"Ning'er, do you believe that I am absconding for fear of crime?" Mu Jingrui threw a few more thick firewood into the campfire.
"Even if you are absconding from the crime, I believe you have reasons to do so."
Mu Jingrui looked at Shangguan Wanning. Her unconditional trust made him feel warm.
"I suspect something has happened to the Emperor."
Mu Jingrui pondered for a long time and said slowly: "I have connected all the things that happened in the past few days. I think the emperor sent someone to escort me back to the capital, which might be a kind of protection for me. But... there is something wrong with the escort."
"They probably realized or saw through the emperor's intentions, so they wanted to get rid of me on the way back to the capital. They humiliated me in various ways along the way, hoping that I would fight back. Then they could execute me on the spot in the name of disobeying the emperor's order."
"I had no choice but to flee, which played into their hands. Now, both the imperial court and the underworld are hunting me down. I heard that the underworld has offered a bounty of one thousand taels of gold for my life."
Shangguan Wanning held her chin, looked at Mu Jingrui carefully, and couldn't help but laugh softly.
"So, what's in front of me now is no longer a person, but a pile of walking gold?"
Seeing that Shangguan Wanning was still in the mood to joke, Mu Jingrui's mood improved a little, and he reached out and flicked her forehead lightly.
"Yes, this pile of gold, do you want it?"
Shangguan Wanning grabbed Mu Jingrui's hand and asked with a smile: "So what are your plans?"
"I must rush back to the capital as soon as possible. The emperor has even abolished Xiaoyan, which shows that he is gradually losing control of the situation in the court."
"But..." Shangguan Wanning frowned slightly, "What kind of person can have such a powerful force that can compete with the emperor?"
"What do you think?"
Mu Jingrui's question made Shangguan Wanning fall into deep thought.
Anyone who dares to confront Xiao Yujue will risk having his entire clan implicated.
There are only two purposes: one is to hold the emperor hostage and control the princes; the other is to replace him.
If it was the first case, Xiao Yujue was already an adult, and he was very experienced and cunning, so it would be difficult to control him.
If it's the second one...
To replace him, one needs to be legitimate. First of all, he must be a member of the Xiao family, otherwise he would be a traitor...
Someone from the Xiao family?
Shangguan Wanning's eyes lit up.
Xiao Beiming.
"Jingrui, you mean...Ming Wang?"
Mu Jingrui did not think of Xiao Beiming at first, but if Xiao Yujue was driven off the throne, who else in the court could sit on the throne with peace of mind except Xiao Beiming?
"But the King of Ming has never been involved in state affairs. If it weren't for us asking for help, he would never have even set foot in the capital. Does he... really have such ambitions?"
Mu Jingrui pondered for a long time and shook his head helplessly.
"All this is just my guess. If you want to get confirmation, you must rush back to the capital as soon as possible."
Mu Jingrui sighed deeply and said, "I can't gather my men now because there is a traitor. I have no way of determining who is loyal and who is treacherous."
After he escaped, he tried to contact his men, hoping to get more guarantees and return to Beijing as soon as possible.
However, he found that every time he contacted his subordinates, he would attract a large number of assassins to chase and intercept him, resulting in heavy casualties among his trusted subordinates.
Mu Jingrui realized that the enemy's forces had infiltrated his side.
In order to avoid further casualties, he decided to act alone.
When he got here, he had to stop his journey because the road ahead collapsed.
He accidentally discovered Shangguan Wanning's whereabouts, and was worried that those who wanted to deal with him would harm her, so he secretly protected her.
"Then...you can blend in with my followers. I have my father's token. When Chuanzhou passes through the province, the local government will always give him some face."
Mu Jingrui shook his head.
"Everyone in the world knows that you are the apple of my eye. You have been targeted. If I were to blend in with your followers, it would be even more troublesome."
Shangguan Wanning thought about it carefully and it seemed to make sense.
"So what do you do now? How can you fight against so many people alone?"
"No matter what, I don't want to implicate you. I'll take you back to the inn tomorrow morning, and you can return to Beijing according to your original plan. I'll take care of the rest myself."
When Shangguan Wanning heard this, her face darkened and she shook off Mu Jingrui's hand.
Mu Jingrui was a little puzzled when he saw that she suddenly got angry.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong to upset you?"
"Mu Jingrui, do you... not consider me as... one of your own?"
"Silly, why would you think so?"
"Then why did you let me go back alone?"
"I don't want you to be in danger..."
"But if I return to the capital and something happens to you on the way, then I..." Shangguan Wanning lowered her head and shook her lips lightly, her eyes suddenly turned red.
Mu Jingrui's heart ached and he hugged her in his arms.
"I just don't want to implicate you. Both the black and white forces are looking for me now. What if..."
"There's no chance of that happening. Because so many people are looking for you, I can't leave you behind." Shangguan Wanning tightly grasped Mu Jingrui's hands.
"Jingrui, please stay with me. No matter what happens, we will advance and retreat together and face the difficulties together."
Mu Jingrui was deeply moved. He gently pulled Shangguan Wanning out of his arms and wanted to say something, but Shangguan Wanning took the initiative to kiss him on the lips.
She probed gently, and all of Mu Jingrui's rationality and psychological defenses collapsed in an instant.
He hugged Shangguan Wanning tightly, turned from passive to active, and kissed her passionately.
After a long while, Mu Jingrui let Shangguan Wan Ning go, panting and whispering, "Ning'er, stop here... I'm afraid... I can't help it."
Shangguan Wanning's heart was beating fast. She hid in Mu Jingrui's chest and nodded gently.
The next morning, Shangguan Wanning and Mu Jingrui sneaked back to the inn.
After what happened last night, Shangguan Wanning felt that her every move might be under surveillance by others.
Having an extra follower in the team would attract attention, so she came to the government office under the pretext of inquiring about road repair.
When the prefect heard that Princess An Ning had arrived, he hurried out to greet her.
"It is my humble servant's honor to have you here. Please come in."
Shangguan Wanning entered the inner hall of the government office and sat down. After drinking a cup of tea, she slowly said, "Your Excellency the Prefect, I passed by this place on my way back to Beijing, but I didn't expect to be blocked by a natural disaster. Last night, I also encountered a group of assassins of unknown origin."
"My Lord, it is my fault for not governing well..."
"It has nothing to do with you." Shangguan Wanning interrupted the prefect, "However, this place is still a few days away from the capital, and I am afraid that something will happen on the way. So I would like to ask the prefect to write a letter to my father and ask him to send someone to pick me up."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
