According to Yin Chengjing's plan, he and Yao pretended to be a normal couple, and took a passenger ship south to Guangdong under the escort of their confidants. The rest of the troops would split up to confuse the pursuers, and then rush to Guangdong to meet him from different routes.
Although the coastal areas have been banned from sea trade, the profits from overseas trade are high, and there are still fleets going out to sea privately. There are also pirates and overseas merchants in the coastal areas, which can be said to be a mixed bag. If he hides in them, it will be like a cow in the sea, and it will be difficult to find his whereabouts. What's more, he still has some assets in Guangdong, which is also his chance to make a comeback.
Yao suddenly got pregnant, which was indeed a bit troublesome. Once the turmoil in the palace subsided, the next step would probably be to send people to hunt him down. Every moment of delay would increase the possibility of being caught. But the child in Yao's belly was still useful. If it was gone, it would not be so easy to create another one to cover up the truth in the future.
And the Yao family will still be useful in the future.
There are still people willing to follow him now. One reason is that they have been tied to his boat and there is no turning back. The other reason is that they are still hoping that he will make a comeback so that they can follow him to the sky.
But if his secret is discovered, I'm afraid these few remaining people will have to find a way out.
After quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Yin Chengjing's expression softened. He held her in his arms like a loving husband and soothed her softly, "Is it because the carriage was too bumpy just now?" He helped Yao sit on the large bluestone near the ferry, "The boat hasn't come yet, sit down first."
Yao covered her belly and curled up in his arms obediently. She lowered her eyes and looked around secretly, her heart beating fast.
The fingers covering her lower abdomen were so tense that they were slightly trembling. Her increasingly pale face made the lie seem even more true.
Yin Chengjing had no doubts. He frowned and thought carefully. Judging from Yao's condition, he might have to see a doctor first to make sure nothing went wrong.
Just as he was thinking this, several passenger ships were slowly approaching in the river.
It was already light in the sky, and early risers gathered at the ferry, looking at the approaching passenger ship. In the dark woods behind them, a flock of birds started to fly up.
After the passenger ship docked, the waiting people were about to board, but suddenly they saw a large number of armored and well-armored soldiers rushing out of the passenger ship.
Ordinary people have a natural fear of soldiers and officers, so they subconsciously spread out to the sides to make way. Yin Chengjing was shocked when he saw this, and subconsciously wanted to retreat. But the soldiers and officers outnumbered them, and they had nowhere to escape if they abandoned their horses!
Yin Chengjing tightly grasped Yao's hand and pulled her hard, forcing her to lower her head and blend in with the panicked people, trying to get away with it.
But at this moment, Yao cried out in pain again: "My husband, my stomach hurts so much."
Her voice immediately attracted the attention of the officers and soldiers. The leader narrowed his eyes and looked at her. His gaze swept over Yin Chengjing, and it seemed that he did not recognize him.
The other party was a stranger and probably had never seen him before. Yin Chengjing felt relieved, thinking fortunately that these officers and soldiers might not be looking for him.
"Catch the fugitive, everyone please show your identification documents." The officers and soldiers guarded the ferry and began to verify the identity documents one by one.
When it was Yin Chengjing's turn, he pushed Yao out first.
The identity documents had been prepared long ago, and the officers and soldiers could not see any problem.
Yao came forward holding the document, her fingers turning white with nervousness. The leading soldier took the document from her and examined it seriously. Yao was not sure whether these soldiers were the reinforcements that the man had said. She unconsciously rubbed her belly and was about to use a codeword to test it, when she saw the soldier suddenly close the document: "Catch them!"
Yao was startled, but found that these words were not directed at her. The soldiers surrounding the ferry quickly surrounded Yin Chengjing and his party.
Yin Chengjing's expression suddenly changed. He was about to fight to the death when he heard the other party say to another person, "The traitor has been arrested. Go to the palace and report the news immediately."
An officer took the order and left.
All his hopes were shattered. Yin Chengjing stopped pretending and looked at the commander coldly: "Prince An's men? How did you know I would take this path?"
He estimated that the purpose of dispersing the troops was to distract the line of sight and facilitate escape, and he also dressed up specially, thinking that he was foolproof, but he didn't expect to fall at the critical moment.
