Nangong Yin was almost driven to laughter in his fury.
His laughter tinged with rage, he asked, "So you mean to say, Ye Yu has become a deserter? And the King has fled with him?"
His subordinate replied, "We’re not certain if the King left with him, but we can confirm that the entire Ye Xiang family has left their army camp, which held a hundred thousand soldiers."
Nangong Yin immediately ordered, "Dispatch a messenger to Hen Zhong. Tell him to gather the hundred thousand Jinglu troops and pursue Ye Guixue’s army. Kill them all. The Duke wants the lives of everyone in the Ye family."
"Yes."
"Bring me the ink stone," Nangong Yin commanded again.
Immediately, someone prepared his writing brushes and ink.
Nangong Yin immediately composed a letter to Han Yin, the commander appointed by Crown Prince Yuan Zhao, requesting him to lead the fifty thousand troops loaned by the Crown Prince to him, and pursue Ye Guixue. Once they catch up, they should kill everyone from the Ye family.
After the letter was written, Nangong Yin issued another order: all secret agents were to be deployed to search for the Nanchu King, and to kill him on sight.
After giving these three orders consecutively, Nangong Yin, still visibly upset, picked up his brush and personally wrote a letter to Crown Prince Yuan Zhao. He instructed his men to deliver it to Dawei as quickly as possible.
He felt that the situation had suddenly slipped from his control. He feared that despite all his efforts, he still could not regain control. Therefore, he sought assistance from Crown Prince Yuan Zhao.
More importantly, he felt that the fifty thousand troops lent to him by the Crown Prince were not enough. He had to borrow more troops.
All these years, the Liu’an Prince had been secretly raising an army of fifty thousand soldiers, and this army was his trump card.
Betraying the confidence of the Nanchu King, the Nangong Family, and the Ye Xiang Residence, he had secretly planted people deep in the mountains to raise an elite army of fifty thousand. His original plan was to surprise the Nangong Family by featuring these troops at a critical moment after they seized the throne. He would then take the throne by surprise. But now, seeing how the situation was developing in an unexpected direction, he was wondering if he should mobilize this army of fifty thousand troops.
After all his secret agents were dispatched to find the Nanchu King with an order to kill, he paced back and forth in his study, wrestling with whether he should now play his trump card or wait a little longer.
Chu Chu, the eldest son and rightful heir of the Liu’an Prince, walked into the study and asked the Liu’an Prince, "Father, it has been confirmed that the King did indeed leave the royal capital a day and a night ago. It appears that he used a secret passage within the royal palace. Our men found evidence of a fire and footprints of people and horses at the Changting Slope."
"Which direction did they take?" the Liu’an Prince asked.
"It seems like they are headed towards the border with Daliang, but I believe it might be a decoy. They might be trying to misdirect us," Chu Chu suggested. "Therefore, we can’t be certain."
"Then continue investigating," the Liu’an Prince ordered.
Chu Chu nodded. "I’ve already given the orders, father."
He looked at the Liu’an Prince and stated, "Father, beside tracking the King’s whereabouts, we also need to go after the people of the Ye Xiang residence. Ye Guixue has left with a hundred thousand troops and his family, heading towards Daliang. We cannot let them get away."
The Liu’an Prince nodded, "Naturally, we cannot let them escape. The rebellion in Daliang has been quelled. If they were to join forces with Su Rong, it would cause serious trouble for us."
Chu Chu said, "I have been advising you, father, to join forces with Nangong Yin and confront them directly. But despite our delay in taking action, not only the King, but also the entire Ye Xiang Family has fled from the royal palace and the royal capital."
Furiously, the Liu’an Prince retorted, "It was Nangong Yin who fancied himself in control of everything. Now he sees how he ends up."
"He must be more panicked than you, father." Chu Chu pointed out, "He has already asked Hen Zhong to lead the Jinglu Troops after them. He has also sent for Han Yin, no doubt hoping to rally his troops to eliminate Ye Guixue. But he hasn’t mobilized his own fifty thousand troops."
"So, he is guarding against me," the Liu’an Prince decided on the spot, his privately raised army of fifty thousand was not to be deployed.
