Chapter 252: Truly Making This Princess Proud!

At the end of the mao hour, Han Sui sent someone to report to me that Ding Suian had been captured. By the time I left the residence at 7-9 am, the Imperial Guards were already guarding the entrances to the conduits, so I did not go down to verify it myself.

Inside the carriage, Han Jingru’s voice was extremely low.

Beside him, Chen Hong was expectant yet anxious, “Han Sui wouldn’t have identified the wrong person, would he?”

“He shouldn’t have. Brother, just looking at the current situation, I am ninety-nine percent certain that Ding Suian has been caught. Why else would ordinary soldiers alert the Vermilion Bird and Winged Tiger armies?”

These words gave Chen Hong peace of mind. He let out a long breath, stroked his knees, his face glowing with excitement, “Good! Very good! Next time I see Han Sui, I will reward him heavily!”

Saying this, he sighed again and said regretfully, “It’s a pity, I can’t see Ding Suian being skinned and boned, begging for mercy on his knees, it’s a real pity!”

Han Jingru, however, was not as happy as him, sighing softly, “This man is a talent. I originally wanted to recruit him for you, brother. Sigh, what a pity.”

“Pity what! This is called ‘evil deeds lead to self-destruction’!”

Hearing this phrase ‘evil deeds’ from his mouth sounded awkward. Han Jingru looked at Chen Hong and earnestly reminded him, “Brother, since Ding Suian explored the conduits at night, it means the Nine Gates Patrol Yamen has already heard some wind of it. These women cannot be kept. You should also be patient recently and don’t let them search for women anymore.”

“I… I never asked them to search for women. They all did it out of filial piety, sending them voluntarily.”

Chen Hong looked uncomfortable, muttering to defend himself, then worriedly asked, “Jingru, the Vermilion Bird and Winged Tiger armies have dispatched many people. Han Sui and the others won’t be caught, will they?”

“Brother, rest assured about this. The Central Heaven tunnel is hundreds of miles long, complex and intricate, with paths extending in all directions. If I guessed correctly, they should have already killed Ding Suian and slipped out from somewhere else by now.”

“That’s good, that’s good. By the way, in your opinion, why did Paternal Aunt suddenly summon the two of us?”

Chen Hong rubbed his thick, short fingers, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

In this world, there were two people he was a bit afraid of. One was his Paternal Aunt, the other was the Sect Leader of Central Heaven.

“Naturally, it’s still about the Ding Suian matter.”

“Jingru, you mean… Paternal Aunt knows about Wangchuan Ferry?”

“…”

Han Jingru looked at Chen Hong speechlessly, “Brother, Princess Xingguo controls the West Yamen, how could she not know about this?”

“Then…”

“Brother, don’t worry. Even if Your Highness is unhappy about this, she won’t make a scene in order to maintain the royal reputation. Furthermore, you have the State Religion behind you, so Your Highness won’t do anything to you, lest the national foundation be shaken.”

When Han Jingru said these things, his mood was a bit complicated.

Your Majesty was old and could pass away at any time. When Your Majesty passed away, it would be the time for Chen Hong and Chen Yi to fight for the throne.

But even at such a critical juncture, Chen Hong still couldn’t let go of his hobby for ‘beauty’.

Hearing Han Jingru’s words, Chen Hong felt relieved, his confidence soaring, “In any case, with Ding Suian gone, a major threat to me is gone. There are no more obstacles between me and Sect Leader Xu~”

“…”

Han Jingru looked over, stunned.

Chen Hong was not brave, even a bit cowardly, only his lust was great.

But Han Jingru still didn’t expect his lust to be this great, daring to have designs on Xu Jiuxi.

Chen Hong also realized he had let his guard down and blurted it out, hurriedly saying, “Jingru, I am doing this for the sake of the country! The State Religion is the foundation of our Great Wu. If I can achieve a good story with her after I ascend the throne, the imperial court and the State Religion will truly become a family connected by blood! Isn’t this better than any alliance?”

The more Chen Hong spoke, the more he felt he was great, and the expression on his fat face gradually became solemn, “My intention is for the eternal stability of the country, it is also a painstaking effort for the country and the people!”

Han Jingru looked at Chen Hong, who was already intoxicated by his own rhetoric, and couldn’t speak for a long time.

Even an outsider like him could see the disdain Xu Jiuxi had for Chen Hong. Brother, how dare you think that?

“Your Highness, Heir Apparent, we have arrived.”

Just then, a guard outside the carriage reported in a low voice.

The previously impassioned Chen Hong’s Aura suddenly wilted, and he tidied his clothes.

“Greetings, Paternal Aunt (Your Highness), greetings, Princess Consort of Lanyang~”

Inside the teahouse, Chen Hong and Han Jingru greeted in unison.

Without much pleasantry, Princess Xingguo went straight to the point, “I suppose Hong’er and Jingru have heard that the Duke of Chu County wandered into the conduits by mistake after drinking last night~”

“Nephew has heard of it~”

Chen Hong responded respectfully.

