Chapter 515 Abandon Her

Prince Yu, whom Guangning had been thinking about, went to a farmer's house at the foot of the mountain first, used some money to buy a set of clothes, disguised himself, and then released a signal flare to contact his subordinates.

After waiting for nearly an hour, his subordinates arrived to reunite with him. "Your Highness, I have distracted the pursuing secret guards and dare not go back to the mountains to look for you, fearing that I might not have completely shaken off the pursuit and bring you into danger. So I have found a place to stay and am waiting for you to contact me."

At this point, he knelt down and apologized: "I am late. I will accept the punishment after I escort you back to Da Zhou."

"Everything happened for a reason. It's not your fault." Prince Yu asked, "What's the current situation in Northern Qi?"

He was injured and could not travel any further, so he stayed in the cave to recuperate. Now that his injuries had improved a lot, he immediately went down the mountain to contact his subordinates.

Now, he knew nothing about what was happening in Northern Qi.

The subordinates executed the corrupt officials of Yongqing County, Zhao Yi, and accidentally exposed the crimes of the virtuous king. They told Prince Yu one by one: "Now that all places are fighting against the virtuous king, it will be beneficial for the subordinates to protect you and return to the Great Zhou."

Prince Yu nodded slightly. With Prince Xian stuck in this predicament, becoming the crown prince wouldn't be easy. Unless the Northern Qi Emperor was truly courageous and willing to disregard his own reputation, he would still appoint Prince Xian as the crown prince.

Unfortunately, the Emperor of Northern Qi was a selfish emperor. Although he was obviously incompetent and unjust, he valued his reputation and wanted to win the reputation of a wise ruler.

If a virtuous king wants to become the crown prince, he will have to go through some twists and turns.

If Zhao Yi had seized this opportunity, he would have been able to make the virtuous king completely withdraw from the fight for the throne.

Seeing Prince Yu lost in thought, the subordinate couldn't help but call out, "Your Highness?"

Prince Yu glanced at him.

The subordinate asked, "Shall we set out at night?"

Prince Yu said “hmm”.

The subordinate continued, "Shall we go to the ferry and wait now?"

Prince Yu glanced at the clear, sun-drenched sky. Going to the ferry now would greatly increase his risk of exposure. He was about to return to a farmer's house and wait when he suddenly remembered Princess Guangning, who was still waiting for him in the cave.

Traveling with a woman was a burden to him.

What's more, Princess Guangning had a foot injury and had difficulty moving.

While Prince Yu was recuperating from his injuries, he had already decided to abandon Princess Guangning.

Because after escaping from Yongqing County with the help of Princess Guangning's cover, the trouble Princess Guangning would bring him would be far greater than her value to him.

Princess Guangning seemed to be aware of this. When she learned that he was going to leave the cave to contact his subordinates, she became absent-minded and stared at the jade token in her hand in a daze.

He sat beside her and could clearly see the phoenix pattern carved on the jade plate and the word "white" engraved underneath.

In Northern Qi, the only person who could use the phoenix pattern was the current empress, whose surname was Bai. The identity of the owner of this jade plaque was self-evident.

The Empress and Princess Guangning had no romantic connection, so she wouldn't have given her a jade plaque as a token of remembrance. If the plaque had simply been given to Princess Guangning as a dowry addition, she wouldn't have worn it on its own. Since it was a personal item, it inherently held immense value.

He speculated that this jade token could probably mobilize the queen's power.

As for why the Queen gave such an important item to Princess Guangning, he had no idea.

I originally thought that Princess Guangning would explain to him the origin of the jade pendant to demonstrate her value.

But until he left, Princess Guangning never mentioned the jade token to him. She just stood at the entrance of the cave and raised her index finger towards him: "Your Highness, can you bring me an egg?"

As if afraid her request might upset him, Princess Guangning said timidly, "If you...if you find it inconvenient, you don't have to bring it to me. My feet just hurt, and I want to roll them in an egg to reduce the swelling."

She was obviously afraid of him. Normally, when they were together in the cave, she didn't dare to look him in the eye. But at this moment, her hands were tightly grasping the vines beside the cave, and she stared at him with wide eyes, like a pet about to be abandoned by its owner. She looked particularly pitiful.

It seemed that as long as he responded and said he would bring her eggs, he could soothe her inner anxiety.

But he said nothing and left without looking back.

Because that statement is a promise.

It means he will come back.

Prince Yu said coldly, "Go to the farmer's house."

After saying this, he led his men to the farmhouse. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw the peasant woman picking up two eggs from the chicken coop and subconsciously stopped.

Finally, Prince Yu went to the cave with some food and a basket of eggs.

This food was enough for Princess Guangning to sustain herself until her foot injury healed.

Before he even got close to the cave, he heard Princess Guangning's panicked voice: "Let me go... Help..."