Chapter 260 Entering the Capital
After bidding farewell to the Yuan family, Chang Nian and his entourage hurried towards the capital without stopping.
The trade route that the Yuan family had been using for many years had all its connections made smoother than their previous route. If they took turns traveling overnight, they could save about five or six days.
Lin Changning felt it was better to go there sooner rather than later, since the eldest princess and the young lady were currently trapped in the Jing'an Marquis's mansion in the capital, and who knew what kind of life they were going through.
The King of Chu was controlled by the emperor and could only place his daughter under the emperor's nose as a hostage. When she arrived, Qi Rong told her that all the maids, servants, secret guards and attendants around the princess had been eliminated by the emperor's people.
The men that the King of Chu sent last time are now all corpses. The only two survivors who returned brought back news of the princess and the young lady being mistreated in the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion.
She didn't believe it was done without the orders of someone above her. She suspected that the person above was too wary of the King of Chu, so the people below came up with this dirty trick to torment the King of Chu's daughter and granddaughter.
The fact that the emperor was able to remove the princess's trusted men shows that he understood the princess's predicament in the Jing'an Marquis's household. His silence and refusal to reprimand her were themselves a form of respect.
The people below were adept at judging people by their status. They didn't care about the emperor, and even thought that seeing the princess suffering in the marquis's mansion was a way to incite the King of Chu to rebel. If the King of Chu's mansion did anything wrong, they could then use the banner of righteousness to kill the King of Chu.
The group leader is so patient; I heard he has no good skin on his back, yet he never asked his family for help. He must understand the Wangfu's predicament, which is why he has been silently swallowing all his suffering.
A hint of pity flashed in Lin Changning's eyes. Looking at Mr. Gao Huan, who was sitting silently in the carriage, he suddenly asked, "Sir, have you ever seen the First Princess?"
Mr. Gao Huan paused for a moment, straightened his body leaning against the carriage, and a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes: "I have met her. I entered the Prince's Mansion a few years ago. At that time, the eldest princess was not only beautiful, but also gentle and virtuous. She was a well-known lady in Taiyuan. She could help the princess manage the internal affairs and soothe the irritable prince. When she was 13 years old, many people came to propose marriage. It's just a pity that the prince and princess always wanted to keep the princess for a few more years, so they always refused."
At this point, Mr. Gao Huan sighed: "If I had known earlier that His Majesty would bestow a marriage upon us, I would have preferred to marry into a better family in Taiyuan earlier. It would have been better than suffering every day in the capital. The princess is beautiful and kind-hearted. A few years ago, when Taiyuan suffered a severe drought, she sold some of her assets and bought up grain when prices were at their highest. She personally led the people from the Prince's Mansion to provide relief to the disaster victims outside the city gates of Taiyuan. Alas, it's a pity that she was married off to that good-for-nothing heir of the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion."
Lin Changning looked at Mr. Gao Huan, who was resting his head on his elbow, and thought for a while before comforting him: "Sir, there's no need to sigh. This time, we will definitely bring the princess and the young lady back."
Mr. Gao Huan shook his head: "This matter is not as simple as you think. Let's talk about it when we get to the capital. We'll take it one step at a time. The difficulty now is that the princess and the young lady are trapped in the Jing'an Marquis's mansion. We've already scouted the area around the mansion. It's full of hidden agents and spies planted by the emperor. Unless they come out, it's impossible to snatch them. Sigh."
Lin Changning sighed: "Then we'll talk about it when we get to the capital."
In fact, she had many plans in mind. When she arrived, her second brother Qi and the Prince of Qin had already told her everything they could say and all the information they had gathered.
Taking someone away in full view of everyone is indeed difficult, but as long as the person can leave the Marquis's residence, the matter will be half as simple.
However, the people in the Marquis's mansion are now very strict, so to bring someone out without alerting everyone is simply a pipe dream.
Los Angeles —
When Lin Changning and his group arrived outside Luocheng, it was already quite late. The setting sun, carrying a hint of scorching heat, shone on the city gate tower not far from them.
The gray city walls shimmered with a golden glow under the setting sun. The towering city gates stretched out to both sides, and a flock of sparrows, startled from some grove, suddenly flapped their wings and flew forward.
Finally, they landed on the eaves of the city gate. The setting sun gilded the neatly arranged birds on the eaves with a golden edge, making them look like golden birds inlaid on the eaves of the city gate tower.
Lin Changning and his companions parked their carriage next to the tea stall. Beside them stood what appeared to be another pair of foreign merchants, their curly mustaches and unusual eye color clearly indicating that this group was not from the Great Xuan Kingdom.
Lin Changning picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip of tea, and then frowned.
It wasn't as good as the tea they drank on the frontier, but then Lin Changning thought about it and stopped worrying. On the frontier, she mostly got her tea from her second brother Qi, whose tea naturally came from the Prince's mansion.
Products from the Prince's Mansion are guaranteed to be of the highest quality.
The tea sold by the roadside here is mostly homemade wild tea, loose tea, so naturally the taste is not as good as the tea from the Prince's Mansion.
However, the tea was very cheap; a pot could be filled with just one copper coin. Although the tea wasn't very tasty and always had a bitter flavor, it was still quite thirst-quenching.
Mr. Gao Huan glanced at Lin Changning and knew what he was thinking. He had just taken a sip of tea when he frowned, clearly not liking the wild tea from the roadside.
He couldn't help but laugh: "It has to be the young master's palate. You don't like the tea from the roadside, do you?"
Lin Changning nodded slightly: "I do not quite like the taste."
Upon hearing Lin Changning's words, the shopkeeper tossed off the cloth from his shoulder and approached with a fawning smile: "A single coin's worth of loose tea naturally doesn't taste very good, but if you'd like some other teas, sir, I do have some other teas here, though they're a bit more expensive. What do you think?"
Lin Changning's appearance clearly indicates that he comes from a merchant family. He doesn't seem to have experienced any hardship, and his clothes are all made of brocade, suggesting that he is someone who is not short of money.
The shop owner has served countless customers from all over the country here. He could tell at a glance that Lin Changning was quite wealthy, or perhaps a young nobleman from some family on an outing.
Lin Changning took out a loose silver coin from his pocket and tossed it to the shopkeeper: "Then bring another pot of good tea, sir. I'll treat you to tea."
The shopkeeper, seeing the silver, took a small bite and said, "Oh, I'll give you three more plates of snacks. My wife's mung bean cakes are so soft they melt in your mouth; many people love them!"
Lin Changning nodded slightly to the shopkeeper: "Thank you very much, but could you please pack this up for us? We're heading into town after we finish our tea."
The shopkeeper skillfully began brewing tea. Hearing Lin Changning speak, he sighed, took out two sheets of oil paper from a somewhat darkened cabinet, and wrapped the pastries in them.
"Oh dear, you're heading to the capital. You'd better hurry, sir. The city gates will probably close in an hour. Once you get in, you'll need to find a place to stay, so it's best to go as soon as possible."
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