Chapter 153 Three Questions
Sun Wei looked at Huan Yi being carried away in surprise, and then looked at Lu Qiuyan.
He looked calm and had already sat down in the seat where Huan Yi had just sat.
"What did you do to the Duke?" Sun Wei asked with a frown.
"Nothing serious, the Duke just fainted."
"Will he wake up again?"
"No." Lu Qiuyan said, "He has lost his mind. It will be better for Jiangzhou and Jingzhou if he doesn't wake up."
"What are you going to explain when you go back?" Sun Wei asked.
"The Duke of the County already has a heart condition, and whenever his emotions fluctuate, he becomes ill. Everyone in the Huan Mansion has long been accustomed to this, and many are even speculating about when he will finally pass away. As long as the Princess keeps her mouth shut, there's nothing wrong with explaining it."
Sun Wei remained silent.
"Why did I keep my mouth shut?"
"Because if the princess speaks carelessly, the crime of killing the Duke will fall on her head."
Sun Wei sneered: "The Chief Secretary has good tactics."
Lu Qiuyan looked at her, as if she was just talking about a commonplace matter. "I should have informed the princess in advance of today's plan, but because it happened suddenly and the Duke suddenly wanted to see the princess, I didn't have time to tell her."
"Stop joking, Chief Secretary."
"I never joked with the princess," Lu Qiuyan said. "I am not her enemy. If we can reach an agreement, Jiangzhou and Jingzhou will be allies in the future. There's nothing to hide between allies."
"If they want to talk, the Chief Secretary should go and talk to the Crown Prince. I have no say in the matter. I just want to know, what is the Chief Secretary's next plan? Retreat, or continue fighting?"
"Having come to this, it's only natural that we should withdraw our troops," Lü Qiuyan said. "Don't worry, Princess. The siege of Wuchang will be lifted today, and the troops from Jingzhou will also leave Jiangzhou."
Sun Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally the trip was worthwhile.
She nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, sir. I'll take my leave first."
Lu Qiuyan did not agree, but only said: "Princess, have you ever been to Jingzhou? Don't you want to go and take a look?"
Sun Wei quickly understood what he meant.
"There's still a long way to go. Once things in Jiangzhou are settled, it won't be too late for me to come visit you again."
Lu Qiuyan smiled.
"But I still have many things I want to ask you, Princess. Please accompany me."
After he finished speaking, the soldiers behind him once again placed their hands on their swords. Unlike before, they had surrounded Sun Wei and the others from all sides.
Lü Qiuyan continued, "The Jingzhou army is just ten miles away in Wuchang County. Princess, do you not want to see bloodshed?"
Aju had already drawn her knife and was about to rush forward, but Sun Wei held her back.
"What a man who doesn't hide anything," Sun Wei said, "I'm impressed by the candor of the Chief Secretary."
Lu Qiuyan didn't comment and just smiled.
"Princess, please."
——
Lu Qiuyan agreed to let Sun Wei send someone back to report safety, so she sent Deng Lian.
She thought that at least Deng Lian would find a way to tell Sima Jun what happened here as soon as possible.
Before getting on the carriage, Lu Qiuyan suddenly asked, "Where has the prince gone?"
Sun Wei said, "Since I've been to Kuaiji, where else can I go?"
Lu Qiuyan looked at her deeply, said nothing more, and asked someone to invite her to get on the carriage.
The carriage did not delay for a moment and followed Lu Qiuyan to Jingzhou.
A'ru glanced at the scenery outside the window and sighed deeply, "What a coincidence! The prince went to Jiangxia at this time. I wonder when he will get the news?"
Sun Wei also looked out the window, confused for a moment.
After a while, she said, "Anyway, the siege of Wuchang has been lifted, so there's no need to rush now."
"No rush? Princess, do you think you want to live in Jingzhou?" A'ru asked. "The Duke of Nanjun seems to be on the verge of death right now. There's no guarantee that the Huan family won't vent their anger on you. I think that Luqiu has bad intentions. He says he has something to ask you, but he might actually be taking you back to be a scapegoat. Princess, do you think, between him and you, who will the Huan family trust?"
