeng said with a smile, "Besides, don't you think your highness wanted to go and forced me to come out to block you?"
An Yuanhou sighed: "Seeing through it but not saying it out loud."
Speed is of the essence in war, and the team to search for the remains of the Yi tribe was quickly determined.
Zhao Mian and Wei Zhenfeng both brought their trusted followers, plus a dozen veterans who were familiar with the desert terrain. The only Yuan soldier who survived the sandstorm was named Wu Yuanchang. He had led the team deep into the desert many times and knew the first half of the journey very well. In the second half, he could only rely on his vague memory and luck.
Before setting off, Wu Yuanchang shared a lot of experience of walking in the desert with the people from Nanjing who were visiting the desert for the first time. The two most important points are: first, you must bring enough water, you definitely can't ride a horse, there may not be enough water for people to drink, where will the surplus be for the horse to drink, you can only ride a camel; second, you must have enough warm clothes, otherwise the low temperature at night may take their lives at any time.
This meant that His Royal Highness not only had to say goodbye to his luxurious carriage, but also lost his tent. Moreover, he could not take a bath every day, had to eat dry food like everyone else, and could not sleep alone at night, but had to sleep on the floor with everyone else by the campfire.
Wu Yuanchang estimated that it would take them at least five days to reach their destination, assuming everything went smoothly.
Wei Zhenfeng was worried that the delicate prince could not bear such hardship, but he did not expect Zhao Mian to show any sign of retreat. Instead, he said, "In short, except for water, food and clothes, other things can be as little as possible."
After everything was ready, the group embarked on an unknown desert journey.
The first three days went very smoothly. They had plenty of food and water, did not encounter strong winds and sandstorms, and even restocked their supplies at a nearby oasis along the way.
Zhao Mian ate and lived with his subordinates, without any complaints, but he just couldn't get used to the tasteless dry food, and the scorching sun during the day made him lose his appetite. If he forced himself to eat a few more mouthfuls, he would feel nauseous. But even so, he didn't slow down the team's pace.
Zhao Mian was hungry but couldn't eat because his delicate stomach was angry. Wei Zhenfeng saw that the prince was in a bad mood and tried to coax him twice without success. One time, he was told "don't bother me". He didn't want to make trouble for himself and really didn't bother Zhao Mian anymore, thinking that if Zhao Mian was alone, he might feel better.
In addition to Zhao Mian's emotions, Wei Zhenfeng also noticed something strange about another person, that was Ji Chong.
I don't know if the herbal tea worked, but after arriving in the desert, Ji Chong seemed to have become a different person, no longer irritable, no longer red-faced. At this moment, he was lovingly stroking the fur of his camel, his eyes full of the radiance of fatherly love, like a gentle breeze and bright moon, and he was as calm as a chrysanthemum.
Wei Zhenfeng asked curiously, "Have you successfully quit sexual intercourse?"
Ji Chong waved his hand and smiled, "Your Majesty, I can't quit, but I've let it go."
"Oh? What do you think?"
Ji Chong said: "When I left Kyoto, Doctor Bai asked me to consider my wife's health. When my wife is pregnant, we can't have sex every day. We have to endure it for several months. I will take this as training myself in advance."
Wei Zhenfeng was startled, and asked inexplicably: "Why is your wife pregnant?"
Ji Chong was confused: "Young Prince, what you said is true. If you have sex, you will naturally get pregnant."
Wei Zhenfeng was silent for a long time and said, "You are right."
After saying that, he stood up and walked towards Zhao Mian.
At this moment, Zhao Mian was holding a dried pancake, struggling mentally between eating it or not.
Wei Zhenfeng sat down beside him, thinking for a long time, and suddenly said: "Zhao Mian, I heard... you are the child of Emperor Jing and Prime Minister Xiao?"
Zhao Mian couldn't figure out why Wei Zhenfeng asked this question, so he lifted his eyelids and asked, "What do you want to do?"
"I'm not thinking about anything," Wei Zhenfeng said nonchalantly, "Just asking casually."
Zhao Mian thought for a moment and told Wei Zhenfeng the truth: "Yes, I have two fathers, one is the emperor, and the other is Prime Minister Xiao."
His life experience was an open secret in the Nanjing Palace, and the Beiyuan royal family should also know about it. Not to mention that Fuxuelou was not a vegetarian, this not-so-secret secret could not escape their eyes. When Wei Zhenfeng visited Nanjing, his silly brother often called the prime minister "father" in front of Wei Zhenfeng.
Wei Zhenfeng said "Oh", and after thinking for a long time, he asked slowly: "Do all of you people in Nanjing like... this?"
"What?"
Wei Zhenfeng was about to speak but stopped, and finally laughed: "Nothing, just pretend I didn't say anything."
Then he really stopped talking, his expression changing from confused to relieved, and no one knew what he was thinking about.
Zhao Mian didn't care about Wei Zhenfeng. He decided to treat his stomach and not let it be so delicate, so as not to delay his work in the future.
He opened his mouth and took a bite of the pancake. After chewing a few times, he felt sick. He couldn't help but cover his mouth and retched: "Ugh—"
Wei Zhenfeng, who was sitting next to him: "..."
(End of this chapter)