At the same time, he felt a burst of secret joy. Ding Suian was clearly following Fei Rongbao into the tunnel last night, but Paternal Aunt said it was a drunken mistake.

It seems that Han Jingru’s analysis was correct. Paternal Aunt was both worried about damaging the royal face and afraid of offending him.

“I have also heard of it~” Han Jingru revealed concern at the right time, “I have not known the Duke of Chu County for long, but we are quite compatible. Hearing of this accident, I am worried sick, wondering if there is any news yet~”

Princess Xingguo’s calm gaze paused on his face for a moment, and she only said, “No news yet. I heard that the Heir Apparent of Prince Leyang has a wide circle of friends and deals with people from all walks of life. Surely you know some people with special skills. The tunnels below are deep and complex. I would like to ask the Heir Apparent to help find some experts who are proficient in earth veins and good at tracking to find the Duke of Chu County as soon as possible. I wonder if the Heir Apparent is willing to help?”

Beside her, Lin Hansu, whose eyes were slightly red, felt both moved and surprised.

Your Highness was someone who was only below one person, how proud she was, yet she was implicitly begging Han Jingru.

Especially knowing that the two of them were closely related to Wangchuan Ferry, Your Highness was almost bowing her head to the two juniors. The message conveyed was: If you let the Duke of Chu County go, I will treat it as him wandering in by mistake while drunk, and I will treat it as you having done a great favor.

Other matters will not be pursued.

Han Jingru was simultaneously surprised, surprised at the importance Princess Xingguo placed on Ding Suian. Even if he was a person valued by Your Highness, it shouldn’t make Your Highness lower her status so much, right?

He suddenly remembered a long-standing rumor in the Central Heaven nobility circle that spread for a while many years ago but quickly faded away.

Could that matter from back then be true?

Han Jingru suddenly broke out in a cold sweat on his back. He couldn’t hand over the person; Ding Suian had probably been hacked to pieces by now.

If the rumors from back then were true, and it just happened to be Ding Suian, then even if Princess Xingguo wiped out his entire clan, it would probably be hard to resolve the hatred in her heart.

Just as he was thinking nervously, Chen Hong, who was beside him, thought he was troubled by Princess Xingguo’s words and took the initiative to help Han Jingru out of the predicament, “Hehe, Paternal Aunt, you don’t know, although Jingru has a wide circle of friends, his dealings are all with pure and elegant scholars. How would he know those dirty rats who drill into holes? I’m afraid he can’t help with this matter~”

“…”

Lin Hansu looked up suddenly, her red eyes full of hatred, not hiding it at all.

Princess Xingguo also raised her eyes to look over. Her gaze seemed calm, but the ice-cold chill at the bottom of her eyes, which was as substantial as reality, made Chen Hong subconsciously take a step back.

He had seen Princess Xingguo no less than a thousand times since he was a child, but he had never seen such a cold look in his Paternal Aunt’s calm, gentle eyes. Chen Hong was bewildered for a moment, not even knowing what he had said wrong to provoke such resentment from his Paternal Aunt and the Princess Consort.

But his words to excuse Han Jingru sounded to Princess Xingguo as if the two of them, Chen and Han, had clearly and explicitly rejected her show of weakness and firmly told her that Ding Suian must die!

“Eunuch He~”

Princess Xingguo slowly lowered her eyelids, her sandalwood lips parted slightly, as if she was about to order some desperate and major decision.

“This old servant is here~”

Eunuch He stepped forward, bowing and waiting for her to speak.

But just at this moment, suddenly an excited, joyful shout was heard from afar.

“Found him~ Found him!”

“The Duke of Chu County has come out!”

“Boss!”

In the teahouse, several people turned their heads to look.

I saw that outside the entrance of the Yi-7 conduit, a group of patrol officers were surrounding a tall and sturdy young man, and the young man was holding a little girl with a dirty face in his arms.

Behind him, dozens of women were stumbling out, supporting each other.

Most of them were in rags, looking panicked, squinting involuntarily under the dazzling sunlight, but they were like frightened birds, holding great wariness toward the outside world and people, only pulling the corners of the clothes of their companions in front, tightly shrinking behind the young man.

It seemed that under this bright sky, only that young man was the only person worth trusting.

Who else could this person be but Ding Suian?

He was holding the little girl in one hand, while the other hand was holding a middle-aged man in black silk with blood all over his face.

When Han Jingru saw this person, his heart skipped a beat, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He was pale as a sheet.

Princess Xingguo, who had been paying attention to their situation, saw Han Jingru’s huge reaction, and then looked at the middle-aged man whose hands were tied like a prisoner, and vaguely guessed something.

Princess Xingguo, who hadn’t been as angry as she just was for more than ten years, let out a long breath of turbid air from her chest.

She felt incomparably relieved~