Hearing the knock on the door, the two men stopped abruptly. After a moment, they ran to the back window at the same time. As soon as they jumped out of the window, they heard the sound of the front door being knocked open.
"Here, here, quickly!" The man grabbed Xie Nanjia's hand and ran wildly along the wall. Under the cover of darkness, he dodged all the way and ran into the garden. He climbed over the wall by climbing a tree beside the wall and jumped down without caring about anything.
With two thuds, the two men fell to the ground one after the other, but they didn't dare to stay for a moment. They endured the pain, got up, and limped away from the place.
The Xiangfu Palace was brightly lit with torches and filled with noise, which alarmed the patrolling guards and they all rushed there.
The two men were very careful and hid here and there, and finally shook off the pursuers and took shelter in a rock cave.
"It was a close call. Luckily we ran fast." The man said, panting and patting his chest.
Xie Nanjia was also out of breath, and couldn't wait to ask her: "Yun Shu, weren't you locked up by Mu Yuan? How did you escape? How did you know where I was?"
"Yes, I was locked up, but the people guarding me were suddenly called away to catch the assassin, so I took the opportunity to escape." Yun Shu said, "I didn't know you were here at first, I planned to sneak out of the palace first, but I didn't know the way, and I happened to walk here, and then I heard people outside talking about the Phoenix Girl or something, I guessed you might be inside, so I sneaked in to take a look. Fortunately, I came in time, otherwise you would have been bullied. Who is that person?"
"It's the former prince who escaped from prison." Xie Nanjia said.
"Ah?" Yun Shu was shocked. "It turned out to be him. If I had known, I would have beaten him to death."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
"He didn't take advantage of you, did he?" Yun Shu asked immediately.
"No, you came just in time." Xie Nanjia turned to ask her, "Did they make things difficult for you when you were locked up?"
"Yes, they beat me." Yun Shu suddenly felt aggrieved and rolled up her sleeves to let Xie Nanjia see the injuries on her body. Then she remembered that it was dark and she couldn't see anything, so she put down her sleeves again and said angrily, "They insisted on asking me what the Red Clothes Order was. I said I didn't know, so they tortured me to extract a confession, but I really didn't know anything."
"I'm sorry for making you feel wronged." Xie Nanjia reached out and rubbed her hair to comfort her. "That order must be something very important. They are anxious to get it."
"Yes, yes, you are right." Yun Shu said, "I didn't want to keep getting beaten, so I pretended to be unconscious, and then I heard them say that the Seventh Princess had an army in the past, called the Red Army, and the Red Order was the order used to mobilize the Red Army. Later, the Seventh Princess was expelled from the country, and the old king forgot to take the order back. When he remembered, the Seventh Princess had disappeared. For so many years, the royal family has been looking for the whereabouts of the Seventh Princess and the Red Order. The reason they are looking for them so urgently is because Yuze is going to go to war with Da Zhou, so they urgently need to mobilize the Red Army, but the commander of the Red Army only recognizes the order. Without the order, King Yuze can't mobilize them."
I see!
After listening to Yunshu's story, Xie Nanjia suddenly became enlightened. It seemed that the old Duke was right. That half piece of jade was really half a talisman. No wonder Mu Yuan was so anxious to find it. It turned out that he wanted to use it to attack the Great Zhou.
Based on this inference, the Red Army must be a very powerful army, otherwise they would not go to so much trouble for it.
So, where is the other half of the talisman
Does that mean that anyone who possesses it can mobilize the Red Army
Or can only talents from Yuze Country be transferred
If Zhao Jingyu got the token, would the commander recognize it
Another point is, where is that army stationed and how can we find them
All kinds of questions arose in Xie Nanjia's mind, but the most important thing at the moment was to escape as soon as possible.
As long as they can escape successfully and meet up with Zhao Jingyu and the others, even if they can't find that half piece of the talisman, the army of the Great Zhou will still be able to defeat the Yuze Kingdom.
"If I had known it was so important, I shouldn't have torn up the marriage certificate on impulse." Yun Shu muttered to himself in the darkness, "It was written entirely in Yu Zewen, and I didn't recognize any of it. Now that I think about it, maybe it contains the secret of the Red Dress Order!"
"It's too late to say anything now, let's find a way to escape first!" Xie Nanjia said.
"It's late, so I feel really bad. It's all my fault for being so stupid." Yun Shu sighed and asked again, "Do you have the half piece of jade with you?"
"No." Xie Nanjia said, "I was planning to return it to Zhao Jingyu that day, but he refused to take it. So I put it in the jewelry box after I got home."
