At this moment, the old coachman was clearly extremely shocked.
But upon closer reflection, he frowned and hesitated: "Something's not right!"
Cheng Liang asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
The old coachman said, "Everyone in the entire capital knows that the Princess Consort has passed away?!"
Cheng Liang glanced at Xuan Yuanhan's face and then said, "This matter is a long story."
Although the old driver was still puzzled, he dared not ask any further questions in the face of the two creepy faces before him.
Recalling the scene from that day, he slowly said, "This humble one thought that Miss Yi's irresponsible husband was that man in a red robe covered in perfume."
Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Han exclaimed in surprise, "You mean the man in red robes?"
The old driver still remembers it vividly, and continued speaking with heartache.
"It's the height of summer, and water is extremely scarce. The road to the northwest is incredibly difficult to travel. The young woman is pregnant, and she shouldn't be vomiting so badly, especially since she's already showing. But perhaps because of the bumpy journey, she can't eat anything and keeps vomiting. She's really suffering!"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan's heart clenched tightly, yet he also exclaimed with delight, "You mean the child in her womb is still there?"
"Yes, yes!" the old coachman nodded.
He paused for a moment, then continued, "A few days after leaving the city, I suddenly realized that I was being followed by villains. In addition, the road ahead was blocked, and the carriage could no longer go forward. So Miss Yi gave me some silver and told me to go back to the city on my own."
The old driver clearly still feels guilty and remorseful about the incident, but he also still feels a bit scared.
"Unexpectedly, just after parting ways with the young lady, a truly wicked man appeared. Without distinguishing right from wrong, he raised his sword and tried to strike me. It was only thanks to the appearance of that red-robed man with peach blossom eyes that I was saved. He said that he had been following us all the way from the Qin Prince's mansion to here."
After a moment's thought, based on the old coachman's description, Xuan Yuanhan immediately concluded, "This person must be Young Master Yi! No wonder he hasn't shown himself yet; it turns out he already knew Yun'er wasn't dead."
Xuanyuan Han pondered for a moment, then seemed to vaguely sense something and asked anxiously.
"etc……"
"You just said that person has been following you ever since the Prince of Qin's residence..."
"Could it be that you visited my residence before you left?"
"The Qin Prince's Mansion is in the east of the city, while we are heading northwest. We are going in completely opposite directions and have no connection whatsoever."
The old coachman sighed and slowly said, "This story begins on the day when it seemed as if the sky in the capital was about to collapse."
"That day, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky. The torrential rain had been falling all night and showed no sign of stopping."
"If it weren't for the fact that there are fewer cars on rainy days, allowing me to earn a little more, and that I, a humble man, wouldn't want to be out and about, I wouldn't have encountered that girl walking alone and helpless on the street..."
Then, the old driver recounted everything that happened on the day of the rainstorm, from his encounter with Yi Shangyun to the car accident at the street corner.
After hearing everything the old coachman said, Xuan Yuanhan was truly stunned.
Once he came to his senses, it dawned on him: "So, the person who delivered the letter to me that day, and who secretly took the bracelet, was actually my queen?!"
Upon hearing this, even Cheng Liang, who was standing to the side, was stunned and widened his eyes.
After a moment's thought, Cheng Liang hurriedly asked, "What happened to the person who was supposed to deliver the message?"
The old coachman thought for a moment and said, "That day, after Miss Yi changed into men's clothes in the carriage, she said she knew where the Prince of Qin's mansion was and how to get there. So she told me to take the messenger home to recover from his injuries. When I returned home, my wife told me that the messenger had recovered and said that since the letter had been delivered, he had something more important to do and had already left!"
Xuanyuan Han hurriedly pressed, "Is the men's clothing you're referring to the attire worn by the guards in my palace?"
The old coachman turned back and glanced again at the two guards standing outside the door, scrutinizing their clothing.
Then he turned back around, nodded to her, and said with certainty, "That's right, the young lady did change into the exact same outfit as the official in your household that day!"
Just then, Cheng Liang interjected, saying, "The secret guards we have planted in various countries also carry the luggage of guards from the mansion, in case they need to return to the mansion at any time."
As she spoke, she turned to look at Xuan Yuanhan's face: "Thinking about it this way, the one who should have sent the letter back to the manor must have been the person we planted in Dongning Kingdom."
Xuanyuan Han clenched his fists, hidden beneath his sleeves, filled with regret: "It must be! We were so close together, she was standing right in front of me, and yet I failed to recognize her once again!"
At this moment, he was absolutely certain that the person the old coachman was talking about was indeed Yi Shangyun.
Not only that, there are even more.
"She's really still alive!"
"My child is still alive!"
"This is all wonderful!"
"But……"
Just as Xuan Yuanhan turned away, a look of worry slowly rose on his face as he fell into deep thought.
The old coachman suddenly spoke cautiously.
"So, Miss Yi, she really is the Princess Consort of Qin? And not that alluring man's wife?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang looked over and glared fiercely at the old coachman.
