After an unknown amount of time, Xie Nanjia fell into a deep sleep in the bumpy rhythm of the ox cart. When she woke up again, she found herself lying on a stable and soft bed.
The sunlight filtered in through the window, bringing with it a breath of midsummer heat. She squinted her eyes, propped herself up and sat up, then she realized that her strength had returned.
Why didn't those people continue to give her the medicine? Aren't they afraid that she would escape
She thought about it and the only possibility was that they had handed her over to the real owner and their mission was accomplished.
So, she should be in Mu Yuan's hands now.
Thinking of this, she got out of bed, walked to the door, and reached out to open it.
Strong sunlight poured in, and before she could adjust, a tall figure appeared in front of her, blocking the glaring sunlight.
Xie Nanjia took a step back, holding the door and looking at the man.
The man was too tall, so she had to look up. What she saw was a bronze face with a green stubble, a pair of eyes bigger than the eyes of the ox that pulled the cart before, thick eyelashes like two small fans, a high nose, full lips, and a strong aura all over his body.
When the man met Xie Nanjia's gaze, he grinned at her, revealing two rows of big white teeth.
"Miss Xiu'er, we meet again." He said with a smile, "Are you surprised?"
Xie Nanjia looked at him silently for a long while, then smiled: "Yes, it's surprising. I didn't expect that the eldest prince is not only greedy and vulgar, but also a kidnapper. Is the treasury of Yuze Kingdom so empty that the princes need to be self-reliant?"
Mu Yuan was startled, then burst into laughter: "Miss Xiu'er is still so eloquent, I like it."
"Liking someone is not a reason to kidnap them at will." Xie Nanjia said, "As far as I know, Yuze's military force is not strong enough to compete with Da Zhou. Has the eldest prince thought about the consequences of this action?"
"Do you think I've thought about it?" Mu Yuan asked back with interest.
Xie Nanjia really lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then said: "In fact, it doesn't matter whether you have thought about it or not. You kidnapped me, which is equivalent to openly declaring a war on the Great Zhou. As you can imagine, the consequences will not be very good. The only difference is whether this is your personal behavior or your father's instruction. If it is the latter, there will be people to support you. If it is the former, you will die miserably."
"So do you think it is the former or the latter?" Mu Yuan asked again.
Xie Nanjia said, "Although you are rude and impolite, you are not crazy. I guess it should be the latter. Your father heard the legend of the girl with the Phoenix Fate and wanted to unify the world. So he let you take me away on the opportunity of paying homage to the emperor in Beijing. He thought that if he got me, he could get the world, right?"
Mu Yuan finally stopped smiling and looked at Xie Nanjia seriously. This woman was so smart and witty that he had never seen anything in his life. He hadn't said anything yet, but she had guessed the truth almost exactly. What was her brain made of
"Since you're silent, it seems I guessed right." Xie Nanjia said, "Maybe there are some details I don't know about, but the general direction should be like this, right?"
Mu Yuan suddenly wanted to leave. This woman was too smart. He was worried that if he stayed any longer, she would guess more things.
Just as the thought came to his mind, Xie Nanjia said again: "It is normal for men to have ambitions. Any king wants to be the only ruler of the world, but have you ever thought about it, Prince? There is only one daughter of the Phoenix Fate. Are you taking me back to give me to your father, or to yourself?"
Mu Yuan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Is there any difference?"
Xie Nanjia smiled and extended her hand to invite him: "Prince, please come in and sit down. I will analyze this for you."
Mu Yuan had a feeling that she had no good intentions, but facing her beautiful smile, he couldn't bring himself to say no. He walked into the house involuntarily as if sleepwalking and sat down at the round table by the window.
There was brewed tea on the table, and Xie Nanjia, like a hospitable host, personally poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him.
Mu Yuan took the tea and took a sip as she smiled, and found it particularly sweet.
Xie Nanjia gathered her skirt very gracefully, sat down opposite him, poured herself a cup, raised it to her lips with her snow-white fingers, took a sip, and then gently put it down.
Mu Yuan looked at her in a leisurely manner, as if she was enjoying a summer afternoon with her best friend. The cool breeze, the fragrance of flowers, and the green shade were intoxicating.
He had never seen such a woman on the grassland. His heart felt like being scratched and licked by a kitten, making him feel itchy and uncomfortable.
"Tea is like wine. It tastes different when you drink it with different people." Xie Nanjia said with a smile, "Does the eldest prince think this tea tastes good?"
