Chapter 72: It turns out that you want to kill the donkey

In the capital, the Second Prince, who had just been released from house arrest, received the news from Lucheng. He stood in the hall for a long time without moving. The secret letter in his hand was rolled into a tight ball of paper, which he threw away. He then stood up, picked up the black iron knife on the knife rack, and chopped the table in half.

The private army that he had painstakingly built up for several years was wiped out by He'an, who also drafted all of them into the conscription camp, clearly cutting off his path to making a comeback.

Princess Chen came over waving a fan and was shocked to see this scene. She wanted to go back but was stopped by Prince Chen: "Where do you want to go, Princess?"

Princess Chen was usually very flamboyant, but in front of Prince Chen, she was as obedient as a rabbit. She smiled and trembled a little: "I am here to pay my respects to you, Prince. I would like to invite you to have lunch in my room."

Prince Chen was in no mood to eat. He grabbed Princess Chen's wrist, his eyes as fierce as a ferocious beast: "Didn't your father's letter the other day say that there was no movement in Lucheng?"

Princess Chen nodded in fear. This was indeed what her father said in the letter.

Prince Chen threw her aside and fell beside the couch: "My 20,000 private soldiers were wiped out overnight, and you call this no movement?"

Princess Chen was stunned when she heard this, those private soldiers were the lifeblood of the prince, and he would not let it go after such a big incident. But in her father's letter a few days ago, it was indeed said that there was no movement, so what went wrong?

Prince Chen had been planning for many years and had the basic strategy. When something like this happened, there were only two possibilities: one was that Princess Chen's father had turned against him, and the other was that the letter had been swapped.

The first situation was unlikely. To the outside world, Concubine Chen was an orphan he had rescued from the people, who had no father or mother. This was also his way of appeasing his father, not marrying her to a high-ranking official from an aristocratic family, so as to avoid making his father jealous.

If it's the second one...it would be even more terrifying.

This means that He An had known everything about Lucheng for a long time and had already made a plan to deal with it, intercepting and modifying letters and changing instructions. If this is true, not only the letters sent from Lucheng to Beijing, but also the letters sent from Beijing to Lucheng will not reach Wu Quan's hands.

Concubine Chen was so frightened that she dared not say anything. Prince Chen threw down his heavy sword and said, "What are you still standing there for? Go to the Crown Prince's mansion and be a guest."

"Yes, I'll go right away."

He'an came to Lucheng in the name of disaster relief, and later secretly asked his father for permission to suppress the bandits. But so what? His father secretly summoned him to suppress the bandits, not to serve as a private soldier, which meant that he had not been investigated yet.

Right now, I have to find a way to clean up the mess as soon as possible and not let myself be implicated in this matter.

On the way back to Beijing, several prisoner cars were jolting along, and Wu Quan was among them. At this moment, his body was covered with wounds. If He An had not stopped him, Ji Lingchuan would have taken his life.

Wu Quan lay in silence in the prison car. Having fallen to this point, he could only place his last hope on the Second Prince. Lu Cheng's plot was a heinous crime against heaven, and the Second Prince would never let him fall into the hands of the Ministry of Justice.

She is a relative of Concubine Qi's mother's family. Even if she confesses nothing, Concubine Qi and the Second Prince cannot deny their relationship.

The magistrate of Bao County and the prefect of Zhenjiang were tied up and forced to sit in a carriage. After all, they were officials and it was not appropriate for them to be detained in a prison car before being convicted.

Finally they returned, but Ruan Qinghuan and He'an were not relieved. After what happened, it was no exaggeration to say that they had escaped death, especially since Chu Li was injured by an arrow.

Since this concerns the royal family, it will be a tough battle when I return.

He An saw that she was worried, so he held her in his arms. She suffered a lot during this trip.

Ruan Qinghuan looked up and consoled him, "Fortunately, the private soldiers' issue has been resolved, and we have restored peace to Lucheng and even the entire Zhenjiang Prefecture. We have done our best."

