"Prince Zhi, and the Eighth and Ninth Princes, each of you take men to search. This matter should not be publicized. Each of you take a small team to find Princess Baoyue and her maid. Bring her back!" Kangxi said with a stern face. He absolutely did not expect that his son would get involved with his own woman; perhaps he thought no one would dare to do such a thing.
The princes exchanged glances and all responded with a soft "Yes, sir!"
"How is the Tenth Prince's injury? I haven't visited him yet," Kangxi asked, turning his head. Since the birth of his youngest son, Kangxi had indeed become less concerned about his adult sons than before. His youngest son and eldest grandson were the apple of his eye, and he disliked his adult sons, who were eyeing his throne with predatory intent.
"Tenth Brother's arm is almost healed, but the injury on his back is a bit more serious. He'll probably have to stay in bed for another ten days to half a month," Eighth Master immediately reported.
"Hmm, let Physician Liu take a look. Yin'e Xiaoshan, foolishly rushed forward to block that arrow for me. Actually, even if he hadn't blocked it, it wouldn't have hit me," Kangxi murmured.
What exactly did that sentence mean? The princes fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Fortunately, Emperor Kangxi did not keep them any longer, but instead ordered them to immediately carry out the tasks he had just instructed them to do.
After leaving the tent, Prince Zhi went straight to his own tent. The Third Prince, seeing that he hadn't been sent, clearly thought that the Third Prince looked down on his riding and archery skills. He had just praised the Tenth Prince for being filial and benevolent, which was an implication that he hadn't rushed to the front.
"I'm going to check on the Tenth Prince," the Third Prince said to himself, and then headed towards the Tenth Prince's tent.
"Eighth Brother, shall we set off now?" Ninth Master said rather dismissively. "If you ask me, a woman like that has run away, so be it. Why should Father Emperor chase after her?"
"Shut up! How dare you gossip about Father Emperor's affairs? Let's go, let's search north. If we really can't find it, don't blame us," said the Eighth Prince.
"Really, there are Galdan's men to the north, we have to be careful," Ninth Master muttered discontentedly.
When Prince Zhi arrived at his tent, he looked around and ordered the eunuchs who were serving him to stand guard outside the tent before lifting the tent flap and going inside.
Inside the tent, two palace maids were packing things up. Prince Zhi stared silently at the back of one of the "palace maids" before speaking, "Stop packing. Put on your soldier's uniform and come out with us later."
The palace maid froze, then turned around. It was indeed the missing "Princess Baoyue," and the other maid was naturally her servant, Zhuoma. It turned out that Baoyue and Zhuoma had gone directly to Prince Zhi's tent, changed into ordinary palace maid clothes, and hidden inside. Therefore, when Granny Ai led people to search everywhere, it was impossible to check every tent. Hearing that no one had seen the mistress and servant, she assumed Baoyue had escaped. In reality, the two women couldn't possibly have gone very far.
After Granny Ai took it upon herself to delay, and then went to report to Kangxi, an hour or two had passed since they disappeared. So Kangxi was also led astray by Granny Ai, believing that Baoyue and her servant had truly escaped.
"Where does Your Highness intend to send us?" Baoyue walked over and asked, staring into Prince Zhi's eyes.
"Beijing!" Prince Zhi stared directly at the woman. He knew he had to hide her for the rest of his life, never letting anyone discover her, or it would be a huge disaster. But things had already progressed this far, and it seemed too late to regret it.
"No, I don't want to leave the grasslands. I still need to avenge my father and mother." Baoyue stared stubbornly at Prince Zhi, but even she knew that she was too naive. If the old emperor really wanted to kill her, he might not even blink an eye.
"Let's talk after the child is born. I have no power here, how can I protect you and your child? Do you want to die? Father Emperor has already sent me, along with the Eighth and Ninth Princes, to search for you after he found you. What will happen when we find you? Perhaps a cup of poison!" Prince Zhi grabbed Bao Yue's slender arm and tightened his grip slightly.
"It hurts, it hurts, let me go." Baoyue felt a sharp pain in her arm.
"Change into soldiers' uniforms immediately and come with me to find 'Baoyue'. When the time comes, I will have my trusted men escort you away from here, from the outskirts, through Jilin, from Shengjing, and then into Beijing. There will be my men along the way. You are not allowed to tell anyone who you are, and you must always wear men's clothing, understand?" Prince Zhi grabbed Baoyue's shoulder and stared at her solemnly.
Bao Yue's eyes were misty as she looked at the man, knowing that he loved her, but due to the constraints of imperial and patriarchal power, he would never be able to openly possess her.
After giving these instructions, Prince Zhi went out and fetched two sets of soldiers' uniforms for the two women to change into. He even gave Baoyue some black powder to apply to her face, as her appearance was truly striking. To conceal her beauty, they had no choice but to apply gray powder to her pretty face.
Prince Zhi, along with his personal guards and a group of men, headed south in search of Baoyue's whereabouts. They searched all the way to the southern border of the Gobi Desert. When they were almost at Khorchin, Prince Zhi made an excuse and, along with Baoyue and Zhuoma, who were mixed in with his personal guards, and four trusted men, sent them to a grain and salt trading caravan. He then instructed a few of his guards to escort "them" away.
Prince Zhi had already sent a message by carrier pigeon to his men, ordering them to escort the two important people. He had even decided on a hiding place for Baoyue in Beijing, in his villa.
Having done all this, Prince Zhi led the remaining men back to the front lines to report, while the other searching team, led by Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince, naturally found nothing.
Eighth Master and Ninth Master rode leisurely across the vast grassland on their return journey, their two black horses, smooth as black satin, followed by a group of about five hundred men.
“Eighth Brother, this war has been going on for almost four months, and we haven’t made any contributions. It’s all Prince Zhi who’s been stealing the limelight. In the capital, it’s the Crown Prince who’s been credited with procuring grain. Sigh. We’ve ended up with nothing. It’s infuriating. I was hoping to make some money, but the Crown Prince managed to procure grain so quickly,” said Ninth Prince.
"You'd better keep a low profile. If someone finds out, Father Emperor won't let you off easily. After all, this time, he's determined to win and crush Galdan," the Eighth Prince said thoughtfully.
"Don't worry, Eighth Brother, I'm very careful. They won't be able to find us. We already have someone backing us up outside, and I never have direct contact with those unscrupulous merchants," Ninth Master said.
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