Chapter 118: Explore its deeper meaning, everyone flees
"Shall we wait for Commander Yue to come back and discuss this?"
After all, it was Yue Zhu who brought the person back. Without his help, who knows how much effort it would have taken.
Xiao Qingxu was silent for a moment. He did not deny what Yuan Ji said, but mentioned another matter: "Compared to this, I think we should apologize to Her Royal Highness the Princess first."
When Yuan Ji heard this, he immediately understood. Without waiting for Xiao Qinggu to react, he and Xiao Qingxu bowed deeply to the princess.
"Last night's incident happened suddenly and the situation was urgent, so I did not discuss it with Your Highness. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."
"...Actually, I wasn't at the inn last night either."
When Xiao Qinggu saw the two people like this, his heart warmed and he helped them up.
"Besides, you have already brought Yang Qianmo back. There is great hope for the Shang family to redress their grievances. Shang Yuwan is fine now, so you don't have to do this."
Shang Yuwan had been so busy that she couldn't take care of everyone, and she was burdened with so much that she was sometimes a little disrespectful to Xiao Qinggu. Xiao Qingxu, Yuan Ji, and the others all focused their attention on Shang Yuwan, so it was inevitable that they would be disrespectful to Xiao Qinggu.
Xiao Qinggu was not unaware of these things, but she knew that these people were used to acting together. She had been with them for less than half a year, so it was normal for her to be ignored sometimes.
Furthermore, the journey had been fraught with difficulties. Shang Yuwan shouldered a heavy responsibility, Xiao Qingxu was frail, Yuan Ji was unfamiliar with her, Emperor Chengming was secretly monitoring and suppressing her, and the Crown Prince and the eldest princess, allied with Langjiang, were eyeing her covetously. Everyone had their own struggles and hardships, and Xiao Qinggu asked herself, what right did she have to demand that they pay such careful attention to her?
Xiao Qinggu is not a proud royal who grew up in the deep palace. She does not have the habit of treating others in a condescending manner, nor is she a blind person. She can see that Shang Yuwan, Xiao Qingxu and others accommodate and protect her everywhere.
"Hehe." Xiao Qinggu couldn't help laughing, "But now that you guys put it that way, I'm still a little happy."
With the secret protection of the eldest princess and Emperor Chengming, she has been traveling among the people of Dayu since she was a child. Although she does not have the same superior treatment as her masters treat their followers, she still feels warmed by their care and attention to her.
When she was among the people, there were loyal and righteous people who recognized her as their leader, but they were later driven away for various reasons known to Xiao Qinggu or not, resulting in Xiaoman being the only one left in the end.
She looked at Yuan Ji, "Yuan Ji, do you mean to acknowledge me as your master?"
Xiao Qing's advisor was not the Chief Censor - the master of the court officials, but the emperor.
She hadn't even sat in the Eastern Palace yet, so naturally she didn't dare to ask "Lord Zhongcheng" arrogantly.
Yuan Ji smiled and bowed. "I will do my best."
He believed that Xiao Wan would not make a mistake. If the princess was not so good, he would have a way to help Xiao Qinggu get promoted. In the future, he would have plenty of time to properly maintain the peace of Dayu. It would not be a bad idea for Xiao Qinggu to be a slightly more leisurely emperor.
That Crown Prince Xiao Qingji was truly unworthy of his position. Putting aside the fact that Xiao Qingxu was disfigured and blind, judging by his actions, it seemed he had no intention of seizing the throne.
What's more, Emperor Chengming also intends to let Xiao Qinggu return to the capital behind the scenes to explore his deeper intentions. Perhaps he wants to set up a high platform in Kyoto and let the brother and sister compete with each other based on their own abilities... However, based on the scandal that Xiao Qingji had caused before, Emperor Chengming probably wants Xiao Qinggu to be the winner.
After much thought, the only person who can succeed to the throne of the Xiao family of the Yu Dynasty is Xiao Qinggu.
When Xiao Qinggu heard this, before he could open his mouth, he heard a burst of hurried footsteps, accompanied by the sound of rummaging through drawers.
“Knock knock.”
"It's me."
Without waiting for Yuan Ji's signal, the secret guard opened the door.
Xiao Qinggu glanced at Yuan Ji, who said nothing and just spread his hands.
When he was less than 20 years old, Emperor Chengming appointed him as the Chief Censor against all objections. Of course, he was subject to deeper and greater shackles than other officials.
Yue Zhu walked into the room and saw Shi Kun's hands and feet were covered in blood.
He looked at them and asked, "What did you find out during the interrogation?"