Yin Chengjing's eyes wandered from the officers and soldiers to Yao, who seemed to be relieved. He immediately understood and his eyes were red with anger: "It's you?!"
"You bastard! You even betrayed me!"
His words irritated Yao, who shuddered, straightened her frail back, and looked at him angrily: "A beast like you should have been deserted by everyone long ago!"
She has been under house arrest since she learned the truth, and she has been walking on thin ice every day. When Prince An sent someone to contact her, she agreed without hesitation. She has had enough of this kind of life! Rather than being tortured by Yin Chengjing and giving birth to his bastard, it is better to fight to the death.
Even death is better than living like a walking corpse!
Facing Yin Chengjing's murderous gaze, Yao recalled the scene when Wuzhu stabbed him with a knife, and felt that this man was nothing special.
She was not as powerful as Wuzhu and could not hurt the beast, but she could live to see his final end.
"I will beat this child, and then live well and see how you die in the end." Yao brushed the strands of hair in front of her forehead and gave him a pale smile.
Yin Chengjing was quickly taken away by the soldiers, and the people whose documents had been verified had already boarded the ferry.
In the end, only Yao was left there.
The officer and soldier commander was obviously informed, and handed her a document and a stack of banknotes: "This is the identity document and banknotes that the prince prepared for Madam. He also bought a house in Jiangnan, and the land deed is also included." He pointed to a kind-looking officer and soldier: "He will escort Madam south."
Yao took the document and banknote with shaking hands, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "In the prince's mansion..."
"When the Third Prince escaped, he set fire to the Prince's Mansion. The Third Prince's wife and concubine were both killed in the fire."
Yao heaved a sigh of relief and thought of her mother and brother at home... She closed her eyes, knowing that with her current status she would never be able to go back, so she could only be protected by soldiers and boarded another ship.
After all the passenger ships had left the ferry, the commander did not leave, but rearranged the arrangements as instructed.
The Dongchang guards followed the trail all the way and finally found Wuzhu in the woods.
After Wuzhu escaped, she got lost in the dark forest. She was not familiar with Wangjing, let alone outside of it. She did not dare to run around, so she stayed in the forest until dawn, and then followed the horse hoof prints back to the place where she had rested before and waited.
Fortunately, she still had some value, and the East Factory guard found her by following the marks she left behind.
The leading captain saw that she was the only one there, and frowned and asked, "Where is the Third Prince?"
Wuzhu pointed to the wheel tracks on the ground and said, "I escaped halfway, and Yin Chengjing led his men in that direction."
The guards had no choice but to take her with them and follow the wheel tracks. But when they arrived at the ferry, they saw only a few people waiting for the boat.
Several horses and an abandoned carriage were found in the nearby woods. It was obvious that Yin Chengjing and his party had already escaped on a passenger ship.
Upon seeing this, Qian Hu sent a team of men to the next ferry to track down the enemy, while he himself took Wu Zhu back to report to Xue Shu.
In the Qianqing Palace, Yin Chengyu, Yin Ciguang, and a group of ministers were guarding the outer hall. The gate to the inner hall was guarded by two eunuchs, Xue Shu and Gao Xian, and only the imperial physician could enter and exit.
Emperor Longfeng had been unconscious for half the night after falling into the water, and the entire Imperial Hospital was mobilized. The imperial doctors took turns to diagnose and save him for half the night, and finally pulled him back from the brink of death.
The sun rises early in early summer. When the sun rises to the roof, the judge finally comes out, wiping his sweat. His first words are: "Your Majesty has woken up." His second words are to Gao Xiansuo: "Your Majesty, please call Eunuch Gao in."
Xue Shu's brows twitched, he glanced at Gao Xian, and then looked at Yin Chengyu silently.
Gao Xian stayed in the inner hall for two quarters of an hour before coming out and saying, "Your Majesty still needs to rest. The Crown Prince, the Prince, and the others can go back and rest first." He then handed a token to Yin Ciguang and said, "Your Majesty also orders Prince An to temporarily take over the defense of the palace."
When Yin Ci Guang reached out to take the token, he saw him open his mouth and said silently: Done.
Done.