"It tastes good." Mu Yuan nodded for some unknown reason.
"That means the eldest prince and I are very comfortable together." Xie Nanjia said, "Since the eldest prince is not on guard against me, I might as well give him some pointers. Assuming that the daughter of the Phoenix Fate can really get the world, your father's getting the world is different from you getting the world yourself, because even if your father gets the world, the throne may not be passed on to you in the future. Wouldn't you be making wedding clothes for others
Of course, maybe you think that you are the best and most capable in your father's eyes, and your father values you more than other brothers, but can you guarantee that your feeling is right? Maybe your brothers feel the same way as you do?"
Mu Yuan was stunned for a moment, and he couldn't describe what he felt in his heart.
He knew that Xie Nanjia was definitely not reminding him out of kindness, but he had to admit that what Xie Nanjia said made sense.
Yuze and Da Zhou have different rules for appointing a crown prince. They never decide on the successor in advance. Instead, they announce who the throne will be passed on to based on the abilities of the princes before the old king dies. If the old king dies of a sudden illness and there is no time to determine the candidate, the princes will fight for the right of succession among themselves.
Just like a pack of wolves fighting for the king, whoever wins becomes the king, and it doesn’t matter whether the loser is dead or alive.
However, before this, he had never worried about this problem, because he had always been the son that his father valued the most, and his ability was the strongest among his brothers. He believed that his father would definitely choose him as the heir before his death. If his father really died suddenly, he would not worry, because he was confident that he could defeat all his brothers.
But now, after being reminded by Xie Nanjia, he suddenly became less sure.
He couldn't guarantee whether his father had also told his other brothers about his praise in private, and whether his father valued him only or others as well, but he just didn't let him know.
Another point is that he finally met a woman who made his heart beat faster. Does he really have to give her to his father
Why is he so unwilling
Xie Nanjia sipped her tea leisurely, noticing the subtle changes in Mu Yuan's expression. She put down her teacup and asked him again, "Did your father give you such a dangerous mission when you came to Beijing this time? Was it because he really trusted you, or was it because he didn't want to let his other sons take this risk? Have you ever thought about it?"
"…" Mu Yuan was silent for a long time, and suddenly slapped the table and said in a muffled voice: "You are trying to sow discord between us. I won't be fooled. I am here just to inform you that we will leave in half an hour. Don't try to escape by any means, otherwise your girl will die under the swords!"
After saying that, he stood up suddenly and left in a very angrily manner.
The door slammed shut. Xie Nanjia spread his hands, looked at the tea that he had shaken out on the table, and smiled indifferently.
This is only the first round, there is still a long way to go!
Suddenly, she was not so eager for someone to rescue her. She wanted to meet the ambitious King Yuze and see what conspiracy he had to deal with the Great Zhou.
Half an hour later, Xie Nanjia was blindfolded, his hands tied, and taken away from this unknown place, and got on a carriage and continued to head north.
Mu Yuan was probably afraid of being bewitched by her again, so he never showed up again.
Xie Nanjia didn't know how long she had been knocked unconscious, so she couldn't tell whether today was the first day she had been kidnapped. She couldn't see anything, so she had no idea where she was, and she couldn't leave any marks along the way. She could only leave everything to fate.
At this time in the capital, Zhao Jingyu had just received two secret reports, one of which was sent back by Huangfu, saying that he had followed Mu Yuan all the way north and had not found anything unusual about him and his team. The number of people in the team had not increased or decreased, and they had not encountered any suspicious people along the way.
The other letter was from Cheng Zhiye. He led Zhao Jingyu's private soldiers to search for Yun Shu's whereabouts. It has been five days, but no clues have been found.
Zhao Jingyu rubbed his brows, stacked the two letters together with other letters on the desk, and squeezed them with his hands. It was a thick stack.
Six days have passed, and the only thing he can be sure of is that Xie Nanjia was indeed taken to the north. Huangfu Zeng found the marks left by Xie Nanjia on the official road more than 200 miles away from the capital, but after walking more than 100 miles along the marks, the marks were interrupted. Since then, no useful information has been obtained, and even Xie Nanfeng is helpless.
Zhao Jingyu was anxious and angry, and wanted to go north to find someone in person, but he was under house arrest in the palace by Song Wanji and could not go anywhere.
