Even after Li Zheng left the Yue army camp with two other men who were also exhausted, he was still in a daze.
He... he just left like that?
In his opinion, whether Jin Baozhu loved him or hated him, she shouldn't have let him go like that.
"Ah Zheng, let's leave here first, someone's coming."
At this moment, apart from Li Zheng, no one was concerned about this issue. In the eyes of Li Yuan and Zhao Qinglian, Hua Cai released the three of them entirely for Li Zheng's sake.
Zhao Qinglian was the calmest at the moment. After the three of them were thrown to the side of the road, they looked around and saw billowing dust in the distance, which meant that a large number of people were rushing towards them. She quickly warned them.
"Why are you being so nosy? My brother has his own plans." Li Yuan leaned on a wooden stick, barely able to stand. Seeing Zhao Qinglian's gaze fixed on Li Zheng, a malicious thought arose in his heart, and he made no attempt to hide his disgust.
She's been married to me for three years, and she still calls my brother "A-Zheng" all the time. Does she really think I'm dead?
Zhao Qinglian was stunned. Whether in her past life or this life, Li Yuan had never said a harsh word to her. This outburst stunned her, and her eyes welled up with tears of grievance.
"Ah Zheng, look at him." Zhao Qinglian looked at Li Zheng with a wronged expression, only to find him staring blankly in the direction of the Yue camp.
Startled by Zhao Qinglian's shout, Li Zheng snapped out of his daze. Before he could even speak, billowing dust was already approaching, and a large number of armored soldiers galloped past. On the banners fluttering in the wind, a large "Yue" character was particularly eye-catching.
“It’s Baozhu’s people.” Li Zheng suddenly perked up and rushed forward to ask about Jin Baozhu’s whereabouts, but was almost trampled by a horse’s hoof.
Zhao Qinglian quickly helped Li Zheng up, but he shook her off and tried to step forward.
"This is a forced march, these people can't possibly answer you," Zhao Qinglian shouted, her voice drowned out by the thunderous roar of tens of thousands of troops galloping by.
Forced march?
Li Zheng said with a chill: "Yes, as long as we follow them, we can find the pearl."
Even now, Li Zheng still believes that Jin Baozhu has some misunderstanding about him. As long as he explains it clearly, it will be a piece of cake for him to gain both the woman and the money again.
Thinking of that arrogant and sharp-tongued woman in the new city who looked down on everyone, Li Zheng felt a surge of warmth in his heart and quickly called out, "Let's go, let's go quickly."
Li Yuan had a leg injury, and Zhao Qinglian was a weak woman. In addition, the two of them had not received good treatment under Hua Cai's command in recent days. Li Zheng was guarding such a place, and his appetite was bound to be poor, so their physical strength naturally could not keep up.
The army's overall movement speed was not fast, but it quickly left them far behind, and they disappeared from sight in no time.
Losing their target in an instant, Li Zheng became somewhat anxious, but they had no other choice but to proceed slowly.
These three were always precious people, even if it was just a few steps in the palace, they had to be carried around in sedan chairs. When had they ever experienced such hardship? In less than half an hour, first Li Yuan, who had a broken leg, and then Zhao Qinglian, who was already weak, were both thirsty and hungry, and could not even move their feet.
The place where the army set up camp was so remote that there might not be any houses within a ten-mile radius. The three men, who had never been to the battlefield, would never have known this. They walked and stopped for a whole day, until it was completely dark, but they still hadn't seen a single sign of life.
"Are we going to starve to death here?" Li Yuan stared blankly at the stars in the sky, feeling extremely unwilling.
How could I, a dignified and carefree prince, adored by thousands, starve to death in the wilderness like a beggar, dressed in tattered clothes?
Li Zheng lowered his head and remained silent. He wanted to travel through the night. He believed that as long as he saw Jin Baozhu and cleared up all the misunderstandings, she would immediately return to the palace with him. The current difficulties were nothing to worry about.
That's right, it's a misunderstanding. In Li Zheng's view, it's all a misunderstanding. Over the years, no one knows better than him how much Jin Baozhu likes him. He can completely forgive himself for this.
But he wasn't alone; he had two other people with him. One was very important to him, and the other—who used to be very important to him, and now, very important to his younger brother.
In this world, the only person he truly cared about was his younger brother, Li Zheng, with whom he had grown up.
Because Jin Baozhu appeared too early, the struggle between the two brothers, Li Zheng and Li Yuan, ended before it even began. Under the deliberate instructions of the former Emperor Li, Li Yuan not only did not do anything to interfere with Li Zheng's succession, but also deliberately tried to maintain a good relationship with Li Zheng at all times.
With countless examples of people killing each other for the throne, Li Yuan, who was clearly more outstanding than Li Zheng, did not compete or fight for it. This earned Li Zheng's favor, and he regarded this younger brother as a confidant since childhood.
Even now that his beloved younger brother has taken the woman he loves most, he still tells himself that because of a woman, he has taken the throne that may have rightfully belonged to Li Yuan. Li Yuan has never complained, so he should give them a chance too.
Thus, Li Zheng granted their wish, and even unprecedentedly helped them deceive the world.
Although every word of Hua Cai's good fortune in the Yue camp made perfect sense, he still didn't believe it.
This is, after all, his own younger brother.
With his stomach growling incessantly, Li Zheng sighed as he looked in the direction the Vietnamese army had gone, then turned to look at Li Yuan, who was curled up on the ground from hunger, and, with his exhausted body, walked into the forest.
"I'll go find some food. You guys wait here for me." With that, he walked towards the nearby woods.
Zhao Qinglian was also starving. Looking at Li Yuan, who was standing motionless to the side, she really wanted to go up and say a few words. But remembering his attitude towards her, she felt wronged and stubbornly held back her resentment, ignoring Li Yuan.
Seeing Li Zheng get up to leave, Zhao Qinglian had an idea and quickly got up as well: "I, I'll go with you. I know some edible wild vegetables."
Even if she was not favored, she was still a daughter of a high-ranking family. In front of Li Zheng and the other man, she always appeared detached from worldly affairs. She thought she would never be able to talk about knowing about wild vegetables, but when she did, she felt no ripples in her heart.
Yes, they're all starving to death. What could be more important than living? She understood this in her previous life.
Zhao Qinglian recognized wild vegetables, and those who knew her past life would not find it strange. During the most difficult days of her childhood in the Prime Minister's mansion, it was these things that helped her and her mother get through it.
She doesn't know how much of those things she still remembers, but she definitely knows more than Li Zheng does.
Li Zheng knew about Zhao Qinglian's past. After all, Zhao Qinglian's mother was someone Li Zheng's father had met and then arranged for their marriage with great disdain. How could he not know this? So he didn't refuse.
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