A gentle light appeared in Wei Hong's eyes as he gently tugged at her hand.
“Sometimes marching and fighting are even more tiring than this. Being able to rest for half a day is a blessing. Now we have rested for a whole day, which is enough.”
Upon hearing this, Yao Youqing, remembering the ongoing battles on the Shangchuan border and knowing that the prince guarding the area must also be worried, said nothing more.
After the meal, Wei Hong told Yao Youqing to rest in the room for a while until the carriage arrived, while he went to the study to talk to Cui Hao.
News just came from Hengshui that everything is fine and they don't need to worry. Cui Hao told him about this first before bringing up other things.
"The prince went to question Young Master Lian so early in the morning. Does he still have some suspicions about him?"
Wei Hong took a sip of tea and nodded: "Although Liancheng has indeed helped me over the years, we are not on the same side after all. When it comes to matters that are closely related to his own interests, he may not continue to help me, and may even choose to betray me."
"Besides, he's the kind of person who says one thing to one person and another to another. He might think the princess is easy to fool and deliberately ask her to help clear his name."
Cui Hao chuckled: "Then he's made a mistake. Our princess is not easily fooled."
When Yao Youqing was mentioned, Wei Hong's expression softened considerably.
"Yes, although she didn't tell me directly that she didn't trust Liancheng, she didn't say anything good about him either. It's clear that she had her doubts, but she wasn't sure, so she simply kept quiet to avoid influencing my judgment."
"I never expected that she would be able to find a way to escape under those circumstances, and actually succeed."
Even though Wei Hong didn't see it with her own eyes, she knew that those who kidnapped her would keep a close watch on her, and it wouldn't be easy for her to escape.
But she really did it, though she made herself look terrible and suffered a lot just to escape. If she hadn't been found by Liancheng and the others, she might have frozen to death outside.
Thinking of this, Wei Hong was not so happy. He would rather she obediently go with someone else and wait for him to rescue her than have her take this risk.
Cui Hao nodded slightly: "So Your Highness believes that the Princess's abduction has nothing to do with Young Master Lian?"
"I can tentatively believe that he didn't do this, but he must be hiding something from me, especially why he didn't contact me after finding the princess."
He had just gone to question Liancheng, who explained his disappearance a few days ago, but did not elaborate on what happened after he rescued Yao Youqing.
Given his personality, if he really went through so much trouble to rescue Yao Youqing and ended up being hunted down, he would definitely keep talking non-stop. The fact that he didn't say anything proves that he knows he already has some suspicions and doesn't dare to say more, for fear of saying too much and making a mistake.
"In short, we should be more cautious on their side in the future, after all, the current situation is... completely different from before."
Cui Hao understood, his feelings inexplicably complex, a mixture of heaviness and relief.
They had followed the prince for many years and knew how much the emperors in the court feared him. From the late emperor to the current emperor, they all regarded him as a thorn in their side.
Although the prince had made a solemn vow before Emperor Gaozong that he would not take any initiative to vie for the throne, it does not mean that he would truly allow himself to be bullied because of that vow if pushed too far.
Therefore, they have long been prepared, and when forced to do so, as long as the prince gives the order, Shuozhou will immediately prepare to attack the imperial court.
Right now, they just lack a pretext, a reasonable reason.
If the imperial court presents this reason to them, then don't blame the prince for disregarding the bond between uncle and nephew and for making the person who ascended the throne in the palace fall back down.
After leaving Wei Hong's study, Cui Hao began to make various arrangements.
The entire Shuozhou area, and even some surrounding areas, have strengthened their defenses, and troops from all directions are ready to be mobilized at any time.
Yao Youqing was unaware of these things. After the carriage was harnessed, she followed Wei Hong towards Cangcheng.
Before leaving, they noticed that Liancheng had also brought his men along. Wei Hong frowned and asked, "Why are you following me?"
"It's safe with you."
Liancheng grinned.
"Within this Great Liang territory, there is no safer place than by the Prince's side! With you by my side, I no longer have to worry about being hunted down and killed."
Wei Hong glanced at him, ignored him, and helped Yao Youqing into the carriage.
Seeing that he was about to get in himself, Liancheng quickly called out, "Your Highness, why don't you come with me and ride in my carriage? I have so much to tell you."
"I don't usually ride in a car with men. Let's talk when we stop for a rest."
Wei Hong said calmly, then got into the car without looking back.
Liancheng: "..."
What do you mean by not having the habit of riding in a car with men? Just say you want to ride in the same car as the princess, that's all.
He snorted, turned around, got into his car, and followed Wei Hong and his group all the way.
Because he was traveling with Yao Youqing, Wei Hong did not travel very fast and rested on time every night.
After they had been gone for about two or three days, the servant who had left Liancheng's side earlier finally reappeared before him.
"So you finally decided to come back? That's impressive. I thought you were all dead."
That day, Wei Hong and the others were chasing after him. He thought that he was too immersed in the role of the pursuers he had left behind, so he sent someone to tell them to take a break before continuing the chase.
Who knew that it was Wei Hong who came after them, and all his servants who were disguised as pursuers, as well as the servants he sent to deliver messages, had disappeared.
The one who came back right now is the one who delivered the message.
The man chuckled awkwardly, "We realized it was the prince who had caught up with us, and we couldn't make it back to meet you in time, otherwise we would have been caught red-handed by the prince on the spot, so... we had no choice but to hide for the time being."
