Chapter 69: The Crown Prince (Heir) of Wuding

After the officials had left, everyone began picking up the scattered and disorganized items from the ground.

“Ah, how heartless! Look at all this good food spilled on the ground.”

“My water was spilled too! A whole jar was wasted. Do you think they would search inside the pottery jar? It’s only the size of a small baby. Could someone hide inside it?”

Lizheng, still trembling with fear, looked in the direction where the officials had left and scolded, “Stop talking and quickly gather your things and leave. Don’t risk them coming back and finding a reason to harm you.”

As soon as he spoke, everyone’s movements indeed quickened.

While water spilled on the ground cannot be picked up, the spilled grains were still edible.

Everyone picked up the scattered grains and other items from the ground. They put the things that could be placed on the carriage and carried the rest on their backs. In no time, everything was neatly packed up.

“Let’s go quickly,” said Lizheng, taking the lead and walking ahead. The others followed suit.

“Yu’an, let’s go too,” Song Shi said.

“Alright.”

Shen Yu’an turned her gaze back to the direction where those people had left, but her heart was already unsettled.

Wuding Prince’s son?

Is this the same as the tragic antagonist she knows from the book?

The court claims that the Wuding Prince’s heir met an unfortunate fate and his whereabouts are unknown, but in reality, it seems that the prince(Fei Yanchen) managed to escape from their grasp.

In the original book, the court was in turmoil, and the border defended by the Wuding Prince was constantly harassed and provoked by foreign forces.

The Wuding Prince had an illustrious military record and was the best candidate for defending the border.

However, several princes engaged in fierce power struggles within the court, instigating the emperor to order a temporary change of general and bring back (in the capital) the Wuding Prince and his family.

At that time, the war was just beginning, and the Wuding Prince wanted to continue driving out the bandits who were invading the border, and was unwilling to return to the capital.

However, the emperor directly sent a new general to take over and a decree to summon them back to the capital, so he had no choice but to comply.

On the way back, the Wuding Prince and his wife sensed that something was not right.

The people who escorted them back to the capital kept a close watch on them, monitoring their every move as if they were afraid that they might escape.

It was precisely because of this that the Wuding Prince and his wife had the idea of letting their son escape.

They couldn’t just sit and wait for death, no matter what.

The Wuding Prince’s son, the main antagonist, managed to escape and evade repeated rounds of pursuit and interception.

However, he sustained severe injuries, and his mental state eventually became twisted.

It appears that Prince Wuding and his family have now been captured, while Prince Wuding’s son remains unaware of where he can hide from further pursuit.

Shen Yu’an refocused her thoughts, realizing that she had no connection to this situation.

However, he was seriously injured and eventually his psyche became distorted.

It seems that now the Prince of Wuding and his family have already been captured, while the heir, the Crown Prince of Wuding is still hiding and evading pursuit without knowing where to go.

Shen Yu’an withdrew her thoughts and wondered what this had to do with her.

As expected, she should not have any contact with court affairs.

However, the unrest in the country was not good for them either. If a war broke out and the court demanded conscription and supplies, they could not avoid it no matter where they were.

She looked at Ji Xun who was walking a step behind her.

According to what he said, she was actually related to the fate of Da Wei, but what could she do?

…

Because they were afraid that the officials would come back, the group of people from Shen’s village hurried forward without complaining about tiredness or heat.

In the time of Wei Shi Zhong (around 2 pm in the afternoon), the hottest time of the day, everyone finally found a place to stop and rest for a while.

Shen Yu’an sat opposite Ji Xun and asked, “What was the situation in the capital before you came here?”

Ji Xun looked at Shen Yu’an and replied truthfully, “It’s not good.”

“The old emperor’s health doesn’t look good, but he’s also reluctant to appoint a crown prince. He always feels that eating those elixirs from the Taoist priests will make him live to a hundred years old. My master had someone secretly test those pills and found that their ingredients were all extracted from minerals. Although taking them can make the body feel full of vitality, it’s only overdrawing life,” Ji Xun explained.

“To prevent those people from bringing up the issue of appointing a crown prince again, the emperor has punished many officials as a warning to others. Now everyone is in danger, but they’ve started forming alliances in secret,” he continued.

Shen Yu’an thought of the plot in the book. In the novel, the old emperor’s health was already very poor, but he miraculously managed to cling onto his life for a while longer.

However, in the end, he died at the hands of his own son.

She looked thoughtfully at Ji Xun and asked, “So, is your purpose for coming to find me to have me go to the capital?”

Ji Xun smiled and replied, “Miss Shen worries too much. Our master instructed me before he went on his travels that if we found the person destined by fate, we should not interfere too much, otherwise it would disrupt the course of fate.”

“Mm.” Shen Yu’an responded nonchalantly.

It seems that there is a reason why Heavenly Dao suddenly threw her into this era, so she decides to go with the flow.

They continued on for two more days, during which they encountered another group of soldiers who claimed to be searching for the Crown Prince of Wuding.

However, Shen Yu’an could tell that this group had a distinctly different attitude compared to the previous one.

The previous group of officials who failed to find the Crown Prince were more impatient and irritable, while this new group, although dressed in the same clothes as the previous officials, seemed more anxious and flustered after not finding their target.

The officials did not stay long, and once they confirmed that the Crown Prince was not among Shen Yu’an’s group, they continued on to other places.

By noon of the third day, they arrived at a crossroads and stopped to rest.

“Phew~ It’s so hot! Uncle, is this the crossroads you were talking about?” Shen Erlang fanned himself with his palm and sat down on the ground.

Shen Rong also found a place to sit down and said, “Yes, when we set out this afternoon, we will be taking the road south.”

This statement happened to be overheard by Wu Cuihua who was passing by. She asked in surprise, “What? You’re not going to the capital? Why are you heading south?”

“That’s right, we’re not going to the capital,” Song Shi replied with a smile.

Wu Cuihua didn’t know that they had already decided where to go and tried to persuade them to go to the capital with the villagers.

“Oh my, what are you thinking? Where in the world is safe, isn’t in the capital? I’ve heard that even if a noble drops a bit of silver there, it’s enough for us to chew on for a lifetime.”

Song Shi had a good relationship with Wu Cuihua, so she revealed a little information to her.

“Well, I heard that even up there, it’s not stable now. Going to the capital may not be a good idea,” she said.

But Wu Cuihua didn’t believe it at all. She said, “That’s just a possibility. If we keep going for a few more days, we’ll reach the capital of our province. At that point, you could turn and head towards it. If the city is willing to take us in, you won’t have to travel so far.”

“So many places have been affected by the disaster. How can a provincial capital accommodate so many of us? If you ask me…”

“…”

Both Song Shi and Wu Cuihua tried to persuade each other with their arguments, but in the end, neither could convince the other, so they had to give up.

Shen Xingwang glanced at his several sons and grandsons in the direction of Shen Village, but he didn’t say anything in the end.

They had done so many wrong things, obviously not even wanting to acknowledge their own father. Even if he went to talk to them, they wouldn’t believe him.

……………………………………………..

Note:

“Hi, guys! In this chapter, you might end up feeling confused (we were confused too) hahaha.

Fei Yanchen was mentioned as early as Chapter 3, but their family was only described as “…the family of the royal family of a different surname who guarded the western border of Da Wei.” Nothing was mentioned about him being a prince or anything. However, based on the previous chapter, his father was referred to as “the Wuding Prince,” which I think is some kind of title given by the Emperor.

We believe this explains why Fei Yanchen is sometimes called Prince/Crown Prince, as he is the heir of “The Wuding Prince.”

We will update and clarify this information as soon as we can…”