Even when traveling day and night, Li Dou had never felt so tired. He nodded with difficulty and replied, "I understand."
That afternoon, he and Cui Hao set off for Cangcheng together. Wei Hong said that this matter could not be kept secret, and the soldiers and civilians in Cangcheng and Hucheng had always been on good terms with Yao Youqing. He was afraid that if they suddenly found out, something might happen, so he asked Cui Hao to go and calm things down.
Since Cangcheng was nearby, they went there first.
After Yao Youqing left, Qiongyu stayed at the house alone. Song Shi was afraid that she would find it boring, so she often invited her to the mansion for meals.
That day, Li Tai was on duty at the soup kitchen, and only the two of them were at home. After Qiongyu finished eating and helped Song Shi to rest, she said that she still wanted to go to the soup kitchen to take a look, so she left. When she got to the door, she bumped into Li Dou and Cui Hao.
Qiongyu was both surprised and delighted to see Li Dou return, but she was too embarrassed to let anyone see anything, so she first bowed to Cui Hao and asked her how the princess was doing at the border and why she had not yet returned.
Cui Hao was always kind to people, and even if he had any dissatisfaction, he rarely showed it on his face. But at this moment, he was unable to maintain his usual demeanor and remained silent with a cold and sullen face.
In the end, Li Dou explained the reason, and Qiong Yu was incredulous after hearing it.
"No, no... This is impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Cui Hao chuckled: "The princess personally had tea poured for me and left a handwritten letter. Would you like to see it?"
Just like when Yao Yuzhi refused to let the Imperial Concubine leave, he could understand the reasons, but he couldn't help but resent it.
This time, he could understand the difficult choice the princess was facing, but he couldn't forgive her and even couldn't help but make sarcastic remarks.
"Don't worry, your young lady is going to the capital to testify for His Majesty. His Majesty will definitely treat her well. She will be safe and sound. She might even be rewarded for her meritorious service."
The word "danger" sent a shiver down Qiongyu's spine, and as she thought of something, her expression immediately became excited.
"How could there be no danger... how could there be no danger! Back then, the Princess Consort was only betrothed to the Prince by the late Emperor, and His Majesty gave her poisoned pills to try to kill her! Now that the Princess Consort has been married to the Prince for more than two years, how could he possibly treat her kindly?"
"If...if the princess dies, then the master won't be able to go on living either! Then...then..."
Qiongyu's mind was in complete chaos, and she began to tremble uncontrollably.
Cui Hao and Li Dou exchanged bewildered glances and asked, "What poison pill did you say?"
Qiongyu's voice trembled: "Just...just before...Ling Shuang, the rabbit, and...the old, rat."
She was so nervous that she couldn't say anything clearly. Li Dou reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, saying softly, "Qiongyu, speak slowly, don't rush, speak slowly, we are listening."
Qiongyu looked up and saw that familiar face and the concerned look in his eyes. She finally came to her senses, her eyes reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes. She choked back sobs as she recounted what had happened on her journey from the capital to Shangchuan.
"His Majesty is narrow-minded and cannot bear to see his beloved marry someone else. If the Princess goes to the capital, she will surely die!"
"Moreover...moreover, Zhou's mother left with her. Since they were going to the capital, she would definitely have told the Princess about this beforehand!"
"The princess went knowing this would happen; she... she went to seek death!"
Cui Hao and Li Dou were completely unaware of this past event, and were both shocked upon hearing it.
Qiongyu cried and grabbed Li Dou's sleeve: "Please save the princess! Please save the princess! She's going to die!"
While comforting her, Li Du looked at Cui Hao, whose mind was unusually confused at the moment. Just as he was sorting out the matter, Qiong Yu suddenly said, "The box, the princess left a box before she left!"
There must be something important in that box!
Before the two could react, she turned and ran, forgetting all about the carriage. It was only when Li Dou caught up and grabbed her that she stopped, and together they rode to Wei Hong's residence.
After getting off the car, Qiongyu hurriedly ran to the main courtyard, took out the box, and opened it in front of Cui Hao and Li Dou.
Inside the box were two letters. One was already opened; it was the one Wei Chi had sent to threaten her. The other was sealed and addressed to "Your Highness".
Cui Hao put the letter aside for a moment, then looked at another item in the box: "What's this?"
