Chapter 79

In this time, whether in Great Zhou or the Ling Kingdom, girls had to be subtle in discussing these matters and not direct. Confessing everything right away would seem too artificial.

Tao Sheng pretended to be shy and said, “It’s nothing much. The emperor went to Chengde to escape the summer heat, and since there is no one in Beijing, I thought I would go for a walk and visit my cousin.”

It was clear this was not believable. No one would think a young girl would travel all this way from the capital of Great Zhou without hidden motives.

Lord Li looked slightly wary and said, “You are women who have been pampered in Great Zhou since childhood. It is not easy for you to travel such a long distance to come here. Could something have happened in the capital?”

“It’s not that something happened; it’s… it’s my own business,” Tao Sheng replied. “If I had other options, I wouldn’t have come here and made the king laugh.”

During their brief conversation, Lord Li noticed that Tao Sheng had an accent different from the women of Ling State, yet she spoke daily conversations very fluently.

Lord Li had heard that Tao Sheng was one of the most famous zither players in Great Zhou. In his limited knowledge of music, he believed that the sound of the zither and singing went together, so her beautiful voice made sense.

Seeing her eyes filled with sadness, Li Guozhu asked, “Miss, what kind of problems have you encountered?”

King Huan had made a detour to see Lord Li and, after waiting a long time, grew anxious because he hadn’t heard Tao Sheng reveal her plans. He urged, “Xiao Sheng, just tell the truth about what happened between you two. Lord Li won’t make things difficult for you.”

Tao Sheng said slowly, “Lord Li may not know that in our Great Zhou, marriage is based on parental decisions and matchmaker arrangements. Marriages not favored by parents or elders are frowned upon.”

“Now we are both at the age to marry. My grandmother has picked out a young man from the Murong Mansion in the capital…”

While editing the story, I couldn’t think of a suitable candidate, so I just mentioned Murong Liu, chosen by my grandmother earlier. To be honest, Ji Yanming had ruined this matter back then.

“My parents preferred a family with the surname Chu and arranged a marriage for me early on.”

Although this arrangement has failed, it is still the truth.

Though Tao Sheng had not revealed much yet, she was laying the groundwork, and Lord Li seemed to understand: “I heard your King Huan say there is a daughter of a prince in Great Zhou who wants to marry Lord Ji. There is also a princess’s daughter who visited your aunt. Is this true?”

Tao Sheng had heard about Prince Li’s daughter but knew nothing about the princess’s daughter.

Considering the current situation, she decided to agree with anything they asked.

“That’s right,” Tao Sheng lowered her eyes and replied. “It wasn’t easy to come to your country this time. I actually ran away secretly. If my family knew, I’m afraid there would be trouble.”

These half-revealed details let people fill in the blanks themselves. Love is often an illusion; too much reality can spoil its charm.

Lord Li began to follow Tao Sheng’s words in his thoughts.

Her parents wanted her to marry someone powerful, and her aunt hoped her cousin would marry well. Perhaps she was facing a forced marriage in the capital and had to come to Lingguo to seek advice from her cousin.

Just as she said, she had to come to Lingguo “because she had no choice.” Her emotions likely drove her to seek him out.

Tao Sheng noticed that Lord Li’s attitude toward her was changing, and she felt she had acted well.

Ji Yanming lowered his head, packed up the chessboard, and stood up. His expression shifted from alert to one of helplessness.

Probably no one expected Tao Sheng to be so good at talking nonsense and to do it so convincingly.

Tao Sheng knew that Lord Li didn’t come to Qinglingtaizhong early in the morning for her; he was there to see Ji Yanming. She felt her mission was mostly complete after chatting with Lord Li, so she stood up and said, “Lord, please talk to my cousin first. I won’t disturb you.”

After Tao Sheng left, Lord Li stayed inside for an hour, and no one knew what he discussed with Ji Yanming.

At noon during the banquet, Tao Sheng noticed that Lord Li looked at her differently than before. It was clear that he had been successfully convinced.

It seems Ji Yanming is even better at making up stories than she is. No one knows how many stories he told to scare Lord Li.

Soon after, Tao Sheng noticed things were starting to go wrong.

Lord Li began to pay attention to her. He arranged for her and Ji Yanming to relax in a private garden, gave her beautiful clothes, and even booked two popular entertainment venues in the capital of Ling State for them to enjoy.

At first, Tao Sheng didn’t understand why, but later, after being enlightened by Prince Huan, she realized that everything Lord Li did was to please her or Ji Yanming.

However, Lord Li wanted them to leave quickly and talked privately with Ji Yanming about this matter at least five times.

