Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

After Xiao Ce went outside, he saw that Yin Pan'er and Nie Bing had already woken up.

They were accompanied by their own 20-person guard.

Xiao Ce noticed that this guard team was entirely composed of women.

After leaving the Crown Prince's residence, there was a long transport line stretching as far as the eye could see at the entrance.

Five burly young men stood beside each car.

At the door, Lin Zhong said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, your horse has been prepared!"

Xiao Ce followed Lin Zhong to a tall horse on the side.

He was immediately embarrassed.

Because horses in this era were not equipped with stirrups.

How do you mount a horse without stirrups?

Seeing him looking at the horse, Lin Zhong said, "Your Highness, this horse is a precious steed that Your Highness specially prepared for you! It is extremely rare!"

Xiao Ce wasn't really looking at the horse; he was thinking about how to mount it gracefully without stirrups!

But before he could speak, a servant walked over from the side.

He stepped forward and knelt prostrate beside Xiao Ce, clearly serving as a stool!

Xiao Ce stepped onto the servant's back and mounted his horse.

However, because there were no stirrups, the horse was still a bit unsteady. Fortunately, someone was leading the horse, so he was able to keep it relatively stable.

However, he felt that unless he had excellent riding skills, he would probably be thrown off his horse after only a few strokes.

After mounting his horse, Xiao Ce asked Lin Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, don't you have stirrups here?"

Lin Zhong was taken aback: "Stirrups? What are stirrups? Are they horse stools? Don't we use servants to make horse stools here? If Your Highness thinks it's inappropriate, I'll have someone bring one."

Xiao Ce saw that Lin Zhong really didn't know, and shook his head: "No need!"

Xiao Ce wondered if the Turkic cavalry had stirrups.

If not, equip your own cavalry with stirrups. This will not only increase stability while riding, but also allow for more tactical maneuvers!

In this way, wouldn't we have another powerful weapon to deal with the Turks?

As Xiao Ce pondered this, his servant led his horse toward the city gate.

Their procession was long and impressive, attracting many onlookers.

The people whispered among themselves.

"Why is this crown prince so happy? Is he out of his mind? It's clearly an exile, yet he actually thinks His Majesty wants him to deal with the Turks..."

"Yes, if our Great Xiao Kingdom were to truly fall to this state, sending such a useless crown prince to guard the border and protect us would be worse than having us line up to be killed by the Turks!"

"However, it's fortunate that this useless crown prince has left! Otherwise, if he had become the emperor of Great Xiao, it would have been our annihilation!"

The people weren't afraid of this useless crown prince. Therefore, their discussions were very loud.

Inside the carriage, Nie Bing frowned slightly and said, "Pan'er, your prince doesn't seem very bright. He's still smiling and waving at the people? Can't he see that they're all laughing at him?"

Yin Pan'er said with a smile, "Sister, you heard it all in the carriage. How could the Prince not hear it! But how many people can maintain such a calm and composed attitude?"

Seeing Yin Pan'er's adoring expression, Nie Bing was slightly speechless: "Pan'er, I think you've been drugged by him."

Yin Pan'er blushed: "Sister, you're just like these people, prejudiced against him."

...

These rumors naturally reached Xiao Ce's ears!

The people said some very unpleasant things.

However, he seemed indifferent. He knew very well that the people were cursing the original crown prince.

What does it have to do with him?

The original crown prince was indeed a complete waste!

As he expected, when he arrived at the city gate, no one came to see him off!

The King of the Town had already said in advance that he would not be sending any gifts.

Although Prime Minister Yin had entrusted his daughter to him, he certainly wouldn't come to avoid suspicion.

As for the other civil and military officials, as well as the princes, they all wished he would die sooner.

No one will come!

As a prince going to his fiefdom to "return to his kingdom," he was the first person in the entire court to be sent off without a single official coming to see him off!

...

Xiao Ce rode his horse out of the capital city gate without looking back.

Because there was nothing in this city that anyone would want to stay for.

He was confident that he would leave in dejection today!

One day, all civil and military officials will kneel for miles to welcome him back to court!

Xiao Ce pulled on the reins and shouted to the person beside him.

"Northern Army, listen to my command! The entire army shall march! Divide into three teams to provide protection at the front, rear, and flanks! Today, our destination is Pingshun City, forty li away, where we will set up camp!"

Han Da and Yan Jia bowed and accepted the order.

The army of three thousand men, along with a grain transport team of five thousand, set off in a grand procession.

Xiao Ce really didn't want to ride this broken horse anymore, claiming he was afraid of being assassinated.

He dismounted and climbed directly into Yin Pan'er's carriage.

...

Two people stood on the city wall of Kyoto, not far away.

A young man in a blue robe watched the departing group and asked the middle-aged man beside him, "..."

"Have you agreed with her?"

The middle-aged man beside him said to the young man in the blue robe, "Reporting to Your Highness, everything has been agreed upon. I told her that we can take action after leaving the capital city!"

The young man was none other than Xiao Xiangqing, the eighth prince of the Great Xiao Empire.

