Two months after the disappearance of the Yong'an Marquis's son, Sui Sui, who was far away in Youzhou, just got the news.
Tian Yuerong came back from the shop and brought a letter from Chang'an. Every month, Chang's Cosmetics Shop would send news to Youzhou under the guise of goods exchange.
Sui Sui quickly glanced through the letter and his eyes fell on another seemingly unimportant piece of news: The Crown Princess has been bedridden since the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet at the Eldest Princess's villa.
Could she be related to Zhao Qinghui
She immediately felt that she was overthinking. In her impression, her cousin was a weak and innocent lady from a noble family. She might feel disgusted with a poor woman who looked like her, but she shouldn't get rid of her immediately. Besides, the person Huan Xuan had kept in his heart for so many years should not be a bad person.
She put the thought behind her and handed the letter to Tian Yuerong.
Tian Yuerong glanced at him and said in surprise, "Isn't the prince of Yong'an the one who hired bandits to attack the general?"
Sui Sui nodded.
Tian Yuerong glanced at Sui Sui's expression and asked, "Could it be the King of Qi?"
Sui Sui looked calm and said, "It should be him."
Zhao Qinghui was alive and well nearly a year after the fire, but Huan Xuan disappeared mysteriously shortly after returning to Beijing. Who else could it be except him
What's more, the Prince of Wu'an was no ordinary man. He was kidnapped without anyone noticing. Only the King of Qi could bear it.
But Lian Suisui was not surprised. She expected Huan Xuan would not give up, but she did not expect him to act so quickly, and she did not expect him to attack Zhao Qinghui directly.
Tian Yuerong sighed and said half-jokingly, "I can't believe it. The young King of Qi is quite affectionate."
Although she was Sui Sui's personal guard, they had known each other for many years and were more like good friends in private without any respect for superiors or inferiors. Seeing that Sui Sui did not take Chang'an's affairs to heart, she began to tease her.
Sui Sui glanced at her and said calmly, "He is vindictive and cruel. Zhao Qinghui took advantage of his absence to get his hands on Prince Qi's mansion. He couldn't bear it no matter who he hurt."
Tian Yuerong said: "Whatever you say, he finally vented your anger for you. General, do you think that Prince Zhao is still alive?"
Sui Sui pondered for a moment and nodded: "Most likely he is not dead. With his personality, he would not hide the body after killing someone."
Tian Yuerong smiled and said, "Does the general understand him very well?"
Sui Sui raised his eyelids: "What do you want to say?"
Tian Yuerong quickly stopped laughing and said, "No, no, I am too talkative."
Sui Sui said, "That's good to know. Keep a close eye on Cheng De and don't be idle all day long."
Tian Yuerong said with a calm face, "The day before yesterday, the thief Xue made another report to the court, but the emperor was still undecided. I have found out that the thief Xue has been plundering the people's wealth in Wei Bo recently, and has been collecting money by force, in order to bribe the important officials and eunuchs in the capital with money and jewelry."
Sui Sui said thoughtfully: "Send a message to Duan Beicen and ask him to obtain evidence that Xue Zhi has connections with important officials and eunuchs."
Tian Yuerong said "yes", and then said with a playful smile: "Actually, it is not unproductive for me to keep an eye on the King of Qi. After all, he is in charge of a hundred thousand divine wing troops."
She paused and said, "Besides, his subordinates have all followed him to Youzhou. For some time, they have been followed wherever they go."
Sui Sui said unhappily, "You know you're being watched, but you're still not careful? Apart from the shop, try not to go anywhere else these days, and don't go to the barracks."
Tian Yuerong said, "I don't need to worry. General, when do you think the King of Qi's men will withdraw?"
Sui Sui thought for a moment and said, "If they send the news back to Chang'an, Huan Xuan will definitely send guards who know me to investigate. After the investigation, at most they will make a surprise attack. We should withdraw before the beginning of spring."
After she finished speaking, she looked out the window. The icicles under the eaves were sparkling and clear as crystal.
"If things go well, we should go back to Wei Bo in March." Sui Sui said.
Tian Yuerong left the house and saw Chun Tiao sweeping the snow in the courtyard with a bamboo broom. She hurried over and said, "It's so cold, why don't you go inside to warm up?"
Chun Tiao leaned against the wall with a broom, tucked the sweat off his forehead, and said with a smile: "I've been sitting in the house warming myself by the fire all day, and I feel dry. It's more comfortable to come out and take a breath of cool air. Sister Yuerong, have you met my wife?"
Tian Yuerong said yes.
