Chapter 179 Farewell
The father and mother were freed, and the husband declared himself king—these were indeed good news, but the situation was actually not optimistic.
Wen Zhiming's troops were less than one-tenth of the imperial army's, and less than one-third of the troops guarding the capital. If the emperor hadn't been worried that sending troops to pursue him would lead to a surprise attack on the capital by other countries, he probably would have already sent a large force to besiege him.
Even though her husband had escaped safely to the northern frontier, the emperor could not simply abandon him. The northern frontier was guarded by a force of 100,000 men. If they were to receive the emperor's orders to fight Wen Zhiming's troops to the death, it would be a tough battle.
Although most of the soldiers guarding the northern border were former subordinates of the Prince of Anshun, the area is now under the control of General Leng, appointed by the Emperor. They are subject to the court's jurisdiction and may not show mercy to the son of the former leader.
Wen Zhiming still faces numerous crises.
Meng Lingge was very worried about her husband, but she still had concerns.
Seeing Meng Lingge frown and ponder after reading the letter, Jiang Lin worried that she might not want to leave, and advised her, "Princess Consort, the Emperor has already stripped Prince Anshun and Prince Wen of their titles. From now on, you will no longer be the Princess Consort, but the Princess Consort of the Northern Frontier. You will be alone in the outside world, which is extremely dangerous. Just like now, if it hadn't been me who came, but some other martial arts master, you might have already been kidnapped and taken hostage."
This is not an exaggeration.
While the Du residence is safe, this only applies to ordinary people. If someone as skilled in martial arts or with immense power as Jiang Lin were to harbor ill intentions towards her, the Du residence would be unable to protect her.
However, the letter did not mention the Meng family. Meng Lingge guessed that everything in the Meng family was still the same, and her father was still the prime minister, serving the emperor.
Meng Lingge said, "Your Highness... Has the King of the Northern Frontier mentioned anything about how the safety of the Meng family could be ensured if I were to go and join him?"
Jiang Lin said, "The people sent by the King of the Northern Frontier said that the Princess Consort told the Du family that she was going out to visit two friends, and that as long as no one else could find her whereabouts, that would be fine. After you arrive in the Northern Frontier, do not reveal your identity until the Meng family is out of danger. This way, the Emperor will not be able to find you and will not have any evidence, so he cannot punish the Meng family without cause."
Meng Lingge nodded. For now, this was the only option.
Otherwise, if the emperor suspects that Wen Zhiming still has feelings for her and takes her hostage, Wen Zhiming will be in an even more passive position.
After all, she and Wen Zhiming had been divorced for two months. As long as the Emperor couldn't find her, he couldn't arbitrarily accuse her of a crime, which would make the Meng family relatively safer.
Having made up her mind, Meng Lingge said, "It's getting late today, so it's not convenient to bother Grandmother any longer. Leaving in such a hurry would also arouse suspicion. I'll explain to Grandmother tomorrow before I go to the Northern Frontier with you."
Seeing that she agreed, Jiang Lin quickly nodded in agreement.
Turning around, he saw Qiu Lan still glaring at him with her cheeks puffed out, and couldn't help but laugh: "Hurry up and pack your luggage. The princess is leaving tomorrow. If you dawdle too much, no one will wait for you."
"Mind your own business!" Qiu Lan retorted verbally, but her body reacted immediately. After saying that, she went to pack her clothes.
The prince became the King of the Northern Frontier, and the young lady became the Queen Consort of the Northern Frontier. Whether this departure was a blessing or a curse was unknown, but she trusted and relied on the young lady, and would go wherever the young lady went.
This bodyguard has no chance of shaking her off.
After agreeing to meet Jiang Lin at the alleyway to the left of the Du residence the next day, Meng Lingge left.
Meng Lingge and Qiu Lan didn't bring much luggage, but in the first half month after they arrived, Meng Lingge often went shopping with her cousins and bought a lot of clothes and jewelry.
Taking all of these things away would be troublesome, and leaving them in this courtyard would mean they might not return for who knows when, which would be a real waste.
Finally, Meng Lingge found the clothes and jewelry that she had never worn before and prepared to give them away. However, she was afraid that she might not be able to give them to the recipients or distribute them in a way that would be unfair to some. After thinking about it, she decided to give them all to her grandmother.
This move will not offend anyone, and it will also enrich the grandmother's private coffers, allowing her to make precise gifts according to the younger generation's preferences.
As for the two aunts, there are two sets of valuable jewelry. The eldest aunt prefers purple, and the second aunt prefers cyan. Just give them to them according to their preferences.
They only took a small portion of the small items they had worn, along with two sets of clothes to change into. After packing like this, it only took half an hour to finish.
After informing Chen Luo and Chen Ling that she was leaving the next day, Qiu Lan and Meng Lingge went to bed early to prepare to say goodbye to the Zheng family the following day.
The next day, the weather was sunny.
Madam Du was discussing with the housekeeper about inviting an opera troupe to their home to entertain her granddaughter. Although Meng Lingge was happy to spend time with her every day, Madam Du still thought that her granddaughter was too young and would inevitably get bored spending so much time with an old woman. So she planned to have the opera troupe come to the mansion to liven things up.
After the two finalized the opera troupe and the time to be invited, the butler was about to leave when Meng Lingge and her servants brought in two boxes of things.
Madam Du stood up, surprised, and asked, "Lingge, what's wrong?"
“Grandmother, these are some trinkets I bought while shopping with my cousins after I arrived in Jiangnan. They are all things I haven’t used yet. You can give them away as gifts or as rewards to the younger generation in the household. I’m here today to say goodbye. I have a close friend who married and moved to the area near Jiangnan. I want to see how she is doing before returning to the capital.”
Meng Lingge felt somewhat ashamed, as it was indeed impolite to leave in such a hurry, but she didn't want to disturb her grandmother's rest at night, and there were too many variables on Wen Zhiming's side, so she couldn't delay and had no choice but to be impolite to the Du family.
Madam Du said, "Why is this happening so suddenly? Have you been wronged here? I'm still alive, how dare anyone in the Du family bully my granddaughter? Lingge, tell your grandmother, and your grandmother will stand up for you."
Madam Du's face changed color, and several suspicious people flashed through her mind.
“Grandmother, no one has bullied me.” Meng Lingge helped Madam Du sit down. “I’ve been away from home for a while now and I’ve been missing my mother. Besides, I dreamt about this good friend last night, so I want to go see her as soon as possible before returning to the capital. When we have time later, my mother and I will come to see you together.”
Madam Du could tell from Meng Lingge's expression that she didn't seem to have been wronged. Moreover, since the matter of Du Yuanhua was resolved, everyone in the mansion, from top to bottom, had been very warm and considerate towards Meng Lingge.
Although Madam Du doesn't manage affairs, nothing in the household, big or small, can be kept from her.
She immediately remembered the guest who had been chased away by Du Yuanhua yesterday. The man's surname seemed to be Zheng; her granddaughter had spoken to him twice, her words revealing a cold attitude and even a hint of dislike. Now that he was leaving, her granddaughter was in a hurry to leave as well, suggesting that he had ill intentions and some bad plan, and her granddaughter was eager to stop him.
If that's the case, then we can't force them to stay.
However, we cannot let our granddaughter face the evildoers alone.
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