Chapter 159 Escape from Marriage

Granny Ma immediately led the matchmaker in, but the figure on the bed remained motionless.

She glanced at His Highness Prince Cheng, gritted her teeth, and stepped forward to invite him directly.

"Your Highness, it's time to get ready. It wouldn't be good if you missed the auspicious time!"

The person on the bed finally stirred.

But when she turned around, it was Wenxi!

"This!" Granny Ma collapsed to the ground.

Her people stayed here day and night, never leaving. How did she become Madam Wen?

Xiao Shu instantly flew into a rage. He stepped forward and grabbed Wen Xi by the neck, shouting, "How is it you! Where is she?!"

Wenxi was forced to tilt her head back, one hand supporting her stomach and the other gripping the bed railing.

"Is Your Highness surprised?"

Her face flushed red, and she was having trouble breathing. The baby in her womb seemed to sense the danger to its mother and began to move restlessly.

Wenxi touched her belly, feeling the bulge under her palm, and then a tear silently fell from the corner of her eye.

Xiao Shu's lips trembled slightly, and his fingers tightened abruptly. "Don't think that just because you have a child, I won't kill you!"

Where is she?!

Wenxi's expression began to contort from suffocation and pain.

"They left a long time ago!"

"Your Highness!" Chief Eunuch Qing stumbled in, "Your Highness, you mustn't!"

He knelt between the two of them, "Your Highness! Lady Wen is pregnant!"

Xiao Shu's scarlet eyes finally moved, landing on Wen Xi's stomach.

He loosened his grip and took a step back.

His eyes grew even colder. "Search! Search the entire city!"

"Send men to Ding County! Arrest all of them!"

"yes!"

The Prince Cheng's mansion was unusually noisy; although it was a wedding hall, there were no people performing the wedding ceremony.

Despite it being the grand day of his wedding, His Highness Prince Cheng's face was chillingly gloomy!

Hundreds of soldiers rushed into the streets and searched house to house.

The atmosphere in Yuzhou became increasingly strange, starting from the Prince Cheng's residence.

*

"You can leave now."

Just as dawn was breaking, Yao Shisan was captured by Yao Zhengliang as soon as he reached the city gate.

Just when she thought she was doomed, he took off his cloak and covered her head, then led her out of the city.

"Why……"

Yao Shisan was puzzled; her only interaction with Yao Zhengliang was that time at Pan Yi.

Yao Zhengliang's gaze fell on the jade pendant with lotus flowers engraved on her neck.

There are some things you don't need to know.

This girl and Xing'er grew up relying on each other. He hoped that when his son learned the truth in the future, he would give him a chance to recognize her because of this incident.

The first rays of dawn slowly appeared on the horizon.

Yao Shisan looked into his eyes, which, like his brother's, were filled with unspoken worries, and said, "General, I will surely repay your great kindness in the future!"

"Let's go quickly and leave Yuzhou."

Yao Shisan gritted his teeth, turned his horse around, and galloped towards Ding County!

The black cloak billowed in the wind.

The departing figure seemed to gradually overlap with the silhouette in my memory.

The scene of that resolute decision from years ago became clearer and clearer in his mind.

Yao Zhengliang suddenly gripped the things behind his back with his hands.

The sky was getting brighter.

She dared not stop.

Yao Shisan rarely had the opportunity to ride a horse, and her riding skills were average.

Dingxian is my brother's hometown, but he hasn't returned yet.

She didn't know if Xiao Shu had any people in Ding County.

After noon, Yao Shisan, writhing in excruciating pain in both legs, entered Dingxian County.

She didn't dare to delay for a moment and went straight to the house.

The fact that everything in the manor was safe and sound gave her a slight sense of relief.

"Danniang!"

Yao Shisan, holding onto the door frame, had no feeling in her legs. She took a step and fell inside.

"Madam Yao!" Dan Niang ran out upon hearing the voice.

Yao Shisan was in a terrible state, and she couldn't care less about her own injuries. "Take the child and get out of here!"

Danniang stepped forward and helped her up. "Alright, I'll go and bring Fu'er and Xuan'er back now."

Yao Shisan, "Hurry!"

No sooner had Dan Niang left than Duan Feiyang emerged, looking sickly.

"Duan brothers, what's wrong with you?"

Duan Feiyang gave a bitter smile. "That day, you were kidnapped without any explanation. I chased you out of the city and was injured."

"If it weren't for my naval brothers passing by on their way back to their unit, I might already be a dead man."

Yao Shisan looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this."

Duan Feiyang shook his head. "I promised Lord Zhou that I would take care of Madam Yao. If it weren't for Lord Zhou's kindness, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Who dares to kidnap people in broad daylight like this?"

"It is Xiao Shu, the Prince of Yuzhou."

Duan Feiyang frowned.

Snowflakes began to fall again, and soon the streets were covered in a blanket of white.

A troop of fast riders entered from the west gate.

It shattered the tranquility of the small county town.

Halfway there, they were stopped by the soldiers stationed in the city. "Who dares to ride a horse like that!"

The horse exhaled streams of hot air from its mouth and nostrils, which vaporized into white mist.

"We are the guards of the Prince's Mansion. Today is His Highness's joyous occasion. His Highness's mistress left in a huff, and we have been following her all the way here."

princess?

Did he storm off in a huff?

What a temper! They've come all this way, all the way to Dingxian!

This is a private matter of the Prince's residence; the officials and soldiers have no right to interfere and must simply step aside.

The soldiers chased them all the way to the mansion, only to find it deserted.

