She jumped off the carriage and said to the two men, "No one is following me anymore. I'll sneak back."
Tang Nian nodded.
The next moment, Jing Yao was stopped by Lou Mu.
"Is there anything else you need, senior?" Jing Yao asked.
"After we leave this time, I am worried that Ming Huan will take action against the court officials I brought with me. They came here to assist us, so I would like to ask you to keep an eye on them for me. If Ming Huan makes a move against them, I would appreciate your help."
Hearing him say this, Jing Yao nodded respectfully.
"Leave this to me, everything will be fine."
"Don't expose yourself unless something happens to the people in the city," Tang Nian couldn't help but remind them.
After Jingyao left, only the three of them remained on the road.
"What should we do with this carriage?" Tang Nian glanced at the young prince who was still dangling his legs and asked Lou Mu.
"It's not good to leave the car here. Let's walk a little further before abandoning it."
The journey in the car was boring, so Lou Mu told Tang Nian about some things concerning Jingning City.
Tang Nian had never been to Jingning City before, and didn't know much about it. She had never even heard of this small city.
Lou Mu rambled on about things related to Jingning City.
Tang Nian listened quietly.
Only the young prince was still stuffing pastries into his mouth, making chewing sounds.
From Lou Mu's words, Tang Nian learned that the most famous place in the area was the Fuyao Opera House.
It is said that most of the people in the city are opera fans. They like to sing and listen to opera, so the opera culture here is particularly popular. Many opera troupes of the Great Chu Dynasty came from Jingning City. Even the late emperor listened to opera there for half a month.
As he listened to him, Tang Nian's eyes also showed surprise.
She has never been very interested in opera and has never joined in the fun, so she really doesn't remember anything about it.
After Lou Mu finished speaking, Tang Nian asked curiously, "By the way, do you know where the late emperor stayed for the past two weeks?"
Upon hearing this, Lou Mu shook his head. He had not traveled with the late emperor at the time, and the officials who had gone with him remained silent after their return.
The carriage stopped in the bushes beside it. The three of them got out, turned around, and when they opened their eyes again, they were already on a small road not far from Jingning City.
The three of them walked together toward Jingning City, and Tang Nian saw more and more poor people on the road.
They were all emaciated and had blank expressions, clearly having suffered great hardships.
Tang Nian hadn't paid any attention to it at first.
But as more and more people like this appeared, her heart began to stir.
Tang Nian didn't consider herself a saint, but even she couldn't bear to see so many people struggling on the brink of death.
She saw a woman holding a child among them, who looked particularly pitiful, and Tang Nian couldn't help but want to go down and help her.
But Lou Mu stopped him.
"Don't be impulsive," Lou Mu said.
He found it somewhat novel. If it were Tang Nian in the past, she wouldn't need his comfort at all. Even if he asked her to help her, she would have thought about it.
But now, Tang Nian frowned, as if she wanted to say something more.
Lou Mu explained, "These disaster victims have been fleeing for a long time. If you rescue them now, the others will surround them, and there might be trouble. Don't forget our purpose in coming here. It's better to keep a low profile."
Hearing him say this, Tang Nian remained silent for a long time, but she also gave up the idea of saving the person.
Lou Mu sighed as he looked at Tang Nian's somewhat disappointed expression.
He wasn't surprised that Jing Ningcheng would act this way; in fact, he could say he already knew about Jing Ningcheng's situation.
He had seen these suffering people in plays before. In the past, he might not have paid attention, but in these turbulent times, he could not afford to be careless.
Therefore, he had already prepared himself mentally. Before coming, he had read a lot of opera scripts, and just now he had paid attention to the actions of these people, which were exactly the same as those in the opera scripts.
Seeing them now was not unexpected, but he did not expect that Tang Nian would find the scene before her unacceptable.
Fortunately, Tang Nian is someone who listens to advice.
Hearing Lou Mu say this, he did not insist on going down to save people.
Lou Mu breathed a sigh of relief, and the three of them quickly arrived at the city gate.
To their surprise, as soon as they arrived at the city gate, they saw a long line of people outside. Lou Mu and Tang Nian exchanged a glance and frowned.
Why are so many people gathered at the entrance?
Does this mean that people aren't allowed to enter Jingning City?
"How about we fly in?" the little prince said irritably, arms crossed and stamping his feet.
Before Tang Nian could speak, Lou Mu retorted, "Since they invited us, Tang Nian and I will naturally enter through the city gate. As for you, flying in isn't out of the question."
Looking up at Lou Mu, who had a mischievous grin on his face, and then at Tang Nian, whose expression was gloomy and inscrutable, the young prince snorted and leaned closer to Tang Nian.
He couldn't let his senior sister be alone with that stinky fox.
Since the young prince wanted to go together, the three of them walked inside.
After finally squeezing through, I saw two men who looked like soldiers guarding the entrance.
Ordinary people who want to enter need a pass.
Of course, some government officials or merchant caravans did not need any permits as long as they paid enough money.
They watched as one of the guards kicked an old man to the ground, then snarled at the other ordinary people trying to enter the city: "What are you all doing here? Get out of my way! If you dare to barge in again, don't blame me for being ruthless."
After saying that, he raised the iron knife in his hand and waved it at the ordinary people.
Ordinary people were afraid of these soldiers, so they dared not push any further.
Tang Nian and Lou Mu frowned as they watched.
"Is this place really under the jurisdiction of the Great Chu?" Tang Nian frowned and looked at Lou Mu.
"I'm going to add a line to his name in the Book of Life and Death," the young prince said indignantly.
When Lou Mu and Tang Nian arrived in front of the two soldiers at the city gate, the soldiers paid no attention to the young prince. They glanced at Lou Mu and Tang Nian with a dismissive expression.
But when he saw that the two men were dressed in fine clothes, the soldier in the lead immediately showed a fawning expression.
He bowed and scraped to Tang Nian and Lou Mu, then asked, "Do you two have travel permits?"
Tang Nian nodded and took out the invitation.
The soldier took it and looked at it. His expression changed drastically, and he became even more polite to Tang Nian.
They inquired about Lou Mu's identity and, upon learning that Lou Mu was actually the Grand Secretary of the current dynasty, became even more respectful to the two of them.
He didn't bother guarding the gate anymore, and handed over his duties to his companions before taking Lou Mu and Tang Nian into the city.
As soon as Tang Nian entered, she sensed that the atmosphere in the city seemed a bit strange.
The streets here are very different from those elsewhere.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com