Xiao Qinggu saw that he seemed a little anxious, but he didn't ask any questions. He told the truth, "Yanmen has 30,000 private soldiers and a large stockpile of weapons, but they haven't found out where they are yet."
Yue Zhu was silent for a moment and said, "Take the people with you and let's leave here first."
Xiao Qingxu was the first to notice something was wrong, "What do you mean?"
Yuan Ji also said: "I sent secret guards to kill those followers before, but failed?"
"We killed them, but there were too many of them, so we didn't kill them all. There are still people chasing us, and they all look like women, like those from Langjiang. There aren't many secret guards here, and the rest are blocking the way from behind. The people from Langjiang seem to be very powerful. I think they are about to collapse. We might as well leave here for now. After all, there are still many civilians here, and it's best not to hurt innocent people."
After hearing this, Xiao Qinggu and the others immediately ordered the secret guards to feed Shi Kun a sleeping pill, and then walked out of the room with them. They saw Lu Heying leading Cheng Yishui to ask the guests to reduce their luggage and save as much as possible.
They had fought against the women of Langjiang before, so they knew how powerful they were. Now that Shang Yuwan was injured, the host was frail, and there were several children and a Bailipu, these young and strong men needed to take their people and leave as soon as possible.
Ji Suxian stood in the corridor, carrying Shang Yuwan, whose eyes were covered with a veil. She and Xiao Qingxu exchanged a glance, then turned her head and whispered to Shang Yuwan, "Let's go first. They will follow later."
"...That's fine. They can't kill us all. If it weren't for Shi Kun and Lieutenant General Yang, whom you captured, it would just be me—the host. Come with me."
Shang Yuwan had slept well last night, and she fainted not long after. She woke up as soon as Ji Suxian wrapped the gauze on her eyes.
She couldn't see where Xiao Qingxu and Xiao Qinggu were, and could only hear Ji Suxian talking. This situation was very much like running for one's life, but Shang Yuwan didn't have time to ask the reason in detail. Ji Suxian had only spoken to her in the room when they were together.
Ji Suxian looked at Xiao Qingxu again and saw him shaking his head. He frowned at first, then said to Shang Yuwan, "He still has something to do. He will catch up with us soon. Don't worry."
"Okay, it's better to be careful." Because he couldn't see anything, Shang Yuwan couldn't help but hold on to Ji Suxian's shoulders. "Where is Twelve?"
Ji Suxian was silent for a moment and said, "She will be fine."
Twelve had galloped straight towards Langjiang, presumably to ask Zhao Qinglian for help. After all, Langjiang's world-renowned medical and poison skills were not in vain.
"......" The strength in Shang Yuwan's hands gradually loosened.
Her body wasn't as strong as before. Lying on Ji Suxian's back, she spoke with less confidence: "Can you send a few guests to look for her?"
Ji Suxian paused, then agreed.
“Senior Brother!”
Lu Heying turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Send a few people to look for Twelve and ask her to come back quickly."
As soon as Lu Heying saw Shang Yuwan, he knew who meant it and nodded in agreement. He looked at a few quick-footed guests, who, upon receiving the signal, clasped their fists and turned to leave.
Ji Suxian took Shang Yuwan and a few guests and went ahead. After Xiao Qingxu and the others packed up, they left the inn as quickly as possible. Thinking that Twelve didn't know which direction they were going, they kept leaving marks along the way.
On the other side, Zhao Qinglian looked at Twelve, who had been kneeling for a long time, and said calmly, "I told you, I'm Langjiang's general. I can't help you."
Twelve was silent and looked at the sky.
After a moment, she stood up shakily, brushed off the dust on her legs, and turned away without any reluctance.
Zhao Qinglian said nothing. When Twelve's figure was no longer in sight, she started walking back.
Just as she walked through the moon-shaped door, she heard someone leaning against the wall beside her say, "Are you really not going to help?"
A woman in a red dress was leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest, as if she had no bones.
"How does it feel to have your own sister become someone else's sister?"
Zhao Qinglian bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty."
The empress smiled sweetly and stepped forward to help Zhao Qinglian up. "Are you surprised to see me back? The Shang Liu Feast is in May, and it's only March now, so it's still early."
If she didn't come back after causing such a commotion in Longcheng, the old Emperor Chengming would probably really take action, and even with Xiao Tong helping her in secret, something would happen.
Zhao Qinglian lowered his head: "I dare not."
Seeing this person's distant look, the empress smiled.
"You haven't answered me yet. How does it feel to be a younger sister and become an older sister?"
Zhao Qinglian replied, "A sister is still a sister."
Zhao Qinglian could see that although Twelve was only three years older than Shang Yuwan, Shang Yuwan was obviously more mature in character.
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