Moreover, this young man is of low status, and it's uncertain whether the General and his wife can accept such a son-in-law. I'm afraid Miss's love life will be a bit bumpy. Xiao Huan is very worried about her young lady.
Zhao Mingyue was very perceptive. He sensed a pair of slightly disdainful eyes scrutinizing him from behind. He turned around abruptly and met Xiao Huan's gaze.
Meeting the other person's sharp, beast-like gaze, Xiao Huan felt inexplicably guilty and stammered, urging in a low voice, "Hurry up and go, what are you looking at? I didn't do anything."
Could this long-haired monster have mind-reading abilities? She had only slightly expressed her disdain in her mind, but the other party seemed to have sensed something. They were far too vigilant.
At this moment, Xingxing was so sleepy that she fell asleep on the table, breathing evenly. The little girl was softly leaning against the table, and Zhu Lin was about to get up and carry her to bed.
Suddenly, they heard a sound at the window. Turning around, they saw Zhu Qiuyu and his fourth senior brother carrying in a middle-aged man covered in injuries. This must be the imperial envoy.
However, "Since he ended up here, let's find him a place to recover properly first."
“Junior Brother, it’s not that we insisted on bringing him here, it’s that he insisted on seeing the princess first.” Zhu Qiuyu shrugged helplessly. If the princess hadn’t valued him so much, he wouldn’t have bothered bringing him here. He didn’t know what important matter this person had that made him insist on seeing the princess first.
Just as Zhu Lin was about to say that Xingxing was asleep, she saw that the little one, who had been lying there sleeping peacefully, had woken up rubbing his eyes, with several light pink marks on one side of his face.
"You're awake." Zhu Lin gave a helpless smile; this little girl was really worrying enough.
Xingxing walked over slowly, still half asleep, and was a little confused for a moment. But when she saw who it was, she suddenly came to her senses. "Oh, the person was rescued! Oh, they were really badly beaten to death."
"Princess, Your Highness, Your Majesty, this humble subject greets Your Highness..." The imperial envoy's eyes were brimming with tears, and he was so emotional that he even tried to reach out and touch the stars.
Xingxing silently took a few steps back, maintaining a safe distance. "Your Excellency, don't be afraid. You're safe now. No one will hit you."
"Princess, I thought we were doomed in Xiyan City. Zhuge Zhongshen actually plotted a rebellion. On my very first day here, he held a banquet to welcome me. I had traveled for over a month and hadn't even had a proper night's rest when he drugged me with a few cups of potion. When I woke up, my entourage and I were already imprisoned."
The generals who accompanied me were cautious and dared not drink alcohol. They and about a hundred men ate only food, but unbeknownst to them, the food was also poisoned. The lieutenant discovered it in time and fought with the enemy, but it was too late. In the end, we lost more than a hundred men, and the rest were all imprisoned. Fortunately, the princess came to rescue us..."
"Alright, stop howling so late at night. Go lie down next door and I'll put some medicine on your wound and bandage it up." Zhu Chumo interrupted her, didn't he see that the princess's big eyes were almost squinted into slits?
Everyone had already guessed what Lord Song was going to say. Now, hearing him recount it in person only made it seem incredibly long-winded. Any additions can wait until tomorrow; there's no need to say them in the middle of the night.
"Lord Song, you should go and rest. I already know about your situation. Don't worry, I've already written a letter to my father by carrier pigeon, and reinforcements will be coming to protect us soon." Xingxing reassured everyone for a few words and then waved her little hand to indicate that they could leave.
Finally, after the person was rescued, she was so tired that she collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep as soon as the others left.
Not long after, Zhu Changge returned. She went downstairs to fetch water, washed up, and changed her clothes before going upstairs. The innkeeper and waiter were asleep and probably didn't notice that anyone had gone out.
Zhu Lin and Zhu Qiuyu returned to the next room and asked about the others. They had rented a house in Xiyan City earlier. The house was a bit far from the inn, but not far from the government office.
It's impractical to have so many people come to the inn; it would easily cause a riot, and there's simply no way to accommodate them all. The only option is to rent an uninhabited house to house them.
"They all have superficial wounds, but they're not too serious. They'll recover with proper rest. However, in prison, they only eat thin porridge every day, and sometimes they can only eat spoiled leftovers. They're only given one meal a day, so even without torture, they can faint from hunger. Their situation is naturally not good," Zhu Qiuyu explained calmly.
Zhu Lin nodded to indicate that he understood, and then asked, "Zhang Xiantao went along too. Did she cause any trouble?"
"She didn't cause any trouble, and even helped carry her out of jail. She's just a kid who can't control her temper, and all she thinks about is playing. But she's pretty good at fighting, and she didn't hold me back at the crucial moment, otherwise I would have knocked her out with one blow," Zhu Qiuyu said jokingly.
The next day, Zhu Lin and his group checked out of the hotel immediately after breakfast. The inn was too expensive, so they decided to rent a house instead. They had rented two houses the day before, and they would stay there today.
The shopkeeper watched the group leave in a grand procession, his beady eyes darting around. He called the waiter over and whispered in his ear, "Keep an eye on these people and see where they're going to stay. We don't want to be caught by the authorities later and not be able to find them."
All the innkeepers in the city had been instructed by the government to report the identities of their guests in detail to prevent the infiltration of those with ulterior motives.
These shops had close ties with the government, exchanging goods and services, cooperating seamlessly, and benefiting each other.
However, this time the shopkeeper ran into a brick wall. The waiter he sent out to follow Zhu Lin and his group found out where they were staying, but the two waiters were caught red-handed and couldn't return for a while.
The guard knocked the waiter unconscious with a karate chop, then dragged him to the woodshed, tied his hands and feet, stuffed a tattered rag in his mouth, and locked him up. He was given food once a day, enough to keep him from starving.
However, one thing went very wrong: Zhuge Zhongshen, the prefect of Xiyancheng, actually ran away ahead of time and disappeared. It seems that this cunning and corrupt official had detained the imperial envoy in prison and then fled with his family.
"Could they have already left Xiyancheng?" Zhu Qiuyu wondered.
“He probably hasn’t left. This is his territory, and he’s been running it for over a decade. How could he just leave like that? Even if his family members left first, he himself is definitely still in the city,” Zhu Lin analyzed.
"But if he really sent his family out of the city, where would he send them? Would he really send them to the Silver Man on the opposite grassland?"
“Send someone to the border town to ask,” Zhu Qiuyu suggested.
Since someone has to be sent, it should naturally be someone from the emperor's side. The emperor's people have tokens that allow them to speak with the generals at the border and obtain information from them.
Zhu Lin's expression was somewhat solemn. A natural disaster was about to strike, and if the chaotic situation in the city wasn't resolved, there would be no way to discuss evacuating the people.
If Zhuge Zhongshen really betrays the dynasty, the Jin Dynasty will be in even worse shape, having to deal with disaster relief on one hand and fighting against foreign enemies on the other.
The grasslands have likely been eyeing this territory covetously for some time. Having established relations with Zhuge Zhongshen, they're even more eager to launch a coordinated attack from within and without, directly seizing the border and Xiyancheng.
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