eurekapd Chapter 177 The Eldest Princess Has Left the City
Chapter 177 The Eldest Princess Has Left the City
"You can study it yourself. I'm a little sleepy, I'm going back to sleep."
"Hey, there are plenty of beds here, you—"
"Don't get me into trouble. You said it yourself, if Ah Ning finds out, I can't handle her anger. Don't stay up too late, you can do it tomorrow."
Shen Sangwan yawned as she opened the window and climbed out.
"Is it fashionable these days to climb through windows instead of doors?"
Cen Yan looked at the open window, smiled slightly, and walked over to close it.
Although she already knew the inside story, Shen Sangwan still felt uneasy. On the way back, she felt more and more that her trip was not worthwhile.
All the way, Xiaotong was forced to endure her master's constant nagging.
Why can't he have the ability to silence the host?
Two days of peace in the palace were followed by an urgent report from the border sent to the capital.
As previously planned, Shen Yuchen directly dispatched Liang Huaiting as the vanguard general, and appointed his newly promoted vice minister as the supervisor to escort the grain supplies. He also issued an edict ordering Liang Huaiting's son, who was stationed in Lincheng Hezhou of Yuanzhou, to cooperate with the capital army.
After mobilizing the troops, they immediately set off for Yuanzhou.
Wen Yunhe in the imperial court greatly approved of Shen Yuchen's methodical approach to handling affairs and even offered a perfunctory compliment.
However, immediately after the court session, he wrote a letter and had his secret guards deliver it.
Wen Yue Ning thought Shen Sang Wan would go with her, but instead, Shen Sang Wan spent her days eating and drinking with Cen Yan at Weiyang Palace, looking quite happy.
In her eyes, this meant that something was definitely amiss.
Seeing that Shen Sangwan didn't bring it up, she didn't ask either.
Weiyang Palace has many beautiful scenic spots. Shen Sangwan said that she finally had some free time and wanted to accompany Wen Yuening to have a good time. So today she took her to visit the small bamboo forest, and tomorrow she will go to the back garden to admire the chrysanthemums.
Every day, the two would meet in secret somewhere and then return to their own palace.
The same thing happened for four or five consecutive days, which made Wen Yuening wonder if the other party was really willing to stay out of the war for her sake.
So on the sixth day, Shen Sangwan asked Shuyi to go to Changchunlou to buy two jugs of fine pepper wine and pear blossom wine. When the other party came looking for her with the wine, she did not suspect anything.
But I still didn't let my guard down.
What she didn't know was that the alcohol was fine, and everything else was fine on a daily basis, but when they were all put together, things got really complicated.
Seeing Shen Sangwan, who seemed no different from usual, she naturally filled her glass with wine and said with a smile, "I only knew you loved to drink before, but I never had the chance to drink with you. Today, we can finally have a good drink together."
Wen Yuening raised her wine glass and gently touched the other person's glass. "Please, Your Highness."
Shen Sangwan readily tilted her head back and drank it down.
The wines here are all made from fruit, and they are not particularly spicy; they are smooth and sweet.
Seeing Shen Sangwan drink it, Wen Yuening took a sniff when her lips touched the glass. Finding nothing amiss, she drank the wine and only dared to swallow it after confirming that there was nothing wrong with it.
No matter how much you try to prevent it, you can't guard against it—
Shen Sangwan felt secretly smug for only a moment before realizing that the other person could hear her thoughts. She quickly got up and covered the other person's mouth to prevent Wen Yuening from spitting out the wine she had already drunk.
When Wen Yuening heard Shen Sangwan's inner thoughts, her first reaction was to vomit up the wine, but the other party did it first, covering her mouth tightly and letting the wine slowly enter her stomach.
Only when she felt it was about time did Shen Sangwan dare to let go of Wen Yuening.
"So Your Highness is still going to Yuanzhou, is that right?"
"It's not that I was afraid you'd worry. I was just thinking of letting you sleep peacefully for a few days. When you wake up, I'll already be quite a distance from the capital."
Who knew my stupid brain would slip up first? So, Ah Ning, don't blame me. I had a mission, and since I couldn't reason with you earlier, I had no choice but to resort to this.
Wen Yuening was a little confused. The wine was clearly fine, so why was she feeling increasingly weak, and after just one cup, she felt as if she were drunk?
Her mind started to fog up, and she could barely make out Shen Sangwan's appearance. She could hear the other person's rustling voice, but she could no longer hear it clearly.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Wen Yuening collapsed onto the table.
Shen Sangwan carried the person to the soft couch and settled them in. After instructing Qingque to take good care of them, she took Shuyun to the outskirts of the city to meet up with Mofeng.
Previously, in order to lull Wen Yuening into a false sense of security, she only allowed Mo Ran to lead 5,000 troops to set off together with Liang Huaiting's army.
Meanwhile, Mo Feng and most of the Yanmo Army remained stationed in Kyoto.
Now that Shen Sangwan has successfully escaped, she rides her chestnut horse and sets off with Mo Feng and the others to catch up with Mo Ran's advance troops.
Shuyun, who had been following behind, couldn't help but worry that internal strife might break out. "Your Highness, if you go to Yuanzhou now and His Highness Prince Ming does something in the capital, we'll be attacked from both sides."
“Didn’t you find Princess Ming yesterday? He cherishes her so much. I believe that using her as leverage will stall for a few days. Moreover, he won’t know that I have already left the capital for a while. By the time he finds out, I will have already returned from Yuanzhou.”
"Does Your Highness not intend to lead troops on this trip to Yuanzhou?"
"I have other matters to attend to in Yuanzhou. The reason I sent Mo Feng and Mo Ran with troops is just in case. If something goes wrong, we will have a backup plan."
Moreover, General Liang is more familiar with Dongrui's troops than I am; I believe he can defeat this powerful enemy in one fell swoop.
Meanwhile, Shen Yujing, who was in Xiangshan, was secretly sending people to search for Lin Wanyi's whereabouts and had no interest in anything else.
After searching for many days without success, he returned to the Ming Prince's Mansion. Looking at the things that were closely related to Lin Wanyi, his mood worsened.
At this moment, Mo Xuan handed a slip of paper to Shen Yujing with a happy expression. "Your Highness, that person's letter says that the Princess has already traveled ten miles outside the city."
"My elder sister's actions these past few days have indeed been nothing but a smokescreen."
"Your Highness, should I go immediately...?"
"No rush. We'll start the uprising when she reaches the vicinity of Chenzhou. But for now, we can begin spreading those rumors."
After receiving the instruction, Mo Xuan nodded in agreement. As he was about to leave, Shen Yujing stopped him, "Is there any news from the Princess?"
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I have already sent more people to search, but we still haven't found a single clue. It's as if it was dealt with beforehand."
Furthermore, I believe that the people who erased the princess's traces are not the same group who helped her escape.
"Keep searching. If you still can't find it before the uprising begins, you'll have to accept your punishment after the matter is over."
"Yes, I understand."
Shen Yujing was extremely irritated and waved for Mo Xuan to leave immediately.
Looking at the portrait of a beautiful woman hanging on the wall inside the room, it seemed as if those eyes could pull the person out of the painting.
"Ah Wan, why can't you wait two more days?"
The surroundings were silent, except for Shen Yujing's mutterings.