Besides the two letters, there was also a neatly folded piece of cloth in the box.
Qiongyu took out the piece of cloth, which was quite large when unfolded, and it turned out to be a general's flag.
This banner was the same one Wei Hong had seen before. Yao Youqing was busy setting up soup kitchens and settling wounded soldiers, so it took her more than a month to embroider it. She planned to hand it to Wei Hong herself when he came back next time.
Qiongyu was familiar with the banner that Yao Youqing had embroidered, but she shook her head when she saw it now.
"No, this color is wrong..."
Even without her saying anything, Cui Hao could tell that the Jingyuan Army's banner was red with black characters, while the characters on this commander's banner were bright yellow!
Bright yellow was reserved for the emperor [Note 1]. While commoners were not entirely forbidden from using it, it was only permitted as a complementary color or an accent, and large areas of it were not allowed.
However, there are also banners with red backgrounds and yellow characters on the main beam, and more than one army uses them, so this is not excessive and does not necessarily mean anything.
But what Qiongyu said next made Cui Hao realize that the color did indeed have a special meaning, and it wasn't something Yao Youqing changed casually just because she thought it looked nice.
"This banner was already embroidered, and the words on it were clearly in black thread, but now it's turned yellow..."
If you make changes after finishing the embroidery, it means it was done intentionally.
What does it mean to deliberately change black text to yellow?
Cui Hao felt a lump in his throat again, and it took him a long time to come to his senses. He folded the banner and put it back, along with the two letters.
"I'll take these things to the Prince, and you..."
"I want to go with you!"
Qiongyu interrupted, crying.
"I want to see the Prince! I want to see the Prince in person!"
She begged the prince to save the princess, he absolutely had to save her! Otherwise, the princess and the master would really be doomed!
Cui Hao licked his dry lips, nodded, and soon after arriving in Cangcheng, he and Li Dou turned back along the same route, taking Qiongyu with them.
In order to reach the border as soon as possible, Qiongyu did not take a carriage, but asked Li Dou to take her on horseback. When they arrived at the camp, both of her legs were chafed and her pants were stuck to her wounds, but she did not care about anything and staggered towards Wei Hong's tent with her box in her arms.
Wei Hong had instructed that no one should disturb him. At this moment, he was sitting at the table, staring blankly at the things on it, his expression vacant and his eyes bloodshot, which had not subsided for many days.
With Li Dou's help, Qiongyu arrived at the tent entrance. The servants guarding the entrance reached out to stop her, but she pushed them away.
The man looked displeased and tried to pull her away, but Douzi quickly stepped between him and Qiongyu, saying, "It's urgent! It's urgent!"
In the blink of an eye, Qiongyu rushed in and saw Wei Hong sitting at the table, seemingly lost in thought, unaware that she had entered.
On the table was a row of bellybands, each a different color but with a familiar style.
Chapter 105 Righteousness
Yao Youqing was born with a natural fragrance, and Wei Hong always liked to take away her close-fitting bodice whenever they parted.
Because he was always frivolous in front of Yao Youqing, she didn't know what he did with these undergarments in private. So she would never wear any of them that he took away. Over time, Wei Hong accumulated several of them.
This time she left, and Wei Hong didn't return to Cangcheng. All that remained of her were these things.
He had just thought of her again, so he laid out these undergarments to look at them, only to be seen by Qiongyu.
Upon noticing someone enter the tent, Wei Hong quickly reached out and smeared the table with his hand, gathering all the undergarments onto his lap, and stared at her with a stern face.
"Who let you in?"
Qiongyu was stunned by what she had just seen. Li Dou walked in at this moment. Seeing that she didn't speak, he thought she was frightened by Wei Hong's fierce appearance and wanted to take the box from her hand and give it to Wei Hong on her behalf.
Qiongyu, who was stunned, thought someone was going to snatch her box and instinctively hugged it tightly. She breathed a sigh of relief after she came to her senses and saw that it was Douzi. However, she still did not hand the box over to him. Instead, she took a few steps forward, placed the box on the table, and told him everything she had said to Cui Hao and Li Dou earlier.
After listening, Wei Hong opened the box and took out the letters and the commander's flag inside.
