Who says the prince is weak and can't take care of himself?

After leaving Qihuai, they would enter the territory of Wudu Prefecture. Qi Xiao and his party stopped at the Qihuai boundary marker. According to the laws of Dachen, local garrisons were not allowed to set foot in the territory of Wudu Prefecture, so the Huwei Army could only stop here. The main force had to turn back, and only the generals who received the emperor's edict were allowed to enter.

The originally large group of people was suddenly reduced to only Su Qin and his horse, Qi Xiao and his personal guards, and Tang Ling, Qing Lan and the coachman Ye Huai in the carriage.

Ji Mingtang, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites, and Song Li, a lieutenant general of the Five Capitals Prefecture, led people to welcome him, and then they escorted him all the way to Yuanjing.

After some pleasantries, Qi Xiao and Tang Ling set out again on the official road at the foot of Chenshan Mountain.

Tang Ling opened the curtains and looked out. The birch trees beside the road stood upright, their leaves still pale, and the autumnal atmosphere was hard to discern among the white and green. It was a bit disappointing. Tang Ling was about to put down the curtains when she saw Qi Xiao's horse stopped by the roadside. The rider was looking up at the mountains, as if searching for something.

Tang Ling held onto the window frame and kept looking at Qi Xiao. An indescribable feeling passed through her heart, like a drop of rain sliding down from the eaves on a sunny day. It should not be impossible, but it was hard to ignore. She couldn't help but look at the sky, fearing that the wind would rise or the rain would come at any time.

Qi Xiao saw nothing. It was just a forest, just birch trees. Nothing special about them. He stopped his horse to take a closer look. He was completely lost. Qi Xiao gently clamped his legs around the horse's belly, pulled the reins, and rode back to Zong Sheng and Bai Xiqiao.

"Son."

Qi Xiao had run far away, but Tang Ling was still looking at him. He could no longer see any figure, but he seemed to be distracted. Suddenly, Qing Lan called him back.

"Ok?"

"What are you thinking about, sir?"

Tang Ling lowered her eyes and whispered, "Thinking about what happened last night."

"Secret letter?"

Yesterday at the posthouse, someone hid a white pill in a dish sent to Tang Ling. Inside was a piece of thin paper, which was a reply from Xingluowei. Yuanjing remained silent and the prefect of Yuanzhou died suddenly.

The dead have the most reliable words. It is unlikely that the truth about Tang Ling's assassination will be revealed. Even if it can be found out, Chen Qi will choose to turn a blind eye and ignore it. Tang Ling is a hostage in Chen, and her situation is worrying. She cannot act rashly.

Tang Ling pondered for a moment: "Now that the Tiger Power Army is no longer by his side, Ye Huai should be able to move much more easily."

"But that kid and his personal guards are still here, and I'm afraid they might get in the way."

Tang Ling shook her head. "He won't care about us anymore. And didn't Ye Huai say that no one is watching him anymore?" Qi Xiao's attitude this morning was very telling; he wished he didn't even know Tang Ling. But Tang Ling had to be careful, or else she could be in danger at any moment.

"What are you going to do, sir?"

"Wait a minute, let's talk about it when we get to Yuanjing." Since we can't act rashly, there's no need to rush.

***

Dachen, with its capital in Yuanjing.

More than two hundred years ago, the Liang Kingdom was prosperous and produced several arrogant and licentious emperors. They not only built the imperial palace bigger and bigger, but also expanded it when there was not enough space. They built the West Palace, Langhuan Palace, and Dengxian Tower. They also expanded Yuanjing again and again, making it the world's number one city, unprecedented and unparalleled, and known as the Capital of Heaven.

But it was precisely because the extravagant lifestyle had continued for generations that Liang Yu's excavation of the canal was like pouring silver into the Qin River, which made the State of Liang unable to bear the heavy burden. When the State of Jin attacked, Liang was vulnerable, and the entire Yuanjing was burned down, and its grandeur was no longer there. Even after more than two hundred years, the Great Chen Kingdom had been established for nearly a hundred years and still could not restore even 50% or 60% of its past state.

Some people lamented the pity, while others said it was a good thing to burn it. Everything that happened back then seemed like last night's rain, leaving only water droplets on the eaves that had not yet been dried and wet mud on the ground. The traces of what once existed were in no way the same as they were originally, and it was unimaginable.

When Qi Xiao stood outside Xiyang Gate for the second time, he felt that the city wall had become shorter. It seemed to be towering into the clouds when he saw it back then, but now it was just like that. It was taller and thicker than the city wall of Yongcheng, but it could no longer stop Qi Xiao from coming and going.

The carriage stopped, and Tang Ling didn't need to dismount. She simply sat there, gazing up at the towering city walls and the soldiers guarding them, statues carved from stone and cast in iron. The intimidating power of a single city gate rivaled the might of a Tiger Army numbering tens of thousands arrayed along the banks of the Taihua River. Humans are like ants, life difficult and death easy; nations are like summer flowers, flourishing for a moment and then falling in an instant. Yet, this city had stood for centuries, enduring countless ups and downs, its prosperity consumed by fire, yet the city walls remained intact, as if the fire had merely dusted them with a layer of ash, a simple brush stroke away.

Tang Ling unconsciously took a deep breath. He had finally arrived at the capital of the Great Chen Kingdom, Yuanjing City.

The exchanging of hostages between countries was a common practice during the Eight Kingdoms era, but it had never happened since the founding of the Great Chen State, and there was no precedent to follow. The emperor of Chen State issued an edict appointing Tang Ling as a "Suwei Lang", but the State of Chen did not have such an official title as Suwei Lang. The officials from the Ministry of Rites could only bite the bullet and receive Tang Ling according to the etiquette of envoys from other countries. As soon as she entered Yuanjing, she was placed in the Tonghui Hall, which was the former site of the Langhuan Palace.

Two months before Tang Ling entered Chen, Zhou's envoys had accompanied Lu Fangjin to Yuanjing to negotiate peace. After two weeks of negotiations, they sent a letter back to Zhou, establishing the terms for Tang Ling's entry into Chen. These envoys were still in Yuanjing, living in the same guild hall.

However, what Tang Ling never expected was that Qi Xiao, who was supposed to part ways with him at the city gate, actually followed him all the way and even followed him into the guild hall and stayed there in a swaggering manner.

Qing Lan couldn't hold it in any longer and asked Ji Mingtang, the Minister of Rites who was receiving them, "Master Ji, the King of Chu is a prince, a noble, why is he staying with us in the palace?"

Ji Mingtang said: "Although the King of Chu is a prince, he has been granted the title of king. He has no property or houses in Yuanjing. According to the laws of the Chen Dynasty, vassal kings can stay in the Tonghui Hall when they come to the capital and treat foreign ministers together. The Tonghui Hall has two courtyards on the east and west sides. Master Tang and the envoys are staying in the Huaxi Villa on the west side." In fact, not only the princes who were granted the title of king returned to Yuanjing, but also the officials from various prefectures and cities who came to the capital every year would stay in the Tonghui Hall if they had nowhere to go. In short, the Tonghui Hall was the post station in Yuanjing City, but it was much more luxurious and spacious.

Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. They were in the east and the west and had nothing to do with each other. It was good that they lived next door to each other. If they had to live next door again, Qinglan would not be able to sleep well at night.