Jiang Yun did not expect to see Sui Heng again in this place and in such a scene.
Why did he appear here?
The pain in his wrist awakened Jiang Yun’s thoughts.
Several silver threads broke through the wind at the same time, intending to entangle his wrists and ankles. Jiang Yun twisted his body and dodged, with a flash of green shadow, jumping towards a more crowded area below the city gate tower. The silver threads were not well played, and several ghostly figures were gradually revealed. Jiang Yun hid for a while under the cover of the crowd and then flew into a decorated carriage parked near the city gate.
The guards on both sides of the carriage felt as if a feather had flashed before them. When they looked closely, they only saw small dust flying under the lights, and for a moment, they suspected that they had just been dizzy.
Qi Ziqi was anxiously looking out through the carriage window.
He was wearing a grand prince’s crown today, and later he will climb up the city tower to personally light the Kongming Lantern for the people to pray for blessings. The old man was chattering in his ears about the process and precautions when lighting the lantern. Qi Ziqi’s gaze wandered among the crowded people, and after looking for a long time, he did not see the expected figure, which inevitably led to some disappointment.
The old man sighed and asked helplessly, “Did the Young Master take note of what I just said?”
Qi Ziqi responded absentmindedly and was about to continue looking outside when the carriage door suddenly opened from outside. A slender green shadow swept in like a gentle breeze and sat down opposite him.
Qi Ziqi was greatly surprised, almost shouting out loud. When he saw the figure clearly, it suddenly turned into a huge surprise.
“You are here!”
Jiang Yun raised the corner of his mouth and pointed his finger to his lips, making a silent gesture.
He lifted the carriage curtain and looked out, and the fierce and brave iron cavalry, carrying rolling smoke and dust, happened to pass right up against the wall of the carriage. Jiang Yun only had time to catch a glimpse of the remnants of a shadow before the smoke and dust that swirled up obscured his vision.
The thunder disappeared completely into thin air.
Jiang Yun couldn’t take his eyes back for a long time.
“Your hand is bleeding!”
Qi Ziqi suddenly exclaimed.
Jiang Yun regained his senses and found that his wrist, which had been cut by a silver thread, had shed a lot of blood. He had just been busy evading and tracking, but had not had time to deal with it.
He said in a warm voice, that there was nothing wrong. He had planned to tear off a piece of his clothes and wrap it up casually, but the old man in the carriage suddenly stood up and took out a box from under the table. The box contained medicine, scissors, and a specialized bandage for the wound.
The old man came to Jiang Yun and said, “Let me help the Young Master handle it.”
Jiang Yun nodded and said thank you, then extended his wrist.
The old man skillfully and meticulously helped Jiang Yun treat his wound, wrapped it with the bandage, and looked up and down at Jiang Yun. When he saw that a corner of his sleeve had also been cut by a sharp tool, he couldn’t help but wonder, “Young Master, this is…”
Jiang Yun said, “I’ve accidentally caused some enemies. Don’t worry, I’m only here to hide for a while, and I’ll never get your Young Master involved.”
The old man had a complicated look on his face.
Qi Ziqi immediately asked, “What kind of enemy do you have? Tell me, and I will let my father help you.”
In Qi Ziqi’s view, Jiang Yun has a good temper and is knowledgeable. He appears elegant and delicate, and it is impossible for him to actively offend others, let alone provoke any extremely vicious enemies. It is likely that the other party is plotting to harm him.
After all, even after meeting Jiang Yun in the Sui Empire, he couldn’t forget and dreamed of inviting him to the mansion as a guest to become good friends with him, let alone those powerful people who bullied others.
Qi Ziqi suddenly thought of the arrogant and unscrupulous cavalry that had just passed by and suddenly realized, “Did that person come after you with people and want to catch you back?”
Jiang Yun realized that he was referring to Sui Heng.
Jiang Yun didn’t know how to answer him, so he didn’t speak.
Qi Ziqi felt that this was a tacit agreement, and he said angrily, “Even if he is the Crown Prince of Sui, he cannot bully others like this. Don’t worry, with me around, I will never let him succeed.”
