"Princess, are you saying that the people following us this time are from Dongyu?" Qiao Ying was the first to react. She had a serious look in her eyes and asked in a low voice when Yun Qianmeng paused for a moment.
Hearing this, Yun Qianmeng turned to look at Qiao Ying, a hint of approval in her eyes. She nodded slightly and continued her analysis, "Prince Chen and Prince Hai haven't been able to find our hiding place for so long, and we left before the incident in the valley. Furthermore, Emperor Yugan's death was a huge shock to both Prince Hai and Prince Chen. They probably haven't realized our exact location yet. And over the past few months since Dongyu invaded Western Chu, they've frequently caused trouble for our Chu army. I think Dongyu must have set his sights on me, hoping to capture me and control the entire Chu army."
Listening to Yun Qianmeng's detailed analysis, the three girls all frowned. Qiao Ying's face was already showing a hint of fighting with the enemy, while Mu Chun and Ying Xia's eyes were filled with protective feelings for Yun Qianmeng.
"Princess, what should we do? What if we are captured alive by Dongyu's people? I'm afraid..." Mu Chun's gaze turned to Yun Qianmeng's slightly protruding belly. Inside was the prince's flesh and blood. If the princess was captured, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Qiao Ying, where are we now? Where will we rest tonight?" Yun Qianmeng first gave Mu Chun a comforting smile, and then turned her attention to Qiao Ying. Her gentle expression was mixed with calmness and wisdom rarely seen in women.
Looking at Yun Qianmeng like this, Qiao Ying's restless heart suddenly calmed down. Thinking about the days when she followed the princess, the princess always managed to use her own conditions to escape danger, a sense of dependence and admiration suddenly filled Qiao Ying's heart.
Qiao Ying concealed the murderous look on his face, lifted the carriage curtain with one hand, and carefully examined the terrain outside. He then sat up straight and reported, "Princess, we are now outside the capital. At our current speed, it will take at least half a month to reach the northern border. Fortunately, the Rong family's inns are spread all over Western Chu. According to our prior arrangements, as long as we can reach the city before dark, we will be able to find a place to rest."
Qiao Ying reported the current situation to Yun Qianmeng one by one, and then waited for Yun Qianmeng's instructions.
Yun Qianmeng frowned slightly, and her expression gradually became solemn. Seeing that she was lost in thought, the three people in the car remained silent.
"There is no need to enter the city. The situation in Western Chu is complicated now. There are people under the command of King Chen of the Sea everywhere, and there are also many bandits. If we rush into the city rashly, we are likely to fall into the enemy's trap." After a long while, Yun Qianmeng slowly spoke and analyzed calmly.
"Princess, I have an idea. Please consider it." Seeing Yun Qianmeng's refusal to proceed, Qiao Ying understood Yun Qianmeng's concerns, but she had her own thoughts. She said in a clear voice, "Why don't we use the external enemies in the city to deal with the people who are following us?"
Hearing this, Yun Qianmeng's face lit up with a faint smile, but she didn't nod in agreement with Qiao Ying's plan. She only whispered, "This is indeed a good idea. But what if those two groups have already formed an alliance? Wouldn't we have fallen into a trap?"
Having said this, Yun Qianmeng paused for a moment, gently lifted the curtain with her bare hands, and looked outside the car. She saw that there was not a single pedestrian on the road outside. The situation was really strange, and people had to be on guard.
"The country is in turmoil, and bandits will definitely take the opportunity to cause chaos. But there is not a single person walking along the way. I'm afraid someone has already cleared this place and is waiting for us to fall into their trap!" Yun Qianmeng hid the faint smile on his face, and a layer of coldness appeared on his face, but his mind had already been churning rapidly, and his brain was thinking about the whole thing very quickly.
"Princess, I will immediately notify the secret guards to come and protect you..." Qiao Ying was extremely anxious when she heard this. The situation was special now. How could the princess, who was pregnant, withstand such a torment? If something happened to the princess, she would never be able to apologize.
After he finished speaking, Qiao Ying immediately stood up, turned around, and was about to step out of the carriage...
"Qiao Ying, calm down." Yun Qianmeng suddenly called out to Qiao Ying, asking her to sit back in the car while she slowly pondered a countermeasure. "The prince mentioned in a letter a few days ago that Princess Dongyu had gathered bandits from Western Chu to cause chaos. Now it seems that this is indeed the case. In times of peace and prosperity, there are naturally armies to suppress these bandits. But in times of chaos, without military control, the bandits will surely cause chaos everywhere, and most of them are cruel. Moreover, outside the borders of the capital, it is a lawless area. We have to be extremely cautious. If we summon the secret guards hidden in the dark now and expose them to the enemy, it will be of no benefit to us..."
As if she was analyzing herself, or explaining the current situation to the three girls, Yun Qianmeng half closed her eyes, slightly parted her lips, and her expression became more serious. Then Yun Qianmeng waved for Qiao Ying to come closer and whispered something in Qiao Ying's ear.
"Don't worry, Princess. I will definitely take care of this matter." The matter was of great importance, and Qiao Ying naturally understood the priorities. After assuring Yun Qianmeng, he turned and got out of the carriage.
Watching Qiao Ying leave, Yun Qianmeng's facial expression gradually relaxed. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the carriage to rest leisurely, without saying another word.