Yin Ci Guang narrowed his eyes and put the token into his sleeve.
Emperor Longfeng gave the order, and the group could no longer stay in the outer hall, so they retreated one after another.
After all the court officials had left, Yin Chengyu went out with Xue Shu. Now that Emperor Longfeng was seriously ill, they no longer needed to avoid suspicion. Yin Ciguang followed him out, and Yin Chengyu heard him instructing Gao Xian to rearrange the defenses in the palace, and to impose martial law in the city to search for the rebels.
Yin Chengyu frowned and stood there waiting for him.
Yin Ciguang walked up to him and greeted him: "Your Highness, do you have something to say to me?"
"What exactly do you want to do, brother?" Yin Chengyu looked at him inquiringly, with a puzzled look on his face. Only now did he realize that he actually didn't know this brother very well.
But there was no trace of hypocrisy in their interactions before.
If it was really just an act, then Yin Ci Guang was pretending too seriously.
"Of course, to do what I have always wanted to do." Yin Ci Guang smiled at him, his expression surprisingly peaceful.
Yin Chengyu looked at him for a long time, then turned and left. Xue Shu followed him closely, turned his head and glanced at Yin Ciguang, his eyes full of hostility.
Like a beast guarding its food.
After returning to Ciqing Palace, Xue Shu talked about the matter of Wuzhu and Yin Chengjing.
"The Third Prince's mansion was burned down, which saved us a lot of trouble. Let's have someone escort Wuzhu to Wala as soon as possible. Now that Muduo and Mubal are at a disadvantage in the fight for the throne, it's just the right time for Wuzhu to go there."
Arrangements had already been made for Wuzhu's destination, but to Yin Chengyu's surprise, Yin Chengjing escaped.
"Yin Chengjing doesn't want to attract attention when taking the passenger ship south, so he certainly can't bring too many people with him. He must have other support to dare to act so risky," Yin Chengyu analyzed.
"According to Wuzhu, when they left the farm last night, a lot of people followed them. Today, the soldiers searched everywhere and captured several teams that were disrupting the line of sight. The other side also confessed that Yin Chengjing had hidden 5,000 soldiers. Now these soldiers have divided into several groups and headed south to join Yin Chengjing. I'm afraid they want to make a comeback in the south."
"Letting the tiger go will cause endless harm. Once Yin Chengjing goes south, we will be unable to reach him." Yin Chengyu said, "Immediately dispatch more troops from the Beijing camp to various places to cut off the water and land fortresses heading south, and make sure to capture Yin Chengjing."
Xue Shu also understood the danger of Yin Chengjing fleeing to the south, and immediately rode to the Beijing camp to mobilize troops to hunt down the rebels along the way. At the same time, he ordered the foreign soldiers to rush to the prefectures along the way to report the news and cut off the route to the south in advance.
Because the third prince was plotting treason, martial law was imposed throughout the capital and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Emperor Longfeng was seriously ill, and the crown prince was still in charge of the country. However, Emperor Longfeng had recently summoned important ministers frequently, but Prince An was always by his side, which made the ministers feel a little uneasy.
I always feel that this day seems to be changing.
Yin Chengyu also noticed that Yin Ciguang seemed to be planning something.
Gong Hongfei has been imprisoned, and now the palace defense is in the hands of Yin Ciguang. Although Yin Chengyu has not intervened openly, he has received a lot of news secretly - Yin Ciguang's frequent actions are very wrong.
He was thinking about Yin Ci Guang's next step, but he always felt that he had overlooked something.
The story of the abdication was replayed bit by bit: Yin Chengjing forced the emperor to abdicate, the emperor fell into the water, Yin Ciguang rescued him, and then Yin Chengjing escaped...
All the details of that night came to Yin Chengyu's mind, and he suddenly realized that he had always overlooked the most important point - Gao Xian was a profit-seeking villain, what kind of benefits could Yin Ciguang bring to impress him?
Only the throne.
Gao Xian had always been at odds with Xue Shu. He knew that if he ascended the throne, Xue Shu would never let him go, so it was not surprising that he would surrender to Yin Ci Guang.
Surprisingly, he seemed to obey Yin Ci Guang's orders.