Song Wanji said, it’s not that I don’t care about Xiu’er’s safety, but Xiu’er has already been in trouble, and I can’t let anything happen to you again. Even if you hate me for this, I will not let you leave the palace.
In order to keep an eye on Zhao Jingyu, he issued a death order to everyone in the palace, stating that anyone who accidentally let the Crown Prince go would be executed on the spot.
As a result, the palace servants who served the Crown Prince were trembling with fear all day long, fearing that the Crown Prince would be lost. When the gatekeepers saw him approaching, they knelt on the ground and begged him for mercy.
Zhao Jingyu was helpless. He became thinner and thinner during the long and anxious wait, and his temper became more and more irritable.
He believed that apart from Mu Yuan and Yun Shu, no one would take Xie Nanjia north. There were two possibilities as to why the people who were tracking him could not find anything abnormal about Mu Yuan. One was that Xie Nanjia was indeed not in Mu Yuan's hands, but was secretly taken back to Yuze Country by Yun Shu from another route.
There is another possibility, that the Mu Yuan that Huangfu was following was fake.
Mu Yuan found someone to pretend to be him to attract the attention of the pursuers, while he took Xie Nanjia and left through another route.
Apart from this, he couldn't think of any other reason.
He wrote down several copies of his guesses and had them delivered separately, then continued to sit in the hall and wait.
Soon, another day passed.
Zhao Jingyu didn't want to wait like this any longer, he had to leave the palace and go find Xie Nanjia in person.
If Xie Nanjia cannot be found, even if he is alive, he is just a breathing dead man. Even if Song Wanji gives up the throne to him now, it will be meaningless to him.
After thinking it over, he decided to go with Zhou Yuncheng.
Song Wanji has been very worried these days, but his energy is mainly focused on capturing Song Jingxing. In order to avoid further complications, he finally made up his mind. On the third day after Song Jingxing escaped from prison, he secretly executed King Wei and King Nanzhao, and at the same time ordered people to escort Song Huai to Mobei.
When the Queen Mother heard that the King of Wei and the King of Nanzhao were executed, she could not bear it even though they were not her own children. She cried for a while and then fell ill.
Song Wanji had to worry about state affairs and often go to comfort the empress dowager. He was so busy that he had no time to supervise Zhao Jingyu. He could only order the eunuchs to go to Taichu Palace where Zhao Jingyu was temporarily staying a few times a day to see if Zhao Jingyu was staying well in the palace.
Every time the young eunuch went to see him, he would say that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was doing very well there, very quiet, without any noise or disturbance, and apart from reading he would just sleep.
In the first two days, Song Wanji didn't care about it. On the third day, he suddenly realized that something was wrong and went to Taichu Palace in person.
When he found out that the person sleeping quietly in the hall was Zhou Yuncheng, he was completely dumbfounded.
Zhou Yuncheng knelt on the ground and apologized, saying that he was forced by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that if he did not obey, he would not let Miss Zhao Si marry him.
Song Wanji was so angry that his heart ached, but the idiot in front of him who was crying was his nephew. No matter how much he hated him, he couldn't really chop off his nephew's head. He could only order someone to call Princess Anping and ask her to take her son back and discipline him strictly.
When Princess Anping saw that her son had gotten into such trouble, she was afraid that the Emperor would dislike him from then on, so she suggested that this rebellious son should make amends for his crime and bring back the Crown Prince.
Song Wanji didn't think that this idiot was capable of doing the job, but it was always better to have one more person to look for him, so he immediately agreed to Princess Anping's proposal and asked Zhou Yuncheng to set out immediately to find Zhao Jingyu.
Upon receiving the order, Zhou Yuncheng immediately took a dozen followers and set off north.
Before leaving, he made a special trip to the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion and met with Sheng Qingyun, saying that he would do his best to find Miss Xiu'er.
After leaving the north city gate, the horse galloped on the official road that seemed to have no end. Zhou Yuncheng was very excited and sincerely admired Zhao Jingyu's foresight.
Zhao Jingyu said that even if the emperor found out that he was impersonating him, he would not really punish him for the sake of Princess Anping. Maybe Princess Anping would even let him make up for his crime with meritorious service, and then he could take the opportunity to escape from Princess Anping's control and get some fresh air.
Zhao Jingyu also said that he would leave marks for him along the way, and if he could come out, he would follow the marks to find him.
"Ah!" Zhou Yuncheng breathed in deep gulps of the fresh air in the wild, feeling a freedom he had never felt before.
