First, the Nanzhao Palace appointed a new crown prince, and then a fire broke out. Now the prince has ordered a city-wide martial law, allowing only entry but not exit. Teams of guards seemed to suddenly emerge from the ground, and quickly spread throughout the city, checking every store and private house. Cavalrymen in distinctive armor poured out from the four city gates, and the billowing smoke and dust filled the air, giving people a feeling that a great battle is imminent.
The people, who had just been appeased by the new prince, became nervous again. The brave ones were still waiting and watching, while the timid ones had already started packing up their belongings and were ready to run away at any time.
King Nanzhao had no time to appease the people at this moment. The quiet departure of Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanjia made him feel unprecedented fear.
Before this, he thought that his plan was ingenious and well thought out. Not only did he successfully gain the emperor's trust and hand over his only son to him, he also took advantage of the friendship between Song Huai and Xie Nanjia to make Zhao Jingyu completely let down her guard in front of him.
To be on the safe side, he even took advantage of Song Huai's assassination in Jingyun Temple to secretly transfer the princess, two wives and two sons to other places, so that even if he really failed, his bloodline would not be cut off.
Of course, this was just in case. His plan was so perfect and flawless that he believed that even if Zhuge Liang were reborn, he would not be more thorough than him, so he would definitely not fail.
But now, his self-confidence had disappeared with the fire last night. He never dreamed that he would be defeated by two children who were not even older than him.
In terms of acting skills, he thought that he and his son had reached the pinnacle. Now he finally realized that there are always people better than you.
He tried his best to recall everything the two young men said and did at yesterday's dinner, but until now, he had not found any flaws.
How did they manage to deal with him without making any noise, and then leave without making any noise, sneaking out of the palace before the fire broke out
If their identities were switched, would he and Song Huai be able to escape as quietly as they did
I'm afraid not.
Because if Zhao Jingyu were him, he would have taken other actions against him long ago.
All in all, there is only one thing to say: the higher the virtue, the higher the evil.
So all he had to do now was to kill the demon.
If Zhao Jingyu was allowed to escape back to the capital safely, Nanzhao would be finished when the imperial army attacked.
"Father, we have searched the entire city. There is no trace of them. They should no longer be in the city." Song Huai walked in covered in dust. His breathing was a little unstable because of his anxiety.
The King of Nanzhao came back to his senses and pinched his brows: "The city gates will not open until the fifth watch. Even if they escaped from the palace in advance, they cannot leave the city before the fifth watch. Therefore, they must not have gone far now. As long as the prefectures and counties receive the pigeon message and set up checkpoints along the way to intercept them, they will not be able to escape from the territory of Nanzhao."
"Even so, Nanzhao is so big, and they can't take the official road, so it's not easy to catch them." Song Huai said, "If there are officials who are disloyal to my father and hide them secretly, it will be even worse."
"You can rest assured about this. Father has been in Nanzhao for so many years, and those who have second thoughts have long been eliminated by him." The King of Nanzhao said, "What we need to do now is to race against time with them and try to catch them before they pass the news back to the capital. In this way, even if the emperor receives the news, he will not dare to act rashly with his only son in my hands."
The calmness of the Nanzhao King's commanding manner greatly calmed Song Huai's emotions. He said slowly, "Those two are cunning and difficult to deal with. I want to lead a team to chase them myself. Please allow me, father."
King Nanzhao thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, you know them well, so it shouldn't be difficult to find them. Just in case, take the light cavalry from the West Camp with you. Remember, no matter what the situation, you must first protect your own life. Secondly, once you find their traces, it is better to kill them than to let them go."
"Yes, I obey your command!" Song Huai took the order and went to the West Camp to gather 800 light cavalry soldiers and chase in the direction of the capital.
At this time, Zhao Jingyu, Xie Nanjia and their group were quietly walking on a mountain road two hundred miles away from Nanzhao City.
Last night, at about three o'clock in the morning, the two of them escaped from the palace under the cover of darkness with the help of Xie Nanfeng. When the city gate opened at five o'clock in the morning, they led the guard team out of the city from the north gate.
By the time the King of Nanzhao and his son discovered that they were not killed in the fire, they had already traveled more than a hundred miles on horseback.
When they estimated that the arrest warrant for King Nanzhao had been issued, they left the official road and entered the mountain road.
Summer comes early in the south. The mountains are covered with lush vegetation, the air is hot and humid, and the mountain roads are winding and difficult to walk on. It doesn't take long before people and horses become exhausted.
Xie Nanfeng was worried that Xie Nanjia couldn't hold on, so he stopped the team and asked them to rest on the spot.
The water and dry food for the journey had been prepared yesterday, and there was more than enough of them, so there was no need to save, and everyone ate and drank to their heart's content.
After eating and drinking, Xie Nanfeng took out the map he carried with him and pointed it to Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanjia. "Go west from here, cross two mountains and go north for less than 300 miles, and you will reach Yunyang City where Lieutenant General Luo Ping is. Lieutenant General Luo fought on the battlefield with the emperor, Marquis Dingyuan, and my father. They were friends who had their lives cut short. He was also the emperor's eyes in Nanzhao. It was he who told the emperor that the king of Nanzhao was recruiting soldiers privately. The emperor said that if we are in danger, we should take his token and go to Lieutenant General Luo. Although Lieutenant General Luo has only 10,000 soldiers, he is one of the most elite armies in the Great Zhou Dynasty. One man can do the work of ten men. The emperor wants you to use these 10,000 soldiers to capture the king of Nanzhao, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?" Zhao Jingyu asked, with a somewhat unhappy tone, "Can you tell me everything you know? If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't be in such a passive position now. Look at how tired you've made my wife!"
