CH 113.1

Yuan Ci Xian couldn’t comprehend it for a while, and when the words echoed in her head three times, she immediately turned around, put on her robe and got off the couch, opened the door and said, “What happened?

Jian Zhi looked solemn: “The empress and Thirteen Prince were kidnapped from the palace one after another.”

Her hand on the door frame tightened, she was so angry that she spoke incoherently: “Are all people in the palace dead? You explain it clearly.”

Her hand on the door frame tightened, she was so angry that she talked incoherently: “Are those people in the palace dead? You explain it clearly.”

“It’s Xue Cairen. Xue Cairen make the move, causing the empress to be taken, and Thirteenth Prince disappeared immediately after that.”

Yuan Ci Xian froze all over, and her heart sank in an instantly.

She knew the real reason why Xi Ju started the rumors.

Since Xi Ju was able to learn about Xu Mansion’s secret passage from Shaohe, he must also know who was finally enthroned in the previous life. Emperor Huining had died, and what he wanted now was the life of the future heir of Great Zhou. As for the heir, there were two possibilities, one was Zheng Zhuo who he determined according to the situation, and the other was Zheng Hong who he learned from Shaohe.

Zheng Zhuo was not easy to get close to, so Xi Ju should start with Zheng Hong, but Lu Shi Qing had also arranged the Daming Palace to protect Zheng Hong. It was logically very difficult for him to succeed, at least he couldn’t do it by force.

Therefore, he made a plan and pinpointed the only loophole in the Daming Palace, a loophole that neither Lu Shi Qing nor Zheng Zhuo had guarded against, and that was Zheng Zhou’s biological mother, Xue Cairen. They might protect Xue Cairen’s safety, but they never thought about guarding her movements.

Xi Ju released the rumors to achieve two purposes: first, to cause the old emperor to let the empress who was the master of the harem put Xue Cairen under house arrest, provoking the first layer of conflict between the two women; Second, Zheng Zhuo had no choice but to get rid the old emperor in advance, the country had no new emperor, and under the chaos of the palace, the empress would take the initiative to preside over the courtiers to discuss who would inherit the throne. This would provoke a second level of conflict between them.

Xue Cairen had not been favored for so many years. She watched Zheng Zhuo being suppressed and bullied since he was a child, and she couldn’t do anything for him. Now that the situation was critical and his son had not yet returned to court, she must be very anxious. At this time, if someone persuaded her to get rid of the empress, saying that it could possibly suppress the controversy in the court, she would really give it a try.

And after the empress was taken into captivity, how did the Thirteen Prince run into trouble?

Because Shaohe was also a key part of it.

At this moment, Yuan Ci Xian thought, Shaohe probably did not betray Great Zhou out of her own will. Maybe she was tortured, maybe she was drugged, and Xi Ju forced some information out of her mouth, but it didn’t make her cooperate willingly. Therefore, he kidnapped her mother and threatened her in exchange for Thirteen Prince.

On Nanzhao’s side, the only person who could quietly take away Thirteen Prince was Shaohe. For her, she only needed to get into the Daming Palace and didn’t even need to use violent, just a few coaxing words, and Zheng Hong, who was still young and had little knowledge, who also trusted his sister wholeheartedly, would be persuaded to go with her.

Then, the defense of the palace was likely to be useless.

As for why Shaohe sacrificed his younger brother to save his mother, Yuan Ci Xian thought that there may be two reasons. First, this younger brother was a half-brother after all, and different from her biological mother. Second, she knew that Xi Ju would not kill her younger brother directly, but would use him to lure Zheng Zhuo. With Zheng Zhuo on the way, the younger brother was likely to eventually overcome the danger, and continue the fate of the previous life to ascend the throne smoothly.

But Yuan Ci Xian was afraid of this fate. Because if Zheng Zhuo was alright, it didn’t make sense for Zheng Hong to ascend the throne.

She figured this whole thing, and suddenly asked: “Did Sixth Highness return to the capital smoothly?”

Jian Zhi shook her head.

She paced back and forth twice, trying to calm down, and said, “Whether I can rush to help or not, I can’t just sit and do nothing. Ask someone to follow me back to Great Zhou.”

