More than a dozen adults were waiting in the outer hall. Shen Xiangzhi bowed his head and reported, "Do you think it is..."

Xie Shiguan didn't even raise his eyes, half supporting Chen Que's hand and continuing to teach him to write: "No."

"No matter who comes, there is no need to report. If the person refuses to leave, just give him some hot tea."

Shen Xiangzhi nodded immediately: "Yes."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Just now, the Minister said that it doesn't matter whether you see him or not, I just want to ask you for your definite answer."

Xie Shiguan chuckled: "What does he want to hear? I am not a worm in his stomach, how can I know?"

Shen Xiangzhi bowed slightly, and was about to leave when he heard the man at the table suddenly speak again: "Tell them that this king is still under house arrest. As long as the imperial edict does not come down, this king will not leave the capital."

"yes."

Shen Que paused for a moment, and Xie Shiguan exerted a little more force, forcing him to continue writing: "Did you ever think that I would stay?"

The dumb man just shook his head. It's not that he hadn't thought about it, but he was still a little dazed. He looked at the ink characters on the rice paper. After practicing these days, his handwriting has become much neater.

"We were supposed to set off tonight. We will go to Jinling City, Suzhou Prefecture, Yuhang... wherever you want to stay," His Highness said slowly.

No matter whether the northern barbarians conquered the capital, or a hero emerged in troubled times, or a Han Chinese defeated the foreigners and established a new regime, what did the life and death, good and bad of the people in the world have to do with him?

Based on his understanding of Xie Yizhi, he might not be able to hold on for even a moment. Before the northern barbarian wolf cavalry can break into the capital, the emperor will surely leave the capital and head south with his harem and court officials.

But he didn't know that he could not escape. If he was a step late, he would be killed by the invading Northern Barbarian Wolf Riders. If he was a step early, he would die by the sword of the "traitorous army" who were ambushing on the road.

This would also fulfill the uncle-nephew relationship between him and Xie Yizhi. After all, he was the emperor, so how could he be allowed to die quietly? If he was going to die, he would die in a blazing manner, "leaving his name in history", and live up to the late emperor's last wish when he entrusted his son to him.

Shen turned his head and looked at him: "Why..."

Why not leave?

Xie Shiguan smiled and asked, "Then why didn't you send those secret letters to the post station?"

Shen couldn't explain it clearly. That day, he stopped not far from the post station with those secret letters, holding the wax seal tightly in his hand, but he couldn't move even a step.

The prince treated him so well that after returning to the capital, His Highness always treated him with great care. He was such a precious person, but he was willing to carry him on his back on the muddy mountain road. Fearing that he would be frightened again, His Highness ordered people to change his bed and knocked on the door to remind him when he entered the room at night.

He followed him tirelessly, even going to dirty places like the kitchen. He even fell out with the Saint in the court for him... If it was just for the pleasure of sex on the couch, Your Highness could have forced him to submit in an imperative tone. Why would he have to coax him so hard?

His Highness will eventually know that it was he who betrayed him. How sad will he be then?

He should have believed His Highness. Maybe His Highness would not do what he thought, even if he asked him in person. Once these secret letters were sent out, he would have truly betrayed His Highness.

Shen was not afraid of His Highness's punishment, or even of killing him with a single blow, but he was afraid that His Highness would hate him, and he was even more afraid that he had made a mistake for His Highness, and that his self-assertion would instead harm Xie Shiguan.

The mute didn't know how long he had been staying at the post station, and how long Shen Xiangzhi and his assassins had been staring at him in the post station.

Xie Shiguan had ordered in the morning that as soon as the mute stepped into the post station, he should be tied up and taken back to the mansion. The reason why he sent Shen Xiangzhi was because Shen Que had been taught all his kung fu by him, and he was also his master, so he would always be cautious when taking action.

As for those assassins, it was only because Shen Xiangzhi had a criminal record, and His Highness was afraid that he would run away with the mute again.