At this point, King Huan chuckled and looked proud: “We just won’t leave. What can they do? Can they really chase us away? We have 30,000 troops stationed outside, so we aren’t afraid of a real fight. I don’t think they dare to do anything.”

Tao Sheng nodded.

This explains why Lord Li was so eager; he really wanted to drive them away.

To ensure that his efforts were worthwhile, Lord Li often invited them to the palace for meals.

Today, he invited them to enjoy breakfast and morning tea at the Ling Kingdom Palace. Tao Sheng had played cards with Lord Huan and two other generals until late last night. She was woken early to dress up and go to the palace, so she felt a bit tired after the long ride.

When they arrived, Tao Sheng opened her eyes and wanted to get out of the car. When someone reached out to help her, she acted faster than she thought and just extended her hand.

Once she held it, she realized something was wrong. Those slender fingers with distinct joints didn’t belong to Qinglan or any of the maids with her before.

His fingertips were cool, but his palms were warmer. Years of studying left marks from holding a pen on his ring finger.

As far as she could remember, this was the first time Ji Yanming helped her out of the car.

Could it be that her cousin was really getting into the role?

Tao Sheng was helped out of the car by Ji Yanming, and the person standing in front of her was someone sent by Lord Li to pick them up.

In Ling Country, the temperature difference between day and night is significant. Although it was summer, the morning wind was still a bit chilly, which woke Tao Sheng up.

Now that they were in a foreign country with difficult tasks, they had to be cautious.

Tao Sheng instinctively tightened her grip on Ji Yanming’s hand.

Ji Yanming stiffened but kept a calm face. His voice softened a little: “The king has sent the Sima guard to pick us up. Let’s go this way.”

While Tao Sheng was treated like a distinguished guest, the King of Chu was in a panic.

He hadn’t heard from the people he sent to find Tao Sheng. Since King Rui was attacked, Tao Sheng, the last person to see him, had disappeared without a trace.

Additionally, a local coroner, experienced in solving cases, inferred that the fatal wound on Prince Rui’s head wasn’t caused by Tao Sheng, so she was likely abducted by the criminals who attacked him.

Meanwhile, the King of Chu’s father had been with Elder Chen and had not appeared publicly. This team was always led by the King of Chu, both in name and reality.

Seeing they were only half a day away from reaching the capital, the King of Chu sent a letter to the capital as usual.

Since the emperor wasn’t officially with the group, the prince didn’t need to go out of the city fifty miles to greet him. However, the return of the King of Chu with so many troops was significant, so they needed to finalize the entry time and city gate.

But after sending the letter, he received no response. The prince didn’t send anyone out to meet him, nor did he reply.

The King of Chu had accompanied the emperor on many trips, but he had never faced such a situation.

After half a day, he grew impatient and sent guards to the city to check the situation.

It would have been fine if he hadn’t looked, but when he did, he realized something was wrong.

The city gates were checking everyone entering and leaving, saying the emperor wasn’t in the capital. To prevent accidents, all people entering and leaving were being strictly checked.

Not only was sneaking a carriage in difficult, but even the compartments of the vehicles were being inspected.

The group of guards were the personal soldiers of the King of Chu, and they had badges from the palace. However, the gatekeepers became more alert upon seeing the badges. They said that since His Majesty had not returned yet, it was against the rules for the King of Chu to bring Jiang Ge Lao back for treatment early, so they couldn’t let them pass.

The King of Chu felt the prince’s actions were strange. After some hesitation, he went to see the emperor and explained everything happening at the city gate.

The emperor’s face darkened as he listened.

Based on what the prince was doing now, it seemed he wanted to take control of the court, possibly aiming to outshine his father, the emperor.

The King of Chu was still waiting for a response. The Emperor, feeling tired, rubbed his temples and said, “Since we know they are prepared for battle, we shouldn’t rush in and fall into their trap. Let’s just hold our position.”

The Emperor traveled with over 10,000 guards. To keep his location secret, he split them into two groups: the first and second teams. The King of Chu had only 5,000 guards left.

The King of Chu was shocked by the Crown Prince’s boldness. He turned pale and asked the Emperor, “Isn’t it unwise to stay here forever? I heard there are still troops in Zhili. Should we mobilize them now?”

The Crown Prince controlled the capital and had an advantage. Given the situation, fighting the enemy wasn’t the best choice. However, they needed more options to increase their chances of winning.

The Emperor hesitated to face this reality and hoped the situation was more personal between the Crown Prince and the King of Chu than he thought.

After a moment, the Emperor said, “Send an imperial edict to the Zhili governor to make arrangements. But don’t alarm the local authorities.”

It’s better to wait until things are clearer.

If the Crown Prince truly could act so ruthlessly, as his father, the Emperor would support him.