Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

Xiao Zuoqing also vaguely felt that the carriage was going faster and faster, and he couldn't help rubbing his eyes in confusion. He lifted the curtain and it was pitch black outside.

"Xiao Li, why are you driving the carriage so fast? This is too dangerous."

Xiao Zuoqing spoke softly, also for fear of waking up the sleeping Xiao Nianqing.

After hearing this, the coachman indeed slowed down the carriage, but did not respond to Xiao Zuoqing.

Xiao Zuoqing looked behind him and felt something was strange, but it was dark and he could not find anything. Until a few flames appeared not far away in front of him. As the carriage was getting closer and closer to them, Xiao Zuoqing squinted his eyes and looked forward. Facing the light, he could not see clearly whether it was someone holding a torch or a fire stake standing on the roadside. But as they got closer to the flames, Xiao Zuoqing finally realized that the driver in front of him was not the Xiao Li he mentioned.

"Who are you!?"

Xiao Zuoqing was shocked, and only then did he realize that he was in danger.

At this moment, the driver suddenly pulled the reins to make the carriage gradually stop, still without speaking to Xiao Zuoqing. Xiao Zuoqing was a little impatient, and was about to attack the man, when a familiar voice suddenly made him stunned.

"Your Majesty~"

Xiao Zuoqing turned his head mechanically. Baili Qing was standing right in front of him, looking at him with a smile.

"Qing'er? It's really you!"

Xiao Zuoqing immediately jumped out of the car and ran towards Baili Qing, not caring about the driver. He really hadn't seen his princess for a long time. He was under house arrest in a foreign land for a long time. Now seeing Baili Qing, Xiao Zuoqing was so excited that he almost cried.

"Alright, alright, it's alright~"

Baili Qing gently patted Xiao Zuoqing's back to comfort him. The "coachman" who had just driven the carriage quietly got off the carriage, opened the compartment from the back, carried the sleeping young master out, and walked in front of Baili Qing.

"princess."

Baili Qing looked at her son sleeping in the "coachman's" arms, and a gentle look appeared on her face. She reached out and gently stroked Xiao Nianqing's face, then nodded to the "coachman", and the "coachman" carried the little prince away.

"Hmm? Where is he taking Nianqing?"

Only then did Xiao Zuoqing realize that this "coachman" was Baili Qing's man, and he relaxed his guard against him. But judging from their behavior, it seemed that they had discussed this from the beginning.

"Nianqing is asleep, let someone send him back to the inn first."

"What about us?"

"We, of course, have things to do."

Baili Qing looked at Xiao Zuoqing, then took a step back and raised his hand to signal someone something. Xiao Zuoqing didn't understand what Baili Qing was going to do, and just as he was about to ask, he heard a "pop" sound, the sound of metal piercing the flesh, and then he felt a pain in his abdomen. He looked down in horror and found that his body had been pierced by a long sword.

Xiao Zuoqing opened his eyes wide and slowly looked up at Baili Qing, his eyes full of disbelief. Baili Qing was looking at him with a smile.

"why?"

Xiao Zuoqing endured the pain and walked towards his princess. He dragged his body away from the sword, blood dripping from the tip of the sword to the ground and onto his clothes. He finally let his body leave the cold sword and used up his last strength to walk in front of Baili Qing, but he was stopped by the guards holding swords beside Baili Qing.

Xiao Zuoqing used up the last bit of his strength and sat down on his knees, dying with his eyes open.

Seeing this, the guard at the side stepped forward and reached out to feel the breath of Prince Qing.

"Princess, the person is no longer breathing."

Baili Qing took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and finally said.

"Notify Thistle to evacuate, we're going back home."

"Yes!"

Afterwards, a group of people holding torches escorted Baili Qing away, leaving Xiao Zuoqing's body alone kneeling on a dark path.

A few days later, when Xiao Zuoming was about to leave the court, Baili Qing suddenly rushed in from outside the hall, shouting "Your Majesty, please save my son", which caused discussion among all the officials.

"Princess Qing, don't be impatient, speak slowly. Did something happen to Nianqing?"

"Your Majesty, you know that Prince Qing has been helping Prince Yun in Wangyan City for more than a year. I just wanted my husband and son to come back for a few days, so I went to ask His Royal Highness Prince Yun. But who knew that His Royal Highness Prince Yun agreed on the surface and did let my husband leave Wangyan City, but sent people to kill him halfway! If I hadn't sent people to pick them up, Nianqing, Nianqing would have been killed by the villains! Although Nianqing is still alive, my husband--"

"What happened to Big Brother?!"

In fact, after hearing Baili Qing say this, Xiao Zuoming already knew what happened to Xiao Zuoqing, but he still couldn't believe it and wanted to hear Baili Qing say it herself.

"His Royal Highness Prince Qing is gone! This huge Prince Qing Palace will no longer have a head of the family. How can we, an orphan and a widow, survive? Your Majesty, you must make the decision for me!"

Xiao Zuoming frowned. He didn't believe that Lao Liu did it. Although Lao Liu was a ruthless person, he would not kill anyone at will. There were many doubts about this matter. But Lao Liu did not attend the court today, and Baili Qing was still hanging around in the hall. He couldn't do nothing, so he had to ask everyone to leave the court first and ordered someone to invite Xiao Zuochen to the palace to confront Baili Qing.

Before receiving the order from the palace, Xiao Zuochen was pacing back and forth in his mansion. The reason for his anxiety was that he received a message from his spy a few days ago: their special distress signal appeared outside Wangyan City. But when other guards rushed over, they found no suspicious traces except the traces of burning flares on the ground. On the second day, they found another flare, but Yunqiao and Yunbai were not seen this time, and Prince Qing and the Crown Prince were not found either. It was not until the third day, when they received the third flare, that they realized they had been fooled. Because Yunqiao and Yunbai only had two flares in total, one of them must have been a smoke bomb, or even all three!

"No news about Yunqiao and the others yet?"

Chu Yao just asked as he entered the front hall, and Xiao Zuochen shook his head.

"What about Yun Feng? Did he send any news back?"

Xiao Zuochen shook his head again.

"I'm afraid I've fallen into their trap this time."

"But..."

Chu Yao was about to say something when he heard the butler's announcement from outside the courtyard.

"Your Majesty, someone from the palace has come to deliver an order!"

Xiao Zuochen and Chu Yao looked at each other and walked out of the courtyard together. They happened to see the emperor's new favorite, eunuch Fu, coming with several guards to convey the emperor's order.

"Eunuch Fu."

"Your Highness Prince Yun, the Emperor has ordered you to come to the study to see him."

"Excuse me, Eunuch Fu, what exactly did the emperor want to talk to me about today?"

"Your Majesty, I can only tell you that it was Princess Qing who came to the Emperor because of the matter of Prince Qing. You still need to ask the Emperor in person about the rest of the matter. I dare not say more~"

Eunuch Fu bowed to express his apology.

Xiao Zuochen nodded.

"I understand. Thank you for your help, eunuch. I will enter the palace now."