Su Shiyan's expression remained calm, revealing no trace of the turmoil within him.
He didn't believe Yu Nanqing had disappeared; he had a gut feeling that things weren't so simple.
According to Su Shixu, the Empress Dowager had already secretly gathered troops in Fuzhou. If the Empress Dowager wanted to take action against Fucheng, Yu Nanqing would not have remained inactive, nor would he have disappeared without a trace.
Is Yu Nanqing going to seize power?
Inside the carriage, Su Shiyan clenched his fists. Even if the imperial power changed hands again, he would never allow the Marquis of Yuanning's mansion to fall.
The conflict between the Marquis of Yuanning's mansion and the Prince Gong's mansion has remained unresolved. Yu Nanqing's seizure of power is both a good thing and a bad thing. The most important thing now is to make preparations for both possibilities, so that the Marquis of Yuanning's mansion will not be implicated no matter which side loses.
"Is Lord Su the brother of Princess Gong?" Suddenly, a soft female voice came from outside the carriage.
Su Shiyan's heart skipped a beat, but he did not immediately stop the carriage.
He slightly lifted the curtain and saw a woman in a cloak beside the carriage, but Su Shiyan could not see her face clearly.
The streets were bustling with people, and no one noticed her.
Seeing Su Shiyan lift the curtain, the woman spoke softly again: "Meet me at Ruohu Lake south of the city tonight at Hai Shi (9-11 PM)."
After saying this, the woman drowned in the crowd.
Su Shiyan's face showed little expression as she slowly lowered the curtain.
Meanwhile, Su Wanyan and the others had already arrived outside the city of Beijing.
Since the post stations within the capital city limits were definitely unusable, Su Wanyan stayed in a small village on the outskirts of the capital, borrowing a villager's house for lodging.
She had just settled down when news reached her that the Empress Dowager was about to send troops to Fucheng.
"Madam!" Xiao Bu came in from the doorway, still carrying the chill of winter.
The house they were staying in was actually a tool shed used by the villagers to store their tools.
Su Wanyan and her group disguised themselves and were rarely paid attention when they first entered the village to ask for help. It was only when one of the villagers saw that it was getting late and considered that they might encounter danger in the wilderness in the cold that they agreed to let Su Wanyan and Luo Xue stay.
However, the houses did not have extra rooms. The tool shed used to store miscellaneous items was not big. We moved the miscellaneous items on the wooden planks, laid out straw, and brought them a cotton quilt. This would be enough for them to spend the night.
Su Wanyan had no right to be picky. She, Luo Xue, and Xiao Bu pretended to be siblings, while Ming Yu remained hidden in the shadows.
He strode in and whispered, "My brother has sent word that all the checkpoints within the capital have been heavily guarded."
At this point, he lowered his voice again: "The Empress Dowager may have already discovered that we have arrived in the capital."
Su Wanyan thought silently for a moment before speaking: "She may not know that we have entered the capital, or it may be to guard against Yu Nanqing."
They are still in the shadows.
Just then, footsteps sounded at the door.
The conversation abruptly ended, and the position where Luo Xue stood conveniently concealed Su Wanyan behind her.
The person who came was a villager who had taken them in. He was an elderly man wearing thick cotton clothes and carrying a charcoal stove. He said, "Please use this charcoal for now. If you need more, you can come back for more."
She stepped forward and took it, saying, "Thank you."
Su Wanyan gestured, and Luo Xue took out a few taels of silver and handed them to the old man.
Seeing that they were giving him money, the old man hesitated for a moment and asked, "Judging from the number of you, do you want to go into the city?"
Luo Xue and Xiao Bu exchanged a glance, remained silent for a moment, and then Su Wanyan stood up from the edge of the makeshift bed: "Why did Grandpa ask that? Did something happen?"
"It's nothing serious. We heard that the city is cracking down hard right now, but we don't know the specifics. If you want to enter the city, you'd better be prepared."
"Thank you for reminding me, Grandpa." Su Wanyan gave a friendly smile.
"It's cold, one quilt probably isn't enough for you. I'll bring you two more later."
This time, Su Wanyan personally took out two silver coins from her waist: "Thank you, Grandpa, for troubling you."
When the old man saw that she handed him two more silver coins, his tone immediately softened considerably. He weighed the few silver coins in his hand, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then left with a smile.
In addition to the heavy guard posts at the checkpoints within the capital city, Xiao Bu also discovered that the price of charcoal in the city was artificially inflated. This matter had already reached outside the city, and the Empress Dowager ordered a reinvestigation. It was not difficult to find out about this matter.
"Madam, shall we go into the city?" Xiao Bu asked.
Su Wanyan looked up and nodded: "Go in."
Xiao Bu's eyebrows twitched. Just as the old man had said, with soldiers stationed at the city gates to check things, it wouldn't be so easy to sneak into the capital. If they were discovered, it would easily alert the enemy.
He was determined to complete the task assigned by Su Wanyan, no matter how difficult it was, since she had said he had to go.
However, before he could finish speaking, Su Wanyan's voice rang out again: "But we need to enter the city by another method."
Xiao Bu and Luo Xue exchanged a glance simultaneously.
Su Wanyan waved to them: "Come closer."
On the tenth day of the eleventh month, late at night, an urgent report was delivered to the Empress Dowager.
A secret report was sent, and the army assembled in Fuzhou received the Empress Dowager's decree to immediately proceed to Fucheng. Before they could take any action, the city's garrison, seeing that it was the imperial army, did not resist at all and simply opened the city gates.
The army marched straight in, and the Prince Gong's Mansion has now been sealed off. Everyone in the mansion has been arrested, but Prince Gong and his wife have not been seen.
"Hahahaha!" Upon seeing the secret report, the Empress Dowager was wide awake: "You, Yu Nanqing! You've finally met your match!"
Aunt Fu poured a cup of tea for the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager reached out and pushed it away, looking at the secret report with great pleasure: "Good! Very good!"
The Empress Dowager was overjoyed: "This time, I seized the initiative! Guards!"
A eunuch immediately entered the palace: "Grand Empress Dowager?"
"By imperial decree, the Prince Gong and Princess Gong have gone missing and are feared to be in grave danger. Immediately order the posting of missing person notices throughout the land. They must be found alive or dead! If any thieves are encountered, they may be executed on the spot!" Her eyes narrowed. "Go now!"
The eunuch immediately bowed respectfully, saying, "Yes."
Only Aunt Fu, who was by the Empress Dowager's side, frowned and hesitated: "Empress Dowager, this matter is strange. You should be careful."
She couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. Things seemed to be moving in a positive direction, but... was Prince Gong really such an easy person to deal with?
Aunt Fu's heart pounded, and she added, "Don't forget, Prince Gong still has 300,000 Dragon Cavalry under his command."
They sealed off Prince Gong's mansion and arrested a number of servants and slaves, but what about the army?
Yu Nanqing is missing. Did the army remain in Fucheng, or did they disappear with Yu Nanqing?
This matter was not mentioned in the secret report.
But the Empress Dowager wouldn't listen to Aunt Fu's words: "It takes time for the secret report to be sent back to the capital from Fucheng, and the news about the Dragon Cavalry may not arrive for several days."
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