"That's great. Fortunately you didn't bring it with you, otherwise it would have been searched by Mu Yuan." Yun Shu said.
"That's true." Xie Nanjia nodded in agreement.
The two waited for a while, and the noise around them gradually died down. The guards could not find anyone, so they were no longer as busy as they were at the beginning. Instead, they dispersed in an orderly manner and searched in groups of several people.
With fewer people, the chance of being discovered was much smaller. Xie Nanjia seized the opportunity, took Yunshu out of the fake cave, and sneaked out of the palace like playing hide-and-seek.
On the way, the two men ambushed two lone guards, changed into their clothes, and when they met people again, they were finally not so scared.
It took them a full hour to finally reach the palace gate. When they arrived, they found that there were at least fifty guards guarding the gate, and it was impossible to slip away.
Both of them were a little frustrated. If they continued to waste time, daybreak would soon come, and after daybreak, they would have nowhere to hide.
What should I do
The two sat in the shadows, resting and thinking of countermeasures.
“If there is no other choice, we can only climb over the wall.” Yun Shu said.
However, the palace wall was much higher than other walls, and trees were not allowed to be planted under the wall. It was not easy to climb out, and you might even be discovered.
The two were just worrying when a team came from a distance and it looked like they were about to leave the palace.
Xie Nanjia suddenly had an idea. When the team passed by, he pulled Yun Shu and quietly followed from behind.
Sure enough, the team arrived at the door and told the guards that they were ordered by the Second Prince to leave the palace to search for the assassin. They took out the Second Prince's warrant and asked the guards to let them in.
The guard checked the warrant, confirmed it was correct, opened the door and let them in. Xie Nanjia and Yun Shu followed behind and left the palace safely.
For safety reasons, the two followed the team for a while. Just as they were looking for an opportunity to leave, they heard someone in the team say that the assassins who were at the banquet had been captured. One of them was the newly appointed crown prince of the Great Zhou, who was now imprisoned in the dungeon of the palace.
Xie Nanjia's heart skipped a beat, he stopped, turned around and was about to walk back.
Yun Shu quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back forcefully. Not daring to speak out to persuade her, he could only pinch her hard.
Xie Nanjia quickly came to his senses and silently followed the team for a while. Finally, they reached a corner. After the team in front had turned, they took the opportunity to slip away.
"What should we do? Brother Xiaoguai has been caught. Where should we go now?" After running a long way, Yun Shu couldn't run anymore. He sat down on the ground and asked in a crying voice.
Xie Nanjia was also confused at this time. He sat down beside her with his head in his hands and fell silent.
Since Zhao Jingyu has been arrested, Cheng Zhiye and the others will probably not be able to escape. This is equivalent to giving a lot of bargaining chips to other people for free. If others threaten the lives of these people, Da Zhou will have to agree to any conditions.
What's more, Song Jingxing is here. Given Song Jingxing's hatred for Zhao Jingyu, who knows how he will torture him!
This time it was all over. No matter how smart she was, she couldn't think of any good way to deal with it.
Yun Shu kept asking, "What should we do? What should we do? What should we do?"
Xie Nanjia couldn't help but get annoyed and yelled at her: "Can you please shut up?"
Yun Shu was startled and shut up timidly.
Xie Nanjia knew that she had lost control, so she apologized to her: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I don't know what to do now. Let me think about it."
Yun Shu whispered, "It's okay, think about it carefully, I won't bother you anymore."
Xie Nanjia patted her shoulder and fell silent again.
Yun Shu didn't stay quiet for long, and started talking again: "What if they use Xiaoguai brother to force you to go back?"
"What else can I do? I can only go back obediently." Xie Nanjia smiled bitterly.
"Wouldn't that be walking into a trap?" Yun Shu was worried.
"What else?" Xie Nanjia asked, "When Mu Yuan said he wanted to chop you into a human pig, shouldn't Cheng Zhiye have listened to him?"
“…” Yun Shu lowered his head silently.
"How about we go find the Red Dress Order?" After a moment, she raised her head again, excited that she had come up with a good idea. "If we find the Red Dress Order, we will have a bargaining chip to negotiate with them. If they want the Red Dress Order, they have to hand over Brother Xiaoguai."
Xie Nanjia looked at her in a daze. After a while, he suddenly stood up and walked away.
"Where are you going?" Yun Shu quickly got up and chased after her.
"Go find the Red Robe Order, didn't you say so?" Xie Nanjia said.
"Are you really going?" Yun Shu laughed happily, "That's great, I can finally give you some advice."