After about two moments, the mute finally moved. Shen Xiangzhi sighed and stretched out his hand to tighten the thin rope around his waist: "Get ready..."

Before he could even utter the word "take action", he saw the mute suddenly turn around and walk back to the road instead of returning to the post station.

Shen Xiangzhi slowly loosened his hand, and then said meaningfully: “Let’s go back home.”

After leaving the post station, Shen rushed to Pingkangli to buy a bowl of wontons. The old man hadn't seen him for a long time, and when he saw him without saying a word, he brought up a familiar porcelain jar, and then he recognized him.

"How come I haven't seen you for a long time?" The old man said with a smile, "I'm old, and I tend to forget some people and things. It's amazing that I still remember your double-layer jar."

The old man couldn't understand sign language and had presbyopia, which had become more serious over the years. He couldn't even read Shen Que's lip language or the words written on the table with tea stains.

But even if he didn't get a reply from Shen Que, it wouldn't stop the old man from chatting with him.

"Just hold on for another year, and then I'll sell this shop. Now my grandson's wife has a baby, and they've started their own families and careers. I don't have to use my old bones to hold on for them anymore. I'll sell the shop next year and go back home to enjoy my old age..."

He was making wontons with a smile on his face, not noticing that his visitor wasn't actually smiling.

After handing the bowl of wontons to Chen Que, the old man said, "Let me tell your master that if you like to eat this, you can have it this year."

Shen nodded hurriedly, then picked up the porcelain jar and slowly left the shop.

He quickly returned to Lansheng Courtyard. The main house was very quiet. He thought that the prince was still asleep, so he carefully placed the wontons on the table. Then he took out the secret letter from his lapel and placed it next to the porcelain jar.

Just as he was about to take a look at the person on the couch, he heard the door of the room suddenly pushed open from outside, and a familiar voice said, "Are you back?"

He turned around in a hurry, only to see His Highness dressed in the attire of a servant from the outer palace, holding two oil-paper-wrapped sugar cakes in his hand and shaking them at him, then smiled at him from a distance: "It's the one at the end of the alley, it's still hot."

He has never eaten this sugar cake since he returned home. The bakery at the corner of the alley closed down for some reason. Yuanzhi went to buy him some from another bakery, but for some reason, the taste was not as good as this one.

However, Shen did not dare to step forward to take it. At that moment, regret and remorse almost overwhelmed him. It was as if all the strength had been drained from his spine. He almost subconsciously knelt down towards Xie Shiguan.

His Highness then bent down and handed the two sugar cakes to his lips, but the mute pursed his lips tightly and did not even dare to look at him.

"You don't want to eat?" Xie Shiguan sighed softly, "The owner of this shop was originally going to move to Yongpingfang to open a restaurant with his younger brother, and it was with great difficulty that I persuaded him to come back."

His Highness advised him to send a few personal guards to arrest the family and force them to return to run the bakery, but he also gave them some silver as a consolation.

Faced with the sudden action of the mute, His Highness did not seem surprised at all. Even if Shen Que was slow-witted, he should have understood that His Highness had actually known about it for a long time, but had not yet exposed him.

No wonder he clearly remembered hiding the secret letters on the side of the box last night, but when he woke up in the morning he found that the letters had disappeared under his official robe.

Shen Que thought that he was confused. He had been having trouble sleeping and eating these days, and his mind was sometimes distracted. It was not impossible that he remembered the wrong location of the letter.

His Highness deliberately swapped the position of the letter. This morning's test must have been waiting for his confession, but he is still lying... There is no one in the world worse and more despicable than him.

"You are kneeling like this, refusing to say anything," Xie Shiguan bent down again, looking sideways up at the dumb man's confused eyes, "Are you punishing yourself, or are you mad at me?"

Shen quickly shook his head. He didn't want to anger His Highness, he just hated himself. He slowly raised his hand: "I was wrong..."

