Chapter 13, Chapter 93: If there is no sky curtain (2)
"Your Majesty means...?"
Your Majesty, how could you go back on your word? I've only been enjoying my carefree days for a short while, and now you're dragging me back?
Huai Leju's expression was indifferent, as if he was reluctant to explain to him. It wasn't until Gu Xunhui stared at him for a long time that he reluctantly said, "It's nothing serious, just come with me."
Zhou She: "..."
Do you think I believe you?
He was speechless, and after holding back for a while, he finally managed to squeeze out, "How's things in the capital? Can you at least tell me that?"
Huai Leju: "The Crown Prince has been established."
Zhou She's heart skipped a beat: "Second Prince?"
“That’s right.” Huai Leju quickly admitted that this was something that could be easily found out by asking around, and besides, with Gu Xunhui here, it wouldn’t be a big problem to give him a little hint.
The second prince was indeed riding high after being named crown prince. In contrast, Zhou Xuyan's life was not so easy.
He had always been a staunch supporter of the Third Prince, but now that the Third Prince was dead, he had to act with extreme caution.
Huai Leju brought only a few people to pick up Zhou She. The number of people was small, but they were all capable and obviously competent subordinates.
"Pack your things as soon as possible," Huai Leju said with a long face. "Go to the estate outside the city and wait for me."
Zhou She sensed something in his strange attitude, flicked his sleeves, and as he brushed past him, said with a smile, "Then I'll be going now. Please let me know when you're leaving."
Huai Leju gave a vague and ambiguous response.
Zhou She lost interest in talking just looking at his face and walked away quickly. Before leaving, he took a few more glances at the courtyard he had recently rented.
The houses in Jiangzhou are much more spacious than those in the capital. Looking out from the courtyard gate, one can see green hills and clear waters in the distance, with willow branches swaying in the breeze—a beautiful spring scene.
Zhou She: "..." Sigh, his money, this is a one-year lease.
Zhou She didn't care what Huai Leju had done; he only knew that one night, the guy suddenly climbed through the window into his room, and the smell of blood wafted over with him.
It was raining heavily outside the window, the rain pattering loudly. Zhou She was awakened by the sound, and as he got up to close the window, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck.
Zhou She froze, and in the dim light of the night, he could vaguely make out the other person's face.
Half of Huai Leju's body was stained crimson with blood, and he was completely soaked. He stood sideways, his eyes wary, and said in a low voice, "Come with me."
Zhou She's Adam's apple bobbed as he whispered, "Zhao Niang..."
“Someone will come and take her away,” Huai Leju answered without hesitation.
Zhou She waved his hand, signaling him not to be too nervous, then sighed, "What are you afraid of me for? What can I, an ordinary playboy, do?"
Huai Leju's knife was at his neck, his hand incredibly steady.
Zhou She thought to himself, "This guy isn't afraid of killing me at all." At the same time, he also had some doubts: Jiangzhou wasn't a border region, so only Liang Jiaxing, the prefect of Jiangzhou, could have done something like this.
And what about himself?
Zhou She's mind raced.
In his twenty-odd years, he had never done a single bad thing. Zhou She could swear to God that, apart from playing a dirty trick on Zhou Ze, he had always acted in accordance with his conscience.
He did have some minor conflicts with Huai Leju, but these conflicts were not enough to drive Huai Leju to the point of kidnapping him.
With that in mind, he obediently got into the carriage with Huai Leju.
Zhou Yi was held in the arms of Huai Leju's subordinate. Zhou She was really worried and reached out to take his daughter from him.
Huai Leju said coldly, "The roads are slippery in the rain, Young Master Zhou, you should hand her over to us."
Zhou She smirked: "You wouldn't even spare a girl who's only a year old?"
Their eyes met, a fleeting, thunderous moment. Huai Leju swiftly turned away, mounted his horse, and cracked his whip, shouting, "Giddy up!"
Jiangzhou Su'an City had already mobilized in a very short time. The city gates were sealed, but no one knew that the group that had alarmed the entire city had already left.
In the rainy night, the group sped away. The splashes of water from the horses' hooves were nothing compared to the torrential rain.
As Zhou She rode his horse, he cursed under his breath.
He didn't care, but his daughter was still young, and Gu Xunhui wasn't exactly strong and healthy. What if she caught a cold after getting caught in the rain?
Huai Leju was indeed a scoundrel. It was perfectly normal for him to dislike this guy. Having Huai Leju pick him up was worse than going back on his own.
Fortunately, no one chased after them, or they failed to catch up.
As they were about to enter the next city, before Huai Leju could change course, Zhou She was already cursing and asking, "Are we going into the city?"
His eyes were filled with distrust.
Huai Leju: "...Let's not go into the city. Let's find a place to take shelter from the rain and rest for the night."
After a night of fleeing, the rain finally subsided. The group found a dilapidated temple in the countryside, lit a fire, and sat together to warm themselves.
Huai Leju was seriously injured. Zhou She lagged behind, not because his riding skills were poor, but because he was covering their retreat.
It wasn't until he stepped inside and saw Huai Leju trembling slightly that he realized this.
He strode over to Huai Leju and slowly sat down: "What did you do?"
If Liang Jiaxing has been pushed to the brink, it's definitely not a small matter. Putting a knife to his neck is also inextricably linked to the Zhou family.
He could almost guess the truth, but he still couldn't help asking this question.
Huai Leju listlessly raised his eyelids, his tone still stiff: "Don't ask things you shouldn't ask."