Although Qi Ziqi did not dislike Sui Heng, it could never be called fond of him.
Qi Ziqi disliked the behavior of using force and violence to conquer people without reason. He didn’t even like Tian Meng and Tian Ye, who were like him. Although Sui Heng was the Crown Prince, the cold and sharp killing intent and ambition in his eyes far surpassed Tian Meng’s. Qi Ziqi couldn’t forget the scene of Sui Heng shooting off Tian Meng’s arm at the Sui Empire’s state banquet.
Although Tian Meng deserved his punishment, Sui Heng’s behavior also left a lot of shadows in his heart. Qi Ziqi felt that Jiang Yun’s stay by Sui Heng’s side was clearly forced, as the other party was using their identity as the Crown Prince of Sui to carry out acts of coercion and plunder. Such an elegant and delicate little gentleman is not worthy of the Great Evil Star at all. He has suffered countless scars and grievances in his daily life; otherwise, he wouldn’t have risked his life to escape.
Qi Ziqi is kind-hearted. When he sees injured chicks on the roadside, he can’t help but shed tears. After helping the chicks heal their injuries, he also sets up a ladder to send them back to their nest and reunite with their mother. He grew up in the midst of countless beauties and pets, and everything he saw and heard was beautiful and joyful. Even when his father taught him how to play the zither, he always chose bright and happy tunes and never allowed him to learn sad tunes in order to study the skill of the zither. He loves perfection and hopes for peace and happiness among the people. He cannot tolerate the painful separation of mother and son, even birds cannot.
In Qi Ziqi’s eyes now, Jiang Yun is no different from a weak, helpless, and bullied chick.
Qi Ziqi’s love erupted, and he grabbed Jiang Yun’s hand, saying, “Follow me back to the mansion today. No matter how arrogant he is, he will never dare go to Marquis Duan’s mansion to ask for the person.”
Jiang Yun’s hand is always slightly cooler in temperature, completely different from the scorching heat in Qi Ziqi’s palm.
Jiang Yun was taken aback for a moment, not accustomed to being so intimate with the second person besides Sui Heng, even between them… Jiang Yun slowly withdrew his hand and said, “I appreciate the Young Master’s kindness, but I can manage on my own, so the Young Master doesn’t need to be bothered about me.”
Qi Ziqi was extremely anxious, thinking that Jiang Yun was worried that he would be implicated, so he deliberately declined and wanted to say something more. The attendant outside said, “Young Master, it’s your turn to go up to the city tower and light the lights.”
King Lie had no children. After the birth of Qi Ziqi, in order to show his trust and respect for Marquis Duan, King Lie bestowed the surname of the country on Marquis Duan’s son, and his daily necessities were based on the legitimate Prince of Qi. Lighting the lantern to pray for blessings, which should have been done by the Prince, was also entrusted to Qi Ziqi.
Qi Ziqi can only give up.
He make Jiang Yun wait for him to come back in the carriage, and then push open the carriage door with the old servant and go out. Qi Ziqi specifically instructed the guards not to allow anyone to approach his carriage.
On the high platform, the sound of the zither continued.
That is a beautiful melody that no beautiful language in the world can describe. If there really is a phoenix coming ceremony in the world, the phoenix and a hundred birds will definitely be attracted and fall on that high platform at this moment.
Jiang Yun leaned against the wall of the carriage, finally able to calm down and enjoy the ethereal and graceful music of the zither.
This is a clear and perfect melody that he has never heard before, and he should also be happy to hear this perfect melody.
Jiang Yun couldn’t help but think of the hurried glance below the city gate just now.
He lost some weight, but his gaze was sharper and colder than before. In just a few days, the aura and authority emanating from his body became even stronger, which was what the Crown Prince of Jiangbei should have looked like.
Tian Que personally led people to greet him at the city gate.
Looking at the young Crown Prince towering tall on his horse with a cold expression, he forced out a smile and asked, “Didn’t Your Highness say you’d be here the next day. Why did Your Highness come all night?”
