This matter was urgent, as it concerned the border, and he needed to return to the capital quickly. The emperor feared the prince might discover his whereabouts and act unfavorably, so he split the troops into three teams, following King Chu back to the capital under the pretense of visiting Lord Jiang.

_ 

King Chu had a challenging day. First, he had to travel in the middle of the night, then he was ordered to turn back. Without a detailed list of the other two teams, he couldn’t contact the emperor, but he thought Tao Sheng would be safe with him, so he relaxed.

The emperor had spent the last few days in the carriage with Lord Jiang, not appearing to anyone. He believed that as long as he remained out of sight during the return journey, the palace would lower its guard.

Li Sheng had taken the “emperor” to the Mountain Resort. Although Gao Zhen served him there, he rarely left the carriage.

At this point, the emperor couldn’t call for Tao Sheng to play the zither. As a seventh-rank musician, she was of lesser importance than any of King Chu’s confidants. Thus, the emperor and Gao Zhen didn’t pay special attention to her, thinking that with the protection of the Queen of Chu, nothing would go wrong.  

He never thought that Tao Sheng would actually get into trouble.

The emperor’s secret agent at the Mountain Resort rode in to report that Princess Rui was sending people to look for Tao Sheng everywhere. They believed that Tao Sheng had committed a crime and injured Prince Rui, and was fleeing to avoid punishment.

After hearing the news, Gao Zhen and the emperor were stunned.

Gao Zhen remembered that they had clearly explained everything to several adults in the Hanlin Academy, so how could such a big mistake happen?

The emperor also knew Tao Sheng’s character. She was always well-behaved and sensible, mostly focusing on music. She had no interest in the people around her, especially men like Prince Rui, and would never provoke them.

Prince Rui had already shown interest in Tao Sheng, but since his father, the emperor, was still in power and he had been humiliated by his father’s previous reprimand, he had calmed down a bit.

Now, for some unknown reason, the list was wrong, and Tao Sheng went to Prince Rui. He must have had some evil intentions that forced Tao Sheng to leave.

The emperor snorted coldly: “I think his old illness has come back again.”

Prince Rui’s actions were really disappointing him.

However, this was not a small oversight. These people could have made a mistake with Tao Sheng’s name on the list and could easily make a mistake with others. If the Crown Prince’s confidant was assigned to the King of Chu’s team, it would be even worse.

This matter must be investigated thoroughly. If anyone dares to tamper with the list, he will never tolerate it.

The emperor said to Gao Zhen with a serious expression: “Call the King of Chu to me. I have something to discuss.”

_

When the King of Chu saw the emperor, he was so surprised that he couldn’t close his mouth for a long time. He didn’t expect that his father was not at the Mountain Resort but was in his team with Lord Jiang.

But who was the person sitting in the holy carriage that went to the Summer Resort?

The King of Chu tried hard to calm himself down.

Never mind, now is not the time to ask these questions. His father might not be willing to talk about such an important matter.

For now, it was better to stay ignorant.

The emperor explained, “Something happened in the capital, and I need to return there to take charge of the situation. However, I can’t make it too obvious, so as not to give these people an opportunity to take advantage of it.”

The King of Chu’s mind quickly turned. It turned out that his father suddenly asked the team to turn around and rush back to the capital because of this.

According to this statement, the person in charge of the state in the capital was no longer able to oversee things, so his father used this method to return in a roundabout way.

This showed that the emperor’s trust in the prince had begun to fade.

At this time, the reason his father chose to follow his team instead of Prince Rui’s was based on trust in him.

In other words, he had already taken the lead in his father’s trust and was several steps ahead of Prince Rui and the Crown Prince.

The King of Chu felt a little proud, but he didn’t expect that the emperor’s next words would be like cold water poured over his head, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

“I originally arranged for Tao Sheng to stay with you, thinking that as a young girl, she would have less stress on the road with you taking care of her. But as far as I know, she is not with you now.”

“How is this possible?” The King of Chu widened his eyes, “Tao Sheng’s name is not on the list I received!”

“Yes, that’s the problem,” the emperor replied. “I just received a letter. Not only is she with Lao Liu, but she also attacked him. Now she is missing and hasn’t been seen since.”

“Could it be that someone secretly tampered with the list and replaced Tao Sheng’s name?” The King of Chu didn’t even care about etiquette in front of the emperor. He stood up suddenly and said, “No, I have to check!”

How could he explain this to Ji Yanming if he didn’t get to the bottom of this?

“That’s what I mean.” The emperor was just as anxious as the King of Chu, but seeing his reckless son, he couldn’t help but pull him back. “I have asked Gao Zhen to send a letter to the secret guards who stayed over there to look for Tao Sheng’s whereabouts. Don’t panic for now. When you investigate, you must remember not to alert the enemy, and don’t reveal too much.”

After all, they were in the open, while the prince was in the dark, and they had lost the advantage in the capital. The prince now controlled the capital, and many officials took sides.

The King of Chu replied, “I obey your command.”