Peach Blossom.

Tao Ye was suddenly shocked. If this was the case, the real intention of Prince Yongchang would probably be known to Meng and others soon. Then, as an insider, wouldn’t the Wang family be in a precarious situation?

Shen Hui looked at Tao Ye and asked with a smile, "You came from Yongchang, so you should know whether the marriage between the Prince of Yongchang and the Wang family is sincere or fake, right?"

Tao Ye was stunned for a moment. Was Shen Hui trying to get information from her?

Although Tao Ye has decided not to help Prince Yongchang dethrone Emperor Xiaozong's son, she cannot reveal the secrets of Yongchang that she knew in the past, right?

She always believed that even if she changed jobs, she should have basic professional ethics! Moreover, she did not change jobs, she just wanted to stay out of it.

She had no choice but to give a perfunctory answer: "I...I'm not too sure..."

Shen Hui could tell that it was an excuse, but she didn't expose it. "I just want to tell you that Prince Consort Wang has been in Yongchang for so long, it's impossible for Meng and the Grand Marshal not to be suspicious. Who can guarantee that he is simply thinking about his daughter's happiness, or has secretly boarded the pirate ship of Prince Yongchang?"

After hearing this, Tao Ye thought again, with Wang Jing's insight, he should have expected that he would not be trusted by the Meng family, right? He should be mentally prepared, right?

Shen Hui added, "However, no matter what Prince Consort Wang's purpose is, he has to maintain a basic relationship with the Meng family. Although he will not accept the princess for this reason, he will never get involved with you at this critical juncture. If someone finds evidence against him, it will certainly hinder his plan. Moreover, if he draws a line between you and the princess, she will not cause trouble for you. This is also to protect you."

Tao Ye realized that after going around in circles, Shen Hui was still trying to comfort her?

She couldn't help but smile bitterly: "He must be afraid that I would interfere with his plan, but forget about protecting me... He only has his first wife in his heart, why would he care about me as a substitute?"

Shen Hui smiled and shook her head: "That's not necessarily true. After he completes his plan, do you think he will continue to keep his distance from you? The decision a person makes when he has no scruples is his true intention."

Tao Ye remained silent. After knowing each other for many years, she felt that she did not understand Wang Jing and did not dare to guess his true intentions.

Moreover, even if things are really as Shen Hui said, Wang Jing's feelings for her still have to come after "settling his daughter and rescuing his father". His attitude towards Mantangjiao is still different from that towards her back then. Should she accept such cheap love?

After Empress Dowager Meng formally agreed to Wang Jing's request, Wang Dun asked Zhou Yunniang to go to Empress Dowager Zhou to persuade her.

So, under the joint decision of the two Empress Dowagers, the young emperor Si De issued an imperial decree: allowing Si Xiu, the son of Yongchang Prince Si Yuan, to choose a date to go to the capital and marry Wang Yu, the daughter of the Wang family.

When the imperial edict was sent to Yongchang at full speed, Wang Jing also privately asked Qiongju to go to Yongchang to confirm Wang Yi's safety.

He instructed Qiongju that if Wang Yi failed to escape from Qi to Wei at the agreed time, he should ask Qiongju to borrow a few more elite soldiers from his uncle Wang Xiao and look for an opportunity to rescue Wang Yi.

After Qiongju arrived in Yongchang, he found that there were a lot fewer people in Yongchang than before. The most obvious one was that Shang Yun, the General who commanded the guards of Yongchang Palace and the general who was responsible for training new recruits together with Chen Ji, was no longer in Yongchang.

Not long after Shang Yun led his men to leave Yongchang, Wang Yi also disappeared. The guards of Yongchang Palace did not know when Wang Yi disappeared, let alone where Wang Yi had gone.

It turned out that long before the imperial edict reached Yongchang, the spies sent by the King of Yongchang to Jiankang had already received intelligence and knew that the king's request would be granted, so the new recruits were divided into three teams. The first team, led by Shang Yun, left Yongchang first.