He said, "Miss Yi, from beginning to end, she has always been the only princess consort personally welcomed into the family by my lord. That glamorous man is nothing but a leech that he can't shake off..."
The old coachman was undoubtedly intimidated by Cheng Liang's gaze and aura, and silently swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Not long after, however, it seemed that something was not right.
He shook his head again and said, "No, no, still no..."
Cheng Liang was already speechless with anger at the old coachman, and questioned him, "What's wrong again?"
The old coachman said, "There was a man who was extremely generous. He casually gave me a bag of gold beans, saying that he was a young master from Dongning Kingdom, and that Miss Yi was the young mistress of his household."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang was greatly surprised and instantly understood.
"What did you say?"
"You mean, the Kingdom of Dongning..."
“Lu Yuan…”
The old coachman didn't understand why he was so surprised, but nodded somewhat fearfully.
"you……"
"You actually revealed my princess's whereabouts to Lu Yuan of Dongning Kingdom?"
"You foolish old man..."
"So all of this was your doing!"
"No wonder he suddenly headed northwest!"
Cheng Liang was so angry that he wanted to go up and teach this old coachman who couldn't tell right from wrong a lesson.
Upon seeing her imposing manner, the old coachman was terrified and cowered in a ball, repeatedly apologizing, "General, spare my life! General, please investigate! This humble subject truly had no idea that the young lady was actually the resurrected Princess Qin! It was Lu Yuan who said that the young lady was his master, and that many bad people were also searching for him. If his whereabouts were known, he would be in danger, so... so..."
Just as Cheng Liang's hand touched the old coachman's shoulder, Xuan Yuanhan stopped him, saying, "Cheng Liang..."
"Your Highness..." Left with no other choice, Cheng Liang could only give up and finally let out a sigh.
At this moment, Xuanyuan Han asked, "Do you know why my queen went to the grasslands?"
The old coachman thought for a moment and said, "The young lady has been carrying a black bundle the whole way, and her complexion is not good. She seems to be in a very heavy mood and is dressed in a plain dress. I guess that the bundle contains someone's ashes."
Xuanyuan Han frowned and muttered to himself, "I guessed right!"
He then instructed the old coachman: "Forget everything that happened in this palace today after you leave the palace. Just pretend it never happened. Do you understand?"
The old coachman seemed to understand, but trembled with fear as he replied, "This humble subject understands. This humble subject will not mention today's events to anyone again, nor will he reveal anything about the Princess Consort to anyone!"
Then, Xuanyuan Han glanced at Cheng Liang beside him.
Cheng Liang immediately understood, went out, and soon came back in carrying a wooden box.
He then walked straight up to the old coachman, handed him the wooden box, and opened it.
The old coachman stared blankly at the contents of the wooden box, utterly bewildered.
Xuanyuan Han said, "This is the land deed for a house in the east of the city, as well as a shop, and some silver notes. I am rewarding you for your merit in escorting my queen all the way."
The old driver felt as if he were dreaming when he heard this.
"That's the eastern part of the city, a place where all the rich and powerful gather, a place where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. A house, a shop, and such a thick stack of silver notes—he could probably live off that for several lifetimes."
Coming to his senses, the old driver repeatedly refused, saying, "This...this is absolutely unacceptable."
Cheng Liang slammed the lid shut, shoved it into the old coachman's hands, and said, "My lord told you to take it, so take it."
Faced with such an imposing manner, the old driver had no choice but to nervously reach out and take it, then changed his mind and said, "There's one more thing..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xuanyuan Han instructed Cheng Liang: "Regarding that Shunzi, you go to the government office yourself. If there are no other problems, have the government office release him!"
"Yes!" Cheng Liang accepted the order.
"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!" The old coachman kowtowed repeatedly.
After leading the old coachman out of the hall, Cheng Liang returned and said, "Lu Yuan obviously received this news before leaving the capital and heading northwest."
After a moment's thought, he asked, "Your Highness, should we send someone immediately to find the Princess Consort?"
"As I guessed, it seems our deductions were correct. She really did send Tuoba Hong's ashes back to the grasslands!" Xuan Yuanhan murmured thoughtfully.
After he slowly came to his senses, he said, "With Young Master Yi and Lu Yuan here, even if Tuoba Ze goes back, Yun'er should be fine."
Cheng Liang thought about it and agreed. So he asked, "So what should we do now? I heard that the Emperor has allowed that person to live with the Empress Dowager at Yong'an Palace. I guess he'll be exposed soon!"
Xuanyuan Han thought carefully for a moment and said, "Have you forgotten about the Emperor? Since he was able to let Yun'er leave without worry, he must be confident that she will come back on her own. Yun'er will definitely not leave with anyone like this. You should inform the people sent to the grasslands to speed up the search. Once the Princess is found, they must keep a close watch on her."
"Our most important task right now is..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com