Xiao Yi disguised himself and left his fiefdom for the capital. Little did he know that all of this was being monitored by spies from the Qianji Sect.
When Li Ting received the news, Xiao Yi had already set off for the capital.
However, Li Ting did not stop him; instead, he secretly revealed Xiao Yi's whereabouts to the Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs.
The current Minister of the Imperial Clan Court, Xiao Ling, is the son of the younger brother of Emperor Hui's great-grandfather. He is a stubborn old man who is very protective of the Xiao family's imperial power.
Zhao Yunwan's spies, planted near the Minister of the Imperial Clan Court, immediately relayed the news that Prince Anle was about to arrive in the capital to the Empress. The Empress was extremely anxious in the palace. If Xiao Yi were stopped by Xiao Ling, it would be a capital offense.
If Xiao Yi wants to live, he will confess, and then all of Xiao Yi's plans will fall apart.
We must stop Xiao Yi from entering the capital.
Zhao Yunwan sighed and lamented in front of the emperor all day, which made the emperor feel sorry for her.
"Is there anything troubling you, Wan Niang? Tell me, and I will take care of it for you."
“Jinglang, Wan’er wants to go to the Daxiangguo Temple to pray for you. You’ve looked so thin lately. I also want to pray for Ding’er’s safety. He’s been having nightmares lately.”
"When do you plan to go?" the emperor replied nonchalantly.
"Your Majesty, I would like to go tomorrow. Tomorrow is Buddha's birthday, and prayers will be more effective then. By the way, Your Majesty, I would like to bring along the future Second Prince's Consort so that Ding'er can meet Liang Jiamei first."
"I grant your permission. You may bring whomever you wish. I will also send fifty Imperial Guards to escort you."
“Jinglang, I intend to travel in plain clothes to show my sincerity. If I use such royal decorum, I might disturb the Bodhisattva and it will not be effective.”
"I am worried about Wan Niang's safety." The emperor's worry was genuine.
Zhao Yunwan found it very pleasing.
Medical skills can cure poisons and opium, but no one can break the curse she herself cast.
"Just you wait. While you're treating the emperor, I'll continue to poison him with other drugs. I have plenty of other stuff in my hands!" Zhao Yunwan thought fiercely.
Zhao Yunwan snapped out of her daze and playfully scolded the emperor, "Jinglang, have you forgotten that Wanniang also learned martial arts in her early years? Besides, Yuan Qibao's skills are ranked number one in the palace! And my secret guards are all highly skilled in martial arts."
"Yes, I had forgotten that Wan Niang was once a chivalrous woman. But I'm still worried, so I'll give you Linghu Yao, the leader of the Imperial Guards, and have him follow you from a distance to protect your safety."
Seeing that she couldn't refuse, Zhao Yunwan had no choice but to accept the emperor's kind offer.
The next day, Zhao Yunwan, along with Xiao Ding, Xiao Yuyan, Liang Jiamei, Yuan Qibao, and several guards from Kunning Palace, left the palace in a carriage.
The Xiangguo Temple is more than 30 miles away from the capital, and the only way to enter the capital is right next to the Xiangguo Temple.
Upon arriving at the Great Xiangguo Temple, Zhao Yun offered incense in the main hall and then said that he wanted to discuss Buddhism with Abbot Liaokong, dismissing his attendants.
A moment later, Zhao Yunwan disguised herself as a novice monk and went through the secret passage in the meditation room to the back mountain of Daxiangguo Temple.
Xiao Yi was already waiting there.
Zhao Yunwan had someone send a message by carrier pigeon to stop Xiao Yi in advance, saying that Xiao Ling already knew about Xiao Yi's trip to the capital. Xiao Ling had sent people to wait at the city gate. As long as Xiao Yi appeared in the capital, the Imperial Clan Court would have the right to deal with him, without even informing Emperor Hui, and would kill him without mercy.