After she finished speaking, she saw her father hurriedly walked over behind Jian Zhi, he probably also got the news, and said to her: “Father will take people there.”

Yuan Ci Xian shook her head and reasoned: “You should stay in Huihu to deter the Turks. The battle with the Turks is a head-to-head battle, and I can’t do anything here. But over the years, I’ve gotten to know Xi Ju well, and I’m somewhat sure of how to deal with him. What’s more, His Majesty has just passed away and the court was in chaos. Right now, no one has the energy to pay attention to our Yuan family. There will be much less resistance when I return. Don’t worry.”

Yuan Yi Zhi knew that what his daughter said was right, the country came first, the family came after, there was no reason to be selfish at this time. He gritted his teeth bitterly and said: “Father will send a troop to escort you, and let your brother go with you. You brother and sister take care of each other, you must be careful.”

Yuan Ci Xian nodded, packed her luggage quickly, and led people out of the Huihu border overnight.

She said it before, one day there will be a time for her to use her skill in the four regions.

Yuan Ci Xian went all the way to the south in different clothes, and took the shortest shortcut smoothly.

At first, she wondered why the tactic she had prepared to evade the border searches hadn’t been used at all. After entering the country, she learned that a country really could not be without a monarch. The empress and Thirteenth Prince were taken into cavity, and the controversy in the court was suppressed. The officials on Zheng Zhuo’s faction have successfully arched him to the throne and stabilized the situation in the capital, only waiting for him to ascend the throne after his return. At the same time, these courtiers who had worked with Lu Shi Qing for many years and knew the inside story also faked the death of the Yuan and Lu families, and withdrew the arrest warrants from Great Zhou.

Zheng Zhuo was only one step away from being the righteous emperor of Great Zhou, but Yuan Ci Xian didn’t feel at ease at all. Especially after confirming with the capital that he had not returned to Chang’an, and had not been heard for a whole day and night, her heart was even more perturbed. According to the itinerary, he was supposed to already entered the capital, but now there was only one possibility, Xi Ju used Zheng Hong to lure him back.

The officials under him didn’t dare to let the news spread, lest Great Zhou really become chaotic and its surname was usurped by some officials with ulterior motives in the court. They only said that he was dealing with some matters halfway and would return to the capital soon.

But Yuan Ci Xian knew that this matter could not be hidden for too long, and the people in the court would soon realize that something was wrong, and she had to find Zheng Zhuo and Zheng Hong as soon as possible to stabilize the situation in Great Zhou.

And the people looking for them were obviously not only her and her brother’s group.

Three days later, she entered Jiannan Province after searching everywhere, and met Chen Zhan, Zheng Zhuo’s close confidant.

This was not a good sign. When Zheng Zhuo went south to pretend to pursue Lu Shi Qing, Chen Zhan was supposed to be by his side.

Sure enough, when this young man saw her and Yuan Yu, he didn’t have time to be surprised or ask questions. He became flustered and rushing toward them. Chen Zhan said that since the time when Zheng Zhuo was ordered to return to the capital by the emperor, his military power was taken back, and the soldiers that originally accompanied him out of the capital was on standby because of the holy order, and all operations were suspended. So there was only a group of entourage left around him.

On the night the Thirteenth Prince was kidnapped, Zheng Zhuo received the news, and because he found that the other party’s kidnapping route happened to pass by them, he quickly turned around and chased after them. At first, the entourage followed him in pursuit, but after encountering several waves of assassins in succession, they suffered heavy casualties, and most of the survivors were scattered. In the end, there were fewer and fewer people, and even Chen Zhan, in order to help him escape during confrontation, parted ways and lost contact with him.

Zheng Zhuo would not be so stupid to chase people down, he should find a way to deliver the news to the capital, but afraid that it was intercepted by the other party. So now, Chen Zhan and the people from the capital could only look for him based on the marks he left in the wilderness.

Yuan Ci Xian figured out the situation, confirmed the mark to Chen Zhan, and then told him to send all the soldiers to divide into several routes. After making the arrangements, she personally went to the south to pursue.

Naturally, there was a reason for choosing the south.