On that night, after coaxing Shen Qingyao to sleep, Lu Zhao pondered his several encounters with Xiao Jing, his brows furrowing deeper with each thought. He contemplated the situation in the capital: the continuous struggle between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, and several other princes who had been appointed as kings early and sent to their fiefdoms were also eyeing that position.
Even Xiao Mu was planning for the future, but what about Xiao Jing?
Lu Zhao’s brows twitched, feeling something amiss. Despite the Emperor’s favor towards Xiao Jing, there had never been any intention from the Emperor to let Xiao Jing inherit the throne. While other princes had their own fiefdoms, Xiao Jing remained confined to the palace at the outskirts of the capital. From this, it could be seen that the Emperor only treated him as a beloved toy, indulging him with luxuries but never granting him any real power.
Moreover, Xiao Jing’s health had always been frail, and everyone considered him aligned with the Crown Prince, with no one paying much attention to him otherwise.
Even Lu Zhao had thought so before. Xiao Jing could be trying to get close to him because of the Crown Prince. But today, he felt something was off.
Xiao Jing had shown an unusual concern for Yaoyao and him.
Lu Zhao narrowed his eyes. Though the possibility was minimal, it didn’t mean it was nonexistent, right? This Ninth Prince might have already harbored thoughts of seizing the throne…
In fact, upon closer examination, Xiao Jing had done many things covertly, not entirely without traces.
Lu Zhao chuckled coldly, mocking those self-proclaimed smart people in the capital who had been deceived by Xiao Jing. If it weren’t for Yaoyao showing an unusual hostility towards Xiao Jing, he might not have noticed these…
Thinking of Shen Qingyao, Lu Zhao’s expression softened a bit. He listened to Shen Qingyao’s even breathing in the inner room, and a hint of a smile finally appeared on his frosty face.
After a moment of contemplation, Lu Zhao lowered his head, hastily wrote a line on a piece of paper, carefully sealed it after it dried, then pushed open the window and called someone in.
The covert guard arrived silently, and Lu Zhao handed him the letter, instructing in a low voice, “Deliver this letter to the Fifth Prince as soon as possible.”
The guard nodded, disappeared with a leap out of the window.
After finishing these tasks, Lu Zhao sighed lightly and rubbed his forehead before entering the inner room. On the bed, Shen Qingyao breathed evenly, her face buried in the blanket, flushed but not sleeping peacefully, frowning slightly and tossing and turning.
Lu Zhao watched her for a while, smiled to himself, then turned to wash up.
When he returned, the young girl had rolled to the inner side of the bed. Lu Zhao paused for a moment, then became even lighter in his movements. He gently pulled a corner of the blanket and lay down beside Shen Qingyao.
They had been married for some time now, and Shen Qingyao was already accustomed to Lu Zhao’s presence. So, upon sensing the familiar cold fragrance and warmth, she automatically turned towards him, snuggling into this source of warmth. The restless girl stuffed herself into his embrace, rubbed her chin against his shoulder, then found her comfortable spot and stayed still.
Watching her actions, Lu Zhao silently chuckled, feeling satisfied that his efforts had paid off. He hugged her contentedly and closed his eyes.
The next day, Shen Qingyao unusually woke up early. The convoy heading south was ready to depart, and Shen Qingyao was in high spirits, eagerly pulling Cui Qiao towards the carriage, but was stopped by Lu Zhao.
“We’re not taking this carriage, let’s go for that one,” Lu Zhao said, pulling her and nodding towards another carriage parked inconspicuously in a corner outside the inn. It was a simple and low-key blue cloth carriage.
Shen Qingyao’s head slowly raised a question mark, Oh well, looks like something’s up.
She narrowed her eyes, quietly approached Lu Zhao, and whispered, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, aren’t we going with the others?”
Lu Zhao chuckled lightly, imitating her, leaned in, and solemnly whispered, “Yes, I want to go alone with Yaoyao.”
Shen Qingyao was taken aback, suddenly raised her head, and caught his smile before it could disappear. Suddenly realizing she was being fooled again, she glared at Lu Zhao irritably and lightly tapped his arm with her free hand, “I was serious!”
The little girl’s temper was getting bigger and bigger. Lu Zhao thought to himself, what can he do? He had indulged her little temper, so he could only bear with it.
So he explained solemnly, “The convoy will take the official road, passing through Luo City all the way south, while we will take another route.”
“Where are we going?” Shen Qingyao was even more curious. Before leaving the capital, she had heard about the prosperity of Luo City and thought Lu Zhao would definitely take her there. Then she saw Lu Zhao’s mysterious smile and heard him whisper a place name, “We’re going to Ning State’s Ning City.”
“Ning City?” Shen Qingyao exclaimed, her system also making strange noises.
In Shen Qingyao’s memory, Ning City was a very important city mentioned in the original book. It was neither far nor near from the capital, but it was highly valued by Emperors of all dynasties simply because there was a mine within Ning City’s territory, a gold mine to be exact. It was almost considered as the dragon vein. Therefore, every governor of Ning City in each generation was appointed by the Emperor and was always a trusted confidant.
“Oh my god, is White Moonlight planning to seize the gold mine? Isn’t that too audacious!” Shen Qingyao was very shocked and couldn’t speak for a long time.
After a while, Shen Qingyao tugged at Lu Zhao’s sleeve and asked hesitantly, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, are you… planning to usurp the throne?”