Xiao Xiangqing said, "As long as Xiao Ce dies, then, according to the plan, she will place all suspicion on Xiao Yang! We will then use this opportunity to eliminate Xiao Yang!"

The middle-aged man beside Xiao Xiangqing said, "Eighth Prince, is this Nie Bing trustworthy? How come I've never heard of you knowing Miss Nie?"

Xiao Xiangqing nodded and said, "I only learned about her after she came to the capital!"

"Back then, the entire Nie family was slaughtered by the Turks. She was lucky enough to escape! Nie Yao and Yin Weiyong were close friends! Nie Bing was adopted by Yin Weiyong. However, the person who caused the city to fall and the Yin family to be massacred was actually Yin Weiyong!"

"By chance, I discovered that Nie Bing was exceptionally skilled in martial arts. She had even personally trained a respectable team! I knew I'd need her eventually. After several encounters, I gave Nie Bing the irrefutable evidence from before! Naturally, Nie Bing, driven by revenge, would listen to me!"

"I planted Nie Bing in the Prime Minister's residence as an inside agent to deal with Yin Weiyong. However, I didn't expect that Xiao Yang, who is all talk and no action, would be so useless. Even with the Emperor's help, he still couldn't get rid of Xiao Ce."

"On the contrary, Xiao Ce impressed me. He seemed to be pretending all along. This time, he seized the opportunity and not only took Yin Weiyong's daughter by force, which meant that Yin Weiyong had no choice but to side with him, but he also managed to escape from the capital and go to the northern desert."

"Father is foolish; he actually fell for his scheme! If he gains a foothold in the northern desert, dealing with him will be as difficult as climbing to the heavens!"

A middle-aged man on the side said, "Eighth Prince, that useless Crown Prince is unlikely to cause any trouble. It seems this is all due to the Prince of Zhen..."

Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, Xiao Xiangqing sneered, "You're all wrong! Although the Prince of Zhen protects Xiao Ce, if Ninth Uncle had any cunning, Xiao Ce's position as Crown Prince would be as solid as a rock. There wouldn't be any of this... His actions these past few days are clearly Xiao Ce's own scheme. Especially his actions yesterday, which were so reasonable and well-founded that Father Emperor could only swallow this bitter pill."

"His cunning is enough to prove it! We can't let him leave alive, otherwise, he will definitely be my greatest enemy in the future."

The middle-aged man nodded and said, "Miss Nie Bing said she would find an opportunity to make her move! Nie Bing has gained Yin Pan'er's complete trust, so Xiao Ce will definitely not be on guard!"

Xiao Xiangqing nodded and said, "Also, did you contact the White Lotus Sect?"

The middle-aged man nodded.

"We've already made contact. They'll come and rob all the money and supplies!"

Xiao Xiangqing nodded in satisfaction: "As long as Xiao Ce dies, and all the evidence points to the second son, Xiao Yang, the King of Zhen will definitely fight Xiao Yang to the death. At that time, we can reap the benefits!"

Looking at Xiao Xiangqing, the middle-aged man said with admiration, "Your Highness, the Eighth Prince, is wise. Only a wise ruler like you can give the Great Xiao Kingdom hope!"

Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and Xiao Xiangqing tightened her clothes: "It's getting windy, let's go back."

...

After Xiao Ce got into the carriage...

He saw the two people looking at him warily.

Xiao Ce said, "Gentlemen, don't be nervous. I'll just sit here for a while!"

Nie Bing, as always, liked to pour cold water on things: "Hmph, Your Highness, judging from how you were just now! It's obvious you can't ride a horse. That's why you wanted to get on our carriage, right?"

Xiao Ce did not deny it: "I am indeed not very good at riding! However, I only need to make a few minor modifications, and there will be no problem!"

Nie Bing listened with a face full of disdain and said, "Improve? Riding a horse is all about horsemanship. How can you improve it? Your Highness, I've realized that you have no real skills, you're just good at bragging!"

Xiao Ce looked at Nie Bing as if she were a honey badger, finding fault with her no matter what. It seemed he really needed to teach her a lesson.

Otherwise, this journey would truly be anything but peaceful.

Thinking of this, he said, "Miss Nie, you don't believe me? I only need to add one tool to help me, and my riding skills will be no worse than yours!"

Seeing Xiao Ce make such a boast, Yin Pan'er said, "Your Highness, you shouldn't make such a boast. Sister Nie Bing grew up on horseback!"

Xiao Ce was still confident.

You should know that he was also a member of the horse racing association in his previous life.

Today, he seemed unable to ride a horse; he was simply unaccustomed to riding without stirrups.

To give an inappropriate example, it's like someone who's used to driving an automatic car suddenly switching to a manual.

However, he was confident that as long as he added stirrups, no matter how good Nie Bing's riding skills were, he could definitely beat her as long as he had stirrups!

After all, the horse Lin Zhong prepared for him was quite good; it was a gift from the King of Zhen, a precious steed!

Xiao Ce's original intention was to teach this ice-cold beauty a lesson, for always underestimating him!

Xiao Ce looked at Nie Bing, but didn't say anything.

Nie Bing then said provocatively, "What, Your Highness, do you perhaps want to race horses with me?"