They were all from Liancheng and were so close together, yet they split into two groups. Something was definitely wrong.
If there was another person in the next wave whom Yao Youqing knew, someone who had been following them for the past few days, then even eight hundred mouths couldn't explain it all.
So they immediately hid themselves, and only today did he pretend to be running errands nearby and happened to come and meet him.
Liancheng probably guessed the reason, scoffed, and did not punish him.
The servant breathed a sigh of relief and then told him another thing, as if to take credit for his work.
"Young Master, we've found Zhao Wu! From him, we finally understand why the princes have been so relentlessly pursuing you!"
He relayed everything he had learned from Zhao Wu to Liancheng. Liancheng went from initial shock to being somewhat dazed, remaining silent for a long time.
The servants dared not utter a sound, but stood respectfully to the side. After some time, they heard him utter a sound that seemed to be both sorrow and sigh.
Liancheng was in a bad mood that day and didn't even have the intention of deliberately picking a fight with Wei Hong. It wasn't until the group stopped to rest in a nearby town in the evening that he decided to go and say goodbye to Wei Hong so that he could find some time to see Zhao Wu.
But when he arrived, Wei Hong had already taken Yao Youqing out on the street.
The servants who remained at the inn smiled at him and said, "His Highness saw that it was still early today, so he took the Princess out for a stroll in the streets. He should be back soon. You might as well go back and wait for him."
Liancheng wasn't in a hurry to leave; he just wanted to wait for Wei Hong to return so he could say goodbye in person.
After finally getting Wei Hong back, before he could even speak, Wei Hong asked, "Is something urgent?"
"It's not urgent, it's just..."
"If there's no rush, let's talk about it later. The princess and I are about to have our meal."
Yao Youqing, who was also nearby, quickly said, "It's alright, Your Highness. You should go take care of your business first. I'll wait for you to come back before we eat."
Wei Hong shook his head and squeezed her hand.
"The food won't taste good if it gets cold. Anyway, he doesn't have anything urgent to do, so we can talk about it after we finish eating."
After saying that, he looked at Liancheng.
Liancheng forced a stiff smile: "...Yes, it's okay, you guys eat first! We can talk about it after you finish eating!"
Wei Hong went to check on Yao Youqing again: "I told you he was fine."
Liancheng: "..."
...
When the servants saw Liancheng return, they thought he was about to leave immediately. But instead, they heard their master say, "Be prepared. The prince might kill me later. Remember to protect me as I escape."
The servant was startled: "Young master, what are you going to do?"
Liancheng tidied his sideburns: "It's nothing, I'm just in a bad mood and I don't like the look of him."
Although the servants didn't know exactly what he was going to do, they knew he was definitely going to provoke Wei Hong again. With a mournful face, they pleaded with him, "Young master, please stop making trouble. This is someone else's territory, after all. Can't you... can't you behave yourself?"
Liancheng chuckled lightly: "I'm not going to be an honest person. Honest people are the easiest to be bullied."
When the servants couldn't dissuade them, they had no choice but to tell their companions the news, and a series of high and low wails echoed through the courtyard.
Half an hour later, someone from Wei Hong's side came to tell Lian Cheng that he had finished eating and that he could come and talk to him if he needed anything.
Liancheng nodded and followed, shouting loudly as soon as he entered the courtyard: "Your Highness, let's go! Let's go to a brothel!"
Cui Hao, who was guarding the door: "..."
Wei Hong in the room: "...
Chapter 84 Substitution
"Your Highness!"
In Liancheng's residence in Wutong Town, Zhao Wu was brought in and knelt down before him with a thud, his face full of guilt: "Your subordinate is guilty."
Liancheng was holding a cup of tea, which had gone cold after he had held it for a long time.
He glanced at the person kneeling on the ground, put back the cup of tea he had been holding for a while without taking a sip, and reached out to help him up.
"It's not your fault. You were just misled. There's no need to blame yourself."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Wu felt even more guilty, gritted his teeth in anger, and slammed his fist on the ground.
"Your Highness knows I have been deceived but does not blame me, but the King of Qin will certainly not completely forgive Your Highness."
"After all, they witnessed me leading the men to abduct Princess Qin, so I have caused trouble for Your Highness and put you in a difficult position. It is all my fault for being blind and stupid!"
“It’s alright,” Liancheng said. “I have been friends with the prince for many years. Even if he has doubts about me, he knows that I would not do such a stupid thing at this time. He will just be more wary of me in the future and will not trust me as much as before.”
"But that doesn't matter. We've always been wary of each other, and that trust was bound to disappear sooner or later."
Zhao Wu lowered his head: "It's certainly better to be one day later than one day earlier. In the end, it's all my fault."
Liancheng chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.
"Let's not talk about that. Tell me about my...brother. Does he really look that much like me?"
“Yes,” Zhao Wu replied, “He looks exactly like you, even his voice is similar. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been fooled by him and actually followed his orders to bring people to kidnap the Princess of Qin.”
That day, the servants told Liancheng that the reason Zhao Wu led people to kidnap Princess Qin was because there was now a third prince in Southern Yan, and he looked exactly like Liancheng.
It was because of this "Third Prince's" order that Zhao Wu risked entering Daliang and kidnapping Yao Youqing.
"At the time, we only heard that Your Highness had found your birth mother, and we were happy for you. Who knew that the truth was not like that at all."