After reading the secret letter, Xiao Yi's expression grew increasingly grim. He realized that his whereabouts had been exposed. He had thought his fiefdom was impregnable, but now it seemed that he had become a frog in a well.
Xiao Yi became more vigilant and, following Zhao Yunwan's instructions, went to the back mountain of Daxiangguo Temple for a secret meeting.
Upon seeing Zhao Yunwan, Xiao Yi pressed her for details about the whereabouts of the opium and the money.
Zhao Yunwan looked both angry and helpless.
"Your Highness, I did not obtain any opium at all!"
"Impossible. My people checked it over and over again. The code and delivery location were all specified by you. Are you trying to renege on your promise?"
“My man has been replaced. I only noticed something was wrong when I didn’t receive a reply. When I sent people to search, I found my trusted confidant tied up in the ruins of the delivery site. He only saw your people during the first meeting; the ones after that weren’t him,” Zhao Yunwan said through gritted teeth.
"With the capital under your control, who else has the ability to kidnap you now?"
“I don’t know either. There’s been nothing unusual in the capital lately. The only unusual thing is that Li Ting’s wife went back to Qianji Gate to recuperate and hasn’t returned yet,” Zhao Yunwan said, expressing her doubts.
"Xu Ningyou? The number one beauty in the martial arts world?" Xiao Yi recognized Xu Ningyou, but in his memory, she was just a frail, beautiful but weak martial arts vase.
"It's her. My men gave her a strange poison a while ago. Her martial arts skills should have been neutralized, but her life was saved." Zhao Yunwan wasn't afraid to tell Xiao Yi these things, since Xiao Yi wouldn't be able to cause trouble for much longer anyway.
"Zhao Yunwan, how could you be so cruel to the wife of a general who has no military power?" Xiao Yi asked in horror.
Although he was not in the capital, he was still paying attention to the movements of officials in the court.
“If we don’t touch her, we can’t touch Li Ting. Only when she dies will Li Ting lower his guard, and only then will my Ding’er have a chance.” Zhao Yunwan gazed into the depths of the mountain.
"Are you sure it was Li Ting and Xu Ningyou who orchestrated this?"
"I'm not sure. Because if Li Ting had done something wrong, I would definitely have known. But the capital is too peaceful."
"I've tried to seize the throne as the second son of the legitimate wife, and I failed. Do you think you can succeed?" Xiao Yi mocked Zhao Yunwan.
"That's because you're stupid, I'm not like you," Zhao Yunwan retorted.
"Do you need my help, Uncle?" Though he said this, Xiao Yi was actually thinking: "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits." He was waiting for the right opportunity to strike and seize the throne.
"Your best to stay put in your fiefdom is to help your nephew."
"Don't go back to the capital. I can only save you this once. Saving you is also to apologize to you. My men were careless, causing you to suffer losses. I will find a way to make up for the money, but you have to help me find the lost opium. Otherwise, you won't get a single penny!"
"Why should I help you? Ten thousand catties of opium isn't a lot. My fiefdom can provide you with another ten thousand catties, and I can give you half the money as before." Xiao Yi was desperately short of money.
The army needs to be supported, the assassins of the Green Lotus Society need to be supported, and there are also wives and children to support.
"I only need the batch that was lost; I don't need anything else. I just need to get through this period. Also, is Chu Feiyan's condition getting worse? Does she even find you dirty?"
After finishing her sentence, Zhao Yunwan turned and went down the mountain. She added as a final remark, "If you could consider waiving the cost of this batch of opium, I could find someone to examine her."
Xiao Yi watched Zhao Yunwan walk away, his anger finding no outlet, and punched a tree as thick as a bowl next to him.
The tree fell down. Xiao Yi had spent many years in Jiangjin honing his martial arts skills, but ultimately, his martial arts were those of orthodox warfare, which couldn't compare to the methods of the martial arts world.
After pondering quietly for a while, Xiao Yi mounted his horse, changed his route, and returned to Jiangjin. He needed to go back and investigate who had leaked the news of his arrival in the capital.
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