Traveling through the ancient times

On the second day after the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Prince Jingyang proposed to leave Beijing on the grounds that he was concerned about family affairs.

The king had received an urgent letter from Lu Mingqian a few days ago, saying that he was on his way back and that Prince Jingyang must be kept in the palace before he arrived in Kyoto.

The eldest prince's birthday is in a few days, so the king asked the eldest prince to invite King Jingyang to attend his birthday banquet.

In the past, King Jingyang always acted like a good uncle who doted on his nephews and nieces. Every year on their brothers and sisters’ birthdays, even if they were not present, birthday gifts would be prepared lavishly.

Lu Mingqian and his siblings were also full of love for their uncle, Prince Jingyang. They would write to him from time to time, and if they got any good things, they would ask people to send some to their fiefdom.

The eldest prince originally did not want to hold any birthday banquet. He thought it was troublesome and did not want to deal with guests coming and going.

The king explained to him that this banquet had another purpose and asked him not to make it public and just do as he was told. Only then did the eldest prince agree and sent an invitation to King Jingyang.

Prince Jingyang was a good uncle to the emperor. Even though he was reluctant to stay, he had to accept his nephew's cordial invitation. He thought that it would only take two or three days, and if he left after the eldest prince's birthday banquet, nothing would go wrong.

Unexpectedly, on the day before the eldest prince's birthday, Prince Jingyang received an urgent secret letter from the Prince Jingyang's Palace.

The letter was sent by Prince Lu Mingyuan of Jingyang. In the letter, Lu Mingyuan told Jingyang that Nighthawk had surrounded the people of Xiliang at the gate of their fiefdom. He also said that the people they sent to pick them up were taken away by Nighthawk, so he asked Jingyang to leave Beijing and return to his fiefdom as soon as possible.

King Jingyang was shocked. Why was Nighthawk in his fiefdom and blocking the people of Xiliang at the city gate? Could it be that the king had already known about his conspiracy with the third prince of Xiliang?

It's impossible. He hasn't been in contact with the Third Prince of Xiliang for a long time, and their correspondence was very careful, so it's impossible for it to be discovered.

Or did Nighthawk follow the Xiliang people to his fiefdom?

Dongyi and Xiliang have always had trade relations. Even if he allowed people from Xiliang to enter the city, he could say it was a business transaction.

However, when he let the people from Xiliang enter the city, the king suddenly ordered him to return to Kyoto to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

What is the king's purpose?

If the king really knew what he had done before, then the purpose of the king summoning him back to the capital was to detain him in Kyoto?

Regardless of the purpose, King Jingyang must leave Kyoto before Nighthawk returns to Beijing.

Prince Jingyang wrote a memorial and had it delivered to the palace, saying that there was an urgent matter in the letter from home and that Prince Jingyang needed to go back to discuss it. Prince Jingyang left Beijing immediately and did not go to the palace to say goodbye.

King Jingyang packed his bags in the palace, and as soon as the memorial was sent out, he immediately led his men to the city gate. If the king knew his purpose, he would certainly not let him leave. He had to leave the city before the king reacted. Only by returning to his fiefdom would he be safe.

As soon as Prince Jingyang left the city gate, he ran into Lu Mingqian who had rushed back. "Uncle, where are you going?"

Facing Lu Mingqian, King Jingyang could only stop and deal with him in a hurry, "Mingqian is back! There is an emergency at the emperor's uncle's home, and you must go back immediately."

"My nephew and the emperor's uncle haven't seen each other for a long time. I missed the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. I was thinking of coming back for my brother's birthday to have a good reunion with the emperor's uncle, but I didn't expect that the emperor's uncle would leave Beijing soon."

"Yes, it's really unfortunate. Next time, your uncle will bring your aunt back with him and stay for a while so that we can have a good reunion."

Prince Jingyang wanted to ride away, but Lu Mingqian would never let him go. "Uncle, wait a minute. I don't think we need to wait until next time. I will wait in the palace. I will send someone to invite Auntie and cousin Mingyuan to Kyoto."

King Jingyang's face changed when he heard this. It seemed that Lu Mingqian also knew something.

It is not advisable to stay here for long. King Jingyang winked at his followers and said, "Mingqian, you don't know that your cousin's wife will give birth soon and may not be able to come to the capital. The emperor's uncle is in a hurry to leave because he wants to rush back to his fiefdom on the day your nephew is born."

"Really? Your cousin and the imperial aunt are at home, so you don't have to worry. It's better for you to go back to the palace with your nephew and have a chat!"

Seeing that Lu Mingqian was pressing forward step by step, King Jingyang already knew Lu Mingqian's purpose. There was no way he would go back with him, so he whipped his horse and rode away while Lu Mingqian and others were not paying attention.

Lu Mingqian's men tried to stop them, but were blocked by the men brought by King Jingyang. Lu Mingqian rode his horse and chased after King Jingyang.

"Uncle, I advise you not to waste your energy. You can't escape."

"Lu Mingqian, I've been so good to you all these years. I just wanted to go back to my fiefdom to see your soon-to-be-born nephew, but you stopped me like this. You're such an ungrateful person!"

"Speaking of ungrateful people, if the emperor's uncle is the first, no one will be second. My brothers and sisters have always respected the emperor's uncle, and my father also respects and loves the emperor's uncle. If the emperor's uncle doesn't think about those unrealistic things, how can the nephew embarrass the emperor's uncle?

What's more, the uncle is colluding with the Third Prince of Xiliang. Do you know how surprised and disappointed your nephew was when he found out about this?"

King Jingyang's pupils shrank. The king really knew everything, but how could he admit it? "Don't accuse me. I don't even know the Third Prince you mentioned. As a member of the royal family, how could I collude with foreign enemies?"

"My nephew doesn't want to believe it, and my father doesn't believe it either, so please go back to the palace and explain it to my father in person."

Lu Mingqian caught up with King Jingyang and said, "Uncle, if you don't stop, don't blame me for being rude."

When King Jingyang saw that Lu Mingqian was already on par with him, he drew the sword from his waist and stabbed at Lu Mingqian.

Lu Mingqian dodged sideways, immediately drew his sword, slapped his horse's back, and flew behind King Jingyang.

King Jingyang sensed the danger approaching from behind and raised his sword to block it. The two men immediately engaged in a deadly exchange of swords.

"Is the emperor's uncle confessing himself?"

"Why would I admit something I haven't done?"

"Since you didn't do it, why are you running away? I'm just asking you to go back and confront him. I'm not stopping you from leaving."

The two men talked but did not stop their moves.

Although Prince Jingyang has some skills, he is old after all. After more than ten rounds, he was a little exhausted. "Uncle is old, why do you have to do that? Isn't it better to spend your remaining years in your fiefdom? Or are those all my cousin's ideas?"

Prince Jingyang was shocked. If they knew that Lu Mingyuan was also involved, no one in their family would be able to escape.

King Jingyang blurted out anxiously, "Nonsense, Mingyuan knows nothing."

"So all this was the Emperor's uncle's idea?"

King Jingyang knew that he had said the wrong thing, and he knew that the more he said, the more mistakes he would make, so he simply stopped talking.

Lu Mingqian's martial arts skills were superior to King Jingyang's, and he was still young after all, so after more than twenty rounds, King Jingyang was defeated.

Looking at King Jingyang, who was lying on the ground panting and glaring at him, how could this uncle he used to respect suddenly become a stranger? "Uncle, why do you have to be like this!"

King Jingyang snorted coldly, "Since you already know, why bother asking me hypocritically? This matter was done by me alone. If you want to kill me or chop me up, it's all up to you."