After approximately ten days of peaceful living, the Imperial troops were still in Mingzhou, unmoving, with no news of their activities reaching her. Ji Xinhe had been counting the days, as Mu Houchu had said he would certainly return within half a month, which should not be far off now.
She was waiting for his return, as well as for the court to make a move. However, this waiting was unexpectedly not difficult to bear, time seemed to fly by, perhaps because she knew that everything was going well with Mu Houchu.
One day, while having lunch with Ah Guai, a young maid entered and announced, "Princess, Little Firewood has returned."
Ji Xinhe’s smile faltered momentarily. If Little Firewood had returned, that meant that he must have detected some movement.
Ah Guai blinked, tilting her head to ask, "Uncle Little Nan is back? I haven’t seen him for several days. He’s always disappearing somewhere, never knowing where he is or what he is busy with. Why does Mom always keep Uncle Little Nan so busy?"
Ji Xinhe smiled and caressed her small head, "Ah Guai, go play first. Your mother needs to speak with your Uncle Little Nan about something, okay?"
Ah Guai was very happy, because her dad had sent a letter today saying he would bring her some sugar figurines. That made her very happy!
She nodded, hugged Ji Xinhe’s neck, and kissed her cheek before bouncing away happily.
It was only when Ah Guai’s figure disappeared from her sight that the smile on Ji Xinhe’s face faded significantly.
Little Firewood came in and bowed, "Princess, there’s been some movement in the Imperial court. A caravan has set out from Mingzhou and is heading to Yuzhou. The person in the carriage is none other than Song Yalin."
Ji Xinhe scoffed, "I knew she would eventually come."
"Princess, do you want to prepare some men to..."
Ji Xinhe shook her head, "Do you think the Emperor is foolish? He won’t give us this chance, especially since Mingzhou isn’t our territory. It isn’t convenient for us to act impulsively. It’s best to wait until we’re on our own turf in Yuzhou; it won’t be too late to make our move then."
Little Firewood replied, "The caravan is indeed heading for Yuzhou. However, their blatant display suggests that they don’t fear anything."
Song Yalin is not stupid, neither is the emperor, they must be aware of Ji Xinhe’s means. Regardless of whether Song Yalin is currently pregnant or not, considering that she is the Emperor’s last card to play, Ji Xinhe would not let her live.
Once she arrives in Yuzhou, Ji Xinhe will certainly execute her first and then report it afterwards.
It’s highly probable that Song Yalin’s caravan won’t even reach the entrance of Prince Pingyang’s mansion.
Yet, this caravan is still blatantly coming, apparently unafraid, undoubtedly ready and planned, or has other schemes.
Ji Xinhe’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she said coldly, "Focus on it first. We will face the enemy with soldiers, and face the water with earth. If she isn’t afraid of me, why should I be afraid of her?"
"Yes."
——
Little Firewood, along with a few others, arrived at the entrance of Yuzhou’s city gate and sat and waited at a small tea stand nearby. He was wearing a bamboo hat pulled low on his head, obscuring most of his face. He sat silently at the tea stand, appearing to be drinking his tea, but in reality, he was observing every movement at the city gate.
After only a short while, a man hastily approached, leaning in his ear to whisper, "They’re here."
Little Firewood’s eyes narrowed slightly and he lifted the bamboo hat just enough to reveal his dark, deep eyes.
A caravan had indeed appeared at the city gate.
Given that Yuzhou had just experienced war, people outside were basically avoiding it, for fear of encountering any bad luck. As such, few people had entered the city these days, and those who did were mostly poor commoners.
Such a large caravan suddenly appearing at the city gate was noticeable even without paying close attention.
However, the high-profile nature of this caravan alerted Little Firewood. He felt that this trouble must be resolved quickly and decisively. He grasped the dagger inside his sleeve, almost wanting to act directly, as he could no longer hold back his impatience. He feared that this trouble would grow bigger and bigger, causing Ji Xinhe to worry and trouble herself.
If he had known that Song Yalin would be such a big trouble, he would have killed her directly without saying anything at all.
But now... it was too late.
Just when Little Firewood was about to get up and prepare to assassinate them, he saw that the soldiers guarding the city gate seemed to have their expressions change as if they had been startled by something.
Then an attendant with a piercing voice coming from the horse carriage yelled, "Impudence! The side consort of Prince Pingyang is here, how dare you be rude? Let us in immediately!"
At this statement, even the soldiers who wanted to continue to be dazed dared not be dazed any longer, and immediately stepped back, bowing their hands and saying, "We greet the side consort."
However, their expressions were varied.
The soldiers of Yuzhou almost forgot that there was more than one female host in Prince Pingyang’s mansion. Besides the princess, there was also a side consort. This side consort had been extremely low-profile since the first day she entered the mansion. Her sudden appearance today was completely unexpected.
It was only then that the soldiers realized that there was indeed a side consort in the mansion, a side consort personally granted by the Emperor!
Although they were not very willing to admit it.
Who in Yuzhou wasn’t full of anger when it came to the imperial court? After all, they had just joined forces with Rouyi to attack Yuzhou, causing the people to be furious. No one was willing to accept this so-called side consort, this side consort granted by the Emperor!
How could they accept this side consort sent by the imperial court that had just abandoned Yuzhou?
Especially the Yuzhou Army, who had fought side by side with Ji Xinhe and had established deep revolutionary feelings. Not one person in Yuzhou Army did not deeply respect the Princess. Once they recognized such a master, they naturally would not tolerate Song Yalin meddling.
So now the soldiers at the gate look stiff, their faces maintaing reverence, but their hearts were practically rolling their eyes.
"Hmph! Ignorant dog, if you dare to block the road again, you’ll be dragged down and beheaded!" The dog-like attendant scolded arrogantly.
The guard at the gate changed his face at the scolding and retorted coldly, "Even in humble positions, we are only following orders. After all, there was chaos due to the recent war, and we didn’t know when the side consort left Yuzhou. Now that the war is over, she has promptly returned."
The tone of this statement was filled with sarcasm and ridicule.
When Yuzhou was in trouble, she ran away to avoid disaster, not hesitating to leave quickly. Now that the war is over, she knows to return and play the role of the side consort. What kind of thing is that?!
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