"Is there any need to guess?" Sun Wei said, "Forget it, don't think about it, and be at ease. Didn't Lu Qiuyan say that he is not my enemy? I am still useful, he won't kill me like this."
"You should be relieved." A'ru continued, "Princess, please calculate what will happen to Lu Qiuyan in the future? Will Jingzhou become his?"
He would wait for an opportunity and slowly kill all of Huan's descendants, and eventually Jingzhou would naturally fall into his pocket.
"Don't think about it." Sun Wei said, stretched, and leaned on the pillow, "Let me sleep for a while. I didn't sleep all night last night."
"How can you sleep in such a bumpy ride?"
Under normal circumstances, Sun Wei would not be able to sleep.
But she had a temperament. The more desperate she was, the more she would think. If she fell into Lu Qiuyan's hands, no matter in her past life or this life, she would die anyway.
Waiting to die, what's wrong with taking a nap first?
Sun Wei casually took a blanket and put it under her body, closing her eyes.
"That's better."
——
The group left Wuchang County and headed to Runan County to board the ship.
As soon as Sun Wei got on the boat, he saw a rider coming towards him quickly.
It was a man in rich clothes. When he reached the ship, he dismounted and ran away, shouting, "Where is my father? Where is that bitch? She killed my father! I'll kill her!"
As he was about to rush onto the boat, he was quickly stopped by Lu Qiuyan's men.
Sun Wei took just one look and then turned and went into the boat house.
"Who is that man?" A'ru asked, "The son of the Duke of Nanjun?"
"Our eldest son, Huan Ding, is now the prefect of Nanjun," Sun Wei said. "The Madam Yu who was our guest in Xunyang last time is his wife."
After a while, there was a knock on the door outside the boat house.
It’s Luqiu Yan.
Sun Wei let him in.
"My princess is frightened," Lu Qiuyan said. "That person just now was the eldest son Huan Ding. There was some misunderstanding earlier. I have already arranged for him to be on another boat. He will not bother your princess again."
Sun Wei looked at Lu Qiuyan and said, "So, the people of the Huan family think that I was the one who caused the Duke of Nanjun to lose consciousness?"
"I said it was a misunderstanding."
"The Huan family doesn't intend to let me go, and the Chief Secretary insisted on taking me to Jingzhou. Do they want me to die in Jingzhou?"
Lu Qiuyan laughed.
"Looking at what your princess said in anger, I don't know how to respond. My consideration was not appropriate, but please rest assured, princess, I will send a letter to Jingzhou later to explain that I will not let your princess suffer any injustice."
"Will they believe it?" Sun Wei asked, "If my last name were Huan, I wouldn't believe it."
"People are always different," Lü Qiuyan said gently, "If the princess's surname was Huan, the Huan family wouldn't have reached such a miserable state today."
"A tragic situation? The Huan family dominates the area, even the Wang family is far behind. What is a tragic situation?"
"The most lamentable thing about aristocratic families is their rise to prominence, only to decline. In his heyday, Huan Yi truly inspired fear in the imperial court, but decades later, he's nothing more than a hollow shell. Isn't that tragic enough?"
Sun smiled and said, "I think being betrayed by one's subordinates is even more tragic."
Lu Qiuyan remained noncommittal: "It seems that in the princess's mind, I have already committed a heinous crime."
"Indeed, if not eight points, then nine points."
Lu Qiuyan's smile became more amiable.
Sun Wei said, "Since the Chief Secretary is so interested, why not tell me your confusion right now? I can help you solve it right away. After that, the Chief Secretary will let me go back to Xunyang. How about that?"
Lu Qiuyan sat down and said, "That's not impossible. It all depends on how sincere your answer is."
"It must be sincere." Sun Wei said, "Please ask the question, Chief Secretary."
Lu Qiuyan pondered for a moment and asked, "How can the princess leave the Prince of Yuzhang's Palace and come to Jingzhou?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