Chun Tiao invited, "My wife made some new yogurt yesterday. If Sister Yuerong is not in a hurry to go back to the shop, I will go and scoop you a bowl."
Tian Yuerong smiled and said, "No hurry, no hurry. Sister Chun Tiao is still thinking about me. Your wife only knows how to drive me to work."
Chun Tiao invited Tian Yuerong to sit in the side room, scooped water to wash his hands, made two bowls of yogurt, and sprinkled some preserved fruits and dried fruits.
Tian Yuerong stirred the cheese with a spoon and said, "Sister Chun Tiao must have been suffocated in the yard for the past few days, right?"
Chun Tiao said: "It's okay. There's nowhere to go in such a cold weather. Besides, if you really want to go out, you can take the tunnel."
Although their courtyard is inconspicuous, it is full of hidden secrets. There are secret rooms in the back hall and the houses on both sides. There is a tunnel under the storehouse leading to the farm outside the city. His wife usually goes out of the city through the tunnel and practices riding, shooting, swordsmanship in the farm. Outsiders think that the master of this house is a frail scholar who has been bedridden for many years and never goes out.
Chun Tiao used to often follow Tian Yuerong's carriage to the shop to learn the ins and outs of running a shop and doing business. However, because the King of Qi's men came to Youzhou some time ago, she stopped going out just in case.
She looked at Tian Yuerong, hesitant to speak, "Sister Yuerong, can I do something for you?"
Tian Yuerong smiled and said, "Come on, don't be so careful. I'll tell you what you want to say, and I'll tell you what you don't want to say."
Chun Tiao said: "Since you thought that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi would send someone to look for you, why didn't you hide more secretly, open a shop in the city, and let Sister Yuerong use the surname 'Lu'?"
She had been thinking about this question for a long time, but she couldn't figure it out, so she couldn't help but speak it out loud.
Tian Yuerong said: "I thought it was something, but there is nothing to hide. You will understand once I tell you."
She paused and said, "Although we made the fire clean, it's still fake after all. The two female corpses were burned beyond recognition, and those who are interested will definitely be suspicious. And as long as they investigate, they will know that the bandits were not silenced by Prince Zhao. Then who set the fire? Even the general praised your Highness the Prince of Qi for being smart, so he will naturally notice something is wrong and suspect that there is something fishy. As for whether he will investigate further, it depends on how important your wife is to him."
Tian Yuerong smiled and continued, "You must know the patience of your Prince Qi. He is determined to investigate. No matter where we hide, we can ask him to investigate. If he finds out where we are before we return to Wei Bo, it will inevitably cause trouble and may even affect the general's overall plan.
"So instead of hiding carefully here and there, it's better to leave a clue for him to find out. This way, as soon as there is any movement, we will get the news in advance. We can even know when they will come, so we don't have to worry."
Tian Yuerong ate a spoonful of cheese and continued, "As long as they search once, our home will be completely safe. It's like looking for a key. If you look for it once in the same cabinet and can't find it, and you look for it twice and can't find it, then that's it. You won't look for it in the same place eight or ten times."
Harujo suddenly understood: "I see."
Tian Yuerong continued, "They came here and found that the 'Lu Madam' in the picture was not the person they were looking for. Then they thought they were mistaken. If it was really your Madam, she would have kept her name secret. Why would she use the surname Lu? They thought it was all just a coincidence."
Chun Tiao nodded: "But what about our wife's household registration? Your Highness will surely find out that it is forged, right?"
Tian Yuerong said: "The household registration is fake. Lady Lu does exist. It's just that there was a rebellion there ten years ago, and the family fled to another place."
Chun Tiao suddenly realized: "So the lady is taking over someone else's empty household registration. But she has never lived in Qinzhou Mountain. Wouldn't the residents nearby know about it?"
Tian Yuerong said: "Although your wife has never lived in Qinzhou, there is no one to replace her. The residents nearby only know that there is a hunter woman who lives alone in the mountains. Occasionally she goes down the mountain to the village to exchange her prey for rice, grains and vegetables. She has a pretty face, fair skin, big eyes and a high nose bridge. Later, she was rescued by the God Wing Army by chance, but they didn't know that the one who was rescued was not the 'Deer Lady' they knew."
Chun Tiao realized that the person who replaced Lu Suisui as a hunter in Qinzhou was probably a female guard like Tian Yuerong.
She said lightly: "My lady really thinks of everything."
Tian Yuerong smiled and said, "Sister Chun Tiao, do you think your Highness is a little pitiful?"