"Fifty lashes, one hundred sticks..." Shen Que's eyes were full of pain, and then he continued to gesture, "Please punish me."

Xie Shiguan suddenly bumped into his nose. It was more than just a punishment. When he realized that the mute had carried him on his back and sneaked into the secret room again, His Highness thought he was the same as the one before, but the mute hid too well and fooled him around.

At that moment, he even wanted to break the mute's limbs and then lock him in a dark room so that from now on, no one could see him except him. As long as he threatened him with that brat, the mute would not dare to commit suicide.

In order to get a bite of food from him, they can only beg for mercy, which is even more undignified than the little singer in the tile house.

Fortunately, His Highness only thought about it for a moment, and the evil thought only flashed through his mind at that moment. Even if this mute was a spy planted in the palace by the Mu Party, he was still doomed.

Resentment and hatred are natural, but he probably can't stop loving him because of that.

"If you keep kneeling," Xie Shiguan suddenly said, "the sugar cakes and wontons will get cold, and they will lose their flavor. Do you have the heart to let me eat that kind of breakfast?"

This mute was extremely stubborn, as if the longer he knelt on the ground, the heavier the punishment would be, and the better he would feel.

Xie Shiguan simply stopped trying to persuade him, and directly half hugged and half dragged the mute up from the ground. Fearing that the mute would continue to kneel, His Highness simply threatened him casually, "Aren't you asking for punishment?"

"I will not punish you, but call your master and senior brother here. 'If a teacher does not teach strictly, he is lazy'. If you insist that it is your fault, then I will punish them both."

The mute immediately stopped struggling and stood upright beside His Highness, feeling extremely regretful: "This was all my idea..."

Xie Shiguan picked up one of the letters and was not in a hurry to open it: "This king knows, if you ask Shen Xiangzhi, he will tell you that if this king really has something important to contact the generals, the secret letter will be opened into three. After receiving the letter, even if the commander returns immediately, he will send another letter to confirm with this king."

As he said this, he opened the secret letter written by the mute. He did not comment on the imitation of the words, but said, "The army is about to reach the south. Even if this letter is delivered by fast horses, the commanders will believe it and turn back immediately, but they may not be able to make it back to Kyoto."

Shen Que had actually calculated privately that if the Northern Barbarians were to arrive in the capital before the seventh day of February, then these generals would at least be on their way back to the capital. By that time, the imperial capital would have fallen, and the emperor and his ministers might have become the dead souls under the swords of the Northern Barbarians, but once the generals arrived in the capital, they would start a fight with the foreign races.

No matter who wins or loses in the end, the northern barbarians will definitely be seriously injured, and the common people may still have a glimmer of hope.

His Highness must have taken him away from the capital by then, and from then on, they were far away from each other and had nothing to do with each other.

"The old man selling wontons in Pingkangli, the couple selling sugar cakes at the alley entrance," Shen Queman gestured slowly, "and many others, they are all very good and kind ordinary people. The emperor has the imperial guards to protect him, and the officials have guards and servants, but they are the only ones with bare hands."

His eyes were slightly red, and he lowered his eyes and moved his hands: "Knowing that this disaster would happen, I..."

His Highness could not empathize with what the mute said, and just said: "You are not an official, why do you have the same concerns as Man Changshan?"

"Sit down and have breakfast," His Highness said as he pulled him to his side in a firm manner, "Let's not talk about that anymore."

"So why?"

Xie Shiguan asked again, as if smiling, "We had clearly arrived at the posthouse that day, so why did you suddenly regret it?"

Shen rarely met his eyes, and after a long silence, he finally raised his hand and said, "I should believe your highness..."

"I shouldn't have kept such a big thing from you."

His Highness looked at him, and suddenly he felt boundless pain in his heart. He curved his eyebrows slightly, and stroked his temples with a smile: "Since you believe in me, then it will be as you wish."