Chapter 272 Who is the ladder for whom?

The tent rustled in the wind, and the man lifted the tent, revealing a young face. Normally, a man of his age should be full of vigor and vitality, but there was a hint of caution between his eyebrows.

"Prime Minister." The young man saluted the person in the tent.

The man sitting in the tent had a broad face, slightly dark skin, and neatly combed hair. He looked more like a military general than a civil official.

This person is Liang Xiang, who now holds great power in Wenxiang State.

"Your Majesty, please take a seat." Liang Xiang stood up and gave the main seat to the young man.

The young man was the fifth son of the deceased king of Wenxiang State. He quickly waved his hand and said, "How can I claim to be king before I have received the imperial edict and seal from the Huan Dynasty?"

Liang Xiang frowned, "Power has been placed before you, yet you are too humble to take it. This is not the behavior of a gentleman."

After saying that, Liang Xiang turned his head to look outside the tent, and vaguely saw the city walls of Huaiyuan connected into a black line.

"You still want the Huan Dynasty's imperial edict and seal? What do you think we're doing here? Playing house with the Huan Dynasty?"

"With knives drawn and blood shed, the old rules must be overturned! Is the Wenxiang Kingdom destined to be a vassal of the Huan Dynasty forever?"

The Fifth Prince was so ashamed that he lowered his head and said, "My father taught me that."

Liang Xiang put his hand on his shoulder and pressed him down on the seat: "Don't let me down."

The fifth prince hesitated and said, "But...if Prince Liang goes to war..."

Liang Xiang's face showed no sign of worry: "I actually hope it's him."

"Prince Liang is brave..."

"I have set an ambush for him." Liang Xiang smiled.

"Sir!" The soldier's voice was heard outside the tent, extremely excited. "We have found the third prince."

*

When Cheng Nianying left Huaiyuan City Gate, he only brought two people with him.

One is the third prince, and the other is Shaoqilou’s companion Wangyue.

Fu Yi guessed that the King of Liang wanted to leave his personal guards to Cheng Nianying, and also guessed that Cheng Nianying would refuse.

Cheng Nianying has always just wanted to escape from the control of Shaoqi Tower, not the killers in Shaoqi Tower who are trapped in the swamp like her.

To her, no one was more familiar than those killers.

So when Fu Yi and his party rushed from Yujing to Heqing, these special "personal guards" also followed them on the road until they met in Huaiyuan.

Originally, Cheng Nianying didn't even plan to bring Wangyue with her.

But the Third Prince couldn't stand it any longer. He pointed at her, then at himself, and said, "Just the Crown Prince and I going to kill Liang Xiang? And we have to bring back those seven families from the border towns?"

Cheng Nianying: "Yeah."

She had an extremely innocent face, and her expression was so calm that the Third Prince had the illusion that he was the ridiculous person.

Fu Yi couldn't stand it either.

He whispered, "I'm worried if you bring another person with you."

Cheng Nianying: "Okay."

The Third Prince: "..."

So the moon-watching came into being.

The third prince's attendants could only grit their teeth in hatred as they were detained in Huaiyuan City.

The wind was strong at night. After leaving the city, Cheng Nianying and Wangyue walked very fast. The third prince was sandwiched in the middle and shivered with cold.

"Nowadays... is this how everyone in the Huan Dynasty raises a crown prince?"

The woman is even more fierce than him.

No one could answer the third prince's confusion.

He opened his mouth too wide, and two more breaths of air blew in, choking him and making him cough continuously.

After walking for a while towards the Wenxiang military camp, the Third Prince couldn't help but ask, "Why don't we ride horses?"

Cheng Nianying then turned her head and asked: "Do you look like someone who can snatch a horse from the Huan Dynasty and escape from the border town?"

The Third Prince: "..."

"Do you look like one?"

“…Not really.”

The third prince became completely obedient.

They walked like this for more than an hour, and the two women beside him didn't show any signs of fatigue.

They knew the direction clearly and were not afraid of the vast darkness.

Until finally, I could vaguely see some firelight...it was the tiny dots of torches in the camp.

Cheng Nianying finally spoke again: "You said that there are people around Liang Xiang who act in an old-fashioned way and always insist on the legitimate son ascending the throne. If they see you return, they will be shaken."

"Yes." The third prince breathed.

"Then go ahead." Cheng Nianying paused.

As they had rehearsed, the Third Prince, without waiting to catch his breath, shouted, "Shentu Yu! Come out! Come out!"

This Shentu Yuzheng is the old-fashioned person as described by the third prince.

Torches lit up one after another, and soldiers approached with bows raised: "Who are you?"

"A spy from the Huan Dynasty?"

The Third Prince immediately switched to elegant language and shouted, "I am the Third Prince, Li Xiu! Are you crazy? How dare you stay here? You know I'm in the capital of the Huan Dynasty, yet you still dare to send troops to invade Huaiyuan? Are you hoping I'll die in the capital?"

"You bastards!"

"Have you forgotten even the king's will?"

The third prince started to curse, and the tents not far away were soon lifted one by one, and people came out one after another.

"The Third Prince? The Third Prince?"

"Why is he here?"

Cheng Nianying hid far away, squinting her eyes and trying her best to distinguish the group of people.

Finally, someone came to the third prince and supported him, who was running in a very embarrassed manner.

The man, who was about thirty years old, looked shocked. "Third Prince? How could you... Where are your attendants? Where are your guards?"

