Concubine Shu left the palace, sat in the carriage and closed her eyes to rest.
Lord Qin brought a group of people to protect the carriage.
"My Lady, I have heard that the Baiyun Temple outside the city is particularly spiritual. Please stay there for a few days. I promise that everything will go smoothly when you return."
Lu'er sat next to Concubine Shu and said with a smile.
"Have you prepared all the money for incense offerings that I asked you to prepare?" Concubine Shu still had her eyes closed and her hands folded in front of her.
"Don't worry, Princess. I have prepared everything, including clothes and the medicine prescribed by Doctor Lin."
Lord Qin rode his horse beside him, glanced in the direction of the carriage, and pondered the emperor's intentions.
It is impossible that the emperor would let him escort Concubine Shu for no reason. Prince Duan is also responsible for the lives of several county magistrates in Changshan. The emperor must be eager to bring Prince Duan to justice as soon as possible.
Thinking of the undercurrents between Concubine Shu and the Emperor, coupled with the little information I learned.
Is it not so easy for Concubine Shu to go to the temple?
But the emperor only asked him to send Concubine Shu to the temple and then return, so there was no way for him to find out the reason why Concubine Shu went to the temple.
After thinking for a while, the carriage stopped in front of Baiyun Temple.
Lord Qin collected his thoughts, dismounted and walked to Concubine Shu's carriage.
"Tiffany, we've arrived at Baiyun Temple. I'll go make everything now."
Concubine Shu lifted the carriage curtain and was helped down from the carriage by Lu'er. She smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Master Qin."
“There are so many people in this temple.”
Lu'er looked at the people coming and going, and helped Concubine Shu walk up the stairs.
"Queen, let's go burn incense and wait for Lord Qin."
Concubine Shu nodded and walked with Lu'er to the incense burning area, where there were several Buddha statues with cushions placed under them.
After the two of them burned incense and donated money, Lord Qin had already arranged accommodation for them and came to find them.
"Toffee, everything has been arranged. Let's go take a look now?"
The young monk standing next to Lord Qin led the few people to their residence. Concubine Shu thanked the young monk and also thanked Lord Qin.
"As long as the Concubine Dowager is satisfied, I can report to the Emperor when I return."
After saying this, Lord Qin turned and walked out of the house. He paused when he passed the statue.
Since you are here, go and burn some incense.
Lord Qin knelt on the cushion in front of the Buddha statue, clasped his hands together, and prayed devoutly.
I hope that Buddha will bless him to capture Prince Duan and help his daughter get what she wants.
He opened his eyes and stood up, took the incense burned by the little monk and inserted it into the incense burner. When Lord Qin withdrew his hand, he saw Minister Zhang walk in.
The two looked at each other and walked outside.
"My lord, there is nothing unusual about Concubine Shu."
Lord Qin looked at Minister Zhang with his hands behind his back, "You've been in the room all this time?"
Minister Zhang shook his head. "That's not the case. She left the room and gave money to a few beggars."
"Beggar, give me some silver?"
After Lord Qin finished muttering to himself, Minister Zhang pointed to his right rear and said, "It's them."
Looking in the direction pointed by Minister Zhang, Lord Qin's gaze fixed on a hunched-backed man, and his pupils dilated instantly.
Although the man was dressed in rags, he would not be wrong. In order to catch Prince Duan, he studied Prince Duan's portrait every day. Although the back was hunched, it was undoubtedly Prince Duan.
Did the Buddha really appear?
"Quick, catch the beggar walking at the end."
Prince Duan felt the gazes falling on him from behind, as if they were going to burn through him.
He turned his head and met Lord Qin's gaze through his messy hair, then quickly looked away and ran into the crowd.
Minister Zhang raised his legs and chased after him, but his martial arts skills were not as good as Prince Duan's, and he was soon left behind and lost his trace.
"Sir, we lost him."
Lord Qin's face was gloomy. "You must return to the capital immediately and have the city gates sealed."
…
Concubine Shu held the note in her sleeve tightly, the words of Prince Duan were still ringing in her ears.
"Could it be that the Concubine wants to kill me by bringing two eyes with her to meet me?"
She thought the emperor only asked Lord Qin to keep an eye on her, but she didn't expect that the emperor would even send out the secret guards.
"Tiffany, would you like to change your clothes?"
Lu Er looked at the black handprints on the corner of her clothes and muttered, "You are so kind. There are so many pilgrims, but no one gave them money. And you made your clothes so dirty."
"It's okay," Concubine Shu smiled and walked to the chair and sat down. As soon as she sat down, she heard footsteps and then a knock on the door.
"Toffee, are you okay?"
Lu Er opened the door and bowed to Lord Qin, "Lord Qin, why are you back? The Concubine is fine. Is there something wrong?"
Lord Qin looked at Concubine Shu and said, "I heard that there were several beggars asking for money from Concubine Shu, and one of them was Prince Duan. I was worried that Concubine Shu might have something wrong, so I came back to check on her. I hope she's alright."
"Prince Duan?" Lu'er was surprised. "Why is she here?"
Concubine Shu also pretended to be stunned, and then patted her chest with lingering fear.
"He actually had the audacity to show up here. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Lord Qin, please return to the capital and seal the city gates to prevent the thief from escaping."
"To ensure the safety of the Concubine Dowager, I will leave two people with her."
Watching Lord Qin leave, Concubine Shu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
I originally thought that Prince Duan would appear after Lord Qin left, but I didn't expect that he would be so bold as to appear before Lord Qin left.
Thinking of this, Concubine Shu felt relieved.
If Prince Duan came to see her after Lord Qin left, she would have thought that since there was no one around, he would have relaxed. Wouldn't she have been caught on the spot by the secret guards in the dark then?
No wonder the emperor agreed so readily. It turned out that he wanted to use her to lure Prince Duan into the trap.
…
Lord Qin left Baiyun Temple and rode his horse straight to the palace to explain the matter.
The secret guard Xian Qin came to the palace and told the whole story.
At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground anxiously.
"Your Majesty, it's my fault that I didn't do my job well. I didn't even notice that Prince Duan was approaching Concubine Shu disguised as a beggar."
"In that case, go down and receive your punishment."
Prince Duan is truly cunning. He actually took advantage of the fact that Lord Qin was still around to let the secret guards down, so he could test whether Concubine Shu was safe.
[Oh no, now that we've alerted the snake, it seems the fish won't bite again.]
As soon as the two secret guards retreated, they saw Eunuch Cao and Lord Qin come in.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. I am incompetent and allowed Prince Duan to escape right under my nose."
The Emperor glanced at Lord Qin and said, "Get up. Even Minister Zhang couldn't catch him. It seems his martial arts skills have improved a lot."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I have sent someone to follow Concubine Shu, and Minister Zhang has also returned to the capital to seal the city gates."
What's the point of sealing the city gates? Prince Duan has probably already left the city before Minister Zhang.
As Yu Yiluo expected, Prince Duan changed his clothes and left the capital with his subordinates.
"Master, it's a good thing you were cautious, otherwise you would have walked into a trap."
Prince Duan snorted coldly, "He was almost killed by Concubine Shu. The secret guards around him are also stupid. He didn't even know that he was being monitored by the emperor's secret guards."
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