The room was brightly lit by burning charcoal braziers and candles. Dingzhen stood there, facing the Bodhisattva with his back to the two people, chanting sutras.

Two young monks stood beside him. One looked somewhat unfamiliar, while the other was Liao Liao, who had received Gan Qiongying when she first came to the temple.

Liao Liao saw Gan Qiongying and Gan Lin enter the room, called out to Ding Zhen, and Ding Zhen turned around, still holding a string of Buddhist beads in her hand, and bowed to Gan Qiongying.

Then he asked, "Has the princess made up her mind? Is she sure which path she wants to take?"

Gan Qiongying nodded: "Besides taking this route, Gan Lin and I cannot leave the capital."

"But our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents... The princess is a woman, and His Majesty is of noble birth. Is it inappropriate for her to be ordained as a nun? Amitabha." Even though Dingzhen was a monk, he was still somewhat shocked and speechless after hearing Gan Qiongying's plan.

“Our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents. Gan Lin and I are no longer fathers or mothers. You should no longer call us princess and Your Majesty.”

"Let's get shaved quickly," Gan Qiongying said. "The sooner we're done, the better we can plan our route..."

The routes that Gan Qiongying and Li Hua had originally planned were scrapped because Li Hua knew them all. She had already instructed those people to deliberately cause accidents after leaving the capital, such as capsizing boats or falling off cliffs, so that they could each find their own way to survive.

Besides this, when Gan Qiongying came to Qingshan Temple to burn incense, she envisioned another way: to mingle with the refugees and leave the capital in batches.

However, now that it has been confirmed that Li Hua is the male protagonist, and Li Hua and Gan Qiongying came to Qingshan Temple together back then.

Given Li Hua's intelligence, if he discovered that all the people on the originally planned routes had disappeared, he might very well have quickly guessed that Gan Qiongying was likely to leave by blending in with the refugees.

Gan Qiongying had no choice but to find another way, but no matter what... Gan Qiongying couldn't fly or teleport, and Gan Lin's health wasn't very good. If it was a really difficult road, such as walking through those deserted mountains and forests, the wild beasts alone would be too much for them to handle.

So Gan Qiongying finally came up with a solution that no normal person would think of.

She possessed a disguise that allowed her to change her appearance and become someone else. If Li Hua had people investigate the refugees one by one, even if Gan Qiongying had changed her appearance, her slender fingers and the emperor's uncultivated physique would naturally make her stand out from the refugees and be easily discovered.

So they planned to dress up as monks, not just by wearing a hat and pretending to be bald, but by actually shaving their heads, so that no one would recognize them unless they took off all their clothes.

Moreover, it just so happens that some monks from Jishi Temple in the north, who had been sent here to help people affected by the snow disaster, are in Qingshan Temple. These people will go south with the monk Dingzhen from Qingshan Temple to seek a way to survive, along with the other refugees.

In the north, some temples are very popular, and the people are devout Buddhists. These monks are all fair-skinned and delicate, clearly indicating that they do very little physical labor.

In a few days, I will be taking some scriptures back to the temples in the north from Qingshan Temple. This will be considered an exchange between the two temples. Such exchanges happen frequently. No matter where a disaster occurs, the imperial court will send people to provide disaster relief.

However, in reality, the amount of silver that actually fell into the hands of the disaster victims was very small after layers of exploitation by the people sent by the imperial court. This has always been the case since ancient times.

While these temples, which receive daily offerings from the people, may have some individuals who collude with the government to enrich themselves, most of them are good people.

No matter which side suffers a disaster, the temples will communicate with each other and try to help resettle the victims.

This is why many people believe in Buddha. When they really have nothing to eat, they can usually get food by going to the temple. Naturally, they are willing to follow the monks' arrangements and go to another place to make a living, like migratory birds.

Moreover, monks have always been respected by the people, and the government will give them some convenience when they travel, so they will not encounter very harsh inspections.

Gan Qiongying and Gan Lin blended in, and after shaving their heads and changing their appearance, they were difficult to detect.

The Regent was also sent to the south. Gan Qiongying instructed those who were sending the Regent to hell to leave marks along the way so that if the Empress Dowager's people discovered them, they would also lead the Empress Dowager's people to the south.

However, it was not so easy for the Empress Dowager to find the Regent, and even if she did, it would only result in a lose-lose situation.

At that time, the Kou family will be in chaos, and who will care where Gan Qiongying and Gan Lin have gone?

All the routes that Gan Qiongying and Li Hua agreed upon were ultimately aimed at the south, because the south was rich in fish and rice, making it easier to make a living and more suitable for health preservation.

Li Hua probably never imagined that Gan Qiongying and the current emperor would be willing to give up their black hair and become monks, going against the path they had envisioned, and heading to the bitterly cold north where snow had been falling for years.

Li Hua really didn't expect that, as midnight approached, all the people around him set out and galloped to catch up with the first group of people... but the carriages of this group had already overturned down the mountain.

When Sanjiu returned to report, he said that no body had been found. Lihua had just come out of Zhongli Zhengzhen's mansion and had already obtained the token to call upon all the troops that Zhongli Zhengzhen had hidden.

But he heard Sanjiu say that... on the main road they were chasing, the carriage rolled down a cliff because of the heavy snow while traveling along the mountain road.

Although Li Hua remained expressionless after hearing this, he suddenly fell off his horse halfway up and sat on the ground, his face covered with tears of fear.

Although he knew this might be a scheme by Gan Qiongying to get rid of him, Li Hua dared not imagine what it might be if it really was Gan Qiongying... if it really was her.

What should he do?

"Send men down the cliff to search."

Li Hua was helped up from the ground by San Jiu. She was covered in snow, and her long hair was frozen stiff and clumped together. Just now, at Zhong Li Zheng Zhen's place, Li Hua used Zhong Li Zheng Zhen's parents as a threat and was splashed with tea by Zhong Li Zheng Zhen.

Li Hua didn't shake off the snow or brush her hair; she just looked at San Jiu in a disheveled state, her expression panicked.

After a moment, he said in a low, hoarse voice with a slight tremor, "I want to see him alive or dead."