The third prince held the man's arm tightly, looking flustered and embarrassed, but in fact he was sweating profusely and did not dare to let go at all.

"Shentu Yu!" He shouted the other person's name.

He also shouted to Cheng Nianying who was not far away.

"Isn't it all your fault for acting recklessly? If it weren't for... if it weren't for this little maid, I wouldn't have been able to escape! Huan Chao saw that you were entrenched here and wanted to use me as a sacrifice!"

The third prince was furious, and every word he said was full of true emotion.

He was really afraid of dying in the Huan Dynasty.

Only then did Wangyue stick her head out from behind the third prince, with a flickering expression on her face, as if it was fear and excitement.

She is from the Renzi Pavilion.

She lacks some skills in killing people, but she can do it by pretending to be a little maid.

"Is she from the Huan Dynasty?" Shentu Yu looked at Wangyue.

"Yes, she was a maid at the Sifang Pavilion. She stole her master's fish bag and asked me to take it and pretend to be her, so that she could escape."

Shen Tu Yu showed a hint of doubt on his face: "Since she is a maid in Sifang Pavilion, she must be living a good life. Why would she help the Third Prince..."

Wangyue didn't argue for herself when she heard that, but just turned her face away slightly.

At the same time, the Third Prince took a step forward: "What? Are you going to interrogate me?"

Shentu Yu saw this and understood: "No! I understand. I think she is attracted by the Third Prince's elegance."

She is just a woman who would rather bet on a prince of a country and fight for wealth and glory than be content with being ordinary.

"The third prince must have suffered a lot along the way." Shentu Yu said.

The third prince nodded weakly.

Life is very miserable without a horse.

"Hurry up and follow me to the tent to rest, take a shower and have a meal. I will tell you the rest later."

The third prince nodded again and followed Shentu Yu inside.

The soldiers looked at each other and naturally split into two lines to make way for them.

Cheng Nianying watched them walk into the tent.

But that big tent was not where Shentu Yu had just come out.

"Sir! The third prince has been found!" the soldier at the door of the tent shouted excitedly.

The third prince took a step forward and it was too late to retreat.

He raised his head and met the faces of Liang Xiang and the Fifth Prince.

"He just shouted my name. I went out to see that he called himself the Third Prince Li Xiu and asked why we put him in danger. All the soldiers heard it." Shentu Yu stated indifferently.

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince's hands and feet froze, and cold sweat ran down his back.

Obviously, Shentu Yu sold him out without even a moment's hesitation.

The so-called old-fashioned behavior and insistence on the legitimate son to ascend the throne were probably just a false illusion deliberately created to the outside world in the past.

"Did everyone hear it?" Liang Xiang frowned and looked at the third prince.

Liang Xiang was not at all flustered, but the fifth prince beside him was a little uneasy. He was stunned when he glanced at him.

"Who is this woman?" Liang Xiang asked.

Shentu Yu repeated what the third prince had just said.

"Oh, a maid from Sifang Pavilion." Liang Xiang responded calmly, "I see. You can leave first."

Shentu Yu was a little surprised: "Just leave it like that?"

"Go out when I tell you to."

"Yes!" Shentu Yu bowed obediently and retreated.

The Third Prince took in this scene and twitched his lips sadly. It turned out to be nothing more than Liang Xiang's good dog.

Does he really still have room to struggle and save himself?

"Third Prince, I want to know who the Huan Dynasty sent to Huaiyuan." Liang Xiang took two steps closer and asked, "Is it Prince Liang?"

"What will you do if I don't answer?"

"The Third Prince is the son of the King of Wenxiang State, and he should contribute to Wenxiang."

"Answer me! Are you going to kill me?" The third prince was so excited that the veins on his neck popped out.

Wangyue couldn't help but tug at his sleeve.

Liang Xiang looked at Wangyue with a grim expression and said, "Even this little girl knows that now is not a good time to turn against her."

"Don't say so much. You just want to kill me. Who are you supporting? Who should you support to ascend the throne? Will the Huan Dynasty let you go?"

Liang Xiang laughed heartily. "Why should the Huan Dynasty let them go? It's my decision whether to let them go or not! They're still fighting among themselves. Let's march straight in and capture the Huan Dynasty city. The Fifth Prince has achieved such a great feat. He wants to ascend the throne. Who dares to object?"

"They have chosen a crown prince."

"What? Impossible, there is no news yet... Who is it? King Liang?" Liang Xiang's expression changed a little.

The third prince's face suddenly turned strange. "You want your fifth brother to conquer the Huan Dynasty, achieve great merit, and ascend the throne smoothly. How do you know that the new crown prince of the Huan Dynasty doesn't have the same idea?"

Liang Xiang frowned: "Oh?"

"She also wants to use you as a stepping stone to ascend to the throne."

…

Cheng Nianying watched Shentu Yu respectfully exit the tent, but the Third Prince and Wangyue did not follow him out.

As if to prevent outsiders from eavesdropping on what was going on inside, the curtains were very thick and almost light-proof, so naturally no human figures could be reflected.

...Liang Xiang is right there!

"Hahahaha!" Liang Xiang in the tent burst into laughter again.

"Third Prince, your words may seem like you haven't said much, but they actually tell me everything. It seems the one who came to Huaiyuan wasn't the Prince of Liang. This crown prince is young, right? That's why his ascension to the throne wasn't smooth, and he needed someone to pave the way for him."

"The Fifth Prince has me, who does he have?"

The third prince's cold sweat slid down his temples.

Why haven’t you come yet?