eurekapd Chapter 215 Preparing to Return to Beijing
Chapter 215 Preparing to Return to Beijing
Wei Jianning suddenly looked at her with deep affection in his eyes, "Thank you for saving me at all costs, but you have to promise me that you won't do such a foolish thing again. If something happens to you because you saved me, even if I survive, I will never live on my own."
Seeing tears welling up in his eyes, she reached out to wipe them away, then nodded in agreement.
“We must all be well from now on. This kind of thing will never happen again. If we can resolve the war between the Northern Wei and Tianwu Kingdoms because of Mao Mao, then we can live in peace from now on.”
Wei Jianning raised his hand and gently stroked her face with affection, a long-lost smile finally appearing on his lips.
He only stayed at the Xinglong County government office for one day before setting off back to the capital.
Before leaving, Xiaolingzi reluctantly prepared a large bag of food and supplies for Lanzhi for the journey, and told Lanzhi that if she could really get pregnant, she would definitely visit her in person to express her gratitude.
Just as everyone was preparing to gather and set off, Madam Lin asked with considerable curiosity,
"Where is Princess Yujie?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present began to look around, but there was no sign of Princess Yujie or the two maids.
Yuan Tianxiong frowned slightly, recalling what Yu Jie had said yesterday, and guessed that she might have already returned to the capital ahead of everyone else.
No, he couldn't let a woman take the blame for him.
He strode quickly to the carriage where Wei Jianning was and whispered his report.
"Your Highness, I wish to return to the capital ahead of time to apologize to the Emperor. Please grant me permission."
Wei Jianning hesitated for a moment, then Lan Zhi directly lifted the sedan curtain and replied:
"Go ahead, and be careful on the road."
Wei Jianning was very puzzled by this.
"Wife, why did you let him go first? What if something happens to him?"
Lan Zhi shrugged and gave him a helpless look. "It's cold and the roads are slippery. Our carriage will take at least four or five days to reach the capital. Let him ride ahead on horseback; it will be faster."
"But he went to the Emperor to confess his crimes beforehand, and the Emperor issued an edict to punish him. We're not here to help. What should we do?"
"His affair with Princess Yujie should be put to rest. Don't worry, with Yujie here, nothing will happen to him."
"Yu Jie? What's her relationship with Yuan Tianxiong?"
"You do not know?"
Wei Jianning looked at her in surprise.
"What should I know?"
"What about Yu Jie and Yuan Tianxiong?"
"what's up?"
Wei Jianning kept pressing him for answers, indicating that he knew nothing about it.
Lan Zhi pursed her lips, fiddling with the jade bracelet in her hand as she asked:
"Why do you think Yu Jie disguised herself as a man to infiltrate the military camp?"
"She was willful from a young age, always looking for opportunities to run away from the palace, just for fun."
"you are wrong."
Lan Zhi looked up at him with her clear, watery eyes, and smiled mysteriously.
"You're so foolish. A woman will do anything because of love, because of a man..."
"A man? You mean, Yu Jie is doing this for Yuan Tianxiong?"
After saying this, Wei Jianning immediately shook his head in denial.
"No, no, Yuan Tianxiong is a reckless man, and Yu Jie is arrogant and domineering. The two of them can't be together."
“Nothing is impossible. Yu Jie has feelings for Yuan Tianxiong, but Yuan Tianxiong has no feelings for Yu Jie. This time, because Yu Jie opened the city gate privately, the border was lost, which made Yuan Tianxiong feel that Yu Jie was too willful and reckless. He will keep his distance from Yu Jie in the future. This time, Yu Jie left first, she must have gone to the emperor to apologize. Yuan Tianxiong left first, he must have wanted to take the blame on himself.”
"So what? Father will not agree to them being together. Based on my understanding of Father, even if they are in love and she is interested in him, Father will not agree to them being together."
At this point, Wei Jianning's eyes dimmed slightly.
"Although the war between the Northern Wei and Tianwu Kingdoms was not caused by her, if she had agreed to the marriage alliance, the war could have been avoided. It is my fault for being too reckless back then. I should not have sacrificed so many soldiers' lives for her sake."
Seeing Wei Jianning's self-reproachful expression, Lan Zhi placed her hand on his and softly comforted him:
"My lord, even without the marriage alliance, this war was inevitable. Don't blame yourself for it; it's not your fault."
"But in the end, I still lost this war, utterly and completely."
"This is not a failure. We adopted Mao Mao together, and we were able to avoid this war because of him. It can be considered that our good deeds have been rewarded. Besides, the people of Tianwu Kingdom have agreed to withdraw, so we can also consider it a victory."
Wei Jianning pursed his lips and gave an awkward smile.
He survived because after leaving the capital, he took great care of Huo Batian along the way. He neither made things difficult for him because he was a prisoner, nor did he make him suffer too much. As a result, Huo Batian did not allow the people of Tianwu Kingdom to make things difficult for him after capturing him alive.
In this war, he was captured alive, and countless of his soldiers were killed or wounded. This was a disgrace to him, a disgrace that made him unable to hold his head up high.
……
Braving the wind and snow, Yuan Tianxiong rode alone towards the capital.
Xinglong County is far from the capital. Even if the people are not tired, the horses will get tired, especially in the freezing winter when the road is slippery and it is difficult for the horses to walk.
At noon, a gust of wind howled by, followed by a sudden downpour of fine snowflakes, which quickly turned into fluffy snowflakes that fell in abundance.
Traveling in this kind of weather is tough on the horses, and the people aren't much better off.
But Yuan Tianxiong didn't want to stop. He wanted to catch up with Yu Jie, and even reach the capital before her to apologize to the emperor.
As a man of stature, Yuan Tianxiong would never let a woman take the blame for him. Moreover, before Yu Jie opened the city gate, he also impulsively wanted to open it, but he had to consider the overall situation and dared not act on his own.
Although Yu Jie was wrong to do this, she did it on his behalf, and he should bear all the blame.
Ahead, a carriage was slowly moving through the wind and snow. Yuan Tianxiong frowned slightly, raised his hand to shield his forehead, and looked closely.
That... seems to be Yu Jie's carriage.
He spurred his horse forward quickly, heading straight for the carriage.
Inside the carriage, the two maids were sweating profusely with anxiety, calling Yu Jie's name repeatedly, but she did not respond.
"Princess, wake up! What's wrong with you?"
"Princess, please don't scare us. What's wrong with you?"
"Driver, hurry, we need to find a doctor for the princess in the city ahead..."
The coachman raised his whip and struck the horse's back, but the horse's speed did not increase; instead, it became even slower than before.
When Yuan Tianxiong arrived, the coachman looked at him as if he had seen a lifeline.
"General Yuan?"
Yuan Tianxiong frowned slightly and questioned him with displeasure.
"How dare you! You actually dared to take the princess away without permission! Don't you value your life?"
Upon seeing this, the coachman was so frightened that he slid off the carriage and onto the ground. He then went to Yuan Tianxiong, lifted his robe, and knelt down on both knees.
"General Yuan, spare my life! It was the princess who threatened to kill herself, and I had no choice but to take her out of the city. I was thinking that since we were going to return to the capital sooner or later anyway, what harm was there in the princess going ahead?"
"Hmph! If everyone thought like you, what use would family laws and regulations be?"
As Ah Zhu lifted the sedan curtain, she called out anxiously:
"I told you to hurry up, why have you stopped? The princess is sick, hurry up!"
When she saw Yuan Tianxiong riding on horseback, she felt as if she had found a lifeline.
"General Yuan, please save my princess..."