The son of the Grand Princess wanting to become Emperor… could that even make sense?
[No!!! Absolutely not!!! Absolutely not, Host!!!] The system timely stopped her dangerous train of thought. What was she thinking! If Lu Zhao became the Emperor, what would happen to the male and female leads?
Sure enough, when Lu Zhao heard this, he first froze for a moment, not understanding how she came up with such a strange idea, then raised his hand to pinch the little girl’s cheek and said helplessly, “What nonsense are you thinking!”
Then he no longer teased her and explained, “We’re going to Ning City to help the Fifth Prince obtain something.”
Shen Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief, Oh, helping the male lead seize the gold mine, then it’s okay.
Anyway, the male lead would eventually become Emperor, whether the gold mine was given earlier or later didn’t make much difference.
Seeing her expression, Lu Zhao knew what she was thinking and sighed, “It’s not about the gold mine!”
The gold mine belonged directly to the Emperor, and he wasn’t crazy enough to have thoughts of seizing it now.
“You’ll know when we get there.” Lu Zhao didn’t say much more, after all, there were too many people around, it wasn’t convenient to say more.
Shen Qingyao nodded understandingly and didn’t ask further.
Half an hour later, Shen Qingyao quietly boarded the carriage prepared by Lu Zhao, while Cui Qiao didn’t accompany her, but got on the carriage heading to Luo City. To say it euphemistically : it was to cover people’s eyes and ears.
Shen Qingyao rubbed her hands in anticipation, feeling a bit curious about this experience.
Moreover, now it was just her and Lu Zhao, so along with anticipation, she even felt a bit inexplicably nervous.
[Ah! Host! I’ve figured it out!] Suddenly, the system exclaimed, startling her.
Shen Qingyao patted her chest with lingering fear, “What have you figured out?”
—What good things you have that you almost scared me to death?
The system didn’t care about her fear, just excitedly told Shen Qingyao, [I know why White Moonlight want to go to Ning City!]
“Oh?” Shen Qingyao became interested, changing her sitting posture. “Tell me more.”
The system said hurriedly, [Host, did you know? Besides the gold mine, there’s also a hidden iron mine in Ning City!]
It spoke rapidly, leaving Shen Qingyao momentarily confused. An iron mine?
It continued, [In the original story, although the male lead held military power, he was also distrusted by various factions. Even the court would withhold provisions and weapons for his army.]
Shen Qingyao nodded, understanding this part. It was necessary for the plot to demonstrate the male lead’s military strength in the end, right?
[I found it strange before! If the court provided nothing, where did the weapons for the male lead’s army come from? I thought it might be a plot device, but now it seems not!]
“You mean… because of this iron mine?” Shen Qingyao also realized.
[Exactly!] The system became even more excited. In the original book, Xiao Mu would only head to Ning City after one or two years following the pacification of the Southern Frontier, but now, Lu Zhao has come in his place! What does this mean? It means that White Moonlight is already helping male lead’s plan! How far can the male lead’s ascension to the throne be now?
Shen Qingyao wasn’t as optimistic as the system. Allies can become enemies, who knows what will happen in the future? She sighed and hoped that after leaving the capital, Lu Zhao’s ‘blackening value’ would rise slower. That would be a relief!
Lu Zhao called a trusted guard to drive the carriage, and he got in as well. Shen Qingyao glanced out the window absentmindedly, feeling bored. Fatigue crept up on her, and she yawned quietly.
Across from her, Lu Zhao was engrossed in reading a book. Shen Qingyao thought for a moment, then smirked and moved to sit beside him.
Lu Zhao glanced at her but said nothing. Shen Qingyao grinned to herself.
Sure enough, moments later, her head drooped onto Lu Zhao’s shoulder. He paused in flipping the pages, turned his head, and saw the girl had fallen asleep again.
…Lu Zhao chuckled softly, then carefully pulled a cloak over her with his other hand, adjusting her arm so she could sleep more comfortably. Then, like a statue, he remained still.
Then, Shen Qingyao was awakened by the noise outside the carriage.
What’s happening?
She rubbed her sore neck and glanced at Lu Zhao, who hadn’t changed his posture.
“Awake?” Lu Zhao looked at her, his face, previously expressionless, now bearing a smile. He dropped the book and reached to massage his shoulder naturally. After she leaned on it all afternoon, naturally it felt sore.
Shen Qingyao also massaged her neck, which was sore from sleeping, then pursed her lips and stared at Lu Zhao, who hadn’t even changed his posture.
Rubbing her eyes, she asked, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, what’s happening outside?”
Lu Zhao lowered his hand. “We’ve reached the boundary of Ning City.”
“So fast?” Shen Qingyao’s eyes brightened, excitedly turning to look out the window. Indeed, the gates of Ning City were already in sight. She exclaimed in surprise, and another unfamiliar voice reached her ears, the one that had woken her up earlier.
“Wan’er! Will you come back with me or not! If you… If you don’t come back with me, I’ll have to use force!” The speaker was a young man, dressed in luxurious attire with gold and jade embellishments, clearly from a wealthy background.
And at this moment, he was blocking a pretty girl at the city gate, preventing her from leaving. On closer inspection, the girl looked annoyed, clearly fed up with the situation.
After seeing this clearly, Shen Qingyao was stunned.
Well, isn’t this quite a dramatic scene to encounter as soon as they arrive?