Chapter 591: The Escape Plan

Latest website: Jinling North Gate.

The guard general at the city gate kept looking toward the end of the street, his expression anxious.

He was originally a person planted in the Imperial Guard by the Xie Family.

Later, however, he gained the appreciation of Xiao Cheng, so the Xie Family had him take the opportunity to join Xiao Cheng's command.

"General, they are coming!"

Suddenly, a soldier pointed toward the end of the street, and they saw a troop of Cavalry galloping toward them.

Within the Cavalry, one could vaguely see Zhao Heng wearing a Dragon Robe and Xie Huanghou in phoenix robes.

Seeing this, he immediately ordered the soldiers to clear the path.

The Cavalry reached the front but did not stop; instead, they charged straight out of the city gate and headed north.

At this moment, he was shocked to discover that the person riding the same horse as the Emperor was none other than the Imperial Guard Captain Wei Hao.

Thinking that he himself was also a person planted in the Imperial Guard by the Xie Family, he did not think too deeply about it.

After all the Cavalry had charged out of the city gate, he also led his troops away.

If Xiao Cheng found out he was a person of the Xie Family, his life would be over.

"Wrong, go this way!"

After the Cavalry had traveled five li, Xie Huanghou saw the cavalry unit Zhao Heng was in heading toward the Jinling Pier and suddenly called out.

Zhao Heng turned his head at this time and said to Xie Huanghou, "Empress, I am going to Yanzhou to take refuge this time; will you follow me?"

Xie Huanghou was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "What nonsense is the Emperor speaking? We are going to Yang City now, why go to Yanzhou?"

Immediately, her expression changed, and she looked at Wei Hao, "Are you not sent by the Imperial Uncle?"

Wei Hao did not speak.

Zhao Heng nodded. At this moment, the Cavalry Wei Hao brought was more numerous than Xie Huanghou's, and he was not afraid at all, so he said: "Since that is the case, let us part ways here, Empress. Although the affection between the Empress and me is firm, I can no longer trust the powerful clans."

At a time of crisis, Xie Duan could force him to name the First Prince as the heir,

and next, he could harm him to death to let the First Prince ascend the throne.

Looking at the world, only by going to Yanzhou could he survive.

This was also what he had decided after thinking for a long time since being placed under house arrest.

Having said this, he no longer explained and urged Wei Hao to hurry.

Xiao Cheng had many troops; if they caught up, he would not be able to escape.

"Your Majesty, you cannot..." Xie Huanghou screamed.

But Wei Hao had already urged his horse toward the northwest.

Xie Huanghou wanted to pursue, but thinking that Zhao Heng's Imperial Edict was on her person, she hesitated for a moment and had the Cavalry head toward Yang City.

If she fell into Xiao Cheng's hands, even if Xiao Cheng did not kill her, he would certainly burn the Imperial Edict to ashes.

How could she lose the First Prince's position as heir?

The two cavalry units departed separately.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhao Heng arrived at the Jinling Pier.

At this time, the Prince of Chun was already waiting at the pier. Seeing Zhao Heng arrive, he immediately helped Zhao Heng off his horse and said to Zhao Heng: "Your Majesty, please board the ship quickly."

Zhao Heng did not say much; now was not the time for idle chatter.

Once he boarded, the Merchant Ship left the pier and sailed into the Jiujiang, following the current downstream.

Wei Hao and the other Imperial Guard soldiers also boarded other Merchant Ships and followed Zhao Heng's Merchant Ship.

Before long, Xiao Cheng arrived leading a large troop of Cavalry. At this time, the surging river water rolled eastward—where was there any shadow of a Merchant Ship?

"Bah!" Xiao Cheng fiercely threw his Helmet onto the ground. "Xie Family, damn you, Xie Family, my Xiao Family is not finished with you. And Wei Hao, if we meet on the battlefield next time, I will surely kill you!"

Having said this, he looked at the Jiujiang again, turned around, and returned to Jinling.

He needed to tell Dou Wei about this matter.

