Chapter 28: As Long As You Give the Word

General Xie looked at Yan Ze and sighed, "I feel the position of Crown Prince should belong to His Highness."

"Speaking of which, many in the imperial court look forward to His Highness fighting his way back to the Capital. The Emperor is muddled, and the Crown Prince is both stupid and wicked. Before I was exiled, I even heard that the Crown Prince colluded with enemy nations; the letters exist, but the Emperor merely placed the Crown Prince under house arrest, and then let the matter drop."

Yan Ning leaned in and asked, "Are there any other rumors?"

General Xie thought for a moment, "It seems not."

Yan Ning continued to ask, "Has no one said that the Crown Prince colluded with An Guiren, and that the child in An Guiren's belly is the Crown Prince's?"

General Xie was stunned: "There is such a thing?"

His face was full of astonishment.

Yan Ze nodded: "This matter is true, but the Emperor might not believe it. I reckon it's because there was no evidence that it wasn't brought to light."

General Xie was shocked, "Your Highness, how do you know about this?"

Yan Ze thought for a moment, "I have seen it."

General Xie slapped his thigh, but ended up hitting his wound, causing him to wince in pain.

General Xie was furious: "If I had known about this earlier, I would have reported it to the Emperor no matter what."

Yan Ning sighed: "It's useless. I don't know what kind of love potion the Crown Prince fed the Emperor, but even treason didn't get him deposed. A little thing like being cuckolded probably wouldn't affect him either."

Xie Luyan also sighed along, "That's true, otherwise the civil and military officials in the court wouldn't be looking forward to the First Prince rebelling and fighting his way back to the Capital."

Yan Ning and her father exchanged a glance.

Her father never cultivated relationships with officials in the Capital and only wanted to be a carefree Prince; why did the civil and military officials have such high expectations of Yan Ze? Wasn't there still the Third Prince in the Capital?

Xie Luyan heard Yan Ning's doubt and began to explain: "The Third Prince is still young, and recently he has even picked up some bad habits. You see, everyone feels the Third Prince is unreliable."

Xie Luyan looked at Yan Ze: "But Your Highness, you are different from the Third Prince. You have real ability. As long as you give the word, we..."

Yan Ze hurriedly said: "No, no, no, my wife, daughter, and I have settled down in Lingnan."

He had to lay low in Lingnan for a while and wait until he had a firm footing before stirring up trouble. For now, he had to keep it from Xie Luyan; after all, he looked simple-minded and didn't even avoid the Nanyang Wang when talking about rebellion.

The Nanyang Wang acted as if he hadn't heard and walked over to ask: "It is already evening, and both General Xie and Lady Xie have injuries. Why don't we rest here for the night, so we can also treat General Xie's wounds."

Xie Luyan didn't think his wounds were anything serious; he had been talking to Yan Ze along the way and almost forgot he was still injured.

Everyone prepared to rest, first lighting a campfire and getting ready to roast some Rabbit and chicken to eat.

Yan Ning walked to Zhuo Heng's side and handed him a bottle of high-quality Golden Sore Medicine, "Why did you fight so aggressively today? You have injuries in several places."

Zhuo Heng remained silent.

Yan Ning guessed it, "Are you worried that the one hundred garrison soldiers the Nanyang Wang arranged for us will affect your status after they join?"

Zhuo Heng felt a bit embarrassed.

He hadn't expected his little thoughts to be completely seen through by His Highness.

Yan Ning then said: "Don't worry, they won't take your place, but don't fight so fiercely in the future."

Zhuo Heng was elite and had excellent conditions in every aspect, so even though the Nanyang Wang gave them one hundred garrison soldiers, Yan Ning had no intention of replacing him.

At this time, Xie Luyan, who had finished bandaging his wounds, came over.

He leaned in toward Yan Ning and began to coax: "Princess, the journey ahead is long; don't you feel that these days are very difficult?"