In the evening, Tian Que received a handwritten letter from Sui Heng, stating that a concubine from the Crown Prince’s mansion had fled to the capital of Qi and that the Qi Kingdom has to hand over the person. The wording was strict and implied a threat.
At present, Qi and Sui are not considered enemy countries.
But Sui is already the dominant power in the north of the river, and even the King is interested in making friends with Sui. Only a while ago, he sent special envoys to the Sui capital to test Emperor Sui’s attitude.
Tian Que had already heard of the changes in the Sui Empire and understood that, after the fall of the Yan family, the Crown Prince, Sui Heng was the undisputed and decisive figure in the court of the Sui Empire. In order to establish friendly relations with the Sui, it was necessary to please the Crown Prince, Sui Heng.
Sui Heng held 300,000 brave and skilled iron cavalry from the Qinglang Battalion, unparalleled in all directions. All the countries in the north of the Yangtze River were frightened by the news. Even if Qi’s military strength was not weak, there was no need to ask for trouble and offend the Sui.
But the charge of secretly hiding the concubine of the Crown Prince of Sui was not small. Tian Que dared not make a decision to reply to the letter without authorization. He had planned to seek the opinions of Marquis Duan after the Bathing God Festival. Unexpectedly, the defending general reported that the Crown Prince of Sui arrived at the Qi capital overnight with the brave and skilled iron cavalry, personally coming to demand the person.
Tian Que’s head became two times bigger.
The King drank and indulged on the Qingque Terrace all day, almost ignoring national affairs. Marquis Duan also played the zither and prayed for blessings for the people on the Phoenix Terrace, so he could only come over with a stiff face to welcome them.
The most important thing is that he is still in a state of confusion about the whole matter, unable to understand why the Crown Prince is so certain that his beloved concubine must have escaped to the Qi Kingdom.
“Have you shown them the portrait?”
Sui Heng’s eyes were cold and heavy, and he asked Xu Qiao, who was closely behind him.
Xu Qiao’s heart is not much better than Tian Que’s.
Since the sudden disappearance of the young gentleman, their Highness has been in a state of madness for the past two days. First, they had the Dali Court salvage the entire nine bends and eighteen bays of Mount Li, but the body was not found, almost causing the elderly Dali Court’s Magistrate to collapse and throw himself into the river. He also swore this morning that the young gentleman must have fled to Qi, and he ordered him to write to Qi immediately to ask for the person.
Without evidence, Xu Qiao wrote that letter with a guilty heart.
The Sui capital is not very close to the Qi capital. The young gentleman is gentle and weak. If he chooses to take a carriage, it is impossible to escape to the Qi capital so quickly. But Sui Heng did not consider these and insisted that Jiang Yun had escaped to the Qi Kingdom.
Perhaps it was because he had been inextricably linked to the Qi capital’s Qingque Terrace, or perhaps for some other reason, or simply because he wanted to find a direction and goal for himself.
Xu Qiao had just delivered the letter when Sui Heng had a new idea. Sui Heng was full of energy and asked him to quickly summon a team of elite soldiers and generals to personally rush to the Qi capital.
“Gu afraid you guys will scare him.”
“He will only come back if Gu personally goes.”
Sui Heng wiped his sword and spoke confidently.
So they came.
Xu Qiao naturally dared not tell Tian Que about his true madness. He took out a portrait from his arms and showed it to Tian Que.
Tian Que quickly recognized that this was the young gentleman who had been teased by Tian Meng at the state banquet in the Sui Empire that day.
Sui Heng was extremely fond of him and shot Tian Meng to death because of him.
Tian Meng is a beloved general of the King of Qi. Although he doesn’t say it, he is actually somewhat dissatisfied with the behavior of the Crown Prince of Sui in his heart.
Now, the Crown Prince of Sui has come aggressively to ask for the person.
Tian Que’s head became even bigger.
Tian Que politely inquire about the time and location of the Crown Prince’s beloved concubine’s disappearance and politely invited Sui Heng to rest in the inn first.
Tian Que is an old fox who knows that this kind of matter doesn’t seem big, but if it was not handled well, it may lead to hostility between the two countries. He needs to seek the opinion of the King or the Marquis before he can give a response.