Zhao Heng had escaped, so they could no longer force Zhao Heng to issue an Imperial Edict to name the Third Prince as heir.

Now, with the rumors spreading everywhere, it was even more impossible for the Third Prince to ascend the throne.

The Cavalry left one after another. At this time, on a Merchant Ship leaving the river, Dong An walked out of the cabin.

Looking toward Jinling City, he sighed slightly.

Then, another person walked out; it was Mi Yan.

Staring blankly at Jinling, his eye sockets were slightly red, and he sighed: "The rise and fall of a dynasty is like the water in this river, rolling eastward and unstoppable. I did not expect that the Great Song would eventually walk down this path. From now on, this world will not be peaceful."

"Why must Master Mi be sad? Without destruction, there is no rebirth. Perhaps there will be a better Great Song in the future," Dong An smiled.

Jinling was prosperous, but in the few years he had been in Jinling, all he saw was dissipation and corruption, far inferior to the thriving Yanzhou of today.

Therefore, he was leaving Jinling now, but he felt no sadness; instead, he felt the anticipation of returning to his hometown.

"That is true." Mi Yan wiped his tears and said to Dong An: "This time, I must thank you all for the rescue. Now, I fear Xiao Cheng is already searching for me and my father inside the city."

Dong An said: "No need to thank me. His Highness had arrangements in Jinling long ago, specifically to guard against a situation like today."

When the secrets of the Dou Family spread throughout Jinling, the people of the Four Courts became vigilant.

They cooperated in their division of labor and, according to the plan, immediately activated the escape plan.

If there was no trouble in Jinling, this plan would be canceled; if there was trouble, they would take action directly.

Afterward, someone kept watch on the city gate.

Discovering that Xiao Cheng had returned to Jinling and was mobilizing troops, they determined they had to escape, so they arranged for Mi Yan and Mi Zhuang to escape Jinling before the West City Gate was closed.

At the same time, they prepared to have an inside contact in the palace bring out Imperial Concubine Mi.

Unexpectedly, they encountered the Imperial Guard controlled by the Xie Family fighting with the Imperial Guard controlled by Xiao Cheng, and they also saw Imperial Concubine Mi.

Thus, they followed along the way and, when Wei Hao broke out, took advantage of the chaos to rescue Imperial Concubine Mi.

Besides him, the clerks of the merchant firm had also arrived early at the Jinling Pier, having prepared the Merchant Ship.

It was only because they were waiting for Mi Fei that they departed later than Zhao Heng.

Fortunately, however, Xiao Cheng was only focused on Zhao Heng's Merchant Ship and did not pay attention to them.

"Yan Wang is truly far-sighted," Mi Yan could not help but exclaim.

Then, he lifted the door curtain and entered the cabin.

Inside the cabin, Mi Zhuang was sitting opposite Mi Fei.

The Third Prince's residence.

Dou Wei had come here after returning from the villa.

He believed that the Third Prince was now clear about his own identity.

"Is all of this true?" In the study, Zhao Mu's eyes were bloodshot.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer from Dou Wei, he slowly sat down, as if he had lost all his strength.

He had lived for over twenty years with the identity of an Imperial Prince of the Great Song.

The identity of an Imperial Prince was his pride; even though Dou Wei treated him as his own, he still thought about ascending the throne one day, and once he did, he would curb the growth of the Dou Family and safeguard the foundation of the Imperial Clan.

But in this moment, his faith completely collapsed.

It turned out he was not an Imperial Prince, but a traitor through and through.

His Imperial Father would only kill him and his mother, the Imperial Concubine.

"Mu'er, I know this is hard to accept, but it is the truth; I am your biological father, and the Dou Family is your family." Dou Wei wanted to reach out to stroke Zhao Mu's head, but seeing Zhao Mu's murderous gaze, he withdrew his hand.

Sighing, he said: "Regardless, we have no other way out; the Dou Family will either become the new Royal Clan, or be destroyed—there is no second path to take."