With tears in her eyes, Qiongyu looked at the banner and said, "Before leaving Cangcheng, the princess stayed in the mansion for three days. She was always taken care of by Zhou Mama and didn't call me in much. She said she didn't want to pass on her illness to me, so that if Zhou Mama also fell ill, I could take turns taking care of her."
"I didn't think much of it at the time, but after I saw what was in the box, I realized that she must have locked herself in her room for three days to modify this banner."
Because he didn't want her to know, he pretended to be sick and didn't go out, nor did he let her come in to serve him, so as not to let her find out anything.
Wei Hong's mind had been in turmoil these past few days. Although he was handling his daily affairs as usual, the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind wouldn't go away, often making him stare at the tent top until dawn, unable to close his eyes all night.
Qiongyu's sudden appearance and the things she said seemed to freeze his chaotic mind, making it increasingly rigid, and the contents of his mind gradually disappeared, leaving only emptiness.
He touched the words on the banner, glanced at the letter from Wei Chi threatening Yao Youqing, and then opened another one. His fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly as he opened the letter, without him even noticing.
He thought Yao Youqing had a lot to say to him: her fear and worry when she was threatened, her resolute determination to return to Beijing, and even more expectations and reluctance to part with him.
But when the letter was opened, there was only one sentence on it.
Marrying a prince is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to Ning'er.
It felt as if a huge rock had crashed down on his head, slamming Wei Hong's stiff, blank mind onto the table.
His forehead pressed against the table, his chest felt as if it had been pierced by a boulder, his internal organs twisted in agony, the pain excruciating, making it difficult to breathe. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, soaking the letter pressed against his face and staining the ink on the paper.
After the pain subsided, his detached thoughts finally returned, like threads of silk, swimming fish, all rushing into his mind. Qiongyu's crying and pleading voice, begging him to save the princess, finally reached his ears.
Wei Hong suddenly stood up and was about to leave when the bellyband he had placed on his lap fell to the ground. He quickly squatted down to pick it up and stuffed it all into his sleeve before rushing out of the tent.
Cui Hao was standing not far outside the tent when he saw him come out and lead Chi Yu over.
"Your Highness, the horses are ready, and another batch of soldiers have been selected to accompany us. They are already waiting at the entrance of the camp."
"I have already sent people to patrol the border between Da Jin and Nan Yan, as well as the border between Nan Yan and Da Liang, to see if we can find any trace of the princess during their handover."
“However, there are more than one place where the borders of different countries meet. Some borders are very long, and... the princess has been gone for some time now. Even if they take a detour and spend some time, the chances of finding her are probably very slim. So it would be better for Your Highness to go directly to the capital.”
"If someone finds the princess along the way, they will send people to chase after you, and then you can turn back."
"I also sent a message to Ziyi, instructing him to prepare his troops in advance and be ready to be ordered at any time. If there is any unusual activity in the capital, or if you encounter any trouble on your journey, he can send troops immediately."
Wei Hong nodded: "I'll leave this to you."
Cui Hao bowed and replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will do my utmost to resist the Great Jin and live up to Your Highness's trust and the Princess's righteousness."
Wei Hong said no more, mounted his horse, and was about to ride away when he heard Cui Hao say again, "Your Highness, when the Princess came to the border, she climbed the city wall of Fancheng and saw that the surrounding area was desolate and the city was dilapidated. She said something."
"She said she didn't like this kind of big beam."
Wei Hong tightened his grip on the reins, pursed his lips, and left without a word.
After the figure on horseback gradually disappeared into the distance, Cui Hao turned and walked towards the main tent in the army.
When the princess said those words that day, he thought she was just making a casual remark and didn't think much of it. Even after seeing the letter she left behind, he didn't recall the incident.
It wasn't until I went to Cangcheng, heard Qiongyu's words, and saw that commander's flag that I understood the deeper meaning behind her words.
She disliked the state of Daliang, disliked the ruins of a once peaceful city due to war, and disliked the devastation suffered by its people because of war.
However, this situation will not stop as long as the war continues.
However, both the imperial court and the prince lacked a pretext to launch military campaigns against each other. Without such a pretext, they could not gain widespread support and secure victory. This is why they remained in a stalemate and delayed taking action.
The princess's trip to the capital was not only for Lord Yao, but also to end the war as soon as possible, restore the city to its former prosperity, and allow the people to return to a peaceful life.