Since escaping the palace, Zhao Zhilan has followed Cai to hide at each of the four city gates every day.
All three city gates of the capital were tightly closed and bolted.
Although the only south gate was still open, it was heavily guarded, allowing only entry and no exit.
Zhao Zhilan and Cai Zang once lay on the roof of an inn near the South Gate and looked out. They saw them searching the goods in the carriages, forcing the drivers to open their saddlebags, and thoroughly questioning every person who walked out of the city.
Her father taught her that she must never steal, but she was becoming increasingly unclear about why she couldn't steal.
Because she discovered a very serious problem: the food!
Notices were posted all over the capital, claiming that Zhao Zhilan was Li Hu's daughter and had committed a heinous crime, and that she was wanted throughout the capital.
(Of course, we can't say the princess is lost.)
This meant she couldn't show her face or stay at the inn.
Therefore, Zhao Zhilan could only hide in the slums of the capital, with food delivered to her regularly by Cai Zang.
However, as time went on, the times when it hid became increasingly irregular, sometimes appearing only once a whole day.
He also has his troubles.
As a member of the Lone Wolf organization, he was extremely skilled.
But to his utter surprise, within just a few days, He Xiao, the Venerable Master of Xuanhua Palace, Master Yao, the Grand Elder of Xuanhua Palace, Tang Feng, Tang Die, and all the disciples of Xuanhua Palace appeared in the capital.
This situation is unprecedented, perhaps not seen even once in hundreds of years.
What made Cai Zang even more uneasy was that he learned after making inquiries that Xuanhua Palace was targeting him.
To be precise, it was Zhao Zhilan who came.
A highly renowned assassin organization on the mainland has mobilized en masse, all to help the King of Shu of the Great Xia find someone!
When Cai Zang found out, he almost went crazy.
If he and Zhao Zhilan don't leave the city soon, they'll be found by the people from Xuanhua Palace sooner or later.
On the fourth day at noon, when Cai Zang reappeared, he brought Zhao Zhilan the most famous "Brown Soup" from the Da Xia slums.
The so-called "brown soup" is a mixed stew, a thick soup with a layer of oil floating on the surface, usually containing rice, radish chunks, vegetable leaves, and sometimes some unidentified fruits.
Zhao Zhilan had learned not to fantasize about the taste of meat. Only once did she find a piece of fish in the soup.
Cai Zang told her that everything would be alright as long as she left the capital.
In the wild, you can pick wild berries to eat, or find an orchard to steal apples to eat.
There are many orchards near the capital, and if all else fails, they can dig up grass roots in the forest or even catch rabbits to eat.
The only animals that can run in the city are rats!
Aside from the issue of food, there were two other things that even made Zhao Zhilan consider returning to the palace.
One is the issue of going to the toilet, and the other is the embarrassing thing that girls experience every month!
The lack of access to the toilet had already made her feel extremely ashamed; there were no proper outhouses outside, so she had to relieve herself wherever she could.
The second question was even more explosive.
She fled the palace in such a hurry that she didn't think to bring such items.
Cai Zang was a grown man, and in the capital of Great Xia, a grown man went to buy these items...
That noon, Zhao Zhilan had just finished drinking the "brown soup" when she walked up to her with some shame and said, "Your Highness, there is something I need to discuss with you."
"What is it?" Zhao Zhilan asked, feeling uneasy.
“That’s right, if you want to leave the city, I need to help you…” Cai Cang said, pointing to Zhao Zhilan’s hair.
"No...no!" Zhao Zhilan cried out instinctively, "You can't!"
Women in ancient times valued their hair as much as their lives, and this was also true in the Xia Dynasty.
Our bodies, hair, and skin are given to us by our parents. Cutting them off is considered unfilial, and becoming a nun means severing ties with one's parents.
"But if you don't cut your hair, you'll definitely be recognized!"
Zhao Zhilan retreated helplessly, a tear falling uncontrollably.
Seeing this, he stepped forward, pressed down on her head, and then cut off her long hair with a dagger.
She remembered the breeze blowing clumps of her somewhat dirty black hair across the stone pavement, heading towards the palace where her mother had been murdered.
"Your Highness, please forgive me!" Cai Zang said, "Please do not move!"
After he finished shaving, Zhao Zhilan had only small tufts of messy hair left on her head.
Then Tsang told her, "From now on, you are a Dongpango person, and you are my younger brother. Remember, Dongpango commoners don't have surnames, only given names. Your name is Takechiyo!"
Also, once you put on this, you can't wear skirts for a very long time!
Zhao Zhilan reluctantly changed into it.
“Leaving the city is easy, but what happens after you start your journey is another story. You have a long way to go, and the people accompanying us are not good people,” Cai Zang continued. “My plan is to find prisoners who have been granted amnesty to leave the capital together.”
Most of them are utterly wicked and have no sense of chivalry whatsoever! Half of them would hand you over to the King of Shu without a second thought, in exchange for some money for prostitution.
Your other half will do the same, but they'll sleep with you a few times first. So be careful, don't drink too much water unnecessarily. After leaving the capital, finding a toilet will be more troublesome; you'll have to go to the woods yourself to relieve yourself.
"A general amnesty?" Zhao Zhilan asked.
“That’s right!” Cai Zang said. “With the new emperor’s ascension to the throne and the wedding of the King of Shu, a general amnesty was granted, and many death row inmates were released.”
"The new emperor?"
“Your cousin!” Cai Zang told him, “The King of Shu’s new wife is the daughter of Lord Sun Mian.”
Upon hearing this news, Zhao Zhilan suddenly felt a pang of sadness. "He was supposed to marry me!"
She shook her head. "Let bygones be bygones!" she said bitterly.
Are we leaving the capital today?
“No, we have to wait until the day before Lin Mo’s wedding!” Cai Zang told her, “Now, I’ll take you somewhere else!”
Leaving their hiding place and walking through the streets of the capital, Zhao Zhilan was constantly being questioned by patrolling soldiers, but they did not pay close attention to her.
They were looking for the noble princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, not the disheveled, bald boy.
Zhao Zhilan did not linger; she followed closely behind Cai Cang to their new resting place.
This place is home to many prisoners who have just been granted amnesty.
They were almost all adults, including thieves, bandits, murderers, and so on.
Two of them were dug out of death row; Zhao Zhilan felt a chill run down her spine just from their eyes.
One of them had lost his nose, leaving only a hollow on his face.
The other was a bald man with a face full of scars, sharp teeth, pus-filled pimples, and inhuman eyes.
In the following days, Cai Zang spent his time purchasing dry food, changes of clothes, medicinal herbs, and so on.
And so, Zhao Zhilan ended up living under the same roof as this large group of criminals.
Until the day before the wedding of Prince Lin Mo of Shu, the procession set off at dawn and headed towards the only open gate in the capital, the South Gate.
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