Xie Nanjia: "... Don't be too happy yet. Do you know how to get to your hometown from here and how many days it will take to get there?"
"…" Yun Shu paused and thought seriously, "From the grassland to the west is the desert. Our family lives on the edge of the desert. If we can find a shortcut, it shouldn't take long."
"Okay, let's give it a try." Xie Nanjia said.
The two girls walked forward tiredly but firmly in the night.
At this time in the Yuze Palace, King Yuze and his sons, as well as Song Jingxing with a white cloth wrapped on his head, were urgently discussing countermeasures for Xie Nanjia's disappearance.
Originally, they had decided to use Xie Nanjia as a bargaining chip to prevent Da Zhou from using military force against them. At the same time, they also wanted to use Xie Nanjia to lure Zhao Jingyu over and get the Red Clothes Order back from him. Now, Xie Nanjia is missing, and Zhao Jingyu is not caught either. They have no bargaining chips in their hands, and the situation has instantly changed from an absolute advantage to an absolute disadvantage.
The only solution for now is to confront it head-on.
"It's not that we have no chance of winning a head-on confrontation. After all, I am very familiar with the strategies and tactics of the Great Zhou army, and the soldiers I have are specially trained to restrain them." Song Jingxing said, holding his aching head, "But no matter what, our troops are not superior in terms of numbers and equipment. If we can defeat the enemy without fighting, that would be the best."
"It would be best to defeat the enemy without fighting, but given the current situation, I'm afraid that's impossible." King Yuze said, "So we still have to be prepared to go all out. Success or failure depends on this one move. If we win, we will share the world. If we lose..."
"Father, we will not lose!" Mu Ke, who was sitting at the bottom, suddenly stood up and said, "Father, don't worry, I am trying my best to find the Red Clothes Order. Now I have some clues. Before the army of the Great Zhou arrives, I will definitely find it. With the Red Clothes Army, we will definitely win this battle."
"Oh?" King Yuze was delighted when he heard this. "Is there really any clue?"
"Yes, father, don't worry." Mu Ke said, his eyes sweeping towards Mu Yuan intentionally or unintentionally.
However, Mu Yuan did not pay attention to these. He was sitting in the hall, but his mind was wandering somewhere else.
All he could think about was where Xie Nanjia had gone, who had hit Song Jingxing on the head, and whether he had intended to do something bad to Xie Nanjia but was thwarted by Xie Nanjia
So did he succeed
"Boss, what are you thinking about?" King Yu Ze saw that he was daydreaming again, and called him happily while slapping the table.
Mu Yuan came back to his senses and bowed hurriedly, saying, "My son is thinking of a solution."
"Have you figured it out?" asked King Yu Ze.
Mu Yuan shook his head: "Not yet."
When King Yuze heard this, he knew that he was just trying to fool him again, and he immediately became furious: "Look at what you are like now, your brother is better than you!"
Mu Yuan glanced at Mu Ke and said nothing.
Originally, he was very concerned about his father's attitude towards him and his brother, but now, he no longer has time to think about these things.
Seeing this, King Yuze was so angry that his heart ached. He regretted that he should not have let him go to the Great Zhou to pay tribute. If he had known that he would be bewitched by women, he would have let the second son go directly. Now, the woman he brought back was lost, and his heart was lost too. What's the difference between a man who falls in love and a waste!
…
The long night finally passed. After dawn, Zhao Jingyu and others woke up in a dilapidated felt tent.
This yurt was the place they had chosen in advance to stay. After their whereabouts were exposed last night, they took great pains to escape the guards' pursuit and hid here for a night.
They have already alerted the other party, and it may not be so easy to sneak into the palace next time. The most urgent thing is to think of another way to rescue Xie Nanjia.
"If it really doesn't work, I'll change the sleeves myself." Zhao Jingyu said.
"That won't do." Cheng Zhiye was the first to object. "If you go, it will be like walking into a trap. Not only will they not hand over Xiu'er, they will also arrest you and force us to agree to their terms. Song Jingxing hates you so much, he will torture you severely."
"Then what do you think we should do? If we can't rescue Xiu'er, even if General Wu'an comes, he won't dare to mobilize easily." Zhao Jingyu said, "Are we just going to waste time with them like this?"
"Otherwise, let's send someone to negotiate with them first and feel out their attitude." Cheng Zhiye said.
"I think it's okay." Zhou Yuncheng came over and said, "Yu'er can't go anyway. Since you made the suggestion, then you can go."
Cheng Zhiye: “…”
What kind of bullshit is this, brother
(End of this chapter)