"..." Xie Nanfeng spread his hands to show his helplessness, "I can't help it. The emperor didn't let me tell you in advance. He said he wanted to test your ability to respond."
"What a bullshit exam! Luckily I ran fast, otherwise I would have been roasted to death!" Zhao Jingyu said angrily.
"Why are you shouting? He's not dead, is he?" Xie Nanjia defended her brother. "I think your father's arrangement is quite interesting."
"It would be meaningless if I died." Zhao Jingyu curled his lips.
"You are the only son your father has. Would he really let you die?" Xie Nanjia pointed at the map. "Look, isn't this clearly arranged for you?"
Zhao Jingyu couldn't argue with her, so she turned to Xie Nanfeng and said, "Otherwise, what? Just tell me!"
Xie Nanfeng suppressed his laughter and said, "Otherwise, you have learned in vain all these years. He wouldn't dare to hand over the kingdom to a coward like you."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
I shouldn’t have asked if I had known. What kind of father is this
Seeing his angry look, Xie Nanjia couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Okay, I haven't said anything yet, but you're already angry. Don't you want to ride on Taxi Snow? Smile and I'll let you ride."
Zhao Jingyu grinned and gave her a smile that was uglier than crying.
Xie Nanjia added: "You have to understand your father's good intentions. You have been raised in Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion since childhood. You are uneducated and have a bad reputation. Even if you become a prince, it will be difficult to convince the people. But if you can defeat the most powerful prince among the vassal kings, Nanzhao King, who in the court dares not to obey you?"
After being coaxed and persuaded by her, Zhao Jingyu felt much better: "I understand what you said. I'm not angry for myself. I'm angry that if he had such a plan, he shouldn't have involved you. I don't want you to suffer with me."
Xie Nanjia blinked, tilted her head and smiled, "Maybe he wants to test me as well, to see if I am qualified to rule the country."
"..." Zhao Jingyu's heart suddenly "banged" a few times, and a wonderful feeling slowly rose from the bottom of his heart. He stared at the woman in front of him, who was still calm and smiling like a flower despite the long journey. He imagined that one day he would stand shoulder to shoulder with her at the highest point, embracing the mountains and rivers, and enjoying supreme glory... This feeling, just thinking about it made his blood boil.
"Of course you are qualified. No one in the world is more qualified than you." He looked into Xie Nanjia's eyes lovingly and spoke in the softest voice he had ever spoken.
Xie Nanjia gave him a knowing smile and loudly ordered his brother: "Xie Nanfeng, let's go!"
Xie Nanfeng: “…”
So sour!
The team set out again, and at sunset, they climbed over the second mountain shown on the map and entered a gentle hilly area.
"We are not familiar with the terrain, so it is not easy to travel at night. Let's camp here tonight!" Xie Nanfeng suggested. "This place is surrounded by mountains on three sides. We can attack or defend. It is also well concealed and will not be easily discovered."
Xie Nanjia and Zhao Jingyu had no objections, so the team stopped, set up camp, and cooked.
The sky was filled with sunset glow and tired birds were returning to their nests. Xie Nanjia became interested and shot down a few birds with a slingshot and asked the guards to roast them for food.
The guards were mesmerized by her skill and looked up at the birds in the sky, telling her which one was bigger and fatter.
At this moment, a guard suddenly shouted: "Quick, shoot that eagle, the eagle is the messenger!"
Everyone was shocked and looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, they saw a falcon flapping its wings and circling in the air.
Xie Nanjia did not dare to delay. He aimed at the eagle and fired three shots in succession, knocking it to the ground.
As everyone's eyes fell, they heard a sharp eagle cry overhead. When they looked up again, they saw another falcon flying over the mountain top and disappearing into the sky.
"Oh no, the eagle must have gone to report the news." said the previous guard.
"How do you know they are carrier eagles?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"My hometown is on the grassland. Most people there know how to train eagles. You can tell a tamed eagle at a glance," said the guard.
"This road is the most secretive way to Yunyang City. I didn't expect that they still found it. In this case, it seems that we can't spend the night here. We must rush to Yunyang overnight." Xie Nanfeng said.
No one dared to delay, so they destroyed the stoves, put out the campfire, broke camp and set off, traveling all night.
At four o'clock in the morning, the sky was turning white. They were still one hour away from Yunyang City. The team, who had not slept all night, finally stopped to take a break. They forced themselves to stay awake, ate some dry food, and continued on their way.
The sound of hurried horse hooves was heard from behind, and the guard in charge of covering the rear came hurriedly, looking a little panicked.
"There is a light cavalry of about 800 people chasing us. At their speed, they will catch up in just an incense stick of time."
Everyone suddenly became nervous.
"Don't panic. How long will it take to get to Yunyang City at the fastest?" Zhao Jingyu said calmly.
Xie Nanfeng looked at the map and said, "It will take at least half an hour at the fastest, but our horses have been running all night, so they can't go any faster."
"Get on your horses and talk as you go." Xie Nanjia put away the water bag and urged everyone to get on their horses.
Everyone had to get back on their exhausted horses and ride on.
Behind me, I could vaguely feel the tremors of hundreds of cavalrymen stepping on the ground. It seemed that their speed was even faster than expected.
Xie Nanjia held the reins and walked side by side with Zhao Jingyu, and discussed with him: "Why don't we go our separate ways..."
"No!" Zhao Jingyu interrupted her before she could finish. "You want to help me divert the pursuers, right? Give up this idea as soon as possible. I won't agree to it!"
"..." Xie Nanjia pursed her lips, suddenly leaned over, and hit him on the back of the neck with a palm.
Zhao Jingyu groaned and fell to the side.
Xie Nanjia supported him in time and called out to his brother: "Xie Nanfeng, take him away!"
(End of this chapter)