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

Since arriving in the State of Chen, their lives have not been easy. They have been looked down upon and treated harshly, but after the incident with the bandits, Tang Ling was locked in a prison van, and Qing Lan was also shackled. The diplomatic mission turned into exile. It has been raining in recent days, and the roads are muddy and difficult to walk on. Dragging the shackles is even more difficult. The prison van has no shelter, and after a day of rain, Tang Ling started to have a fever on the second night. She was sick and there was no medicine. She was only given water and dry buns every day, and she couldn't even get a mouthful of porridge. Qing Lan was almost angry to death.

Tang Ling sighed: "Handkerchief."

Qing Lan was startled, and pulled out a handkerchief from his bosom and handed it to Tang Ling. Tang Ling took it and placed it directly on Qing Lan's face, laughing softly, "Don't cry, your master is not dead yet."

"...Sir, you can't say such things!"

Tang Ling took a piece of cake and took a bite. The cake was soft, sweet and had a faint fragrance of lotus. It should have been delicious, but Tang Ling had been ill for a few days, and her mouth tasted bland and bitter. Everything she ate tasted like chewing wax.

"What is this called? I've never eaten it before." Tang Ling asked Qinglan.

Qing Lan shook her head: "The maid in the mansion gave it to me when I came here just now."

Tang Ling looked up at Qing Lan and smiled slightly: "You don't know what it is, and you dare to bring it to me?"

"Don't worry, sir. I've tried it and it's not poisonous. You should eat more, because you don't know where your next meal will come from. The people of Chen are really going too far! Too far! I don't think the King of Chu is a good person either. He's so arrogant and domineering at such a young age..." Qinglan has been studying medicine since he was young. He is not afraid of hardships, but he can't bear to see his own son suffer. His own son is so handsome and has always been pampered. When has he ever suffered like this?

"Alright, too much talk leads to mistakes," Tang Ling sighed. Qinglan was young and prone to crying, but he possessed rare medical skills. It seemed as if God had focused all his attention on his medical talent when he created him, while being rather perfunctory in other areas.

Before leaving, Qinglan's master gave him many instructions, the most important of which was "be careful with what you say and do." Qinglan only remembered this now and pouted in grievance.

"Be good, stop crying. It's embarrassing if someone sees you." Tang Ling stuffed a piece of cake into Qinglan's mouth, as if to coax him. "Qinglan, I'm very tired. I want to sleep for a while."

Qing Lan nodded: "Okay, Master, please get some sleep first. I'll go get some medicine for you!"

Tang Ling wanted to hold Qing Lan down, but he ran as fast as a rabbit. Tang Ling sighed and realized that she couldn't control him. She didn't have the energy to do anything either, so she simply lay down on the couch with her clothes on and fell asleep in a short while.

***

Qi Xiao walked slowly into the hall of the palace. The prefect of Fuzhou Prefecture, Yue Zhilin, and the deputy general of the Huwei Army, Su Qin, were waiting. Qi Xiao came after they had finished their cup of tea. It was clearly intentional.

Su Qin was kidnapped by Qi Xiao on the way and followed him all the way. He immediately ordered his soldiers to guard the three gates in and out of the Prince of Chu's Mansion while waiting for Yue Zhilin to arrive.

Yue Zhilin jumped up when he heard the news in the government office. Tang Ling, the hostage of Zhou State, had met with an accident in Shangyuanjing in Fuzhou Prefecture and had been missing for a night. Although the person was escorted by Su Qin and seemed to have nothing to do with him, Yue Zhilin, the incident happened in Fuzhou Prefecture after all, and he could not escape the responsibility. Moreover, a year ago, Fuzhou and Yuanzhou joined forces with the Huwei Army to wipe out the bandits. It was because of this achievement that he got the position of Fuzhou Prefecture Governor. If the court knew that he had embezzled military merits, it would be a capital crime of deceiving the emperor.

Yue Zhilin was so frightened he nearly died from a heart attack. Luckily, Su Qin found him and saved him from harm. Yue Zhilin immediately dispatched all the officials from the government office to escort Su Qin. But he never expected that even after entering Yongcheng, he would be robbed in the street by the King of Chu. What was he up to?!

"Your humble servant greets His Majesty, may His Majesty be well and safe."

"Lord Yue, you are too polite." Qi Xiao glanced at Su Qin, whose butt seemed to be glued to the chair, and smiled softly. "General Su, you have been busy lately. Thank you for your hard work."

"Your Majesty, we are here..."

Yue Zhilin had just opened his mouth when Su Qin interrupted him: "Your Highness, please hand over Tang Ling." Su Qin was a military general and probably didn't know the prince's temper, so he stated his purpose directly without any politeness.

Yue Zhilin wanted to pull it out, but it was too late. He could only hurriedly make amends: "Haha, Your Highness, please see that the Zhou Kingdom sending a hostage to the DPRK is a major event in the diplomatic relations between the two countries. I beg Your Highness to make it convenient for us."

"Convenient? Didn't I make it clear to you just now on the street? Since you know this is a matter of diplomatic relations between our two countries, yet you still dare to neglect and even insult Tang Ling? Insulting him is insulting the Zhou Kingdom. Do you want to provoke disputes between our two countries again? Or does General Lu think his military achievements are not high enough and want to fight two more battles? If I don't welcome Tang Ling back to the palace and treat him well, are you going to send him all the way to Yuanjing as a prisoner? I heard that Tang Ling has been weak since childhood. If anything happens to him, how many heads do you have to chop off?"

"This..." Qi Xiao's series of questions left Yue Zhilin speechless. Yue Zhilin had long heard that Su Qin had locked Tang Ling in a prison van and shackled her to prevent any accidents. Even if someone else wanted to kidnap Tang Ling, they wouldn't be able to take her away. Su Qin's approach was effective, but it was indeed inappropriate. Yue Zhilin didn't dare say anything. If the court wanted to blame it in the future, it would be the Tiger Power Army's fault. Lu Fangjin was now a military hero and didn't fear such things. However, Yue Zhilin didn't have the courage to get involved. He didn't dare touch the Zhou hostage, nor did he dare offend Lu Fangjin. And now, with the little devil that was the King of Chu, this interference would definitely not bring any good.

"Master Yue, may I ask, originally Tang Ling entered the city today. What did you plan to do? Lock her up in the government jail? Let her rest at the post station? Or should you give her a meal of dry biscuits and water and send her away before nightfall?"

"Well..." Originally, Su Qin had suggested they rest in Yongcheng for the night, and Tang Ling would be safest in the government jail. Yue Zhilin didn't dare to respond, so he smiled and said, "Since we're in Yongcheng, we can't let Young Master Tang down. The government has already arranged a room for him, and it's guarded by both government officials and General Su's troops."

Su Qin was much more direct than Yue Zhilin, without beating around the bush: "Your Highness, there is no need to worry."

Qi Xiao glanced at Su Qin's sullen face, a smile still lingering on his lips. "I'm here to share the worries of Lord Yue and General Su. General Su and the soldiers have been traveling hard for days, and they should rest well tonight. Although the Prince of Chu's Mansion isn't as well-protected as the Imperial Palace, it's not something any bandit can break into. With the help of the government officials, we should be safe."

"This……"

"No! Tang Ling cannot afford to make any mistakes."

Qi Xiao looked at Su Qin and laughed again, making Su Qin and Yue Zhilin feel uneasy. Then he heard him say, "No room for error? It seems General Su has already lost someone once. How did he get them back? Doesn't General Su know this?"

Su Qin's face changed when he heard this. Yue Zhilin glared at Su Qin. What did Qi Xiao mean by this? How did he get the person back?