Shang Yun ordered the men and women in the first team to remain dressed as ordinary people and each of them to carry a small amount of gold and silver. They did not travel together, but dispersed to the counties around Jiankang and agreed on secret codes with each other in case they could be used as external aid in the future.

After the imperial edict of marriage arrived in Yongchang, the second team was the wedding party, led by Chen Ji. Prince Si Yuan of Yongchang, Madam Han, and Princess Si Rong were also quietly included in the team.

Madam Han and Si Rong served as maids like other women in the team, while Si Yuan served as one of the guards.

The third team remained in Yongchang, led by Bai Shuo, the chief of Yongchang County and the father of Lady Bai, as a place of retreat. Lady Bai also stayed in Yongchang Palace to guard their home.

In addition, Chen Ji also asked Si Yuan for permission to let Mada leave Yongchang alone to look for Chen Liang, the deputy general of his late father, Duke of Qiao. On the surface, Chen Liang died in battle with Duke of Qiao, but in fact he fled and lived in seclusion. Only by finding Chen Liang could he prove in front of all the Chen clan members that his brother Chen Xi had once plotted to kill his father.

On the day when the wedding procession set out from Yongchang Palace, Madam Bai personally sent her son Si Xiu to the outside of the palace gate. She only told him a few small things to pay attention to on the way, but she spoke with tears in her eyes.

After Chen Ji urged them several times, the mother and son said goodbye reluctantly.

Si Xiu rode a horse and walked with Chen Ji at the front of the wedding procession. After they had walked a long way, he looked back and saw his mother Bai Yu still standing at the palace gate for a long time.

Chen Ji couldn't help but laugh secretly that this prince was simply a giant baby. He should be getting married but he was still so fussy. He would never achieve anything great in the future.

Since most of the attendants in the wedding procession were walking, the pace was slow. However, they were entering the capital under the imperial decree and were received by officials along the way, so it was still quite convenient.

Wherever they went, Si Xiu would explain to the local officials: Yongchang is a poor town, and there are not many servants at their disposal. In order to make the wedding solemn, they had to temporarily ask the common people to make up the number. Fortunately, many people were happy to go with them, but the etiquette could not be perfect, so they hoped that they would understand and take care of the people who were traveling with them.

These words were discussed beforehand by Si Xiu and his father Si Yuan. On the one hand, it was to explain how the sparsely populated Yongchang could have a relatively spectacular wedding procession; on the other hand, it was to show the family tradition of Prince Yongchang who loved his people like his own children.

Officials and common people from all over the country saw that the wedding procession was made up of a mix of men, women, young and old, and they thought that they really looked like ordinary people. Moreover, Si Xiu treated everyone politely, eating and living with all the accompanying people every day. He had no airs of a prince at all, and left a good reputation everywhere he went.

One night when the troops were approaching Jiankang, Si Yuan secretly called Chen Ji, his adviser Xu Mu, his son Si Xiu and others and asked, "Do you think there is any fraud in this imperial decree to enter the capital?"

Xu Mu replied: "During our journey here, the reception officials in various places were very considerate. The two Empress Dowagers are both related to the bride. From this inference, it should be a sincere marriage. Besides, the king has been in Yongchang for more than ten years and has lived in peace with Jiankang. There is no need for them to kill us all."

Si Yuan nodded.

Xu Mu added, "But there is another possibility. They don't trust Prince Consort Wang. After all, Prince Consort Wang has lived in Yongchang for four years. If they suspect that we are colluding with the Wang family and plotting something bad, they are very likely to cheat."

Si Yuan nodded again.

"If the wedding goes smoothly, we can only ask Prince Consort Wang to announce to the public that he is reluctant to part with his daughter, and then let the prince stay in Beijing for a few more days. Only then will we have a chance to discover the "other secrets" behind Emperor Xiaozong's death. If the wedding does not go smoothly..." Xu Mu frowned, then glanced at Si Xiu: "The other party's moves are unpredictable, so we must adapt to the situation."