Word of the major events occurring in the royal capital of Dawei was relayed to Zhou Gu by Yan Huisheng’s secret agents in Daliang.
When Zhou Gu received the letter, he was occupied with guiding the Nanchu King out of a small town located a thousand miles away. This little town was famous for Grandma Goat Noodle, a fact Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun had enthusiastically discovered and decided to share with the Nanchu King.
The Nanchu King really wanted to voice out that he didn’t like the taste of mutton, but seeing the excited expressions of the two young men at his side, he didn’t have the heart to say a word.
Grandma Goat Noodle’s restaurant was small but meticulously clean. Once they were seated, Zhou Gu ordered, "Three large bowls of goat noodle, three pots of wine, a plate of braised beef, a plate of peanuts, and a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables."
"Alright," the young waiter immediately moved to fulfill the order.
The Nanchu King looked at Zhou Gu, "Three pots of wine?"
Zhou Gu blinked, "The further north we go, the colder it gets. Drinking a pot of wine to ward off the cold isn’t uncommon. I wouldn’t want your health to suffer."
The Nanchu King argued, "I am in good health."
Nowadays, he no longer referred to himself as the ’lonely king’ to prevent others from discovering his royal identity and putting himself in danger.
"Then you should definitely drink," Zhou Gu insisited, "A little drink now and then is good for the body."
Mainly, Zhou Gu had heard about a particular local liquor called Shi Li Xiang and he wanted to give it a try.
The Nanchu King fell silent.
Before long, the waiter arrived with three pots of wine and some dishes. The Nanchu King picked up his chopsticks. In all his years, he had never eaten simple peasant food, but since he had left the capital with Zhou Gu, he had come to experience all sorts of flavors, even including roasted dry food. It wasn’t exactly chewing on hard, raw grains, as Zhou Gu had still considered his royal stomach and had cooked the food, allowing the three men to eat inside a cave. During his years of life, this was a first for him since he was always traveling through mountains.
Now that they had traveled a thousand miles and started coming across smaller towns, compared to the roasted dry food, this rough single plate meal had become a delicacy.
Zhou Gu whispered, "Before, I, too, insisted on fine food and delicacies. But ever since I met Xiaoqi, I’ve learned not to be so picky. As long as one can fill their stomach when they’re hungry, they should be satisfied. Don’t you agree?"
The Nanchu King grunted, "Can I disagree?"
Before his son-in-law, who always addressed him as a father-in-law, he found Zhou Gu to be as unrestrained and casual as if they were brothers.
"Can you?" Zhou Gu asked Zhang Yun, "Brother Zhang Yun, do you agree with me? Do you also think it’s important to respect the local customs when you’re in a new place?"
Zhang Yun nodded, "Yes, it’s important to respect local customs, but frankly, I was never as particular about it as you were."
As a boy without a mother and a neglectful father, he was satisfied as long as he didn’t go hungry. How could he compare himself with Young Master Zhou of the Duke Residence, who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth?
Zhou Gu chuckled, "Being born into a wealthy family is a skill in itself. It’s not fair to compare."
As the three of them chatted idly, the waiter brought over three bowls of noodles and placed one in front of each of them.
Zhou Gu turned to the waiter for a demonstration on how to eat the dish, whether to add chili, vinegar, and what the most traditional way to eat it was. After hearing the explanations, he gestured to the other two, "That’s the way to do it, let’s hurry up and dig in!"
Saying this, he started eating first.
After the first mouthful, he let out a satisfying sound, "Ah, it’s delicious."
The whiff of the food made Zhang Yun’s stomach growl, he eagerly picked up his chopsticks, took a big bite and nodded in agreement, "Yes, it’s delicious."
The Nanchu King was hesitant initially, but the smell of food and the calling of his stomach overruled his hesitation. He slowly picked up the chopsticks, took a bite, paused, and then started savouring the noodles with gusto. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
He wondered how he had previously found the smell of goat to be so repellent? It was actually quite fragrant. The imperial kitchen staff was probably at fault for this. When he returned to the palace, he resolved to replace the imperial chefs and find one that could prepare goat noodle.
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