Zhou She almost laughed out of anger: "Fine, aren't you afraid I'll throw you back? I'm a member of the Zhou family!"
Huai Leju didn't speak, but the expression on the face of the official next to him changed drastically.
Zhou She waited for a while but received no reply. Then he looked again and saw that the other person was leaning on his subordinate's shoulder and had fallen asleep.
Zhou She stared at his face, and his subordinates stared back at him nervously, a tense standoff ensued.
After a moment of silence, Zhou She expressionlessly tossed out a bag of medicine: "Give your superior some medicine, lest he die here."
The other person quickly picked it up and was about to thank him when Zhou She had already strolled away, leaving them only with his back view.
Gu Xunhui hadn't figured out what had happened yet, and was huddled in front of the fire, trying to dry the clothes of the others to prevent them from catching a cold later.
Seeing Zhou She approach, she looked up and asked softly, "Is he alright?"
She was asking about Wyliek.
Zhou She nodded with a stern face: "Alive."
Gu Xunhui was taken aback: "Lord Huai has the most experience, so we should still be more careful."
Zhou She was distracted and gave a perfunctory answer. After a while, he replied, "He won't die. If something really happens..."
He smiled slightly, then said calmly, "I will protect you."
Gu Xunhui shook his head: "Just protect Yi Niang."
Huai Leju slept soundly all night and only woke up with great difficulty.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and a figure sat not far away, his back to the viewer. He had one leg propped up on his hip, a knife beside him, and his impatience was evident even in the tips of his hair.
Huai Leju struggled to sit up, letting his subordinates change his wound dressing, gritting his teeth and remaining silent.
Hearing the noise, Zhou She turned around and held out a hand: "What did you take? Let me see?"
Huai Leju twitched the corners of his mouth, actually revealing a smile, though it looked extremely fake, it was indeed a smile: "Do you dare to look?"
Zhou She didn't even lift his eyelids: "Guess whether I dare or not?"
His public image has always been frivolous, and this is the first time he has spoken to Wyman Wong in such a tone.
Just as Huai Leju was about to say something, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from afar.
The group simultaneously became alert, and the tense atmosphere shifted outwards, making things seem much more harmonious.
Zhou She turned slightly to the side, his brows furrowing in impatience.
It was only then that Huai Leju realized that this place was different from yesterday. After he fell unconscious, the group moved their position again.
Both men gripped their weapons at the same time. Fortunately, the sound of hooves gradually faded into the distance and did not linger for long.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Zhou She only showed one eye, looking around to make sure no one was around before turning to look at Huai Leju.
His eyes held a hint of helplessness and a touch of sarcasm: "If you can't even do this little thing right, what else can you do?"
Huai Leju: "..."
Robbing a high-ranking official's house should not be categorized as "this kind of thing" no matter what.
The subordinate official spoke a few words to Huai Leju. Zhou She guessed that it was a recounting of everything that had happened the previous night, so he sat idly to the side and waited.
While listening to the report, Huai Leju tidied himself up a bit, looked Zhou She up and down with a probing look, and finally said, "Thank you."
Although Zhou She was mostly ignorant and incompetent, he was capable of stabbing himself to death when he got angry.
It's even more unbelievable that they're willing to help him.
Zhou She gave a soft snort, not even glancing at him, clearly still angry: "I should be thanking my lucky stars that you got us home safely."
After saying that, he turned his head and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye: "Oh no, I misspoke. I should be thanking my lucky stars if I can get Lord Huai back to the capital safely."
Looking at the guy's half-dead appearance and then at the appearance of the several elite Imperial Guards next to him, Zhou She felt as if the world had lost its light.
Huai Leju finally felt a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to respond, Zhou She patted his clothes and said, "Let's go back to the capital."
Huai Leju fell silent, touched the tightly wrapped item in his arms, and nodded, saying, "Let's go."
The rest of the journey went smoothly. After crossing the Yangtze River, we were able to proceed to the capital via the proper route.
Emperor Hong'an received Huai Leju first. Zhou She changed his clothes and waited in the side hall for a long time. It was almost dark when the chief eunuch Zhao Wencai hurriedly came to find him: "Young Master, His Majesty summons you."
Zhou She responded and tidied his clothes even more neatly before carefully following Zhao Wen inside.
Huai Leju was walking out when the two brushed past each other. Zhou She greeted the emperor, and a pair of warm hands gently supported him: "Xingyuan, how have you been in Jiangzhou?"
Zhou She hurriedly replied, "Although it is not as prosperous as the capital, it is still a rare place of prosperity."
The emperor chuckled softly.
Zhou She couldn't understand why his maternal grandfather had brought him back.
He's an uneducated, unambitious person who just wants to get by every day. He's only here to cause trouble in the capital.
It has to be said that he is far too aware of his own image.
Just as he was pondering, the emperor's melancholy voice came from above: "Not long ago you wanted to leave the capital, and I knew your difficulties, so I granted your request. Now that the fighting has subsided, I am worried about you being far away in Jiangzhou. Judging from your appearance, you seem to be doing well."
Zhou She: "..."
Your Majesty, are you ill?
He couldn't be better. The second prince was made crown prince, and it's not like all his brothers died. Why bring him here? What are they trying to do?
Of course, Zhou She knew that the emperor's intentions were impure and that he did not truly want to see him.
As expected, the emperor changed the subject: "However, I would like to ask, what are your thoughts on the various issues concerning the Zhou family?"
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