Chun Tiao was a little embarrassed to be asked to guess her inner thoughts, but then she shook her head: "If our wife is really a hunter, wouldn't she be even more pitiful?"
If it weren't for Xiao Ling, Lu Suisui would have fallen into the hands of bandits and had no chance to escape. By then he had been sold to Lingnan, and there was no telling how much suffering he would have endured.
Tian Yuerong patted her shoulder and said, "It's worth it that your wife brought you along."
She paused and said, "But your wife deliberately left clues for the King of Qi to investigate. It was for his own good."
Chun Tiao was puzzled and asked: "Why?"
Tian Yuerong said: "Rather than letting him hold on to the hope that your wife is still alive, it is better to cut it off ruthlessly, dig up the wound thoroughly, and let the pus flow out so that it can truly heal."
Chun Tiao nodded as if he understood something: "What do you think, my lady?"
Tian Yuerong looked confused, and couldn't help but touch her head, sighing, "It would be better if Sister Chun Tiao never understood it in her life. Your wife understands it too well."
…
The distance from Chang'an to Youzhou was more than 2,000 miles, and it would take an ordinary person at least two or three months to travel. However, Huan Xuan traveled day and night and reached Taiyuan in less than half a month. However, it was still another 700 to 800 miles away from Youzhou.
After days of traveling, both the man and the horse were exhausted. Huan Xuan rode on post horses most of the time. Even so, he was still worried about hurting the little black-faced horse and making Sui Sui feel bad, so he rested for a day at the Duting Posthouse in Taiyuan Prefecture.
When you are overly tired, you are most afraid of relaxing even a little.
He had countless chaotic dreams that night. Sometimes he dreamed that Lu Suisui was trapped in a sea of fire. Sometimes he dreamed that Lu Suisui and Zhu Erlang were in love and were unwilling to go back to Chang'an with him.
When he woke up the next morning, he found that his shirt was soaked with cold sweat and he looked like he had been fished out of the water.
He asked the postman to bring in hot water, took a quick bath, and stood up from the tub. He felt dizzy and his throat itchy, as if he had caught a cold. He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead and found that it was indeed a little hot.
Huan Xuan relied on his strong body and did not take the minor illness seriously. He changed his clothes and called the guards to set off.
The further north you go, the colder the weather becomes. Once you pass the northern capital, it starts snowing heavily.
The cold wind was as sharp as a knife, blowing goose-feather-sized snowflakes towards people's faces. The chill penetrated fox fur and cotton robes, and got into the cracks between people's bones.
Huan Xuan had a cold and his teeth were chattering as he felt colder.
Guan Liulang (his face was flushed and his eyes were bloodshot) suggested that they rest at the inn for two days before continuing on their way and ask a doctor to come. However, Huan Xuan flatly refused and insisted on moving forward in the snow.
After many twists and turns, the group finally arrived in Youzhou City in early November.
Huan Xuan brought only a dozen guards this time as he did not want to alert the government offices along the way. He stayed at an inn under the name of a mid-level official in the Shenyi Army. Therefore, even the officials in Lianzhou Prefecture did not know that the King of Qi had come.
Huan Xuan entered the city gate at noon, but did not go directly to the house they had found, but went to the posthouse first.
He had been traveling for days and was covered in dust, and even he himself was dissatisfied with him - he heard that Zhu Erlang had a face as white as powder and lips as red as rouge, and was handsome and romantic, and quite good at pleasing women. However, Lu Suisui did not care about gold and jade, and did not care about money. She always stared at his face in a daze, obviously she liked handsome men.
Huan Xuan asked the postman to boil some hot water, and took a good bath in the bathroom. He changed into brocade clothes, put on a fox fur coat, tied his hair with a jade crown, and examined himself in front of the mirror. Fortunately, apart from his pale face and haggard appearance, he did not look too bad.
After he had washed and dressed, the guards fed him plenty of hay, brushed his fur, and replaced his horse with a new brocade saddle and painted saddle.
Although he hadn't ridden Black Face much in the past month, he still rode as hard as ever, and the black horse had become much thinner.
Huan Xuan looked at it critically, but couldn't bear to find fault with it anymore. He nodded and said, "Finally, it's acceptable to my eyes. That's all. Let's go."
The little black horse seemed to sense that it was about to meet its owner. It neighed twice and kicked its front hooves with joy, almost falling into Huanxuan's fox fur coat covered with snow.
Huan Xuan turned over and got on his horse. He kicked the horse's belly, and the man and horse, looking refreshed, left the inn and galloped straight towards Sushenfang in the south of the city.