The Gilded Cage

Doubt – Bring the Mother and Daughter from the Wei family. Hurry Up! (2)

The carriage was already waiting outside the Yongan Gate in the south, and after the mother and daughter got up, they drove slowly eastward all the way.

“Ma’am, little lady, it seems that the palanquin of the Crown Prince’s Consort was in front. Should we stop and say hello?” The maid outside the car asked.

Going east from Yongan Gate, one would always pass through Jiafu Gate, the main gate of the East Palace. It was not surprising to meet people in the East Palace. But in the previous two or three months, Duke Lu and his wife listened to Xiao Kezhi’s instructions and were worried about Guoer, so they kept living in seclusion with their daughter. They hadn’t seen Zhao Yue for a long time, and they suddenly met today, which was really unexpected.

Madam Xu thought for a while, pulled Guoer towards her, and said softly, “If we meet, it’s not easy to avoid them, let’s just go over and say hello, okay?”

Guoer thought of Zhao Yue’s stern look she had seen in Lishan before, and she was still a little apprehensive, but she didn’t refuse, she just nodded obediently, followed her mother out of the car, and rushed to the East Palace palanquin parked on the side of the road ahead.

Fortunately, Zhao Yue, who had just come out of the East Palace, had no intention of talking to the mother and daughter. Seeing them salute, she just looked at them coldly, smiled, alienated, and turned to get in the car.

It’s almost time. She would leave the East Palace at this time, just to follow Xiao Yu to leave Changan quietly.

At such an urgent time, she should have had no time to think about other things, but for some reason, when she saw the mother and daughter of the Duke of Lu, whom she had not seen for a long time, she suddenly remembered what happened in Lishan back then.

She always felt that the unexpected smoothness of the marriage with the prince was due to other reasons besides the pre-planning and well-thought-out rhetoric. Especially later, the maid beside her once mentioned, on the night of the New Year, the Duke of Lu once went to Feishuang Hall to see the emperor in private.

The Duke of Lu’s family had no foundation in the capital, so she didn’t care about it at all, but she kept remembering this matter for no reason, and never forgot it.

Even though they had nothing to do with Duke Lu, they still had a close relationship with Lady Chu. If Lady Chu disclosed the Prince’s affairs to the Emperor. the mother and daughter might know something about it.

Seeing that leaving this time was about to fight to the death, she couldn’t help but stop, and suddenly turned her head to look at the mother and daughter.

“Miss Wei,” she looked at Guoer with a half-smile, but her eyes fell on Madam Xu’s reaction, “Are you still learning how to ride a horse recently? Before, I didn’t teach you well?”

Guoer was taken aback by her sudden gaze, stared blankly at her empty wrist without any jewelry, and timidly took half a step back in the direction of her mother.

Madam Xu was also a little nervous, she pressed her daughter’s back to comfort her quietly, and apologized embarrassingly, “No, no, your highness was superb at riding, but it’s because Guoer was timid, asking Your Highness to teach her was really inferior, Your Highness must not be offended…”

This look of being overwhelmed by nervousness fell into Zhao Yue’s eyes, making her guess what the mother and daughter must know.

She slowly put away her smile, let out a cold snort, stepped directly into the carriage, and left with the maid and the servant.

Madam Xu looked at the carriage that was gradually going away, feeling uneasy in her heart, always feeling that something was about to happen, and patted her daughter with lingering fear, “Okay, okay, go back quickly. Let’s go around from another place in the future. Don’t worry about it.”

Guoer was in a daze and let her mother lead her back to the car. It wasn’t until the palanquin was on the road again that she suddenly said: “Mother, Lady Zhao—Her Royal Highness the Crown Prince Consort, she didn’t wear any jewelry today…”

In the past, Zhao Yue paid the most attention to dressing and dressing. Whenever she went out, she always wore heavy makeup and luxurious and eye-catching clothes. Today, although her dresses are still exquisite, there was almost no jewelry on her wrists, neck, or even on her hair.

Madam Xu couldn’t help but think deeply after such a reminder.

A lady who loved to dress up suddenly traveled without jewelry…

Thinking of what she heard about the conspiracy between the Zhao family and the prince in Lishan, her heart tightened, and she thought about it for a long time. She ordered the coachman outside to pay attention to the carriages and horses in the East Palace and asked her closest maid to rush back to Taiji Palace to report the situation to Ganlu Hall.

…

Near Pingkang Square, Zhao Yue’s carriage slowly passed through the bustling crowd, and after a while of twists and turns, drove towards the sparsely populated alleyway.

While the carriage was shaking, she took off her luxurious clothes and replaced them with sarongs worn by ordinary street women. While there was no one around, she quickly got out of the carriage, stepped into another narrow and simple carriage, and drove away again. The alleyway merged into the stream of carriages and horses, and the luxurious and spacious car before was heading towards the Buddhist temple in the south.

“Ma’am, Madam Lu has indeed sent the maid back to the palace.” The maid Chunyan followed her into the carriage and whispered what she had just seen.

The carriage drove towards Chunming Gate in the east at a leisurely pace. Apart from Chunming Gate, they went outside Changan City, and then went south. After meeting Xiao Yu, they could join up with the main force of the Bozhou Army who had quietly lurked near the capital.

But for some reason, the uneasiness in her heart grew bigger and bigger.

“This month, there was no news from my brother, right?”

Chunyan’s face was also a bit downcast, and she shook his head and said, “No, the general said earlier that long-distance communication was not safe enough. After the matter is settled, there will be no hope to come again, so no news has come.”

This was a good statement, but at this time, Zhao Yue felt that something was wrong. If the emperor really knew about their conspiracy, what would he do? If all of today’s events were just a preset situation, and they had already become shackled, how would she deal with it?

People like Xiao Yu were unreliable no matter what…

“Lady, we’ve arrived at the city gate.” The coachman outside sent a message to the inside in a low voice.

Zhao Yue didn’t speak, gritted her teeth, struggled repeatedly in her heart, and suddenly said, “Stop, bring the mother and daughter from the Wei family, hurry up!”