Chapter 109

Xie Sui'an couldn't bring himself to say it. He felt that no one could control Prince Ning'an, especially since Prince Ning'an was newly favored and now risking everything to fight the Crown Prince. Whoever married into the Prince Ning'an would already have half their head gone.

Only Qin Sang, who was recognized as an adopted granddaughter, was fearless, intelligent, and desperately involved. She embodied her grandfather's support for Prince Ning'an.

Night deepened, and the wind whistled through the trees, carrying a sharp, cold chill. After a moment of silence, Qin Sang smiled and said, "Let's go back."

After descending the mountain, the two stayed at a small inn in the town. They took a good bath and then re-bandaged their wounds. However, the inn didn't have much medicine, so they had to make do with some herbal remedies and endure the pain until dawn the next day.

They set off early in the morning, and at noon, after passing a tavern, they heard that martial law was in effect at the city gates and that a lowly servant had escaped from the Crown Prince's residence, stolen valuables, and was being searched for throughout the capital by the Crown Prince's men.

"She's incredibly audacious! She even dared to steal from the Crown Prince's residence! She's a real tough woman!"

"Hey, isn't the Crown Prince always known for his magnanimity and tolerance? What could he have lost that requires such a great deal of trouble?"

"Tolerance? Where did you hear that from?"

"Hey, what's it to you where I heard that? Isn't that right? And where did you hear that from?"

"My aunt's daughter-in-law's sister's neighbor said that her daughter was chosen and sent to the Crown Prince's residence a few years ago. Everyone thought she was going to be rich and powerful, but she never even saw her bones. They sent someone to give her a few pieces of silver, saying that she had died from a serious illness." The passerby with a missing tooth spoke with great conviction. "And that's not all. I also heard from the sister of my aunt's second aunt's third son-in-law that last year, a girl she knew, whose family was too poor to support her, was sold to the Crown Prince's residence. Hey, she was gone after half a year..."

At this point, he suddenly glanced at Qin Sang and Xie Suian, paused, and waved his hand: "Never mind, never mind, these things are just hearsay, they might not be true. Come, have some tea!"

A thin man sitting opposite him took a sip of tea, chewed on peanuts, and scratched his head: "Really? That's strange. I've heard stories about it too."

Missing tooth: "How so?"

“I heard it from my neighbor. A few years ago, he came to the city to sell vegetables. He heard from others that there was a man who was also selling vegetables who was trampled to death on the street by someone riding a horse. The officials in the capital did nothing, so the man’s mother took her daughter-in-law and grandson and knelt all over the street.”

"You've managed to kneel?"

"He knelt down! Just then, the Crown Prince was on patrol. After hearing the whole story, His Highness immediately dealt with the young nobleman who had trampled people on horseback and sent him to jail!"

The man with the missing tooth clicked his tongue, put one foot on the stool, and grinned, saying, "What do you mean? How would we ordinary folks know about what's going on up there? Never mind, let's have some tea."

"That's right, we can't manage that much... Hey? What do you want?"

Qin Sang smiled and removed a pearl hair clip from her hair bun, handing it over: "Young man, would you be willing to run an errand for me?"

The man's eyes lit up when he saw the pearl. He looked at Qin Sang and said, "Running errands is certainly possible, but it depends on where you want me to go and what message you want me to deliver."

Qin Sang knew that there would be no paper and pen in the roadside tavern, so she thought for a moment and tried to summarize her words as accurately and concisely as possible: "No. 12, South Street, Hongyi Lane, black door. After knocking, please ask the manager to send a carriage to pick up the proprietress."

The man looked at Qin Sang again, and Qin Sang repeated what she had said, asking him, "Did you remember? If you can't, the two of you go together, and you can collect your reward when you come back."

The pearl was placed on the dented tea table. The two men leaned in to look at it, and then the one with the missing tooth snatched it up, patting his chest and assuring them, "No problem. No. 12, South Street, Hongyi Lane, Black Gate. Have the manager come out and greet the proprietress. Got it!"

