books44 Chapter 263 Xu Renchuan was detained
Chapter 263 Xu Renchuan was detained
The two guards guarding the gate looked at each other, feeling that something was wrong, but they didn't know what.
One of them, who was more vigilant, went behind the screen and called a palace maid, asking her to go into the room to see if the Crown Princess was really sleeping.
He only breathed a sigh of relief when the little palace maid came out and said that the Crown Princess was indeed sleeping.
After leaving the East Palace, Xiao Mo put the jade seal on the tray back into the bag and carried it on her back, heading towards the Suzaku Gate.
After leaving the palace, she took off her outer clothes, put her hair into a bun again, and headed straight for the East Army Camp.
This time, she did not stay for too long. She simply gave instructions to be prepared for battle at any time and then left.
On the way to Taoyuan, she met Lu Huai who had just returned from there.
Lu Huai was sitting in the carriage. When he felt it stopped, he stuck his head out to check the situation.
"Miss Xiao? Oh no, I should call you the Crown Princess now." He was a little excited and pretended to get off the carriage while speaking.
Xiao Mo was riding on a horse. She pulled the reins and walked to the window to stop him: "No need to be polite. Just call me Xiao Mo."
She raised her head to look in the direction he had just come from, lowered her eyes and smiled: "Have you been to Taoyuan?"
"General Murong came to see me a few days ago. Although he didn't say anything, since you placed Madam Xiao outside the city, you must have encountered something serious, right?"
Lu Huai curled the corners of his mouth slightly, his gentle voice and clean peach-shaped face shone directly into Xiao Mo's eyes in the warm sunshine.
Xiao Mo put on a faint, distant smile and looked away.
"You worry too much. I placed my mother in Taoyuan because she was in poor health and needed to rest."
"Miss Xiao, there's no need to lie to me. What kind of person am I that General Murong would come to find me personally? If you really encounter any difficulties, you can tell me. Maybe I can help you!"
She was deeply moved by Lu Huai's efforts to help her, but this was not something he could help with just because he wanted to.
"Thank you for your kindness, but you really can't help with this matter. What you need to do is to protect the Lu Mansion.
If someone from the palace comes to the Lu Mansion looking for you, please ask the person's identity.
If it's someone sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or Concubine Liang, you should immediately go to the East Military Camp and seek the help of General Yang Zerui."
Xiao Mo spoke seriously. Lu Huai put away his smile, stared at her for a moment, and nodded: "Thank you Miss Xiao for your advice."
"Be careful on the road, I'm leaving first."
"You should be careful too."
Lu Huai watched Xiao Mo leave his sight before he withdrew his head from the window and ordered the servants to ride away.
When they were almost at Taoyuan, Xiao Mo suddenly heard someone calling her from behind.
Although the sound of the wind in her ears had muffled a lot of her voice, she still clearly heard the words "General Xiao, please stay."
She reined in her horse and looked back, only to see Yang Zerui riding his horse towards her at full speed.
"Deputy General Yang? What's the matter? Why are you so flustered?" Xiao Mo was confused as she looked at Yang Zerui, who was exhausted and out of breath.
Yang Zerui took a few deep breaths and raised his hand to say, "General Xiao, congratulations on finally escaping."
"You came all the way to me just to tell me this?" Xiao Mo frowned slightly, pulling the reins and looking at him puzzledly.
He took a few breaths to calm down before continuing, "A few days ago, I went to the palace to mourn, and Zhao Ning secretly told me that Deputy Commander Xu Renchuan was imprisoned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"What?" Xiao Mo's expression suddenly changed and her brows furrowed even deeper.
"The day you left, I heard that the Crown Princess had returned to the palace, so I guessed that you might have been captured by the Crown Prince.
When I first heard Zhao Ning talk about Deputy Commander Xu Renchuan, I was wondering how to tell you.
Yang Zerui's eyebrows moved slightly, and his eyes were full of anticipation as he looked at her, waiting for her advice so that they could take action.
He had been on guard in the palace all night last night and had just returned to the East Army Camp.
Just when he was about to take a break, a soldier came in to report that Xiao Mo had returned. Without thinking, he chased after her.
The soldier on guard outside the military camp pointed in the direction she left, and he rode out of the camp at full speed, so anxious that he even forgot to put on his outer robe.
Xiao Mo saw his clothes and guessed what had happened. She smiled happily and said, "I know. You can go back."
"Wait!" Yang Zerui called her, walked in front of her, and looked at her with a puzzled look on his face: "General, don't you want to find a way to save people?"
He thought that even if she wasn't sad, she wouldn't be so calm after hearing the news, but he didn't expect her to act as if she had heard something unrelated to her.
But he knew that she was not the kind of person who would abandon others, so he was confused.
Xiao Mo sighed and pulled the reins around him: "Are you free? If you are free, let's talk while we walk."
Yang Zerui was stunned for a moment, then followed her with a smile: "Of course I'm free, I knew you already had an idea."
"From what you said, Xu Renchuan has been imprisoned for some time."
"At least five days."
Xiao Mo lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. Five days ago, when she and Qi Yue got married, Xu Renchuan even came to the wedding to attend.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, took a deep breath and said, "Five days, which happened to be the second day I was brought back to the East Palace."
"So what do you mean?" Yang Zerui thought of a possibility, but did not say it directly. Instead, he asked Xiao Mo, wanting to hear her opinion.
"If he really wanted to kill him, he would have done it long ago. My going back to the prison to rescue him now is exactly what he wants."
Xiao Mo looked ahead, her mind racing, trying to come up with a foolproof plan, but it turned out that this matter was much more difficult than she had imagined.
Yang Zerui bit his lip and volunteered, "Yes, the prince must have ambushed there long ago. You finally escaped, so you really can't go. Then let me go instead!"
"If you go, he'll just have another bargaining chip to threaten me. Just wait a while."
Xiao Mo sighed softly and quickened her pace somewhat helplessly.
"But, can Deputy Commander Xu afford to wait? What if the people in the prison torture him?"
Yang Zerui sped up to catch up with her, his tone slightly anxious.
Of course she knew what Xu Renchuan might face in the cell, but she had no solution.
"Without Prince Chen, we would be regarded as traitors if we rashly launched an uprising." She muttered absentmindedly.
After a pause, he regained his spirits and said, "Let's do this. If the Prince of Chen comes back within two days, we will march into the palace.
If he still doesn't come back after two days, I'll think of other ways."
"Excuse me, but the other method you mentioned is to exchange you for Deputy Commander Xu?"
Yang Zerui sensed the compromise in her tone and glared at her.
Xiao Mo's eyebrows relaxed and she smiled at him: "Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid after weighing the pros and cons.
But you, please don't act rashly. If something happens to you again, I won't have a capable assistant around me.
And don't forget, Zhaoning is still in the palace, under the watchful eye of Concubine Liang."