The room and study were in a complete mess.

Clearly, they only had time to pack up some valuables.

The charcoal fire in the room had not gone out, and there was even half a piece of fresh charcoal left.

"Boss, there are tire tracks in the backyard!"

"Keep chasing!"

A large boat on the riverbank.

Yao Shisan and Dan Niang hid with the child in the lower part of the cabin.

Duan Fei, clutching his wound, walked down from the deck. "They chased after us, but we can't fool them for long. We should leave as soon as possible."

Yao Shisan understood that Xiao Shu had prepared a grand wedding banquet for the five days she had been abducted.

The reason for this haste is that Xiao Shu has set his sights on Meng Yushan's Northwest Army.

Meng Yushan is old, and the Northwest Army still has 200,000 men. This is a piece of fat meat that everyone wants to eat.

She was the best link for Xiao Shu to get close to Meng Yushan.

If she could, she really wanted to give Xiao Shu a good scolding.

If Meng Yushan were truly such an easy person to manipulate, how come no one has been able to bring him down at his advanced age?

“I don’t know when my brother and Shuang’er will return. I can’t be a burden to you. I’m going to take the children to the border region.”

Bianzhou is the territory of the He family. No matter how far Xiao Shu's influence extends, it cannot reach Bianzhou.

Duan Feiyang shook his head; he had a different opinion.

"Bianzhou is too far away. We can't travel fast with two children. There are too many variables on the road."

Dan Niang nodded in agreement, "Madam Yao, I think Fei Yang is right."

“If King Cheng can arrest you with impunity, we don’t even know how many people he has outside.”

Duan Feiyang: "I think we could head to the capital."

He didn't know what kind of past relationship existed between Lord Zhou and Madam Yao.

But given the current situation, heading towards the capital is the safest option.

The road to the capital is half the distance to the border prefecture!

"The capital city..."

Yao Shisan's heart skipped a beat. Since she came out, she had never thought of going back.

She is no longer Jiang Shiyao, what is she going to the capital for?

"I don't……"

"Brother Duan!" a voice came from the deck. "Our car has been spotted, they've turned back!"

Duan Feiyang made a decisive decision: "Set sail!"

"yes!"

Dan Niang patted her hand, "Don't worry, the boat is faster than the horse on land."

Yao Shisan said, "This is a naval warship; it can't go far without orders."

Duan Feiyang nodded, "Madam Yao is right, so the furthest we can go is the border of Chuzhou."

“We have encountered the Wang family’s ships in Chuzhou many times during our training, so we are quite familiar with them. You can take a ship from the Wang family’s fleet to Chuzhou first.”

"If we transfer to another train to Beijing, it will be almost impossible for them to catch up."

Yao Shisan did not reply; she did not want to go to the capital.

Did she have any other choice?

Looking at the two children's quiet faces, she had left the capital to survive, and now she had to return to the capital to survive again.

Her fingertips trembled slightly. Why, why is there not a place in the world where she can find peace and quiet?

It takes one night to travel from Yuzhou to Chuzhou.

However, it only takes half a day to travel from Dingxian to Chuzhou.

As darkness fell, the naval warships had reached a point where they could go no further.

Sure enough, they encountered the Wang family's boat in the more open waters.

Duan Feiyang stepped off the deck. "Madam Yao, you can go now. I'll take you to Chuzhou."

“I’ll join you too.” Dan Niang took Xuan’er’s hand and stood up. “We should go all the way. What if the Prince of Cheng also has a ship when the navy returns?”

"Alright then," Duan Feiyang nodded. "We'll take the boat back tomorrow."

The Wang family's boat is a cargo ship.

Nowadays, apart from boats that come from outside, the Chuzhou River is filled with boats belonging to the Wang family's boat company.

Wang Qing didn't go too far; she didn't suppress some short-distance boat business.

After Yao Shisan boarded the ship, he discovered that it was full of grain.

She reached out and squeezed the sack, and knew it was full of wheat.

Such a ship would have at least 50,000 shi of grain!

For some reason, she suddenly thought of the big customer that Shuang'er had received.

She casually asked the person at the bow, "Your business is thriving, are you now preparing to get into grain trading?"

The person at the bow of the boat assumed she was just curious. "This is grain from Jinzhou, and it's being transported to Dengzhou. It just so happens to pass through Chuzhou."

Yao Shisan pursed his lips slightly.

Ships from Chuzhou went to Jinzhou to haul grain...

Shuang'er's grain carrier also seems to be hauling his own grain, and he seems to be from Dengzhou as well...

Who bought such a large quantity of grain that went to Dengzhou?

Could it be Xiao Shu?

But it doesn't quite look like it.

If he wants to store grain now, he only needs to build a few more granaries and store the grain in the name of the grain merchants. There is no need to take such a big risk to send it to Dengzhou.

"arrive."

"Thank you, bowman!" Duan Feiyang clasped his hands in a fist salute.

The docks in Chuzhou were still as bustling as ever.

As soon as the two children, Fu'er and Xuan'er, got off the boat, their eyes were drawn to the lively scene.

Put all the discomfort and fear on the road behind you.

This was Dan Niang's first time leaving Ding County, and she almost had her eyes glazed over!

It was the first time she had ever seen such a lively and unusual scene outside.

The group settled in at the inn.

Yao Shisan said, "You guys should go and have a look around. Chuzhou has many unique features."

She quietly tugged at Dan Niang's sleeve again, "Duan Feiyang is still reliable. You two should have a good talk."