Nanny Zhao stood in front of Song Nanxin, eyeing the surroundings warily to cover for her.
Song Nanxin was extremely strong. She held Song Yihuan tightly and said, "Ji Lingchuan, there's the bloodline of your Prince Ning's Mansion in my dear younger sister's belly. Lord Gu, this is the one you care about. You don't want her and the baby to die and turn into a skeleton, do you?"
Even in such a tense moment, Song Yihuan showed no sign of panic. She exchanged a brief glance with Ji Lingchuan and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, Lord Gu, please, I don't want to die..."
Ji Lingchuan said in a deep voice, "Do as she says. Prepare the carriage and silver."
Fuzhou knew the situation was urgent. He immediately replied, "Yes, I'll go and prepare right away!"
Ji Lingchuan said to Song Nanxin, "The things are being prepared as you asked, but I also have a condition. There's a pavilion ten miles outside the city gate. If I don't see Song Yihuan in the pavilion an hour later, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, I'll find you and take your life!"
Song Nanxin sneered. "You'd better keep your word."
The carriage and silver were soon ready. Nanny Zhao protected Song Nanxin. The two of them held Song Yihuan tightly and walked out step by step.
"Don't make any rash moves! Otherwise, my dagger will pierce through her neck!"
"Get out of the way! All of you, get out of the way!"
Ji Lingchuan gave the order, and the guards and constables in the Marquis Mansion didn't dare to act rashly. They could only watch helplessly as Song Nanxin and Nanny Zhao took Song Yihuan out of the main hall.
Ji Lingchuan followed closely behind Song Nanxin and left the Marquis Mansion.
He saw with his own eyes Song Nanxin and Nanny Zhao each grabbing one side of Song Yihuan and getting into the carriage. His eyes swept over Song Yihuan's injured neck, and the anger in his heart reached its peak.
With a cry of "Giddyup!", the carriage drove away, kicking up a cloud of snow dust.
Gu Yunzheng watched the carriage getting farther and farther away and urged anxiously, "Your Highness, chase after them quickly! We mustn't let Yihuan fall into that crazy woman's hands like this!"
Ji Lingchuan didn't immediately chase after the carriage. He reached for the hilt of his sword at his waist and said to the guards behind him, "All of you, listen up! Follow me immediately!"
He mounted his horse and said to Gu Yunzheng, "I'll take care of her safety. The Marquis Mansion and the capital city will be in your hands, Lord Gu. There's a secret room in the study of Marquis Ding'an. I'm sure you'll find something in it."
After saying that, he clamped his horse's belly and led the guards away.
On a carriage speeding towards the west city gate.
"Sister, why are you doing this? You're clearly the glorious legitimate daughter of the Marquis Mansion. Why do you have to do such harmful things? You're always the one who takes action, but Mother manages to stay out of it completely. Don't you feel that you're being used by her?"
"Shut up! Don't try to sow discord between our mother - daughter relationship!" Song Nanxin retorted sharply.
"Where can you escape to in this vast world, sister?"
Song Yihuan said softly, "You'd better surrender. The prince values the child in my belly. As long as I plead for you, the prince will surely spare your life."
Song Yihuan was just testing, but she heard Song Nanxin say proudly, "I naturally have a place to go. As for where it is, you don't need to worry about it. I don't care about being the princess of Prince Ning anymore. In the future, I'll stand even higher and trample all of you under my feet!"
Song Yihuan caught something from her words and squinted slightly.
After the fire at the Qiongliban troupe, that mysterious man never appeared beside Song Nanxin again.
Could it be that the man had actually been in contact with Song Nanxin secretly?
After saying that, Song Nanxin ignored Song Yihuan and said outside, "Nanny, are there any pursuers behind us?"
After they left the Marquis Mansion, Nanny Zhao had been sitting outside driving the carriage.
After Song Nanxin's inquiry, Nanny Zhao's voice came from outside, "Don't worry, miss. I've looked carefully. There aren't any pursuers, not even a single dog."
Song Nanxin felt relieved and mocked, "I thought Ji Lingchuan cared about you so much. It seems he doesn't care much about you and the child in your belly. I thought he would at least follow us secretly and wait for an opportunity to act."
Song Yihuan's mind raced and she said, "The prince always keeps his word. Since he said he'd give you an hour to leave, he won't go back on his word. You'd better do as the prince said and release me at the pavilion ten miles outside the city. Otherwise, the prince won't let you go."
"Do you still think you can leave after falling into our hands?" Song Nanxin said coldly, "Dream on!"
The carriage soon passed the pavilion ten miles outside the city that Ji Lingchuan had mentioned. There was no sign that the carriage was going to stop.
"Actually, even if you didn't say anything, I know what kind of poison my mother was poisoned with." Song Yihuan suddenly said.
"You gave my mother the 'Beiman Tuo' poison. This poison comes from Beidi. You should have gotten it from that Cui Taizhu."
She then looked at the vague figure outside the carriage curtain and said, "The fire at the Qiongliban troupe was deliberately set by Cui Taizhu. Cui Taizhu didn't die at all. Instead, he changed his appearance and lurked beside you, sister.
"If I'm not wrong, Nanny Zhao is actually Cui Taizhu. And Cui Taizhu is from Beidi. He's a spy that Beidi planted in the State of Yu. Am I right?"
Song Nanxin's face changed immediately. Just as she was about to deny it, a frivolous male voice came from outside, "Miss Song Si is really extremely intelligent. Even when I'm dressed like this, you still recognized me."
Song Yihuan didn't suspect Nanny Zhao at first. It was not until Song Nanxin asked her if there were any pursuers outside that Song Yihuan suddenly realized.
How could an old maid in the inner courtyard like Nanny Zhao know if there were pursuers behind? It would take extremely sensitive hearing to detect that.
There was only one explanation. This "Nanny Zhao" in front of her was not the one she had seen a few days ago. The real Nanny Zhao was probably secretly replaced when Song Nanxin returned to the Marquis Mansion from the villa.
"I've always wondered why Cui Taizhu helped elder sister kill my mother. My mother was just a concubine living in the Marquis Mansion. What did she do to offend Cui Taizhu? Cui Taizhu not only offered the poisonous herb from Beidi but also helped you disguise as someone from the medical clinic to deceive me. Isn't it ridiculous to go to so much trouble to deal with a woman in the inner courtyard?"
The curtain was lifted, and "Nanny Zhao" got into the carriage. In front of Song Yihuan, he took off the human - skin mask on his face, revealing his true appearance.
This was the first time Song Yihuan had seen the real Cui Muyuan. Without his woman's attire, he looked very handsome.
Those upturned eyes that Song Yihuan was very familiar with were slightly raised. His skin was fair, and his nose was straight. He didn't look like a person from the State of Yu at all.