I just laid it all out on him; he already knew about my relationship with Xie Yuancheng anyway.

"I love him."

“Many people love Marquis Anle. My sister met him once and couldn’t forget him. Later…” He sighed, “Father, in order to win over the Crown Prince, actually gave him to him as a plaything. It’s ridiculous.”

The teacup in my hand fell to the ground; I gave it to my own daughter to be used as a toy.

“Brother Ji, this is a very common thing in the royal family. Even the princess’s child is not yours. There’s no need to be overly surprised.”

Lu Fengjun's ability to withstand pressure is too strong; how could he know so much?

"Brother Lu, please don't talk nonsense."

"This is what the Empress told me herself. I was the one who helped get those medicines back then. She didn't even care about her own daughter. I'm always worried that one day when I'm no longer of any use, I might die in the same mysterious way."

The Empress has committed countless evil deeds, and the Emperor is a superstitious man. Is the Great Zhao Dynasty truly destined to fall at the hands of the Crown Prince? Once he ascends the throne, how many loyal and virtuous officials will suffer?

"Is the Great Zhao about to suffer an undeserved calamity?" I really can't understand it. They are willing to sacrifice anything for power.

“Brother Ji, Marquis Anle now has the support of Chequ Kingdom. He can protect you from death. You should return to Linyang with Princess Caiwei.” Lu Fengjun moved a little closer to me and said, “The Empress is about to take action. If Consort Ji cannot get through this, the entire Ji family will suffer. If you survive, you will have a chance to start over.”

The Empress wants to fight with Consort Ji, so my mother, when we go back this time, I'm going to take her with me and dismiss all the servants from the Ji household.

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Lu. I will go back and take my mother away. We can go to my father or go to Linyang. It's safer than staying in the capital."

"No, the Ji family must not make any moves, otherwise Consort Ji will lose."

"What does Brother Lu mean?"

"You go first. Madam Ji is also a distant cousin of mine, and I will help her secretly."

My mother's surname is indeed Lu. I never imagined that she and Lu Fengjun were distant cousins. But how could I only care about my own escape and ignore the people behind me?

"Then I'll stay and stay with my mother."

Lu Fengjun sighed: "Brother Ji, don't you understand? You are the only son of the Ji family. If something happens to you, the entire Ji family will be finished. General Ji has no successor. I don't need to tell you about his future situation; you know it better than I do."

I rubbed my head, wondering what they wanted to do to be satisfied. Were we just going to let them do whatever they wanted?

"They're all a bunch of bastards."

"Yes, I was forced by the Empress. Never mind, I won't say anymore. Take care of yourself, Brother Ji. The court has split up now. The Prime Minister is protecting Consort Ji. If the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Prime Minister's family will be doomed. Back then, the Empress forced the Crown Prince to execute the Crown Princess in order to make him hard-hearted. I never thought that the beautiful and talented Crown Princess would actually die."

I placed my hand on my forehead, bracing myself against the table. These were things I had never considered before; I was thinking of getting the Crown Prince and Empress to step down.

"Brother Lu, what evidence do you have to make them step down?"

"Step down?"

"We should report them. If they succeed, countless people will die."

Lu Fengjun laughed loudly: "Haha, Brother Ji, do you really think the Emperor doesn't know? He does know. He has to weigh all the pros and cons. Why doesn't General Ji come back? If he comes back, the Ji family will be stripped of power, and he might even be convicted of a crime. Only Madam Ji is in the mansion. When Brother Ji was injured by the Crown Prince, if the Ji family hadn't only had one woman, the Emperor wouldn't have agreed to the Prime Minister's memorial."

I was trembling all over. Xie Yuancheng had been protecting me the whole way. He had said before that he would keep an eye on the Ji family mansion for me.

"Once we disembark, Brother Ji, you should leave. You'll have hope with General Ji. He and his wife are living apart, and the Emperor will think he's devoted to the country. Even if the Empress tries to make things difficult, he is the Emperor and won't disregard the dignity of the royal family."

"Thank you, Brother Lu."

"If I had acted a little faster back then, we would be together now."

"I'm sorry." How could he still remember this? Even if I wasn't with Xie Yuancheng, it would be impossible for me to be with him. I could at least admire him on a daily basis.

"However, Brother Ji, you should hurry up and leave the capital in the next couple of days. I'm afraid Marquis Anle will also be in trouble. I hope you can all get through this difficult time and have the opportunity to meet again in the future."

The boat had already docked. Lu Fengjun pulled me onto the deck. "Boatman, here's fifty taels. Please do me a favor and take this young master through the woods ahead."

Ling Wu's eyes were filled with disdain, but she still accepted the money.

Lu Fengjun rowed away by himself. As I watched his retreating figure, I realized how weathered he looked. He had too many worries; how could he possibly be doing well?

"Sister-in-law, stop looking. Senior brother is almost at the manor. Let's go back quickly."

He blew his whistle, and two horses galloped over. We each mounted our horses, and then we heard the sound of hooves.

"They're really fast."

Lingwu snorted coldly, and he pulled on my reins, running towards the area with the most trees.

"Sister-in-law, hold the rope tight, and when you get close, jump onto my horse."

"good."

Scattered arrows started flying from behind, but thanks to the cover of the trees, no one was hurt.

Lingwu turned a corner from the woods ahead, and as soon as the two horses approached, I jumped onto his horse's back.

He ran through the woods for a while, running around the trees. I could hear the sound of horses' hooves behind me, and I felt they were very close, but they didn't catch up at all.

There were occasional sounds of arrows being shot behind us, but they were all blocked by the trees.

We circled through the woods for a long time, and it got dark, but the sound of horses' hooves behind us was still relentless.

"Lingwu, are we going in circles in the woods?"

“There must be an ambush outside as well. This lead may have been leaked long ago. That official is a bit naive. He thought it was foolproof, but the royal family has everything, but they have no shortage of people.”

"Should we take another route?"

"There is a secret passage here, but there are too many people lying in ambush. I'm afraid we'll be dead before we even get there."

"If I had known we would be spending so much time in the woods, I would have eaten more."

"My sister-in-law is so funny."

He continued circling the woods, the sound of hooves gradually fading, and something illuminating the woods began to spread in the air.

"It's my senior brother."

Ling Wu ran following the sound of the flute and quickly got out of the woods. Xie Yuancheng and Lin Chao had already dealt with the ambush outside the woods.

After the horse came to a stop, Xie Yuancheng and I mounted another horse. Xie Yuancheng placed his hand on my side and said, "Lingwu, your teacher sent a letter asking you to go back."

"Senior brother, I'll stay and keep you company."

"The capital is in great danger right now. Let's meet in Linyang."

"But."

"Lingwu, you should go back first. Your teacher misses you a lot. He has already helped us a lot in Linyang."

Lingwu nodded and rode his horse down another road.