"Why did he attack Miss Jiang? Just because she helped us escape?" Zhang You suppressed her voice, not daring to shout loudly to attract others, but she couldn't believe this ending, and her tone was very excited.
"Hmm." Chunhua nodded heavily, tacitly agreeing with Zhang You's guess. She looked at Zhang You with deep sorrow and said slowly, "Now you understand why the princess is like this, right? The princess has endured so much hardship alone. In the past, she could talk to us about it and get some relief, but now she has to bear it all by herself."
Zhang You opened her mouth, she wanted to say something, but her poor words made her just remain silent.
In the past two years, just two years, the capital has lost so much. Every step was taken with caution, every step was retreated, yet it still ended up like this. In the end, Qiao Si had to shoulder the responsibility of the Qiao Palace alone.
The sadness of this is something that people like them cannot understand.
Even though they were the closest people to Qiao Si, they accompanied Qiao Si in her performances in the capital, watching her plan every step of the way, but in the process, they also became more and more distant from her heart.
She has become increasingly taciturn in the past two years because she has been restraining herself and dared not make any mistakes, for fear of causing fatal disaster and bringing trouble to the palace.
Zhang You could hardly recall what Qiao Si looked like in Dingzhou.
It was only two years.
But it seemed to have swallowed up the vitality of Qiao Si and the others. Every day was torture, and they spent the past two years like years. Most of what they could recall were the difficulties they had suffered during these two years.
Zhang You pursed her lips tightly, feeling mixed emotions. In the end, she just quietly followed Qiao Si's arrangements without raising any objections.
They have been together all the way to the present day, and unknowingly, they have been together for six or seven years. No one knows Qiao Si and everything about the former Qiao Palace as well as they do.
Zhang You thought sadly.
That kind of ordinariness, that kind of simple happiness, no longer exists.
Perhaps the deeper the love, the stronger the hatred.
The long-lost memories of the tender moments made Zhang You hate the person who started all this even more.
The person in the high position has not fallen yet, and they are living in exile. How can they take revenge?
That person should be made to experience the unforgettable pain of being skinned and boned, so that he can pay for the sins he has committed.
Filled with hatred, Zhang You packed her bags even harder. She couldn't wait to follow Qiao Si back, waiting to see what tricks he had in store for them.
…
Retracing the route back, the road was vastly different. On the way in, floodwaters blocked the path, leaving the roadside dotted with starving corpses. On the way out, the waters had receded, and the barren wastelands had sprouted new life, revealing a touch of fresh green.
"Are we taking the official road? Not the side roads?" Zhang You and Chunhua were sitting outside the carriage, driving. Chunhua was mainly leading the way, and Zhang You assisted from the side. Seeing Chunhua leading the horse towards the official road, Zhang You asked in confusion.
Qiao Si sneaked out of the capital, and they took small paths along the way for fear of being discovered by someone and causing trouble.
"I don't know the intention behind this, but the princess ordered that we should take the official road and go back along the official road after leaving the border of Haizhou. From what the princess said, it seems that there is no need to hide or conceal anything." Although Chunhua was also puzzled by Qiao Si's arrangement, she would not let it go just because of her doubts.
Zhang You sensed something was going on. "Could it be that word of the princess's departure has spread throughout the capital? So she's out of hiding and openly revealed her whereabouts?" Zhang You tilted his head, his brow furrowed slightly as he pondered something. "Isn't there anyone in the capital investigating this?"
"What are you investigating? Morally speaking, the princess left the capital because she was worried about Prince Qiao. It's just that this method wasn't very decent, but it's understandable, right? A daughter is concerned about her father's safety, so why wouldn't she go far away to look for him?" Qiuyue lifted the front curtain of the carriage, bent down and walked out, then sat down between them with a casual attitude and joined their conversation.
I don't know how much she heard, but she said so much.
Chunhua shook her head slightly when she heard this. "That's just our opinion. Who knows what the rumors will be like in the capital? Any news will change its meaning after being spread around the capital a few times."
"That's true." Zhang You nodded in agreement.
"Hey, why do you care so much? The princess must have her reasons for doing this, don't think too much." Qiuyue put her arms on their shoulders, her tone relaxed.
"Hey, hey, hey? Stop pressing on my arm, we still have to drive the carriage." Chunhua raised her left hand and patted Qiuyue's hand, staring at the two horses in front of the carriage intently, fearing that Qiuyue's action just now would mislead the direction of the horses' heads.
"Hehe." Qiuyue smiled a little embarrassedly because of what she said.
The official road is much easier to walk on than the small road, and the distance is shorter. After walking along the official road for half a day, you can return to Beijing in another day.
At night, they stayed in an inn beside the official road.
The people from the chess club were deployed by Qiao Si's secret department. When they returned to Beijing, they did not let the people from the chess club accompany them. Instead, the seven of them, masters and servants, rode back together in a carriage.
There were quite a few guests in the inn. Judging from their clothes, most of them were traveling merchants passing by.
They saw that all of them were women, and some of them occasionally spoke rudely, but they only calmed down after being taught a lesson by Qiuyue and Dongmei.
Qiao Si revealed his identity to them. When they learned that she was Princess Han, the princess consort of the emperor's only heir and more likely the future empress, they dared not act rashly anymore and bowed humbly to apologize.
Zhang You stood quietly behind Qiao Si, watching her looking down at them, as if she had seen through her plan.
The Crown Prince was deposed, Li Guanghan became the future Emperor, and Qiao Si was the future Empress. She had publicly revealed her identity today to announce her existence to everyone.
She set fire and fled that day, not knowing whether Li Guanghan would use this opportunity to make her "disappear" from the world. In the current situation, Li Guanghan has won the support of the vast majority of people in the court. Qiao Si cannot give up the identity of Princess Han. She has to rely on this identity to turn the situation around.
The purpose of being so high-profile is to hold on to this identity.
After Qiao Si revealed her identity, everyone in the inn treated them with great respect and arranged a good room for them.
The next morning, when Zhang You opened the door, the first thing he saw was the neatly dressed soldiers in the inn, ready for battle. Their faces were frosty, and their postures were firm.
Zhang You's movements drew their gazes, and the sudden cold stares she received shocked her heart. Unable to fathom their intentions, she quickly closed the door before Chunhua, who was inside, could follow, and went over to talk to them.
"Excuse me, young lady, are you someone close to Princess Han?" The leader was a tall general. When he saw Zhang You approaching, he asked respectfully.
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