If Miss Xiu'er was not still missing, he really wanted to sing a song loudly.
After the excitement, he calmed down, carefully looked for the mark Zhao Jingyu left for him, and followed the mark all the way north.
At this time, nine days had passed since Xie Nanjia disappeared.
On the tenth day, a heavy rain suddenly fell after the sunny sky for many days. While alleviating the drought, it also destroyed the traces left by several groups of people, causing them to lose contact with each other.
Zhao Jingyu did not take the official road, but instead followed the route he might take if he assumed Mu Yuan had a substitute.
It turned out that his assumption was correct. When the rainstorm came, he happened to stay in the inn where Xie Nanjia had stayed.
At first, he did not think of this coincidence. He just lay in bed, going over the whole thing in his mind from beginning to end, and then suddenly remembered that the inn he was staying in was the only inn within a radius of nearly 100 miles. If Mu Yuan took Xie Nanjia along this road, they would have to stop to feed the horses, prepare water, replenish dry food, and even take a short rest for the night.
Thinking of this, he immediately ordered Wei Jun to take people to search every room in the inn and ask the innkeeper and waiters for information.
After an incense stick of time, Wei Jun came back and brought him a letter.
It was called a letter, but in fact it only had three words written in brown paint on a piece of white cloth—"Go to Yudu."
Wei Jun said that this was given to him by a clerk. The clerk said that a group of fur merchants came to the store a few days ago, and there was a girl among them. When he went to the room to deliver food, the girl tore off a piece of cloth from her body, dipped it in vegetable soup and wrote these three words on it, and asked him to keep the cloth. She said that a customer named Zhao Agou might come to see her in a few days, and then he could get a large reward with this piece of cloth.
Zhao Jingyu hadn't had much rest for several days. The extreme work made his eye sockets sunken and his eyes dry and red. When the three words "Zhao Agou" came out of Wei Jun's mouth, his eyes instantly became moist and tears burst out uncontrollably.
Seeing him crying, Wei Jun's eyes also turned red uncontrollably.
He had followed the Second Young Master for ten years and had never seen him lose his composure like he did now.
Zhao Jingyu quickly wiped away her tears, calmed down, and asked with a slightly hoarse voice: "Did you tell anyone else?"
"No." Wei Jun said, "He was thinking about the reward money and was afraid that someone else would take away his good fortune, so he didn't dare tell anyone."
"Okay." Zhao Jingyu nodded, "Did you reward him?"
"Yes." Wei Jun replied, "I gave him an ingot of gold."
"You are really generous." Zhao Jingyu smiled for the first time. His thin face was full of energy, as if the crops that had been suffering from drought for a long time had drunk enough rain water, and every leaf stood up.
Wei Jun should have been happy for him, but somehow he felt even more sad.
Everyone said that the Second Young Master was a playboy, romantic, amorous and greedy for beauty. Only he knew that the Second Young Master was the most innocent man in the world. Before he met Miss Xiu'er, he had never been attracted to any woman. After meeting Miss Xiu'er, he never even looked at any woman.
After Miss Xiu'er disappeared, he never smiled again. But now he is filled with joy because of Miss Xiu'er's words "Zhao Agou". Is there anyone in the world who is more infatuated than him
"Yudu is the capital of Yuze Country. Xiu'er asked me to go there. She must have a purpose. Let's set off as soon as the rain stops." Zhao Jingyu said happily, "She is so smart. I knew she would find a way."
"Yes, Miss Xiu'er is very smart, so she will protect herself." Wei Jun took the opportunity to persuade, "Second Master should have a good sleep now and recover your energy before going to find Miss Xiu'er, otherwise when you see Miss Xiu'er, she will think you are ugly."
"Ah?" Zhao Jingyu hurriedly touched his face and asked in horror, "Am I ugly now?"
"Yes!" Wei Jun nodded seriously, drew out his sword with a "clang" and handed it to him.
"What are you going to do?" Zhao Jingyu was startled.
"Take a look at the Second Young Master's face." Wei Jun said seriously.
Zhao Jingyu rolled her eyes, leaned forward, then widened her eyes and shouted, "Is this me? No, this is definitely not me. Quick, quick, go get me some milk, flower petals, and hot water. I want to take a bath, I want to be clean, I want to be beautiful when I meet Xiu'er!"
Wei Jun: “…”
(End of this chapter)