The journey from the border city all the way to the capital had taken just over a day. Of course, compared to ordinary people, Jiu’er and her companions traveled several times faster.
But in this ancient era, there were no trains, no automobiles—at most, one could ride a horse forward.
That they had reached the very center of the capital in just over a day showed just how small Ruohe’s territory truly was.
Looking at the terrain map, it was at most the size of two Feng Huang Cities.
In the evening of the second day, Jiu’er and the others arrived at the capital and finally met up with Xing Zizhou.
“Darker, thinner—but you look sturdier.” Feng Jiu’er looked at Xing Zizhou, who had disguised himself with a beard, and gave a faint smile. “Life hasn’t been easy, has it?”
“Hiding here and there—it really hasn’t been easy.” Xing Zizhou pulled off his hat and beard, and without delay, gave Feng Jiu’er a rough briefing on the situation with the Second Prince.
Earlier, holding the Ninth Prince’s token, he had already met with the Second Prince.
The Second Prince had agreed that as long as he could persuade the King of Ruohe, he would personally leave the city to negotiate peace with the Ninth Prince’s army and sign a peace agreement.
Although the Ninth Prince himself didn’t know about this, the Second Prince had seen this token and assumed Xing Zizhou had been sent by the Ninth Prince.
But for Jiu’er, persuading her Ninth Imperial Uncle wasn’t difficult at all—the Ninth Prince had never wanted to fight this war in the first place.
The current problem, though, was how to persuade the King of Ruohe.
But just as Xing Zizhou and the Second Prince were about to discuss things further, Xing Zizhou’s residence was suddenly raided by the First Prince’s men, and he had very nearly fallen into the First Prince’s hands.
He had only been able to disguise himself and slip away to hide, never expecting that the very next night he would hear news that something had happened to the Second Prince.
In Xing Zizhou’s view, it must have been that the First Prince’s men found out about his meeting with the Second Prince on the Ninth Prince’s behalf, and the First Prince had struck first, framing the Second Prince.
Following that, in order to eliminate the Ninth Prince’s people as well, even Xing Zizhou himself was now being hunted by the First Prince’s men.
“Who is that consort who was framed for a secret meeting with the Second Prince? Where is she now?” Feng Jiu’er asked.
“That is the consort the King of Ruohe has favored most these past two years. I don’t know the details yet—during this time I haven’t had any chance to see the Second Prince at all.”
Scandals within the royal family wouldn’t truly spread far and wide—at the very least, some restraint would be exercised.
The reason Xing Zizhou had even heard news of the Second Prince’s misfortune was because the First Prince, wanting to thoroughly crush the Second Prince’s power, had deliberately spread the news himself.
After learning of the Second Prince’s misfortune, many of the ministers who had previously remained neutral or supported the Second Prince had switched their loyalty to the First Prince—this was also where the rumors had originated.
Once a rumor spreads, whether true or false, it has already left its mark on the hearts of the common people.
This being the case, the Second Prince’s chances of one day inheriting the throne had grown far more difficult.
In short, the matter of the Second Prince’s misfortune was a piece of news deliberately spread by the First Prince, but with things having reached this point, even if the King of Ruohe knew it was the First Prince who had spread the scandal, no matter how displeased he might be, there was nothing he could do about it.
With things having come to this, what else could be done? Most crucially, as far as the King of Ruohe was concerned, he truly believed that his second son had committed adultery with his most favored consort.
Even Xing Zizhou himself didn’t know the specifics. It seemed that this time, they truly needed to make contact with the Second Prince first before anything else could proceed.
“Young Master, are you planning to break into the Second Prince’s residence at night?” Xing Zizhou seemed to have guessed roughly what was on Feng Jiu’er’s mind.
Jiu’er nodded, and Xing Zizhou expressed some concern: “Right now, the Second Prince’s residence is filled inside and out with skilled fighters, all placed there by the First Prince.”
“For now, the First Prince still holds onto some brotherly affection for the Second Prince. As long as the Second Prince doesn’t do anything too extreme, he probably won’t go so far as to take his life.”
“But the First Prince is also wary of the possibility of the Second Prince’s faction rising again, so he’s personally sent people to guard the residence, blocking anyone from approaching.”
“I understand what you mean.” Jiu’er nodded and looked at Xuegu.
Xuegu had always been a woman of few words, only sharing her own views when Jiu’er sought her out: “I can go scout out the situation first.”
“Good, but you absolutely mustn’t act rashly, to avoid alerting them.”
“I’ll go now.” Although moving after nightfall would be more convenient, the guard would also become much stricter.
So in truth, there wasn’t much difference between going during the day or at night—during the day, movement would be inconvenient, but the guard wouldn’t be as strict.
Jiu’er nodded and watched Xuegu leave.
With Xuegu going alone, the chances of getting out unscathed were far higher than if anyone else went.
Xing Zizhou’s information network was sharp, but when it came to martial skill, he was far inferior to Xuegu.
Among those under Jiu’er’s command, Qiaomu’s martial skill was currently the best, yet even she was no match for Xuegu—let alone Xing Zizhou.
“All of you go rest for a while. We’ll discuss everything once Xuegu returns.” Jiu’er waved her hand.
After two days and one night of hard travel, with only a little over two hours of rest in between, everyone was exhausted.
Qiaomu didn’t put on airs either—she cupped her hands in a bow and immediately left to find a place to rest on her own.
Xiao Yingtao also nodded and walked off.
Seeing Xing Zizhou’s gaze following Xiao Yingtao, Jiu’er said, “You should go rest a while too. Just make sure no one discovers we’re here.”
“All right.” Xing Zizhou nodded, seeming rather eager as he left through the door.
After so many days apart, seeing her again now, he realized just how much he had missed her. Yet that girl’s eyes, when looking at him, were so utterly clear, without the slightest hint of any other meaning.
Even Jiu’er could see his longing—why was she the only one who couldn’t?
The place where Xing Zizhou was staying was one household within a courtyard compound in the middle of the bustling market. Inside the house there was also a small courtyard—not large, but enough to house the few of them.
The other households in this courtyard compound were either elderly people, children, or women—the able-bodied men had all been sent off to war. Everyone here got along well enough.
As for Xing Zizhou, he had disguised himself as the original longtime resident, and not a single person had been able to recognize him as anyone different.
After leaving, Qiaomu really had just casually found a small room, and upon seeing the bed, had collapsed onto it to sleep.
By the time Xiao Yingtao came out, Qiaomu had already gone into her room. Xiao Yingtao, unable to find where Qiaomu had gone for a moment, turned around and saw Xing Zizhou standing right behind her.
“Shh.” Xing Zizhou made a gesture for silence at her, and pulling her by the hand, led her into another room.
“I’m staying here, disguised as the original resident—I sent that person away.”
Xing Zizhou closed the door, staring at Xiao Yingtao in her disguise as a man. He walked over and suddenly reached out, undoing her hair bun, letting a head of long, soft hair fall down.
“Here, there can only be women, no young men. Your disguise draws far too much attention.”