It was already late at night; the stars were sparse and dim, and the bright moon had disappeared.

Under the deep darkness of night, a convoy was still traveling.

The night road was difficult to travel, but the caravan only had a few torches lit, with torches only in the front, middle and rear sections. The cavalry leading the way dared not move too fast. The carriages and horses behind carried a lot of gold, silver and valuables, which was all the items they could take when they hurriedly fled Nanze. They must not lose anything in the journey ahead.

The road ahead is still long, and we will need to take a detour along a narrow path. It will take about a month to reach the pass. If we can reach the pass smoothly, we can then travel west by water. It is already early summer. Even in the northern border, although the climate is colder than in the southern marshes, there will be no more floating ice on the river at this time of year.

If all goes well, and they can indeed travel west across the Guan River, they will have already left Da Gan when they land again a few months later, since the other side of the Guan River is the territory of the Tu Yuan Kingdom.

Inside the carriage, Prince Qing leaned against the side of the carriage, closing his eyes in deep thought.

This journey has been far too arduous. We now have only a little over a thousand people with us, and we have to carry all this gold and silver treasure. We have to travel overland for a month and then find boats to sail west after we reach Guanhe. It is truly not an easy task.

During this period, he had to be on guard against the rebels' pursuit at all times. Fortunately, he was very familiar with the road ahead, after all, he had fought in many places when he was young and had left many footprints on this land.

The rebels are still besieging the city, so Nanze probably won't last much longer. It would be a good idea to leave Nanze now.

Thinking of this, Prince Qing lifted the curtain and looked outside. The night was deep and dark, and apart from the sounds of carriages and horses, only the chirping of insects could be heard.

At least, the area we are in now is safe. Even if Nanze falls within a few days, the rebels will not be able to catch up here immediately.

When Nanze City falls, the rebel will inevitably head to the imperial city, where troops and oil have already been left. Once the rebel goes to the imperial city, a great fire will burn him down. Even if it doesn't kill him, it will ensure that he gets nothing.

As for that stupid woman, whether she died in the fire or at the hands of a traitor, it was all her own fault. That foolish thing actually killed her only remaining son. She deserved to die!

Thinking of this, Prince Qing snorted coldly and clenched his fists.

Now that I have no one to rely on and the future is unknown, even if I manage to overcome all difficulties and go to Tuyuan Kingdom, it will probably be extremely difficult. But even so, I must not die at the hands of a traitor.

Once you go to Tuyuan Kingdom, there will always be opportunities!

"Even if you overthrow us, we will never let you become emperor so easily."

"If you offend the foreigners, and I incite the Tu Yuan Kingdom to send troops, I don't think you can live a peaceful life as emperor." Prince Qing muttered to himself, his eyes filled with resentment. He no longer wanted the chance to regain control of the country, after all, at this point, there was no possibility left.

If I can't have it, then I'll destroy it completely!

After a moment of fierce determination, Prince Qing pondered his next move. His thoughts grew heavier, and the bumpy journey left him quite tired. Although he forced himself to stay awake, he eventually could not bear it any longer.

Before he knew it, he leaned against the carriage and slowly dozed off.

until--

"Awoo!"

He suddenly opened his eyes, breaking out in a cold sweat.

After catching his breath, he listened intently to the sounds outside, but all he heard were the sounds of carriages and horses.

But just now, he thought he heard a wolf howl.

"Is anyone chasing after us?" he asked the person outside.

"No, Your Highness, everything is as usual," came the soldier's reply from outside the carriage.

Prince Qing rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

Where are we now?

"We're almost at Cangwu Mountain, Your Highness. We're already quite far from Nanze."

Prince Qing raised an eyebrow: "So slow?"

The soldier replied, "If we had gone through Guiyun City, we should have already passed Cangwu Mountain by now. But Your Highness said we should bypass Guiyun City, and the night road is difficult to travel, which is why we are a bit slower."

Upon hearing this, Prince Qing leaned back and stopped asking questions.

Guiyun City is the main city of the barbarians. Jin Pingwu went to the barbarians and then disappeared without a trace. The barbarians were either unwilling to send troops or were delaying the battle and trying to change their course depending on the wind. Under such circumstances, it was certainly not advisable to take the risk of going through Guiyun City.

Cangwu Mountain is not too far from Guiyun City. It is also barbarian territory. Although there are some risks, the biggest risk is definitely from the rebels. The farther away from them the better. Therefore, this is the only option.

After listening quietly for a while, and with no further sounds coming from outside, Prince Qing shook his head.

"After more than twenty years of military service, all I wanted was a peaceful and carefree retirement. Now, in my old age, I'm all alone, forced to flee my homeland in such a wretched state..."

Prince Qing's face was ashen. Alone in the carriage in the dead of night, he finally covered his face with his hand, barely managing to hold back his tears.

After an unknown amount of time, the muffled murmurs finally resumed.

"We shouldn't have put her on the throne in the first place."

He lowered his hand, his face clearly showing remorse.

He knew that if he had ascended the throne back then, things would never be like this now. He didn't want to be emperor back then, not because he couldn't. While being emperor would certainly bring immense power, there were far too many things to worry about.

After more than twenty years of military service, he only wanted to live out the rest of his life in peace. After all, the world was at peace, and being a prince was far more peaceful and carefree than being an emperor.

At that time, his younger brother, Prince Jing, was already seriously ill. Among the three siblings, he had no choice but to recommend Jin Fengluan to ascend the throne. It was good for her to be the emperor, since she was not very smart to begin with.

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