Two guards rushed to Empress Wu and Gao Hongyuan, “Empress Dowager, Imperial Preceptor, hurry, we need to find another place, the Black Armor Army is catching up.”
Judging from the situation, those brothers who went out are likely to be in grave danger.
A guard came over, carried the still-sleeping Ji Yanzhuo on his back, and led the way outside.
Empress Wu was also eager to get up, but she pulled at the wound on her stomach, gasped in pain, and called out, "Cousin."
Gao Hongyuan, who was about to follow the guards, turned back and glanced at her. His brows furrowed slightly, and impatience flashed in his eyes, but he still went back to help Empress Wu up.
The group quickly emerged from the cave and, taking advantage of the downpour, headed towards Tangzhou along the mountain path.
Liu Jing led the Black Armor Army to the cave entrance, where some of his men had already gone in to check it out.
"Reporting to the General, the man has escaped."
Wearing a raincoat and a straw hat, Liu Jing immediately turned around. "With the rain so heavy, they can't have gone far. Chase them!"
"yes!"
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Although Ji Yanzhuo was wearing a guard's coat, he was still soaked to the bone, and he woke up.
His clothes were wet and clung to his body, making him very uncomfortable. He shouted, "Put me down! Put me down!" and struggled desperately on the guard's back.
He moved so violently that the guard slipped and almost fell, but luckily another guard caught him in time.
"Your Majesty, please bear with it a little longer; it will be fine once the rain stops," the guard patiently comforted him.
"Put me down, or I'll kill you!" Ji Yanzhu shouted.
The guards had no choice but to put him down. Ji Yanzhuo quickly ran to Gao Hongyuan, grabbed his clothes tightly, and pulled him to a stop.
"Imperial Advisor, I want to go back! I want to return to the palace! Take me back now, or I'll kill you!"
It was already difficult for Gao Hongyuan to help the Empress Dowager walk in the torrential rain, and when Ji Yanzhuo suddenly grabbed his hem, he could no longer move forward.
Gao Hongyuan, once a powerful and influential advisor to the nation, was now soaked to the bone, his face etched with exhaustion. Looking at his son, who was still behaving recklessly and oblivious to the situation, he could no longer contain his anger and roared:
"Ji Yanzhuo, what time is it? You're still acting like this. If you want to go back, go back by yourself. Nobody's stopping you!"
Ji Yanzhuo was stunned for a moment when Gao Hongyuan yelled at him like that.
In the past, no matter how much trouble he caused or how much he lost his temper in the palace, Gao Hongyuan was usually kind to him. But today, he actually spoke ill of him.
The demon in Ji Yanzhuo's heart awakened once again: You are the emperor, and he is just a national advisor. What right does he have to yell at you like that? Kill him, kill him!
Empress Dowager Wu felt heartbroken to see her son like this. Clutching her stomach and enduring the pain from her wound, she said, "Zhuo'er, just bear with it a little longer. It will be alright once we reach Tangzhou. Listen to me."
"Mother, I want to go back to the palace, I want to go back to the palace! I don't want to go to Tangzhou! Mother, please take me back to the palace!" Ji Yanzhu cried, no longer referring to himself as "I" (朕).
Seeing her son like this, Empress Dowager Wu felt even more heartbroken, and her hatred for Yuan Hong and Su Ruojin intensified.
"Zhuo'er, we can't go back now. We'll go back and take back what's rightfully ours when we're older and more grown up in a few years!"
Ji Yanzhuo couldn't understand what Empress Wu meant by taking back what belonged to him. He only knew that he wanted to go back now and didn't want to be tired and hungry like he was now.
He plopped down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum, insisting on going back.
Gao Hongyuan was both anxious and furious. If things continued like this, the Black Armor Army would catch up soon.
"Ji Yanzhuo, if you want to stay, then stay. We're leaving!" Gao Hongyuan ordered directly, helping Empress Wu turn around to leave.
Empress Dowager Wu couldn't bear to part with her child. "Cousin, you can't abandon Zhuo'er, cousin!"
But Gao Hongyuan simply pulled her forward, saying, "Don't worry about him, this is the path he chose."
In fact, Gao Hongyuan's trick was just to scare Ji Yanzhuo. Children are easily frightened and will behave obediently once they are scared, which is better than him tormenting him like this.
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