In a small courtyard in Hongzhou City.
"How did you end up here?" Shen Si glared angrily at the person in front of him.
The person in front of him was dressed in men's clothing. It was Ji Qingshu, who should have been staying in the palace.
She had dared to break into the Prince Jin's Mansion all by herself!
If his men hadn't recognized her in men's clothing and brought her back, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
"Shen Si, it's actually you! I thought I'd been discovered by Prince Jin so soon," Ji Qingshu rubbed her arms and grumbled discontentedly. She had been in Hongzhou City for several days and had been planning to find out where Sister Shen was. These days, she and Zhu Ying had been staking out near the Prince Jin's Mansion. Finally, they'd found an opportunity, but who would have thought that she'd been captured before she even got close.
"Where's Zhu Ying? What did you do to her?"
Seeing that she didn't seem to realize her mistake at all, Shen Si got even angrier. "I've locked her up."
Ji Qingshu stared at him. "How dare you lock up my servant?"
"Because she failed to dissuade her mistress and let you put yourself in danger! Do you know what kind of place the Prince Jin's Mansion is? Do you think all the forces that have been lying in wait in Hongzhou for so long are here for fun? With your meager skills, you dared to get close all by yourself!"
"If my men hadn't discovered you in time, you'd be lucky to be alive!"
It was the first time Ji Qingshu had seen Shen Si so angry. Hearing how serious he made it sound, her bravado waned.
"So, what should I do?"
Shen Si snorted. "Stay here. The troops from Lingnan will arrive in Tanzhou in a few days. I'll secretly send you there then."
"No!" Ji Qingshu said hastily. "I can't let my brother know. If he finds out I've come here without saying a word, he'll surely beat me to death!"
Shen Si sneered. "Now you're scared? Why weren't you scared when you broke into the Prince Jin's Mansion?"
She was so naive to think that the secret guards of the Prince Jin's Mansion hadn't noticed her. In fact, they just didn't take her seriously and were just waiting for her to show herself!
Feeling guilty, and afraid that Shen Si would send her back to her brother, Ji Qingshu was as meek as a quail and didn't dare to say a word.
After Shen Si had finished scolding her, she timidly said, "You've scolded me. Can you please not tell my brother?"
Shen Si: "..."
People really do laugh out of exasperation. Shen Si was really so angry at her that he laughed.
What on earth had he got himself involved with, this little troublemaker?!
Shen Si rubbed his temples wearily. For a moment, he didn't know whether he or Ji Junye was the more unlucky one.
"Fine, I won't tell him, but from now on, you must listen to me!"
"Ah..." Ji Qingshu looked reluctant. If she had to listen to him, wouldn't her trip here have been in vain?
Seeing that she refused to change her ways, Shen Si stood up expressionlessly and walked towards the door. "I'll write a letter and send it right now."
"You can't write!" Ji Qingshu quickly ran over and hugged him from behind, pressing herself against his back and holding him back.
Being so close, Shen Si could clearly feel the softness on his back. His face instantly flushed red. "Let go."
Ji Qingshu shook her head. "I won't let go unless you promise me you won't tell my brother!"
Shen Si sighed and gave in. "I won't write the letter. Let go."
Ji Qingshu still didn't let go. "I don't believe you."
The veins on Shen Si's forehead throbbed. "Believe it or not."
After a long standoff, Ji Qingshu said, "I'll listen to you. Don't tell my brother and don't send me back to the capital."
Compared to being sent back to her brother, being sent back to the capital was just like choosing between having one leg broken or two.
Shen Si's tone softened a bit. "Okay, let go of me first. It's not good to be seen like this in broad daylight."
"Okay." Ji Qingshu obediently let go.
"This is my base in Hongzhou. You can stay here for now. Hongzhou is going to be in chaos soon. Don't wander around."
Ji Qingshu looked up at him. "Aren't you staying here?"
Shen Si tapped her forehead angrily. "A young man and a young woman living together. If I stay here, what will happen to your reputation?"
Ji Qingshu covered her forehead and murmured softly, "Anyway, no one will know..."
"What did you say?" Shen Si looked at her.
Ji Qingshu quickly said, "Nothing. You heard wrong!"
Shen Si snorted and left. He told his subordinates to take good care of Ji Qingshu but not to let her go out without permission. If she wanted to go out, they were to report to him immediately.
...
Amid the tension of all the forces, Ji Junye finally arrived in Tanzhou.
The people in Tanzhou were overjoyed. However, for the people of the Prince Jin's faction, it was like the last glimmer of hope had been extinguished.
On the day Ji Junye arrived, the prefect of Tanzhou led the people of Tanzhou thirty miles outside the city to greet him. When he saw Ji Junye, he was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes.
It had been more than half a year since the emperor had gone missing. After half a year, he finally saw the emperor again!
Everyone felt the same way as Tan Feng. They were filled with passion and pride.
The emperor had fallen off a cliff but had returned safely. He had also brought back an ally from the Miao Region and had managed to recover the entire Lingnan region in just a few months, instantly turning the situation around. It was simply a miracle!
They had been so frustrated for so long, and now they could finally hold their heads high!
The beautiful woman in exotic clothing beside him must be the Saintess of the Miao Region, right?
In her arms was a little girl who looked about two years old, curiously looking around. That must be the legendary little princess, right?
"We pay our respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"
"Rise," Ji Junye sat on his horse, looking at the crowd. He noticed that some familiar faces were missing. "You've all worked hard to defend Tanzhou for the past half a year."
Everyone said one after another, "We don't feel hard. We're just glad we didn't fail Your Majesty... Finally, we've waited for Your Majesty."
The prefect of Tanzhou quickly said, "This isn't the place to talk. Please enter the city, Your Majesty!"
Ji Junye nodded. "Enter the city!"
This time, Ji Junye had brought 30,000 troops. Among them, 10,000 were from the Miao Region, and the other 20,000 were selected from the garrisons of several states in Lingnan.
The arrival of Ji Junye and these 30,000 troops had boosted the morale of the people in Tanzhou to an unprecedented level.
But the Prince Jin's faction was not so happy.
Prince Jin had been extremely worried about another matter recently.
His military supplies were running low.
When he realized this, Prince Jin's face was extremely ugly, even uglier than the day he found out Ji Junye was still alive.
For the sake of his great cause, he had bided his time and built up his strength for many years. He had amassed a great deal of wealth in the south of the Yangtze River. According to his original calculations, it should have been enough to feed 100,000 men for five years.
But when the war in the north first started, Prince Rong had tricked a lot of supplies from him. Most of the supplies he had given to Yelv Wujie had been intercepted by Ji Junye. Even the supplies that had been borrowed from the state of Jiang had been seized by the second prince of Jiang. Coupled with Yelv Wujie's incompetence and the loss of Lingnan, now, after only two years of war, more than half of his treasury was empty.
The first thing Prince Jin thought of was the Gu family, so he went to see his princess that night.