"Madam, you have interrupted me." He An sighed, "The Second Prince is still a prince after all. The royal family is not prosperous. There are only three adult princes. The emperor also prefers Prince Qi. The result of this matter is bound to be unsatisfactory."

There were open and covert struggles in the harem. It was not just that there were few offspring, but that the royal heir was dying.

In another car.

"Oh, I don't want to eat anymore. I'm not hungry."

"This fruit is very sweet and tender. It will be good for you to eat more."

Chu Li frowned and moved aside. Ever since they left Lucheng, Ji Lingchuan had been insisting on taking a car. He was either afraid that she was thirsty or hungry, and he even wanted to take care of her food and daily life.

The excuse is: her hands are inconvenient.

She only injured her right arm, which was not broken, and is fully capable of taking care of herself.

When Chu Li retreated, he advanced; when Chu Li advanced, he retreated. This continued for several days. Ji Lingchuan's meticulous care really made her a little overwhelmed: "General Ji, you should go on horseback."

"It's okay. Even though the ride is slower, it will take enough time to get back to Beijing on time. I'll take care of you here."

Chu Li: “…”

Four words suddenly popped up in my mind: putting the cart before the horse

In the past, she was the one chasing Ji Lingchuan, but now he is chasing her. This feeling... is weird.

At night, they rested in the inn. After arranging the prisoners, they returned to the room. Ruan Qinghuan put the sleeping Zimo on the bed and drew the bed curtain.

At the table, He An had a solemn look on his face, and Ji Lingchuan also changed his rogue look in the car and looked serious.

Only Chu Li was confused. They were almost reaching the capital, why were they getting more nervous?

He An took out the map and said, "Tomorrow, we will pass through Tongling Pass. The terrain here is dangerous, so we must be extremely careful."

Ji Lingchuan nodded: "I have ordered people to explore the way, and they will be back before tomorrow morning."

Chu Li: "After passing Tongling Pass, we will soon reach the capital. What are you worried about?"

Ruan Qinghuan poured tea for them. "This is about the Second Prince, and Wu Quan is a relative of Concubine Qi. Now that the plan has failed, the Second Prince will definitely not let Wu Quan enter the capital. Either he will be saved, or he will be killed... No matter which outcome, we must be prepared."

Chu Li woke up from a dream: "So you want to get rid of your troubles and get rid of the donkey."

Ji Lingchuan just took a sip of tea, and when he heard this, it all sprayed out. Although He An on the opposite side dodged quickly, some of it still got on his clothes. He frowned unhappily: "Are you a donkey?"

"You are the donkey."

"It's not a donkey, why are you so anxious?"

"Who was in a hurry? It was hot... hot." Ji Lingchuan explained.

It was a dark and windy night in a deserted inn. Just after midnight, a dark cloud covered the bright moon, breaking the absolute silence. The birds in the surrounding woods started to fly up. He An and Ji Lingchuan in the room quickly stood up.

Ji Lingchuan was the first to arrive at Chu Li's room. Seeing that the person was still asleep, he lifted the quilt without saying a word. At the same time, the person on the bed opened his eyes in a trance and met Ji Lingchuan's surprised and flustered eyes.

Chu Li was about to scream when Ji Lingchuan covered her mouth: "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were naked, I didn't mean it, I..."

Chu Li was so angry that he gasped: "Who is not wearing clothes? I applied medicine at night and wanted to air the wound."

She only showed one shoulder, but he said he had no clothes on?

Dark clouds passed by, and moonlight shone in through the window, illuminating Chu Li's pink underwear underneath her light and thin clothes...

Maybe it was because he was nervous, but Ji Lingchuan swallowed subconsciously.

Chu Li followed his gaze and hurriedly pulled the quilt off his hand. Ji Lingchuan also came to his senses at this moment, and simply wrapped her in the quilt and carried her to Ruan Qinghuan's room.

At this moment He'an had already left. Hearing the sound of fighting outside, he ordered Jiang Ming and others to guard the room, and Ji Lingchuan also rushed out.