Chapter 60 Finally, the wait is over.
Yu Jun Pavilion, all in place.
The carriage, with its door half-open, has arrived.
The little emperor is in place.
Zhao Youchen was feeding the horses seemingly casually by the carriage, his eyes practically darting around, trying to see everything in a 360-degree circle around his head.
Look, even the angle between the wheels and the Yujun Pavilion is precise. Li Qinghe, you'd better kneel down and pay homage to His Majesty.
Just as Zhao Youchen was getting impatient and was about to tell Xiao Qing that he needed to catch his carriage back to the palace, a person finally came limping from the direction of the city gate.
Zhao Youchen narrowed his eyes.
According to His Majesty's instructions, Li Qinghe is a veteran who has been on the battlefield, was wounded, and has difficulty walking.
While remaining secretly on guard, he whispered to the carriage, "Your Majesty, a lame man is approaching from the direction of the city gate. He is around thirty-five years old, of medium build, and thin."
Xiao Qing tilted her body and looked through the half-open door. The person was neatly dressed and had a nonchalant expression. Although he was lame, he walked quite fast and seemed to hop around a bit.
The man walked over.
Zhao Youchen, his hand on his sword, was about to ask a question when the man glanced at them indifferently and continued walking forward.
Hey, hey, hey, if you keep going, you'll miss it!
Having waited for several days in a row, Zhao Youchen, whose patience had finally run out, turned around and stretched out his arm to stop him.
The man paused for a moment, then shouted, "Why are you stopping me?"
Hmph, what a show-off!
Zhao Youchen gave him a cold look and said, "Take a look at this pavilion."
"What's so interesting about a dilapidated pavilion?"
Zhao Youchen's eyes grew even colder. "Take another look at this carriage?"
"It's a carriage, but at least there's a place to sit. Come, let me sit down and rest my feet!" He looked around for a while and then happily got on.
Zhao Youchen was close by and smelled an indescribable odor emanating from him, so he instinctively stopped him again.
"What now?"
"May I have your name?"
"Heh heh, why should I tell you my name? I'm not sitting here!" he said, turning to leave again.
Zhao Youchen was somewhat confused.
Xiao Qing suddenly asked, "Who sent you here?"
The man was taken aback. "What? What are you saying? I'm just walking my own path. Why can't I walk here?" he shouted.
Xiao Qing quickly said, "Take it down."
Zhao Youchen acted swiftly, pinning the man to the ground in just a couple of moves.
Xiao Qing jumped down from the carriage.
"Now, may we speak?"
She held a cane on the ground. The top of it twirled in her small palm.
"What are you doing! Who are you people, acting so arrogantly in broad daylight!"
Xiao Qing noticed his waving hand. Although it was full of grooves and there was old dirt under his fingernails, his finger bones were not deformed and there were no particularly thick calluses.
Xiao Qing walked around him once, and amidst his incessant yelling, she ripped off his shoes.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go! Let me go!" the man shouted, struggling even more violently.
However, Zhao Youchen held him down firmly, preventing him from moving.
Zhao Youchen was also taken aback.
Why is Your Majesty taking off someone's shoes?
But what followed was an even greater thrill.
Xiao Qing squatted down and reached out to roll up the man's trouser leg.
"Your Majesty...Young Master!" Zhao Youchen was so frightened that he almost let slip the secret.
The man was also quite frightened. "I'll talk, I'll talk! What do you want to do?!"
Xiao Qing finally saw the wound on the man's leg, at the kneecap.
"How did you get injured?"
"Damn it..."
Zhao Youchen slapped him across the face, "Speak properly!"
The man was hit on the head and was a little dazed.
Zhao Youchen also examined the wound. "It seems to have been caused by a stick, and it's a fresh injury."
Xiao Qing looked at the shoe again; it seemed a bit too big.
You, Li Qinghe, are indeed in cahoots with the Grand Tutor.
Their personalities are so awful!
Xiao Qing stood up, clapped her hands, and walked up to the man. "Speak your mind. If you say it well, I'll let you go. If you say it badly, I'll strip you naked and you'll be leaving with nothing on you."
Zhao Youchen's lips twitched.
Your Majesty...
The man finally calmed down. "Waaah, it's not my fault! I was just begging in the city when some young master insisted on experiencing what it's like to beg. He swapped clothes and shoes with me, and then told me to come to Yujun Pavilion outside the city. He said his brother would see me wearing his clothes and ask me about his whereabouts, so I could extort money from him—enough to feed me for a month! He's ruined me! Are you his brothers? Waaah!"
“Tell me, where is he?” Zhao Youchen asked.
"It's right by the corner of the wall, not far from the city gate. That's where I beg."
"You were so evasive before, why are you talking now?" Xiao Qing still felt something was off.
“You want to strip me naked? This is the only decent piece of clothing I own. I could exchange it for a lot of money. You rich people might not care, but I, an old beggar, certainly know its value. I…”
A sudden idea flashed in Xiao Qing's mind.
"Fine, I'll grant your wish."
She looked at Zhao Youchen and said, "Take off his clothes, shoes too, and give him some silver." Then she turned and got into the carriage.
"Hey, hey, hey, you robbers! I'll give you the silver, why are you taking off your clothes?! I'm in big trouble now, who do you people are! Don't take them off, hey, hey..."
Zhao Youchen is an excellent executor.
Moreover, he finally understood why this person smelled so indescribable.
The beggar's body naturally smelled unpleasant, but his clothes seemed to be scented. The mixture of fragrance and stench was indescribable.
So, on this day, they met a beggar who might have been sent by Li Qinghe, and received a set of clothes and a pair of shoes.
As the carriage passed the city gate, Zhao Youchen slowed down his driving.
"Nobody's here."
"Is there anything else?"
There was nothing there.
"Stop for a moment."
Xiao Qing looked out through the crack in the car window and saw nothing there.
Li Qinghe really didn't show his face from beginning to end.
Why?
"Send someone here to keep watch and see when that beggar returns."
Xiao Qing was completely baffled and decided to go back to the palace to check on the clothes and shoes.
If what the beggar said is true, changing clothes is one thing, but why do he also need to change his shoes?
Even if these are new shoes, if they don't fit, even if a beggar doesn't care, Li Qinghe's feet should be bigger than a beggar's. Would it feel even more uncomfortable for him to wear shoes that don't fit?
Xiao Qing returned to the palace with a belly full of questions.
Fortunately, there was no danger, no assassins, and no sword fights.
Xiao Qing felt that she was lucky.
However, when Zhao Youchen's men later reported that the beggar had not returned to the city and could not be found outside the city...
"Are there any signs of a struggle?"
Zhao Youchen frowned. "There aren't even any tire tracks. It's cleaner than when we went there."
Xiao Qing felt a chill run through her heart.
Zhao Youchen asked with a grim face, "Your Majesty, is that beggar really Li Qinghe?"
Xiao Qing looked at the clothes beside her. "It shouldn't be Li Qinghe, but Li Qinghe is probably being targeted."
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