Qiu Shen is right. If Prince Yu, Pan Yuanzhou, and General Lan have not yet met their people, they will certainly not survive if they return to the capital now.
“But we can’t go to Jingzhou either.” Ye Qingxue suddenly spoke up: “I’ve been in Jingzhou for fifteen years, the Prime Minister and the others must know that. If we escape from Qinglan Gorge, their first reaction will be to surround the Crown Prince’s residence and the Marquis of Zhongyong’s residence, and their second reaction will be to surround the Jingzhou estate!”
Upon hearing this, Qiu Shen and the others were immediately horrified. Yes, they could not return to Jingzhou; to do so would be tantamount to walking into a trap.
“As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is sometimes the safest place. We’re heading towards Kyoto. They’ll never expect that after escaping Qinglan Gorge, we’ll go in this direction!” Ye Qingxue said.
Qiu Shen said, "Okay."
Ye Qingxue continued, "We probably can't enter the city now. All the city gates in the capital are definitely heavily guarded, waiting for us."
The atmosphere inside the carriage was tense; even Chunqian and Xialv couldn't care less about crying.
"So, we found a village outside Kyoto to hide our tracks. Firstly, they wouldn't expect us to head towards Kyoto. Hiding in a village in the direction of Kyoto would be dangerous, but not the most dangerous."
"Secondly, we can quickly find out the situation in the capital. Once we know that our people have made contact with Yu, Lan, and Pan, we can fight the Prime Minister and his men for a chance to survive!"
Right now, going anywhere is a dead end, so the only option is to hide under their noses for the time being and let them be blind to what's happening right under their noses.
Fortunately, Qiu Shen reacted quickly, shaking off the guards of Qinglan Gorge and rushing out. He also had Zhan Shuang arrange for people to distract the emperor's guards. Now, with the cover of rain and night, the guards could not catch up with them for a while.
They ran another hundred miles or so, and when they were still about seventy or eighty miles from the capital, they found a village and prepared to hide inside.
Ye Qingxue's original purpose in going to Qinglan Gorge was to pick up the spirit of Yun Zhuo, so her clothes were very simple, and there were no fancy jewelry in her hair. Moreover, the jewelry had been washed off by the rain while she was digging in the soil.
They didn't need to disguise themselves at all; they looked so disheveled and pitiful that they could simply drive their horse-drawn carriage to a nearby village to ask for lodging.
Qiu Shen had already come up with an excuse: he said he was on his way to visit relatives in the capital, but was robbed on the way and lost several of his men, which is how he managed to escape here.
If the other party doesn't believe you, then use money to resolve the issue.
As for Zhan Shuang and the other guards, Ye Qingxue did not intend to let them enter the village, otherwise they would be too obvious a target. They might be surrounded as soon as they entered the village, so she had Zhan Shuang lead the guards to hide in the mountains.
The number of guards brought with them this time was limited, about fifty people. However, because they had not prepared for a "protracted war" and had set off in a hurry, they did not bring any food.
Therefore, they hid in the mountains and forests, where food became a problem. Moreover, their hiding was not just a matter of concealing themselves in the mountains and forests; they also needed to gather information about the capital city.
Ye Qingxue could only ask Qiu Shen to give Zhan Shuang more money: "Think of a way, at most two more days, and this matter will be over!"
She had considered that if her people couldn't contact Yu, Lan, and Pan within two days and successfully force them to surrender, then those hiding in the village would be found.
Now it's all about who moves faster!
Two days at most can decide life or death!
"Alright, we have experience, Your Highness need not worry!" Zhan Shuang said solemnly, clutching a bag of silver.
Ye Qingxue took two steps back and solemnly cupped her hands in a deep bow to Zhan Shuang and the guards behind him!
As a princess of noble birth, her actions startled Zhan Shuang and the others.
Zhan Shuang hurriedly said, "Your Highness, you absolutely mustn't!"
"You risked your lives for the entire Crown Prince's residence, this bow is what I should do!"
Zhan Shuang and the others quickly reddened their eyes and knelt down to return Ye Qingxue's greeting.
The two then parted ways.
Zhan Shuang, accompanied by fifty guards, hid in the mountains from all directions to protect Ye Qingxue's safety and secretly gather information towards the capital.
The rain was still falling, and the footprints they left were quickly washed away by the rain, becoming muddy and indistinguishable.
Ye Qingxue was prepared to spend a lot of money, but she was very lucky and met an elderly woman who, upon hearing that Qiu Shen had been robbed, welcomed them inside.
The old lady's house has a small yard and not many rooms, but they are all kept very clean.
Later, Ye Qingxue learned that the old lady had once had a daughter who married into another village twenty miles away, but was robbed and killed on her way home to visit her family.
That's why the old lady took them in so readily.
That was the old lady's only daughter. Her husband had passed away a few years ago, and now she was all alone. Every day she kept the house clean inside and out, as if she was waiting for her daughter to come home.
Yes, her mind was sometimes clear and sometimes confused.
Fortunately, he had a kind nephew to help him, which allowed him to protect the house from being taken over by others. Moreover, most of the neighbors were relatively easy to get along with.
Seeing that Ye Qingxue was heavily pregnant, looked haggard and disheveled, the old lady still wanted to give her some food and drink, which meant she must have treated her like her own daughter.
Ye Qingxue called Chunqian over and whispered, "Go and act as her daughter, coax her to sleep, and don't start the fire or make any noise."
The old man was so hospitable, she should have gone, but she was too weak, so she had to let Chunqian go instead.
Chunqian was good at this; she had a sweet tongue and soon coaxed the old lady into going inside to sleep, though she wanted Chunqian to sleep with her.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
