There are so many imperial physicians in the palace, yet no one treats my persistent cough.
After Consort Rong passed away due to illness, Yu Nanqing observed three years of mourning in the palace. He was ten years old when he went to the frontier. He was so young. If he had truly lived a life of luxury, he wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
Yu Nanqing seemed completely unconcerned, his tone extremely calm as he smiled and said, "Yan'er wasn't reading any forbidden books, of course I know that."
When she was taking care of him, she liked to read to pass the time. He read through almost all the books she bought, and he even organized the ones she liked for her later.
Perhaps it was her photographic memory, but Su Wanyan never touched those books again afterward.
As they were talking, Yu Nanqing suddenly paused.
Su Wanyan followed his gaze and saw that the secret passage had come to an end. The gray walls blocked their way. Upon closer inspection, she discovered a doorway on the side of the end.
There are steps built inside the doorway that extend upwards.
Before Yu Nanqing could speak, Tanaka had already taken the lead and stepped forward to scout ahead with a torch.
Yu Nanqing carried Su Wanyan on his back and followed behind Tian Zhong.
After climbing the stairs, they entered another secret passage. It was pitch black all around, with only the sound of Tanaka's torch burning. Su Wanyan, lying on Yu Nanqing's back, asked somewhat boredly, "What if something jumps out later?"
"A ghost?" Yu Nanqing blurted out.
“There are no ghosts in the world,” Su Wanyan retorted.
"Hmm, Yan'er feels that something might jump out."
"People trapped here and such."
"If that's the case, then all that's left is probably a pile of bones."
Just then, Tanaka's voice rang out: "Your Highness, Your Highness, watch out for the steps."
Yu Nanqing and Su Wanyan looked up at the same time, and there was another step.
However, this time was different from before. When Tanaka went up, he found that the exit of the steps was blocked.
The entrance to the cave was sealed by a solid stone wall.
Tanaka took the torch and looked around. When he touched a brick on the wall, the brick dented very easily.
With a loud 'boom,' the stone wall at the top slowly opened amidst a cloud of dust.
A ray of light shone in from above, and Su Wanyan lowered her head and buried her face in Yu Nanqing's shoulder. The long period of darkness made her feel uncomfortable with such strong light.
Tanaka was the first to walk out.
Yu Nanqing slowly stepped forward, following closely behind.
Su Wanyan opened her eyes and entered a large room through the curtain.
The room was simply furnished, with only some cabinets for storing items. They came out of the room through a hole in the floor, which was much smaller than the library in the Prince's mansion.
Tanaka stepped forward and opened the door. Outside the room was a hall. Tanaka went out and soon returned, bowing respectfully: "Your Highness, we have arrived outside the city."
Su Wanyan patted Yu Nanqing's shoulder: "Put me down."
Yu Nanqing put Su Wanyan down, and Su Wanyan ran out. Inside the curtained area was a wide grassy forest, which was next to the hills.
Before her was a courtyard, with a fence around the front yard and ordinary-looking houses behind it.
"Your Highness, Your Highness," Tanaka returned after circling around and reported, "There are carriages in the backyard, which look like they haven't been used for many years. The warehouse in the backyard is piled with a lot of dry food."
There was only this one house around, and it looked like it was built on purpose. The furnishings inside were covered in dust, and it looked like it was used for fleeing.
"This place is nice." Yu Nanqing was very satisfied with the result.
Su Wanyan glanced at him and asked Tanaka, "Where is this? How far is it from Fucheng?"
"I will investigate immediately."
"Shall we... go back the way we came, or...?" Su Wanyan turned around and asked Yu Nanqing.
Yu Nanqing stepped forward and took her hand: "Now that you're here, why don't you take a walk around?"
"Judging from the sky, it's almost lunchtime." Su Wanyan hesitated, but seeing Yu Nanqing's enthusiastic expression, she reluctantly swallowed her words about going back and smiled, "Alright, I'll stay with you."
There was a flat path in the backyard of the house, just wide enough for a carriage to pass through.
Su Wanyan kicked at the pebbles on the path: "This path was specially paved."
Otherwise, it would have been overgrown with weeds long ago.
Yu Nanqing's gaze remained fixed on the distance, glancing here and there. Su Wanyan couldn't help but chuckle, "What kind of crazy idea are you thinking of?"
"A crazy idea?" Yu Nanqing was stunned.
He laughed and said, "I never expected that this word would be used on me."
"Otherwise what?"
"Yan'er is more suitable."
Su Wanyan gave him a speechless look.
Yu Nanqing smiled and said, "This area is very suitable for hiding people."
The Tibetans he was referring to weren't just ordinary people, like those in the military or anything like that.
"Will this affect Fucheng?" Su Wanyan asked curiously.
"Just in case."
Su Wanyan raised her eyes and stared intently at Yu Nanqing. Yu Nanqing noticed and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"I'll go too."
Yu Nanqing was slightly taken aback, naturally knowing what Su Wanyan was referring to.
"You came here to explore the secret passage today just so you could leave me in Fucheng and go to the capital yourself, didn't you?"
Yu Nanqing pursed her lips, realizing that Su Wanyan had guessed her thoughts.
Seeing his attitude, Su Wanyan didn't press the matter: "Fine, if they don't want me to go, they don't want me to go. I was just mentioning it."
Yu Nanqing walks fast; if she follows, it will only delay the journey.
Yu Nanqing's brows relaxed: "Yan'er stayed in Fucheng, so others didn't know I had left."
"Okay, okay," Su Wanyan replied somewhat perfunctorily.
Yu Nanqing chuckled: "I'll make you milk pudding when we get back."
I want to eat stewed beef today.
"good."
"Braised eggplant, stir-fried fresh bamboo shoots, cold pork skin salad, mushroom soup..."
Yu Nanqing smiled indulgently and replied to each one, "Okay."
It was about twenty or thirty miles from Fucheng. When Su Wanyan was walking in the secret passage, she didn't realize that so much time had passed. Of course, it was also possible that Yu Nanqing carried her the whole way.
But thinking about it, they entered the secret passage after breakfast and came out around lunchtime, which means they were moving quite slowly in the secret passage.
After all, the secret passage was dark and contained several traps.
When Su Wanyan and Yu Nanqing returned, they happened to meet an old man pulling a cart. Su Wanyan bought the cart and mule from the old man with her silver, and she and Yu Nanqing rode the cart back to the city.
Upon returning to Fucheng, they didn't rush back to their residence. Instead, they found a restaurant in the city, had lunch, and then went back to their residence.
Upon returning to the manor, Wang Zhang greeted Yu Nanqing and handed him a secret letter from the capital, along with a warrant from Lü Zhongce.
Yu Nanqing wanted to spend more time with Su Wanyan, but Su Wanyan pushed him into the study.
Yu Nanqing's words to Su Wanyan were not perfunctory; he genuinely hoped that Su Wanyan would stay in Fucheng so that she could help him conceal the fact that he had left after he departed.
July is over, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner.
After a period of busy work, Yu Nanqing unexpectedly found himself with free time in early August, spending his days at the mansion with Su Wanyan.
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