Chapter 1151: Chapter 1141: Palace (26)_2
Su Jin and the Princess Consort keep a one-day travel distance from them.
The Hidden Guard would leave marks for them, so they would know when the Princess Consort rested here yesterday.
Because they were traveling with the Little Princess, they moved slowly on the road and stopped frequently to rest.
Without stops for rest, the Hidden Guard would run to the toilet.
With frequent visits, Prince NanAn and others suspected whether the Hidden Guard had some embarrassing ailment, patting him on the shoulder to encourage him to seek medical treatment without delay.
The Hidden Guard was bewilderingly patted by Prince NanAn and the others and didn’t think much of it.
After another two days, the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion discovered that the Hidden Guard had carved two characters: "noon" in the ground by the toilet.
The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion asked the Hidden Guard, "Why are you carving words?"
"It’s nothing, just carving for fun," the Hidden Guard felt a bit guilty.
The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion was a bit skeptical.
But for alerting someone, it was obviously impossible; the Hidden Guard was very loyal to Xie Jingchen and could not betray him.
However, his behavior was too suspicious, so out of caution, the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion relayed this to Prince NanAn and the others.
Prince NanAn stroked his chin and pondered, "This is definitely a problem."
"What problem?" asked the Heir of Marquis Beining.
"...I don’t know."
Although they didn’t know, it didn’t stop Prince NanAn and the others from secretly changing the words.
Noon was changed to the hour between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
When the Hidden Guard reported to Xie Jingchen and Su Jin later, both thought the Princess Consort and others had quickened their pace.
After changing it twice, they successfully led Su Jin and the others to arrive at the dock just after the Princess Consort and her group.
As it turned out, the Princess Consort’s scheduled boat had been requisitioned by the government office, and they could only depart the next day. The Princess Consort and her group had to stay in town for one night.
Meanwhile, the boat Su Jin and her party had scheduled had already been waiting for two days, eagerly awaiting their arrival.
Then—
Su Jin went from being a day behind to overtaking the Princess Consort and her entourage.
The Hidden Guard boarded the ship with the Princess Consort; there was no way to send messages back to Su Jin’s party, nor could the ship travel faster or slower by much.
Sailing was more comfortable than riding in a carriage, but the Little Princess fell ill, having eaten something that upset her stomach, causing both diarrhea and vomiting.
There was no doctor on the ship, leaving the Princess Consort in distress.
The Prince ordered the boatman to find the nearest place to dock and seek a doctor for the Little Princess, but the doctor said the nearest dock was still a day away.
The Hidden Guard thought it better to wait for the Heir’s wife than to find a doctor, so he explained the delay of a day due to Su Jin’s departure to Nanliang.
Previously, the Prince might have blamed Xie Jingchen for indulging Su Jin too much, but with the Little Princess sick now, he said nothing, opting instead to slow the boat down to allow Su Jin’s party to catch up.
Inside, Prince NanAn and the others were trembling as they asked the Hidden Guard if the carved words by the toilet were messages for Xie Jingchen.
The Hidden Guard admitted it.
Prince NanAn was so regretful that he wanted to chop off his own hand.
If Xie Jingchen had traveled according to the scheduled hour, he shouldn’t have been far behind. Having delayed a day, they might have already pulled ahead.
They shouldn’t wait but should hurry to catch up instead.
To avoid delaying the Little Princess’s illness, Prince NanAn and the others confessed to the Prince.
The Prince had brought carrier pigeons just in case of emergencies, immediately writing a letter to Xie Jingchen and ordering the boatman to expedite the journey.
When the letter reached Xie Jingchen’s hands, he was exasperated, instantly instructing the boatmen to turn the boat around.
Su Jin noticed and asked Xie Jingchen, "Why are we turning back?"
"Ruoruo is ill," responded Xie Jingchen.
"Then we should press on," said Su Jin.
"We’re ahead of my mother and the others."
Su Jin, "..."
One going forward, one turning back.
After four hours, the two boats met.
Xie Jingchen carried Su Jin and flew onto the Princess Consort’s boat.
The Little Princess was nestled in the Princess Consort’s arms, her little face pale and lifeless.
Seeing Su Jin, the Princess Consort asked, "Is Yuanyuan alright?"
"Yuanyuan is fine," replied Su Jin.
She quickly took the Little Princess’s pulse, identified the cause of illness, crushed some antidiarrheal medicine from her medicine box, and mixed it with water to administer to the Little Princess.
After two doses, the Little Princess was almost all better.
After two days of care, her face regained its rosy hue.
After eight days on the boat, they switched to travel by carriage.
That day, the weather was excellent with clear blue skies.
They finally arrived at the outskirts of the Nanliang Capital.
Nanliang had long known that Daqi sent the Prince and Prince NanAn as envoys to offer congratulations.
But they waited day after day, and no one arrived.
A few days ago, it became known that the Princess Consort had brought the Little Princess, thus traveling slowly out of consideration.
Zhao Xu wanted to personally go out of the city to welcome them, but was stopped by Prime Minister Zhao.
Just days earlier, Prince Ling had issued an edict passing the throne to him, and though he had yet to formally ascend, he was already the new Emperor of Nanliang.
There was no precedent for an Emperor-in-waiting to leave the city to greet envoys from Daqi coming to offer congratulations.
Prime Minister Zhao took on this task, going ten miles out of the city with Prince Jing to welcome them.
Once they had received them, they realized that not only had the Prince and Princess Consort arrived, but Su Jin and Xie Jingchen were there too, along with the Little Princess and two other children.
Prime Minister Zhao was delighted.
He liked children, understanding that they held a special place in their parents’ hearts.
Given Zhao Xu’s importance, they wouldn’t willingly subject their children to the hardships of travel.
The Princess Consort hadn’t seen Prime Minister Zhao in over a decade; back then, her appearance was ruined, and she wore a veil. Prime Minister Zhao had sought doctors to help treat her, but they were unsuccessful.
Only scars upon scars remained, never expecting that once they faded, the Princess Consort’s beauty was as good as before.
Prime Minister Zhao exchanged only a few pleasantries with the Prince and Princess Consort before they set off to the Capital City.
Out of consideration for the Little Princess, the pace was not hurried.
Nor did they enter the palace, instead arranging to stay at the palace accommodations outside the city.
Prime Minister Zhao explained, "In three days, the palace will hold Xuxu’s enthronement ceremony; right now, the palace is busy, so Xuxu will visit the Princess Consort later."
"Once Xuxu has ascended, a banquet will be held to welcome the Prince and Princess Consort."
Prince NanAn, barely able to contain himself, asked Prime Minister Zhao, "Can we enter the palace to see Brother Zhao?"
Knowing their temperament, Prime Minister Zhao instructed guards to lead them into the palace.
Inside the Imperial Study, Zhao Xu was working through memorials.
When Prince NanAn walked in, the eunuch wanted to announce him, but Prince NanAn stopped him.
He quietly approached the Dragon Desk, about to speak, when he saw Zhao Xu, a piece of pastry in his mouth, pick up a brush and dip it in ink to comment on a minister’s memorial.
The corner of Prince NanAn’s mouth twitched, "Hasn’t even ascended yet, is there a need to work so hard, forgetting to eat and sleep?"
A familiar voice rang in his ears, Zhao Xu looked up sharply.
Seeing Prince NanAn, he was so moved that he choked.
The pastry in his mouth sprayed all over Prince NanAn.
Prince NanAn, "..."
