Chapter 456 Chaos
From the moment Princess Guangning learned that the city gates were open, she had been feeling uneasy, always feeling that something big was going to happen.
She calmed herself down, raised her hand and opened the curtains, only to see the bustling streets with people holding offerings in their hands and looking pious.
This ceremony of worshiping the mountain god brought them hope, and also the hope for her survival.
Princess Guangning looked around the crowd but didn't see any familiar figures.
A thin layer of sweat broke out on her palms as she tightly grasped the curtain, fearing that Prince Yu would leave the city alone without her.
Yesterday she told her brother in a letter that the reason Prince Yu stayed in Yongqing County was probably not because he was blocked by the mob, but because he had other plans.
Now that he wants to withdraw temporarily, it is probably because his conspiracy has been exposed.
Prince Yu was unwilling to take her with him, and the city gates were closed at this juncture. She thought of a way to get Prince Yu to take her away, while also suppressing the public opinion that was unfavorable to her brother.
She heard that the Queen's father, Marquis Shou'an, had done a favor to Taoist Liu, so she used the Queen's favor to invite Taoist Liu to come out of seclusion.
First, she asked Taoist Priest Liu to shift the blame of the lead mine collapse onto Feng Zhihuan to clear the name of her royal brother.
Secondly, the people of Yongqing County believed in the mountain god, so she prayed to Taoist Master Liu to propose in front of the people that the royal bloodline be allowed to worship the mountain god.
As a royal daughter of Northern Qi, she was qualified to go to the mountain temple to worship the mountain god.
If Prince Yu wanted to leave the city, he would definitely seize the opportunity when she was offering sacrifices to the mountain god.
But the city gate was open, and her chance of winning was only 50%.
Although her brother had told her in the letter that Prince Yu stayed in Yongqing County to help him, Prince Yu was now in a hurry to evacuate, probably because he had been discovered by the royal secret guards.
Prince Yu acted very cautiously. Even if he killed one secret guard, he would still be wary of other secret guards behind the scenes and would definitely leave the city in the team she was traveling with to worship the mountain god.
But she was still anxious and even prepared for the worst.
If Prince Yu had not left the city in the team and had not taken her with him, she would have found an opportunity to escape and lived in hiding from then on.
Suddenly, with a "bang", the sedan was hit and shook violently.
Princess Guangning fell forward uncontrollably and screamed in fright.
"ah--"
Her head hit the broad, strong chest and she fell backwards.
An arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly in his embrace.
Faced with the sudden change, Princess Guangning was so scared that her soul almost flew away, and she looked at the person who came in fear.
"It's me." Prince Yu felt the person in his arms trembling, as if she had been extremely frightened. He helped her sit down and said, "Don't be afraid."
When Princess Guangning saw that the person coming was Prince Yu, she subconsciously shrank into the corner, her little face pale.
She said in a trembling voice, "Prince...Prince, you just came in like this, aren't you afraid that others will see you?"
Prince Yu glared at the woman who was almost frightened. Her eyes were misty and she looked quite pitiful as she tried hard to hold back her tears.
This is the real her, timid as a mouse, but also loves to show off.
Both stubborn and stupid.
Just as he was about to speak, Yun Shu's voice came from outside the sedan chair: "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
As she spoke, she raised her hand and lifted the curtain.
Princess Guangning suddenly pressed down on the curtain that had been lifted up, and said in a panic, "I'm fine, I was just startled."
Yun Shu paused and slowly withdrew his hand. "Your Highness, our team encountered a merchant caravan leaving the city. The horses pulling the goods were greedy for the offerings in the hands of the people and were unwilling to leave. For some reason, the horse following closely behind suddenly became a little impatient and rushed over, bumping into our sedan chair."
Princess Guangning glanced at Prince Yu and gently lifted a corner of the curtain, just in time to see a horse secretly biting an apple. Its big teeth slipped on the peel, and its mouth was so slippery that it only scraped off a little bit of the skin.
The horse shook its head and lowered its head to meet Princess Guangning's eyes, as if it realized that its cheating had been discovered.
