Chapter 596 - Chapter 596: Casting A Long Line To Catch A Big Fish
Chapter 596: Casting A Long Line To Catch A Big Fish
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation | Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Chu Min had just returned to the study when his trusted aide followed him in. “Eldest Master, there’s a situation in Jinling City.”
Chu Min’s eyebrows twitched. “What happened?”
“A while ago, the Emperor sent a letter to Jinling City asking Prince Jiangning’s son to go to the capital city to celebrate Prince Jiangning’s birthday,” the trusted aide said in a low voice.
Chu Min got a shock. He wasn’t aware of this. “How did Prince Jiangning’s son respond?”
“Just now, I received a message from the other side saying that he had disappeared. Originally, Prince Jiangning’s son had set up an ambush outside Jinling City. He was waiting for himself to be injured in the assassination attempt before returning to the city and using this as an excuse to refuse to go to the capital city. However, after the assassination attempt, Prince Jiangning’s son disappeared.”
Chu Min’s heart was instantly in his mouth. “What do you mean by disappeared?”
The trusted aide’s expression was also very unsightly. “At that time, the people who escorted Prince Jiangning’s son were all dead. His own whereabouts were unknown. When the news reached Jinling City, their people immediately sent people to search along the path the convoy took, but they never found any traces of Prince Jiangning’s son.”
Chu Mm paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. “Immediately block all the letters from that side and clean up all traces of connections with that side. You have to act quickly. No one must be allowed to find any clues!”
He had a bad feeling that something big was about to happen.
Right now, the Emperor had not made any move. It must be the calm before the storm!
Moreover, after Zhu Lin intercepted Xiao Shijie, he split up his troops, and the different teams headed to the capital city separately.
After a period of rushing on their way, Zhu Lin’s convoy finally arrived at the inn closest to the capital city and stopped there.
Xiao Shijie, who had already been disguised, was pushed into a guest room in a wheelchair by two maidservants who were trained in martial arts. The wound on his back should have healed long ago, but he had been on the road all this time. The wound that had healed previously opened up again and again. This resulted in the flesh around his wound rotting.
Xiao Shijie sat in the wheelchair, feeling weak throughout his whole body, and he was in excruciating pain. He had been given the muscle-weakening drug and had no way to fight back at all.
After entering the room, two maidservants carried him to the bed.
After this period of observation, he knew that these two maids definitely knew martial arts. In order to prevent him from escaping, they would stand guard by his bed 24 hours a day.
Xiao Shijie lay on the bed with his two eyes closed. He had been plotting along the way. He knew that they were not far from the capital city. He had to send a message to his men before entering the capital city. Otherwise, it would be even more difficult to contact them after he entered the capital city.
The maidservant came in with the food and fed him mouthful by mouthful.
After he was full, Xiao Shijie said, “After rushing on the road for so many days,
I want to take a bath before entering the capital city.”
The maidservant glanced at him. “Your Highness’s injuries have not healed yet If the wounds get wet, they will only worsen. It’s better for Your Highness to bear with it. It’s not too late to take a bath after the injuries have healed.” Xiao Shijie said with displeasure, “I was turned into this state by you guys. I’m only asking for a bath. Are all of you afraid that I will run away? Or do you want me to meet the Emperor like this?”
The two maidservants exchanged looks. “Your Highness, please wait a moment. We will go out and prepare hot water.”
The two maidservants then excused themselves.
Xiao Shijie sat in the wheelchair and pushed himself to the window with clenched teeth. He took out the whistle hidden in his hair and blew it gently The sound of the whistle was not sharp and sounded like the gusting wind Under normal circumstances, it would not attract the attention of other people. He had set up a carrier pigeon station outside the capital city previously. If this place was very close to the capital city, his carrier pigeons should be able to hear his whistle.
After Xiao Shijie blew the whistle, he gritted his teeth and pushed his wheelchair back to the original spot to wait.
The two maidservants had only left for less than 10 minutes. When they entered the room and saw that he was still sitting in the same place, they did not suspect anything.
When they went out to fetch water again, Xiao Shijie heard the sound of wings flapping outside the window.
He turned around and saw a carrier pigeon flying in.
He blew the whistle gently and attracted the carrier pigeon to his lap. After he caught the carrier pigeon, he attached the letter he had managed to find an opportunity to write earlier to the pigeon and then released the bird. The moment the carrier pigeon flew out of the window, the door was pushed open by the maidservants again.
The two maidservants only glanced at him once before looking away.
What Xiao Shijie did not know was that the moment he released the carrier pigeon, the pigeon was shot down by someone.
The soldier retrieved the letter from the pigeon’s leg and handed it to Zhu Lin.
Zhu Lin only showed his face on the first day Xiao Shijie woke up. After that he changed his appearance and tagged along with the convoy.
Zhu Lin took the letter and read it. “Prince Jiangning’s son is really not as simple as he appears. It seems like he has already planted god knows how many spies in the capital city.”
Lord Zhu, should we allow this message to be sent out?”
-Yes, of course! If we don’t send this message out, how are his men going to save him?” If his men didn’t save him, how would we be able to destroy their lair? His Majesty already said as much. We are to cast a long line to catch the big fish. Let’s see how many fish in the pond in the capital city are of the Jinling variety!” &
Zhu Lin placed the letter back on the carrier pigeon and instructed the soldier to release the bird.
The next morning, Zhu Lin brought Xiao Shijie back to the capital city.
Before the convoy entered the capital city, Zhu Lin changed his attire and reverted to his original appearance. He even personally sent Xiao Shijie to Prince Jiangning’s Residence.
When he received the news, Prince Jiangning was sleeping soundly as he lay sprawled out on the bed with a few dancers in his arms.
When he heard that Xiao Shijie was already outside the entrance, he got such a big fright that he almost jumped out of bed.
“He’s already here? When did this happen?” Prince Jiangning hurriedly got up from his bed and told the servants to help him wash up and get dressed.
“Your Highness, His Highness has just arrived. Lord Zhu Lin instructed people to send him here. He said that His Highness has traveled a long way to come to the capital city to celebrate Your Highness’s birthday. Since he’s had a long journey, there is no need to enter the palace to pay his respects to the Emperor.
On your birthday, the Emperor will personally come to our residence to partake in Your Highness’s celebration.”
After Prince Jiangning was dressed, he walked out. Xiao Shijie had already been brought to the main hall.
Xiao Shijie felt a shadow looming over him. He raised his head and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure walking toward him.
The corners of his eyes tensed up for a moment, and his expression gradually clouded over.
The moment Prince Jiangning saw Xiao Shijie, he also paused. It wasn’t anything special, but he felt too unfamiliar with Xiao Shijie. If it wasn’t for the fact that Xiao Shijie’s face was somewhat similar to his, he wouldn’t have recognized his son.
Prince Jiangning coughed lightly. “You’re here. How was your journey?” Anyone with discerning eyes could tell that Xiao Shijie had a rough journey.
Prince Jiangning was just trying to make small talk out of nothing, and his inquiry was truly lacking in sincerity.
Xiao Shijie lowered his eyes and said in an emotionless voice, “I am very well Thank you for your concern, Father. It’s just that I accidentally suffered some external injuries on my way here. Please get a doctor to take a look at me Father.”
Prince Jiangning was a little surprised. He stood up again before his butt landed on the chair.. “You’re injured? Who injured you?”