Chapter 13: The Crown Prince and An Guiren are Having an Affair

Lan Xin instantly felt that the secret she knew didn't seem so explosive after all.

She hesitated, then finally said after a long moment: "I know the Crown Prince and An Guiren are having an affair; I happened to see it when I was passing by. And it definitely wasn't just once; I saw many of An Guiren's things in the Crown Prince's room."

Lan Xin began to recall the days when An Guiren became pregnant.

One day, the Crown Prince let it slip that half a month after An Guiren became pregnant, the Emperor favored her, and only then was it announced to the outside world that An Guiren was pregnant.

Lan Xin continued: "Counting the days, the child An Guiren is carrying is likely the Crown Prince's seed."

Yan Ning was shocked: "What, he is also having an illicit affair with An Guiren?! He did this right under Grandfather Emperor's nose?"

Lan Xin nodded: "It might not just be An Guiren alone."

Yan Ning's family was shocked once again; not only was the Crown Prince a piece of trash that couldn't be propped up, but his audacity was also this great!

They had to think of a way to let the Emperor know about this matter.

Yan Ning asked somewhat gossipy: "Do you know any other secrets?"

Lan Xin stopped talking and instead began to negotiate with them: "I do, but only if you take me with you will I tell you; otherwise, having exposed such a big secret, I will be hunted down sooner or later."

It would be better to go with the First Prince's family.

Yan Ning hesitated a little and asked: "What else can you do?"

Lan Xin thought for a moment: "I know a little about the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, I can imitate other people's handwriting, and I can cook; even the Crown Prince said my cooking was good after eating it."

Yan Ning continued to ask: "Do you still want to take revenge on the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess?"

Lan Xin gritted her teeth in hatred, "If it were possible, of course I would."

Yan Ning agreed to let her come along.

Lan Xin let out a long sigh of relief and even handed over the dagger and the hairpin with a hidden blade on her person to Yan Ning, "I know you hesitated to take me because you were worried I would stab you in the back; rest assured, I am not the type to return kindness with enmity. All my weapons are handed over; if you are still worried, you can search me."

Yan Ning waved her hand indifferently, "Alright, I believe you."

Previously, Wang Liu wouldn't cooperate with writing the letter, but since Lan Xin could imitate handwriting, it didn't matter much whether Wang Liu wrote it or not.

Lan Xin was very cooperative; whatever Yan Ning told her to write, she wrote.

Lan Xin listened to Yan Ning and wrote on the paper: "Three days later, Qingshi Town."

After writing it, she tied the note to the pigeon's leg, and Yan Ning smiled: "Let's see how much more of the Crown Prince's savings we can swindle to hire people; she reported this location in detail, so the Crown Prince will definitely send people to hunt us down."

Yan Ning drew a circle around Qingshi Town on the map with a red pen, "Li Shun, let's avoid Qingshi Town for the next few days; if we can't avoid it, we will take a detour."

Li Shun agreed.

They took a detour, and the sky was overcast, looking like it was about to rain.

Yan Ning asked Li Shun: "Is there any place to shelter from the wind and rain ahead? If it really doesn't work, we'll stop and set up a tent; I have oil paper here that can block the rain."

Li Shun looked ahead, "There seems to be a temple up ahead; we can rest there until the rain stops."

Yan Ning then told them to hurry over, as it looked like the rain was about to fall.

They finally managed to get settled before the rain started.

Who would have thought that upon entering, they would see a group of beggars, several of whom were looking at them with green eyes.

At this moment, those beggars stepped forward as if to rob them, and the ten guards drew their swords directly, "Get back!"

Just now the light was dim, and the beggars didn't know they were well-trained and carried swords; now that they saw them draw their swords, none of them wanted to step forward to provoke them.

Zhuo Heng used the tip of his sword to draw a line, "Do not come over."

The dozen or so beggars were shivering there, and one could hear the sounds of their hungry stomachs from time to time.

Among the beggars over there, there were a few like Xiao Hei, who were looking at them longingly, as if they were extremely hungry.

Yan Ning turned her head away and found that her parents were also not looking that way anymore.

They were all people who grew up in a peaceful era and couldn't bear to see children go hungry.

But if they helped, with nearly twenty people having eaten their fill, would these guards still be able to hold them back?

It rained for about two hours, and it finally stopped.

However, the sky was also getting dark.

Li Shun said: "It's too late to go to Suicheng today; how about we go to the nearby Huaihua Town to make do for the night?"

Yan Ning agreed; it was better than sleeping in the open.

Sitting in the carriage, Yan Ning felt very uncomfortable in her heart.

Yan Ning sighed: "Dad, I left a parcel for them with steamed buns and mantou inside."

Yan Ze couldn't describe how he felt, "Sigh, there are so many beggars now, even four or five-year-old children, all of them are not getting enough to eat or wear."

Ji Lan also felt some sympathy.

But this world was just that cruel.

Soon, they arrived at Huaihua Town.

Yan Ning looked at the map; past Huaihua Town was Suicheng, and Suicheng had a canal, so they could take a section by water to Yangzhou, and after having enough fun in Yangzhou, they could set off for Lingnan.

Huaihua Town had Huaihua mantou, which tasted particularly good, with a light, sweet flavor.

Yan Ning loved to eat them.

At this time, Yan Ning began to count on her fingers: "When can I unlock the Freezing Storage or the Preservation Storage?"

Yan Ze comforted her: "It will upgrade successfully eventually, don't be anxious; what is the current task?"

Yan Ning wore a mask of pain: "One thousand catties of wood."

Yan Ze stroked his chin: "That's quite a lot; we can only make plans once we reach Lingnan."

However, Yan Ning was also good at comforting herself; having three spaces that large, it was just that she couldn't eat Huaihua mantou for the time being, which she could endure.

The next day at noon, Yan Ning and the others arrived at the dock in Suicheng.

It was just that these boats were really too small, and the carriage couldn't get on; if they wanted to take these boats, they would have to abandon the carriage.

But this carriage was specially made by the Empress Dowager, very sturdy and comfortable to sit in, so they would absolutely not throw it away.

At this moment, Li Shun returned after finishing his inquiries.

"I heard that in two more days, a larger ship will come by; shall we make our plans then?"

Yan Ning said, "That works out perfectly; we can have some fun in the city."

There was nothing much to play with in ancient times, so Yan Ze took his wife and daughter to listen to music.

Most of those listening to the music were men, and seeing Yan Ze bring his wife and daughter along, quite a few people were surprised and could not help but take a few extra looks.

In this kind of setting, although it did not compare to a brothel, he was truly the first one to bring his wife and daughter along to listen.

Inside Qingyin Pavilion, curtains were fluttering everywhere.

While listening, Yan Ze inadvertently glanced upward, and just as a curtain drifted aside, he saw an old acquaintance sitting on the second floor.

Yan Ning poked her father's arm and asked in a low voice, "Dad, what are you looking at?"

Yan Ze leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I saw the Tongzhou Regional Inspector Wan Hongzhe, who is also the Third Prince's maternal grandfather."

Yan Ning's eyes lit up, and she poked her father again: "Dad, go up to the second floor quickly and tell him about those two matters; you can also do him a favor while you're at it."

Yan Ze replied, "Alright."

Saying this, he stood up and went to the second floor.