He dressed alone in the dark, listening to his sleeping wife's soft breathing.
"Chu Ran, I'm so sorry!" Lin Mo sighed.
This apology has two aspects: one is that they had just gotten together and were about to separate.
I'm just too busy!
I thought that getting the "lying down" system would allow me to truly relax, but unexpected troubles kept piling up one after another.
Secondly, in the end, I couldn't hold it in any longer!
Lin Mo had only intended to play the landlord game once, but he underestimated the corruption value.
Therefore, Huo Churan has no choice but to suffer.
He put on his boots, fastened his cloak with a brooch, and walked out of the candlelit corridor.
As he passed Sun Ruoxi's room, he heard coughing coming from inside.
"Is Ruoxi's cold still not better?" Lin Mo thought bitterly. "It's been several days already. I hope she gets better soon!"
Su Qing'er went to sleep early, and Lin Mo could clearly hear her breathing from outside her door.
She's dreaming, Lin Mo thought.
"To be honest, I'm more sorry to you!"
When he told her the news of her father's death, he thought she would be in pain or angry, but she was neither. Su Qing'er's expression was very calm, which made him think that she had not understood at all.
Only later, at night, did Lin Mo accidentally hear her sobbing.
Lin Mo rushed in, hugged her, and tried to comfort her, but she cried even louder...
All he could do was conceal the sordid details of the Feng clan chieftain's collusion with her brother, and prevent Su Qing'er from knowing that her father had been beheaded and humiliated, and that Su Zhongxiang's body had been thrown naked into the forest to be torn apart by wolves.
It was a barbaric satire of the funeral customs of the Su chieftains.
"Su Zhongxiang! Father-in-law!" Lin Mo exclaimed, "I will avenge you, but please wait a moment!"
He sighed and quietly left.
Then, Lin Mo lit a candle and went down the stairs.
The floor was solid; I could only hear my own footsteps.
He continued down, down to the ground, and into the courtyard.
Xiang Yu had been waiting for a long time.
"My lord!" Xiang Yu greeted Lin Mo upon seeing him, but his tone was not particularly respectful.
A corruption value of S can barely make this mythical general obey!
"Let's go!" Lin Mo didn't waste any more words and strode away.
Upon arriving at the gate of the Prince's Mansion, horses, provisions, and water were already prepared.
Lin Mo stepped forward and tightened the leather straps on the saddle, while the chestnut horse neighed softly.
The night wind whispered, like a chilling deathly aura assaulting his face, but Lin Mo paid it no heed.
He mounted his horse, gripped the reins tightly, spurred the horse to turn its head, and faced the darkness.
"Mo'er, are you leaving again?"
Jiang Wan'er stood at the entrance of the Prince's mansion. A full moon shone in from behind her shoulder, casting a thin and dark shadow.
"Yes, Mother!" Lin Mo forced a smile. "I have something to take care of!"
He only told his confidants, such as Yao Guangxiao and Sun Yang, about his trip to Dongpange; no one else knew anything about it.
"Alright, whatever you do, your mother will support you!" Jiang Wan'er said, holding back her tears. "If possible, please also bring Her Highness the Princess back with you! This girl has endured too much suffering!"
Zhao Zhilan...
The name sent a shiver down Lin Mo's spine.
Yes, she has disappeared again.
Last time, it was to escape Lin Mo's control, and the people from Xuanhua Palace secretly protected her along the way.
And this time...
Without any protection, they would most likely be pursued by Huo Minggao's men when they fled!
"Zhao family girl, I hope good fortune will come your way!" Lin Mo said with emotion.
"Don't worry, Mother, I will bring her back!" he said. "I promise!"
"Okay, Mo'er, go ahead!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo pushed off with both feet, and his chestnut horse immediately galloped away into the distance.
In an instant, Jiang Wan'er stood still, her face as pale as the full moon behind her.
"Take care, my son!" she prayed silently.
Lin Mo lifted the hood of his heavy cloak, not daring to look back. He rode away from the tranquil capital, Xiang Yu following closely behind.
Besides Zhao Zhilan, he also thought of another person: He Xiao!
This highly skilled master of Xuanhua Palace has been missing for far too long!
~~~
When she heard footsteps, Zhao Zhilan was secretly digging for vegetables in the garden.
She stopped immediately, motionless, and suddenly forgot about the three small radishes in her hand.
"Is he the owner of the vegetable garden? Or one of Huo Minggao's pursuers?"
She trembled instinctively. Although she had learned some martial arts from He Xiao, her skills were at most enough to take on two opponents at once.
Where to hide? Burned-down farmhouses and overgrown gardens stand conspicuously by the river, with a few willows and muddy shoals overgrown with reeds on the banks. Apart from that, it's all unpleasant open space.
I knew I shouldn't have left the woods, she thought. But she was so hungry; the steamed buns she had stolen from the palace kitchen had been eaten in the forest six days ago, so the temptation of the vegetable garden was too great.
"Should I not have left the palace?"
"No, staying there will only cause trouble for Lin Mo!"
Zhao Zhilan knew that if Lin Mo's army returned to the capital, that damned Huo Minggao would definitely take her hostage and threaten Lin Mo to withdraw his troops.
If I can't be of much help, that's fine, but I can't cause him any trouble!
As for Huo Churan...
She is, after all, Huo Minggao's biological daughter. That old bastard wouldn't poison his own daughter, would he?
Zhao Zhilan stuffed the radish into her bosom, then pulled out the stolen sword from behind her back.
She strapped the scabbard to her back because it was a two-handed longsword meant for adult men, and it was a bit too small for her; if she wore it at her waist, it would hit the ground.
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