"Ha, what other options are there? My father wants me to go on a political marriage. The only ones who can help me are my mother and my elder brother, the Crown Prince. Now, even they are worried about the consequences for themselves, so they have chosen to send me on this political marriage. Who can help me? Who would dare to help me?"
Yongchang shook his head helplessly, "No one can save me now, because the most powerful person in the world wants me to go and marry a foreign ruler."
“Princess, I have thought of someone who might be able to help you.” Upon hearing this, Qianyun quickly thought of someone.
"Who else can be more powerful than Father?" Yongchang asked without much hope.
"Princess, have you forgotten? His Majesty dotes on Prince Nanqing the most. If we could persuade Prince Nanqing to intercede on your behalf, perhaps His Majesty would change his mind?"
"Imperial Uncle?" Yongchang's eyes lit up immediately. Yes, his father cared about his uncle the most. If he could really get his uncle to speak on his behalf, perhaps his father would change his mind.
"Yes, Princess. The Emperor values Prince Nanqing highly and will surely give him face. Why don't you give it a try? What if the Emperor really changes his mind?"
“Yes, how come I didn’t think of that? There’s also the Imperial Uncle.” Yongchang turned to Qianyun with surprise. “Qianyun, I know what to do. I’ll go find the Imperial Uncle right now.”
As Yongchang spoke, he got up to prepare, but Qianyun stopped him.
“Princess, wait a minute. Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but if what happened today is really as you say, then from the moment you left the palace, I’m afraid your every move has been monitored.”
"You mean, Father Emperor sent people to spy on me? Or perhaps, my elder brother, the Crown Prince, and Mother Emperor as well?" Yongchang was stunned and asked incredulously.
"Princess, this servant is only guessing. After all, they all hope that you will go for the marriage alliance, but whether that's true or not, this servant doesn't know." Qianyun quickly lowered her head. She was just making a reasonable guess; she didn't know whether anyone was monitoring her.
"I was too naive; I actually forgot about this." Yongchang suddenly realized. How could she have forgotten? They were all people from the inner palace; how could they have forgotten about this?
In fact, Yongchang and Qianyun were right. Someone was indeed monitoring the princess's residence. However, the people monitoring this place were not the emperor's or empress's people, but only the crown prince's people.
The Crown Prince will not allow Yongchang any chance to escape; she must go for the marriage alliance. He absolutely cannot lose his position as Crown Prince.
"Then what should I do?" Yongchang looked at Qianyun helplessly. In the past, she had always relied on her mother and the crown prince. Now that the people she relied on were gone, she didn't know what to do.
"Princess, you could choose someone you can completely trust to secretly deliver a letter to the Prince of Nanqing's residence, or you could disguise yourself and go to see the Prince of Nanqing in person," Qianyun suggested.
"It's better if I go and talk about this myself." After thinking for a moment, Yongchang decided to go herself. After all, she knew the truth of the matter, and if someone else spoke, some things would still be unclear.
"Qianyun, go find me a maid's outfit. I'm going to see my royal uncle in person." Yongchang calmed herself down; she didn't care about the position of crown prince or not.
If her mother and her elder brother, the Crown Prince, had told her openly that they had no other choice but to send her away for a political marriage, she would have accepted it. But instead, they chose to deceive her.
They were clearly planning to send me to a marriage alliance, but on the surface they said they would help me find a way to put my mind at ease.
If I hadn't overheard those two people's words today, I probably wouldn't have known about this until the day of the marriage alliance. Moreover, I would have been kept in the dark about the truth, thinking that my mother and the crown prince had done their best.
Yongchang didn't want to investigate who had arranged those two people today; all she wanted now was to save herself.
The moon hung high in the sky, its light cold and clear. A woman dressed as a maid and wearing a cloak hurried out of the side gate of the princess's residence. She first cautiously looked around before quickly walking in one direction.
Unfortunately, the man hadn't gone far when he was stopped by a man in black.
"Who are you? How dare you stop me?" A woman's voice rang out. She stared at the man in black in front of her, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes.
"There is a curfew tonight. Please return to the princess's residence quickly, lest someone mistake you for a thief." The man in black was somewhat law-abiding and did not do anything to the girl, but simply stood in front of her and spoke threateningly.
"Who are you?" the maid asked, seemingly unwilling to give up.
"You don't need to worry about that. All you need to know is that it's not a good time to go out now. Please go back quickly." The man in black glanced at the maid in front of him and thought to himself, "My master was right. Someone really did send someone out of the princess's residence. I just don't know where she's going to send a message for help."
However, the man in black did not notice that while he was blocking the woman in front of him, another figure took the opportunity to silently run out from the other side.
The woman hesitated for a long time, then nodded slightly, and glanced fearfully at the person in front of her. She seemed somewhat unwilling, but helplessly turned and walked into the princess's residence.
The man in black stared at the maid's back, smiled contemptuously, then crossed his arms and found another spot to continue watching the situation.
Almost every gate of the Princess's residence was guarded by a man in black, in order to prevent Princess Yongchang from sending people out to ask others for help.
Yongchang had naturally anticipated all sorts of situations long ago. She left the palace early and had many capable people around her. Previously, to show his affection for her, the emperor had specially given her two highly skilled royal bodyguards who would only obey her orders.
Yongchang later tested them, and it turned out that these two people did indeed only obey her orders, and did not pretend to obey her orders but were actually the emperor's men.
Yongchang had just sent them to scout around the Princess's residence, and there were people monitoring and observing near almost every gate.
That's why Yongchang came up with this idea: first, he would send someone out to attract the attention of those outside and hold them back for a while, and then he would be taken out quickly by a royal guard.
Inside the room, He Liufeng and Qu Qingxi had already rested when Ling Mu knocked on the door, saying that Princess Yongchang had come to see He Liufeng about something.
He Liufeng and Qu Qingxi exchanged a glance, both feeling that something was amiss. Princess Yongchang's sudden arrival so late at night must mean something important and urgent.
When the two arrived at the flower hall, they saw Princess Yongchang dressed in simple and plain clothes, looking anxious. Although she was sitting in a chair, her hands were crossed and her eyes were wandering around. She looked somewhat uneasy, awkward, and sad.
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