Yan Ning saw through General Xie's intentions at a glance; he still hadn't given up on instigating Yan Ze to rebel.

Since things weren't working with her father, Xie Luyan had come to find her.

Yan Ning put on an innocent look: "Not difficult at all. Our whole family has been traveling and sightseeing along the way. And I must say, the South is truly different from the North; I really like the water towns of Jiangnan and the fruits of Lingnan."

Xie Luyan:...

Fine, this whole family is impossible to reason with.

Originally, he had wanted to save the country by taking a roundabout path through Yan Ning. Who in the Capital didn't know that Yan Ning was the apple of the First Prince's eye? As long as he could persuade Yan Ning, he could persuade the First Prince.

But who would have thought that neither of them would cooperate.

Xie Luyan had no choice but to wait until they reached Lingnan to persuade them again.

By then, when the little Princess suffered, Yan Ze would surely be unable to resist rebelling.

Xie Luyan thought happily, and he touched his clothes where he kept his Silver Note; the money for the rebellion was already prepared for him.

Yan Ning sat inside the carriage; it should still be a few days before they reached Shawan County.

Her father was currently riding a horse in front with the Nanyang Wang, saying they would arrive in three days.

Yan Ning took out her Tablet, put on Bluetooth earphones, and started binge-watching a show.

Yan Ning was becoming engrossed when the carriage suddenly stopped, and Yan Ning almost fell out due to inertia.

Ji Lan pulled back the curtain with dissatisfaction: "Why did we stop suddenly?"

Yan Ning steadied herself and went down to see what was happening.

She saw a masked youth leading a massive crowd of people approaching, at least a thousand of them.

Yan Ning frowned and asked her father: "Father, what is going on?"

Yan Ze hurriedly said: "Go back into the carriage quickly; we can handle these problems."

Yan Ning got into the carriage and took out the Crossbow her father had recently made in the Nanyang Wang Mansion during his spare time, which he had made by comparing it to the crossbow in the "Traveler's Handbook"; it was quite powerful.

He had also made five wooden arrows; although they were only made of wood, their power was still great.

Yan Ning turned and mounted a horse, walking to her father's side.

Yan Ze was worried: "Ningning, go back first; it's dangerous here."

At this moment, the youth wearing white clothes looked at Yan Ning: "You are Yan Ning?"

"If you are sensible and voluntarily break off your engagement with Xiao Huaijin, I will withdraw my troops immediately."

Hearing this, Yan Ning knew he was one of Fang Qiuling's people, and she immediately used the Crossbow her father had made to quickly fire an arrow at the leading youth.

She had originally thought this wooden arrow wouldn't work, but to her surprise, with that shot, the wooden arrow pierced directly through the youth's left arm, causing him to howl in pain as he fell to the ground.

Yan Ning sneered; whether or not she broke off her engagement with Xiao Huaijin was her own business, and she wouldn't do it just because some random person told her to.

After that person fell to the ground, Zhuo Heng took advantage of the fact that the other side's thousand troops were not paying attention and brought the youth directly back to Yan Ning's side.

The mask fell off, and the Prince of Nanyang was somewhat surprised: "Fang Yu?"

Fang Yu was also shocked; why hadn't he seen his uncle-in-law and Xiao Huaijin just now?

Yan Ning pressed a Crossbow against Fang Yu: "Surrender now; I cannot guarantee whether my hand might slip and accidentally give him another arrow."

That group of soldiers looked at each other in dismay, but they had tied up the young master, who was in danger of losing his life at any moment.

Thus, those soldiers could only stay where they were, waiting for Zhuo Heng and the others to come and bind them.

Xiao Chengtian could not help but ask: "Ningning, how do you intend to deal with him?"

Yan Ning did not even think about it, pointing directly at a soldier and saying to him: "Go back and tell your master that your young master is in my hands; if you want to save him, bring the ransom immediately."

Fang Yu hurriedly said: "Uncle-in-law, save me..."