According to Gao Xian's cautious character, he should have placed his chips on both Yin Ciguang and Yin Chengjing.
But he stood behind Yin Ci Guang without hesitation, which must be because Yin Ci Guang had enough chips to tempt him to take the risk.
Yin Chengyu's mind raced, and after thinking of something, he immediately left the palace to find Wuzhu for confirmation - Wuzhu was temporarily placed in a house outside the palace, and would set off for Wala tomorrow.
Seeing him suddenly appear, Wuzhu looked puzzled: "Does your Highness the Crown Prince have anything else to tell you?"
Yin Chengyu asked Yao: "When I asked you to help Yao before, did Yao behave differently?"
Wuzhu curled her lips and said, "What's the big deal? Yao has always been timid and cowardly. I approached her several times to test the waters for cooperation, but she always hesitated and brushed it off."
"No." Yin Chengyu shook his head: "After she discovered the truth, she asked her personal maid to buy herbs from several pharmacies to prepare abortion pills herself. This at least shows that she is not a cowardly person who blindly obeys."
Such people may hesitate when an opportunity to live comes before them, but they should not reject it completely.
Unless she has another way out.
"You said that there were quite a few soldiers who escorted you out of the farm that night. Can you estimate the approximate number of people?" Yin Chengyu asked again.
Wuzhu shook her head: "It was too hasty at the time, and the noise was too chaotic, so I couldn't be sure of the approximate number, but I know that there should be quite a lot of people."
"How about five thousand?" Yin Chengyu asked in a different way.
"No." Wuzhu grew up on the grassland and participated in many battles. She said decisively: "Although it is impossible to determine the approximate number, it is definitely not more than 5,000." She tried to recall: "If I remember correctly, the sound of horse hooves should not exceed a thousand people at most."
Yin Chengyu's face changed slightly, and he remembered what Xue Shu had told him - Yin Chengjing also secretly hid 5,000 soldiers and horses.
Fell into a trap.
Someone deliberately spread the news that Yin Chengjing still had 5,000 soldiers hidden in private, just to lure him to allocate a large number of troops to hunt down Yin Chengjing.
Thinking of the gradually strengthened defenses in the palace and even in Wangjing City, Yin Chengyu gradually understood.
I'm afraid Yin Ci Guang also wants to repeat the forced abdication drama, but he won't be as stupid as Yin Chengjing.
After bidding farewell to Wuzhu, Yin Chengyu hurried back to Ciqing Palace. On the one hand, he ordered the messenger to leave the city immediately to deliver a message to Xue Shu, and on the other hand, he summoned Wei Xihe over - before Xue Shu led his troops away, he kept Wei Xihe behind.
"How many soldiers and horses are left in the East and West factories now?"
"The governor transferred 20,000 people from the Beijing camp, and the imperial guards only took away half of them, leaving more than 10,000 people." Wei Xihedao.
"There are still more than ten thousand people. If the guess is true, these people should be enough to hold on until Xue Shu and his men come back." After thinking for a long time, Yin Chengyu formulated a corresponding strategy before letting Wei Xihe go down to deploy it.
He looked in the direction of the Qianqing Palace from a distance. Although he still had some doubts in his heart, he felt that Yin Ciguang would not be so cruel based on his understanding of her. However, his reason would not allow him to take risks for this precarious trust.
Wei Xihe's movements were already very fast, but Yin Ciguang's movements were obviously even faster.
That evening, Gao Xian arrived with the emperor's oral order - the prince was confined to Ciqing Palace.
Seeing the imperial guards surrounding the Ciqing Palace, Yin Chengyu stood at the door, his face showing no sign of surprise or panic: "I wonder what I have done wrong to be under house arrest?"
Gao Xian raised his chin with an arrogant look on his face: "This is His Majesty's order. I don't know how His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has angered His Majesty."
"Then let me go and have a talk in front of my father." Yin Chengyu took a step forward, and the guard beside him also drew his sword with a fierce momentum.
"Your Highness, do you want to disobey the order?" Gao Xian shook his head and smiled, as if he was expecting him to take action: "I still have to go outside the palace to announce the order, so I won't delay here any longer."