After the two left, Xie Sui'an frowned in confusion and asked, "I was dressed as a woman at the time, and they didn't recognize me. They could have just entered the city openly. Why bother having someone come out to meet me?"

Qin Sang looked him up and down, took a sip of tea, and said, "Can't you be a little more self-aware as a young nobleman? You have such delicate skin, yet your clothes are so dirty and tattered. What are people supposed to think of you?"

Xie Suian thought for a moment, glancing at the farmers hurrying along the next table, but Qin Sang immediately saw through his idea: "Don't even think about it, you have delicate skin, changing clothes won't help."

Xie Sui'an: "..."

After a while, he felt something was off: "Who is the proprietress of Hongyi Lane? Is it you?"

Qin Sang sipped her tea, remaining silent.

Xie Sui'an rolled her eyes: "Just how many things are you hiding from me?"

"I told you, just focus on being the second young master and don't worry about anything else."

A surge of anger rushed to Xie Sui'an's head: "Don't care? It's come to this point and you're still telling me not to care?"

"You... what are you angry about?" Qin Sang raised an eyebrow. "I... fine, fine, I misspoke, okay? I am the landlady, okay? I started planning as soon as I arrived in Beijing. I can't really treat your house as my own. I need to have my own people and my own place to live, otherwise..." She paused, "otherwise what if I accidentally get kicked out? Finding a place on the spot is not my style."

Xie Sui'an crossed his arms and stared at her quietly, his initial anger turning into slight heartache.

He wanted to say how could that be, it couldn't be that bad, but he knew it would be pointless. Qin Sang had always been independent; she could handle things on her own back in Li County. How could she possibly be completely unprepared after arriving in the capital?

"Besides this, what else?" Xie Sui'an asked. "What other preparations have you made?"

Qin Sang picked up a peanut and peeled it: "I also used the same resources to take over a restaurant, Yanyun Pavilion, you know it, right? I'm the boss now."

Xie Sui'an's eyes widened again: "Where did you get so much money?"

Qin Sang chewed on peanuts, her eyes crinkling: "A little more than you, you playboy second young master."

Xie Sui'an was truly annoyed now. He lowered his arm, sullenly drank his tea, and silently peeled peanuts, saying, "So, are we just going to wait here now?"

Qin Sang: "Wait a minute."

Although Qin Sang said to wait, the two of them drank tea and continued walking slowly towards the capital. It wasn't peak time for entering or leaving the city, so there weren't many pedestrians on the road. Moreover, it had rained the night before, and the ground was muddy with puddles and ruts, making it very difficult to walk.

They hadn't gone far when a galloping horse sped past, splashing mud all over their faces. Xie Sui'an pointed at the horse's tail, about to curse, but Qin Sang stopped him, saying, "Can't we avoid causing trouble?"

Xie Sui'an looked down angrily and saw that the two people's shoes and skirts were also dirty and wet.

He used to travel by carriage or horseback, and only now did he truly realize that he too had once been so reckless. And those whose bodies he had dirtied with his horse's hooves—did they also silently endure it?

He then looked at the passersby and saw that although everyone was cursing and swearing, no one dared to lose their temper. Moreover, apart from them, few of the pedestrians on the road seemed to be wearing long gowns; they were all wearing short-sleeved shirts with their trouser legs tied tightly with cloth, so even if they got mud splattered on them, it wouldn't hinder their journey.

They either carried heavy baskets on their backs or pushed wheelbarrows loaded with heavy goods.

It turns out that human suffering is not limited to the refugees at the city gates. It turns out that Namo Kingdom is already so poor.

He stopped complaining and silently walked along the official road. The closer he got to the capital, the more refugees he saw on the road. Further on, he could see the tents set up by the government to house the refugees, and there were also soldiers around.

“These tents haven’t been taken down yet,” Xie Sui’an murmured.

