Peach Blossom.

Tao Ye slept almost soundly. It was so rare to get a good night's sleep after being in the crowded and noisy refugee camp at Prince Ning's Palace for so many days!

She accidentally fell asleep with drool all over her face and messy hair...

"Knock, knock, knock—" There was a knock on the door outside.

The knocking on the door seemed to have lasted for a long time, but Tao Ye was so sleepy that she couldn't even open her eyes.

"Knock, knock, knock—" Another knock on the door.

This time, he also asked, "Is Miss Tao in there?"

"Hmm?" Tao Ye was dazed. She seemed to hear someone calling at the door, but she was still too sleepy to move.

Half asleep and half awake, she seemed to hear Wang Jing say that he only loved Mantangjiao in his life, and asked her not to waste her time on him; she also seemed to hear Princess Si Yao say that Wang Jing was already taken, and asked her not to be wishful thinking!

Then, she saw Chen Ji with a smirk on his face and said that they were both equally shameless and were a perfect match!

"Miss Tao, Miss Tao! Are you there or not?" The knocking and shouting outside became louder: "Wang Jing has gone out."

Hearing the word "Wang Jing", Tao Ye suddenly came to her senses.

She hurriedly got out of bed and opened the door: "Where is Wang Jing?"

The person standing outside the door was Wang Yi. He was startled when he saw Tao Ye’s disheveled hair.

Tao Ye also suddenly felt embarrassed and closed the door again.

After closing the door, she seemed to feel that this was very impolite. She quickly used her fingers to rub her hair, then opened the door again, smiling innocently: "Uncle... Good morning..."

Wang Yi also smiled, and his smile was still as kind as yesterday: "Miss Tao, it's getting late. Jing'er left for Xitang with Master Chen, and they have been out for a while."

"Ah?" Tao Ye was surprised: "Why didn't you call me earlier?"

"Well... I have been knocking on the door for almost half an hour..."

When Tao Ye heard this, she couldn't even raise her head. How come she always "forgot everything after sleeping"?

Wang Yi's attitude remained normal: "Jing'er said there's no need to call you, but I'm worried that he and Master Chen might have some unpleasantness on the way. If you go with them, maybe you can persuade them. They've been out for about a minute. I wonder how good Miss Tao is at riding a horse. Can she catch up with them?"

"Yes!" Tao Ye was full of confidence. What she was counting on was certainly not "horsemanship" but witchcraft.

She was afraid that Chen Ji had the intention to harm Wang Jing, so she had to catch up with him as soon as possible. She hurried back to the house, combed the simplest hairstyle, changed her clothes, and hurried out to ask Wang Yi for the way to Xitang.

Wang Yi had already wrapped a few buns in paper and stuffed them into Tao Ye's pockets. He then borrowed a horse from the Chen family and led Tao Ye outside.

Although they had known each other for a short time, Wang Yi's treatment of Tao Ye seemed no different from that of Wang Jing.

"Just keep going along this road and you should see them halfway." He gave Tao Ye directions, speaking casually, like a family.

Tao Ye had ridden a horse with Wang Jing a few days ago, so she knew a little bit about it. She just tried to make the best of it, said goodbye to Wang Yi, and reined in the horse to move forward.

When Wang Yi turned around and couldn't see her anymore, she took out a stick she had prepared in advance, dripped green blood on it, and told the stick to push the horse to run faster.

However, after the stick pushed the horse to run fast, Tao Ye was completely unable to control the direction of the horse!

The horse ran very fast under the force of the stick. Tao Ye was swaying left and right on the horse's back. Soon she was frightened and had to hold the horse's neck tightly...

The flowers, plants and trees around her flashed by. She had no idea of ​​the direction or time, and she didn't even notice that she had passed by Chen Ji and Wang Jing. She just kept rushing forward!

The speed was so fast that she couldn't help but scream "Ahhh"!

Chen Ji and Wang Jing both saw Tao Ye running madly: there was only one big tree on the wide road, and Tao Ye and his horse crashed into the tree exactly!

With a clang, Tao Ye fell to the ground, and the stick continued to push the horse forward...

"Fuck you! Come back here!" Tao Ye was in so much pain that she couldn't even stand up, but she yelled angrily at the crazy horse.

The horse did not come back, only a stick came back...

Several buns wrapped in paper all flew into the air, then fell down one after another and hit Tao Ye's face!

"Damn..." Tao Ye was speechless.

Chen Ji was stunned when he saw this scene. What shocked him most was the stick that was moving around!

Equally surprised were Ma Da next to Chen Ji and Qiong Ju next to Wang Jing.

Wang Jing had seen these magic tricks before, so he was not frightened. He quickly got off his horse and ran over to help Tao Ye up: "Are you hurt?"

"Second brother?" Tao Ye saw Wang Jing then. She sat up and saw Chen Ji, Mada and Qiongju.

She suddenly realized that she seemed to have revealed something!

Wang Jing brushed the dust off Tao Ye and asked, "How did you fall? Where are you hurt?"

"I... I'm fine..." Tao Ye felt that she was injured and must be bleeding. She was afraid of seeing the green blood, so she endured the pain.

She stood up slowly. She felt that everyone was looking at her strangely, especially Qiongju.

Chen Ji also dismounted and walked over to Tao Ye, showing a wicked smile: "Girl, after such a fall, I'm afraid you won't be able to give birth again in a few months, right?"

Tao Ye suddenly remembered the teasing words Chen Ji said to her last night, and she couldn't help but get furious: "If I want to have a baby, I will have one. If I don't want to have one, I won't have one! Do you have to keep asking? I think you have too much free time, don't you?"

Chen Ji was still laughing, as if joking: "I'm not idle, I'm just kindly reminding you, if Wang Er doesn't accept you, you're always welcome here."