Yin Chengyu was just testing him, and when he saw the situation, he made a move. The guards put away their knives and escorted him back to Ciqing Palace.
After waiting in Ciqing Palace until evening, Yin Chengyu received another piece of news - Gao Xian went out of the palace and summoned all the important officials of the court into the palace.
This process seemed similar to Yin Chengjing's forced abdication, but this time he actually had the emperor's handwritten edict.
The situation in the Qianqing Palace was unclear. Yin Chengyu placed the chess pieces and thought about the current situation, but he was not in a hurry to take action.
Yongxi Palace.
Yin Ci Guang was dressed in white and was burning paper money.
Gao Xian approached and saw his calm face, and was even more glad that he had made the right bet. Who could have thought that such a gentle and harmless person could cause the prince to fall into trouble?
He walked behind Yin Ci Guang, bowed and said, "The night is long and dreams are many. Why don't you just kill that person directly?"
Watching the flames devour the last piece of paper, Yin Ciguang slowly turned around and glanced at him: "Not to mention that the prince has a lot of prestige, killing him directly will cause criticism. Let's say Xue Shu led more than 20,000 people out of the capital and killed the prince. Can you stop that crazy dog?"
Gao Xian obviously hadn't thought of this, and complimented him, "Your Highness is very thoughtful."
Yin Ciguang stood up and stretched out his hand in front of him: "Where is the imperial edict?"
Gao Xian handed him the imperial edict from his sleeve. Yin Ci Guang unfolded it, took a look at it, and then put it back into his sleeve. This was exactly what was written when Emperor Longfeng summoned Gao Xian into the palace on the day he woke up from falling into the water.
He curled his lips in disdain and turned to walk out: "Go check on Yin Chengjing first."
Yin Chengjing was imprisoned in the same place as Concubine De.
He had been held captive for three days since he was captured at the ferry. He had no food or water and was starving.
So when he saw Yin Ciguang appear, he didn't show much emotion, but he could only lift his eyelids weakly, and resentment and unwillingness welled up in his heart. It's not that he hadn't thought about the consequences of failure, but he had never thought that he would be defeated by such a sickly person!
The mother and son didn't have the energy to speak, and Yin Ci Guang didn't say anything either.
He stood in front of the prison door and looked for a long time before he ordered, "Bring the man out."
The two had not eaten for three days and were already starving. The guards easily escorted the people out one by one and followed behind Yin Ciguang.
Now that the palace's defenses are in Yin Ci Guang's hands, he can come and go freely in the palace.
He took the two of them to the Qianqing Palace.
Because he risked his life to save his carriage, Emperor Longfeng no longer believed in anyone else and clung to him as his lifeline, doing whatever he said.
Yin Ci Guang walked briskly into the inner hall, asked the serving palace maids and imperial physicians to leave, and personally woke up the sleeping person.
"Father, look who's here."
Emperor Longfeng opened his eyes in a daze and saw Concubine De and her son behind him.
Thinking of how these two had harmed him before, Emperor Longfeng's eyes burned with anger. He struggled to sit up and cursed incoherently: "Bastard! Evil creature!"
Yin Ciguang smiled, and waited until he finished scolding before continuing, "I brought them here specially so that the emperor can avenge himself."
Emperor Longfeng looked at him in bewilderment, as if he did not understand what it meant to take revenge personally. He could only say with difficulty: "Kill them all!"
Yin Ciguang did not respond to his words, but turned to Yin Chengjing and Defei and said: "From today on, you will stay in the Qianqing Palace to atone for your sins." In the confused eyes of the other three, he said slowly: "When you have atonement for your sins, you can come out."
After saying this, without waiting for others to understand, he ordered people to remove the shackles from Concubine De and Yin Chengjing, and then retreated.
He stood outside the door, his hands pressing the two doors together slowly, and added as if he had just remembered, "I almost forgot to say that only the person who redeems his sins first can walk out of this door."
As soon as the words fell, the door closed and the three people in the room heard the clear sound of the door being locked.
De Fei hadn't figured it out yet, so she turned to look at Yin Chengjing: "What does he mean?"
Yin Chengjing twisted his face and screamed, "He is forcing us to kill each other. Only one person can get out alive!"
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