Qin Sang knew what he was talking about and said, "Having traveled a long way, none of us have the food or strength to go back. Before the whereabouts of the disaster relief grain are found out, the court probably won't have any extra money."

Xie Sui'an didn't speak, but stopped and said, "Don't go any further, just wait here."

"Hmm." Qin Sang also stopped.

"Tell me, who ate the disaster relief grain?"

Qin Sang hummed in agreement: "What do you mean? Isn't he the Crown Prince?"

"Why is the Crown Prince swallowing so much money? In any case, the entire country will be his in the future, so why incite public resentment at this critical juncture?"

Qin Sang looked at the blurry cluster of tents in the distance and remained silent. Who could truly answer such a question? Some are insatiable, while others are selfish and indifferent to the lives of others. It's hard to say which type the other person is.

Unless, of course, the Crown Prince himself was also a victim of someone else's machinations. It was the person behind it all, the one who instigated it, the one behind Xie Xiao, the true lord of Wuyou Island. However, if that person truly put the people in dire straits for their own selfish gain, Qin Sang secretly vowed that once they were found, she would whip them half to death with the Ghost-Slaying Whip before handing them over.

The two leaned against a large rock beside the pipe leading to the fork in the road, waiting for someone to pick them up. Occasionally, a passing oxcart would ask if they wanted a ride, but they refused.

Although it rained last night, the weather was quite nice today. The two of them crouched down in the shade of the rice paddies and waited for a long time before the carriage finally arrived.

Qin Baoyun jumped off the carriage.

He simply asked where the two had gone, and mentioned that the Xie family was about to report them missing to the authorities during the three days they had been missing.

Xie Sui'an: "Did you really report it to the authorities?"

Qin Baoyun shook his head: "If you don't show up today, we'll have to report you to the authorities. But we've sent out many people to gather information about you."

Qin Sang and Xie Suian exchanged a worried glance, fearing that the Crown Prince's faction might suspect him.

So the two of them started making up stories after getting in the car.

Why did they both disappear? Where did they go? How did they return? The story must be plausible, surprising, and evoke sympathy, leaving no room for doubt.

Xie Sui'an said, "It's more like I tricked you into eloping, but you couldn't live with your conscience for the sake of the Xie family, so you persuaded me to come back."

Qin Sang glanced at him, not even bothering to give him a proper expression: "Then how can I marry into the Prince of Ning'an's family?"

"Wouldn't that be perfect..." Xie Sui'an said a few words and then shut up. He crossed his arms, looked out the car window with a dark face: "Then you make it up."

Qin Sang withdrew her gaze, secretly picking at her fingers for a while, really not knowing how to explain why the two of them disappeared for three days, except for the possibility of eloping... She then turned her head to look at Xie Sui'an.

Before they could figure out a reason, Qin Baoyun, who was driving the carriage, said, "Young lady and young master, you absolutely cannot use this reason. Prince Ning'an has already petitioned the Emperor to grant you and Prince Ning'an a marriage."

Both of them were startled and leaned forward slightly.

"The imperial edict has been issued?"

"I'm off."

"How could an imperial edict be issued when I wasn't even here?"

Qin Baoyun said, "It was Madam Xie who received the imperial decree. She told the public that the young lady was too ill to get up, and the emperor ordered that after she recovered, she should go to the palace with Prince Ning'an to express her gratitude."

Before everything had settled down, there seemed to be room for maneuver, but this news struck like a thunderbolt into the deep forest, leaving Xie Sui'an's ears ringing for a long time. His fists clenched involuntarily.

What can we do? We already knew this would be the outcome.

Qin Sang was stunned for a moment before she remembered the secret decree Xie Xiao had mentioned earlier. She asked, "Prince Ning'an... has he come?"

Qin Baoyun shook his head: "I haven't been here. The people at the Prince's residence said that the season is bad, and Prince Ning'an also happens to be seriously ill."