It curled up its upper lip, revealing its teeth, as if it was smiling.
Princess Guangning looked at the horse's lovely movements, and her inner fear was slightly soothed.
The grain merchant standing by was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He suddenly pulled the reins and pulled the horse away.
"Please forgive me, Your Excellency." The grain merchant knelt on the ground and apologized. "I should have waited one more day, avoiding your departure. Tomorrow I would have brought silk and minerals out of the city to sell, and exchanged them for grain to send to Yongqing County to help the people. But the Prince of Guangling said that Yongqing County is short of grain. We can wait, but the people here cannot. I have no choice but to leave the city today. Who knew... who knew I would offend you."
Before, they were sure that Yongqing County was short of food and were unwilling to sell food to Zhao Yi at a low price.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Yi was sure that they would not transport the grain back after bringing it here, so he abandoned their grain and recruited new grain merchants.
They couldn't afford to wait, nor did they dare to wait. The moment the notice recruiting grain merchants was posted, they hurriedly sold the grain to Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi collected their food and made a request, asking them to transport the goods out of the city early this morning.
Princess Guangning quickly said, "You are also trying to alleviate the famine in Yongqing County. This is understandable, and I don't blame you. Get up quickly and don't delay important matters."
The grain merchant kowtowed repeatedly to express his gratitude, and then ordered the coachman to drive the carriage aside to make way for the distinguished guest.
The people attached great importance to today's sacrificial ceremony, but the offerings were stolen by the horses, which was a great disrespect to the mountain god.
They originally wanted to ask the grain merchants for an explanation, but the grain merchants were in a hurry to sell the goods in exchange for food, and all their anger dissipated.
Everyone quickly packed up the offerings and continued to escort Princess Guangning out of the city.
Princess Guangning lowered the curtains and looked at Prince Yu who was sitting beside her.
Prince Yu explained, "The caravan's carriage hit the sedan chair. The carriage was blocking the front of the sedan chair and was higher than the sedan chair, blocking most of the view. My men took advantage of the chaos to help me get into the sedan chair."
"sedan chair……"
"The sedan bearers belong to your royal brother."
Princess Guangning wanted to say something else.
"Wait."
At this time, the team was stopped.
Princess Guangning was shocked to realize that she had arrived at the city gate. Her heart was in her throat, fearing that the guards would ignore her status as a princess and rudely check her sedan chair.
At this time, several people stepped forward and said to the guards, "Sir, the princess of Northern Qi is sitting in this sedan chair. Let's follow the instructions of the immortal Liu and escort her to the mountain temple to worship the mountain god."
The guards' behavior of stopping people on the road for inspection not only offends the important people, but also offends the mountain gods.
Their wish was simple: they hoped that today's sacrificial ceremony would go smoothly, that they would have enough food to eat under the protection of the mountain god, and that their children and grandchildren would be safe and sound.
The common people put on a smile and secretly stuffed a few bulging money bags into the guards' hands, saying, "Could you please be kind enough to be flexible today and not question me?"
They had anticipated what happened today, and in order to have a smooth passage, the villagers each contributed a copper coin to fill several purses.
The guards knew how much importance the people attached to the ceremony of worshiping the mountain god, and they thought it would be better to mind their own business.
But the superiors have given orders to carefully search the team that worships the mountain god.
"The Lord has issued an order. There are spies in our city. Everyone entering and leaving the city gates must be checked. If we let the spies go due to our negligence, everyone on duty today will lose their heads."
The guard pushed the purse back. "It's not that we don't want to give you a break, but we on duty have an explanation to give to His Excellency. As long as there are no abnormalities in the team escorting His Highness, we won't make things difficult for you."
When the people heard this, they didn't want to delay the guards from doing their duty.
The guards questioned the people walking in front, and the sedan bearers naturally followed the sedan out of the city. However, the guards blocked the sedan and said, "Lift the curtain."
My dears, thank you so much for not giving up on me and waiting for me for such a long time. This book will not be interrupted anymore, I will update it every day until it is finished. I love you mua! (*╯3╰)
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