Tao Ye couldn't help but yell at him: "Dream on! Even if I can't get married in this life, I won't look for you!"

Chen Ji winked and continued shamelessly: "Eh? Don't be so absolute! No matter how bad I am, at least I am a bachelor now. It's one person for one person. If you marry me, you don't have to compete with other women for attention, and you don't have to worry about how to deal with the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and sisters-in-law. Isn't it good to live a simple and comfortable life?"

Tao Ye wanted to say something, but Wang Jing stopped her sternly: "Are you guys done yet?"

Wang Jing had long been impatient to listen. He really didn't understand. Chen Ji was clearly teasing people, so why could Tao Ye continue to talk nonsense with him?

He recalled that his father had brainwashed him all night, and he barely suppressed his inner restlessness and asked Chen Ji: "Brother Chen, do you still want to hurry on?"

"Of course we have to hurry." Chen Ji still smiled brightly.

So they mounted their horses again and continued on their way to Xitang.

Tao Ye lost her horse and had to ride on the same horse with Wang Jing. She was afraid of making Wang Jing angry, so she didn't dare to say anything along the way.

At 9:00 p.m., they arrived at the residence of King Yongchang, the so-called "Yongchang Palace", which looked like a small enclosed village.

Qiongju said that it was actually a small fenced-off village.

At that time, due to the rebellion of the Zhao brothers, Zhongzong fled to Yongchang with his concubines and the young Xianzong. They chose to temporarily live in the most inconspicuous Xitang, and this selected small village was then turned into a temporary palace.

However, since they were fleeing, the palace could not be luxurious, so they enclosed a group of houses in the village and built a low wall around it. Everything in the village remained the same, except that a few of the wider houses were slightly renovated and used as sleeping quarters.

Later, Zhongzong and his concubines fled Yongchang again and died on the way. Xianzong was found by his close ministers and the palace was left unused.

Because the emperor had lived here, ordinary people did not dare to live here, nor did they dare to regard this place as an ordinary village, until Xianzong's eldest son Si Yuan was expelled to Yongchang.

Si Yuan moved into the palace where his grandfather and father had lived, and later he was conferred the title of King of Yongchang. Naturally, the people called this place "Yongchang Palace."

Tao Ye looked at the simple Yongchang Palace in Xitang County and thought of the magnificent Ning Palace in Ailao County. She asked Wang Jing casually, "Why does the Prince of Yongchang insist on living in such a small village when there is a ready-made Ning Palace?"

Wang Jing was about to speak, but Chen Ji came over and answered with a smile: "If the Prince of Yongchang lives better than the refugees, how can he win the hearts of the people?"

Tao Ye ignored Chen Ji.

Several people got off their horses outside the gate of Yongchang Palace and asked the gatekeeper to inform them of their request for a meeting.

Soon, someone came to lead the way for them.

Wang Jing, still using crutches, went in with Tao Ye, Chen Ji, Ma Da and Qiong Ju.

In a tiled house about three rooms long, they met Yongchang King Si Yuan and Madam Han.

Si Yuan's attire and attitude were no different from the last time he was in Prince Ning's palace. He still maintained a polite smile and asked, "What do you want to see me for?"

Chen Ji answered first, and his expression was very formal: "I was deeply moved by your words yesterday, and I couldn't sleep at night. I wished I could avenge Emperor Xiaozong and support the Great Qi as soon as possible. Therefore, I discussed it with you overnight, and came here early this morning to express my feelings to the king and ask for your instructions!"

Si Yuan nodded. He understood the meaning: "Were you together last night?"

Wang Jing also answered, following his father's request: "I pretended to be a refugee and lived in Prince Ning's palace for many days. This was really wrong, so I moved out last night. I had nowhere else to go, and fortunately Brother Chen took me in."

"Very good." Si Yuan smiled and nodded again.

Si Yuan never likes to be long-winded. As long as the other party understands it, things can proceed.

He then glanced at Mrs. Han.

Mrs. Han took out four pieces of paper from the bookcase nearby and gave two each to Chen Ji and Wang Jing.

The two took it and looked down, and found that it was a life and death statement!

Tao Ye, who was standing next to Wang Jing, also quickly stretched her head to take a look, but... there were still many words she didn't recognize...

Madam Han smiled and said to Chen and Wang, "Your Majesty has his own rules for doing things. You should know that digging for gold, recruiting soldiers, and entering the capital are all things that require risking your life. If you truly want to follow Your Majesty, then sign this life and death agreement, and from now on, your life and death will be at the mercy of fate! In addition, we need to make three rules. If you can do all of them, you will be considered Your Majesty's people. If Your Majesty accomplishes great things, then He will naturally not treat you unfairly."

Chen Ji bowed and asked with a smile: "Madam, please enlighten me, what are the three chapters of the agreement?"

Madam Han said, "First, the king's orders must not be disobeyed. If you are not capable, just do your best. The king will not blame you, but if you disobey the orders without reason, it will be regarded as treason and you will be killed without mercy. Second, internal strife must not arise. All those who have signed the life and death agreement here are our own people. If they kill each other, they will be killed without mercy. Third, secrets must not be leaked. Secrets learned for the purpose of handling affairs must not be told to people who are not related to the matter. You, your family members, and servants, who are in Yongchang, must not leave without permission, and those who are not in Yongchang must not enter without permission. If you need anything, you must inform the king in advance, otherwise, you will be killed without mercy!"

Chen Ji couldn't help but feel a little worried after hearing this. He had previously asked Mada to send someone to Jiankang to tell Princess Si Yao that Wang Jing and Tao Ye had eloped to Yongchang. The servant who went to run errands had not returned yet, but it was very likely that he would be back in the near future...