As night fell, the convoy did not enter the nearby town to rest, but chose a villa. Several carriages arrived outside the villa at a very fast speed, and Mu Chun and Ying Xia carefully helped Yun Qianmeng out of the carriage.
"Princess, what is this?" Yingxia was the maid sent by Rong Yunhe, so she naturally didn't know that Qu Ruoli's dowry included many villas and farms.
Yingxia was seen helping Yun Qianmeng get off the carriage while looking up at the wealthy family standing in front of them, with deep shock in her eyes.
Yun Qianmeng glanced at Yingxia with a faint smile, then led the two girls into the villa they had not visited for a long time.
Mu Chun, who was standing by, explained, "This is the dowry that Madam Qu left for the princess."
When the three of them stepped onto the steps and reached the gate, someone inside had already opened it. Seeing Qiao Ying walk out, Yun Qianmeng nodded slightly, but she didn't stop and continued walking inside...
There were no servants on the way from the gate to the main house, which showed that during the war, the slaves who were originally left to guard the villa had fled for their lives.
"Princess, I will go to the kitchen and make some food with the ingredients we brought. You can rest here for a while." Seeing that Yun Qianmeng had a look of deep fatigue on her face, Yingxia asked a secret guard to lead her to the kitchen.
Mu Chun skillfully spread the bedding he brought on a soft couch, allowing Yun Qianmeng to rest for a while.
"Qiao Ying, everything remains the same." Looking at the deserted villa, Yun Qianmeng's tense heart relaxed a little, and she spoke out to instruct Qiao Ying again.
"Don't worry, Princess. Everything is ready." After saying that, Qiao Ying walked out of the main house with a sword in hand and stood guard outside.
The courtyard was peaceful again. Yun Qianmeng had a quick dinner and then lay down on the couch in her clothes to rest.
The moonlight was dim and the night was beautiful. The Qu family villa was serene. The cold moonlight illuminated every corner of the villa clearly. Everything had entered a dormant state, except for Qiao Ying outside the door, who was guarding the main house with full energy.
When the first cockcrowed the next day, Yun Qianmeng had already gotten up. He pondered the current situation all night and only closed his eyes reluctantly at dawn. The tiredness on Yun Qianmeng's face increased instead of decreasing.
"Princess, everything is as you predicted. Up to this moment, everything has been very peaceful." Hearing the sound of the door opening, Qiao Ying stretched her body after standing all night, and then walked forward to report to Yun Qianmeng what happened last night.
Yun Qianmeng nodded slightly, a faint smile playing on the corner of her mouth. She said gently, "Rest well once you get in the car. You worked hard last night. You have to be really careful in the days ahead."
"Yes, I obey your command."
In the northwest camp of the King of Chu’s army.
"Your Highness, someone is coming from the north." Xi Lin walked quickly into the tent and saw Chu Feiyang and the generals discussing the war, so he immediately knelt down to report.
"Everyone, go downstairs and have lunch first. I'll let you know if anything happens." Chu Feiyang heard the word 'north' and explained the next steps clearly. He then sent the generals away. He turned to look at Xi Lin and said in a deep voice, "Get up and answer. Who is coming from the north?"
As he spoke, Chu Feiyang's handsome eyebrows raised slightly, a hint of worry flickering between them. Recalling the urgent letter he had received yesterday, which had informed him of the events in the valley, Chu Feiyang's heart had been constantly hanging in the balance, deeply concerned about Yun Qianmeng's current situation. Now, upon hearing the word 'north', his tone of voice became even more urgent, his eyes fixed on Xi Lin.
"Your humble servant greets His Majesty!" Just as he was speaking, a steady male voice came from outside the tent, and then the curtain was lifted. Mei Ye walked in covered in dust, and when he saw Chu Feiyang, he knelt on one knee to salute.
"Hurry up." When Chu Feiyang saw Mei Ye, the anxiety in his eyes disappeared immediately, and then replaced with a welcoming look. He personally stepped forward to help Mei Ye up and said with a smile: "Why did you suddenly come to my camp? How is the refining of the musket going?"
Mei Ye saw that Chu Feiyang's mind was always focused on the important matter, so he did not dare to be vague and immediately replied: "This humble official came here this time because of the firearms. I previously made twenty firearms, and I followed the prince's order and sent them all to the princess. But then the princess ordered that all firearms produced in the future be sent to the prince. I have transported the one hundred firearms that I have hurriedly made in the past few months, and I would like to invite the prince to review them."
After he finished speaking, Mei Ye clapped his hands together, and a dozen soldiers came in carrying several wooden boxes.
After the wooden boxes were gently placed on the ground, Mei Ye walked to the front of the wooden boxes, opened them one by one, and asked Chu Feiyang to check the number of guns.
However, when he turned around, he found that the wrinkles between Chu Feiyang's eyebrows became more and more obvious, and his eyes were filled with strong disapproval and a hint of subtle anger. "You actually gave all the things to me?"
Mei Ye felt the overwhelming presence of the person standing before her, and she took a few steps back, her heart pounding...
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－
I would like to recommend my friend Chen Xi’s new novel "The First Concubine". Ning’er is also following up on the new novel. I hope everyone will support it!
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