The Gilded Cage - Chapter 161

Rebellion – Come On, Grab Him! (2)

Several respected ministers of Zhongshu Province looked embarrassed, and they all lowered their heads and remained silent.

Some of them, for the sake of the crown prince’s identity and the late Chu Qianyu, were on the side of the East Palace from the bottom of their hearts, and they didn’t know what to do when they were suddenly exposed today.

One of them took a closer look at Xiao Kezhi’s face, and said, “Your Majesty, it’s about the East Palace, should you invite the prince into the palace immediately?

In fact, today’s discussion in the Taiji Hall should have the crown prince’s share. It was just that he asked for leave in advance, saying that he would go to various city gates to inspect, and this was the future.

Xiao Kezhi nodded, “That’s right, this matter should be resolved by the prince himself, lest anyone say that he was wronged.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone’s expressions changed.

Jin Jiang, who was guarding the gate of the palace, responded by taking someone to invite the prince, but Zhao Yue, who was kneeling on the ground, said loudly, “The general stays! The prince is probably not in the city at this moment. If the general wants to find him, please go to the south of the city outside Huamen. Follow south along the Qingming Canal and maybe you can catch up.”

“This, the Crown Prince of the East Palace actually left the city privately?!”

“Even if the direction is clearly stated, this matter may be true!”

Amidst the discussion, the complexions of several veteran ministers were extremely ugly. After looking at each other, they stood up one after another, “This matter is urgent, please give an order immediately to bring the crown prince back.”

Xiao Kezhi rushed to Jin Jiang and said, “Divide into two teams. One searches alongside various government offices in the city, and the other goes out of the city to search along the Qingming Canal according to the words of the Crown Prince Consort. Once there is news, report it to me.”

Everyone knew that the emperor was using them as witnesses to prove that the incident had nothing to do with him, and it would be best if they could witness the prince’s treason with their own eyes.

…

Outside the Anhua Gate, Xiao Yu was sitting in the carriage, looking at the scorching sun from time to time, feeling anxious for a while.

“It’s already this time. Where is she?”

This was where he and Zhao Yue agreed to meet, but after waiting for a full hour, there was no trace of the carriage on the empty road.

A man, wearing a hat and no shoes, was running from outside the city. Xiao Yu saw that although he was thin and dressed in plain clothes, he had a fair complexion and a handsome appearance. Stepping down, while wiping the rain-like sweat from his dark face, he reached out his hand humbly, wanting to beg for a drink of water, “This gentleman is kind, can he give the old man a sip of water?”

His exposed skin had been tanned black and red by the scorching sun, and his eyes were cloudy with wrinkles all over his face, staring at Xiao Yu’s water bag hanging beside the car without moving, his hoarse voice due to lack of water made people tremble.

The guard who had pretended to be at the side couldn’t bear it and wanted to give a few handouts, so he couldn’t help but cast his probing eyes on Xu Rong.

Xu Rong had no time to care about others and was about to wave his hand as if he couldn’t see him, but Xiao Yu frowned impatiently and said, “Go! Don’t linger here!”

The guard had no choice but to take back the hand that was going to pass his water bag to the old man and motioned him to leave quickly with his eyes.

“If your Highness is impatient to wait, you might as well get in the car first, so that you can get less exposure to the sun.” The scorching sun hit Xu Rong’s head, and Xu Rong was also sweating.

“I’d feel bad… Forget it, since she hasn’t come yet, I won’t wait.” Xiao Yu waved his hand into the car as if he had lost his patience.

“Your Highness, is it the Crown Prince Consort or General Zhao’s sister-” Xu Rong hesitated, “Your Highness, don’t worry, the Northern Army has been reporting constantly these days, and the Ganzhou Army is being restrained, so there should be no mistakes… ”

Having said that, in fact, no one can be sure.

“Okay, I’ve made up my mind. Without her, the Bozhou Army can only listen to me at this juncture. Don’t wait, let’s go!”

With that said, Xiao Yu simply put down the car curtain and urged him to leave.

The guards looked at each other in blank dismay, and after a moment of silence, they got on their horses one after another and galloped all the way south.

South of Changan City, Du Qu.

Tens of thousands of horses were stationed here in the countryside, but no fences or banners were erected. Only the heads of the soldiers wrapped in coarse cloth were smeared with yellow flower juice, which was particularly bright and dazzling under the sun.

Xiao Yu rushed all the way, and finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the situation in front of him—this was the Bozhou Army who had already arrived!

He got out of the car himself and went straight to the camp without waiting for the guards to go first.

The soldiers in the army had already spotted them, and someone was welcoming them at this time. However, the person who came over was not the one Xiao Yu had expected, but a tall and strong man with an expressionless face and a fierce look on his face. It made people tremble behind.

“Where is General Zhao? He hasn’t arrived yet?” Xiao Yu put away his loose expression, looked at the strange soldier in front of him, and asked with a frown.

The man ignored him and only raised his chin, “You are the Crown Prince?”

Xiao Yu paused, stood there without saying a word, and only squinted at him.

“I’ll take it that you are.” Seeing that he was silent, the man didn’t ask any more questions, but suddenly turned around and shouted at the crowd behind him, “Come on, catch him!”