When Si Xiu heard this, his face turned pale and he said to Si Yuan, "Father, I... I have never experienced anything like this before. I don't know how to react to it."

Madam Han suggested to Si Yuan with a smile: "Why not find someone of similar age to replace the prince? If something unexpected happens, we can't let the prince get caught up in it!"

Si Xiu hurriedly shook his head and explained, "That's not what I meant. How can I let others do dangerous things? How can I do the enjoyment by myself? If I do that... not to mention the people accompanying me, even I will look down on myself. I just want to ask for some emergency advice."

Si Yuan looked at Si Xiu, smiled and nodded, his eyes revealing approval and pride.

Chen Ji, who was listening, was also a little surprised.

Si Yuan said to Xu Mu and Chen Ji, "The prince has been ordered to come to the capital to marry. Everyone knows about it. Even if they want to arrest him, they have to have a suitable excuse. We can't leave any room for criticism. If the groom is fake, how can we talk about the sincerity of the marriage? Let Si Xiu go to marry, but you have to teach him what to do at any time."

Xu Mu and Chen Ji both obeyed the order.

Xu Mu continued to advise Si Yuan: "There are two other things that may give people something to talk about. First, Your Majesty should not come to the capital with the prince to welcome his bride; second, General Chen faked his death to deceive the Grand Marshal and escaped from the capital, so how can he enter the capital now? I think it would be better to ask General Chen to accompany Your Majesty to stay outside the city, and I will replace the leader of the team and escort the prince to welcome his bride."

"No." Chen Ji immediately refuted and said to Si Yuan: "Every member of the wedding party was trained by me personally, and fighting is almost inevitable after entering the capital. Without my leadership, I'm afraid they will become a mess."

Chen Ji said to Xu Mu: "Although Jiankang is my old home, I have never been an official and rarely go out. Apart from my family, not many people know me. You don't have to worry too much about this."

Si Yuan lowered his head and pondered for a while, and soon made up his mind: "Starting tomorrow, Xu Mu will lead the team, and Chen Ji will change clothes and walk with the people. Madam Han and I will go to meet Shang Yun. If necessary, I will ask Madam Han to disguise herself and pass on the message to you."

So, the next day, Si Yuan, Madam Han, Princess Si Rong and a few others left the team midway to look for the secret code left by Shang Yun's team one.

Xu Mu rode on horseback and accompanied Si Xiu at the front of the queue, leading the wedding procession forward.

Four or five days later, the wedding procession reached several large mountains outside Jiankang City. The hot weather made many people feel tired and thirsty.

Chen Ji looked up at the high mountains on both sides and seemed to sense a murderous aura.

Sure enough, before he could give a warning, countless figures jumped down from the mountains in front and behind, all shouting, "If you want to go this way, leave money to save your life!"

Si Xiu was so frightened that his whole body went limp. He immediately hugged Xu Mu beside him and said tremblingly, "There are bandits... They are bandits..."

Chen Ji was a little puzzled. Would there be bandits around the capital Jiankang?

When he escaped from Jiankang before, he also passed through this road. At that time, it was just him and Mada, and they had never seen any bandits. But now there were hundreds of people traveling together...

Chen Ji suddenly thought of the bandits in Yongchang. The bandits in Yongchang were like the first layer of guards in Yongchang County. They would get rid of those who should not enter Yongchang for the King of Yongchang and would not leave any handle for gossip.

So…if Meng or Chen Xi wanted to get rid of them, and they didn’t have a good excuse to give to the world, they might just use this trick, “bandits” robbed them, and if they “died accidentally”, those people in Jiankang could distance themselves from the matter…

Before they could think about it, the "bandits" had already swarmed in and surrounded the wedding party.