Her guards

Chapter 86 Outside the Capital
"Wei Jiao, what brings you here!"

At the post station outside the capital, Wei Xu was the first to dismount. He had been so cautious in the capital that he had never even left his house. Now, he could finally raise the banner of the Wei family and show off his power. But as he swaggered in, before he could even call out to the postmaster, he saw Wei Jiao sitting in the courtyard warming himself by the fire, with the postmaster nervously adding firewood to the fire.

Seventh Master Wei then entered as well, and was taken aback when he saw Wei Jiao.

“Third Young Master.” He was somewhat surprised, then hurriedly stepped forward. “We went to your residence yesterday, but the gatekeeper said you weren’t there. Because we were in a hurry to deliver the Emperor’s decree and rewards to the General, we didn’t wait any longer.”

After saying this, he asked with concern.

"Does the young master have a message for the general?"

Wei Jiao warmed her slender, fair fingers above the fire: "No need to send words. No amount of sweet talk can express my filial piety..."

He looked up and smiled brightly.

The winter chill made Wei Jiao's face even paler, but the flickering campfire cast a reddish glow, making her smile gentle and charming.

Master Wei stared in astonishment. It was no wonder that the mother and son had survived Zhao Tan's clutches back then.

But then a chill ran down my spine.

That little madman's smile is never a good thing!
A sound came from beside my ear.

"So I decided to personally see you off all the way, to show my filial piety to my father."

Personally escort them? Travel with them? Master Wei was startled and blurted out, "Would His Majesty agree to this?"

Wei Jiao nodded: "My father once escaped from Zhao Tan by taking advantage of his official position. Like father, like son. But His Majesty is not a scoundrel like Zhao Tan. I have no need to escape. His Majesty never worries about this."

After saying that, his face turned cold.

"Seventh Uncle, watch your words! What you're saying is utterly rebellious and deserves the confiscation of your property and the extermination of your entire clan!"

Master Wei's face stiffened. What did he mean? He meant that Wei Jiao was sent to the capital as a hostage, and His Majesty agreed to let him go with them, in case he ran back to Longxi...

This kid actually dragged Zhao Tan into it, making it seem like he was insulting the emperor by comparing him to Zhao Tan.

Isn't this just deliberately looking for trouble?
Well, he should just keep quiet.

"Yes, yes, Ah Jiao is right. Seventh Uncle misspoke." He quickly said, "I was afraid of delaying your duties, since you are now serving His Majesty."

A smile returned to Wei Jiao's face: "It won't delay me. I can get things done anywhere."

……

.......
Because of the presence of the embroidered woman, the post station no longer entertained other guests, but also because of Wei Jiao's presence, Wei Xu was unable to swagger around.

The group quietly parked their carriages and returned to their rooms to rest.

The servant standing at the door looked around and gestured to the people inside.

“Father, he doesn’t have that much filial piety,” Wei Xu said hurriedly.

Master Wei frowned: "Of course I know he has no filial piety, but what can I do? Can I stop him from sending it?"

Wei Xu couldn't help but say, "Did he discover...?"

"Silence," Master Wei whispered to him.

Wei Xu swallowed back the rest of his words.

Master Wei glared at him again: "Get out."

Wei Xu realized what was happening and hurriedly went outside, standing on the veranda chatting with the servants outside the door. "...Check all the carriages and horses." "Make sure the fodder is of good quality."

The area outside the door became lively.

The Seventh Master, the bodyguard, had a gloomy expression.

"What a bunch of useless people, so many of them went and they all died."

"Even if the young prince is indeed surrounded by experts and protected very closely, things cannot be accomplished in one go, nor can they be accomplished like this."

"A person died, and yet the whole city is still in an uproar!" The other two people in the room also looked distressed.

"I never expected that the young ladies of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion lived in that alley," someone said in a low voice. "The young ladies even came out and wandered around, which alerted the city patrol soldiers."

The former dynasty's young prince was not allowed to be seen by others, and he remained silent when attacked, but the young ladies of the Ding'an Duke's Mansion could shout loudly.

Master Wei paced back and forth in the room, his brow furrowed. "What a coincidence! How could they be there? Is it real or fake?"

