The fool has become a spirit, and she can speak

As they led their horses out of the city, they discovered that the tall city gates had been sealed. Cheng Youning and Qiao Rong exchanged a puzzled glance, saying, "We've already lifted the curfew in many places in Fengqi, allowing people to enter and leave the city day and night. What's going on in Wentian? They've sealed the city in broad daylight."

Qiao Rong's heart was pounding, and he felt uneasy. Although he was a few years older than Cheng Youning, this was not the imperial city, and he would panic if he encountered any problems. He pretended to be calm and said, "Your Highness, don't worry, I'll ask someone."

There were a lot of people gathered at the city gate, all wanting to leave the city, but they were all stopped one by one by the gatekeepers.

The crowd was getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people wanted to leave the city. No one knew why they were stopped at the door. The noise was even more chaotic than a vegetable market. Qiao Rong was at the end of the crowd. There was a huge crowd between him and the tall city gate. He stretched his neck and stood on tiptoe to listen for a while but could not hear anything.

By chance, a middle-aged man, looking furious and carrying a sack on his shoulders, squeezed out of the crowd. Qiao Rong grabbed him and said, "I want to know why the city gates are blocked and we are not allowed to leave."

The man shook his head and sighed, saying, "Who knows? The gatekeeper said it was an imperial decree. All the cities north of the Imperial City have been sealed off."

"They're all blocked?" Qiao Rong's tone changed. Blocking this one city gate was fine, but were all the cities to the north blocked? That was too much of a coincidence! Were they going to be trapped here?

"What the officials said could be false!"

Qiao Rong pressed the issue, "Did the official say when the blockade would be lifted?"

The man shook his head in confusion. "I don't know. The officials said they were acting on orders. They didn't reveal why the city gates were blocked or when they would be lifted."

Before Qiao Rong could ask for details, the man left, shaking his head every few steps.

Cheng Youning stared at the tall city gate not far away with a pout, looking very unhappy. He cursed his bad luck in his heart, as his way forward was blocked by all these city gates.

Qiao Rong was also very frustrated, but he still comforted Cheng Youning: "Your Highness, please wait for me in a cool place. I will go and find out what happened."

Cheng Youning nodded, he was eager to leave the city.

Qiao Rong struggled through the crowds to the front, where he saw the ferocious-looking clerk blocking the door. He didn't dare reveal his identity. To get more information, Qiao Rong took out some silver to bribe the clerk guarding the city for the first time, "Sir, why are you sealing the city?"

Seeing the silver, the officials' attitudes improved. They clasped their hands together and bowed twice towards the imperial city. Then they said to Qiao Rong, "We are acting according to the imperial order. We will seal off the city as soon as we receive the signal. As for when to lift the seal, we have to wait for the order from above."

Qiao Rong's two taels of silver were wasted. He didn't get any more information than that of the middle-aged man who was carrying a sack and shaking his head and sighing.

Looking at Qiao Rong who squeezed out from the crowd, Cheng Youning quickly asked, "How is it?"

Qiao Rong said dejectedly, "Just like what the middle-aged man said just now, this must be a big deal, otherwise the city can't be closed. What should we do now? We are in a dilemma."

Hearing this, Cheng Youning's mouth finally straightened up. He touched the horse's head again and again, and after a long while he spoke: "Let's go."

Looking at Cheng Youning turning around with his horse, Qiao Rong asked hurriedly, "Your Highness, where are you going?"

Cheng Youning resigned himself to his fate. "Let's find an inn to rest first. We might know tomorrow why the city is closed."

At this time, Cheng Youning had not yet realized that the city was closed because his grandfather was trying to catch him.

Qiao Rong was a little happy when he heard this. They were exhausted from the journey and should have found an inn to rest.

After an incense stick of time, the two men and two horses finally arrived at the post station. When Cheng Youning saw the broken wooden bed inside the post station, he could not walk anymore. He lay down on the bed and fell asleep without even taking off his clothes.

Like him, Qiao Rong always sleeps with his clothes on when he feels sleepy.

While Cheng Youning was sleeping soundly, his parents who were far away in the imperial city were running around like cattle and horses. Shang Xi left the palace, said goodbye to Wan Baiqian, and went to the temporary villa opened by Hong Zhe with Cheng Feng and Chen Qingliao.

The house is not big, but it has three entrances and three exits, which is very unique and elegant.

Moments after the servant had run into the courtyard, Hong Zhekai and his family came out to greet him. This was the second time Hong Zhekai and Cheng Feng had met that day. The first time was in the palace that morning, but because of Ge Dongqing's romantic affairs, they hadn't exchanged words. This time, they still had to exchange a few pleasantries. Hong Zhekai said warmly, "I'm sorry for not welcoming you, Crown Prince and Crown Princess, to my humble abode."

Cheng Feng smiled and replied, "I just heard that you arrived at Fengying yesterday, so I came to visit you today. I'm sorry to bother you."

"No, no, even if you didn't come, you were planning to bring your wife to visit Prince Pang's mansion. Come on, please come in."

Although Hong Zhekai was smiling, he was still confused. The emperor had wanted to welcome him, but it ended up being a mess. Later, for the sake of fairness and justice, the emperor wanted to punish the prince. They were on pins and needles in the palace for more than two hours. The people sent by the emperor could not find His Royal Highness the Prince, so the emperor let them go back. They didn't get to eat, didn't hear the new music arranged by the music troupe, but watched a thrilling drama instead.

While Hong Zhekai was warmly welcoming the visitors, he was wondering in his heart, the prince was missing, the imperial city had been searched several times, but there was still no news. Is the prince's whereabouts or not? Why did these two people come to him if they were not looking for him?

After everyone was seated and Cheng Feng introduced them, Hong Zhekai finally understood the purpose of their visit. He also realized that the unpretentious man was not their follower, but Chen Qingliao, who was very accomplished in architecture.

After learning the purpose of their visit, Hong Zhekai found out the defense map of the river outside the north city wall.

The picture in Hong Zhekai's hand is much more valuable than the one in Shang Xi's hand. If she hadn't come here on orders, she wouldn't have been able to see this thing.

After Shang Xi and Chen Qingliao carefully compared the drawings, they made a few marks on their own copies of the drawings. It only took them a cup of tea to finish them.

While a few people were chatting, Hong Zhekai finally spoke up, "Did you enter the palace again just now?"

Cheng Feng smiled and nodded. "My uncle is concerned about the refugees outside the northern city walls. He asked Shang Xi and Brother Chen to build a village and houses for them. We dared not delay for a moment and came to ask Brother Chen, who is experienced in construction, for advice."

"Your Majesty's benevolence is a blessing to beggars and the people. By the way, has the prince been found?"