One person whispered, "It's true. A scholar named Liu from Fuzhou and his daughter live there. This Miss Liu passed the imperial examination and became a princess's companion. The young lady from the Duke of Ding'an's mansion was also a princess's companion, so they were classmates and had contact. That night, she happened to come here, and..."

They're unlucky, and so are they.

Another person whispered, "There are three houses in this alley. Miss Liu's family lives in one, a butcher and his wife live in another, and the other one should be where the little prince is hiding."

One of the previous speakers continued, "It's just that the Commander of the Imperial Guards probably wanted to shirk responsibility, labeling what happened that night as remnants of the Sun family, which alarmed the Emperor. Now the government is investigating strictly, soldiers are guarding the city, and everyone is watching closely, so we haven't been able to investigate in detail..."

Master Wei said irritably, "What's the point of investigating? Besides, we've made such a big fuss. People aren't stupid. Do you expect us to investigate them?"

The two bowed their heads and said, "Seventh Master, please calm down."

One of them whispered, "We really underestimated the enemy this time. We knew that the young prince was heavily guarded, but we didn't expect it to be this tight. There were so many experts around. Old Ding and the others had already retreated, but they still encountered an ambush and were wiped out."

Another person carefully reassured him, "Seventh Master, although we failed this time, our actions were clean and we won't be found out. Even if the Third Young Master was there at the time, he wouldn't have noticed."

Master Wei sneered, "Of course he can't find out. He's not family, and he doesn't know us." He then exhaled and looked at the two of them. "We've been defeated this time. Don't do anything from now on. Have everyone in the capital evacuate. We'll talk about it after we get back to see the General."

The two responded in hushed tones.

Wei Xu's voice suddenly rose from outside the door: "Wei Jiao, why are you dismantling our carriage!"

Master Wei and the other two exchanged a glance, then quickly fell silent and went outside. Sure enough, they saw Wei Jiao standing in the courtyard, while a group of women in embroidered robes were dismantling the Wei family's carriage...

"You've packed too much stuff," Wei Jiao said lazily. "Having received His Majesty's decree and rewards, you should travel light and hurry back to Longxi. My father is waiting anxiously at home. Do you even care about my father?"

When Wei Xu saw the box of jewelry he had bought for his beloved concubine being taken out and thrown into... the arms of a woman in embroidered clothes, he felt heartbroken and wanted to rush over, but was held down by Master Wei.

Master Wei took a deep breath: "Let him be, let's not cause any more trouble."

Everything went wrong on this trip to Beijing. I'll just have to bear with it and consider it a way to avoid further trouble.

Just as Wei Jiao said, he should hurry back to Longxi to see the general; he didn't want to stay outside for even a moment longer.

“Ah Jiao is right,” said Master Wei, raising his voice. He then looked at the others around him and said, “You should also pack light so we can return to Longxi as soon as possible.”

Traveling light and simple means that one is bound to suffer along the way. Wei Xu looked at the box of jewelry that originally belonged to him, which was tucked into the arms of someone dressed in embroidery. He realized that he hadn't gained any benefits from this trip.

With red eyes and a hoarse voice, he replied, "Yes."

……

.......
The post station was bustling day and night, with carriages and horses constantly coming and going.

Compared to the post stations near the capital, the post stations in remote areas were rather rudimentary.

As dusk fell, a postmaster and his servants stood outside the gate, respectfully bowing to an official who was being escorted by a group of soldiers.

"Inspector Ji, please come in."

Ji Ying lifted his hood, dismounted, and glanced around.

The postmaster hurriedly said, "Qingshan Post Station is humble and unworthy, I hope you will forgive us, sir."

“I didn’t come here for sightseeing,” Ji Ying said. He then glanced at the sky and saw that it was covered with dark clouds and the wind was as cold as a knife. “It’s already good enough to have a place to stay before the heavy snow comes.”

The postmaster smiled broadly: "Please come in, sir." He then took out a letter from his pocket, "Your timing is perfect, sir. Your letter just arrived, and I was just thinking of personally delivering it to the government office."

Ji Ying took the letter, and upon seeing the seal mark on the envelope, his expression froze slightly. He quickly regained his composure, lowered his eyes, and placed the letter in his pocket.

(End of this chapter)